SNOW!!!

Boy, am I getting behind?!? Anyway.. no excuses available so I will just update!

We were all so glad to see a good snow. Good enough to get out and make snowmen, have a good snowball fight and have snow cream. We had the neighbors come over and join us. We all had such a good time. After playing in the snow, I was ready for hot chocolate, but I was out-voted and the snow cream won. Kids just don't get cold, do they?

MERRY CHRISTMAS

The girls and I got up early and headed to the kitchen. We had a few things to prepare in advance for Christmas day --deviled eggs, more party mix (3rd batch!! we all love it!!), more sausage balls (2nd batch!!) and an applesauce cake. All of this was done by 10:30 and Jibbit #1 had helped by vacuuming and picking up stray toys. Now for a STRESS-FREE Christmas Eve--we had an early lunch (well, everybody except me which I realized about 2:30 when my stomach started growling) and when King Jibbit got off work (he only had to go in for a few hours) we headed to Knoxville to pick up a HoneyBaked Ham (King Jibbit loves them and this was a splurge for us --he normally gets a gift certificate for one but not this year) and then to the mall. We had to go to Build-a-Bear for Jibbit #2, because we had told her she could go if she quit biting her fingernails and I actually had to cut them. Well, 2 days before her surgery I had to cut her nails so, we had told her we would go as soon as she felt like it and we could get there. We also had them do some "heart surgery" on Candy. Candy is Jibbit #3's FAVORITE, FAVORITE, FAVORITE bear. Now, keep in mind she sleeps with a ZOO, but Candy (the pink bear with the heart on it's belly) is her pick. Candy has had a rough life, although loved dearly, she looked pitiful and she needed CPR because her heart no longer beat. (something about washing them too many times---)Keep in mind Jibbit #3 is 3 years old and you know how sometimes the diaper leaks in the bed or the Queen Jibbit might forget to put a diaper on her ooops!! and then EVERYTHING in the bed gets washed!! Her heart stopped beating after the last washing and her stuffing was wasting away to nothing. We took her in hopes that it wasn't "too late" and they were so nice they opened Candy right up took out the old heart and put in the new one, put more stuffing in her (firmness approved by Jibbet #3, of course) and sewed her right back up and only charged us for the heart!! LOVE IT!! I was afraid that the change in firmness would turn Jibbet 3 away from her --oh but no she is still the Queen of the Zoo! (the other members of the zoo are Fender, Molly, New Pooh, Muddy, Snow White, and Bunny--yep you counted right 7 animals in her bed every night along with her 3 'nite nites' (aka her very special blankets). Sydney picked out a puppy and had it stuffed to perfect snuggling firmness (not too soft but not so firm that it will stand on it's own) and then proceeded to dress it in a purple top and capris and pink fuzzy "crocs" and she named it Puffy. This puppy comes with the stipulation that if she goes back to biting her fingernails---Puffy goes AWAY!!! ok back to our day: After the Build a Bear stop, we went to the movies. Arriving a little earlier than we thought we would put a small crimp in things. Bolt, the movie we went to see, didn't start til 4:40 and it was now 3:50. So, do we kill time and come back or we could watch Madagascar 2. Everybody very easily decided to stay and watch Madagascar 2. Movie was just "ok" nothing great or horrible. Then on to supper at WASABI--only my favorite restaurant in Knoxville. UMMMM!! So good! Then we head home to go see Christmas lights only to find that Jibbit #2 is sound asleep--so we decided we would save this for another night before New Years (hopefully it won't be raining). We get inside and let the Jibbits open 1 stocking present and then to bed! What a fun and relaxing time. Christmas Day will start with the reading of Jesus birth by King Jibbit and then the Jibbits opening presents and having a family breakfast. Followed by much fun and play. The grandparents and Aunt R will come for dinner and somemore fun and play! Always keeping at the forefront of our minds what this time of year is a reminder of and thanking Jesus all the time for his willingness to come to this earth and live a sinless life and be crucified on the cross and 3 days later rise so that we can be with Him in heaven. Merry CHRISTmas to ALL!!!

Christmas Shopping Done--well almost!!

Tonight, King Jibbit and I went to Knoxville and wiped out our Christmas shopping. We had only gotten the few things we had found (by surprise) while we were in Pigeon Forge. I had ordered some things for the grandparents online. Other than this little bit, we had not done any shopping. So, I mentioned to the King that I might go shopping tonight when he got home from work and being the sweet husband that he is --he arranged a babysitter and had me come by work and pick him up and he went with me!! ( I know----"awwwwww"). It was nice to not have to go alone and we tag teamed and wiped it OUT!! We have a very few items to pick up--a couple of stocking stuffers and a couple of items that we could not find and stores were closing. So, we got to Knoxville about 6:30 and left at 9:15 (and we got to eat supper) and we we were able to wipe out the "List." Usually, I am wanting Christmas shopping done around the first of December, but for some reason (probably because I didn't have my "list" made out) I was not too worked up over it (I KNOW---SHOCK!!) and it paid off. I had heard on the news that retailers have 2 dates they look at to see how their holiday business is going: #1 you guessed it --Black Friday ( and the weekend following) #2 Dec 15. So, if business isn't so great then they start slashing prices and apparently business is down, because prices were DOWN!! There was 1 item we had looked at earlier (not on sale) $47.99 when we came back tonight it was on sale for $24.99. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!?! This is one of MANY big price markdowns we found. LOVE IT!! This was such a great thing for me being the tightwad that I am. PLUS....this was a stress-free shopping experience, being a Tuesday night (while school is still in session) there were hardly any crowds. This is a biggie for me, because I think one of the big reasons I HATE shopping is because of the crowds. It is really not worth it to me to fight my way through stores and wait in big, long lines. AND, we came home and HAD to wrap the ones that were for our kids. So, not only are we very, very, very near done, but it is wrapped!! WAHOOO!!! We wrapped til we had no more paper.

Traditions

We took a trip to Pigeon Forge this past weekend and purchased our annual Christmas ornament (as I mentioned in an earlier post, we always purchase an ornament for each child and a family ornament each year). Each child picks out their own ornament and then together we pick out the family ornament--King Jibbit decided to forgo the ornament selection process and opted for the "line waiting process"--the line for getting the ornaments personalized was just so long he decided he would go ahead and get in line and then I handed the ornaments over for the personalizing. This probably saved us 45 minutes!!! He liked our choice for the family ornament :) Jibbit #1's ornament

Jibbit #2's ornament Jibbit #3's ornament The family ornament another family tradition.... everytime we make a trip to Pigeon Forge the "jibbits" think we need to make a stop at Krispy Kreme and of course, I don't want to disappoint my "jibbits" ;) and yes, we do go through the drive thru. Even after all that car riding there is something about sitting in that line at Krispy Kreme and laughing and cutting up in anticipation of the sugar rush!!

Although we don't go everytime, we all enjoy making the trip around Cade's Cove. This is an especially favorite place for Todd and I because this is where he proposed to me! (I will tell that sweet story on a later date.) We love seeing all the deer and the ocassional bear. This trip turned out the be the nature trip of all trips.... we saw deer..lots of deer ..but this HUGE buck was letting us all but pet him, we were within 2-3 feet of him. we also saw a coyote who was just posing like crazy...

and many turkey.... I am going to have to get out my pocketguide for these strange creatures....

on this trip they became known as the "jibbits", thanks to "Jibbit #3". For what reason, we do not know, but Jibbit #3 started calling us all "jibbits" and it has stuck. She is the clown of the family and she gets it from the King Jibbit!!! We did a little clothes shopping for the kids some warm winter clothes at the outlets--good sales!! oh how I do NOT like shopping, especially at this time of year because of the crowds!! I do not like having to fight for walking space on the sidewalk let alone inside the store! We stopped at 4 stores wahoo!! And we did buy a few Christmas presents...right under their noses!!! he he he !!! Oh I did stop at one more store and get some items for my "new" kitchen--to be seen at a later time!

We made a stop at Adventure Quest which was much fun. Inside was a mirror maze, a lazer room (where you try to avoid touching the laserbeams that cross the room by crawling, jumping, etc) and then a blacklight putt putt. I thought it was a tad expensive, but considering how much you pay just to putt putt maybe it is not so bad because it was inside and out of the elements (it was COLD that day!!!). If I had to do it again I would have said lets pay a bit more and go to WonderWorks--that is too cool!!

Such a fun weekend! Thanks King Jibbit for a wonderful time!!

Surgery is over!!

Sydney is out of surgery and has done very well for day 1. Children have a hard time when they are coming out of anesthesia, they cry and scream uncontrollably and depending on their surgery, this can make things worse. Sydney did not have this problem too severely. She would wake up and cry and we were able to calm her quickly. If she had been screaming and crying uncontrollably, like the poor little tike next door in the recovery room, this could have really been a problem for her. She slept the anesthesia off and woke up thirsty and did such a good job of drinking Sprite (you know those little cans --she drank 1 and a half of those in about an hour) and ate a popsicle. Then when it was time to go home she wanted something to eat and what did she want to eat??? "Chips", yes you heard me right Chips---Chips?? Ok the doctor said she could eat anything she wanted --but CHIPS?? Ok, Daddy and I couldn't go there but we could go to the McDonald's next door to TC Thompson's and get Fries---not only did she want the fries she wanted chicken nuggets, too. "Ok" we thought that won't be the first dollar wasted in our life, but just in case she WOULD/COULD eat them we would have them. And, YES she ate them. She ate all 4 nuggets and a whole order of fries. When we got home she at ice cream, peanut butter crackers, sherbert, pancakes, and has drank plenty of juice. Tomorrow may be a different story---maybe even a different book!! But, I just want to give God the praise for always being in control and taking care of our little girl! The Dr. was telling us how bad infected her adenoids were---and this is after being on 2 different and very potent antibiotics in the past month they were still full of puss but God is so good in seeing to it that she was able to get in to have surgery and have this taken care of within 5 days of her initial appointment. Please keep her in your prayers and praise God with us!

Prayer, Please!!

After many doctor visits, a sleep study, xrays, catscans, and medications...we finally have an answer....Sydney needs her tonsils and adenoids removed!! I have never been so happy for someone to have to have surgery! She has NEVER (and I mean NEVER!!!) been able to sleep good. She has ALWAYS gotten up several times a night and changed sleeping spots, and snores (worse than my husband!! he he he) ALWAYS had dark circles under her eyes because she has never been rested. Like I told the ENT today---I don't think she has ever gotten a good night sleep in the 6 years she has been alive. His response was ..."I can tell just by looking at her she is exhausted and needs her adenoids out so she can breathe (adenoids are pushing on her sinuses and causing constant irritation---constant runny nose and congestion ) and the tonsils are yucky and need to come out too!" Man....she SO needs a good nights sleep! So, she is going to have surgery Wednesday Dec 10th. Yep, 5 days away...not sure I have seen a surgery scheduled that quickly...but there was an opening and I jumped on it. That way she will be back to herself by Christmas. So, please pray for her, that the surgery will go as expected, she will not have much pain and a quick recovery.

Do-it-Yourself!!

Yep, I have tackled yet another project! Something about being inside more seems to make me take on these projects. We have been talking about needing to do some things to the kitchen. It is the only room of the house we have not done anything to since we bought it. We really want to do a big remodel and knock out a wall and put in new cabinets....but, for now it is just some paint and a few little things. I forgot and didn't take a before picture (dummy me!), but I did take one after we had peeled most of the wallpaper off. It is a very tiny kitchen, as you will see, and had wallpaper when we purchased it 6 1\2 years ago. It was decent wallpaper with fruit on it that matched my dishes. It was really looking bad, turning a yellowish and the trimwork really needed painting so, I thought to myself...."self, if you are going to paint the trim, you might as well just go ahead and get that off the walls and be done with it." Husband agreed with self and so began the fun!

I borrowed a steamer to remove the paper --what a hassle. Then I got online and did somemore research and decided to go to Lowe's the next day and buy a bottle of liquid spray remover and a bottle of the gel and see which worked best (still not completely sure that I wouldn't have to return to the steamer). I started this task and Sydney jumped in to help and Tanner jumped in to help (What an educational adventure for them---now THEY know how to strip wallpaper!!). We wiped it out in a few days just working a bit at a time (started on Sunday with the sprays and finished on Tues night.) Had bought paint at the same time as the removers and began painting Wednesday night. Finished the walls today (not the typical way to spend Thanksgiving) and am going to go back to Lowe's and get the paint for the trim and new outlets and covers (these are so nasty looking and I really want to put in white ones. I do have a place to sand and put another coat on and then I need to borrow a dolly to move the refrigerator out a smidge.

Here are some "during" pics....

The paint, it looks like mauve in the picture, but it is really "Bronze copper" it is an earthy, orangy brown kinda like a terracotta color--it is definitely NOT pink!! ha ha