A Little Behind...

Jalen has been having lots of fun with his Christmas countdown. I have still been taking pictures every day, I just haven't had time to upload them to the computer. He's gotten lots of things from candy to donuts to cookie cutters to a painting cook. One thing in common, is his love for finding the things and doing them. Last night we had fun in the rain getting some Goodberry's and sitting in the car watching Christmas lights. It was fun and Jalen was amazed. It's like this year he is really tuning in to what is going on. This weekend it is my goal to finish Christmas shopping...

I finish school -- yay! Well, just for this semester, but next year I will be graduating around this time which is super exciting for us.

Jalen was supposed to have his Christmas play and party today, but unfortunately, Wake County delayed 2 hours, which cancels his school. I was bummed. I was looking forward to it so much and Nick was even able to get off. :(

Snow Dog!

Izzy's first snow! She didn't know what to do. She tried to throw it around and eat it. It was cute :) She's such a spoiled dog, but a great dog..

Drawer 23

Santa dropped a Tom and Jerry ornament while he was trying to get out the chimney! It's too cute and Jalen loves it on his little tree...

Drawer 24!

Santa dropped by and brought some candy canes and some candy! Jalen was super excited to look in his hood and see what he dropped!! This is so much fun...

Best Friends!!

This makes my heart melt!

A Day at Grandpa's!

Last Sunday I watched Salah for awhile and we headed over to Grandpa's to see Ryan and Grandpa for awhile. All the kids had a blast and it was so much fun to see them all playing together. We were all worn out after though! Everyone got their feel of cookies, juice boxes, etc.. What happens at Grandpa's stays at Grandpa's!!

Our 2010 Tree

I love our beautiful Christmas tree!!

Note: The 2 branches with 12 angels were due to Jalen's decorating. Though it looked great and was very cute, I did have to move them so that they would not break and I had angels in other spots.

New Traditions! Drawer 25...

This year I painted an advent calendar for Jalen and decided that each day we would do a clue, hopefully that would rhyme, and send Jalen on an adventure through the house to find the item Santa left for him while seeing if he was good. Today was the first day and Jalen loved doing it. He found some Toy Story 3 pajamas for him. He was so excited seeing as everyone at school loves Toy Story 3 and he knows what they're talking about... So glad he will enjoy this!!

Oh Little Christmas Tree!!

Every year Jalen puts up his little Christmas tree in his room! It's cute to see it up because it grows each year -- from Elmo to Scooby to Cupcakes to Tom and Jerry and Curious George. I love seeing it and he glows when he puts it up! It's hard to believe that it is this time of year again...

My Little Pilgrim

Jalen had a Thanksgiving feast at his school and he was a pilgrim. He looked so cute and had a blast with all of his friends eating turkey, cheese and crackers, grapes, carrots (well, not Jalen), and cupcakes!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving -- today is a day to give thanks to God, but just remember that it is important to do so everyday as we are all very blessed.

Thanks to each of you who are in our lives and continue to support, love, and be there for us!

Shutterfly

Christmas time is around the corner and people are always wondering what to buy that special someone or that hard to buy person who has everything? One place that I can honestly recommend that will be a one-stop shop is Shutterfly. Shutterfly offers numerous photo gifts from stationary to photo books. One of my personal favorites is the photo books. I gave Jalen a photo book for his birthday one year that was an ABC book. For each letter, I did photos that corresponded to that letter. He loves looking at it and seeing the things he loves most, while learning his ABCs. Another photo book I did was for Grandpa - we did "I love my Grandpa because..." and put all the different reasons Jalen loves his Grandpa. It was truly a hit and Grandpa loves it. To check out the photo books go to http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books.

In addition to the photo books, Shutterfly has an array of other items that are just as great. To check them out go to www.shutterfly.com. Shipping is fast and affordable, too! :)

Have a great holiday season!!

Thankful Tuesday

Life is full of curves and I think we all have found that out the hard way. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, which is still hard to believe, and it is the time of the year you're supposed to be thankful for all that you have -- I am thankful every day! I'm thankful that God has blessed me with the life He's blessed me with. Every now and then, my life throws me some curve balls and I wonder how I'm going to get through, but I do. I'm thankful for the wonderful family I have. It's amazing and I'm so blessed to have family members who care and love me and my family through anything and everything. I'm thankful for true friends. Friends who stick by your side no matter what you have going on. I'm thankful for a job. I'm thankful for a home. I'm thankful for ... I could go on forever. Take a moment to give thanks for all that you have every day, not just at Thanksgiving!

Monkey/Burger Anyone?!

Fishing

Every time we go to Grandma's we talk about getting him a fishing pole. I went to Wal-Mart and found one and surprised him when we got here! He had a blast fishing.. he caught 3 fish -- a big, medium, and small. So proud of him!!! He even kissed his first fish. He was smiling ear to ear!

Banana

At the fair they had where you could take pictures with the Chiquita Banana sign, so of course we did it and they turned out great :) Everyone is actually looking!!

Best Friends

Perfect Pair

My favorite hamburger and hot dog! :)

State Fair

We adventured out to the State Fair twice this year and two times too many :) Just kidding... I'm not a big fair person, don't like the crowds and think it is germ filled, but we survived. Jalen loves playing the games. We didn't do any rides! $3 for a kid's ride and the parents have to pay too?! YEAH, RIIIGHT!!

Great Wolf Lodge

Family Pictures