Up For Grabs!

A friend of mine sent me a scripture, asking me to 'work something up' so she could have it printed and framed for her two daughters' bedrooms. So I did, and I'm in love with it! I thought I would share it for anyone who might want a copy for their child's room. If you are interested in one, then shoot me an email or leave a comment and I'll email you the file for you to have printed.....no charge of course. It fits in an 8x8 frame without a mat. I just think it's a beautiful scripture.



















(click on imagine to enlarge)

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Gobble Gobble!

I know it's a little late to be saying Happy Thanksgiving, but hey, better late than never. Right?

We had a nice Thanksgiving. Anna Kate and I drove up to my mom & dad's Wednesday evening. We arrived around 10:00 and then stayed up until 12:30. My grandparents were there, so we had to catch up before turning in for the night. (Jeff couldn't join us because the Auburn/Alabama game was Saturday and he had to drive the RV up early Friday morning in order to get our tailgating spot.) My brother Jay, his wife Angee and their two daughters, Lauren & Kristin, arrived Thursday morning. It was so good to see them, and the girls are as cute as ever! It's amazing to me how Lauren looks so much like her daddy and Kristin looks like her mother.......no resemblence at all. We had a wonderful meal - turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, dressing, mac-n-cheese, green beans and rolls. It was Y.U.M.M.Y! The following morning my grandmother made her scrumptious sausage gravy and biscuits. It is to die for!!!! I wish I had some now.

We had planned to get some photos of the girls together, but as usual, they wouldn't cooperate. I take that back, Kristin cooperated but Lauren & Anna Kate had massive meltdowns. You'll see the pics below. I managed to get one shot of the three together, but it's more of a snapshot. It's better than nothing though.

Thanksgiving night we played my brother's Wii game. If you've never played this, it's a blast! I have to tell you though, my arms are sore from the baseball game. We also did some kareoke, which was um, interesting to say the least............

Anna Kate & I ended up cutting our visit short and left Friday night. She was in phase three of her meltdown and I recognized the signs that it was likely to continue indefinitely, so we headed to Auburn. Little did I know that Jay & his family left about two hours later. I guess we were all on overload. It really was great getting together though. We should be ashamed of ourselves for not doing it more often! *note to self: make more of an effort to visit family*

Now for the pics.

The only good one of the girls together.

L-R: Kristin (2), Anna Kate (3 1/2), Lauren (3 1/2)

Supposedly napping....

Lauren & Anna Kate

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As Promised

Anna Kate is so excited to have a pink Christmas tree in her bedroom and I must say, it is adorable!

I also did a little decorating in the dining room. I hung silver, gold and white ornaments from the chandelier and then completed my tablescape. I'm not finished in there, but it's a start.

This weekend we break out the big 'guns'. Tune in Sunday evening :-)

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It's Starting To Look A Little Like Christmas

That's because I've started the slow transformation from a traditional home to a Holiday wonderland. I cannot explain how much I love the Holiday season. Everyone I know hates it when it gets dark early, but to me, it represents the upcoming Holidays. I enjoy driving home from work in the dark and seeing all of the Christmas lights. This weekend we will put up all of the Christmas trees. Yes, that's right, I said 'all' as in plural. I have five trees; one 4' in the kitchen/breakfast room (Auburn theme), one 5.5' skinny Charlie Brown tree in the den behind Jeff's chair (fishing theme), my BIG tree in the foyer (done in purple, green, turquoise & gold), one 4' in the dining room on the buffet (white, gold & silver) and finally, a 4' pink tree in Anna Kate's room. That one is a new addition. The past two years, she's had just a 4' regular green tree, but when I saw the actual pink tree with pink lights, it was a no brainer. I'll put it on her bedside table. She doesn't know it yet, but she and I are going to put her tree up tonight. She'll be so excited!

Speaking of said pink Christmas tree, Jeff was in Albany, GA at one of his offices and since our Walmart was sold out of the pink tree I asked him to look while he was there. They had it, yay! It's a Walmart Supercenter and apparently had 100% more than our little store does, so I asked him to pick up anything he saw in purple (believe it or not, purple Christmas decorations and accessories are very hard to come by.) I received the following text message from him this afternoon, "I got all kinds of looks and glances with me carrying this pink tree and all the purple stuff...". I bet a 6'4" 300 pound man did like 'funny' carrying that :-) (Shhhhh, don't tell him I told you this, but he secretly loves Christmas decorations as much as I do.)

On Anna Kate's end, she was out of school yesterday for Veteran's Day. Jeff took a vacation day and took her to the playground, where she met up with a few of her friends from school. She actually did take a short nap, but she was full of energy and waiting on me when I got home.

While I'm on the subject of energy, Jeff & I aren't sure if she is just a normal 3 year old that's ready and willing to play full speed ahead 100% of the time or might she need some Ritalin. I wish you could be a fly on the wall at our house and see just how hyper this child is. She is non-stop! Last night, she was 'sitting' with me on the sofa....and by sitting, I mean standing, bouncing, jumping, rolling and springing in the air beside of me. Then she would wrap her arms around me and hug me, but it was so full of energy - to the point of her shaking with energy. Phew! Either we have a hyper active child on our hands or her mommy and daddy are old. Either way, I'm exhausted.

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Lazy Days

Today has been one of those lazy days. We really haven't been productive at all. I did manage to sweep the kitchen and vacuum, change bed sheets and take a shower, but that's about it. Oh, and we cooked breakfast this morning - waffles, scrambled eggs and sausage. The rest of the day has been full of college football (Auburn lost :-( but Bama got beat :-) so I guess it's a 'wash'.)

Anna Kate still has a cold. I finally broke down and gave her some Benadryl around lunchtime because she was so miserable. That resulted in a longer-than-usual nap, which would explain her still being up now (9:09 pm) but I can tell she's winding down. I hope she'll sleep in her bed tonight, but I'm not hopeful. I have even mentioned that Santa really wants her to be sleeping in her bed when he comes next month..........she's not buying it. *Sigh*

Tomorrow will be our grocery shopping day and getting things ready for the week to come. Anna Kate is out of school Monday for Veteran's Day, so Jeff will take a vacation day to stay home with her. I, unfortunately, will be at work.

I'm hoping we can get outside a little tomorrow. I want to gather some more pine cones - I plan to spray paint and/or glitter them in various colors to coordinate with our Christmas decorations. I want to do pine garland w/ the pine cones on the mantel and then over the doorway in the foyer. The Christmas tree will be in the corner of the entry way of the foyer and den. I really love my Christmas tree. It's done in purple, green and turquoise - peacock colors. I actually incorporate peacock feathers in the tree topper. The lights are white though. It is really pretty. I'll be sure to post pictures once I get it up.....which won't be too much longer. Oh, I wanted to do a pink tree in Anna Kate's room, but all the stores are sold out. I'm contemplating a white tree with pink, sage green and yellow ornaments with silver accents. I think I'll make a trip to Wal-Mart tomorrow afternoon.

Well, it's time for Anna Kate's bath and bed. She's obviously tired (cranky).

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The Sand Man Came

**Hallelujah** Sleep, glorious sleep!

I have RLS (restless leg syndrome) and had been without my medication for about a week. Without it, I do not sleep. Seriously, I have slept maybe 10 hours max, all week......until last night. My doctor finally refilled my prescription yesterday. Thank goodness Jeff came home from out of town last night and was kind enough to give Anna Kate her bath and ready for bed, which allowed me to go to bed early. I fell asleep halfway through Grey's Anatomy and didn't wake until my alarm clock (Jeff) woke me at 6:00 this morning. I feel like a new person! For those of you who don't have sleep issues, count your lucky stars because it's miserable.

Anna Kate has come down with a chest/head cold. Bless her heart, she just can't catch a break. She was so excited to see her daddy last night (like I said before, he had been out of town on business) and couldn't seem to give him enough hugs & kisses. I think we all slept great last night all cuddled up together.

Well, that's it for now. I felt so rejuvinated this morning, that I felt like writing about it :-) Have a good weekend everyone! Oh, and War Eagle - Beat Them Dawgs!!!!

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How Was Your Day?

And apparently Anna Kate's first day back to school was fantastic! She is in great spirits and I can tell that her being back in a structured environment was what she needed. She is so much like my baby brother was when he was little, in that my mom, grandmother or I had to constantly entertain him. I can remember him asking, 'Mom, tell me what I can do....I'm bored." Anna Kate is *exactly* like that. She is not very skilled in the self-entertainment area.

But onto the good stuff - she came home with a fun project. She had a large piece of heavy duty cardstock cut into the shape of a turkey feather. We had to decorate it however we wanted using items from around the house or outside. Anyone who knows my child knows she chose items from outside before I even had a chance to list the sparkly, girly things from inside (and anyone who knows me knows I do not like the outdoors, hence the enticement of pink glitter, glue, etc). I changed my clothes, grabbed two flashlights and out we went, in the dark, hunting for decorations for the turkey feather. I do believe my daughter has inherited a touch of mine and my mother's OCD, because I mentioned picking up 'a' pine cone and I think I counted 18 in the bucket when we came in.

Well enough of the suspense -I know you're all on the edge of your seats waiting to see this fancy turkey feather, so I will oblige you.

My silly turkey with her decorated turkey feather.

A close up of the feather.

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Back To School

First, our family is officially joining the world of blogging. I have a photography blog, but I felt like we needed one to keep friends and family up to speed on the happenings in the Lee Household - so I'll start with this post.

Anna Kate has finally returned to school after a week-long illness. And can I say.......*HALLELUJAH*!!! Bless her heart, she was so ready to go back, but I think I was even more ready. Her teacher and little friends were so excited to see her this morning. That just melted my heart! Entertaining a 3 1/2 year old inside of the house for 7 days is very, very difficult. We simply ran out of fun and creative things to do. She was bored with mommy, to say the least. We colored, cut out & hung Halloween decorations all over the house. We read, truly, at least 30 books (some numerous times), we played games, dolls and house. We even sat down with the laptop and got her Santa Wishlist in order. (Now that, she never got bored with :-) ) We also emptied the playroom and rearranged the big toy furniture, put one of the bookshelfs in the closet and then brought back in the toys and organized them. That was one big project. It took us all afternoon. Of course, I probably could have had it done quicker if it hadn't been for Anna Kate dragging out the toys faster than I could get them organized. I even printed stickers to put on each of the storage unit drawers so she knows where things go. Any yes, I do realize that I will primarily be the one picking all of these things up and putting them back in the appropriate drawers/places, but we're working on that.

Now for a question, does anyone know how to convince my 3 year old daughter that there are no monsters in her bedroom and it is safe and okay to sleep in her own bed at night? I gotta tell ya, I'm ready to sleep on more than 6" of bed each and every single night. Anyone?????

And finally, it's Auburn/Georgia week. The game is away, so we'll watching it on TV. I'm nervous already. So in honor of team spirit and good 'ole rivalry......

WAR EAGLE & BEAT THEM DAWGS!!

**Edited to add some pics of a few of our projects from the weekend. I personalized Anna Kate's toy box in her playroom and then added some white toole around her bed hoping to convince her it was a princess bed.**

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