Happy Thanksgiving!

For us, Thanksgiving starts on Wednesday night. We gather with Andrew's mom and dad and brothers and sisters. That makes quite a few people since Andrew is the youngest of six all of whom are married, most of whom have children. :) Let me just go ahead and tell you, there is no such thing as a quiet WEAVER!! I love them though. I couldn't have asked for a better family to marry into. Anyways. We had a wonderful meal with a smoked turkey and a fried turkey and all the sides. Both were quite yummy. After our meal, we all sit around in a big circle and share what we are thankful for. This year we wrote on cards and then let someone else read what we wrote. I must say that I am quite proud of us. We made it through this year with no major tears. :) Even Kandace shared what she was thankful for. LOL - see picture below. We also celebrated several birthdays Wednesday night. Jill had her tree up so it almost felt like Christmas. We celebrated Kasie, Kaitlyn, Joy, Alex, Jill, and Sara's birthday. The entire night, the boys (my husband & nephews) were debating on whether or not they were going to camp out at Best Buy this year. This a huge tradition for them. While I was really hoping they wouldn't and I would actually get my hubby on Thanksgiving, I knew they would end up camping out. When we left, they still hadn't made up their minds.

Me and my sweetie


Kandace sharing what she is thankful for...


Jackson REALLY wanted to play with Kandace


Jackson and Uncle Andrew


Jackson and Aunt E

Now for Thanksgiving Day... I planned to leave my house early so that I could make it to my Mommom's house in time to learn how to make dumplings. Andrew was not into getting up early so I took off without him, just me, Liberty, and Liam. Yes I'll admit I was a tad-bit upset that he wasn't going with me. I really got my hopes up. Once I got there and started visiting with my family, my disappointment went away. I was determinded to enjoy time with my family. So I learned to make dumplings -can't wait to try that out - and visited with my fam. It was my Momma's birthday Wednesday, so I got to celebrate another birthday. We were sitting around waiting on the last few family members to arrive when my Daddy announced that Andrew was there. At first I thought he was just kidding me. I got up and went to the door and there was my hubby. So then I thought. How sweet - he stopped by to say hi on his way to his Grandma's. But no, my sweet husband was there to have Thanksgiving with me!!!! I had tears in my eyes. I was so touched. My family live a couple of hours away, so it isn't like he just drove across town for me. :) He said this way he gets to sleep in and I don't have to leave early when he is ready to go camp out. How great is he!!! I had like 5 bowls of dumplings too. YUMMM!!!!! Love them! Here are a few pictures of Thanksgiving Day.


Liam got an Old Navy hoodie to wear for Thanksgiving.


Me & Brooke


Happy Birthday Momma!


Me and Lib driving to Mommom's


Me with Luke, Livvy, and Sawyer. They love taking silly pics.


Me and my little bro, Seth


Seth and his sweet gf, Ashlee


Liam learning the way to Mommom's



Me and My Momma


My hubby getting ready for his night @ Best Buy

This morning I woke up a 5:00 for my Black Friday shopping. This year I was on my own. I went to Wal-Mart first. I only lasted five minutes in there. Those people are crazy! :) I headed to Target. I got there about 15 minutes before they opened so I jumped in line. As we made our way in the store, I felt like I was part of a cult or that I had been brainwashed. We all just quietly shuffled the way they told us too. Anyways, I was in and out of there with my purchase in about 30 minutes. After Target, I was off to Mardel's. I got lots of good deals there. Then I decided to head home. I was home maybe an hour and I was beginning to get antsy. I didn't want to disturb Tyler and Andrew as they were recovering from their night at Best Buy. So I got back out and went back to Wal-Mart. Thankfully it had settled down at this point. I then went to the mall where parking was crazy!!! Not only is it Black Friday, but there is a Razorback game in LR today and those fans were parking @ the mall. Once I finally got a spot, I did very well. I got lots of Christmas bought.

Now, I'm sitting here blogging waiting on my hubby to recover so that we can begin putting up our Christmas Tree!

One more blessing!

Had to add another blessing. I just one a give away on a blog. It a book about Sisters in Christ who scrapbook. I am so excited.



Thank you God, for sending me this small blessing today!

Count Your Blessings... Name them one by one

Okay, so it has been a very long and stressful day. One of those days when I just want to be alone and cry. I know that it is Satan working on me in what should be a time of Thanksgiving. So I am going to list some of my blessings in hope that my stressed heart will become a grateful one today.

1. I am a Child of God!!!
2. He is a forgiving God!!
3. I am married to one good lookin' God-lovin' man!
4. We have the great family anyone could ask for.
5. I am a member of a God-fearing church.
6. Although some days are trying I have a great job that I do enjoy.
7. I have awesome friends.
8. I have more materials needs than I need - a new home, car, computer, scrapbooking supplies, books, and so much more.
9. I have the two greatest dogs on the Earth. :)
10. I get to spend Thanksgiving with my family this week.
11. There are only two school days this week.
12. I've already made it through one. :)
13. I have met some awesome Sisters through this blog.
14. I live in a country where I am free to worship my God.
15. I am healthy.


Okay - I said just a few so I'll stop now. I could go on forever and I know that.

Thanks for reading.

In His Holy Name Challenge

I am really excited about this challenge which begins in 2009. It is hosted by Patter. This year she has been doing a Word a Week Challenge. She gives you a word to study in your Bible for a week and you scrap the word as well. I believe most people do this on something like an index card. Unfortunately I just discovered about a month ago. I felt like it was a little late to join. I've been hoping that she would start a new one in January. Well she plans to begin a challenge, but this time a little differently. It is called In His Holy Name. Every other week she will give us one of God's many names to study. We are really going to get to know our Heavenly Father in 2009. I am so excited. I get to learn more about God and grow closer to him as I scrapbook. It just doesn't get any better than that. I hope that you will check it out. Go ahead - you don't even have to wait for the new year. I also pray that you will take this challenge - even if you have never scrapped before. She shows you hers each week - so you can get an idea and run with it. It can be any size - as big or as small as you want it. She plans to make a 6x6 album and use it as a coffee talbe book. I like that idea and will probably do the same. Even if you don't think you can handle the scrapbooking part of it, check it out anyway. It is still a Bible Study.

This & That...

I've been meaning to blog for several days and just haven't. We've been very busy. But I know that if I don't blog now, I will only have that much more to blog with the holidays coming up.

Let me start back at Wednesday. Wednesday was Journey's Thanksgiving. We had around 80 people. Lots of good food! Below are a few pics of the evening.








Thursday night we saw Third Day! It was a great concert! Thanks to Uncle Kevin and Aunt Sandi for taking us. We really enjoyed it. Unfortunately too far back for my camera to get any pics. :)

Today - I worked out in the cold all day with my Student Council. We entered Channel 11's Stuff the Sleigh Contest. We are to decorate a POD and then fill it with toys. Today we decorated the POD, and now we can start collecting the toys. Below are a few before & after pics.

A Few Fun Pics

Sunday after church we ran in Target because I was determined to find a stocking for Liam Bailey. We were browsing the dollar section and found this cute but cheesy Christmas sweaters for dogs. We found one for Liam, but they didn't have one in Liberty's size. For only $2.50 how could we resist? Of course we put it on him as soon as we got home and to my suprise and delight he didn't mind it at all. Liberty doesn't like wearing clothes at all. She tries to eat them off of her. Liam however doesn't care one way or the other. Andrew took a pic of me & Liam in his new too small sweater. :)


Today on my way home, I stopped @ our Target to see if I could find him a size bigger. Unfortunately they didn't have the sweaters at all. But, I did find him & Liberty cute little coats with hoods. So I picked up a blue one for Liam and a pink one for Liberty. Liberty, however, has long legs and is not shaped well for doggy clothes - maybe that is why she doesn't like them. I couldn't even get the coat on her. I put Liam on him though, and he was just too cute. I love that I have a dog that will wear clothes. Poor little guy doesn't know that now his Mommy is going to be dressing him up all the time. :) Below is a couple of pics of him in his new pimpin' coat. LOL





I also wanted to put my tree up Sunday, but just couldn't talk Andrew into it. So tonight I dug out our stockings. I bought a stand for them awhile back at Kirkland Home so I put it together and hung up our stockings. Mine & Drew's have our names on them even though you can't tell in the picture. I bought Liberty & Liam a cheap dollar stocking today @ Target. We are all getting new ones next year because I want them to match, plus Andrew doesn't like ours.

An Awesome Worship Experience

Church was beyond amazing this morning. I could definitely feel God's presence in that building. We had 45 people this morning which makes singing to God even more awesome. I sit on the front row and it is so cool to here a crowd behind me singing.
Alex preached on how our God is mighty to save. And He is! Alex did a wonderful job. You could definitely see that he is a man that loves our Lord. We sang several good songs, but after the sermon we sang Mighty to Save by Hillsong and Wow! People were definitely praising God. I could barely sing because I was too busy grinning from ear to ear about how awesome it is that our God is mighty to save. For most of the song, I just stood there smiling with tears rolling down my cheeks. I just can't describe how awesome it was!! I'm including the words to Mighty to Save. Even you know the song, stop and read these lyrics and I mean really read them and think about what you are reading.

Everyone needs compassion
A love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
A kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations
Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is Mighty to save
He is Mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything i believe in
Now i surrender
Shine your light and let the whole world see
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus

8 Things

Jill was tagged and I'm considering myself tagged by her blog. Here are my 8 things.

It's called 8 Things...

8 TV shows I love to watch:
1. Friends
2. Gilmore Girls
3. Jon & Kate + 8
4. What Not To Wear
5. Don't Forget the Lyrics
6. Beauty & the Geek
7. Lipstick Jungle
8. Secret Life of an American Teenager

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Dixie Cafe
2. Cracker Barrell
3. Applebees
4. US Pizza
5. TGIFriday
6. Olive Garden
7. Shorty Smalls
8. Dairy Queen - I will drive miles & miles for it.

8 Things that Happened Today:
1. I helped my hubby finish the wood floors in our living room.
2. I bought a few groceries
3. I made Mom's yummy sugar cookies.
4. I hosted a book party.
5. I watched Liam fall asleep on top of his cracker because he was too tired to eat it but didn't want Liberty to take it.
6. I had some of Jill's yummy homemade hot chocolate.
7. I watched my hubby play Tiger Woods on ps2.
8. I took a hot bath and read a good book.

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Church tomorrow
2. Working on the POD with my Student Council
3. Thanksgiving with my family - Chicken & Dumplings
4. Putting up my Christmas Tress
5. Discovering what ornament my hubby decides to make or buy for our first year of a new tradition
6. Journey Thanksgiving
7. Christmas Shopping with my Momma & Mommom
8. Christmas Morning & watching my Daddy open his Christmas present. :)

8 Things on my Wish List:
1. The last two books in the Sunrise Series by Karen Kingsbury
2. Bind-it-all
3. Laminating Machine
4. Serving Platters of various shapes, size, & color
5. A new coat
6. A new purse
7. New sweaters that I can wear to school
8. My living room and surround area painted.


Join the fun & do your own 8 Things.

We pulled it off!

My first party that is. Andrew and I worked all day to finish the floor and get our house back to a presentable state. We managed to get it all done and even had a few minutes to spare. The house looks good or at least I think so. I love my hardwood floor. Actually I love my whole house when it is clean. Unfortunately I hate cleaning it. :)

Anyways. I ended up having eight people, which I was thrilled with. I know that I had a great time visiting with everyone and I hope they had a good time too. It is so nice to visit with teachers outside of school. I'm so glad they came. That really means a lot to me. I love getting to know them on a more personal level. I work with a lot of good Christian ladies.

I meant to take pictures of my yummy snacks, but completely forgot. Jill came a little early and made us some homemade hot chocolate. It was so yummy!!! Thank you Jill for the hot chocolate & other things you brought. You are a wonderful sister.

We had sugar cookies that my mom used to make all the time. They were so good. I haven't had those cookies in forever. I got burned out on them because we used to make them all the stinkin' time for me to take to school. My friends & teachers loved them.

I also made PB & Ritz crackers covered with white chocolate. Very rich, but very yummy.

Our non-sweets included mexican pinwheels, a cheese & cracker tray, and a veggie tray.

I must tell you though, that not everyone enjoyed the bookparty. Liberty & Liam were stuck in the bedroom all night. They sat @ the door & cried the entire time. We kept seeing little noses under the door. So sweet. :)

Okay - that's the story of the book party. If anyone wants to order some books still, you can do that online @ www.ubah.com/HOS127848 until the 20th.

I'm off to bed to get rested for church in the morning.

Just have to....

take a moment and say how great my hubby is. He has worked hard every day this week, but especially last night & this morning to help me get ready for my book party. I really appreciate him working to get the hardwood floors all finished for my party. I'll have to post some pictures for you later.

I'm thankful for.....

Chelsey is hosting a give away over at her blog Scrap Happy: November Crop & Giveaway She challenged us to create a Thanksgiving LO. I did mine over at scrapblog.com It shows just one of the many things I am thankful for.

Is my blog a lie?

My blog is entitled Living Out His Plan? Are you doing that? Are you focused on God and what He wants for you? Are you okay with His plan, His provisions or do you want your own? I only ask because I'm not sure I like my answer to those questions. It seems like lately, meaning every day, God finds a way to ask me to come back to Him. I've definitely been taking my own path. It's like I want God in reach, but I'm not right beside Him holding His hand, you know?

What does it mean to live your life for God? What does it look like to be living out His plan? I am pretty confident that God has made me a teacher and that I'm at the school that He would have me be at. However, this past week or two I haven't exactly been thrilled with it. My students have definitely been trying my patience. I have forgotten to truly be thankful that not only do I have a job, but I have a job that I do actually enjoy and that I was made for.

Our money has been tight too lately, which is never fun. Just another thing that has shown me that my focus is all out of whack. I have a nice home, a nice car, a closet full of clothes, a new tv, a laptop with high speed interent,and much more. And these are only my material possessions. I wouldn't have any of it without God. He is the one that has provided it all. And yet I find myself thinking that it isn't enough, that I need more.

This week, Patter chose the word cross for her scrapbook Bible study. Wow! What a word. It is so powerful. My mind is flooded with thoughts when I hear the word cross. Thoughts that tell me I must be crazy for not living for my Lord. Thoughts that tell me it should be so easy to live out His plan. But, I'm just human and unfortunately sometimes I forget the power of the cross, the beauty of the cross, the mercy of the cross.

Thursday night at home group we were talking about how if for no other reason, God deserves our praise simply because he is God. Look at what he has done for us. Do you know? Jesus Christ gave up his life for me and for you. We sometimes look at the story and feel bad for him and view him as a victim. But Jesus was not a victim. He went willingly. You know there are some people in this world that I would die for, but I don't know if I would be willing to give up my life for a complete stranger or for someone who murdered someone else. But like I said, I'm human. I'm selfish and I have a tendency to rank sins even though I know that to Him they are all equally bad. Jesus went and died for all of us. For people who haven't even born yet. How awesome is that?????

I'm not sure if any of this even makes sense. I just know that lately I have been challenged and told to get my priorities straight. To get my focus where it should be - on things that will matter eternally. I challenge you to do the same. Take a look at your life. Is your focus where it should be? On the cross? If it isn't then please join me in the journey of refocusings.

Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving will be here in just a couple of weeks. I can't wait. Our Thanksgiving looks like this:

We get together with the Weavers on the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving. We have deep fried turkey and all the sides. After we stuff ourselves full we sat in a circle and take turns saying what we are thankful for. Yes we are a family who really does this. Of course we are all bawling by the time we finish. Actually we are normally crying after only 1 to 3 people have shared. It's nice.

Then there is Thursday. I get up early and with puppies in tow head to my grandmothers, where my family gets together. We have chicken and dumplings. Mmmm. This is my absolute favorite. Andrew refuses to eat them on Thanksgiving just because they are so special to us. He says we completely ignore the turkey which is so not true. My Daddy makes a most delicious turkey every year. I miss getting to wake up at their house to the smell of turkey. We just love our dumplings too.

Notice I said I go with the puppies. I didn't mention Andrew because he no longer goes with me. Why? He goes to Best Buy around noon and sets up camp. My hubby is one of those people who camp outside of Best Buy every year for the sales Friday morning. He does this even if there isn't nothing we need. He'll find something. He already has a shopping list for this year though. :) :) Does this bother me? No. For us, it isn't a fight worth fighting. He went with me to my grandmothers the first couple of years of our marriage, but he always wanted to leave much earlier than I did. That upset me more than him just not going. At some point in the evening his older brother, Cary, their nephews Tyler & Cody and our friend Sinclair join them. They sit around and talk and normally play football. Last year they even made their way onto two different news reports - pretty cool.

We also celebrate birthdays at both of these events. We celebrate Joy & Alex's with the Weaver's and my mom's at my grandmother's.


With all of that being said, what are your Thanksgiving traditions? What is your favorite tradition or favorite Thanksgiving food?

Just a Reminder

Hey everyone! I just wanted to remind all of you about my bookparty. I'm getting a little anxious about it. I've never hosted anything like this before. I'm worried no one will show up, I'm worried about the menu, having more people than my house can hold, on and on. Anyways!!!

For those of you in my area it is next Saturday, November 15th @ 6Pm @ my house. Let me know if you need directions. I really hope you can make it.

For those of you not in my area as well as those of you in my area you can't make it next Saturday. You can shop online! Unfortunately the online shopping doesn't come with my hopefully wonderful food and comapany. I know - takes all the fun out of it. The website is www.ubah.com/HOS127848

They have some really great children's books at what I think is a pretty reasonable price. I'm hoping to earn lots of goodies for my classroom and maybe even some for my future children. They already have their own library. :)


So go ahead. Go the website and get some Christmas shopping taken care of. You know you want to.

A Week of Festivities

Last week was homecoming/red ribbon week at school. We had a different dress up day every day. Here are a few pics from the week.

Monday - Get up & Go Day (Wear your PJs)
Tuesday - Western Day (Had nothing to wear on this day)
Wednesday - Jersey Day
Thursday - Red/White Day (Just wore a school shirt)
Friday - Costume Day

Home in Bed

That's me today. I woke feeling quite icky so I'm staying home. I'm hoping this is just the 24 hour thing that is going around at our school. I hate being sick, especially when Drew has to go to work and can't stay home and take care of me.

I'm also just sad today. As all of you know yesterday was Election Day. It was my second time to vote in a presidential election. In '04 I voted for President Bush and he won. This year I voted for Senator McCain and he didn't win. I just felt so disappointed and scared. While Senator Obama was not my choice for our next president, I still want him to be safe. There are a lot of people in this country who dislike him so strongly they are plotting to end his life. I would never wish that on anyone. I pray that God will protect our new President. I also pray for all of those babies out there who haven't been born yet and probably not even conceived yet. I pray that God will protect their little lives as they are so special. Our President isn't going to fight to protect them, so we must do everything we can to convince the mothers of these babies that life is precious.

When Fox News flashed that he was our next president last night, I just cried. Like I said, I was so disappointed. I understand why some people feel don't vote, because they feel like their vote doesn't count. I don't think I could ever feel that way though. There is something about voting based on my faith and knowing I've done what I could do....

What's in a Name?

In my camping post I told you about having a couple of close calls with the dogs on our camping trip and how this totally freaks Andrew and I out. Friday night we had Liberty and Liam on their tie outs. Well Liberty's got clipped on wrong. It was put on her nametag instead of her collar. A large dog walked by and she went nuts. She started barking and took off after the dog which broke her nametag and set her loose. This scares Andrew and I to death. If you haven't figured out by now, Liberty and Liam are like our two kids. I can't imagine not having them with us. I dread the day Liberty passes away. I will tell you right now I will not be going to work that day. There will definitely be some tears. She is my girl!

Okay so the reason her getting loose bothers us so much? She is named Liberty for a reason. We found her on petfinder.com. She was in Memphis. I had been begging Andrew for a dog pretty much since the moment we said I do. The time just wasn't right for us. For the first few years of our marriage we lived in an apartment and I went to school all day and worked all night. We knew this wasn't right for a dog. The day we bought our house I started asking again. I visited petfinder on a daily basis. We just couldn't find a dog that we both liked. One day I stumbled across this sweet tiny dog named Dopey. She was one of seven. Her dad, Walt, and her pregnant mom, Disney, had been dropped on the side of the road. After the pound picked them up, Disney had seven puppies, Doc, Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey, Happy, Bashful, and Grumpy. Andrew and I fell in love with Dopey. She was so cute, but she was in Memphis. Andrew wasn't sure he wanted to drive two hours for a dog.

A few days later our nephew Tyler called and wanted Andrew to take him to a Hawk Nelson concert in where else but Memphis. See we were meant to have Dopey. So Andrew and Tyler left on a Sunday afternoon to the concert and to pick up Dopey. When Andrew got there the foster parents who had been keeping Dopey and one of her brothers, said they Dopey wasn't dopey at all. Because of this, they started calling her Nina which is spanish for girl. So Drew and Tyler brought Nina home.

They got home around 11:30 that night. I loved on Nina for a while. I got ready to take her outside before we went to bed. I asked Andrew if I should put her on her leash. He said she will be fine. So off we went with no leash into our fenceless backyard. We were out there several minutes when she finally took care of business. I was getting ready to bring her back in when she heard something that spooked her. Off she went into the woods behind our house. Nina is a very fast little girl. I ran in to get Andrew and Tyler and we took off looking for her. So there we were looking for a tiny brown dog in the woods in the middle of the night. We called and called and looked and looked. Eventually I came in the house, locked myself in the bathroom and began crying my eyes out. I felt so bad. After a few minutes Andrew came and tried to talk me out of the bathroom. I just remember crying and telling him to take Tyler home. For whatever reason, I didn't want Tyler to see me so upset over a dog. After several minutes I convinced Andrew to take Tyler home. When he left I crawled into bed. I pretended to be asleep when he got home. I heard him go outside. I got up and walked outside to find my husband, a grown man, sitting on the backporch crying like a baby. I just sat and cried with him. It was very late at this point. We finally came in and went to sleep.

The next morning Andrew got up and looked for her again, still couldn't find her. I went to work, but was only there a couple of hours. I just felt sick because I was so upset. I talked them into letting me come home. I sat outside with wet dog food calling her name. I thought I heard something but when I went to where the sound was coming from, she would quit crying.

Around 4:30 that afternoon, our friend Stuart came over with his dog, Daisy. Daisy barks on command and he thought maybe she could get Nina to bark. Our neighbor had his dog out looking too. Andrew was home and looking. Nina's foster mom was on her way from Memphis with a lab to sniff Nina out. I just stood where I heard her earlier calling her. She finally cried very loudly. I yelled that I heard her and everyone came that way. There was a huge piece of concrete slab in the woods propped up on a rock. I bent down to look under it and there she was. My sweet baby girl. I yelled that I had found her and everyone came running to me. Andrew tried to get her out and she snapped at him. She was terrified. It took Stuart and Drew to get her out. She was filthy and covered in ticks. By the way, at this point her foster mom was twenty minutes from our house. Andrew called her and offered to let her know we found her. We offered to pay for gas and take her out to dinner. She just said she wasn't going back home and was glad we found her.

So we knew this little girl's name had to reflect our first eveing with her. Andrew threw out suggestions of Fled and Freedom. Neither one of these sound right to me. The next day at work Liberty Belle popped into my head. It was perfect.

So that is our story of how Dopey became Nina and then Liberty Belle Weaver. Needless to say our sweet girl didn't go anywhere near a door without a leash for a VERY long time. We are still a little nuts about it.

Here is the picture that was online at petfinder, and her first picture with her new mommy and daddy.