Christmas at our house

Sorry for the quality of a few of these pictures, I'm still playing with different settings on my camera.

New-fallen snow

"Gave the lustre of midday to objects below." I was dressing Abigail for bed after her bath and she recited almost all of The Night Before Christmas, I am truly amazed. We have been reading Christmas books for the past few weeks with this being one of them but I had no idea she knew it word for word until tonight.

The snow was beautiful today and we enjoyed the afternoon sledding around Hansford Circle and tasting snow flakes on our tongues. Abigail is such a girl after my own heart, she is in love with the snow just as her mother has always been. I worked a half day and then ventured to my parents for the afternoon. I walked in to their house which is not the home I grew up in but one that is starting to feel more and more like "home" all the time. Mama was baking brownies and had a roast in the crock pot and the house felt so CHRISTMASY. The Navy base closed early too so Robert met us and he, my dad, Abigail and I did some sledding and playing. Abigail's favorite part of the day was EATING the snow. She had several bowls at my parents and a pretty big one tonight after dinner. I think we need to invest in a Snoopy snow cone maker! :)

Hope your snow day was a fun one too! LOVES! xoxo

Good cheer!

This picture sums up Roberts day. He and some friends left at 5:30a.m. and were in a fishing tournament all day. No fish, not a bite, not even one little nibble!! So, they drank and drank and continued drinking through the evening. He and Michael showed up with double deuce's of Miller Light I think it was! NICE!

Abigail and I bundled up sans mittens (opps, I left them at home in her diaper bag and definitely could have used them today) and went to the Christmas parade this afternoon. My relay team had a bake sale and we did some face painting. It was cold and rainy but still fun nonetheless. Little did I know my dad was the grand marshall in the parade, he was SANTA CLAUS. I saw Santa coming but had no idea it was my dad until he yelled Merry Christmas Abigail, I screamed, "that's my daddy!" I was more excited than the children and probably ruined every child's Christmas that was within a mile proximity to us. My parents didn't tell me he was doing it because they wanted to surprise me, it was a great surprise! : )

After the parade we gathered at Stace and Ricky's house, it's so fun being with great friends this time of the year. My gracious, life has certainly taken a turn but a turn I would not change for one second. All of these precious babies are such a gift from God and I do not take one minute of this greatness for granted.

Abigail & Jess

Catelyn, Liam, Abigail and Callie

Grayson, Michael Alexander, & Liam

P.S. I painted the snowman on A's face! :)

G'night ~ XOXO

ERRRRKKKKK

Stop me in my tracks why don't you. I was blow drying my hair about an hour ago and when I turned the blow dryer off I heard Abby calling me. I walked into the living room and she said she was burping...meaning THROWING UP! YES, our day has come to a screeching hault! Poor baby threw up after I walked into the room again. I put her in the bathtub and she had chills from head to toe. She took a warm bath, we put on a comfy outfit and she had a popsicle. I took her temperature and it was 99.9 and she took the thermometer from under her arm before it beeped. So it was probably more like 100.

Necie is coming to sit with her while I run and get my hair trimmed. She's laying on the couch with blankie and bun bun watching Sesame Street. Hopefully no more throw up's!

XOXO

Today

We have a busy day in store.

1. I've already been to the Y and did my workout. My day began at 6a.m.
2. 2 waffles, coffee and milk.
3. Abigail was just running around the house yelling "I LOVE CHARLIE BROWN" "I LOVE CHARLIE BROWN"...that was how she expressed her excitement before coloring in her new Charlie Brown coloring book. : ) She is sitting across from me coloring away, she's getting really good at it.
4. Showered, not ready yet.
5. Library for Christmas story time in 1 hour.
6. Haircuts at noon.
7. Lunch
8. Nap (Abby, not me) I'm planning to wrap some presents.
9. Meet Robert to pass Abigail off to her daddy.
10. Christmas shopping and a Sam's run to check a few more things off the list!

That's our day! Hope yours is a keeper! LOVE to all of you. xoxo

Another one bites the dust

SANTA

Meet Santa Dan, he's been Santa since 1936, he is 87 years old. He was the original Miller & Rhodes Santa. Abigail wanted no parts of sitting on his lap this year, this was the best we could do to atleast get a picture of her with him.
She was holding on for dear life! Abigail was not too sure about sitting on the Snow Queen's lap either although the snowflake ornament captured her attention long enough for me to snap a picture.

Abigail & Robert looking at the trains, she was mesmerized. (I cannot get
over how light her hair looks in this picture.)

Even though Abigail wasn't fond of sitting on Santa's lap this year, rest assured as we were walking away she told all of us "I love Santa." Thank goodness! :Tonight we went to the Grand Illumination in Merchant's Square in Williamsburg.

Michael Alexander was all bundled up, sweet sweet baby boy.This is the Williamsburg Inn, I think it's decorated so beautifully and I just love the live greenery and fresh fruit they use to decorate with, simply gorgeous!

We ended the night at the candy store, Abigail was smitten by her Christmas tree lollipop. :)

Thanks daddy

My dad ROCKS! He is so talented when it comes to wood work it's crazy. He built us this great little alcove for our Directv box and DVD player. It's so pretty and looks like it's been there all along.

baby it's cold outside

I stepped out onto the back steps earlier to put something outside and I was shocked by the bitterness in the air, it feels like winter all of the sudden. I love it!

Abby has been sick the past few days with a cold and all of the fun stuff that goes along with it. Like being IRRITABLE!!! Whew, I think she's on the up and up tonight thank goodness.

We ran some errands this morning and she was so funny. For some reason today she wanted to tell people that I was her mommy. She's never done that before but I thought it was so sweet. People always talk to her no matter where we go and she's certainly never met a stranger but it's usually a smile and hello! So today we would pass a random passerby and she would say "that's my mommy" and point at me. It was so cute and made me smile!

She spent the night at Granddaddy's Saturday night and when we went to pick her up on Sunday we stayed for a while and chatted with Jerry & Elizabeth. I asked Abigail to tell Grandaddy what she wanted Santa to bring her and she put her finger up to her temple and was pointing and looking off to one side and said "I'm thinking"....the expression on her face and her serious tone had us in stitches. She finally started naming all she wanted. I wanted to put this in writing so that I will never forget it, truly priceless!

A little neighbor friend Lauren came over this afternoon to play with Abigail. They had fun dressing up, reading Christmas books, playing with playdoh and coloring. Lauren ended up having dinner with us and her brother Logan walked down to get her around 7:00. Abigail has not at all liked her hair to be brushed since she's been sick, hence the sideways ponytail below that's looking a bit nappy! : )

Good night!!

P.S. Two more days until we go to see Santa. Abigail is not the only one that is SUPER excited! :)

Shopping, Turpin girl's style

Mom & Abigail cuddling on Thanksgiving day while watching Frosty the Snowman

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and truly have so much to be thankful for. We missed all who were not with us this year especially Ron. He was usually hunting on Thanksgiving so it was rare that I saw him but I always knew he was doing what he loved most. I pray he will be with us in years to come and on a new path of life.

BLACK FRIDAY!!! WHOA, what a day! We (Mama, Di, Stace, KK, Mom & I, Necie didn't go since she hurt her back, we missed her) left the county at 3:30a.m. and returned home at 8:00p.m. that evening. We have been doing this for 32 years!! We joked all day about how well we utilized our time while shopping. HA! But for real, we did! :) One of us needed to return a cooking set to Toy's R Us after it was bought at the "early bird" special since finding it cheaper at Costco later in the day. While another needed to be dropped back off at Macy's since the $20 coupon that she didn't use earlier while we were there was a burning a hole in her pocket. Two of us needed to be dropped off at Michael's Arts & Crafts while the other's ran in Sam's Club. We did indeed make the most of our time.

Saturday Robert, Abigail and I bundled up and ventured out to get our Christmas tree! The rest of the weekend was spent decorating, watching Christmas Vacation while putting up the tree, burning the Christmas candles, cleaning and getting ready for my most favorite time of the year.

Abigail watched a few Sesame Street video's on You Tube this morning and the commercials prior to the show were for Key West, FL. I cannot stop thinking about the beach, dancing outside to reggae music while wearing slinky summertime dress's and eating a meal by the water....ahhh, it's fun to daydream! And now back to cozying up by the fireplace!

Abigail & Michael Alexander (two cute little turkey's) :)

Our tree!

Thanksgiving Eve

I love the day before Thanksgiving! The hustle and bustle of preparing for the big day. Today the sun is shining beautifully, our living room is bright and cheery this morning. We will spend tomorrow at my grandparent's with the rest of the Turpin, Hudgins, Hurst, Fletcher gang. Layla and Tracy will join us this year too and I am looking so forward to spending time with them. Even more excited that Abigail will get to spend Thanksgiving with her cousin Layla whom she truly adores. I also cannot wait to cuddle with baby Michael Alexander! I'm making a chocolate bourbon pecan pie and green bean casserole for tomorrow. I'm taking Taboo and Scattergories to play sometime throughout the day. We will first look through the paper at all of the ad's and plan our strategy for Black Friday! We'll probably leave around 4:00a.m., last year it was 3:30 but I think this year will be more like 4:00.

I have a funeral to attend this afternoon for Ms. Mabel Owens. Please keep her family in your prayers as it's never easy to lose someone especially this time of the year.

For this I am Thankful

And here we are, the great Alumni of MHS. That's me in the blue jersey and pink shirt.

1. The ability to still dribble a basketball down the court and score two points.

2. Friends in the bleachers cheering me on.

3. Hearing Abigail say "fwank you"

4. Health and happiness

5. The Oak Ridge Boys! Mama, Mom, Di, Stace, KK, Necie and I saw them last at the Ferguson Center at CNU. It really took me back to the 80's when my brother's and I listened to them on our record player. We had such a wonderful time together and as ALWAYS we laughed the night away. Looking so forward to our shopping day friday!

6. O.J. and salt water...I have had a severe sore throat since lunch time today, so bad that I can hardly swallow. I am in bed early and will hopefully be feeling much better in the morning.

7. Robert's ability to take over when necessary.

8. My family

9. My friends

10. Jeopardy

11. God

12. My parents

13. Mom

14. Watching Abigail walk down the isles of Target yelling "I LOVE SANTA" "I LOVE SANTA"

15. Clean hardwood floors

16. My co-workers

And these are in no specific order.

Abigail and I decorated her Christmas tree today, here she is ringing her bell singing "Jingle Bells" She is without a doubt her mother's child.

an early Christmas present

It's Friday and I'm one happy girl! We have a fun weekend planned. Tomorrow we're going to look for a piece of furniture to go under our NEW 48in. flat screen television which was an early Christmas present from my parents. They made sure that we came home from work at the same time yesterday. The t.v. was mounted on the wall and Abigail was more than excited to show us our surprise! Since mama babysits Abigail on Thursdays while we work daddy spent all day here installing our new t.v. Not only did we have a new t.v. but we also had a delicious meal prepared by mama. We really love it and are watching The Man Who Will Be King right now as I write. I am so excited about the engagement of Prince William & Kate Middleton. I can't wait to watch as the details of the wedding unfold.

We won't be spending all day across the river since I'm playing in an alumni basketball game at the high school tomorrow evening for a fundraiser. Wish me luck! Hope you all have a great weekend.

XOXO

D DAY

.....And I am not talking about the invasion of Normandy! Today was another one of those days that I am officially calling DISASTER DAY! The day started off pretty good and then quickly went to hell in a hand basket. I did my usual workout, came home and got us both ready to go to Gloucester. We stopped by Bay Properties and visited mama for a bit and it was there that it all started. Abigail didn't want to leave, we got in the car and she wanted to listen to the same Christmas song (yes, we're already listening to Christmas music :)) over and over. So needless to say once we got to A Hop Skip and a Stitch I was ready to get out of the car. She was pretty good in there with the exception of touching every single thing in the store after me telling her no less than a thousand times to look and don't touch. We walked over to Hallmark and after a few cards and two balloons we left there with her in my arms kicking and screaming. She cried the entire drive home and went into hysterics when we passed Lowe's and didn't stop. I've never known a child that loves a hardware store the way she does. Honestly at this point I think it was just something else for her to cry about. We got home and she took a good nap but woke up with the same disposition as when she went to sleep. She was playing with playdoh and ended up throwing every bit of it on the floor. I put her in time out and she cried for a bit and then just sat there for a while. Once I let her out she was good for the rest of the night. I am totally exhausted.

On a side note we had our propane tank filled today for our gas logs so looking forward to a cold wintry night so that we can fire that baby up. I love our fireplace but have been daydreaming about one like this.

We have our chiminea all ready with firewood piled up next to it but how wonderful would it be to someday have something like this?

A girl can dream, right? G'night ;)