Wow, is it really November 30?!

While I cannot believe that it is already the end of November, I am very excited that it is the Christmas season! We are shopped out and almost done with gifts. Thank goodness! We have maybe 3 more to go and are in no hurry to finish that up. We can pick these things up anytime. I made some cake balls for the Alabama game on Friday and now I am ready to start some holiday baking. This past weekend also was the anniversary of when my Grandma passed. It has been seven years and it doesn't get any easier. I see so much of her in Bryce! He would have her wrapped around his little finger and she would not believe how big Steven is now! I miss her more and more but I know that we will be together again.

So, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and maybe did a little shopping. We are gearing up for the next couple weekends being busy, busy, busy!

Wow! What a game!

Wow!  I was not expecting this game!  I was so afraid it was going to look like this at the end of the ballgame!  The first quarter started with Auburn scoring not one but TWO touchdowns!  Where did this team come from?  Have they been hiding people all season? 

Thankfully our boys somewhat pulled it together and made it for the win securing our hopes to a national championship again!

Our aunt and uncle came and watched the ballgame with us!  I was so excited because Auntie Helene' is my age and we are two peas in a pod!  Brandon brought Bronson over for the boys to play and Blake was let off early so he made it in time for the second half.  This was one of the best games with the best rivalries of all time, in my opinion.  I honestly thought Bama was going to lose...to AWBARN!  So, next week will be another blood pressure rising game but hopefully we will pull that out also.  Thank Goodness for Roy Upchurch!  He was begging to play the Cody-5.  This is a very popular play and thankfully it won the game!  Way to go Bama!  Roll Tide!

Happy Shopping and Roll Tide Roll

Hope everyone's Turkey Day was great! I am off to Kirkland's today to gather up some Christmas Decorations. I may hit up Target too but I have to be home quickly because Blake has to be at work by 830! We totally forgot that he has to ask off for this day. He was off on Fridays for three years and last year he asked off. Well on Sunday I was very excited about the three day work week when it hit him.....he never asked off. I totally assumed that he was off and never mentioned it. So, hopefully the bossman will decide that they should take off a little early but I don't think it will be early enough to watch the game.


For my husband's sake, I hope the game is quick and is a killer! There is no need for Auburn to score anything! Now, on my end, I hope that it is a good game and that we have to work for it. I don't like to watch blow outs because they can get boring! Oh well, I will have two boys to keep me occupied! Roll Tide my friends!

Happy Thanksgiving

I am truly blessed and so thankful! I love my kids and my husband. They are always there to support me and love me or just give you a nudge when you need it. I am thankful to have steady employment, with steady paychecks! :) I am thankful for my house and the warmth that is in it. I am thankful that we have food and do not want for anything. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and that you are thankful for all your blessings also!

We're getting ready

ROLL TIDE

Phish

Phish was spectacular this weekend in Cincy! I love when a band I love comes to my hometown! I lived outside Cincy for 5 years and my siblings were both born there. There is a ton of nostalgia when I visit. We left around 10 on Saturday morning and headed out after we dropped the little guy off. He was happy to go because our Uncle Keith is here! He is only here once a year so we live it up when he is here. Anyway I digress......so my main goal on Saturday was to get to Aurora, In and meet up with my cousin Amy. Then we were going to eat at Skyline Chili! Only my most favorite eatery ever! Now, I know you southern people do not know what this is but it is so good and I think that it is even better for me because I remember eating there so much with my grandparents when I was little. Living in Alabama we have to suffer through the frozen or can goods to make it without Skyline but when I hit my old town, it has to be the only place we eat! I will admit that we ate here two times. We even had them make us some to go for Sunday nite since it will be a while before we have anymore. Doesn't it look scrumptious?!


We stayed with my cousin and her husband who is home on leave from Iraq! Amy was going to try to surprise him with tickets but she wussed out early and told him about it early. Blake and I had floor tickets and we were super close! I was so excited and noticed that there were more married people there than I had ever noticed! I got lucky and didn't have a "head" stepping on my toes all night long like Blake did. Here's the view before the show from our seats!



Sorry for the blurry pics but they were taken on my phone. Phish was on fire this weekend and I hope it is just a preview of what to expect from them for a couple more years!

Wordless Wednesday

What a weekend

My weekend started on Friday.  Bryce woke up with a fever and a rash around his shoulder blades.  So, unfortunately I had to call in to work and stay home with the boy.   I know, can you here the distress in the voice.  I love to stay home and would full time if I could figure out how to be paid without a job.  Well, good ol' Dr. H said that toddlers get rashes and to just watch it.  I love those answers but then again I don't.  I usually want to know why something is going on but kids do break out so who knows.  He did tell us to get some benedryll.  We made a quick run to the Publix to pick that up PLUS I had codes for free movies out of the blockbuster box.  Up came out last week and while the boys may be receiving it for Christmas, it didn't stop me from renting it.  Bryce loved it and had to watch it all day.  The benedryll kicked his butt and around 430 he passed out.  I just love a sleeping baby.  Well, I say baby but he is a big boy! 

Saturday was another great day.  Bryce still had his rash but we were able to stay around the house.  We did have to run to the grocery store to finish up our shopping for the week and take back the movie. We ended up renting another because I had more of those wonderful codes.  This time we chose Monsters Vs. Aliens.  It was cute but a little old for him.  I had to get my coupons together before we left and Bryce is such a helper.  Here he is helping mommy cut out coupons.  Thankfully that one was a dud because Bryce is a great user of scissors.

After we ran our errands, we came back to our house to settle in for the day.  We made some tea and chili and just waited for the Alabama game to come on.  Bryce somehow has got it in his head that Santa says Roll Tide!  It is hilarious but we have no idea where he gets it from.  Blake and I have not said anything like that to him.  His teachers at school are Auburn fans.  That leaves Steven and I don't think he did it either.  The game was great!  A big win with a large spread!  Here's my helper again. 

Sunday was just another day of the same stuff.  Blake cut us some firewood and we let Bryce ride his tractor.  He was begging to mow the yard.  When Blake finished we got out the tractor and let him get at it.  He is such a nut!  He is getting into the Christmas spirit and I found him a Santa hat and he loved it.  He wears it everywhere.  He looked so funny sitting on that tractor with shorts on (we live in Alabama, home of the crazy weather patterns), a jingle bell, Santa hat, and an Alabama jersey!  I probably took at least 50 pictures!  He is just so cute. 

Here he is in his outfit!  I love it!

I promise that we do love Steven too but he was out of town this weekend with the church group at his first youth gathering.  I am so excited that he is getting into the youth group.  Some of my oldest and best friends came from church.  He came home around 530 and was exhausted!  He said he slept most of the way home.  We cooked some chili dogs and called it a night in our house last night.  All of us in bed by 9!

Hats Off to........... Well.............. ME!!!!!!!

After many years of hard work and some years of slacking, I have officially finished my degree!  What a long, strange trip it has been.  I was to be bare foot and pregnant the rest of my life when I found out I was pregnant at 16.  Life was supposed to end.  The principal at my high school told me that I didn't deserve to go to his school.  The co-op teacher told me that the only school I should go to was Horizon (alternative school) because that's the best I would ever become.  Now, I have finished with a Bachelor's in Marketing!  WOOHOO!!!!  I started in 1999 and changed majors 3 different times.  These were not easy changes but drastic changes.  So, this nursing student is now a wannabe sales and marketing lady who would love a chance to get her foot in the door.  I am waiting for business affairs to make sure that I don't owe any money but with financial aid that shouldn't be a problem and then I have to wait six to eight weeks to actually get the hard copy of the diploma.  The only downside is that they only hold one commencement a year and that is in October!  Still, anyone who faces adversity can make it through anything as long as they put their mind into it!

Miracles, that His business

I asked yesterday for prayers for a little guy named Stellan.  He is gorgeous and I have a soft spot for boys, especially at that age when they are too cute!  Pastor Eddie said numerous times Sunday morning that God answers prayers when it is not humanly possible to fix things anymore and let  me tell you that he fixed Stellan!  Not just a little bit, but the surgery was a great success that I am sure will finally give some peace to MckMama and her many small children.  This is so amazing and makes me feel so great!  While Stellan still has such a long recovery in front of him, the doctors feel certain that they have helped this little fighter overcome his SVT and survive the surgery.  To make a long, long story short, Stellan is too little for these surgeries and should not have had them done because of size and it could ruin the heart for good and leave him with a pacemaker or dead.  His condition makes his heart beat tooooooo fast and it cause the body to rapidly deteriorate.  You can catch up here if need be but
WOW GOD IS SO GOOD!

On another note and update.  Molly Moses, the girl who had a horrific boating accident, will be coming home sometime this week!  Look at that two praises in one day!  That is certainly amazing!  I don't know if anyone reads this who can but her family is asking for her ride home to be decorated for her.  I believe they will come over the hudson bridge and down 6th ave to Plaza street!  She loves purple so anyone who can make signs or hang balloons think about it!  I will update when I hear about what day for certain!

Heavy Heart Given to God

Why is it me that is so upset that this awesome kid is waiting for a life or death surgery?  Meet Stellan.  Most of you have read or at least heard of him before and now he is once again fighting for his life MckMama is doing okay but can you all just please say a prayer for him.  God knows what is going to happen but He is also in the miracle business when it is out of humanly control.  I cannot imagine how I would act if my precious boys looked like this!

Stellan took another turn for the worse last week and luckily he was well enough to go home and spend a few days with the family before him and his mama flew to Boston for a very dangerous heart surgery.  He needs our prayers!  God will take care of him, rather it is to leave him here with his family or to take him to an eternal home.  I pray for this baby not to suffer and to feel no pain. 

Happy Halloween!

This won't be too long of a post. Bryce loves to dress up and to tell us what he wants to be when he gets big. His top two favorites are firefighters and pirates. We had a pirate shirt but hadn't put too much together when Steven's grandmother brought over this cute vest, hat, and walkie talkie. It was Steven's when he was little and Bryce LOVED IT! We painted his face to look like he had been in a fire doing his job and we were off to get candy. Now this child is mine for sure because he likes candy just like me and what better day than Halloween to get candy!? We met up with Bronson(our nephew) and these two had a blast. I think next year Blake is going to get a trailer and we will have a hayride through the neighborhood with the boys and their friends.

Thank goodness the battery went dead in that walkie talkie! It was horrible.

Bronson was dressed like Death (I think)

Bryce loved all the decorations!

Too bad it was Gare's weekend this weekend. We sure did miss Steven but he was hanging out with his youth group at our church's fall festival. I believe he actually met a girl up there! :)