Thanksgiving

How was your Thanksgiving holiday? Mine....well....didn't go according to plan. Not even close!

So Russ' brother married a girl from South Carolina, oddly enough. They were able to come all the way from Arkansas to spend Thanksgiving with her family and we were invited since we weren't going to go anywhere. They made it to South Carolina Saturday (I think) and on Monday we our two families got together for the day. We let the kids play (their son, David, is 4 months younger than Chloe Jo) for a while and ended up going to a city to eat. Did I get a single picture of Russ' brothers family? NO! I don't know how that happened! After we ate, we went to the Farmer's Market and looked at the trees and had desert. Ice Cream and Peach Enchiladas....YUM! We then went on a little sightseeing adventure.

During The Cold War, a bomber was flying over the city we were in on the way to England. The plane's controls malfunctioned and dropped an Atom Bomb that destroyed one house, damaged many others within a 5 mile radius and made a crater that was 30 feet deep and 70 feet wide. Luckily the bomb did not detonate! It was difficult to find the site because there way only a few signs and the actual site doesn't have a sign on the side that is not private property.

Here are pictures of the bomb site. It just looks like a lake now.

After searching for about an hour for this, we were a little disappointed since there wasn't much there. Plus, it was by an abandoned trailer park. There were roads and driveways, but everything was so grown up it was hard to tell what it was. There were electric boxes at each lot making it feel very Twilight Zone-ish when we were driving through. Very strange!

After finally finding the bomb site, it was getting late so we parted ways to see each other again on Thursday...or so we thought. I ended up getting sick Thursday. My Thanksgiving meal consisted of a few crackers, a couple of pieces of toast and a cup of hot tea. And I was okay with that because thinking about eating anything else made my stomach turn. I stayed in bed the whole day and was feeling better on Friday. My appetite also came back on Friday. Unfortunately, Chloe Jo had started coughing Monday night and was still coughing Friday so we didn't get to do anything the rest of the week.

Here is the adorable shirt I made for Chloe Jo to wear on Thanksgiving. I'm so sad she didn't get to wear it, but we will pass it down to cousin Brianna to wear next year maybe. I also made the bow. You can't really see it in the picture, but there is an adorable turkey on it.

And since Thanksgiving has passed, I dressed Chloe Jo up in a Christmas dress for Sunday church services. She is so adorable with her little piggie tails!

That's all for now. I'm going to try to write more later this week. I have several posts in my head. I just need to find time to do them and all the other things I need to do this week!

Dreams and Reality

I dream constantly. My dreams are usually vivid, but there are times when I can't remember what I dreamed about. I love how one small thing will trigger a memory from a dream I wasn't even aware of. Last night I had a dream that has become a source of sadness for me today. I dreamed that I took a pregnancy test that I could plug into my computer and it was positive. My computer screen had the words "You're pregnant!" on it and a few people (I don't know who they were) saw it and we were celebrating. It is rare that I have dreams about being pregnant, but when I do it really bothers me. I've been doing really good about trying to move past my infertility since Chloe Jo was born. There have been setbacks, but, for the most part, I've been doing really good. Then there are times, like the last few weeks, that I feel like I'm starting over in the mourning process. About a month ago, Russ' middle brother told us that his wife is expecting again. This wasn't a huge surprise to me so I was okay with it. It hurts. Don't get me wrong. It hurts. Also, please don't misunderstand the fact that I'm hurting because I have inept ovaries, not because they are having a baby. This is what they wanted so I am happy for them. Then a couple of weeks ago, Russ' oldest brother (there are only three of them) "let it slip" in a text that his wife is pregnant. I was not prepared for that at all. Again, please don't misunderstand me. I am happy for them. It took me a couple of days to get used to the idea, but I am happy for them. They were going to wait to tell us in person and, secretly, I was glad that didn't work. I am dismal at covering up my true feelings and I think it would have hurt their feelings. I am so glad that I had time to be sad for us before we saw them so I could be truly happy for them. It stinks being the only wife in Russ' family that isn't able to give his parents another grandchild. It stinks, but after thinking about it, I'm okay. Today, though, after the dream I had last night, I just feel like mourning. Again. Forever. I have tried so hard to let this go and to just give it to God. And I've done good. Until I have days like this. Sometimes it hurts so much that I wish I could rip my heart out of my chest to make it stop. I am so blessed to have that sweet (although very naughty today), beautiful little girl who is asleep in her room right now. I know I am blessed with everything I need in this life. It just stinks that the one goal I have had consistently since I was little seems to be so out of my reach. Not the being a Mom part. I know I have that. The being a Mom to 3 to 5 (dream big, right!?!) little children and raising them to be amazing adults. Dreams like the one I had last night are lovely for a while. Then reality comes back. *sigh*

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

...well...Christmas.

Our little family decorated for Christmas this week. We had to get a new Christmas tree because the one we had got ruined when the water heater leaked on it. The water heater is still leaking, by the way. I took the opportunity to buy a bigger tree that is pre-lit. I. LOVE. IT. It's so much better than the Charlie Brown tree we've used since our first Christmas as a married couple. The box of that tree said it cost us $15.88! It was seriously sad.

The first thing I did was get out our Christmas boxes. We don't that much Christmas stuff. I think there were 2 boxes and now the tree box. Chloe Jo loved putting up these window clings.
Even more, she loves to peel them off. *sigh of frustration*
After Daddy got home, we headed out for our yearly tradition of buying Christmas ornaments. We each picked one for the tree. I write our names and the year on them with magic marker. It is so fun to look at the ornaments we chose in past years!

Russell picked this Frosty the Snowman ornament.

I picked this Grinch ornament. I love me some Grinch and Cindy Lou Who. Can't get much cuter.

Chloe Jo picked out Belle. She loves her! She will stand at the tree and look at her.

After we got home, Chloe Jo went to bed. We tried to let her stay up to set up the tree, but she was cranky and we finally had to put her to bed. Russ and I stayed up to put up the tree anyway.

I love our tree. And yes, that is a top hat our tree is wearing...because that is how our tree rolls, yo. Seriously love the top hat!

This is a display I put together on the top of our TV cabinet. I bought the round ornaments and vases at the Dollar Tree and the red ornaments are from Wal-Mart. I think it turned out nice since I only spent about $20.00 for the whole display.

This is our game chest. We moved it from the living room into our hall so the tree could go in front of the window.

This is a shelf in our hall. I have had the Santa on the bottom shelf for as long as I remember. At least 20 years.

And here are our stocking. I love our stockings. I made these our first Christmas as a married couple. I can't find these particular stockings anymore so Chloe Jo's doesn't match ours.

Hers still turned out cute, though. Can't you just picture another stocking hanging from this shelf. We are hoping and praying to make that happen for next year.

I put lights up around our living room window on the outside, but they are already falling down. I may take them down completely. I am having trouble figuring out how to hang them since we can't put screws in the wood since this is a rental. We'll just have to see what else we can use because what I did use (adhesive backed hooks) aren't working.

Peace out, yo!

Memory Walk 2010

Russ, Chloe Jo and I woke up bright and early to go to The Big Town Next Door to participate in the 2010 Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk. This is the 3rd year Chloe Jo (she was in utero the first year) and I have participated and the 1st year Russ has particpated. Our team, Team Gray Wolf raised $285.00 for Alzheimer's research!The crowd was, unfortunately, quite small. There were only around 100-150 walkers. I hope this city has just not participated in the past so the walk hasn't grown yet. They definitely needed us! I love the row of flags. You can buy a flag to dedicate to someone who is afflicted with Alzheimer's. I haven't done this in the past, but I may look into it for next year.
I love getting a T-shirt every year. If you raise $100.00 or more, you can get a free T-shirt. Since the shirts ran small, Russ' didn't fit so I put it on Chloe Jo. I think she looks adorable!
She did very good during the walk. I think she enjoyed playing and riding in the stroller!

We asked a lady there to take a family picture. She acted like we were crazy! HA! We just can't miss a photo op!

This is the start of the walk. I looked at my pictures from the walk last year and it was packed. Plus, this walk didn't have the booths set up or the field of teams like the one in Oklahoma. It was just really different. We sure hope it grows over the next few years!

Here I am pushing Chloe Jo under the balloon arch.

All in all, I think Team Gray Wolf had a very succesful year. Plus if we put what we raised with Team Gray Wolf's Oklahoma Chapter, we did phenomenal! Here is a little video I did during our walk.

We love this warm weather!

Chloe Jo and I have been loving this warm weather South Carolina has been having. It was cold on Monday, but then it has been warm since then. We were able to walk to the library on Tuesday to check out a few books and we went to the park on Wednesday. One of the things I feel like I don't do good with as a parent is taking Chloe Jo outside to play. I am trying to be better about that. We need to soak up some more good ol' vitamin D!Here she is all ready to go. She loves going outside to play, especially if we go to the park.

When we got to the park there was a little girl about a year older than Chloe Jo. I was happy because I thought they might play together. Unfortunately, the little girl was not allowed to play with "that baby." Chloe Jo really wanted to play with her, but they ended up leaving shortly after we got there. I do wish Chloe Jo had someone her own age to play with. I can't find a playgroup to join here and I don't want to put her in daycare yet.Chloe Jo thought it was great that I just let her go! Sometimes there are too many older children there and I get nervous about them not watching where they are going so I don't let her just run. We were the only ones there yesterday so she was able to have free reign.

She especially loved climbing up and down this gym. She didn't care much about going down the slide this time.
She enjoyed spinning these toys. There were three of them and she played with each one.
There were a few adults at the park, one who had two small dogs with him. Chloe Jo repeated "dog, dog, dog" over and over while she watched them run and play.
The last thing we did was swing. Chloe Jo wasn't really that interested in swinging but for a minute or so. She usually loves swinging so this one surprised me. I think she was enjoyed her free reign of the playground and didn't want to be confined!
At least I got a super cute picture of her during the minute she did swing! We sure love going to the park and are planning to go again today after lunch! Tomorrow I am planning to go to Myrtle Beach with a friend for a Christmas festival. Then on Saturday, we have the Alzheimer's Walk in the morning (we only lack $25 to reach our goal!) and we have a cleaning/fellowship/game time at the church building after the walk. It's going to be a busy couple of days!

Carolina Girl

Best in the world!
We sure love South Carolina!

So much that we have to wear the palmetto and moon on our clothing!

Sure is cute!

Pecans and Hair

Today we went to the Pecan Festival. Said "pee" and "can," rhymes with man. We suthners now. This was quite a big event! We only stayed a little over an hour. That is about my limit with big crowds like this! Regardless of the crowd, we had a good time. There were several stages set up for bands to play. I really enjoyed this group.

I have no idea who they are! I just liked their blue-grass sound.

Chloe Jo, on the other hand, wasn't that impressed. Ha! I love this picture. Too funny.There were several booths with very cute things for little girls. I found this dress and hair bow. I'm so excited to dress Chloe Jo up in it tomorrow morning for Sunday school and Worship services.

I love the Palmetto and Moon. It wouldn't be South Carolina without this symbol.

I bought it in a big enough size that Chloe Jo should be able to wear it for her 2 year old pictures.

After the Pecan Festival we went by the Farmer's Market. I am really enjoying shopping for my produce there. The prices are excellent, the quality is excellen and I can support local business. It's a win-win-win!

After we got home I gave Chloe Jo a bath...and decided that I couldn't stand her bangs in her eyes any longer. She has needed a trim for several weeks and I haven't taken her. Tonight I stepped out of my comfort zone and trimmed them up myself. It's not the best job I've ever seen. I think I trimmed them too high, but I'm just glad her bangs aren't in her eyes anymore! Plus, they'll grow back out so I'm not bugging.

Now, I need to decide what I want to do about her mullet.

Christmas is just around the corner!

I can't believe it is already November. Why does it seem like time moves faster and faster the older I get? Along with winter coats and hats, November means that Christmas is rapidly approaching. And for me, it means that I better get my shopping done because I absolutely hate shopping during the Christmas season. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate huge crowds? Especially huge crowds of rude, impatient people. Just thinking about the Christmas shopping crowds makes me want to vomit. But, there is no need to get a bucket for the impending vomit because I am almost finished with my shopping. I have 4 more gifts to get besides the rest of Russ' and Chloe Jo's. I have made/am making several gifts and am very excited about them. I finished this blanket for Chloe Jo last week.

I ended up adding quite a bit to the pattern and I love how it turned out. I have three projects in the works and am hoping to finish two of them this week and the other...well, it's kind of big so we'll see. I love making gifts and I hope the people I'm giving them to will like them, also. Russ and I aren't planning on going anywhere for Christmas this year so it will just be us and Chloe Jo. I think it will be really nice to just have the three of us. We are going to miss getting together with our family, though.

I've already started thinking of my goals for next year. Maybe I can still fulfill some of the ones from last year. Here's to hoping!

Wordless Wednesday