Happy 4th Birthday Twins!

Today Carson & Emilynn turn 4!  I cannot believe it!  It has been a fast four years, then again it seems like I've been a Mom forever. 

I promise to most more twin posts, I haven't been able to get around to them this week.  Things have been busy!!! 

For now, we are getting ready for a special birthday brunch, and a fun party at Romp 'N Roll!!!! 

The kids are SO excited!!!  

Twins' Birthday Week-Birth Story

Here is the email I sent out right after the twins were born, describing everything leading up to their birth and hospital stay.  I thought it would be easiest to just repost it!  It was fun to re-read it and also re-live all those emotions I had going on at the time.

It is LONG....just a warning!  I am chatty-but you know that by now!  :-) 

Jan 7, 2010

Hey everyone,   I am sure most of you know by now, but in case you didn't, our babies are here and they are precious! I know there's been a lot of emails keeping everyone in the loop, but I thought I would send one myself and let everyone know first hand about the twins big arrival-now that I have a teeny bit of time to spare-LOL.    I went to the doctor for my regular weekly check up on December 16.  Little did I know that would be a life changing day!!  My dad, Dawn, and my nephew Hunter went with me that day because I was due for my last ultrasound.  I knew my blood pressure was up that day but just chalked it up to Dad's driving (sorry Dad!) trying to get me there because we were running late (no shocker there).  I still didn't really think anything of it when the nurses and my doctor were kind of running around trying to monitor me and saying how I must not feel well.  I just shrugged that off till they finally told me what was going on.  I had gained 7 pounds in a week, had protein in my urine, my blood pressure was sky high.....I had pre-eclampsia.  Who knew it could set in so fast from one week to the next?   I had to go to the hospital for observation and for further tests and blood work.   I guess for some dumb reason I still thought I would get to go home after the 24 hour observation.....boy was I wrong!  My doctor had a chat with us the next night and said the only cure for my declining health issues was delivery and just wanted to get the babies to 35 weeks, which would be the following Monday.  I still had a glimmer of hope I'd get to go home and rest at my own house till then, but again...my head was in the sand.  I was hospital bound till delivery.....boy was that a long 5 days!  And of course the snow kept some visitors away so it was just Dustin and I trying to pass the time a few of the days.    Finally Monday the 21st came and I was very nervous to say the least.  They started the induction at 7:30 Monday morning by breaking my water and starting the pitocin.  Labor went really, really fast and by 11:30 we were ready to head to the Operating Room for delivery.  Twins are always born in the operating room whether born natural or C-section because of the high risk involved (ours were born naturally).  We finally got to the OR at 12:10 after waiting for it to become available.  Our son, John Carson, was born at 12:52 pm and was born with a head full of black hair!  He is a mini-Dustin and is so handsome!  He weighed 5 pounds, 4 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.  Emilynn Joann was born a little later at 1:26 pm and she weighed 5 pounds, 9 ounces and was also 19 1/2 inches long.  She is gorgeous too, if I must say so myself!  :-)  We just aren't sure who she looks like yet.   The delivery was interesting because there were a LOT of people there.....nothing private about it honestly.  There was Dustin and I of course, my Dr., the anesthesiologist in case we went to C-section, the neonatologist for the babies, my nurse, a scrub nurse, one nurse per baby, and it seemed like more nurses floating about.  A very big birthday party, to say the least.  The labor and delivery was not bad at all though, I was very lucky!      I will say that everyone in the delivery room was just as excited as we were to find out the gender of the babies.....it was the most exciting moment of my life and worth every second of the wait to have the moment when they were born and waiting for Dustin to tell me what they were.   After delivery, both babies were kept in the nursery for a long time.  We finally got Carson in our room at about 7:30 that night.  Emilynn was not brought to us because of difficulty breathing.  I had to be on a drug to keep me from having seizures during delivery due to my high blood pressure and it affected her breathing because she was exposed to it longer than Carson, being the second twin.    It also affected my breathing because I had to be on oxygen that night, my levels were dropping as well in my sleep.    The hardest thing about Emilynn was not being able to hold or touch her.  When seeing her in the nursery, they would not let us even touch her because it was too much stimulation for her.  That was so hard.  Carson did fine but she just wasn't doing better and Tuesday we could not touch her as well.  On Wednesday, she had an apnea spell and was put in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).  She has a valve or vessel in her heart that did not close up, due to her prematurity, and it was causing a heart murmur.   That was a really rough day, and I just cried and cried.  I didn't know much about NICU and I was scared.  I figured if I couldn't even touch my baby in the regular nursery, the NICU would be even worse.  I was very wrong about that thankfully.   I technically could have been discharged Wednesday as well, but luckily my Dr. gave me another day, I was in no shape to go home or anywhere at that point.    Shortly after she was taken to the NICU, a nurse, her nurse for the day came to see us.  She explained a lot to us and was so kind.  She was shocked to know we had not even held our daughter except Dustin did hold her briefly after she was born, and said that by all means we would hold her and should hold her.  So, we went to the NICU and were able to hold Emilynn and it was so emotional....I can't even describe that feeling.  Seeing your baby hooked to so many tubes and machines is tough and we were blessed with a fairly healthy girl, the babies are so sick in there.  It is hard to see and I know I was blessed with Carson to hold when we couldn't hold her and that was a comfort.  My heart goes out to the moms who's only baby is in there.  Emilynn had jaundice as well as the breathing trouble, but she progressed each day, thankfully, even with the heart murmur.  She had one more apnea spell while there, I was holding her at the time and it scared us so bad.  What was most scary was that we didn't even know it, the nurse just came rushing over because she had stopped breathing in my arms.  They attributed most of her breathing issues to the magnesium medicine I was on during labor.    Thursday (Christmas Eve)  I was discharged as well as Carson.  It was upsetting knowing we would be leaving a baby there, so we were luckily able to board for the night and stay again.  Everyone was so incredibly wonderful, since we were discharged that meant no more nursery to watch Carson while we visited Emilynn.  We were lucky that he was allowed in the NICU, so we were able to all visit as a family.  I must say the nurses, doctors, and everyone involved with the NICU was WONDERFUL!  They are truly angels and I will always be grateful for the treatment they gave us.  They made over Carson and just treated us so kindly.  They are like family in there I guess because it is so close-knit and one-on-one and they really helped make a tough situation bearable.  They did so many nice things for us for Christmas, I never thought I'd spend Christmas in a hospital and be happy about it, but it was the best Christmas I've ever had!  Our family was together and that's really all that mattered to us.  We woke up on Christmas and got ready to go see Emilynn before heading home.  When we arrived at the NICU, they quickly wisked Carson away and said they had a surprise for us while we scrubbed down.  I was overwhelmed when I saw what they had done....they had gotten each of them a "My first Christmas" sleeper and had them dressed, had concealed Emilynn's tubes/lines, and taken their pictures, together and separate and made them into Christmas cards for us with their footprints, printed photos, gave them a "1st Christmas" ornament, another ornament they made,  and homemade Christmas quilts volunteers had made.  And each thing they did for Emilynn, they also did for Carson.  It was overwhelming and I cried tears of joy and I'm crying now thinking about how they went above and beyond and used their own money and extra effort to make our Christmas memorable, even in the hospital.  We stayed several hours with Emilynn before making the tough move home minus one baby.    That was the hardest thing I've ever done, and I've never felt so torn, leaving part of my heart there.  It was a very long quiet ride home.    We were busy with Carson and then he began having issues of his own, so those few days were very trying.  He developed jaundice really badly and had to be on a "bili-blanket" 24 hours a day.   He also stopped eating and would just scream when we tried to feed him.  He didn't eat for 12 hours, so we ended up at Chippenham emergency room early Sunday morning after Christmas for IV fluids for him and to make sure nothing else was going on with him.  My greatest fear was them wanting to keep him and having two babies at two hospitals but luckily we did not have that happen.  He ended up being allergic to his formula supposedly, but I just don't think that was it.  He had bathroom issues too, which was what I think the problem was combined with being away from his twin.    But anyway, we got a wonderful call Monday the 28th that we could pick Emilynn up if we wanted to, or she could stay an extra day if we needed to get Carson straight because they had heard about his issues from the pediatrician.  If we wanted to pick her up?  Of course we wanted to pick her up!  You've never seen two people kick it in high gear like we did....but we had to take Carson for an appointment first.  We were so excited to bring Emilynn home and get to know her-we had not been able to spend much time with her at all, except about an hour or two a day visiting at the hospital.  And it was so hard running back and forth to Richmond with Carson in tow.....we were all so worn out.  It was the biggest relief on earth when we pulled out of Johnston-Willis with BOTH our babies in the car.  I can't even describe the feeling, just a huge weight off my shoulders.  And to top it off-Carson's issues stopped right then!  He has not had a problem eating or going to the bathroom since!  He missed his sister-I truly believe that!  They are both doing well and gaining weight-Emilynn's breathing has been fine and her pediatrician does not hear the murmur anymore.  We will still take her on the 25th to the pediatric cardiologist for a follow up, but for now they are both growing and doing well.    They are still considered preemies and are at risk for lots of things, so we are not taking them anywhere except Dr.'s visits and we are limiting visitors per Dr.'s orders until flu and RSV season is over.  We are working towards getting them approved for RSV shots to help keep them well.    The hidden blessing with the whole NICU experience other than meeting some wonderful people was that Emilynn came home on a very strict schedule that we are following at all costs!  Carson fell right into the schedule and it's worked great for us so far.  It has kept my sanity and made everything go very smoothly so far.  I am home alone during the day with the babies and we are doing fine.  I am loving every moment of being their mom-from every dirty diaper, lots of wardrobe changes each day,  every late night feeding, their screaming, their smiles, their little faces they make.....it's better than I could have ever imagined and has been truly a joy.  I look at them and am just amazed at the blessings we have received!  We are so very blessed and have been blessed by the whole experience, even the difficult parts and rough beginnings.    If you are still reading this-God bless you-I am impressed!   You must really love us to read this novel I've written- haha!  But I just wanted to share their birth story and let everyone know what was going on during the first two weeks when we probably didn't answer your phone calls or texts because we were just too emotionally drained and upset. It wasn't because we didn't care or appreciate your thoughtfulness, we just needed our space to deal with what we were facing and it wasn't easy.   It was a rollercoaster but thankfully things are more normal these days.    We really do appreciate all of your cards, calls, and everything everyone has done to make our transition smooth.  I am humbled by everything everyone has done-we have not had to cook, do laundry, shop, feed our pets, or do anything other than love on our babies and that is the best gift you could have given us!  We appreciate everything and it has made us feel so special!

Saving on Christmas-"Elf on a Shelf" on a budget

I had wanted to start the Elf on a Shelf tradition with the kids, but I didn't want to pay the $30.00 price tag for it.  Honestly, $30?  I put it off as long as possible, but this year I knew we had to go for it.  The kids knew about the elves-they had seen them at Poppy's and Nanny's, and they knew Hunter had one.  I went to Target a couple of times and had one in the cart, then put it back.  I just didn't want to spend so much on an elf.  I happened to see at Target where they now have a whole "Elf on a Shelf" section, with plush elves, fleece blankets, and even clothes for your elf to wear.  The plush elves were only $12, so I decided to get one of those and try it.  I figured the worst thing that could happen would be the kids didn't think it was a true elf, and I had to buy the $30 one.  I was willing to chance it. 
The first day he showed up, they were thrilled.  We have had him for several weeks now and he's worked just fine.  $12 and we have an elf.  The plus ones are just a bit different from the "normal" ones because they have a fat face.  The seem to weigh a bit more than the regular ones, making them a tad harder to position, but I'm willing to deal with that for the price difference.  For instance, I don't think you could really wrap his arms around anything and leave him that way, he kind of needs to be sitting. 
You can still be a bit creative though, he's been in our small Christmas tree, in a hanging plant, and a few other creative places.
You don't get the book this way either, but my kids knew exactly what the elf was about so it didn't matter.

Also- I did check Ebay just today, but the prices for the elves on there seem a bit higher than Target even.  Not sure what that's about. 

Now behave, the elf is watching!  :-) 

Kids' Movies

I almost forgot-Disney Junior is having a movie day today-so if you want to DVR some movies to have on hand for those cold winter days you are stuck inside-grab your remote! 

They are showing Cars, Ratatouille, The Princess and the Frog, and Tangled.  I am DVRing them all!  We only own Cars, but I thought it would be nice to have even that one on DVR for easier access sometimes! 

You can't beat a Disney movie!  I hope to take the twins to see Frozen soon!  Santa may bring Planes as well! 

Random Stuff

• The Christmas Parade is tonight.  The kids are super-excited about it.  It is cold!  I can't imagine how cold it will be tonight.  I have my Christmas cookies made and ready for the kids to munch on while we wait for it to start, they were a hit last year.  Dustin is keeping Henry at home and warm.  We decided one night out this week would be enough-we are going out tomorrow night with him.
• Where are we going you may wonder?  The Tacky Light Tour!  I am beyond excited, even though they are calling for rain.  I bought an umbrella at the dollar store, and am hoping for the best!  The twins LOVE "dazzle and glitz" decorations on houses, so I think it will be a blast.  Our entire family is going and we have a 46 passenger bus reserved!  I don't even know if I am going to bother with a camera, I may just enjoy myself. 
• Next week is the twins' birthday week, so I hope to post things about them all week like I did for Henry's birthday.  I re-read his stuff to see what all I had posted (my memory is not that great anymore!).  The bringing him home pics had Carson wearing the winter coat Henry is wearing this year.  :-(  They grow SO FAST! 
• The kids' Christmas program is Sunday at church.  Emilynn does great with her part.  Carson does great too-at home.  I am doubtful he says it in front of everyone Sunday, he didn't at practice.  We'll see though, he may surprise us! 
• The lack of sleep situation is getting a bit better.  I was able to get Henry to fall asleep for nap yesterday!  The twins were great and stayed in the living room without disturbing us.  I am hopeful maybe we can salvage naptime after all! 

In fact, I'm off to try to get him down right now!  :-)  He's a much more pleasant child with his nap! 

Saving on Christmas-Shopping Online

Has anyone else realized Christmas is less than two weeks away?  I am almost ready as far as shopping goes.  Still wrapping a little each night.  I find that shopping mostly online really is the most convenient way and can be the most cost effective-especially if you live in a rural area and drive a gas guzzler like I do!   

Here are a few ways I shop online and save $$$: 

~I think I have ordered everything online that I need to, but I have seriously considered signing up for Amazon Prime.  I think we would make our money back in the year for a couple of reasons.  For one thing, I order some of our harder to find organic products on there.  Also, I have a Kindle, so I would be able to read a free book every month, around a $5 value each month.  Also, if you've ever shopped with three small kids, you understand the appeal of shopping online from the comfort of your home! 
I'm still debating on it, but I thought if I joined right now, I could do the rest of my shopping online, AND get next year's shopping done with the free two-day shipping since I normally do the majority of my shopping in October/November.  That's the way my cheap frugal mind works!  

~If you don't do Amazon Prime, you can still get free shipping with a $35 order (just recently changed from $25 to $35-pooh!).  I do this all the time.  It's not the fastest shipping but if you plan ahead it's great. I think Amazon is my favorite site to order from! 

~Use the "Retail Me Not" app or website to get coupon codes for just about any website/store before you order!  There are coupons out there for most everything. 

~If you shop Kohls, their website has a ton of things on it that you can't find in the store.  You can also sometimes get free shipping, and there are usually percent off coupons to be had! 

~Walmart ships free to their store-I have done this a bunch of times and it works great.  You can also find things online that you may not find in store.  You do have to go pick it up, but I ordered our heavy swing set that way and didn't pay shipping!  It's hard to find swing sets in stores sometimes, there usually isn't a big selection like online.  This worked great for us! 

~Walmart also has free shipping on $35 or more order.  I JUST realized this after another mom pointed it out on her blog.  She bought regular grocery items on there!  I am SO going to try that!  I checked different stuff and you can buy about anything online from them- all your non-perishables like sugar, tea bags, noodles.....anything you can think of, and you can even get the Great Value brand.  It may seem silly to some, but Walmart is 15-20 minutes from me and if I go in with 3 kids it is considerably harder.  They don't ask for stuff, but it's just the logistics of loading and unloading everybody plus groceries. 

~I signed up for Ebates, to earn money back from online purchases.  I have not really tried it yet but if it's worthwhile, I'll post more on it later. 

That's really all I shop online for now- everything is from Amazon, Kohls, or Walmart.  I did order some Christmas items from Northern Tool and they shipped to their store for free. 

Another thing I like about Amazon is they will keep stuff in my cart, even if I don't buy it.  You can click "Save for Later" and you don't have to go back and look the item up again.  I have a few books for Henry's birthday waiting right now to be ordered.  It's the little things like this that make me happy! 

I highly recommend shopping online.  :-)  It will help you keep your sanity if you are a mother of little ones.  An added bonus-they get excited to see the mailman or UPS man coming down the drive.  They all know us oh-so-well! 

Controlled Chaos

Yesterday was one of those days.  You know the ones....where anything and everything goes berserk and the kids take full advantage of your vulnerable state and start acting like it's the first day you've ever taken them out into civilization.  Yep, some days are like that around here.  A lot of days really.  I am pretty immune to most of it, I think I've built up a high tolerance for the chaos, noise, etc. 
Before I had kids, I would hear kids in a restaurant going crazy and wonder why the parents did nothing.  Now I know, they didn't hear it!  Ha! 
Anyway, we woke up to pouring down rain yesterday.  I had already promised the kids we'd go to story time and they were really looking forward to it.  I gave a pep talk as we were heading out the door- go straight to the car, do not pass go, get right in or you'll be soaked, DO NOT jump in any puddles on the way to the car (Henry!), dodge any chicken poop.  You get the idea.  We make it to the car, then to the library.  As we approach, I notice the only vehicles there are the librarian's car, and a construction truck.  There is a construction dumpster out front.  I sensed something was off, but keep up optimism thinking maybe Ms. Cindy borrowed her husband's construction truck to drive to story time.  A likely story, right?  Well, we go in and the librarian is the only one there, no Ms. Cindy.  She informs me that Ms. Cindy got another job, and can't do story time.  Oh my goodness, I was so upset, the kids were so upset.  I was telling them to be quiet, because they were close to taking over the library with their excitement over the construction and the fact that Ms. Cindy was missing.  They couldn't hear me telling them anything because of a jack hammer working in one of the rooms.  Guess the construction truck belonged to the guy with the jack hammer.  Go figure. 
Determined to make the best of things, we head into the kids' room and lo and behold, the bulletin board decorations and our attendance chart and everything is gone!  I again told the librarian what a real bummer this was!  I almost, ALMOST volunteered to read the story time books, but I did not.  I get in trouble for following my heart instead of my head in these situations.  I would love to do story time, but with winter coming and all I just don't think it's a good idea.  If I have a sick child I would have to miss, and I just don't know that I can handle any big commitments right now.  I think my plate is very full! 
We left the library with the kids still saying "Ms. Cindy's not here, Mom", "I miss Ms. Cindy, Mom." 
I hope story time is reinstated soon!  It was only going for about 2 months! 
We headed to get our milk for the week and as we are leaving for home, Emilynn reminds me her tooth hurts.  It's been hurting on and off for a few days.  I had called the dentist and they told me to give her ibuprofen and see if that helped before bringing her in.  I thought that was odd advice (it was from the receptionist though), because wouldn't the problem just be masked then? 
Anyway, I decided to call and make an appt. for her to be seen.  They said they could see her at 2:30.  It was 12:30.  No problem, I just had to run home, put the milk up, feed the kids, spit-shine Emmy, brush her hair, brush her teeth, and get Henry down for nap so I could leave by 1:30.  I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off while the kids were CRAZY.  Henry decided yesterday of all days to refuse to take his nap.  He beat me back to the kitchen when I put him down.  Of course, I didn't have time to rock him or anything, so I had to go with it.  Dustin had tried sleeping from working all night, but was awoken by the noise.  It was crazy. 
We went to the dentist (Papa watched the boys) and Em just had a large, strange looking ulcer.  It was not like an ulcer I have seen.  It almost looked like bone poking through-the hygienist thought so too.  Apparently they can get infected and are something to keep an eye on.  We are supposed to brush it like crazy to keep it clean.  Em is my best dental patient though, so that was a breeze. 
The rest of the night was somewhat uneventful until.....bedtime.  Henry would NOT go to sleep!  It took me until 11:46 to get him to give up and sleep.  Yep, I looked at the clock right when he went down.  It was insane.  I am NOT ready for this!  The twins were 2 when they gave up naps also, but I'm just not ready.  I know I'll adjust eventually, but it is hard when you are used to having that time to do school work with the other children and any chores that can't be done with Henry awake. 
I'm sure we'll get through this, but for now, it is crazy and I am tired! 
Today he did not nap, and I got him to sleep around 9:30.  I thought that was good considering Dustin was working and I was alone.  It is really hard to get all 3 kids to bed by yourself.  I wasn't sure what to do tonight, but I gave the twins a long talk about staying in the living room and watching a show while I got Henry to bed.  They did great and I think they complied because they have seen "Monster No-Sleep Henry" the past two days!  They were ready for him to turn in also.  Poor little guy! 
I was determined to not let everything get the best of me today, and it didn't!  We had a good day despite lack of sleep.  I forgot to mention Henry popped up wide awake at 7 this morning.  I got up and got a shower and all and we just started our day.  By 10 a.m. I had done a load of clothes, made cookie dough for Christmas cookies, showered, had everyone dressed, fed eggs to the kids for breakfast, and we were happy.  I will make it through this phase as well!   I just may have black circles under my eyes for now! 
.

Monday Musings

• We enjoyed a bit of a winter wonderland yesterday as the trees were covered in ice.  We mostly got rain though and enjoyed a day inside keeping warm.  We are so blessed to have a nice warm home during this cold time of year. 
• I have been wrapping gifts like crazy! 50 to be exact!   None of them are for myself/my family!  I finally will get started on my gifts this week.  I love wrapping gifts!  I used to wrap all of my grandma's gifts for her as well as my own, before I had kids.  I love putting pretty ribbon on them.  I wish I could make pretty bows.  Curling ribbon is all I can do!  Maybe I will practice with something more fancy. 
• I have been trying to finalize the twins' birthday plans.  I can't believe they are 4!  We are having a brunch with their grandparents that morning, and a kids party that afternoon.  It should be a fun filled day! 
• Mr. Henry can get out of his crib now!  I'm guessing he hoists a leg over the side and slides down, but I'm not sure.  Oh to be a fly on the wall!  The first morning I heard a door shut, which is what Emilynn always does, so I assumed she was joining me.  Instead, here comes little Henry!  He doesn't hurt himself getting out, he has yet to cry.  I know we are going to have to convert his crib to the toddler bed soon though.  I'm just trying to figure out how we'll keep him in his room/bed when we do.  For now, we put him down to sleep at nap and bedtime and he goes right to sleep, even since he's been climbing out.  If that changes, we'll have to figure out different plans for nighttime because right now we lay with the twins at bedtime.  We can't lay with all 3 cause we are outnumbered.  We'll figure it out I'm sure. 

Sunday Scripture-The Christmas Story

 

The Christmas story is our scripture for today.  This time of year, it's important that we remember the real reason for this season, amidst all the materialism that surrounds us (and birthday happenings at our house!).  Last night as we were reading bedtime stories, Carson chose a story about the Nativity.  He started hollering "Jesus, Jesus, I love Jesus."  It melted my Mommy heart. He hopped onto the bed with much excitement.   Then he said, "Let's read this story about Baby Jesus, it's a great story!"

A great story, indeed! 

 

Luke 2:1-20

New International Version (NIV)

The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Christmas Cards

Have you gotten your Christmas cards ready yet?  I have worked and worked to get a good picture of the kids for the cards.  I just gave up.  My mom and I tried everything on Tuesday.  We went to see the model train Christmas display, which I knew had some good photo ops.  We got pretty much nothing.  We tried in front of her tree-nope.  I tried just in a chair at the house, didn't work.  We tried in a tree in Mom's yard, figuring the kids would love that.  Nope.  No one can look at the same time, no one cooperates.  I threw in the towel and just had to use what I could from the past year.  Now I need to order them and pick them up.  Then, we'll see how long it takes to address/mail them! 
Sam's seems to be the cheapest price of anywhere.  I've ordered online before and had them shipped to the house, but the shipping is outrageous at most of the photo companies-I've tried them all! 

Here are a few pics from our day.  We did enjoy seeing the model train display-we look forward to it each year.  We stayed for almost 2 hours!  We will be going back many more times before the season is out I'm sure! 

My girl! 

My boys! 

Henry would have stayed all day.  He was mesmerized for sure. 

Santa cranked up the snow machine for us-so fun!  They really make it a fun experience for kids! 

 

Black Friday Shopping Re-cap

We went Black Friday shopping again this year, and if you are trying to be frugal, it is a great opportunity to save some cash!  By "we", I mean, pretty much my entire family, minus most of the guys.  We needed a trampoline from Walmart for a mission project we are doing, so two of my sisters were in line by 3 p.m. for a 6 p.m. trampoline!  We got not one, but two though!  Everyone went before our meal this year, which was different.  I got assigned the job of helping my Dad finish putting the meal together along with Nanny Margaret (my step-mom's mom).  I expected to walk into chaos, but was pleasantly surprised.  They had everything under control and we all enjoyed sitting around chatting and putting the finishing touches on the meal!  I think that was the better job than fighting Walmart right then.  :-) 
After eating and visiting a while, I met up with my cousin Brandy for MY black Friday shopping.  We went to Walmart, then headed to the city to hit up Target, Kohls, and Old Navy.  It was so much fun!  I got home at 4 a.m.!  I love going overnight.  It makes it nice because I can be home with the kids the next day, Dustin doesn't miss any hunting, and we are all happy.  Honestly, overnight is really nice-all the people were super-nice, nothing was really crowded, we got the first deals, and there are NO kids out overnight shopping!  We got lattes from Starbucks and just casually shopped and had a ball!  I was surprisingly not tired the next day. 

Here are some deals I found:

Old Navy-everything was a deal!  The whole store was 50% off, which made it nice.  Sometimes in the middle of the night my brain may not work so well.  You didn't have to do much figuring!  I got boots, a scarf, and sweater for me, socks and a few shirts for the kids. 

Target- We didn't get as much at Target, a lot of their deals were gone.  I did find a Doc McStuffins Operation game that Emilynn will love.  I know I got more, I just can't remember it all! 

Kohls- I got several of their warm, soft "The Big One" blankets for gifts for only $8.99, a Mr. Potato Head 42 pc. set for Henry-he loves "tater head"-I think I ended up paying $6.99 for it with all my discounts,  and more odds and ends. 

Walmart- Walmart has the same stuff most years, so I can always count on them!  I got the $10 Disney Planes movie, some $5 princesses for Emilynn, some of the $5 storybooks they have each year, a $12 bedtime pal for Henry-twins got one last year, socks and undies for the kids (always a good black Friday deal), oh, and a trampoline for next Christmas!  Yep, Meme talked me into it, so we wouldn't have to wait in line again next year.  We've been in the trampoline line for the past several years.  Now, we have to hide it for a whole year. 

It's funny because everyone who came into dinner from Walmart was saying how they weren't going next year, etc. etc.  Then after supper-every last one of them except Meme headed right back out there! 

I think I need to save even more $$ for black Friday next year, I could have gotten so many more deals if I had extra cash! 

If you are trying to do Christmas on a budget, black Friday is the way to go! 

We had a great Thanksgiving, filled with too much food and some fun/crazy black Friday shopping. 

Here are the turkey cupcakes I made with the kids and cousin Hunter last week.  So cute and so easy! 

I made them again Saturday because I had to bring kids' dessert to Dustin's family Thanksgiving.  They were a hit for sure, and we'll make them next year.

Dustin's birthday was Wednesday, so I had to make him a cake.  He always wants yellow cake with chocolate icing, all from store-bought mix and icing.  So, that's what he gets.  I've had the same hunting figurines that I put on his cake for about 8 years.  It's become kind of a joke.  This year, I decided to do something different since I was doing the little turkeys. 

Here's how it turned out: 

A big turkey!  I thought it was okay for a spur of the moment idea. 

I hope everyone had a great holiday last week!  It's kind of hard getting back into the swing of things for us.  Dustin was off almost two weeks straight, and we had all the holiday comings and goings. 
I guess it will be crazy now until after Christmas! 

Sunday Scripture

"God loves a cheerful giver."  ~2 Corinthians 9:7

Look for ways you can cheerfully give to others this holiday season!  It is truly more blessed to give than to receive.