Griswalds Family Christmas (Part 2)

Ok, so you've seen just how massive but incredibly beautiful our tree was! Weh-heh-hell.....Last Tuesday I had checked the tree stand and sure enough the tree needed water so I filled it up. At that point I was filling her up about twice a day. My long time friend, Stephanie, was going to come over and see our "Gigantor". Yes, I named our tree. ;)

I had not decorated the tree yet but wanted to put the tree skirt around the tree so, on my stomach, I carefully inched my way under the tree and was ever so lightly moving the tree skirt around the back of the tree when all of a sudden I saw the tree trunk moving and realized that the tree was starting to fall over on me!

The kids had all been standing there watching what I was doing and they started to scream that the tree was falling.....as if I didn't already know. LOL! I yelled at them to get back and she came down. FULL bucket of water spilling out and all!!

You know how in the movie , The Wizard of Oz, where the wicked witch is laying underneath the house with nothing but her feet hanging out.....yeah, that was me. Muwahahhahaaaa (insert high pitched evil squeal here).

Meghan immediately started whimpering "Mommmmaaaa, Mommmmaaaa...". I could tell that she was scared that I was either dead or seriously injured so I yelled out in a muffled voice, "I'm ok. I'm fine". The boys, on the other hand, were screaming that Barney, our Elf on a Shelf, had fallen out of the tree and was now on the ground. I can clearly tell where their loyalties lie. :)

I was able to shimmy my way out from under the tree and show the kids that I was alright and that *sigh* Barney was ok too and it was ok for mommy to pick him up and put him somewhere else. (rolling of my eyes here) I'm sure he would understand.

NOW what was I going to do? I immediately called David at work and told him what happened. I also, in a very loving tone, reminded him that he should have listened to me the night before and tied the tree up to something....anything because I didn't think it was going to hold. I was re-assured that it would be fine. Suuure it would (shaking my head up and down).

The kids and I tried to pick it up ourselves but there was no way we could pick it up so we had to wait for David and Allison to get off of work so we could all pick it up while someone else held the stand in place.

Allison stayed and helped to rehang the lights again. I told ya'll....she has a sweet heart!

She is standing on a 6ft ladder so you can clearly see just how big this tree is.



My suggestion was heeded this time. Thank goodness we had some rope!

This is the tree after the fall. She's still beautiful.....a little lopsided, but beautiful!



"Gigantor" was then decorated. I couldn't put any heavy ornaments on it because the branches are different than a fir, but we still had enough. We then wrapped ribbon around the tree. I was kinda sad that the ribbon look didn't look like what I had envisioned in my head but Allison reminded me that "It's not going to look like what you had pictured in your head because your tree is just too dang big!"

I didn't get any pictures (I know, I know) of the tree when it looked like it should have been in a magazine. Ok so maybe to me it should have been in a magazine....

It was just soo pretty! Since I was changing out my colors, I had to change out bows on the wreaths so I had asked my friend, Stephanie, to make me some bows. She loves doing that kind of thing and makes such pretty bows. She came over one day and I watched how she made them.

So, what did I do? I took some extra ribbon that I had and attempted to make a bow of my own. And guess what?? It was pretty! YAY! So I then went on a bow making frenzy. I made a bow for the tree, and one for my big wreath that goes on the front door and bows to put on the deer that are in the yard and bows to hang on the garland in the house.



I went bow crazy....not really because I wouldn't want to be accused of being "bow-dazzled", but I did make a few and am so excited to know how to make them myself!

Barney (our Elf) has been quite mischievous this year but here he is looking all sweet and innocent, not to be mistaken for bad, bad, bad Barney!



I don't know about you, but I have never been a coffee drinker. Slide me Dt. Dr. Pepper and I'm good... BUT, Allison has gotten me hooked on these.....



Do you know what's in this cup of yummy goodness? Peppermint Mocha. Yep, that's right. Ohhh it's sooo good too! Alright now MOPS ladies, I will now be entering the ripping each other's hair out, girl on girl fights competition for the Starbucks gift cards. Watch out!!! Rawrrrr! ;) I'm kidding, kidding ladies. Only about the fights part. ;)

Ok ya'll, yes, there is STILL more to our Christmas story! Installment #3 to come soon!

Griswald Family Christmas (Part 1)

I sure do feel like the Griswald's this year! It's been so fun and a little disappointing at the same time.

This year I decided that I wanted to do something different. David and I used to buy real Christmas trees before we had kids but bought a fake tree about 9-10 years ago. It is a beautiful fake tree but that is it.....it's fake. You have your pros and cons when it comes to fake vs real trees and for us, the fake one was what we needed. I also wanted something different in the fact that I didn't like the red for Christmas so I changed out everything that would be red and added maroon/crimson....whatever. Maroon bows and poinsettia leaves on wreaths,table runners etc.....you name it and mine was maroon. I have loved that look for the last 9-10 years. BUT this year I wanted everything to be different.

So, I had the great idea to actually go to a Christmas tree farm, cut down our own real live tree, come back home and decorate it, enjoy the yummy smells of a real tree and just have a grand 'ole Christmas with our real tree! Oh and I decided that I was tired of the maroon and wanted to do red. GASP!! Yes, I wanted to change and those of you who know me well, know that I don't handle change well! What has gotten into me?? HAHA!

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, David and I loaded up the kids, picked up Dee-deed (my sister) and headed to a Christmas tree farm! It was a tad bit chilly but we were good! We got to the Christmas tree farm and automatically loved it! The people were super nice and helpful! They had a cute little gift shop that we browsed through and oh goodness, the smells coming from the farm and the hot chocolate were wonderful to the senses! Yes, they gave away free hot chocolate and apple cider!

We took a wagon ride down the farm because they had real live reindeer! The pair of reindeer are actually a 'couple' that they rent every year to come to the farm. The kids were so excited to see 'Santa's reindeer'!

~Adding a side note here: Yes, it's a mixed marriage. Can I get a WAAARRRRR EAGLE!! SOOO proud of our SEC Champs!!! Not naming names here...AHEM honey, but somebody sure was drinking some shutup juice that day!! ;) Now, onto the national championship!!~



Bless her heart, Dee-deed looks as if something was slipped into her hot chocolate! *giggle*





Dee-deed sure does love her some Boogie-Bears!



We took a few photo ops while we where there too!









We walked all over the tree farm and found the perfect tree! They had each tree "tagged" with what kind of tree it was, how tall it was and what the price was. It was beautiful and the price was perfect! Just what we had been looking for!

We decided on a 9ft Leland Cypress. In the past we had always gotten a Frasier fir so this type of tree was new to us.

This is David trying to cut it down. It was harder than he thought it would be but he got the job done!



It doesn't look that big huh???



We didn't quite realize how heavy the tree was until we started up the hill (the tree had been at the base of the hill). We started to wonder at that point but kept on. Yes, we could have gotten the people at the farm to help us and they even offered but we wanted to do it ourselves......whole "memory" thing going on here.

They "shook" the tree out to make sure there were no critters (think Griswald's here), tied it up and loaded it on David's truck. Ummm, guys....don't we need a whole drilled in the bottom so it will stay on the tree stand? UGHHH....they had to unload the tree, carry it to the whole maker thingy and then re-load it on the truck. The guys who were carrying the tree couldn't believe how big it was. They said there was no way it was a 9 footer. I think they were right! But hey, we got it for a great price right?

We got the tree home, unloaded it and couldn't stop laughing. It was huge! We carried it upstairs into the house and put in on the tree stand. NO GOOD. It automatically started to fall over. WOW! OK, so we had to drop everything and run to Wally world to get a bigger tree stand. We got back, put it in the bigger stand (which now I'm thinking we needed a major heavy duty one, but I digress) and this is what we had.......a 12-14ft Leland Cypress!



Ok now....remember in A Christmas Vacation when they got the tree home and untied it? Yeah, that's what happened to us, but without all of the windows breaking. We were still laughing at this point. But once we untied it.....look at what we had! A BEAUTIFUL, GIGANTIC, HUMONGOUS, BIG FAT TREE!!! We were just in awe at it's greatness! Now ya'll, I'm serious....it did NOT look that big in the field. Well DUHHH, it was standing in the midst of 20-50ft trees. OF COURSE it isn't going to look that big!! But we didn't know!!!

See how beautiful it is? And look how gi~normous it looks compared to the normal sized window! I wish each of you could have seen it in person! This picture just doesn't do it justice!



The first thing David said was "I can't see the tv". Typical guy response.

We stepped back and I was laughing hysterically!!! Not kidding...ask my friend Lee. I called her to see if she could come look at it because I knew she would get a kick out of it and I couldn't stop laughing on the phone. I was crying!!

We had to completely rearrange the living room and we got the lights on....well, Allison did because I couldn't stop laughing and when the kids went to bed, David and I just sat talking about how beautiful it was. David said "I can't stop staring at it". It really was that grand! All of my expectations had been met....and then some!!

It's the Little Things

I started writing this post on Thanksgiving Day but then put it on hold. I was actually really down on Thanksgiving Day because David had to work and I was missing him and missing the fact that we weren't together on that day. But I would give up Thanksgiving any day so that we could have him with us on Christmas. I am posting this today because my cup runneth over! :)

I was thinking that day of what all I was thankful for. Yes, I am thankful for everything and feel extremely blessed by God even though I feel so undeserving of His goodness. Hence the name of my blog. I truly feel blessed beyond belief!

I wanted to write about things that I am thankful for that I may not always think about from day to day.

First and foremost, I am thankful for all of the many blessings that God has given to me and to my family.

I am sooo thankful for David and for the way he loves me. He'll tell you himself that he may not always express it like he should and that he can act like a donkey's rear end at times, but he loves me and is in love with me. He makes me laugh like no one else does. He's a manly man and I'm glad! He doesn't let the little things bother him and he has a smile that would melt your heart! His family comes before his own wants and needs. My hand fits perfectly in his and even though we are very much the opposite of each other, he's the perfect one for me! He knows me inside and out and better than anyone else! I'm thankful that he thinks about me throughout the day enough to call me and just say "Hey Ma, I love you"!

I'm so thankful for my babies. They are my heart and always will be. I'm thankful for the "just because" hugs that Mimi surprises me with or the little notes she leaves lying around to tell me that she loves me. Just found one in my wallet yesterday. She is such a sweetheart and is so tenderhearted. Thankful that my little Bud is just as feisty as David sometimes but when you peel back that tough little exterior, he's a sweetheart that will flash me a smile and whisper "I love you momma". I'm thankful for my precious Boogs, who is always so good and kind. He is so quiet and I often times wonder what's going on in that little mind of his but I know he's genuine and often will say "Thank you mamma for my chock-it (chocolate) milk or thank you for my bick-it (biscuit)". I'm thankful that he loves to sing and listen to music just like I do. Ahh, my little Pudgie! I'm so thankful for his sweet face. So thankful for the little cutesy things he does like breaking out in a dance when he hears music or laugh at something on tv when he doesn't even know what he's looking at. I love that he is a getinski and that he is curious about everything. He's a climber too! I love that he gets so excited when he hears David coming in the door at night or cries when David leaves. It really is too cute! I'm so blessed to be their mom and even though I make lots of mistakes when it comes to them, they love me regardless and know that I'm not perfect. They don't expect me to be!

I'm so thankful for the family time that we make. I'm thankful that we can just sit around and laugh at each other or talk or play a silly game. I'm thankful for each day that God allows me to have with my family. It really goes by too quick and often times too short so I'm grateful for each day.

I'm so thankful for a sister who will come over four nights in a row to help us pick out, cut down, string lights on twice, help pick up when it falls and help wrap ribbon around an over sized, massive, really too big, garganchu-in (yes, I'm making up my own spelling of that word) Christmas tree. She is selfless and willing to help whenever she can without thinking what's in it for her or when will she be paid back. I'm thankful that she loves my babies as if they were her own and thankful that she and David and I are so close.

I am also thankful for my mom. Thankful that she prays for me and for David and the kids. Thankful that she will come over to visit and end up folding a basket of laundry just because she wants to help out in some way. I'm thankful that she calls to check up on us because she misses us and is always willing to give advice or encouragement when needed. She has the best intentions and is so thoughtful. :)

I'm so thankful for good friends that we have made over the last couple of years. Thankful for the many many laughs and the good times watching our kids play together. I'm also thankful for old friends that I don't get to see very much because it makes our time that we do spend together much more special! I consider them all apart of my family!

I'm thankful for the routine of my life. Thankful that I have a family to love and take care of. Thankful that I have mounds of laundry to wash and fold or dishes to wash or carpet to vacuum. Yes, I'll admit, sometimes it does all seem so mundane and I think that my life couldn't get any more boring, but it really is the best life! I don't need fancy clothes or jewelry or anything like that. I have my family and that is what I am most thankful for and feel most blessed with!

Crrrrrazy!

Ahhh, I have so much I want to post but never enough time to do it! I hopefully will be able to here soon! Thank you to those of you who check in to see if I have updated! I'm glad to know I have a few followers!! I hope each of you are doing well and having a blessed week! I am so glad it is Friday! YAY!!

Leaving you with this:

SOMEone's been in the candy.......

This Is How We Rolled

My sweet hubby turned 35 on the 11th. I had mentioned to my sister that I would love to be able to get tickets to an Alabama game and surprise him for his birthday. Neither David or I have ever been to an Alabama game so I knew it would be something that he would totally enjoy.

Allison pulled her magic strings and got some tickets to the Alabama/Mississippi State game only to find out the night before the game that they were the wrong tickets. They were actually tickets for the Alabama/Georgia State game. Plus, I had come down with the flu (1st time EVER no doubt!) on Wednesday and was still feeling the effects of that on Friday night. Oh David was so disappointed. He is one of those guys that keeps things like that to himself but I could see it in his eyes that he was disappointed. Well, Allison started making some phone calls and I took a few more doses of TheraFlu and by Saturday morning we realized that we would be heading to Tuscaloosa in a few hours to watch the actual game AND I felt 98%better. We were giddy!

Now, I am an Auburn fan in my heart but honestly, I do cheer for Alabama when they are not playing Auburn. But I have noticed that I can't bring myself to actually say "Roll Tide". I don't know.....makes me feel like a traitor! LOL!

When we realized that we were actually going to be able to go to the game we also found out that we were given sky box tickets!! We were super excited then!! We were fine with sitting in the normal seats, but to find out that we were actually going to be able to sit where the "important" people sit....it was just too much!



We rolled into T-town and found the church where our parking pass was allotted. It was so close to the stadium which made for a very easy exit!!





**You'll have to excuse the pictures. I didn't know if they would allow you to take a digital SLR camera in to the stadium so I just grabbed my point and shoot camera. Some of them are blurry**

We walked around and bought the kids some t-shirts. We then headed to the Quad to meet up with some of Allison's work friends. It was crazy! There were so many people and you could tell there was excitement in the air!





We saw lots of interesting things! LOL!



Had some interesting conversations about those band uniforms!!



It was neat to see the "Million Dollar Band" up close and personal though!



Before we left for the game, I had put on a teal blue shirt and David asked me if that was what I was going to wear. I didn't put much thought into it and said "Yes". It wasn't until I got to the campus that I realized that almost EVERYBODY was wearing anything and everything Alabama or Mississippi State. I totally felt out of place but hey, in my defense I didn't know! We did see some very interesting people there. It was funny to see the different fashions. I'm talking hounds tooth shoes, scarfs, earrings, watches, headbands, hats, tights, dresses, skirts etc. You name it....they wore it!! We even saw this guy several times.....



I thought that was comical because a guy was wearing that set up....I don't know guys, would any of you actually wear those?

We hung out on the Quad for a while and I saw a family I knew from church so we spoke to them for a few minutes and then we met a friend of my sisters, Crystalyn. She was funny and very sweet!



It was then time to head up to our sky box! We walked in and were in awe! It was so nice!! We didn't have to wait in long lines and everyone there was sooo nice and helpful!! They had this huge spread of food and drinks set out and programs too! We felt very blessed to be there!









Allison and her friend, Rodney, who is a Mississippi State fan!



This is David's "I'm trying to watch the game but you are wanting to take this silly picture" look! LOL! Gosh love him!!





All in all, we had such a fun time and it was definitely awesome how everything worked out for us to go and sit in the sky box!! Just made the day even more sweeter!! Hope you had a wonderful 35th birthday baby!!!

Also, just want to say a very special Thank You to my mom for watching the kids so we could go to the game!

Punkins O'Love

Boogs had a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch in October and David was able to go with us this time! It was a lot of fun!





Some of his buddies!





Sweet Boogs!











He found his punkin!



I look old in this picture....LOL!





OH LOOK....it's a Pudgie Patch! ;)



Pudgie's punkin!



AAAAND he threw his punkin...




I'll leave you with these....

This is the corner of an old house on the property of the pumpkin patch and yes, those are rocks holding up the corner. Interesting to see!



Sorry this is blurry, but I was trying to be inconspicuous here.....I have never seen these before! They sure do look comfortable though!



It's a beautiful day today! Hope you are enjoying yours! :)