Marathon Post.....

So this will be a long post hence the title's warning. So many things have been happening at our house that I have no idea really where to start but if you can hang with me for all the chatter there are pictures at the end. All of you with short attention spans can scan and move on to the pictures but you might miss something if ya do!

I've had all kinds of things on my mind lately. With the Holiday Season upon us, I have lists upon lists of things to do and remember. And more things pop into my head by the minute. I'm sure you probably feel the same.
We have a very busy December creeping up on us so I do hope not to neglect the blog too badly. I hope to take a moment here and there to really take in the essence of the season and appreciate it's meaning and festiveness. I hope you do too.

First I have a quick prayer request - a sweet high school friend's daughter had a major surgery today. My friend's name is Rhonda and her daughter's name is Bailey. Although I've never gotten to meet Bailey she seems to be a delightful young lady who needs our prayers. She seems to be in a lot of pain so let's all ask God to ease her distress and lift her up to Him!

My babies are now 5 years old as I mentioned in an earlier post. They had an excellent birthday party at Build-A-Bear Workshop and I will share those pictures with you soon. I tell you I just can not relate to you how amazed I am that these past 5 years have gone by so quickly.

We made it through Thanksgiving barely. To update you all, my purse was taken from my van on Thanksgiving Day. My advice to you is just be careful out there. Although this is the joyful Christmas Season there are so many out there that unfortunately are dishonest and desperate. I'm thinking this year it might be worse with our struggling economy and so many out of work. I don't know if that is what happened in my case or just a mean old meanie who took the $$ I was to spend on my babies' Christmas on Friday but I sure wish I could rewind that day and take more precautions so I wouldn't have to live this nightmare. There are so many worse things that could have happened but just getting a replacement driver's license alone felt like a major undertaking. I've had multiple conversations with the bank and had to cancel everything. There are many more things to mark off my list before I can get to where I feel more like myself again but I'll be just fine. And I find myself realizing just how much stuff I kept in my purse. Wow, from the obvious important stuff to my favorite lip gloss, I miss it all. Man, it stinks. Anyway, just be safe and be cautious!!

AND, you may have thought you got through the regular college football season without anymore rantings from me about my Tigers BUT oh how wrong you were! So I don't have any amazing pictures with my beautiful little AU cheerleaders for you but let me say how proud I am and will always be to be an Auburn Tiger. As dejected and down as I was on Friday after learning my purse was MIA, the fact that my Tigers put up a darn good fight in the 2009 Iron Bowl against a No.2 ranked UA was enough to bring a smile to my face. We may not have come up with the win but we came out of it stronger and with much more respect as a team than before. I am so thrilled at the fact we pulled together as an AU family and supported our team even after the loss like many just can't understand or believe. If you don't get it, don't worry, you probably never will and that's ok with me. I'm Orange and Blue, Tried and True Always! There, I'm done with that (Until Next Season that is)!!

Ok so I guess I'm done rambling until next time. Enjoy my mixture of Halloween-ish pictures so I can move on to more seasonally appropriate posts for you!!

Trick or Trunk at our Church with good friends Keely & Erica Strickland

Clara Paige's class on her field trip to Hargis Retreat Center for lots of fun Fall activities. What a great group of kids. Quick tid-bit of info: The little boy on CP's left side has a dad who is an Alabaster Police Officer. He just so happened to be the officer who took my report about my stolen purse. Small world!! haha! Thanks Officer Johnson!

The cutest darn lil' Cowgirls in these here Southern parts
you'll see anywhere. The girls had Cowboy/Cowgirl day at pre-school so this was their get up for the big event. They even had a real pony come visit at school that day.

My silly girls holding up their goofy faced monster pumpkins they made this year. We didn't carve a pumpkin so I found these funny mix-n-match pieces.
I know you are so over the Halloween stuff but I just had to post this one. We went Trick-or-Treating with Rachel's kidos this year. My kitty cats joined the Wicked Witch and Dorothy to wander through the neighborhood in search of candy. It was a great time!! I still have too much candy left over!



I love you all and hope you feel as blessed as I do even in adversity! Here's to the start of an excellent Christmas Holiday Season!!