Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving has come and gone...now we're getting ready for the Christmas season! These holidays seem to run together anymore. When I was a kid it always felt like a lifetime between Thanksgiving and Xmas! What a difference 30 years and a different perspective makes! Anyway...back to present time...Thanksgiving went well...we had dinner at my house. We had lots of food, of course. I made a few new dishes this year that turned out well so I was pleased about that! First thing this morning Libby & I put up her pink Christmas tree in her room. She was so excited! Of course, she's older now, so she wanted to do the decorating herself. She let me help for a little bit...then we got in a fight because she wouldn't let me help anymore! I went downstairs and did something way more fun anyway...bills! After she finished decorating her Xmas tree by herself, Libby came downstairs and told me she was sorry for not sharing her Xmas tree with me! She's so sweet, when she's not rotten! She also said when we put up the big Xmas tree on Sunday she would share with me! I love decorating for Xmas! I love looking at all the ornaments I've bought over the years...I carefully pick out a few new ones each year. I can get lost in the hallmark store looking at ornaments! Anyway...here are some pics from Thanksgiving! Enjoy!

Wednesday at school Libby's class had a Thanksgiving celebration. They made Indian vests, necklaces, headdress, and drums! Libby thought the drum was pretty cool. Here she is doing her best Indian Princess imitation!

Silly Mike thought I was actually going to cook dinner Wednesday night! Ha! We went out to eat at Mike's Pizza..its yummy and just a few miles from our house! Libby wanted to go in her Indian Princess outfit. She's so funny! Everyone at the restaurant was amused!

This is an example of what you'll let your kids do when you're busy opposed to when you are watching them closely! This is Thursday morning when I was trying to get all the cleaning done. Libby thought it would be fun to sit up on the buffet in the dining room and play with a basket of plastic ware! I think she was up there playing about an hour! I thought about telling her to get down, but then again, she was occupied and having fun, and I was getting my work done!

Someone got a ring!!!

It's Tarah, my older brother's girlfriend! I like her just a teeny bit more than my brother's first wife! I say this because I know she's reading this!! hahaha!

Here is Libby and Tarah...we are really working on Libby's fake smile! She's trying not to close her eyes, but she's trying too hard!

This is after dinner...Libby tricked some Tarah and her parents into playing candyland with her! Tarah's mom won! Go Toni!

Here is Libby with her pink Christmas tree we put up this morning. She remembered that last year we had Libby and Ginger in the picture together for our Christmas cards, so she had to have Ginger in the picture with her again! She's funny that way!

My nieces didn't get to come over for Thanksgiving dinner, so we went over to my little brother's house this morning so they could play for a little while! Libby was being a little booger and closing her eyes on purpose!

A day with the babysitter

I was supposed to work Monday night and had made arrangements for Libby to go to the sitter on Tuesday. I ended up not working but sent Libby to the sitter anyway! She thought I did work and was home sleeping...Sorry Libby, mommy's a liar sometimes! I was feeling slightly guilty for sending her since I was at home all day, but I rationalized it by saying I had lots of Turkey Day stuff to do. Anyway when I went to pick her up she had all these crafts that they had done that day. I was happy she went to the sitter after all! I really like this lady she goes to...she's a retired elementary school teacher! The two times Libby has gone they have done crafts AND they get hot lunches...better than what I fix Libby at home for lunch! I want to start going to the sitter too!! Anyway here is Libby modeling her Thanksgiving attire she made at Linda's house! She is wearing and Indian headdress, an Indian vest made out of a brown paper bag...its really cute, but its hard to see in the pic how cute it is...and a necklace made out of different colored pastas and beads! And yes, we are still working on her fake smile! That is why she is cheesing so hard in the pic! She's pretty silly!

My lil' friend turns Six!

I have a little friend, Austin. I met him when I worked at Methodist. He was a 28-weeker then, and now he just celebrated his 6th birthday! It's hard to believe it has been that long already! It just seems like yesterday when I would go over to his crib around 4am because he was fussy. Little Austin liked to have a snack at 4am! So I would secretly give him an uncharted little "snack" (because babies in the NICU only get to eat every three hours and only how much the doctors decide)! Then I would rock him and we would both take a little nap together in the rocking chair! He was a sweet little baby! I stayed friends with his parents, which was very easy to do because they were already friends with my brother! They have two kids now, Austin and Hailey, and I have Libby. It's nice when we can get together and the kids can play. Here are some pics from Austin's Birthday party Saturday...I forgot my camera and had to use my cell phone. The picture quality is so bad, I'm almost embarrassed to post them!

Gavin, (Austin's cousin) Austin, Libby, Hailey

Austin opening presents

Hailey, Libby, Austin playing together

Hailey and Libby playing dolls together.

Austin and Me at the hospital. He was going home very soon! What a little peanut he was!

Pimpin'

Last Christmas Mike wanted a pimp hat. Not to leave anyone out, we all got pimp hats. Here's Libby pimpin' hers...and her furry scarf and sequined gloves! Where does a little girl go when she's all pimped out you may ask? Walmart, of course! She's just too cool!

Daddy's Birthday!

Yesterday was Mike's Birthday...He's 46! As my friend Vosko was kind enough to tell him, "That's a fat man's pants size!" Hahaha! Yes, he appreciated that! Libby and I made him a German chocolate birthday cake that morning and we all went out to eat at Red Lobster last night for dinner. Libby of course, wanted to be fancy and wear her "princess" dress. I tried to explain to her that her princess dresses don't have any sleeves and it's too cold outside. She wouldn't change her mind. So I made her wear a turtle neck and tights under her dress, not sure how it would turn out...she still looked beautiful!! Libby being Libby, decided after dinner, while we were waiting for our check, that she would entertain us. She got up and started dancing to the music playing in the restaurant. Of course my camera was at home! So you'll just have to imagine how funny it was seeing this little girl in a princess dress dance around and shake her booty to that muzac soundtrack they were playing at Red Lobster! I think it made Mike's birthday!

Here's Libby being fancy in her princess dress!

Libby and the birthday boy, the 46 year old birthday boy!

Just to clarify...I am not that old! Mike is way older than me! I'm still a spring chick...still in the low 30's!!! hahaha!

Libby's Debut!

We're so excited! Libby got her first modeling gig! She is on her way to supermodel stardom! Lillian Vernon today, Vogue tomorrow! Go Libby! We are so proud! I don't know why they didn't pick a "mom" that looked more like Libby though!

School Pics

I'm not sure what put me in this generous mood, but I thought I would post some amusing pictures for your viewing pleasure. At first, I was just going to post Libby's school pic for this year, but then I started digging around in my picture archives and found some of my old school pictures. I know they will be good for a laugh or two! Hope you enjoy!

Here is Libby and her classmates. She's so cute! Check out her expression in the group photo!

This is me when I was 6mths old! See, I started out pretty cute, huh?

This is our only family picture! We are 1,2,3 yrs old in this pic! This is also the only picture of me where I think Libby & I even look a little alike, even though everyone always tells me she looks just like me! Ok, maybe when I was two!

This picture makes me laugh! This is when I was in 3rd grade (1st person on left, bottom row; My brother Todd is in 2nd row, 4th person). This is grades 3-5 combined! We all shared a classroom. It was a small school! I'm glad my pic is so small so you can't really see all the hideous freckles all over my face! I hated my freckles! Everyday I look at Libby's face and pray she doesn't get my freckles!

I'm not sure how old I am in this picture, but check out the fro! I know it was the 80's! I was on an adventure with my grandpa and his wife, who is in the picture with me. Check her out, she's wearing a pimp hat! I think this picture was taken at Lookout Mountain in TN. I'm not sure where we were going!

Look how innocent I am here! I think this must have been me in the 8th grade. At first, I thought this was one of my high school pictures, but then I noticed I have braces and I got those off in 8th grade! SO there you go, Little Jenny in 8th grade at Plaza Park Middle School, Evansville, IN. Go Pacers!

What a transformation! This is me my senior year, Dec 1991, Tipton HS. I thought I was a punk rock girl back then. If this was a full body shot, you would also see that I am wearing jeans and combat boots! I wore those dang combat boots until they had holes in the soles...four years I think!

Ahh...I wish my hair was this pretty again! Shiny & healthy and just the right amount of curl, not like my afro from the 80's! This was the summer before I started nursing school! What a young spry thing I was back then!

Baby Care Handbook

I think we should get these printed up to handout to some of our parents! These are hilarious! I found them on List of the Day!

Domestic Diva/Diva in Training

Yesterday seemed like a good day to bake some cookies...of course Libby is always in the mood for cookies! She loves to help me cook. Last year I bought us matching aprons. Mine says, "Domestic Diva," hers says, "Diva in Training." But Libby doesn't know what all that means so I told her that her apron says, "Learning to Cook" and mine says, "Teaching Libby to cook." Its cute when she "reads" the apron and says that! Anyway...our cookie of choice yesterday were peanut butter blossoms, or as Libby called them kiss cookies, because of the Hershey kisses! We were moving right along until we came to the part in the recipe that said, "Add 1 egg." Oopss! No eggs! We are 20 minutes from any grocery store! So we ran over to my brother's house a few miles away and stole, I mean, borrowed an egg! The cookies were saved! When they were done baking, Libby tried one and said, "MMMM! These are the most delicious cookies ever, in the whole world!"

Here is Libby unwrapping all the kisses! She did good and only ate one!

Aah, the reward for her hard work...licking the beaters! Yummy!