TO A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEARS

WHAT CARRIER DO YOU LIKE???

I have been looking at baby carriers and there are just too many to choose from so I thought I would see if anyone had any suggestions on what kind I should purchase. I am open for any suggestions and comments. Thanks.

OH CHRISTMAS TREE I AM GLAD YOUR GONE

OK I ran out to get some storage containers and came back to find my husband cleaning out the storage room and putting up Christmas decorations!!! I couldn't believe my eyes, he had so much done in a short period of time. I immediately started to help. Brady had come home from his Chicago trip and had left to go to a friends house for a little lets see what Santa brought time so it was perfect. We have everything put away and organized except for the front door decorations which I will do when I get back from visiting my Dad. I love the decorations but I was ready for them to be gone. Its like as soon as the presents are out from under the tree I am ready to take it all away. It looks so nice and clean no clutter anywhere except for the playroom I will just deal with that later. I hope you all have a Happy New Year!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

We just got Brady to bed after a busy day. The child did not want to go to bed he is ready to go. We looked up where Santa was on the Nodar and he was in Charleston which is only a hour away so I think that made him think I better get to sleep. We had a big cookie party yesterday and the big guy himself showed up for the party. What a surprise. I will post pictures later. We then went to the movies and had dinner out. Today has just been some wrapping and hanging out then going to the Candle light service at our church. I have to say that is when I think our church is the prettiest. I love the candles and everyone singing. As far as Christmas Day goes we are up in the air as where to go after Santa and breakfast. We could go to Mikees Aunts or my Aunts or just surprise my Dad with a visit, whatever we do it will be short because I have to pack Brady for Chicago. He leaves on Wednesday with his Grandmother for a little trip. They plan on seeing the city and just having fun together. I know they will have a great time. Well I know it will be an early day so I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas from our home to yours!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS

ANNUAL CHRITSTMAS PAGENT

Tonight is the Christmas pageant at our church. Brady has been in it for the last three years as a shepherd this year he is a lead shepherd and has had a nap and not such a hectic day so hopefully no picture like this one this year. I remember this picture he was so tired that night he had had too much fun earlier in the day and was tired he sat there with his chin in his hand for a long time. My Aunt and Grandmother are coming tonight from Greenville to see the performance and Brady is excited about that and getting to have dinner with them. As busy as we all are I hope we can all remember the true meaning of Christmas. Have a great one.

HOLIDAY FUNNY

BEFORE I WAS A MOM

I got this in an e-mail today from my good friend Beth and I thought it was worth sharing with you all.

Before I was a Mom
Before I was a Mom I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests,
or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom -I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy. Before I was a Mom -I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

HAVE A GREAT SUNDAY

CHRISTMAS CARDS

It is that time of year again and I can't believe its here already. Don't get me wrong I love Christmas and everything that goes with it but I am so behind it isn't even funny. I have a long to do list for the weekend from getting my Christmas cards out to party invitations, Christmas Parade and shopping of course. I have already started this morning so its looking good! I have seen on a few other blogs postings of past Christmas cards so I scanned this one in from last year (the first picture was the inside of the card and the last the front) for you to enjoy. I would love to exchange cards with you bloggers that I have meet this year so e-mail me your address and I will do the same. Hope you all have a great productive weekend.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

There is just so much to be THANKFUL for that I don't know where to start. I am so THANKFUL for health, mine, Mikee's and Brady's. I have heard so many stories lately of children being sick and I mean terminally sick that it has made me THANK God daily for a healthy child. And after going to Philadelphia with my Dad for his treatment and seeing the young mothers, fathers and grandparents sitting there waiting to see the Dr or for their next treatment or surgery you really are THANKFUL.
I am THANKFUL for my family and the fact that we are a close one. We may not always agree but we are there for each other. I am THANKFUL for my husband, we grow closer each day through our walk in this crazy life we live. I am THANKFUL for our daughters Birth mother, she is going to give us the greatest gift any person could ever give us and I am so THANKFUL that she loves Lilly Rae that much. I can't imagine what she is going through. I have so much more to be THANKFUL for and could go on forever but I will save it for another THANKFUL THURSDAY. WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?

SPEND, SAVE and GIVE

OK I bought this today for Brady for Christmas and thought it was worth sharing. It is a kids bank with 3 compartments Spend, Save and Give. I love this! I have been trying to figure out and easy way to show him how to separate his money and this is it for me. I went shopping to do my Dads shopping for him and ended up doing allot of mine to. Yeah for me!!! I hate the crowds but love the Christmas decorations and music. I know I still haven't posted pictures of Thanksgiving I am a little slack with downloading them this week for some reason. I will catch up later, promise.

A GREAT TIME

Well my Dad is back in NC now and I am getting ready for the next round of guest that will be coming to go to the big USC game on Saturday night. They are our good friends and old neighbors from Simpsonville. We haven't seen them in a while so this will be a nice visit. I will post pictures when everyone is gone of the fun Thanksgiving day with my Dad, I am so Thankful that he could come and spend time with us he actually said today that this trip did him some good. Yeah!!!

HAPPY TURKEY EVE

So I am almost ready for my Dad and Alice. They will be here around 5:30 today and I am still so excited that they are coming. I hope you all have a blessed holiday with family and friends.

GETTING READY FOR MY DAD

OK so I just talked to my Dad and he said he was coming tomorrow! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. So I have to get busy sanitizing/cleaning everything and I am going to be taking the dog over to my cousins to stay. With his last round of chemo he can not be around any new animals so since Chrissy doesn't live with him she is considered new. Chrissy will not like this but she will get over it. My Aunt will be doing most of the cooking, thank heaven for her. It will be great to have everyone here especially my Dad. Happy Turkey Day to you all!

THANKSGIVING FUNNY

2007 FALL HARVEST FESTIVAL

Make a slide show, scrapbook or ecard

SUNDAY PRAYER FOR YOU

May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are
exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite
possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that
you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let His presence
settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing,
dance, praise and love. It is there for each and everyone of us.

I got this prayer this week from Aunt Vic and thought I would share it
with you all. Have a great Sunday!

UP ON THE HOUSETOP...

First let me say a big THANK YOU to Danielle for the makeover for my blog. She is wonderful and so nice to work with. And as for UP ON THE HOUSETOP... that is where I will be putting up wreaths. Today my two Aunts and Grandmother are coming to my house from Greenville to help me get started on decorating for Christmas. I will have the whole family here on Thursday for Thanksgiving yes even my Dad is coming here. YEAH!!!!! So I thought it would be nice to have Christmas up so he could see it. He hasn't seen our new house since the remodeling was finished. Hope everyone has a great weekend its getting cold here finally so its feeling like the holidays.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

(Brady made this at Church last night)

I haven't' done a Thankful Thursday in a few weeks so here it goes...

- I am so THANKFUL for my husband who is my Dads number one helper in his fight with cancer. Mikee has done a ton of research and has taken time away from his demanding job (even when he really needed to be there)to be with us at Dr appointments and trips to new Dr's. Things like these make you see how much someone really loves you.

-I am so THANKFUL that I have a healthy, happy son, Brady. He is the greatest gift to us. He makes me laugh!! He just goes with whatever is going on, which makes life allot easier. He is going to make a great big brother!!!

-I am THANKFUL for my church family. We were very blessed to have moved here and picked the right church the first visit. We have a new Pastor who is young, excited and great. He has really reached out to me and my family during this hard time.

-I am THANKFUL that I took my Aunt to the Dr and she is OK, just under stress with a daughter getting married, remodeling a house, keeping up a farm, working a full time job and my Dad being sick. She needs to take better care of herself.

-I am THANKFUL for friendship. What a great gift. I had lunch with my Best Friend Kelly and spent a little time catching up while I was in Greenville. She has always been there for me. It is so nice to know that you have true friends.

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR???????

MY DAD

Today is the day no more waiting, my Dad will get his new round of Chemo. It will be 2 rounds in 1 day, which he has never had before. This one will be stronger and could possibly have some side effects that he has never experienced before (sores in mouth, really sick and etc...). I pray that none of these will effect him and that he will be comfortable in the weeks to come after the chemo. The holiday season is fast approaching and I have asked my family to come to our house for Thanksgiving (don't worry my Aunt Joan will be doing the cooking) and I am praying that my Dad will feel like being here. I am going to decorate the house for Christmas before Thanksgiving which I don't normally do but I want my Dad to see it. He has not been to our new house since we finished it and I think Christmas decorations are wonderful, bright and cheerful. Please pray that God will have his hands on my Dad this week and for the weeks of treatment to come.

WHY MEN SHOULD NOT TAKE MESSAGES

I got this in an e-mail the other day and thought it was to funny not to share. All I can say is at least this poor guy tried, my husband WILL NOT answer the phone!! DRIVES ME CRAZY!!!

HEALTHY EATS

OK so I am trying to undo my doing. Most of you will know what I am talking about. The picky 8 year old. He will not eat anything green!!! I have done it to him I know by not making him eat greens but when you are running here and there its just easier to eat out and that means chicken and fries or pizza. So I have been trying to not do that but this week that is all we have done because Mikee has been gone since Sunday so eating out is just easier. We have even been eating breakfast out and to be honest with you I am sick of eating out myself so I know Brady must be. I need suggestions. I am not a great cook but I can when I have a good recipe or something I like. If you have any quick and easy good recipe's please share them with me. I am not eating out next week (but maybe once after the soccer game) is my goal!! Wish me luck.

LOVE THIS SONG

WHY YOU NEED TO VOTE

NATIONAL ADOPTION AWARENESS MONTH

WE ARE BACK

Well we had a great trip to the Cancer Treatment Center of America in Philadelphia. I highly recommend them. From making my Dads room and flight reservations to all the appointments (3 days worth) they were great. A very caring place to be. My dad meet allot of people who had no HOPE until they came to CTCA, which is how I think he felt but would never say. We are going to go back in two weeks for a new chemo, he will be there for three days and then come home and go back in three to four weeks for more chemo. We will do this as long as we need to. He really had a good trip I think, finally he is out of the house and doing something. We went out to eat at night and ate at the CTCA during the day. They had great food there, organic with a great juice bar. I could have eaten there the whole time. I wanted to thank you all who have been praying for my Dad, we really appreciate the prayer and I know he feels it. Well its time to play catch up on things since I have been gone.

SUNDAY QUOTE

HOPE

We will be taking my dad to Philly on Sunday to see some new Doctors on Monday. We are full of hope for some good news. Please remember him in your prayers, he was diagnosed with small cell cancer in June of this year in his lungs, liver and esophagus and has been doing chemo since July. He is a very kind sweet man even if he is my Dad. As you can see in this picture even when he lost his hair and so much weight he was still trying to make us smile. And those aren't his teeth either! I will post when we return on how it went. Have a great Halloween!!!

LIFE

Right now I feel like I am on a crazy ride. With my Dad being sick(we leave on Sunday to take him to Philly to see some new Dr's), adoption issues (haven't felt like posting all that's going on with that), Brady's crazy schedule (which I love and am glad I have him to do it with, he is one of my biggest blessings in life), Mikees stressful job. Life is full of challenges and sometimes we get off track and want to give up, or at least I do. I think Mikee keeps preparing me for the worse, but it makes me very sad. I know we have to think about these things but I don't like to. It causes stress in your relationships with the people you love the most at home and outside. Today is rainy and I was going to go to Gville with Mikee but I decided to just stay here. Which by the way I am sure he didn't like that i did that. If I didn't have a few things I must get done like pay my car tax's before I get stopped and they see my sticker is overdue I would not leave this house!!! Do you ever have days like this or is it just me. The things are getting to me I need something to take my mind off of them. I need a hobby. Send me some suggestions. I guess I will get dressed and pay those taxes now. Hope you all have a safe and happy weekend.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I am thankful that my child goes to a school where prayer is allowed and encouraged. I was talking to a lady in a gift shop yesterday about these little coupon books of prayer that she had by the register when she told me the story behind them. A mother of three made the book because she wanted her children to have something to read during their silent time in the morning at school, she tears out one each day then at night they discuss what it means. Neat idea! I bought one (of course) to use for nightly devotions with Brady. Hope you all have a THANKFUL THURSDAY.

THE PUMPKIN PRAYER

I found this on another blog and thought it was awesome. We will be carving our pumpkin like this this year.

The Pumpkin Prayer
Dear God,

As I carve my pumpkin help
me say this prayer:

Open my mind so I can learn about You;
(Cut the top of the pumpkin) - Colossians 3:2

Take away all my sin and forgive me
for the wrong things I do.
(Clean out the inside) - 1 John 1:9

Open my eyes so Your love I will see;
(Cut eyes shaped like hearts) - Psalms 34:8

I'm sorry for turning up my
nose to all You've given me.
(Cut a nose in the shape of the cross) - Psalms 92:1

Open my ears so Your word I will hear;
(Cut ears shaped like the Bible) - Isaiah 55:3

Open my mouth so I can
tell others You're near.
(Cut mounth in the shape of a fish) - Psalms 118:17

Let Your light shine in all
I say and do! Amen.
(Place a candle inside and light) - Matthew 5:16
"Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good works and glorify your
Father in heaven."

COMMUNITY

The other day Brady and I had a talk about doing nice things for your neighbors, so we decided to make some peanut butter cookies for them. I told him to pick 5 families to make cookies for. He did the whole thing himself. We took cookies to the widow down the street, the babysitters family and several others including Brady's orthodontist. It was a good time for Brady to ring the door bell and say I made these for you JUST BECAUSE!!! At Brady's school they really talk allot about community so I am enforcing that at home as well. On a Oprah show this summer she did a series of get out and meet your neighbors and do something nice for them. We didn't go to the extreme of redoing all their patios like Oprah did but the cookies were a big hit. Have a good Tuesday!

HELPING OTHERS

Saturday was the Habitat for Humanity ground breaking for the Cox (my husbands family business) house. My husbands family business has decided to build a house. The sweet young lady has six children and is really a hard worker and come a long way in the program. It was so awesome to meet her and talk to her on Saturday. It makes me very thankful for what God has given me and even though I do for others it makes me want to do more. I have attached a few pictures for you to enjoy. I did not stay and work on Saturday I will be there on the painting day. You could say that I like instant gratification.

HAPPY SUNDAY

FUNNY

Stole this over at the Seventh Diamond blog (which is great by the way) and thought I would share it. Pretty funny!!

THREE THANKS ON THANKFUL THURSDAY

1. My family
2. My health
3. My loving friends

What are your THREE THANKS??

BRADY'S HAUNTED HOUSE

LAST NIGHT BRADY AND I MADE OUR ANNUAL HAUNTED GINGERBREAD HOUSE. HE DID A REALLY GOOD JOB AND HAS GREAT IDEAS. I HAVE ATTACHED A FEW PHOTOS. ENJOY!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Mikee took me to see Hairspray the musical at the Koger Center as a little birthday celebration. It was great. Made you want to get up and dance!! We had a fun night especially when we got home and had Billy there to get you going. When Billy and I get together we can be very silly. Enjoy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR BEST FRIEND

Happy 30th birthday Kelly. I love you and wish you many, many more. And good lucky on Monday!

THANKFUL THURSDAY

If someone were to ask me today "WHAT AM I THANKFUL FOR?" I would say my family. God has blessed me in so many ways but what I am most thankful for is a loving and giving husband (not only to me but to my family and others in our community) and a healthy, happy child. We sometimes get so caught up in out day to day lives that we forget what we have right at home. Being with the McDaniel's family this week and experiencing their loss of their daughter really made me think about the time we have with our children. Brady is 8 and so in 9 years he will be off to college, in the big picture that isn't long. Give your kids that extra hug spend that extra time even when you are in a hurry. WHAT ARE YOU MOST THANKFUL FOR??