I thought I would share our family Christmas cards with you. (seems like pictures is all I have time to post these days). I got so excited about all the different designs, I couldn't decided which one to send, so I sent out 6... ha! Which one is your favorite? (my fave is the first one... i think)
Well, it's officially here. I can't believe this year is almost over & Christmas is just around the corner. For some reason I've had a harder time getting into the spirit of the season. I really put off putting up the Christmas tree, still don't have out my outdoor decorations & I haven't played much Christmas music yet this season. Don't know why that is... maybe it's an off season for me or maybe it's because we get too busy with all the "stuff" of Christmas & forget the real reason of Christmas. Our pastor preached a great message on Sunday about getting back to the simple life. It's really worth the listen. You can hear it here. Scroll down to the bottom & click on Nov. 29.
We had a great Thanksgiving. I think it was a little hard getting back into the groove on Monday morning. The kids have it in their heads that school is done & don't understand why they have to do so much stuff & why they have homework. The break was much needed by all. We celebrated Thursday our traditional way. Me & the kids stayed in our pj's until almost lunch & watched the Macy's parade (well, I listened to it more than watched it) and I finished cooking for our meal. When Corby came home (annual YMCA Turkey Trot is every year on Thanksgiving morning) we headed to my Aunt Connie's house for our feast & the annual ride in cousin Brandon's army truck.
Kensley loves putting makeup on my aunt. She was covering up Connie's "blendishes" otherwise known as blemishes. 
Getting ready to head out in the army truck. 
I stayed at my parents for a few days. The kids got lots of time with PawPaw, which they loved. Kensley even got him to stay in bed one morning until 11:30 watching Pink Panther cartoons! Me, Mom, my aunt & cousin all did our yearly Saturday shopping trip. We fought the crowds, found some good deals, ate a fabulous lunch & wore ourselves out. Sunday afternoon was the Boiling Springs Christmas parade. We all had a great time waving at our friends & getting candy. Kensley shouted to every person dressed as santa that she wanted a babydoll high chair for Christmas. I'll be anxious to see if she will actually sit on Santa's lap this year. She's pretty adamant about telling everyone that's what she wants, so I'm sure she will let me know some way, shape or form.
So here's to the season of love... may we remember the true love that this season brings. The love of our Savior. The one born on this day...
I'm sure you've gathered by now that I love to take pictures. Every opportunity I can take some shots, I'll take advantage of it. Here's some pics of the kids having fun on on the trampoline. 
She looks a little mischievous to me... hmmm, wonder what she's thinking? 
I don't know why I find this so fascinating, but we have lots of wild animals that live in our backyard. I guess it's because we live in the city... literally, in the city limits & not in the back woods of the city. We have a very small patch of woods behind our house, but when all the leaves are off the trees, you can see the houses that are behind us. A pack of deer have made home in these woods for years. We see them all of the time in our yard. Today, I spotted a mama & her baby
then another deer came out behind them... not sure if it's the aunt, grandma, uncle... who knows, but they all 3 cooperated rather nicely for this shot
We've had some strange rodents around our house too. The other day this praying mantis (huge by the way) sat on our window seal the entire day.
It's November & getting chilly. Yay! This puts me in the mood for the holidays. I've started working on Christmas cards & wanted to share a few designs that I've done so far.
These are wedding programs I just finished for some friends who are getting married today. They really turned out pretty!
I'm doing the next 3 pictures for a class at GWU next week for one of the residence halls. I did a card class in February & the girls loved it! So we are going with a Christmas theme this time.
I'm a sucker for snowmen. I think I could make the majority of my holiday cards using them. I just love this little snowman... so cute
A new tree stamp that I bought. Still trying to figure out what I want to do with it. 
...tonight that I'm fat. (This was in reference to my comment about feeling bloated while I was fixing dinner.) Thanks Carter... for that supportive "word" of encouragement...to get me off my lazy bum & do something about it. He just didn't stop there. Oh no. He asked if I was pregnant..."because it's looks like you could be Mom". Okay, point taken. REALLY well.
I guess I know what I need to do tomorrow.
We returned yesterday from our annual trip with Corby's family... all 22 of us! We had a great time... rented a big cabin in the beautiful mountains of Pigeon Forge, TN. We declared it a Country-Western themed weekend & celebrated Halloween with lots of fun. Here's only a few pictures from our weekend.
All dressed up for Halloween
PapPaw & MamMaw (rodeo cowboy & Cowgirl Fiona)
We had plenty of activities for the kids on Halloween day...
pumpkin decorating
Aunt Amanda made monster mash, MamMaw Wanda cooked up a witches brew, Corby & Wendy told the kids they found a dead bear & had some bear parts for the kids to feel & taste,
The kids had the hot tub to play in
We had a few visitors next door... they seemed to want our food
We celebrated my nephew's 12th birthday (Adam)
Played lots of dress up...
And finished the weekend with a go-cart race. 
We had a great time!
