Thanksgiving in my Heart ~ Day 29 & 30

Day 29 ~ I'm so thankful for Scentsy!!! I love Scentsy, the company, the product, my sisters, and everything in between!!! I really do love Scentsy!!! It has allowed me to make some extra money, as well as meet and make new friends!!!! Scentsy really has been a huge blessing to me and my family!

Day 30 ~ I'm thankful for my life! For every part of it! For the good and bad! For a husband that works long hours, so that I can stay home with our girls! I am Thankful for the freedom to be able to homeschool our children! I am thankful for my girls! For our home, and all the fun things we have! I'm thank for my parents, for my family and friends! I'm thankful that we have the fun home too! We have friends home to sing karaoke, play wii, or board games, or just chill out! I'm thankful for the abundance of toys my kids have, so that they can play just about anything their hearts desire! I'm thankful for my little yelper dog! She is the boss! I'm thankful for the gift of cooking and baking, so that I can feed my family well and others too! I'm truly blessed! And it's beyond measure! I do not deserve all this, but it's because I am a princess of the Highest King! I'm so thankful that we serve an Awesome God, who has so much love and forgiveness, and mercy for us! He wants us to succeed! And I'm so thankful that I am married to a Godly man, and I have awesome Godly Parents! I'm thankful for Jesus Christ! I'm thankful that he endured all he did, so that you and I would have our free salvation! It is because of him, that I will rejoin with my mom one day! Thank you God for every Blessing you have given me and do give me!!!!

I have had a great time doing my Thanksgiving in My Heart posts! And I hope you have enjoyed reading them! Hopefully it made you reflect and be thankful too!

Hugs and Blessings,

Thanksgiving in my Heart ~ Day 27 & 28

Day 27 ~ I'm thankful for Christmas movies! This may sound silly, but they have so much heart and meaning! They are always so touching and usually really meaningful! And great to watch as a family! We enjoyed a night of Santa Paws! One of the littles was snuggled in my lap and the other in her dad's' lap! It was the sweetest!!!!! And If you haven't seen Santa Paws, you really need to watch it! It's a great movie!

Day 28 ~ I'm thankful for Birthdays! Because it's a special day for that person! It's a day full of fun and love and specialness, just for them! Or least around here, that is how we do it!!! It makes me beam with excitement to spoil those I love with lots of specialness on their most special day!!!!!

Hugs and Blessings,

Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday to our precious baby "Big Girl", Lil K! What a wonderful blessing you are to us, and we hope you have the BEST Birthday!!!!!!

Where does time go? I mean 3 years ago, as she was being born, I didn't even know! Yet all along, God knew! Just a day or two after, I found out about that she has been born! It all started! And I am so thankful that it worked out! And That God blessed us with her!! Today was a day that I wish Momma would have been with us to help celebrate, it was her first birthday as an signed and forever officially legal family member, but we all know she was forever our girl no matter what!!!!

Lil K is as spunky as they come! She has the funniest personality of all! She is super silly! And Loves to make you laugh, but acting as onry as she can! She loves being outside! Anything outside, and she is happy!!! She hates long car rides! She doesn't like the sun or moon when she is in the car! Not at all! But she does love when we arrive to the places we are traveling, especially if it's to see Grandaddy! She loves Woody off Toy Story! She prefers junk food, but most favorite of all foods is deviled eggs! She likes eggs anyway, but deviled is her favorite! She loves sweet tea to drink most of anything! And she loves to cut a rug and bust a move! She is a free spirited dancer! She really is something special!!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Sweet Baby Girl!! (She would say I not a baby, I a big girl!)

Even though it wasn't the biggest party, we had a super special day! We spoiled her with lots of love, and big sister helped decorate the cake! We had a yummy dinner, and her favorite chocolate cake! She picked it! And I couldn't be more proud to be her mom! And as her and I always say ~ eye heart u!!!!!!!!!!!! I really do!!! More than you can imagine!!! I love you, Lil K!

Hugs and Blessings,

Thanksgiving in my Heart ~ Day 25 and 26

Day 25 ~

I'm thankful for this great time we had with our family of 4 and our friends! We spent our Thanksgiving at home this year! We had a wonderful time and even had an open door to others to come and go if they wanted! It was low key and full of lots of fun, good food, family and friends! It was wonderful! I'm thankful that I have a husband that will share the duties of preparing, cooking, and cleaning up too! He is the GREATEST!!! I'm thankful for all the family and friends that I didn't get to see too! I Love my life! I really do have a blessed life!!!!!

Day 26 ~

I'm thankful for low key family days! Just spending the day with us 4 really was nice! It was a beautiful day!!!! We had fun together! It's my favorite kind of day!

Hugs and Blessings,

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving for our family to yours!! May ya'll be blessed! Hopefully each of you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by those you love, and filled with lots of fun and special memories, and may you have plenty to eat! Most of all, don't forget the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving, so be sure to give thanks!

That's a picture of the girls from yesterday! It is finally really looking like fall out there!

What are your plans this Thanksgiving? Do you have big travel plans, or expecting lots of company? What's your favorite annual dish?

This year we are staying home! It's 7 hours to where my family is, and this year we are staying home! We have invited our friends over, and some co - works. We are fixing lots of yummies for everyone to enjoy! I absolutely love Thanksgiving Dinner.

Our Menu ~

For starters ~

Praline Dip with cracker sticks

Ham Rolls

Summer Sausage

Cheese

Crackers

Celery

Menu ~

Cajun Deep Fried Turkey

Brown Sugar Glazed Ham

Cornbread and sausage Dressing

Brown Gravy

Mashed Potatoes

Candied Fried Sweet Potatoes

Pinto Beans

Corn

Homemade Yeast Rolls

Cranberry Sauce

Desserts ~

Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Roll

Homemade Whipped Cream

Cookies

Pumpkin Pie (our friends are bringing)

Frozen Fruit Salad (our friends are bringing)

I did cut down a few dishes this year, but we don't need them. And we sure don't need the extra desserts that I cut out either. Normally I'd have a rice dish or homemade mac and cheese, and green beans too. Then for desserts I would normally make the pumpkin pie too, and also add in coconut pie, and then either lemon or chocolate pie, plus german chocolate brownie pie, and some kind of candy. For the candy it would either be fudge or peanut clusters. So we sure didn't need the extra's.

I'm so excited for our day! We will watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to start off our day! And tomorrow night, we will watch Santa Paws! I can't wait to see it! And I know the girls will love it!!!

I can't wait to share with you pictures of them from tomorrow! Let's just say what they will have on is super special and a very special tie to Mamaw / Momma!!! She may not physically be here anymore, but we sure will always keep her with us, one way or the other!

Off to do some more baking! I am the crazy one that stays up all night and then will crash tomorrow evening! This year I am skipping Black Friday Shopping. Well I think I am. We live in a very rural area, and it's an hour, no matter what direction we go, to Wal Mart even. With the plenty of Deer we would be seeing that time of morning, I think I will just pass and take advantage of a beautiful day with my family! Now if I had gone back home and Momma was here, we would go for sure!

Well I have rambled on long enough! Hope you have a beautiful and super blessed Thanksgiving Day!

Hugs and Blessings,

********* update ~ no pumpkin roll! I am out of wax paper! Living in podunkville, nothing is open! So I am making a banana cake with homemade butter cream frosting.

Thanksgiving in my Heart ~ Day 24

I'm thankful for my mom! I wish she was here with me, and on this day before Thanksgiving, I have struggled really bad! (truthfully, I have had a horrid week of coping). But I know that I will get through this too. Because I am really blessed beyond! I am who I am, because of my mom! Our family is what it is because of her! And her and dad always had an open door to feed anyone that was hungry, and no one was to be alone on any holiday, our home was always welcome!!! Mom will be smiling down tomorrow, as we open our home here to some friends that were alone, and not trying back home to their family, as well as several guys at work that do not have any family here either. My family back home, has a big crowd coming! My dear friend, Barb, opened her door to 2 homeless people she passes often, for dinner tomorrow!!! All because MOM showed us how to love and how to use our heart! Thank you, God, for giving me the GREATEST Mom!!! I am so thankful!!!!

Hugs and Blessings,

Pumpkin Patch

Oct 30, we took a trip to the pumpkin patch! It was beyond awesome and so much fun!!!!

There was so much to do!! Hay Pymarid, tricycles, pedal go-karts, pumpkin bounce house, yard pillow, corn maze, pumpkin patch, hay ride, animals, mine with a big slide, texas-sized volleyball, and much more!!!

Hugs and Blessings,

Halloween Fun (just a little late)

All ready for the trick or treaters!

My Buzz and Woody! The only two girls that refused to be anything else! No way could I talk them into a girl costume, they wanted to be their favorites, Buzz and Woody!

Now you are a sneak peak at next year's costume! Right before Momma got sick and passed away, she picked these costumes out. So they are super special! And I can't wait for them to use them next year! But you know I had to go ahead and get some pictures of them trying them on!

Being silly!!! What we all do best, around here!

Instead of carving our pumpkins, we colored them!

All ready to head out for trick or treating.....

Low and behold, they moved trick or treating to the night before, even though the paper listed it to be on Halloween night! The life in podunkville USA. But we had a fun and special dinner with lots of yummy food, including eyeball deviled eggs, and halloween cupcakes, and pumpkin cheesecake too. We had a great day full of acting silly and just being goofy!

Even our pumpkins get hats in Texas!

Hugs and Blessings,

Thanksgiving in my Heart ! Day 23

Today, I'm thankful for another day! Each day is a gift, and one not to be taken for granite. Today we had lots of extra cuddles and hugs! And I even got to rock my almost big girl baby girl! (She isn't much on being held and rocked!) Perfect gifts!!!!

Hugs and Blessings,

The House that Built Me!!! (song and my story)

Where do I even Start this at?!! I miss the house I grew up in! And it held such awesome memories, that it is a real push for us to finally settle down some place , so that our girls can have that same feeling about home! (So Fed Ex, if you are out there anywhere, STOP moving us!) I mean, Dad built on and did things to make it what Momma wanted, and it was a great home for our family! It was full of lots of memories! Good and Bad! And Just like the song says, my favorite dog was buried in the yard there. I really miss this house, the neighborhood, the fun, the hard times! No it wasn't the greatest house, or even a fancy house, but it was our home and it was filled with lots of love!!!!!! And I am who I am from growing up in that home with my GREAT parents! And we had a great front porch! And let me tell you, if that porch could talk, it would have more stories than you can imagine!!! It was the GREATEST place for front porch sittin'! It was the house that the friends gathered at! Dad would have hot dog roasts for us all! We had an awesome garden, and a GREAT tree for climbing! We played volleyball, and the butane tank was our net! We would sock skate in the dinning room and kitchen! We played in the front yard and the open field (2 full lots) across the street from us, until the street lights came on! It was the place I learned about hot guys and fast cars! Don't think bad right there, but Dad built race cars and so their was always YOUNG hot guys, even though they were too old for me, I did lots of dreaming and wishing! It was the gathering place for Holidays, and everyone was welcome! The more the merrier! It truly is a place that holds the keys as to why I am who I am, and holds some really special and precious memories! A place, I thought I'd never care to go back to, but I wish I could go visit and just sit and think there! I can see my momma standing at that kitchen sink there, her beautiful black hair! Or the extra rocking chair in our dinning room that provided another place for her to rock them babies! I can see Thanksgiving Dinners, and then clean up and time to put up our Christmas tree! Or the bed room floor that I did homework on all my life! And the building a house project with my dad, when I built a house I'd one day love to have! A place I felt so much peace and comfort and never knew just how hard life could really be! I never realized, even through the hard and really tough times, that life could be hard and unfair! I had so much peace and happiness there! It was a great place!!! I could go on and on and on, but it really was a special place!

So here's the lyrics to the song that inspired this post today! Every time I hear this song, it totally takes me back there!!!

The House that Built Me ~ Miranda Lambert

I know they say you can’t go home again
I just had to come back one last time
Ma’am I know you don’t know me from Adam
But these handprints on the front steps are mine

Up those stairs in that little back bedroom
Is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar
I bet you didn’t know under that live oak
My favorite dog is buried in the yard

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself
If I could just come in I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me

Mama cut out pictures of houses for years
From Better Homes and Gardens magazine
Plans were drawn and concrete poured
Nail by nail and board by board
Daddy gave life to mama’s dream

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself
If I could just come in I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me

You leave home and you move on and you do the best you can
I got lost in this old world and forgot who I am

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself
If I could walk around I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me


You see a video of Miranda Lambert's ACM performance of this very moving song!

Thank you for taking this little somewhat comforting/ healing trip down memory lane with me!!!!

Hugs and Blessings,

A new Blog

I wanted to share a new blog that a friend and I are doing together! It is going to be a bit different than the blog here, but if you are interested, feel free to check it out! It's called "Texas Housewives".

Hugs and Blessings,

Thanksgiving in my Heart ~ Day 22

Today, I'm thankful that I feel totally united in what our new location desires are! For the first time, I am glad to say we are working together on our wish list of things in a home and the parts of the new area we would like too. We are so very excited for the move, and it feels great to be on the same page!!! Thank you, God!!!

Hugs and Blessings

Thanksgiving in my Heart ~ Day 21

I'm so thankful for the touches of Christmas around the house! Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and I love everything about it!

This was Momma's Ribbon box, and I am so glad to have it! I bought lots of ribbon to fill up, so I can get busy making Momma bows for all the Christmas gifts!

A wild and crazy all colored bow, just like Momma would do!!!

We started decorating our trees too!!! (Very late for us, but it's getting there!!!)

The girls tree in their room!!!!

I'm truly thankful for everything about Christmas!!!!

Hugs and Blessings

Thanksgiving in my Heart ~ Day 19

Adoption! Nov 20, 2010 is National Adoption Day! And I'm so thankful for the most awesome gift I have ever been given, the gift of a child by the arms of God, through Adoption!!! It is not easy, as many think it is! It's a lot of stuff to get done, no matter which way you go through the process! I have done Private and CPS/ DCFS and I am telling you, they both have their own quirks and issues! But never the less, they are both way worth it!!!! It's trully the delight of my life!!!! I wouldn't change one part of either one of our adoptions!!!

Hugs and Blessings,

Thanksgiving in my Heart ~ Day 20

For the most awesome family day!!!! We had a great day just doing a little of nothing really! We went to the grocery store, and to lunch! Then we came home and just took it easy! Lil E learned to swing herself today!!! And Lil K learned to pedal the trike! And daddy sang to us on his new Karaoke machine! They played wii and we just spent a GREAT family day together!!! We even picked up each of our own 2010 Christmas ornament today!!! They are all so cute!!! I can't wait to show them to you!!!!

Hugs and Blessings,

Thanksgiving in my Heart ~ Day 18

I'm so thankful that I am surrounded by the GREATEST and most caring friends! It means so much that they have called or come by to check on me! And to offer their help and support! It really is great!!! More than I could have ever expected! I can't imagine my life without them! They rock!!!

Hugs and Blessings,

Thanksgiving in my Heart ~ Day 17

Day 17 ~

I'm thankful for unanswered prayers! Sometimes we don't know what is best for ourselves! We think we do, but sometimes, we are wrong. And I have been really wrong on some wishes, and I'm so thankful that God did not answer my prayers with what I wanted, but instead is showing me that he knows best!!! It really is something I'm so thankful for! As the old Garth Brooks' song says, "Some of God's GREATEST gifts, are unanswered prayers!" And that's for sure!!!

Hugs and Blessings,

Wordless Wednesday ~ Pumpkins from the Patch

Hugs and Blessings,