Christmas Eve-eve!

I still can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve! Z is off tomorrow so I most likely won't be back online to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, so here you go!!!

Amazing!!

Chase has been doing and saying so many new things lately!! His vocabulary is really coming along. Some new things he's saying are:

- bu (means bus. He absolutely LOVES school buses and anytime he see's one he will squeal "Bu! Bu!")
- mom (he likes to walk around the house saying "mom, mom, mom...."....I love hearing it!)
- dada
- ta-ta (means Santa. he also loves to squeal "TA-TA!" anytime he see's a Santa or Christmas lights)

He still says "ba-ba" for alot of things and when we tell him the correct name he does try and repeat it. He is also saying "hi" still, but in his drawn out southern voice.......I have GOT to get it on video so you can hear it! His new thing now is to point to everything! It's absolutely adorable.

I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that in 3 weeks Ty will be 7.........he is inching ever so quickly to the double digit age and that scares me!! He is such a smart boy.......still in the highest reading group and doing SO well in math and other areas! And he still says when he grows up he wants to be a teacher.....I think he would do an amazing job. We still have moments where he is super mouthy and grumpy, but what kid isn't?!? I wouldn't trade him for anything! (same goes for Chase, obviously...LOL)

Christmas week!!

I can not believe Christmas is this week!!! I'm hoping Chase and I are feeling better by the end of the week, but other than being sick I am SO excited about this week!!!! The tree has survived, albeit barely....LOL! Decorations are up and baking will be done this week, as ty's last day of school is today! Christmas eve we are going to Pigeon Forge, even though they are calling for rain. (why does it seem to rain on Christmas eve every year?!? LOL) I want to get some pics posted of a few of the decorations.......hopefully i'll get a chance later today!!! Anyone else have any holiday decorations to share?!?!? I LOVE this time of year!!!!!

So excited.....

....and yet worried at the same time. Last Thursday Ty was supposed to have his school program, but because of the ice storm we had school was cancelled, as was the program. (they actually missed3 days of school last week because of the weather and didn't have enough time to practice their program) They decided to reschedule the program to tonight, and he also has his Christmas party today at school which we are all invited to. I am SO excited!! Now the worried part.....Chase and I are both sick. :( I was really bad last Friday and even though i'm not as bad right now, I have a horrible cough and runny/stuffy nose and poor Chase has a nasty barky cough and a runny nose. :( I really was looking forward to going to the Christmas party, but I don't want to make all the other kids in Ty's class sick from Chase and I, and now i'm worried he and I will have to miss the program tonight. *sigh*

Christmas shopping

For myself! It felt so weird buying something specific, that I actually didn't need, and was just for me! The in-laws sent money for Z and I and for the boys (plus Z's brother sent money for the boys), which was so very sweet of them to think of Z and I. We knew they were sending money for the boys, mainly because it's so much cheaper to do that and not have to mail a huge package! LOL We picked up some awesome gifts for the boys; for Ty we got a HUGE Hotwheels garage set and a nerf gun with some darts. For Chase we got him a musical drum and a HUGE Tonka Chuck and Friends playset, plus a CHuck and Friends school bus. (he LOVES school buses!) I had seen some adorable mittens at Walmart that I had wanted to get, but they only had two pairs and they both had holes in them. :( I had also seen the socks before, so I picked up a couple of pairs. One had Santa and the other pair had a polar bear on them. Here is a pick of the Santa socks:



I didn't get a pic of the polar bear socks because I was wearing them! ;) I did end up getting a pair of mittens, but they weren't as cute as the original pair I had seen. They had an adorable snowman on them, so I was happy! Well, we ended up going back to Walmart last night and I decided to check one more time for the mittens I wanted......they had two pair again....one pair had a hole still, but the second pair was perfect!!!! I was SO excited!!!! Here are my mittens....the snowman pair AND the cute pair!!!



I don't know what it is about the striped pair, but I just LOVE the colors!! And they are both so warm and comfy.

Snow day!!

Yesterday we got some snow flurries on and off all day, but overnight we got close to 2" of the white stuff!!! It looks SO beautiful out there. And the best part, school is closed!!! I'm actually really glad they closed school....I would hate to have to drive on our road the way it is right now. Heck, I drove on it when it just had a dusting of snow on it and I slide a few times, so I can only imagine how bad it is now!! But get this......last night not only did I get a call from the school board letting me know school was closed, I also got a text AND an email about it! LOL

I'm going to start my spaghetti sauce sometime soon so it can simmer most of the day, plus i'm thinking today is going to be a baking day! Later this week i'm going to make some more peanut brittle and some extra cookies to mail out some goodie packages.........i'm going to try my best to stay out of the peanut brittle this time!!!! ;)

How is it possible......

That my little doodle is 18 month old today?!?!? I feel like I blinked and the time just flew past me! He is such an amazing boy and has been a true blessing to our family..........

Happy 1 1/2 years old, Chase!!!

Snapfish deal!

Snapfish is offering 50 free prints AND free shipping!! (this is different than the 50 free they offer with new accounts)

Coupon code is: HPINK50

Also, I think you HAVE to order 50 prints in order to make the code work......but I am such a photo junkie I had plenty of pics to print!!


Enjoy!!!

Letters from Santa *EDIT*

I totally forgot to post about the boys mailing their letters to Santa a week or so ago! Well, Saturday they each got letters back from Him! They are so sweet......they are both pre-printed letters, but "Santa" hand writes something at the bottom as a "P.S." and it usually has something to do with what the letters they received said. Like the letter for Ty.......he told Santa he had been such a big help to mommy with his baby brother, and on the letter he received Santa wrote at the bottom "I'm glad you are a big help to mommy!" He got the biggest kick out of that!!! The letters are totally free.....well, it's the cost of a stamp to mail a letter to Santa first, but it doesn't cost anything to get a letter back. You can mail your letters to Santa at:

Santa's Elves
P.O. Box 1
Santa Claus, IN 47579

Even the return envelope is adorable!!



Make sure you mail them by December 21st!! Enjoy!

**Edit!!** Here is a link to their site where you can print your own letters.

Some grocery deals

To try and be a little more upbeat, I should mention the great grocery deals we got this weekend. Kroger has a special going on where you buy 10 participating items you get $5 off. (can mix or match things) and this past Saturday we really cleaned up. They have Orville Redenbacher popcorn for $1.49. Right where the popcorn is there is a small machine thingie attached to the shelf that had coupons for .55 off when you bought one 3 pack of Orville popcorn.......that made the popcorn .94 a box. They also had the Krusteaz cookie box mixes (the ones I have raved about) on sale for .99. Attached to the Chocolate Chunk cookie boxes (and one of the Snickerdoodle boxes) are coupons for .55 off......that made the cookie mixes .44 a box! I know i've gone on and on about how good the Krusteaz cookies are, but I just can't get over how good they taste for being a cookie mix!! The only cookie I didn't care for was their peanut butter. (and anything peanut butter is my favorite!) But the sugar, chocolate chunk and snickerdoodle are amazingly yummy. And SO darn simple to make!! Just one egg and a stick of butter! I don't know how Krusteaz has managed to make a cookie mix taste so good, but they have. The one thing we have done differently is with the chocolate chunk.....I run the mix through a sifter to remove the chocolate chunks they use and replace them with my own chocolate chips (either Tollhouse or Gheridelli chips). Don't get me wrong, I love their chocolate chunks, but I prefer the other chips added.

Anyhoo, Krogers has the same sale going on this week as well. We ended up actually saving more than we spent on Saturday! I think we spent a little over $50 and saved close to $70! If you have a Krogers near you, you really need to check out their sale this week. :)

Sad weekend

This was such a rough weekend for the family. We had to say goodbye to our beloved furbaby Honey.

This is how I will remember her......smiling........




Love you sweet baby girl.......mommy misses you so very much. I'm so sorry I let you down......

New teeth!!

I just discovered Chase now has two new teeth coming in!! They are up at the top, and i'm thinking they are his first molars. His gums on the bottom feel slightly swollen, so i'm thinking he may be getting new ones there as well. Whew, I was wondering when he would get more chompers in.....he's been stuck at 8 for what seems like forever!!

December 1st!!!

Norad Santa Tracker goes live today!!!