My Christmas Tree

I have my Christmas Tree up and ready to go. Actually, I'm embarrassed to admit how long it's been up. Let's just say it went up about as early as my Halloween stuff did. Dale did not like that I didn't wait very long after Halloween to put my Christmas stuff up. He says I'm trampling over Thanksgiving. I understand Thanksgiving is a perfectly respectable holiday that deserves decorating but to my credit, I took out all my fall stuff and didn't like it very much. So instead of going out and buying stuff I did like, I just got out all the Christmas stuff.

Besides, I was excited to see if my new tree would work. This is our first Christmas in our new place and I quickly determined that the tree we usually put up would be way to stinkin' huge for this house. It's not super tall but really wide. If I set it up in our tiny downstairs, there would be no way to walk around it. And who wants to set up a tree upstairs? So I knew I had to get a new smaller one but wasn't about to pay what the stores were asking. I was shocked at what most places will charge for a small fake tree. Until I saw Walmart's trees. El-Cheapo!!! They look pretty el-cheapo too but once you get all your stuff on it, not so bad. I got a 6.5 foot, narrow pre-lit tree for only $35.

And it's white! I wanted to mix it up a bit this year and I think the white looks great! Since this tree is way smaller than my other, it was difficult getting all the decorations to fit on it. I seriously can't fit one more thing on there. But I like how it looks completely covered in stuff. And now you can't see how cheap the tree looks.
I love how the black ornaments are looking on it!
Hobby Lobby had all their Christmas floral stuff %50 off so I got a bunch of fun stuff for the topper. Poor kids, they stood there bored out of their minds in the store while I agonized over what ribbon to choose.
Some favorite ornaments:
Some night shots:
I made Ella Rose swear up and down not to touch the tree. And she's done a great job so far. To date, only one ornament has been broken and it was by me. Dang, it was a pretty one too. All my kids teased me because I had just got done threatening their very lives if they so much as bump the tree. And then I drop one. Smooth. I do have one very favorite ornament that I love so much I won't hang it because I'm so terrified it will break. My mom got it for me out of the country so there's no replacing it.

Anyhow, I'll post pics of the rest of my decos later.

Jersey's First Birthday

This past Saturday, my friend Heidi asked me to help decorate for a very special birthday party for her daughter Jersey who is an angel in heaven. She was born last November and lived only a short time on this earth but touched more lives than most people do in a normal lifetime. It was a happy event and I was honored to help celebrate Jersey Girl's first birthday.

It was a beautiful day and I took tons of pics. Hope you don't mind me sharing.

Next to the front door:
The front entrance with the guest favors:
A very special book about Jersey's amazing life. The white box has the Jersey Beads in them:
Is this not the most amazing cake? It was made by Mandi Rohner. Gorgeous!
Jersey was in the hospital over Christmas time and this tree was set up in her room. So precious.
A delicious spread. So many yummy things were brought in!
Heidi's mom set up an angel making station. Each kid got to make and take home a sweet little angel.
This is Jersey's big sis, Tatum. She wears her angel wings to be like Jersey.
They served cotton candy and my girls got covered in it.
One of the best things about the party was that the guests were asked to bring donations to help create "survival kits" for the parents at St. Joe's. A Giant Mountain of Toothpaste!!! Everyone was so generous.
Thanks for let me be a part of this most special day, Heidi!

If you want, you can read more about Jersey's story here.

Mad Sleep Skillz

For his large beefy size, Gunner is surprisingly flexible. Kinda like Chris Farley. He fell asleep on the couch the other night in this position:
I don't think I could even do that when I was awake! He stayed like that for quite sometime before he finally let go.

Best Parade Ever!

It was a great day today! Not only did we get to honor our brave veterans, this little lady got to march in her very first parade:
She goes to a dance class taught by my sis in law Tracy and this morning they all performed in a Veteran's Day parade. It was such a fun thing to watch and I was a proud mama.
Tabby has lots of cousins going to the same dance place who marched in the parade too. Here is little cousin Ameliah.
There were lots of different types of entries in the parade. Most of them military. Here is some of my family waiting in the staging area. Notice the guy behind them waiting for us to get out of the way so he can park his tank.
Here we all are on the parade route waiting for our darling dancers to come by.
Papa took good care of baby Gunner while we watched. It's not an easy task, holding him. He weighs nearly 19 pounds!
Luckily, Papa found a seat so he could rest his aching arms:
It wouldn't be a picture of Ella if she didn't have dirt smeared all over her face:
A cop came by and gave Rex a flag, a badge, a pin, and a key chain. Rex clung to this stuff the rest of the parade because he thought it made him a real cop.
We saw some great stuff while we were waiting. There were real military planes flying over us. Dale could tell you what kind they were but I certainly can't.
I think he said one of these was a Mustang. I thought those were cars.
A moving banner:
I smiled at this little tank rolling along. It looked like a loud and bumpy ride. I bet their teeth rattled the rest of the day. I love that grandma is the machine gunner.
Thank you for your service, sir.
A real Chopper from Nam:
It's not a parade without horses. Especially ones with painted glittery hooves. I always wanted to be a rodeo queen. I bet I would have been awesome at barrel racing.
Yay! The girls are finally coming!
The littles sat in the trailer and waived their poms at us. Here is Miranda, Tracy's girl:
Ameliah was so excited when she saw us!
The dancers behind the trailer are grooving to the beat. Tabby was totally on the OTHER SIDE. Guess I could have planned that a little better!
Got some good ones of her marching away:
Good girl. Look for Mama's camera:
It was an awesome parade and had a great time seeing the veterans who so bravely went overseas and fought for us. It was fun to shout "thank you" to them and clap as they went by. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the brave men and women who have fought and are currently fighting for our liberty so I can freely teach my children what I know to be true. And a special thank you to my Grandpas and Dale's Grandpas who all went to war and battled for our families and our freedom.
"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." -Elmer Davis