Black Friday 2008

Yes, I did go shopping.  Yes, I did get up at 4 AM.  4 AM!  And yes, I did score a few deals, but really - I should have just stayed home this year as I scored this - on Amazon.com at 4:05 that morning.  They went on sale at 12AM PST, so for us on the east coast that is 4AM.  And lucky for me, I had signed up for Amazon texting service, so they would text me as soon as one/it became available.  AND I paid the same price as I would have if I would have stood in line at Walmart for HOURS. 

However, I did still go to walmart to get a few deals.  I did go a little overboard though - so about $100 worth of stuff is going back.  Actually, I realized that I really didn't want to give some of the kids the gifts I got, and that I could have gotten them something that they would really like (hopefully) for not that much more...

This was the big score of the day:

And this was the icing on the cake:

Then I went a little crazy and bought 4 games, 2 'classic' wireless remotes, and the remotes that go with the sports.  Now we cannot go grocery shopping for 2 weeks - oh well - we should have plenty to eat here in the house, and it will be worth the sacrifice.  Oh, btw - I did purchase the Wii console with my profits from my Uppercase Living sales, I'm so proud of myself.  However, that 'extra' account is now empty.  Time to have some more parties I guess...but without that extra money - purchasing the wii would have been too far out of our budget this year.  So for that, I'm thankful!

When was the last time you backed up?

Just a friendly reminder - backup your computer/pictures soon.  My last backup was about a year ago...until today that is.  :)  Of course, I upload to an online location every few months - but I think it is still important to have all the originals on a DVD (CD). 

Our Christmas Tree

This is one of my favorite things - plugging in the Christmas Tree.  Especially early in the morning before anyone else is up and it is still dark.  I love the way it makes the house 'glow'.  We leave it plugged in most of the time when we are home, but whenever it is dark - that is when it is special to me. 

I took this picture first thing this morning...

As you can see - only the top half of the tree is really decorated.  Peyton was having issues staying away from the ornaments (and some were breakable) so we decorated the bottom with just a few bows and plastic balls.  Of course, they are missing most of the time as he decorates the tree almost daily.

He also has issues with going behind the tree...sneaky little bugger!

Thankful

What am I thankful for?

This year has been pretty rough, and it just seems to be getting worse...but these things are what keeps me grounded and positive.

1. My family

2. Our health

3. Church and my Relationship with God

4. Our Home

5. My job

I did this layout this AM.  You can read the text if you go to flickr (just click on the image and it will take you there).  I just took this picture of our house a few days ago - after Eric trimmed all the bushes.  And I have used this picture of Eric and Peyton a few times, but it is one of my favorites from the past year - so I had to use it again. 

Happy Thanksgiving.

More bad news

We found out Monday that Eric's mom has lung cancer.  She didn't really tell us the details or how bad it was, just said 'it has been there awhile' - so I'm nervous that she isn't telling us the whole story.  Eric is very upset.  His sister is going to the doctor with her on Monday (she will also start Chemo Monday) - and she is going to get more information for us.  Paula is a great grandmother and mother - and she lives for God everyday, so I know she will keep her attitude positive and pray for a miracle!

Peyton's 2y Checkup

Of course, I'm behind posting his stats - he was 29 lbs 9ozs and 34 inches tall.  He has grown a bit in the last few months - but at the same time, he has finally been in one shoe size for longer than 2 months as well.  He can still wear his size 8's that we bought in the summer.  I do think he is ready for an 8.5 though, as the 9's are way to big...

You can see the progress in our wall chart.  I'm marking his height on the wall in our laundry room.  A tradition that we had growing up at my grandma's house.  Of course, I hope to line the marks up better next time...but working with a 2year old can be a challenge any time we want them to be STILL.

Peyton's favorite things lately - they are about the same as before...but he is loving the show Wow Wow Wubbzy and his Mr. Potato Head...of course, I think books are still his ultimate favorite.  We can't go through a night without him taking them ALL out and wanting us to read the books to him! 

This weekend

We had a crop at the church - the first one I've organized since we started going to the new church - and it went very well.  11 people came - which is the largest turn out yet.  I reserved the church on a recurring basis (once per month) - and I hope that it just gets better and better!!!  I got 11 layouts completed, which is the largest number I have ever done at a crop.  AND i wasn't even prepared.  SCORE!

My dad is visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday.  He has been here since last Thursday night - and he came to church and Sunday School with me.  We also watched 'Journey to the center of the earth'.  I thought it was a good movie - but the 3D glasses just didn't work for me.  Only parts of the movie were in 3D and the glasses were hurting my head (headache) - so I missed most of the parts that would have been in 3D. 

Eric went to the Falcon's game this Sunday, and guess what, he got an upgrade!!!  NO FAIR!!!  this was the game of the season that i was supposed to get to go to (vs. Carolina our biggest rival)...but we had no babysitter.  Anyway - our seats are in the upper level, he got upgraded to floor seats only 4 rows back.  He said it was awesome.  And of course, he didn't have the camera.  He took some pictures on his phone, but those are horrid!

Tomorrow I'll be going in for another 3m checkup at Emory to check on my arm and make sure my tumor isn't coming back.  My arm has been hurting a lot lately, and I'm really hoping that it is just due to the cold and all the metal I have in my arm.  But, that makes me nervous about everything...

And last night (this AM) was horrible.  Peyton woke up at 1:09 (to be exact) wanting juice, and he never went back to sleep.  Well, he just dosed off like 10 minutes ago - but i fought with him for 3 hours trying to get him to sleep...at least he was just rolling around in the bed.  But around 4:30 I had had enough and I was getting very close to losing my cool - so we got up.  He finally fell asleep watching Wow Wow Wubbzy a few minutes ago.  Today is going to be horrible...since I got approximately 3 hours of sleep - IF THAT.

Very Scary

My Mother in Law has been in the hospital since last Sunday with pneumonia.  Yesterday they decided to drain the fluid from her lungs because she hasn't been getting much better - and her lungs were full of blood.  Over a liter of blood!  Apparently she had a pulmonary embolism which is what caused the pneumonia and her severe pain in her side.  Very scary.  Most people die instantly when they have a pulmonary embolism (blood clot that breaks loose and travels through the body to the lungs).  We are very lucky and thankful that she is ok, but now she will have to have lots more tests and has already started taking blood thinners.  The doctors said that she would  hopefully be out of the hospital before Thanksgiving, and we are hoping so!   We have been having a rough time with some things lately, but getting this kind of news puts everything in perspective and makes what we thought were problems seem like nothing.

A Long Week

How can a short week turn into a long week?  Well, Monday was great b/c Tuesday was a holiday...but then Wednesday felt like a Monday and the whole week was sort of 'off' from that point.  Yesterday didn't feel like Friday because I had to go into work.  I have to build up some leave or I would go into the negative during the Thanksgiving holidays (2 whole days) and a doctor's appointment that same week in ATL.  So - I suffered through 5 hours this AM.  6-11am to be exact.  And I got a TON done.  It was so nice and quiet.

Monday was my birthday - had a great dinner at my Grandma's - that ended with Cheesecake!!!  Didn't get much for my birthday - just a bible cover from the Christian Bookstore and a few frames from Michaels that will be used for Peyton's 2 Yr pictures.  Eric's mom was going to watch Peyton for Eric and I to go out to dinner and a movie...but she has been very sick.  She has been in the hospital for almost a week now with pneumonia.  we are hoping that she will get to come home sometime next week.

I did finish my 'December Daily' Album, so it shouldn't be too hard to HOPEFULLY keep up with all the memories during the Christmas season.  I'm also working on my album/project for Jessica Sprague's online class 'Stories in Hand'.  It is coming along nicely!  Next Friday we will be having a crop at church, so I also need to start getting ready for that.

We put up our Christmas tree on Veteran's day - need to get a picture posted.  I know it is early, but I was ready to go ahead and get it up.  It takes so much effort to get everything down, put the tree up, decorate, etc - so I would like to enjoy it longer this year. I'm also ready to pack it all up - like the day after Christmas - so early is the only way to enjoy it longer.  Of course, only half of the tree is decorated, and we used 'plastic' balls for Peyton to put up on the bottom half.  Well, he is hoarding them as they are 'MINE' (his words).  He puts them up and takes them off almost everyday.  Good thing they were cheap!  He has snuck a chair over to the tree to try to reach some of the nice ornaments up top - such a smart, sneaky little bugger!

Sunday Project

A quick Sunday project.  I picked up this lovely framed picture at a yard sale Saturday for $3.00.  I was happy because I have been looking for a frame that was about this size for a while for this project - haven't found the 'right' one yet.  This one was close enough!!!

The BEFORE: Lovely 80's/90's framed flower.  Not too bad actually...

The after:  My beautiful cards from the Scrap ETC event this year (Jenni Bowlin's Class).  I just took out the matted picture, reversed it, used an old pillowcase and recovered the backing - glued my artwork in and staple gunned the mat back into the frame.  Time - about 1 hr.

The best part... The finished project hanging on the wall in my scraproom - for me to enjoy for a long time.  I loved the cards so, I'm glad that I figured out a way to display them instead of just sticking them on a piece of cardstock and into my albums as layouts. 

Jackpot

Scored the motherload at a yard sale today.  I hit about 10 yard sales, this was the last one...

Loaded up on Peyton winter clothes for this year, and the next 2 years.  And these are all NICE name brand, Osh-kosh, Gymbore, and Old Navy clothes.  Total Score.  28 clothing items - and about 10 pairs of good socks with the no-slide tread - for $65!!!  Oh, and I also got him a bouncy ball, 6 books, a Mr. Potato Head, A barrel of monkeys, a pluto stuffed animal and a goofy remote control car (saving that one for Christmas). 

I haven't had time this year to do this much - and this is one of my ultimate hobbies, so I will be on cloud nine with this major thrift for a while!!!

My Little Jedi

Since Peyton would have nothing to do with his Yoda ears - he was a Jedi. 

And a very cute, blue eyed Jedi at that!

One that didn't want to cooperate for pictures...

And who's Dad didn't cooperate for pictures either...

We only lasted about 45 minutes at the fall festival before Peyton (or should I say we) had had enough.  He did good during the trunk or treating, and the games inside, but that only lasted about 20 minutes - so we were then outside in the blow up jumping things - and then he only wanted to stay in the area for small kids for a very short time.  keeping him 'wrangled' in was a 2 person job, and he was constantly trying to 'break' free and go to the big kid area where he could get hurt, or where the pony riders were and stuff like that...so after about 30 min we (E and I) were tired!