Thanksgiving 2010

We spent our Thanksgiving at home.  We cooked a lot, we laid around a lot, we ate A LOT, we watched a lot of football (enough said about that!), we got out our Christmas decorations (which are still scattered everywhere). 

One of our favorite things about being home on Thanksgiving is getting in the kitchen and cooking together.  Here is a shot from the day before Thanksgiving when we were beginning to cook. A’s request was chocolate pie.  He used to not like it at all but now he loves it.  One of the ladies in our church makes the best so I got her recipe for the cream part.  We started out making homeade crust but once we got it ready to roll out realized there were weevils (gross) in the flour that we used to make it.  I said forget it and went with the bought crust.  I was so proud of my meringue!  It was so good and next time I do want to do a homeade crust.  Last year I started making these Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing for Thanksgiving breakfast so I decided to do that again this year.  DELICIOUS!!! We hung out off and on in the kitchen most of the day and took our time and did not rush so it was dinner before we had everything done. Finally done and ready to eat!  We have a tradition of sharing the things we are most thankful for each year on Thanksgiving. 

The girls had some great ones:

Elleigh: I get to enjoy Thanksgiving with both of my parents who love each other even though sometimes I say, “get a room”! 

This made me cry (and laugh at the last part!)  I am thankful that she realizes how fortunate she is for us to be together and not only together, but happy.  She has realized in the past few months that this is not the norm.

Sallie (we all came up with what we know she is thankful for):  School, Hanna, Cute Clothes, Peanut Butter, and Mayo!

I have already shared how thankful I am for Sallie’s school experience and for her sweet friend Hanna!

Lizzie:  Praying, God, Nanna, my Sisters, Going to Church and learning about God and Jesus

Lizzie has matured so much in the past few months.  She is so growny and for that I am not so thankful BUT I am very thankful for all that she is learning about God.  She is a sponge right now and she is soaking it all up and very inquisitive concerning spiritual issues and that is for sure something to be thankful for!

Millie:  MY BROTHER (NO, this is not an announcement!!! I have NO IDEA!!!), Play Phone, Chocolate and Icing, Mrs. Sara (her Sunday School teacher)

Millie, Millie, Millie!  What more can I say?  Notice the chocolate and icing on her list?  Thanksgiving morning she prayed that God would help her to have a great day eating her chocolate and icing!  I LOVE that child!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and now we move into CHRISTMAS!  Let the festivities begin!

And the AwardS go to…

At the end of each six weeks our Elementary School has an academic pep rally.  Sallie’s teacher emailed me to tell me to make sure we were there today. 

Most of these pics are not good but you get the idea. 

Sallie with Hanna of course waiting for the pep rally to begin!

   Our Sallie won the Panther Pride Award for Best Effort and Improvement for the 6 weeks!  Mrs. Davis said some really sweet things about her and of course I was crying so I did good to even get a picture!  They hugged right after this but I was really a mess by then so it is a total blur!      Here her class is performing a little skit.  Notice she is holding on to her certificate!  Hanna was standing beside her but she had to sit down because she was crying.  She was so happy that Sallie has won the Panther Pride Award that she got all emotional.  Then Mrs. Davis was fighting back the tears because Hanna was crying for Sallie!  Sallie was trying to see about her.    She also received an award called the Sail Award which is for exemplary behavior in the hallways.  We were very proud of this because at the beginning of school she was being a little noisy in the hallways so she is learning apparently!  You can’t see it well here but she got a certificate and a big blow up fish which she was quite proud of!  Mrs. Davis and Sallie with the Panther Pride Award and the fish! 

WOW!  To say we are THANKFUL is an understatement!!!

ECSTATIC!

That is the best word I know to describe myself concerning Sallie’s party this year!  I was ECSTATIC to be able to invite her friends from school to her party!  She loves zebra print and hot pink and I was ECSTATIC to plan the decor!

Happy Birthday Sallie on our message board which hangs in the area between our kitchen and dining room.  I looked for one of these for a while before we moved and could never find one that I was willing to pay for.  So, I found this frame at Family Dollar which had no glass so they had it on clearance for $3.  Then I had an old canvas that didn’t match anything we have anymore so we painted it with chalkboard paint and put it into the frame which we painted and then I sanded down some to antique and now I have my message board!

    View of party decor from our den looking into the dining room Another view  Ecstatic about the zebra and hot pink and the poms! Ecstatic about the precious cupcakes with zebra liner and personalized toppers! Very Ecstatic about the hot pink and black popcorn to match!  When A and I were on our anniversary trip we found this popcorn shop which was so neat.  The pink was cotton candy flavored and the black was blackberry.  SO CUTE!  Closer view of the cupcakes Most of all ECSTATIC over this sweet girl!!!  ECSTATIC that I call all these pretty girls mine!  Sallie’s outfit is her b-day outfit but Lizzie and Millie had these dresses and I thought they were quite appropriate!  Ell joined in on the zebra dress!  I did not ask and would not have BUT I was ECSTATIC that she took part on her own!  Her face shows how ECSTATIC she is!  TONS of pink tulle and zebra print decor, cute new outfit and yummy food!  A’s mom gave me these drink dispensers several months back and I love them!  I had been wanting one for a while and was Ecstatic to be able to use it.  I made cherry limeade which is on the left and pink lemonade on the right.         The Birthday Girl was Ecstatic to have a bounce house in our yard! Think Millie was ECSTATIC???  Beyond ECSTATIC to have her friends to play with!  Mill once again just ECSTATIC going down the slide!  This picture makes me SUPER ECSTATIC!!!  Thank you Lord for Sallie’s sweet, sweet friends! Lizzie was Ecstatic to have so many older girls in the house!  She wants to be like them so badly!  Ecstatic to be dancing, cheering, and just plain silly! ECSTATIC over her gifts Really ECSTATIC to have an outfit to match McKenna’s.  McKenna picked out this outfit for Sallie and then wanted her mom to get her one so they could match! This was hilarious!  They were pretending the bounce house was on fire and they were pulling out the “victims” After being ECSTATIC all day….  Birthday girl was OUT!

And ANOTHER First!

Elleigh had her first Junior High Girl’s Basketball game tonight and they won!  I did not get any good shots at the game so maybe I will get some at future games.  They play every Monday and some Thursdays and some weekend tournaments now through February.  Yes, we will be playing lots of basketball!  Girl’s Basketball is huge here!  They begin playing at 5 and training them to be Lady Panthers.  They are intense!!!  A made the comment on the way to the game that there probably would not be a lot of people there.  Wrong!  You could not move and the game was an hour drive each way!   Ell has only played Upward until now which has been quite an adjustment.  Don’t get me wrong, Upward is a great program, just very different than “regular” basketball.  I am very proud that Elleigh has stuck it out and is trying her best to make the adjustments.  It takes a lot of courage to do something like that in a new place, especially as serious as they are here about their girls basketball and the coach is tough, realllllly tough.  I admire her courage and determination!

These are some pics I took of her before school today.  This is what they have to wear on game days.  The shoes are just awful!  HA!

And a close up!  I will try and get some shots at the games soon.   I will have plenty of chances!

Divas Days!

I know this may sound crazy but I really do not like combining topics on the blog if they are big events BUT it is a crazy busy week and if I don’t post these I will be really behind and the blog being behind drives me crazy…  SO, you get a combo post! 

This past Fri nt Elleigh had her Fall School Dance.  I would have gone to the dance and taken pics BUT I guess that would not be cool!  I did manage to get a few before she left and I love them!  Lizzie reminds me so much of Ell as a little girl so I look at Lizzie and then I look at Elleigh and it blows my mind!!!  I mean Elleigh was JUST Lizzie’s age and now THIS!  Everyone at school thinks she is a DIVA and well she kinda is! I rolled her hair and that was so much fun for me!  I felt like she needed me!  I have to remind myself of that often with the little girls-one day they won’t think they need me… I am so proud of her!  I do think she is beautiful and I am proud of that but it is her inside beauty I am most proud of. 9!!! After this year we will have two children in the double digits and well, I don’t like the double digits!  We celebrated Sallie’s 9th Birthday yesterday!  Elleigh and I made cupcakes for her class.  I thought we did a good job for beginners.  Of course we have made cupcakes before but I made homeade icing and used tips to decorate, etc.  I loved these colors!  They are so bright and happy-just like our Sallie!

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!!!  I am normally a wreck on her b-day.  Hard to explain but I just go through a lot of emotions.  Yesterday was a little different for me but I for sure had my moments.  I re-live her birth every yr and everything she has been through but I also am completely overwhelmed by where she is now and the nine years we have had with her and how happy she is and how she bring so much happiness to our home and to many other lives as well.  I am overwhelmed with by the goodness of our Lord and how much He cares for us.  Her class enjoying the cupcakes Lizzie and Millie in Sallie’s classroom.  They love to go to her school.  Lizzie CAN NOT wait to go to school.  Millie on the other hand is just fine staying with me! I am not sure of this boy’s name but I caught him lovin’ on Sall Sall Her class and teacher, Mrs. Davis.  The kids wanted to hold up the 9 cupcake toppers in the pic Sallie with Mrs. Fox who is over the special ed program.  She is GREAT!!! Sallie and her best friend Hanna! Mondays are long days.  Sallie has therapy an hour away so it is 8 or so before we get home.  After all her fun yesterday she was really exhausted but not too much for opening presents!  Here she is discovering her boots from Nanna and Grandy She loved her throw from the little girls Tearing into her package from Nonnie and crew.  Lizzie is looking to see if there is anything for her!  Love this dress! She LOVES clothes and is such a DIVA!  She was up at 5:20 this morning trying on her new clothes and shoes!  She meant she was wearing this scarf to school today!    This is SO Sallie and I LOVE IT!!!

Sallie’s party is this weekend so more pics to come!