The Day after Thanksgiving...

We had a great time as a family the day after Thanksgiving. First, we went to the Christmas tree farm to pick out a tree and cut it down. We also looked at the farm animals they had there. Then we came home and baked sugar cookies, decorated & ate them, and decorated our tree. Peyton enjoyed helping!

Making & Decorating my cookie

Enjoying my cookie


Here's the perfect tree, dad!

Thanksgiving Photos...

My first Thanksgiving meal...I had a bit of Turkey--the first meat I've tasted!

...

HAPPY
THANKSGIVING!

I am thankful for...

Jesus, who gave His life so that I may have true life,
my husband who does whatever is necessary to take care of our family,
our beautiful daughter who smiles all the time and is doing new things every day,
beautiful fall weather - crisp & cool,
my friends who gave me their money when I beat them in poker last night; now I am going to get a beautiful Christmas tree,
God's continued provision,
Black Friday shopping with friends starting at midnight (I'll let you know how it goes),
wonderful family & friends,
our church--that cares about loving God & loving people,
Christmas music & movies,
having more than enough so we can give some away,
college football--BEAT BAMA!,
our friends, Bryan & Karen who are letting us spend Thanksgiving with them,
mashed potatoes,
peppermint flavored treats at this time of year,
dates with my husband,
our pediatrician who cares about our family,
Facebook (it is better at keeping up with people than me),
indoor plumbing--it's cold outside today,
our mac,
my husband who always thinks I'm beautiful,
the scale I stepped on this week,
our country even in all its distress--we are so lucky,
Jesus, for watching over me and helping me not worry so much

Our Sick Girl...

Peyton has an ear infection.
See how fast the medicine kicked in...

Peyton's Wish List...

This post is not for everyone, but I just wanted to let you know that I posted a wish list for Peyton to the right. These are a few things we were looking to get her as Christmas & her birthday approach. If you do get her something on the list, let us know and we will take that off of the list. There are multiple retailers where some of this stuff can be found, I just found the easiest link to get to online. Thanks!

TOP T.V. SHOWS...

Buck and I were talking the other night about our favorite t.v. shows. These are shows that at some point in our life, we rushed home to see or try to catch some other way. These are shows that we love watching the reruns of over and over. These are shows that I quote and laugh about still. So, here is my top five, and maybe Buck will post his soon:

1. LOST - I love this show for so many reasons, but mostly for the character development. There are some times it is too scary or a little unrealistic, but I love the story from week to week and season to season. We are actually watching it from the beginning this fall with some friends who haven't seen any of it. It is fun watching it through again.

2. The Cosby Show - I still laugh so hard when I watch reruns of this show. I think about certain scenes and laugh out loud. I also love that it was cutting-edge in its day regarding family & status.

3. Friends - Okay, so the show was a bit scandalous...okay, so scandalous that I quit watching it for awhile. But, it was amazing. Not just because it made me laugh. But, because it gave that picture of community that we all crave, that we were created to need and rely on every day.

4. The Office - It makes me laugh! Those who know me well may be shocked that I like such a "stupid" show, but I have grown to love it. It was not an instant classic in my mind, but gets better all the time.

5. Law & Order (all of them) - I know it's the old-school crime & trial show, but I just like it. I would gladly sit down and watch one right now over so many of those newer shows--plus, I didn't have to close my eyes as much with this one.

Almost Made the Cut: Everybody Loves Raymond (I love the reruns, especially now that I am married), Sportscenter (I would watch the same show for several hours in the mornings as a kid), Survivor (We are nerds...we still watch it...I love the premise & the challenges....not the drama so much)

Hours of Entertainment...

Well, maybe not hours, but Peyton loved playing in the box Buck sat her in. No toys.
No mommy or daddy. Just sitting in the box playing.

Because I Love My Daddy...

This is my new Arkansas outfit that my Nana got me & my new Razorback cheerleading doll. I really like having her around. My mom is happy that I am happy, but said she still prefers me in orange & blue.

What a Wonderful Birthday...

My mom, Joe, and Josh came up for my birthday. We drove up to Helen for the day. It was a gorgeous day and a lot of fun!

Peyton & Grandma

Peyton & Uncle Josh

beautiful Helen

Peyton laughing at Papa Joe


Peyton & Dad


Happy Birthday, Mom!

Peyton Clapping...

Adjusting and other things...

Well, our next few days will be spent adjusting to the end of Daylight's Saving Time. Peyton did pretty good yesterday only eating her meals a little early, and she took an extra nap in the middle of the day for about twenty minutes.

Peyton clapped on her own for the first time yesterday. We play clapping games all the time & I wasn't really sure if she was interested in trying it herself. She seems to just really like it when I do it. But, last night we were just sitting around. Peyton was sitting in Uncle Daniel's lap & just started clapping. I was probably way too excited!

We visited a different church yesterday just to check some things out & decide what we are really looking for as Buck starts looking for a job at a new church. Then we got home and I went to change Peyton. She had the cutest little sticker on the front of her diaper that said "I was changed" Then it had a box for them to mark "dirty" or "wet". How helpful! That was not my only take-away, but I really liked the sticker.

And, here is Peyton sleeping. She sleeps just like me--on the edge of the bed, in an "L" shape, holding most of her blanket rather than covering up with it--just thought this captured all of that.

Happy Halloween & Happy Seven Months Old!!!

My hat didn't really fit, but I had a fun time with it anyway!

Ryan & Peyton Playing...

Ryan is Peyton's friend from church--his mom Amy keeps Peyton one afternoon each week too. He is almost exactly six months older & she really like hanging out with him.

WAR EAGLE!!!

Auburn plays a Thursday night ESPN game against West Virginia tonight. Peyton is ready! She loves exploring new things like this shaker. But, she would much rather have me hand it to her than make her crawl to it. She is also good at the chewing on the handle of the shaker when the game is tight--see her practicing the technique.

Two videos to watch...

I don't think I would have responded very well, but this sure did make me laugh:



Well, Steve Spurrier and South Carolina said the referee was just getting out of the way and should not be punished by the league for his actions....make your own decision:

Learning to Stand...

Peyton has taken an interest in standing lately. She enjoys standing at our coffee table to play. She has let go of me a couple of times and stood briefly on her own. Here are some pics of her this morning.

Giving Ourselves a Raise...

Our new series at church is called "Give Yourself a Raise". I feel like this series can impact a lot of homes, especially during the tough economic times we are facing. One thing Shawn said is that we are only responsible for what God gives us. Over the course of the last year, we have attended Rethink Money and had some tough, honest conversations. Here are some things we have done & still do to give ourselves a raise. Some of them may seem crazy to most people, but are allowing us to be responsible with the small amount we have been given.

• We have paid off about $8000 in debt over the last nine months
• We bought a refrigerator and washer & dryer
  
• We have a monthly spending plan that balances out to zero (most of the time)
• We tithe 10% of our income and give away about another 5%--we want to be out of debt so we can raise that percentage
  
• We sold one of our cars--and we only have about nine months of payments left on the Saturn we have. 1 car is okay about 88% of the time
• We make all of Peyton's food and it costs about $3-$4 a week
  
• We don't have cable television. We still get CBS & PBS!
• We have enough money in savings to cover our highest deductible
• We have started saving for Peyton's college with UPROMISE
  
• We bought our first home
  
• We use coupons for everything: we join e-clubs for restaurants, we use lots of baby coupons, we find as many food coupons as we can
• We use REDBOX for our movie rentals and get a free rental every Monday
  

Thanks to all of our friends & family who have supported us and encouraged us in the journey of becoming financially free! We suggest that everyone take control of your finances. A great first step is attending Rethink Money. We are pulling for you in these tough times.

We Love Rainy Days...