CHRIS GOT THE JOB AT AOL!  He starts next week.  Yay for NOT having to move and yay for getting paid A LOT more…yay for crazy good benefits and bonuses, and yay for a very faithful God.  He has seen us through!  Like always!

I’m making a list of all the things Santa needs to bring Gracie this year for Christmas. It’s so hard, because she has so much already. I do plan on donating a nice big box of it to charity again next week. But if we could buy her everything in the world we probably would.  I mean, who can say no to this angelic face?

Here’s what I’m thinking so far:

A cabbage patch newborn or baby BOY (if Santa can find them anywhere…hmph)
A night-night book that lights up (she insists that she read at night, but then she can’t see it in the dark)
Dora The Explorer doll
Cinderella things. She loves Cinderella.  Of COURSE!
A Disney princess camera that doubles as a ViewMaster. Sweet! It comes with a Disney Princess Cell Phone that really talks!
Games–Chutes and Ladders Sesame Street Edition, Memory Original Edition, and Candy Land Dora the Explorer Edition
DVD’s–Cinderella and Madagascar
Color Wonder finger paints and markers. Again.
Magna Doodle
Disney Princess bike with training wheels and streamers
*EDIT* a crib for her babies to nap in…currently they’re swaddled up napping all over my sofa, daddy’s recliner, and our beds.

*EDIT* A kid flashlight that has an auto-shut off.  We love flashlights around here. 

I’m not going to buy her all this.  But it’s a nice big list so Santa can pick and choose.  Santa has already bought the board games.  I can’t wait till this Christmas!  She’s going to have so much fun!  We’ve already had such a great time with her looking at Christmas lights and decorating her little tree.  The other night she saw all the trees covered in lights at City Hall and said, “Oh my goodness…look at ALL those lights!”  We’ll have to take her to see all the ones in Midwest City and Chickasha.  I can’t wait! And Santa visits–happening soon.  There will be pictures, I promise!  The best part is she keeps talking about “the baby Jesus and the Mommy and the Jofesph.”  Awww!  We are looking forward to a WONDERFUL Christmas and we’re definitely ready for the new year!

Let’s see…first things first.  Friday was a busy day.  Gracie watched us set up the big tree.  We have a new one this year.  It’s pre-lit.  Thank you, God, for pre-lit trees!  It’s so easy.  Took about 10 minutes to set it up in the living room.  Gracie has her own tree, too.  She decorated it herself.  See?

And in other news, my 10 year reunion was last night.  Wow!  I had soooo much fun!  I didn’t take a lot of pictures ’cause I was so busy with hostessing and visiting, but here’s a good one of me and my pom girls:

Me, Jenni, Tara and Kelli

The night was so rewarding to me.  I looked around all night and saw people hugging, talking, laughing, looking through year books and watching the senior videos.  All my hard work and extra effort paid finally off last night.  I didn’t hear any complaints and we got a lot of thank you’s.  Well worth it.  Especially to see how people have truly changed for the better.  It was an experience that I am glad I got to be part of and I don’t have any regrets.  I was friends with almost everyone in high school so it was easy for me to catch up with them all.  That’s the great thing about being in everything–my grades sucked, but I knew people from orchestra, color guard, pom, student council, athletics, art club, band, cheer, spanish club, FCA, Student to Student, and of course, the big social time for me, class. I knew (and liked!) everyone who walked in the door.  That was awesome. 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  I hope everyone enjoyed their turkey ’cause I didn’t get any.  Who has pot roast on Thanksgiving? Boooo.
*EDIT* Okay, the pot roast was really good.  I should have given it a chance.  And the sushi and shrimp appetizers completely made up for it. 

Can I have your leftovers?  I’ll need some stuffing and cranberries too.  And pumpkin pie, if you have any left.  Man, that’s like my favorite meal besides sushi.  I’m making my own Thanksgiving turkey on Sunday.  Someone gave us one but it needed to thaw for 2 days.  So yeah.  I’ll be making all of it, the turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberries, mashed potatoes, etc.  I can’ t believe I’m this weird about it, but I’m really missing the turkey.

Still I’m thankful.  For my husband and daughter and this baby, for my family who spreads from New York to California to Iraq, for good friends like Josh and Bonny, for the house and the car. For the weather changing and for our lives changing (yes…grateful!)  for the hope of a bright future for us and our kids.  I’m thankful for our old church and our new church and for the ability to see past the circumstances and trust God in all He’s doing. For my girls that I mentor and the times where they remind me of something I taught them.  For the time that Gracie’s laughter is the most satisfying sound in the world. For quite times with my husband and peace in my house.  For the miracle of family, the joy I feel when I am with Chris and my sweet daughter, and when I think about the child to come, but also for the pain I feel when Gracie hurts, or the emptiness I feel when I’m not with her.   I have a lot to be thankful for. 

Adorable!  All of you should be so lucky to have a best friend as special as Leah is to Gracie.  Wearing their matching hoodies…so sweet!

EDIT:  I stole these from Stoops’ site.  These are from Starbucks the other night.
My (decaf) coffee-drinking kid.  Actually, it’s a vanilla frappuccino with a shot of decaf  coffee flavored syrup mixed in, so calm down!)

Me and my disinterested kid. 

My sweet girls.

Gracie and I had the honor of hanging out with some truly amazing girls the other night.  I met up with some of my precious high school girls at Starbucks.  We ended up staying there till 10:45 which was totally unintentional, but I lost track of time completely! Had I known it was so late, we would have all been outta there a lot earlier.  It was so fun though, to catch up with them and just chat.  After being a weekly part of their lives for over 5 years, it’s hard on me not to ever see them, and I think they all felt the same way.  We had a lot to talk about! Gracie was an angel the whole time…just give her a vanilla creme frappuccino with decaf coffee flavor mixed in and she’s perfect for four hours! 
She’s crashed out today.  Started napping in the car on the way home from church and was snoring before I had her in her bed.  No nap objections today, fabulous! 

Chris comes home tonight, late.  I’m anxious to see how everything went!  Just trusting God, trusting God. 

This is for my girls.  Five years…you’ve all grown so gorgeous, my lovely garden flowers!

Romans 15:14-16 I am fully convinced, dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well that you are able to teach others all about them. Even so, I have been bold enough to emphasize some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder from me. For I am, by God’s grace a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you. I bring you the Good News and offer you up as a fragrant sacrifice to God so that you might be pure and pleasing to him by the Holy Spirit.

Shelly

Jamie

Lizzy

Rachel