It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Have I mentioned how Landrie and I love to play hide n seek when we here Ryan pull in the garage?  As soon as we hear the garage open we start running and find us a hiding place.  Last night for example was in our foyer closet.  Normally it's in Landrie's bathtub.  Ryan will always come upstairs and say ok Abbie and Pepsi (our dogs) where's your mommy?  And usually they will rat us out.  Just a simple little game we like to play.  So last week we were at my mom's house and Landrie and one of her favorite people in the world, Colton, got really quiet.  Mom starts yelling for them...no answer.  So I'm laughing to myself thinking I know exactly where they are.  Guess where we found them....

YEP!! THE BATHTUB!!!!!!!

She loves her Co-Co so much.  He's eleven now so he prefers Colton over Co-Co.  Don't know why?  :)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Didn't start off great....have you ever cooked a turkey before?  This was my first time and let me tell ya, Ryan and I had the best time about 6:30am laughing our heads off while I am trying to prepare the turkey.  I was literally gagging and laughing at the same time.  I will NEVER look at turkey the same again!  

I opened it up and look what's staring right at me!  And this thing that I pullled out of it, WOW what is that thing????  

After all was said and done this was the end result...

PERFECTION!!!!!! 

Just a few pics from Thanksgiving at our house!  A new tradition!  

Landrie's Christmas List

We went and got our tree this weekend.  Jalie got to go with us.  We had so much fun picking out not only our big tree but Landrie wanted a real tree for her room also.  We let the girls decorate it all by themselves.  

Isn't it beautiful??  Don't know if you can tell but that's Justin Bieber straddling the top of the tree.

Then Landrie wanted to decorate the big tree by herself...as hard as it was for me I just sat back and let her do it.  Now I must admit when she would run in the other room for more decorations I did sort of move a few things.  She thought all the ornaments should go right in front.

Guess the dogs were a little bored...

Went on Saturday and done a little Christmas shopping with mom and Stacey.  Wish we could do more things like that together.  We had a great time! 

Then it was time to decorate the outside...Ryan worked so hard and he did a fabulous job!  Thanks babe!!!!

Now I just have to finish the railings on the front porch.  I actually did them while he was on the roof but I was informed I did them incorrectly once he was off ha ha.  I am no good at all the electrical stuff and drop cords.  :)

HAVE I MENTIONED WE ARE LEAVING FOR NYC ON FRIDAY????  I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

One Thing Missing

I am so excited, stressed, anxious, nervous, happy and any other emotion you can think of about Thanksgiving on Thursday.  Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday of my family, including my dad.  Thanksgiving was always his favorite holiday, he LOVED my moms cooking.  After cooking ALL day,  every year she would say "I think next year we will just go out to eat".  My dad was always quick to say "oh no I don't think so".  He loved Thanksgiving.  So that's why it's not only the most special holiday to me but at the same time the hardest. I know that if you have lost a family member, no matter if it's been months or years you understand that emptiness on those certain days.  So again this year there is one thing missing...

I LOVE YOU DADDY!

"A Loss for Words"

I believe my little "tom-boy" is starting to become a little more girlish!  I appreciate and love her EXACTLY the way she is and wouldn't change a thing BUT...we had our little cousin's birthday party to go to and Landrie just HAD to get ready all by herself.  She is five now...(her words, not mine) So I walk into my bathroom to find her doing this....

I was so excited!  She was blow drying her hair!  Landrie does like for her hair to be fixed but she had taken it upon herself to blow dry it.  She wanted to finish getting ready all by herself, I'll add she picked out her entire outfit...

And here we are...I was trying really hard not to laugh.  I told a little fib and said that my aunt didn't allow hats in her house.  She fell for it.  So off to the party we went.  HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY JALIE!!!!

We finally started working on our Thankful Tree.  It was nice to sit down and work together as a family on this project.

Isn't it cute?

On to Sunday...it was an eventful day in the 1st grade Sunday School class.  I was at a "loss for words" and many of you know that's unusual for me.  Just please be in prayer for our class.  Pray for our kids and pray that Ryan and I will have the wisdom and knowledge to lead these children, that we will have open hearts for what the Lord wants us to teach.  As my pastor told me yesterday "you may be the only God that child may see each week."  WOW those are some strong words!

Stacey and I decided to head to the mall.  We are going to NYC next week (YAY!!!) and we were trying to find something to keep our ears warm...WATCH OUT NYC HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL!!!  I can't wait!  Have I mentioned I am hosting Thanksgiving this year?

Yes we always said that when we bought a house that we were going to host Thanksgiving.  So we have 13, did I say  13 people coming????  And did I mention that I DO NOT COOK???  

This is me right about now...please keep me in your prayers

I told our Sunday School kids to please remember me in prayer on Thursday because I was having to cook the turkey.  Ryan chimed in and said to remember him in their prayers because he was the one having to eat it.  HA HA NOT FUNNY!!!  (well, maybe a little)

A Day of Thankfulness

Today has truly been a day of thankfulness.  First let me say I am feeling much better and for that I am thankful.  I am also thankful that I didn't have the "bug" as bad as my husband did.  I want to thank each of you who prayed for me yesterday not only that I would feel better but also about the job interview I had.  Since I started our bible study one of the things I have been focused on was my job, I just wasn't quite sure if this was where God wanted me to be.  I applied several places and right before I left for our last night of bible study I received a call and I got an interview.  I was so excited, I just knew God was going to show me exactly where He wanted me to be.

I started not feeling well Wednesday afternoon.  I took some meds and went to bed only to wake up Thursday morning feeling WORSE!  I kept thinking oh no this can not be happening!  I have been waiting for this interview and now I may not even be able to go! (I'm really bad at thinking the worse) Thankfully my husband was able to come back home and take Landrie to school, so I took more meds, set my alarm and went back to bed.  Got up, still feeling yucky and I had told myself this is just a sign, I'm just going to call and cancel my interview.  Something (and I didn't realize at this point it was God) kept telling me GO JUST GO.  So I got ready and went...As soon as I walked in it hit me, this is NOT where you are supposed to be.  Of course I'm like ok God I feel yucky and you still told me to come???  Anyway I won't bore you with all the interview stuff.  I called Ryan as I was walking out through the parking lot and I was like honey this IS NOT FOR ME.  But then it hit me...IT WAS FOR ME...

So I came in this morning and talked to my boss and discussed with her about what I had been praying for and what God had shown me.  I also apologized for taking my job for granted.  So after we had a very nice talk this is what we decided to do:

We had a lot of fun and even made one for the women and children at the shelter to do one. 



I went and got Landrie a little early from school today, always fun to surprise her and pick her up.  She came back to work with me this afternoon and this is what she has been doing to whole time...

HER TURKEY

HER INDIAN

HER PILGRIM

Doesn't she look like she's having so much fun??  She really does love coming to work with mommy!!!!!

Dream Girl

I have read Romans 12:9-13 before but not the way I read it last night during bible study.  Have you ever done that before?  Those verses have laid so heavy on my heart since last night.  When I was a child I always remember people asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up and usually my answer was always a teacher, I always wanted to be a teacher.  If you ask Landrie what she wants to be when she grows up her response will be A ROCK STAR!  Landrie loves to sing, dance and entertain!  She loves to dress up in many "outfits" and perform for us in the middle of the living room floor, which she will make into her stage.  She definitely is our little star!!!!  

But after reading these verses last night my prayer is that when Landrie "grows up" that she will live a life with the traits from these verses.  To be a person who really loves, makes everyone feel like a family member, honors others and wants the best for them, works hard and serves Jesus well with an undivided heart.  One who is full of joy and hope, patient when problems arise, and a person of prayer.  One who shares and gives help wherever it's needed.  I pray that we can instill these traits in her and remind her daily that it won't matter if you danced on a stage or sang in a concert.  The love you shared from a servant's heart will make a difference in eternity.  I want her role model to be the person Paul described in these verses.  I believe this person should be a role model for all of us.

Today is my parents wedding anniversary.  Always a hard day for my mom without my dad here.  My parents  truly showed us the meaning of true love.  I just pray that today God will give my mom the comfort and the strength that she needs.  

Craziness, Pure Craziness

So last night was pure craziness at the Smith household.  Thankfully my mother had picked Landrie up from school so as soon as I got off of work I swung by the house and took Ryan to Urgent Care.  As odd as this sounds I haven't laughed that hard in a while.  Seeing your husband getting a shot in the rear is completely different than seeing your child get a shot.  I was laughing so hard I was crying!  Then to see his face when they told him he could only have a little amount of ice chips every 30 minutes was priceless!  Hopefully he won't read this anytime soon.  So then he was diagnosed with having the dum da dum dum.....STOMACH FLU!  YEA I AM SO EXCITED...NOT! 
So I drop him off at home and head to the grocery store before going to the drug store to get his prescription filled and meeting mom to get Landrie.  Get all of that done head home to throw in a pizza for dinner and the pizza is no where to be found.  Now Ryan put the groceries up because I had ran them home before going to the drug store. OUR PIZZA IS M.I.A!!  I'm very flustered by this point so I go down in the garage and look all through the van..NOTHING!
Called the grocery store they said they didn't find anything...they said just bring your receipt and you can get another one.  Really?  It's already 8 o clock still have to get everything ready for the next day...so I go back to the grocery store only to find the pizza was not on my receipt -I NEVER EVEN BOUGHT IT!!!  I felt so bad I know they probably thought I was crazy and yes maybe I was a little by that point.
Landrie was concerned with her daddy's well being all night!  "I just want to check on him mommy" So here is little nurse Landrie...

I kept saying just don't breath baby just don't breath!  So she went in and checked on her daddy and took him some ice chips.  He survived the night!  Now just praying we don't get it!  If you walked in my house you can literally taste the lysol.

Well on a different note tonight is the last night of our bible study.  I have enjoyed this study so much!  It has really changed not only my relationship with God but my family's also.  I just pray that I can be that ONE IN A MILLION!

Gotta go do a little work....