Thursday, November 29, 2012

And some more pics.....

Bucky getting ready to leave.....and making sure
little Marley stays warm!


Maddox.....


beautiful trees at the entrance to our neighborhood


Maddox watching the school bus go by.....Nicole took these pics
great job Nicole!


Maddox made a Thanksgiving book at school
he was so proud of it.....and showing everyone
here's a pic of him showing Johnny


the black dog is Chrissy......she is 13 years old and really
doesn't like any other dogs...especially Pippa Lou
so this pic is very rare....the 2 of them sharing space in my chair


later.....

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Just pictures.....

Johnny and Maddox along with
Pippa Lou and Bella Boo....sound asleep on the sofa


not much holds Maddox's attention but give him the
iPad and he's happy for hours

here's Bella and Pippa Lou sleeping on Jake
he's moving out this Friday and I know the doggies are going to
miss him so much



every 2 weeks we take the same pic of Jacquelyn
here's week 22.....but she's now at 25 so we'll be taking another
picture next week
she's just the cutest little momma.....



and we take the picture in 2 different shirts because she's not
sure which one will stretch enough to last until the end.
the pic below I love....because Bucky always takes a pic with
his iPhone....so they were checking out the picture compared
to the previous one.....and just look how happy they are!


I love these silly boys......


later......

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Thanksgiving part 2 ...

We always have Thanksgiving with my family either the Saturday
before or the Saturday after
this year, it's the Saturday after
and we always have it at my sisters very big house
but this year her back has been bothering her so I'm hosting
it's 26 of us!

So in order to seat everyone, I'm bringing the old dining room
table in and putting it in the living room.......that one holds 12

then my new table holds 12
and I'll come up with some seating for the 2 little guys

and if you host, you only have to do the turkey, gravy and rolls

It's going to be crowded, loud and crazy.....
and I'll just love it!!!
and here's a few pics from Saturday
here's my great niece Victoria making friends with Chrissy


and Jake.....looking like he's tired of me taking pictures...haha

our two beautiful daughters.....Jacquelyn and Nicole
and here's Matt and Mallory.....who are getting married in 7 months!

and my brother......Tracy

Another niece, Alison and my little sister Kandi

and yet another niece.....Aimee and her son Alexander


Nicole and our grandson Maddox


and my sister Vickie and I......


I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving

later......

Friday, November 23, 2012

Black Friday ....

I have been getting a lot of black Friday sale emails for
the past several weeks so I have already
snatched up a few good sales
Really good deals on new laptops and Leapfrogs to name a few

But Jacquelyn and I love going out on Black Friday
we love the crowds and the fun of the hunt!

We will look through the paper on Thanksgiving day and come
up with our strategy

I will not be going to the stores on Thanksgiving day though
I don't think they really need to be open then....let the employees
be with their families

so let the shopping begin!

later.......

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thanksgiving ....

I love Thanksgiving so much
almost as much as Christmas....but not quite!

I love cooking the big dinner and having
family and friends over

love all of the chaos and the dishes
the loudness
all of the catching up

and then I love the end of the day when I can sit down
in my recliner with a nice glass of wine....ahhhh

We always have dinner during halftime of the Dallas game
Eating late started when Johnny used to have to work
on Thanksgiving day
Then because Dallas always plays and we are BIG Dallas fans
we of course had to wait for halftime as to not miss
any of the game

we will have 13 for dinner on Thanksgiving

our menu is .....

TURKEY
GRAVY AND ROLLS
MASHED POTATOES
ROASTED POTATOES
SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE
3 BEAN SALAD
BROCCOLI SALAD
ROASTED CARROTS
MAC AND CHEESE
CRANBERRY SAUCE
APPLE CAKE
CHERRY PIE

we have 3 different potatoes because Jake loves the mashed,
Jacquelyn loves the roasted
Nicole and I love the sweet
and Johnny loves them all....haha

I hope everyone has a most wonderful Thanksgiving
I have so much to be thankful for and I feel
so blessed to spend this special day with my family

later......

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Jazzercise ....

Here's my Jazzercise update....

I'm still going!!
and I mostly go 5 times a week!
Since April 21st!
Even I'm amazed

I have never in all of my life found an exercise program
that I have stuck with.....and especially this long

It's just so much fun
but besides that, it makes me feel so good
I really start feeling sluggish when I miss more than a couple of days
like when I'm on vacation

I have arthritis in my right knee
and it always used to hurt....always had just a little dull pain in it
but now that I Jazzercise, it rarely ever hurts

it is 60 minutes of non stop movement
you start out with a warm up song
then you go into cardio that keeps building up
until your heart is really pumping......
after the peak, the cardio starts slowing down and then
you do weight lifting and end with a stretching number

All of the instructors have different routines
and they change them about every 2 months
so  it never gets boring.
Some do a workout called circuit.....where you do 2 cardio
then weights, then back to cardio, then more weights

Another one of our instructors is starting to incooperate
more kickboxing in her routines
and I really love the kickboxing!

you are soaked with sweat by the time you finish
but you have just burned about 600 calories...woo hoo!!
I have only lost about 6 lbs because I have really built up a lot of muscle
BUT....I've lost a lot of inches
my clothes are so much loser and the best way to describe
it is.....I no longer feel "tight" in my skin!

My goal was to hit 150 classes by the end of this year
but with the holidays, I'm not sure I'll make it but I'll
def get to about 125 or 130 so that's not too bad

later.....




Monday, November 19, 2012

Christmas is coming .....

I love the holidays.....
To me, it really is just the most wonderful time of the year

and I do not like to wait in putting up my decorations
I think the holidays begin on Nov 1st!

So around then I start pulling out the decorations
but usually do not get it all done until closer to Thanksgiving

It's fine if some people like to wait until after turkey day
but I group Thanksgiving and Christmas together.....the holidays!






I need to take a pic of the front porch at night
the basket, swag and small tree all have lights on them
I'll post "lite" up pics when I put up the trees

so now my house is just about finished
the only thing left is a few more windows I still have to put candles in
and put up my 2 trees.....everything else is done!!

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Time to go ....

Our last one is leaving the nest!
our son Jake is moving out on Nov 30th
he has been trying to move up in the company he works for
and it finally happened for him

Except that its in another city
he'll be moving to Charlottesville
but at least it's only an hour away
Charlottesville is a beautiful little town nested in the mountains
of Virginia
from his bedroom and kitchen window, he can see the mountains!





I know it's time....I mean really, he's 24 years old
but there was never a reason for him to leave
but now the day has come

we're proud of him and we know he'll do great
I'm sure he'll be coming home some on the weekends....
I think he'll miss the dogs more than anything

he told me the other night that he had a good deal for me
I could give him Pippa Lou or pay off his car for Christmas
HAHAHHAHAHA
funny guy

But I am having a lot of fun buying stuff for his new apartment
he's just going to have to make due with very little though
until Christmas because Santa doesn't give out gifts
early at my house :)

later.....

Saturday, November 3, 2012

I love fall ....

I'm a little late on this one but wanted to list
many of the reasons I love fall......
so here we go

  • Crisp air
  • Pumpkins
  • Walking on crunchy leaves
  • Sweaters
  • Football
  • Driving through leaves and watching them fly in the air!
  • Halloween
  • Boots
  • Good apples
  • Apple cider
  • Hot chocolate
  • Pumpkin flavored everything...coffee, cookies, breads...
  • Thanksgiving
  • Christmas is coming!
  • Fall colors ... orange, yellow, burgundy, red
  • Soups and chili
  • Did I mention Christmas is coming!!
  • A new season....tired of the summer clothes and time to pull out fall clothes

So wonderful living in Virginia where we can
experience all 4 seasons!

later......