Happy birthday to me!!!!!

I turned 32 today.......and even though I had to work (shouldn't it be a national holiday?), I had a pretty good birthday! LOTS of people sang "Happy Birthday" to me (a BIG thanks to Danny, Pam, Lee, Geri, Christinia, Frank, Dad, Dr. Lewis, and last but not least - Abby), including some versions I had never heard before!

Thanks Dan & Ruby for dinner at Logan's (even though we did wait for a table for more than an hour)! And thanks Mom & Dad for brownies last night (YUM!)! Oh, and thanks to the loud guy at Logan's who TRIED to make me feel good by announcing that I was turning 21!

It's not sad for me to admit that I am inching towards my mid-30's, but it is sad for me to admit that I did look really closely in the mirror this morning to see if I had any wrinkles! Come on!!!! Why would I let a few wrinkles stress me out? -- oh, and if anyone cares - I saw ZERO wrinkles! *BIG sigh of relief!* Ha!

A few Christmas pics

Abby, "BranBran", and "CC"

Notice her nasty carpet burn!

My cousin made this sweatshirt for Nanny!

Future singer/songwriter?

Nana's present

Playing an angel at church...she actually talked into the microphone! Just 3 words ("Don't be afraid" ironically), but that is HUGE for her....she is so shy!

Abby notes

Abby loves to write us notes, etc......and I love the fact that she does, BUT please read carefully how she words things.

"uhhh"

OK! My little "valley girl"?

Just had to share!

Sick days :(

Ughhh, I have been home sick for 2 days! I went to a walk-in clinic this morning, and they swabbed me for strep and also did a finger stick for mono. And I have a HUGE case of strep throat. So much so, they gave me a steroid shot and an antibiotic shot, a rx for erythromycin, and a pain killer because of my severe sore throat. I'm already feeling better since getting the injections, and my fever broke at about 10 this morning (and so far it hasn't come back).

Keep me in your prayers that I can get back to real life and also that I can love on Abby again without worrying that I am going to get her sick!

Weekend getaway!

We acquired some passes to Dollywood, so we decided to go while the 4 million lights (yes, you read that correctly - 4,000,000) were still on display.

This picture doesn't do Abby justice - we were only riding the tram from the parking lot to the entrance - but she was so excited!

A gorgeous tree (our nighttime picture of it didn't turn out well). It was so pretty at night!

This was called "Sky Rider" and it was fun but when you are 70 feet in the air and it is about 35 degrees outside - it was too cold to go again (much to Abby's dismay)!

Snow!

The best $.92 I've ever spent!

Babes In Toyland

A cool nativity scene (called a Christmas pyramid or something like that)

She had to pose by the pink tree (imagine that!).

Where'd everybody go?!

Raggedy Ann striking a pose for Danny!

Outside of the 4D version of Polar Express (It was good - but I'm not so sure if it was worth the 1.5 hour wait. Call me crazy but I will do just about anything for Abby. At least part of the wait was indoors though.)

We had a really good time even though we did almost freeze our tails off, and even though we would have owned Pigeon Forge because "Fun Time Trolley" almost ate my car for dinner, and even though we had a hard time finding our hotel (and then - we get into our room [car unloaded by the way], immediately Abby has to use the facilities and behold - some unmentionable items are dried onto the toilet seat). I strategically place toilet paper so she can go while Danny goes to the office to let them know what is wrong with our bathroom. He comes back with another key and we get to move to another room - Yea?! We were so hungry and tired and all we wanted to do was go get some grub. So, we move rooms and off we go to eat, at which, Abby lays down in the booth and pretty much conked out. She was a trooper though!

Oh, and I failed to mention that during the parade, one of the toy soldiers blew Abby a kiss - and that was the highlight of the trip for her! I guess my future son-in-law will be a toy soldier!

This little girl is so precious!

Day off...

Ok, so I am off today! My, my - a Monday off - and I really don't know what to do with myself! Besides laundry and Christmas cards - I am just beside myself with the fact that I don't have to do anything!!!

Since Pam at work reads this - Hi honey, I miss you! (haha)

Oh, and on a sidenote - why, why, why must Food Network be "paid programming" until 9:30!?!

Happy Birthday Dad!

My dear ol' Dad turned 54 today! I hate to say it, but these are the only pictures I could find of him on my computer (imagine that - they have Abby in them!)!

I love you Dad, you are the greatest!

Future redneck?

Our family has a 4-wheeler that is kept at my grandmother's house. Abby got up the nerve to try it out.......and had an absolute blast! I could hear her squealing "wheeeee!" and "COOL, go faster!"! To quote her - "The cold wind is making my eyes cry!"

(p.s. Ignore the date on some of these pics - our camera is being finicky)

By the way, you have to click on the pics to see some of her facial expressions to get the full effect!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I am just sitting down momentarily between making sausage balls, cleaning house (in case someone drops by, you never know on a holiday), making a new dessert "Ginger Peach Crumble" (I'll post the recipe if it turns out yummy) , and watching the Macy's Parade (a tradition for me because I was in the parade in 1993).

I hope everyone gets to spend mega-bonding time with their families, has enough turkey to take a good long nap - tryptophan is a GREAT thing -, and eat lots of pumpkin pie (eat enough for me cuz I don't like it!)!

Wow, I can't believe the holidays are upon us!

Turkey cookies

Abby brought this "recipe" home from school......she pretty much did all the work. All I did was spread the chocolate frosting for her. I think they turned out really cute!

Twilight

Alright, so I succumbed to the "Twilight" hype! Actually, to tell the truth I wouldn't have cared one iota (yes I just used the word "iota" in my blog - 10 bonus points for me!) about seeing the movie.....except for the fact that my darling little sister batted her eyelashes at me and asked so sweetly if I would escort herself and her friend to the theater. So....I batted my eyelashes at my dad, and said - "If you want me to take her off your hands for a few hours - I need movie ticket $, cuz I'm flat broke!" I didn't even have my sentence fully out, and he had taken a $20 out of his wallet (and yes, I am 31 years old!)! So, off we go to Walgreen's for snacks - and 3 large purses later, we arrive at the packed out theater lobby to stand in line (not for tickets by the way, and not for popcorn either! It was just to enter the actual theater for goodness sake!)

I will have to admit - the movie was actually really good (I have not read ANY of the books)! I'm gonna leave it at that for those of you who haven't read the books and would like to see the movie. I will say though, that there is a kissing scene that made this 31 year old blush and get butterflies! Ahhhh, young love!

Now, go see the movie! As long as while you are there, you don't mind feeling like the earth opened up and deposited you back in high school! Scary thought huh?


Oh yeah - and my indifference about going to the movie, plus the fact that I thought I wouldn't like it at all (wondering beforehand if I could sneak in a nap during) - has now led to a "tradition". My sister's friend Megan decided on our way home that it is now a ritual and we 3 will go see all 4 movies together - YES you heard me - 4 movies! 1 per year for the next 4 years! woohooo!!!!

Without further adieu...(follow-up to Abby's Thanksgiving Show)

Abby and Natalie

Abby, Natalie, and Eli (Nat's little brother)

We FINALLY figured out how to get our digital camera to take a good video.....so here is the world premiere of Abby!



She's the one in the pink shirt in the 1st row standing up

Our cat

I keep forgetting to introduce everyone to our newest addition - Daisy! Sorry about the sunshine being so bright, but you have to admit - it's a great shot!

We have had Daisy for awhile now - but she doesn't tend to cooperate for pictures. I was cleaning the house on Saturday and came thru the living room, and this is what I saw.....so I grabbed my camera really quick and snapped this before she could wake up!

My cousin's wedding!

My "little" cousin (she should still be a kid in my eyes!) got married today! Instead of getting married IN the courthouse, they had the ceremony at a gazebo just down the road from the courthouse! What a beautiful day for a wedding!

My uncle (Glendle), Layne, Lance, my grandmother (Nanny)

Layne and I

Aww, she melted my heart with how she looks at him!

Her ring is GORGEOUS!

Not a great picture of the kiss, but you get the idea!

To Lance and Layne:

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

The rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May God be with you and bless you;

May you see your children's children.

May you be poor in misfortune,

Rich in blessings,

May you know nothing but happiness

From this day forward.

May the road rise to meet you

May the wind be always at your back

May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home

And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,

May blue be the skies above you,

May pure be the joys that surround you,

May true be the hearts that love you.

**a traditional Irish blessing

prayers please

One of my best friends from high school called me earlier this week asking for prayer for her dad who had suffered a seizure, and was unconscious and on a ventilator. To make a long story short - he passed peacefully at about 3 this afternoon. He has had alot of illness in his life (diabetes, congestive heart failure, decreased kidney function), so at last he can be pain & worry free now.

Please keep the Peterson family in your prayers if you are reading this.

Abby's Thanksgiving show

Ok, so - Abby's teacher sends home any important papers for us to go over, etc. These come home a few times a week - and sometimes we get things that pertain to functions, others are homework or graded papers, and then there's just general FYI's. A few weeks from now, the 1st grade will be performing after the PTO meeting, and we have to practice the words to the "songs" that they will be doing. When I updated my background on here, one of her songs popped into my head. See if it disturbs you as much as it did me:

"Fly turkey, fly real fast,

today is going to be your last.

Flap your wings and get away,

farmer's going to eat you today.

Fly turkey, up in a tree,

where the farmer cannot see.

Fly turkey, don't make a sound,

get away from Farmer Brown."

Ummm....helloooooo? I mean, we're not a vegetarian family or anything, but DANG, that's just cruel! And to beat it all.....Abby just cackles everytime we rehearse it! There is something wrong with that girl (besides being my spawn!)!

My lil' juice box!

What a ham! She had such a great time!

The "insert straw here" was Danny's idea!

But the side panel info was my idea!

Well? Did we do good on our first homemade costume? She liked it, so I guess that is all that matters!!