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Random Friday Post

Today I had one of the best mornings I have ever had. We woke up and got the kids ready to go see all of the "crazy" people at the mall but most importantly we got ready to see Santa for the very first time this holiday season!!!

Here is the best picture that I could get! Yes, I am the CHEAP mom that refuses to pay $49 for a package of Santa photos!!! Are you kidding me? So I stood where any respectable mom would stand... right at the duct taped line (that I wasn't allowed to go past!) From 20 feet away I was able to snap great pics! :) They had a blast and Ann Mason would have sat on Santa's lap for hours she was in awe!

Here is Ann Mason before she went to see Santa! She got lots of compliments on her candy cane stockings! I love having a girl to put tights on :)

Ok, so now for the random...

Do you remember the Turkey Cookies that I said I was going to make with Palmer? Well, I have never claimed to be Martha Stewart but this is downright embarrassing! I wish I could blame it on Palmer but all he did was eat the sprinkles and M&M's. These are all mine, baby!

Random #2... Look at what we caught Ann Mason doing the other day? Yes, she is cruising thru the whole house via her "walker" She is fast, she is good and she is sneaky! I can't believe that she can do this already? I am pretty sure we are going to have a walking little girl by Christmas!

Turkey Day

My little sis Ashley hosted her first ever Thanksgiving at her brand new house! She did a great job and everyone enjoyed themselves immensely! I realized that I didn't like not taking home left-overs though! I would rather make Thanksgiving dinner stick it in the fridge for 4 hours and then heat it up and eat it for the first time :) I am weird I know but T-day leftovers are the best, nothing beats it!

"The Ladies Man" Papaw with all of his daughters and grand-daughters

Aunt Fran and Amanda

Mom, Me and Ashley

Amanda and Ann Mason

Me, Ann Mason and Tex

(I love the face on Ann Mason... I have a feeling a will get many more of these when she is 13!)

Don't ask! Mommy got bored during our Thanksgiving Day game and gave in to Palmer's request for me to draw on his face :) I figured why not.. it is Thanksgiving! haha This is 3 minutes after we got in the car after Thanksgiving the kids were pooped!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving day surrounded by all of the blessings in their lives!

The Best Things Come in Small Packages!

After being in the house all day Wednesday we got a little "stir crazy" so we did what any normal family would do... we stuck Ann Mason in a diaper box and pulled her around the living room :) She LOVED it!

Thanksgiving Traditions...

Since Palmer is just getting old enough to start enjoying traditions and Ann Mason doesn't seem to care what we do as long as it includes food.... I have been brainstorming some ideas for Thanksgiving Traditions. I hope to add A LOT more over the years. Baby Steps is what I keep telling myself!

This is my last day of work this week and the kiddos and I are going to have some fun!!! First we are going to attempt these...

They are by far the simplest "turkey deserts" I have found thus far! And Simple is GOOD! I just worry I won't be able to find candy corns this time of year? I will post pictures of the finished product! Palmer is going to be in charge of decorating so something tells me they might not look just like these :)

For the first year ever we are starting the Elf on the Shelf tradition on Thanksgiving night! I can't wait to see Palmer's face when he is introduced to the Elf and names him ANY name he wants! Every night we read the book and every morning the elf comes back to our house and shows up in a different spot! Every one that has this tradition loves it and I can't wait to start it!

Tex and Palmer started this tradition last night... We usually get out the Polar Express around this time every year and Palmer is SO excited because he hasn't seen it since last Christmas which means we will most likely be watching this movie every night! It has become a forced tradition! haha

There are so many more Thanksgiving traditions that I want to do about being Thankful but I think that might be over the kid's heads right now! We are working on our prayers and they seem to enjoy those so that is a start!

May you all have a WONDERFUL and JOYOUS Thanksgiving Week!!! Safe traveling to those of you on the road!!!

Great Movie, Great Book!

I am just full of reviews today!!! I was privileged enough to see a GREAT movie and finish a GREAT book this weekend! Both of these were so inspiring that they must not go without mention!

The first review is the book: The Girls from Ames

I was honored to receive this book from an awesome friend Jenny. Inside she wrote "for no reason at all" and it couldn't have come to me at a better time!

Without giving too much away about this book I first must tell you that it hits SO close to home for me. This is a true story about 11 women from Ames, Iowa who have been friends for 40 years. It is a true story about the amazing bonds of women's friendships and how these bonds will see you thru the most heartbreaking sadness's and the most joyous of life's moments.

It hits close to home because I was blessed to have found 11 girls that I formed an amazing bond of friendship with in college. In a lot of ways our group of "girls" reminds me of The Girls from Ames and it made me realize how grateful I am for each and every one of those friendships!

This is a superb book to read or give as a gift to a friend, mother, grandmother or any other woman that has played a role in your life! Such an inspiring tale of the strength of women's frienship!

I have decided to pass this book to another girl in our circle with a message for them. My hope is that we can pass it around our circle of friends and recall all of the memories that we have shared and look forward to the future and making more memories!

Well, Tex and I actually got to go on our date night. None of the kids got sick at the last minute, no babysitters backed out (thanks to mamaw being here), etc... We started the night by seeing The Blind Side. I can't rave enough about this movie. I told you before that I am a sucker for these types of movies but anyone that doesn't love this film, I might have to question :) I seriously wanted to give Sandra Bullock a standing ovation about 5 times during the movie because she kicked butt! This is also a true story which is why it is even more inspiring! This would be a great movie for the whole family especially over Thanksgiving weekend! You will walk out of this movie feeling inspired and grateful!

Date Night!

Tex and I get to go on a real, official, un-interuppted (hopefully) date on Saturday! I know this doesn't sound like a big deal but it is to us! Thanks to Mamaw Kathy who is coming down tonight we get the WHOLE night to do anything we want tomorrow night! I am SO excited to spend some MUCH needed alone time with my husband!

Not sure where we are going to eat, we have been having this very discussion ALL week :) We can never decide! But one thing that we are for sure doing is going to see the movie Blindside!!! This stars Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw and is based on a true story! I am a total sucker for these types of movies and even shed some tears the first time I saw the previews! I can't wait!

I will make sure to post some reviews after we see it! I hope everyone has a great weekend!