Black Friday, Leftovers & Christmas Cards!

I think this might be the first time I've sat down since leaving work at 3:00pm on Wednesday afternoon. WHEW! I knew it would be a busy few days though, so not much surprise there.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday with family & close friends. The food was delicious, the pecan pie was awesome and the leftovers we had today were just as tasty! Yummy, yum yum!

Abbie loved everything about Thanksgiving dinner, so munched down the stuffing & turkey. She tried other things & made funny faces but at least she tried!

Jaelyn would have probably rather ate peanut butter & jelly but she finally did eat a little bit and then she devoured some peanut butter pie that Aunt Jo made!

The kids settled down to watch Toy Story 3 while the Ladies searched thru sale ads upon sale ads up sale ads! There wasn't anything that I thought I NEEDED to get but there were some pretty good deals so I ventured out to Toys-R-Us at 10pm after the girls were sound asleep (& their Daddy shortly after!). I bought some gifts for the girls & other kids in the family and some pretty reasonable prices. When I walked out an hour & a 1/2 later I was shocked to see people were still in line just to get into the store. WOW! Crazyness!! But everyone was polite from what I saw. There was no pushing & shoving. No panicking the last toy was gone. It was rather calm & easy.

Today the girls went to daycare for a little bit. That may seem unethical(?) to some of you but the enjoy daycare & seeing other kids & playing and I figured they would still be home with us for 2 more days so why not? They only stayed a 1/2 day though and then we came home quick, changed into some adorable outfits and went to the local park to see if I could finally capture some shots for our Christmas cards. Oh and I did! I managed not to get too frustrated either because let me tell you... getting an almost 2 year old & a 3 year old to do exactly what you want for that perfect picture.. yeah, it ain't happening!! But I was happy with the results.

I don't want to share too much as I want the cards to be a sweet surprise when they are opened by the recipents! But here are a few of my favorite shots that didn't quite make the Christmas card cut to give you an idea....

I promise to share the cards at a later time.. they are SO cute and boy am I happy that Shutterfly had that amazing free card giveaway.

Well, it's on to more shopping, wrapping and hopefully putting up the tree before the weekend is over. That in itself should be a fun adventure.

Happy Thanksgiving!

From my family to yours... we wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy special time with your family, savor every special dish, capture the moments in your hearts and smile lots!!

Same/Same: Songs for Adoptive Families

I was recently contacted by Chicago-area singer/songwriter Chuck Kent, who is partnering with World Vision in the months of November & December through the sales of his CD of adoption songs titled "Same/Same: Songs for Adoptive Families".


November is National Adoption Month in the U.S. and November 20 is National Adoption Day.

 Kent said that during November and December he will be donating to World Vision for their global humanitarian work with all kinds of children and families.

 ABOUT THE "SAME/SAME" ALBUM:
According to Adoptive Families magazine "... the catchy tunes and clever lyrics put to music how children think and feel about adoption ... songs perceptively tap into common issues, such as invasive questions, worrying about permanence, and testing parental limits." The CD of 11 adoption songs can be purchased through links on the website http://www.samesamecd.com.


ABOUT WORLD VISION:
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender.

ABOUT CHUCK KENT:
The singer/songwriter and his adoptive family live in the Chicago area where he runs the creative marketing agency Creative on Call, Inc. - http://www.creativeoncall.com. He is a proud supporter of World Vision; these proceeds will go to help the children and families it serves.

All information courtesy of Forbes.com

Please take a minute to stop & listen to some sample songs on the CD, read about Chuck Kent and his efforts to help the children & families of World Vision. I personally will be ordering one of these CD's for my girls to listen to (of course once our Adoption is finalized [fingers crossed!]). I think as an adoptive parent talking to your children about adoption is not so much a fear, but it's not always easy. Why not have a fun CD with music to help out? The songs are catchy from the previews I've listened too and I can just picture my little ones dancing around to them! I hope to offer more of a review once I receive my CD - I will give you an update!

Wordish Wednesday & A New Look!

A simple black & white of me, hiding behind the camera!

So this is what the girls see of me most of the time, huh?

I am so happy that today is my Friday!

Bonus: We were permitted to wear jeans to work today.

Another Bonus: We are out of here at 4:30! (an hour early!).

So my plans are to go home, clean my bathroom & dining room before running to get the girls, hopefully a little bit early and then RELAXING before my house is filled with family & friends tomorrow. We may do pizza, make some popcorn and watch Toy Story 3, since I have yet to see it! But then tomorrow...Mmmmm, I can already taste the turkey & stuffing. Bring on the pie!

Happy Thanksgiving!

AND... TADA.. How do you like my new design?? I had the pleasure of working with Lara at Designer Blogs on this, even though she did all of the work really! Isn't it fabulous though? I just love it! If you are looking for a new design for your blog, please check them out! They have tons of designs to chose from and do a simply marvelous job. I am tickled PINK over mine. :)

Post-It Note Tuesday

 Stop over Only Parent Chronicles to check out some other sticky notes and link up!To make your own stickies, click HERE! This week my theme is things I am thankful for: 

 

Meet Me on Monday

Hosted by: Never Growing Old

Questions:

1. How many pillows do you sleep with? 3! Yes, I am a pillow hog! :) Usually though, I have 2 under my head and I snuggle with the 3rd one. Especially if the hubster is unavailable for cuddle time!

2. Where will you eat on Thanksgiving? At home with my beautiful daughters & their Daddy and probably a few other guest.

 3. Would you rather go to a party or host a party? I'd rather go to a party. I don't mind hosting but its lots of work with 2 little ones!

4. How many purses (for the guys..wallets) do you own? Oh, this is a bad question. I kind of had this purse addiction problem. It's gotten better but still, I'm pretty sure I have at least 25 in the closet right now. I just donated a few so it all evens out right??

 5. What is your favorite kind of seafood? ALL OF IT! I love seafood! If I had to narrow it down though I'd say.. steamed king crab legs & mussels are my 2 most favorite. Yummy, yum, yum!!

Saturday Stuff

It's nap time, which means a little time for me. I probably should be doing laundry or putting it away but that would wake the girls up so I decided against it. (Hey, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

Instead, I am making a totally random post about pretty much nothing.

Perhaps I will just talk about some of my favorite things! Then at least it wouldn't be a totally useless reason to post, right? (you agree with me here so say YES!)

Ok, here goes...

I love being a Mommy. Really, it's one of the most satisfying, rewarding things I've ever experienced. Being a Wife has it's shining moments but rarely does my Hubby get excited just because I walked in the room with a suppy cup full of juice! So, number one on my list of favorite things is:

Seeing my Daughters smile!

Ok, this isn't the best of pictures but they were being completely silly & giggling so hard that it was not about getting the perfect picture but more about capturing that moment in time!

In close second and really still in the same category is:
My Daughters hands & feet.

Just look at Abbie's cute little hands as she plays with a favorite toy. She loves to walk around with this silly butterfly, which is actually a bath toy, and wind it up... let it go... wind it up.. let it go.. repeat 200 times!

And don't even get me started on FEET! Oh, I am not grossed out by their little feet at all, I bite them, tickle them, pretty much slobber on them.. all just to hear a few little laughs! 

Last in this category would be: Daddy & His Girls.

Is there anything more precious than the love of your life snuggling with the loves of your life?? I think not!

Ok, moving on to some things that perhaps are my favorite things because they calm me, relax me, get me thru the day and just plain make me smile!

This actually contains a few of my favorite things...

My bed: Yes, it is king size and YES it is the most comfortable bed in the world.

A soft light: ahhh, relaxing.

My bedroom: PEACEFUL!

 My pillows: so soft & cuddly.

 A good book: more on this later but oh how I love me some books!  

Coffee!!

and not just any coffee really. Coffee from my Keurig coffee maker which incidentally makes such a good cup of coffee who needs to buy it? (ok, I admit I do buy a cup here and there but for the sake of this post, my Keurig really DOES make good coffee!).

I love Cinnamon Roll coffee with Splenda & a hint of creamer and its even better in my insulated cup with a pink hot hand thingy (what are they called?). YUMMY!!

BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS!!

No really, I think I have an addiction.

As you may or may not notice.. depending on how much you read, my book choices are almost always YA Authors. (If you don't know what that means it's simply Young Adult). I could grab a book and get lost for hours and hours. I prefer them over tv, I prefer them over the computer (most days!) and I prefer them 99% of the time as my hobby. There is nothing greater than getting lost in a fabulous book!

and lastly... My Camera

Oh, how much do I love my camera?? I love it so much that I walked around the house taking these random photos to make up my Silly Saturday Stuff post! It's one of my best investments ever and with 2 beautiful little girls, it's already worth its weight in gold.

So, there you have it... a few of my favorite things, at least for this week!

Won't you join in & tell me some of YOUR favorites?

- Grab the button above & post it on your blog.

- Link up below

- Visit some other blogs to read about their Saturday Stuff!