It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Brett agreed to let us set up and decorate the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving this year. What a good sport. The time couldn't come soon enough for me. Of course the girls loved helping. They sorted out the decorations while Brett and I got the lights on. Even Maddie "helped." She certainly loved being with us anyhow. We have been collecting an ornament to represent each year since Brett and I have been married. It was fun to pull those out and talk about the different memories and stories that go with them. What a fun day. And a great way to start off this Christmas season.






P.S. The funniest part is that the tree was decorated numerous times throughout the season. I'm not sure a day passed with the decorations in the same place. Apparently decorating the tree is so fun that one time is not enough. The girls continued to undecorate and redecorate throughout december. I thought it was very cute.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

This was the first year in a long time that our family did not go to Atlanta and have Thanksgiving with my aunt and uncle, Sara and George Parker. It is always hard to give up a much beloved tradition. Despite our initial melancholy, we ended up having a very nice holiday. In the morning I enjoyed my drugstore shopping, scoring all sorts of free stuff at CVS and Walgreens. The girls enjoyed watching the Macy's parade with Brett. We spent the afternoon preparing food to take to dinner. A kind family in our ward invited us over to share their Thanksgiving meal. They had a delicious turkey and heavenly rolls. (I tried to make some rolls and they were a flop. I'm going to have to practice.) We brought the green bean casserole, orange yams, and a banana cream pie. We had a nice dinner and the girls were reasonably well behaved. After all the food was served Mabel asked us to go around the table and say what we were thankful for. It was very sweet of her and of course nice to talk about what we were thankful for. After dinner our hosts; Cameron, Rachael and Olivia Tiede, had a fun activity planned. We decorated gingerbread houses. The girls loved it!! I'm thinking that decorating a gingerbread house may become a new Thanksgiving tradition for our family. :)

Fire Fighters??? TBD

After Halloween, I love shopping for discounted costumes. That is how the girls have gotten most of their dress up clothes. Generally I focus on the "princess" selection. This year, however, in an effort to let my girls be exposed to more then just the world of "princesses" I bought these super cute fire man costumes. I thought perhaps the girls could have a lot of fun playing firefighters. Well my idea was a grand success. . . .

For a day. They put their costumes on and played firemen. The next time I caught a glimpse of the fireman costume, it was of the hat which Mabel was using for a bowl. She was playing kitchen. . .not fireman. Oh well, I tried. :)

Professor Pickett

Last month Brett was going through the mail and he came across a flyer for NCTC (North Central Texas College). They are opening a new satellite campus in Parker Square. . .which is about an 8 minute walk from our apartment. Had I been the one checking the mail I'm sure I would have thrown this away with the junk mail. No one in our family is currently looking to attend community college. However, Brett noticed a small notation at the bottom of the flyer announcing that the school was also looking for a few adjunct professors and to check out the website for more info. Being the on top of things, proactive man that he is, he jumped right on it and checked out the website. They happened to have an opening for a biology professor. Brett immediately fixed up and sent in his resume. The following week he got a call inviting him over for an interview. The next day, they offered him a position teaching a biology class and an accompanying lab starting in January. I am really proud of Brett for doing this. He has talked about possibly wanting to teach and now he can see if he really likes it or not. And if he does like it. . he is getting the experience that future employers are looking for. I also thank my Father in Heaven for guiding my husband and our family everyday and providing opportunities like this one.



Good Luck Brett (or should I say Professor)!!!!

WINNER

Over the summer, Sobe Lifewater was having a fun sweepstakes. You could enter everyday and win various prizes. I really only played because you would always win a B1G1 coupon. For some reason CVS was having a lot of Sobe B1G1 deals. . so when I paired the two together, I got a TON of free Sobe. The girls really like it, and I like it and I couldnt not get it for free. Anyway, I entered the sweeps everyday to get all my coupons. One day I played and the screen looked different then usual. I didnt see my "print coupon" button. At first I was irritated. . .where was my free coupon?? Then I actually read what was on the screen and it said "Winner. You have won an Ipod Nano." What? Seriously?!! I decided not to believe it until it came in the mail. . .because I do not win sweeps like this. Well, guess what arrived in the mail the other day. Thats right. My new Ipod nano. Yeah for Sobe. and Yeah for winning. :)