The Hodgepodge Post

Now that I finally got through with Chrismas 2011, this is just a mixture of different things I wanted to put on here just to journal them and so that I wouldn't forget them.

I was off for about 11 days during Christmas and it was GREAT!!  While I was off Krisi, my boss, had a moving sale and I got to go and I picked up a few items...one of which was this!  I got it for $5.00 and I think it looks great on my little round table!

This was another one of my $5.00 purchases!  I think these look great in the living room with my red couch!

My last item purchased was a lamp for Tori's room.  I think it looks perfect with her new bedding that Santa brought her.  We also went to Banks camping for Steve to go hunting.  We had a full camper...but we had lots of fun!

Bradley, Pop, and Steve were working on a trailer...they had taken a little break from hunting.

The girls got caught up with their rest!

Thomas LOVES jumping on the trampoline and it is really good excercise for me!!  I think he would jump all day.  But what he really loves is is to be bounced!

And, last but not least...Thomas picked up a ringworm somewhere along the way!  This was the picture that Steve took to send to Jim.  We thought that would save us a trip to Wetumpka, but ringworms are hard to get rid of, so we doctored on it for a while and could not get rid of it, so we ended up going to Wetumpka, but thank God we are finally almost rid of it!  Wow!  I think that gets me caught up on my blogging for the time being.  I hope I can keep from getting so far behind for now on!!

Christmas 2011 Part 3

This is still a continuation of Christmas 2011...maybe I will get caught up before Christmas 2012!

The Hawthorne's

Now, that gets us through Christmas Eve...now on to Christmas Day!!

This is what the playroom looked like after Santa came!  I think it was a little overwhelming to Thomas...look at that face!

Steve was just as excited about Tori's new gadget as she was...or may be more that she was!
Dan-Dan and Pop came to see what Santa brought and then we had church since Christmas fell on Sunday this year.  Then we went to Bon Jeans for lunch.  Aunt Pean, Ken, Stan, Sonya, and Marino got to come and we all had some good food and a good visit!  Oh....I almost forgot...Santa had left a go-cart in Steve's shop for Steve, Tori, and Thomas...but there again, I think Steve was the most excited about the go-cart!!

Aunt Pean really enjoyed coming to Mother's and enjoyed her lunch!  It was really good...all the food for Christmas was really good and I gained about 5 pounds! HA!!

We always have so much fun and so much to talk about when we get together and that is what the holidays are really all about, just being together and enjoying your family!  Christmas 2011 is now a memory, but it is a good memory.  We are so blessed and I hope we have a lot more Christmas memories to come!!

Christmas 2011 Part 2

We had just about as many presents at Bon Jeans and a couple of really excited yunguns!!  After we got finished opening presents, we went outside and did fireworks and had a bonfire...it was sooo much fun!

They look so sweet and innocent, but they are more that ready to start ripping some paper!!

Here is Tori sporting her new Alabama hat that Aunt Cindy, Uncle Dodd, Campell and Collins gave her(she is now an Alabama fan HA!).

Baby Collins got her a new ride and I think she liked it!  She really enjoyed Christmas this year!

Three generations!  I love the way the Christmas tree looks through the door in the background.

Christmas 2011 Part 1

Christmas this year fell on Sunday, so we had the Friday before Christmas off and it was GREAT!!  I got to do some last minute shopping, wrapping and baking.  Tori and I got up and went to Wal-Mart first thing, then we came home and Thomas, Campbell, and I made cookies....well, mostly I made cookies, they tired out pretty fast and was ready to get into something else HA!  But, we did have some pretty cute cookies and they made some pretty cute pictures and we made some really special memories!

Our cookies turned out really cute and tasty!  Campbell spent the night with us, they was going to sleep in the tent in the playroom and Steve set it up and everything, but...they both ended up in the bed with me and Steve ended up in Thomas' bed...oh well!!  But the next morning they woke up extremely excited because Santa was coming that night because it was CHRISTMAS EVE!!

But before Santa could come we had to go to Dan-Dan and Pop's for lunch and to open presents!  This was a picture of ALL the presents before we all got in there and made hash of the presents (and the room)!

Here is Thomas SOOOOOO excited before we started eating lunch.  He could not WAIT to open presents!

Here they are all 4 of them!!  I cannot believe how the years have FLOWN by, it seems like yesterday when Tori, Bethany, and Bradley were Thomas' age and in the blink of an eye he will be all grown up like them!  Okay...I think I'll stop here so I can go have myself a good cry!!  Not really, but time does go so fast!!

Here is the whole gang, girlfriend and boyfriend included!  Thomas was standing in as Bethany's boyfriend for the day!

Steve is opening what he loves....clothes!!  Steve and Thomas do NOT like to get clothes!  It was hilarious when Thomas opened a present and he had clothes.  It was like the biggest disappointment of his life!  He gets that from Steve...they just want toys!!

Dan-Dan and Pop were opening presents too!  We all got soooooo much!  We are a very blessed family!!

Thomas had to get Steve to help him with this one!  This is one he got from Aunt Lynn, Uncle Greg, and Bethany...and he loved it!!

WOW!!  Thomas is in hog heaven!!  This is just the beginning of toys, toys, and more toys!!!  After Dan-Dan and Pop's we headed home to get ready to go to Bon Jean's for more excitement and eating yummy food!!  Stay tuned for Part II of Christmas 2011!!

Lazy Saturday

Well, I am sort of caught up with the housework for the day.  Tori is gone to Selma to see Adam with his parents.  Steve is down at the shop working and Thomas is playing Just Dance 3 so....I thought it might be a good time for me to update.
I'm still trying to get pictures on here from December.  Here is Thomas and some of his classmates at the courthouse.  They went to the courthouse and sang Christmas carols for everyone.  This is Thomas, AJ, Daniah, and Bailey.  Afterwards they went to McDonalds...what fun!!

Next on our very busy December calandar was the K-4 Christmas party that was put on by none other than myself and Ginger Nichols (Savannah's mom).  We just had a really simple party...just cupcakes, chips, dip and juices.  The weather was so warm that day, we got to have the party outside.

Here is Thomas with two of his best friends...AJ and John Harper.  Just this week, Thomas told me that he was getting a new classmate...Aiden.  He said he wasn't a big Aiden, just a K-4 Aiden...HA!!  Then he told me that he and AJ and John Harper were going to show him around the school and teach him how to behave! HA!!

Next on the agenda, was the Christmas get together with Steve's side of the family at Dan-Dan and Pop's.  We had that the week-end before Christmas and I'm not sure what Thomas was doing in this picture!

Here is Tori, Adam, Bradley, and Hayden all ready to play Dirty Santa and then Bingo...which has become a tradition at Dan-Dan and Pop's with the extended family!

Bethany came home with us from Dan-Dan's and she and Tori played Just Dance while Adam and Thomas played Jenga.

Catching Up Once Again!

Okay, I'm back after a long break!  Wow, have I been busy!  This is the most wonderful time of the year like the song says, but it is also a very busy time of the year.  But before I get started catching up, I have to say WAT TO GO TORI!!  She aced her first semester of college English!  She just checked her grades tonight and I am sooooo proud of my baby girl!!!  Now on to playing catch-up.

Thomas went to visit Santa at school last Saturday.  He insisted on taking his list so that Santa would know just what to bring him.

Not everyone was as excited about seeing Santa as Thomas was.  Collins didn't want any part of Santa! Ha!

Here is two that are so excited about Christmas!  Thomas is the most excited that he has ever been!

After the breakfast with Santa we went to the parade.  It was pretty cold, but Thomas didn't care.  We went to Clayton and Eulene's front yard just like we do every year.  Here is Thomas waiting for the parade to start.

Last Saturday night we had Christmas with the Bryan's at Aunt Glinda's.  I think everyone was there except Tonya and her family.  Everyone had a great time.  This is a shot of all of the grandchildren except Tonya.

Here is a shot of all of the great grandchildren that were there.  Scott and Scotty were not there either.  Kelsey had already left by this time and Collins wasn't in the picture, but she was there.

Okay...that is all the catching up for tonight.  I will try to pick back up tomorrow night and hopefully get caught up just in time for Christmas pictures next week!  Can you believe a week from today is Christmas day????

Our Lives Lately

Well, lets see, where do I start????  We have been soooo busy!  We are in the process of re-doing our kitchen and trying to decorate a little for Christmas.  I decided to go ahead and try to get a jump on decorating since we will be going to help Dan-Dan and Pop decorate the day after Thanksgiving.  Steve and I have been working every night and that is why I haven't blogged, I am pooped when we get finished working for the night and I go to bed and CRASH!  But, it is going to be so worth it, the kitchen already looks so much better!  We started last week-end and have really gotten a lot accomplished in a week.  We only get to work a couple of hours at night, but everything has been going really well and we are coming right along!

There is Steve getting ready to take down the cabinets over the bar.  It wasn't as bad of a job as I thought it would be.

I was a little scared that I wouldn't like having the cabinets down or that I would miss the cabinet space, but I LOVE the way it has turned out! 

This is what it looked like after we took down the microwave.  I wasn't to sure as to what we would do with the backsplash, but when Steve painted the wall, it looked so much better!  I think we will leave it alone and maybe I will try to find a pretty little picture to go in the space between the backsplash and where the hood will be.

Steve and Thomas are reading Thomas while I work on my blog and then Thomas and I are going to read Runaway Ralph.  That is the book we are reading right now and it is a chapter book, so we try to read one chapter a night.  Thomas doesn't want anyone to read that book to him except me.  We are on the 2nd book in the series.  We had our Thanksgiving lunch at church today and I ate WAY too much!  But everything was so good!  Tori is gone to Adam's tonight.  She is finished with school until after Thanksgiving and so is Adam.  They were going on a double date tonight to the Chicken Shack!  Well, this week will be a short week.  Thomas just has 2 days of school and I have 3 days of work WOOHOO!!  I guess I had better finish up here and go to bed, 5:30 a.m. will come mighty early!