Holiday Happenings

Good evening dear friends!  I hope each and every one of you have had a great day and had something to make you smile.

I am doing a little catch up post to update you on a few of our holiday activities we have done already.

Isn't it hard to believe that Christmas is only three weeks away!  Eeeekk!  Are you ready?  I am not.  I have most of Darbee's done, but that's it.  Nothing for hubby.  Nothing for my parents.  Nothing cooked.  Yikes!  This girl better get busy!

I haven't got too much done in the last week.  My father in law's funeral was last Sunday.  Darbee woke up that morning not feeling good.  Wasn't sure what was going on.  She made it to the funeral and sat with Nana and Papa but wasn't herself the rest of the day.  That evening, she started running a fever and had a congested cough.  The next day was rough.  She was so sick.  Fever, cough, sore throat.  The doctor couldn't get her in that day, so that evening, we headed to a new kids urgent care clinic that just opened.  That place is FABULOUS!  They gave her juice while we waited and are sooooo good with the children.  Turns out, she had the flu! Luckily, she was in the time window to get Tamiflu, so after one dose, she was good.  She was much better the next day.

By that evening, I had a little cough and was feeling pretty rough myself.  I ended the night with a 102 fever and chills.  I knew I had it too!

I headed to the doctor the next morning and yup...I had it too!  I too headed home with some Tamiflu.  Hubby had the flu shot but he ended up with it as well.  Ugh!  We had a rough week last week!  Not too much got done.  Darbee was out of school until Thursday.  She was well enough to go and I was so glad she was.

Her class had been invited to sing at Barnes and Noble that morning.  It was the cutest thing.  They did soooo good!

Aren't they cute?  It's really hard to dress your VERY hot natured child in

Christmas clothes when it is 70 degrees outside!  She can't get too hot or she will get sick. 

I am soo ready for cooler weather!  How can you get in the Christmas spirit when it is 75 degrees outside?

This is her teachers.  Ms. Shanna and Ms. Amanda.

They had motions for every song they sang.  They were hilarious!

On Saturday, it was Dec. 1, so our elf came back!

Darbee has been so excited for his return and wondering when the big day was going to ever get here! 

Early Saturday morning, the doorbell rang.

Darbee ran to the door but stopped when there was no car in the driveway.  I told her it was okay this time to open the door because "I just thought I saw the FedEx truck go by."  Maybe they had left us a package.  Hehehe!

They sure had!  It was all the way from the North Pole!

Can you tell she was just a little excited???

Oh yea. It was wonderful.

Just this one time taking him out of the box, she was allowed to hold him.

She was so happy to see him.

The box was also full of chocolates, the Elf on the Shelf movie 

and a letter from Santa!

Straight from Santa's desk!

She was one happy girl!

Elmer now resides in our house.  He moves every night and leaves prizes.  

It is so fun!

So far, he is being a bit mischevious!

The first night, he decided he was thirsty and wanted some orange juice!

The next night, just look at what he did!  He decorated our Christmas tree

with Darbee Rae's panties!  What a goofy elf!

She thought this was the funniest thing ever!

Last night, Darbee wanted to make some coffee filter snowflakes.

She learned how to make them and then made a million!

Elmer must have liked them because he hung all of them on the blinds this morning.

They were everywhere!

He is such a funny elf!

We have a lot of fun with him!

And last of all, our annual Christmas parade was Sunday. 

It is always a family tradition to go watch it.  It is so much fun.  Only this year, it wasn't cold.  It was in the low 70's!  

We had fun anyway!

It was weird wearing short sleeves and capris!  :)

Darbee Rae had fun with her camera too!  She had to take pictures of all of the floats she liked.  

She is just like me with a camera!  :)  

Watching for the parade to come!

This was the best float!  It was blowing out real snow!

I just love the look on her face when she saw Santa coming.

There he is!

We are having a happy holiday season so far!  I hope all of you are too.

Until next time!

Ornament Swap at Bumble Bee Lane

I guess it's better late than never right?  There has been so much going on lately, I haven't had time to share my ornaments I received in the ornament swap that Amy hosted over at Bumble Bee Lane.

I was so excited when hubby brought my package in!  Darbee Rae was excited too.  We quickly tore into it to see what we got!

The ornaments are already on our tree!  We love them all.

This little wax Santa was from Amy at Bumble Bee Lane.

He is adorable and smells oh so yummy!

I loved this star!

It fit perfectly on my primitive tree. 

It was from Marsha over at Tattered Chick.  I have never

visited her site until now and can't wait to get to know her!

This little gingerbread man is so cute!  He smells heavenly!

It was from Theresa over at Dulaney Woods Treasures.

She is yet another blogger whom I have not visited and can't wait to get to know!

What a fun swap and a fun way to meet new friends!

Thanks Amy for hosting this swap.  It was so much fun!

Until next time.....

Heaven has a new angel....

Hello dear friends.  I am hopping on for a minute to let you all know why I will be absent from blogland for a few days.  My dear father-in-law passed away early yesterday morning.  He fought so hard but just couldn't overcome his illness.  He and hubby were pretty close, so he is taking it pretty hard, but we all are o.k. We have explained things to Darbee Rae and she is ok.  She asked me yesterday morning, "Does he have his angel costume on now? He can do things now that he couldn't do here right?"  That's right baby girl.  He is happy and healthy now.   The family is all meeting at our house each day and there are visitors in and out, so I am pretty busy.  Thank you all for your sweet comments and thoughts and prayers.  Will be back soon!

P.S. - I received my ornaments from the ornament swap over at Bumble Bee Lane.  I LOVE them!  I will be sure and post pictures soon.

Wee Feast

Good afternoon everyone!  I am sorry for the lack of posts lately.  Things have been pretty rough here and very unpredictable.  My father-in-law is no better and was moved from the hospital to a hospice facility yesterday.  It is so sad.  He is screaming out in pain and begging to die.  They are giving him Dilaudid in as strong of doses as they can give him and it only takes the edge off the pain.  There is no medicine stronger that that....not even morphine. I am so sad for hubby having to watch his dad die like this.  It's terrible.  We can only pray for God to have his will and take him soon.  The family is so ready to see him peaceful. He does know everyone to an extent and for that we are thankful.  They have all had a chance to say their goodbyes.  Please continue to pray for him and our family.

On a lighter note, Darbee Rae's school had a Thanksgiving "Wee Feast" on Tuesday.  She has been talking about it for weeks as they were learning songs and preparing in their classroom.  Anyone could attend, so Nana, Aunt Kathy and I came along.  Hubby was at the hospital, but surprised Darbee and showed up too.
It was precious.  The children were Indians.  They had made costumes during school and wore them to the feast.  The adults who attended were pilgrims and were given hats and collars for the ladies.  It was too cute.

They had everything decorated so cute. The kids marched in to a drum beat and took their spots in a large circle around a pretend campfire and sprinkled hay.

They had a program of songs they sang.  

For one song, they had to skip around the circle pretending they were Indians doing and Indian dance.

They were all so cute.

After the performance, parents were invited to take part in a buffet Thanksgiving lunch.

Each child had their own spot where their family were to gather around.  The place settings were so cute.

I love seeing what my kid is thankful for....Ha!  Herself!  (smile)

The food was delicious and a good time was had.

Here is my little Indian "Princess Smiling Sun."

Until next time......

Special Request

Good morning everyone.
I know what great prayer warriors you all are and I come asking a favor.
My FIL has been struggling with the shingles for nearly 2 months now.  They have been terrible.  He has been hospitalized twice with unbearable pain.  The other day (I think it was Monday) they found him in the floor at his home.  He had fallen and was bleeding and was very confused.  They took him to the hospital thinking he had had a stroke.  The CT scan has ruled out a stroke, but he can't swallow at all.  They are now saying that he has had such a bad case of shingles and the nerve damage is what is affecting his swallowing.  He also has developed pneumonia.  Hubby was called this morning to come.  He was having a lot of trouble breathing.  He is now in ICU on a ventilator. They are saying he needs to be sedated and able to rest so he can hopefully gain some strength. Please say a prayer for him and our family.  Hubby has 4 brothers and sisters and it is tough having to make these decisions.  Also pray for guidance for me.  Darbee Rae knows he is sick and in the hospital, but I have been very careful what I say.  She made the comment to me yesterday that she hopes Granddaddy doesn't die.  Ugh.....tough situation.  Thanks to you all.

Thanks Brenda!

Good morning!  It's chilly here this morning. 

I had a nice surprise in the mail this weekend and had to share with all of you.

Brenda over at The Rusty Thimble has been doing a lot of giveaways lately!

She has been giving away an ornament a week.  I was the lucky winner of week one.

I was thrilled when I found out I won.  I just love the little santa guy. 

Darbee was just as excited as I was.  She couldn't wait to tear open the envelope. 

Just look at this cute packaging!

This little Santa is going to have a special place once I get out all of my Christmas decor.

Oh yes...he is adorable!

I am working on getting everything out and will share with you soon!

If you haven't visited Brenda's blog, head over there now and say hello! 

You can also enter for this week's giveaway!

What are you waiting for?  Go now! Click Here!

Thanks Brenda!  

Until next time....

Halloween is done....

Good morning friends.  I am enjoying a good hot bowl of cheese grits this morning.  Do you like grits?  Cheese ones are my favorite!  

Halloween was a super busy day is our household.  It was a  lot of fun though.  We started early by getting Darbee Rae all dressed in her costume. They were wearing costumes to school.  She thought that was the best thing ever! 

They were trick or treating around their school that morning.  They went from room to room collecting candy.  Then, they had a Halloween party.  I went to that. I think I was just about as excited as she was!  

It was also Ms. Amanda's birthday. (Her teacher's assistant)

I made her a cute cup and filled it with chocolate!

We wrapped it up all cute and Darbee took it to her.  

She came home the day before all excited about them planning to make witches stew on Halloween.  They made it while I was there. It was so cute.

Each parent sent in an ingredient.  There was the cutest poem that went with it that Ms. Shanna read while they added the ingredients.

They turned out the lights to add some extra spook. (SMILE)

Each family is required to sign up to do a party during the year.  I luckily got the Christmas party.

The parent for the Halloween party did a great job!

I love this picture.  

She really looks like she is enjoying that cupcake huh? LOL

As soon as the party was done, Matthew's mom and I took them out and went a few blocks up to the court square for the munchkin masquerade.  All of the downtown shops have trick or treating for the little ones.

Darbee Rae and Matthew had so much fun!

They were so cute holding hands the entire time. 

We enjoyed lunch with Matthew and his mom afterward.  

After a nap, Darbee was ready to go again.  We headed out up our street trick or treating again that evening.  Do you think we had enough candy?  Oh yea.  Still do. 

It was such a fun day!

Today, all of these Halloween/fall decorations are coming down and headed up to the attic once again.  I am pulling down the Christmas decor and plan on getting started!  Yippppeeee!

Until next time....