The Many Faces of Bowling!!

Well, we had some bowling passes that were going to expire the end of the year, so we went and bowled 4 games as a family Monday morning. Yeah for Daddy being on vacation. We Had a lot of fun and best of all, aside from a few groups of children from daycares, the place wasn't busy. We had a great time. We also had some fun with the camera while we were there, so without further adieu, here are the many faces of bowling-
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Dad just starting out:

Anna and Dad:

Dad after his thrid strike in a a row (You turkey!):
Me after Dad's third strike in a row:

Dad cheering me up See how impressed I am?):

My bowling pose:

Anna being my little drama queen:

Fishy lips Anna:

High five after Anna got a spare:

Wearing thin in game three:

You know bowling shoes were made for tap dancing, right mom?:

Anna's bowling pose:

We had a great time and we will go again some day, but not for more than two to three games in a row. By the end of the thrid game we were all dragging, but we had coupons for 4 free games a piece, so we had to use them all. It was a lot of fun. Dad will have a video posted about this, but her says not until January 5th. Ugh! You will have to wait till then to see all the pictures, but it is a very neat video too. Go watch it, if you remember by then. LOL!! God bless you all. Thanks for sharing in our fun day.

Growing Up

As I was sitting here tonight playing games and editing my blog, Anna and Daddy were watching a movie. I sat and listened to Anna giggle and I realized how VERY quickly my baby girl is growing up. She is 7 already and she is getting so big. There are no baby things in our house. There is just the things of a big girl. She is even slowly out-growing her princess themed bedroom and moving on to a horse and stable themed room. How can this happen so fast. It seems like just yesterday she was 2 years old and we were bringing her home. It seems like I will lose my baby anytime with her growing up so fast. Anyhow, I guess that's all a part of being a mom. I just want her to stay little for a while longer. Where is my baby girl going?

Christmas

A little late, but here is our Christmas in pictures and words.

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Listening to the Christmas Story

(The True Meaning of Christmas):

Anna made a card out for Jeremy and I

She was very excited to give it to us!!

Anna got a handmade blanket from my mom.

She was very excited about it:

See!! It HAD to be on her bed for nap time:

Anna with her horse that Santa brought her:

As you can see, we had a nice Christmas. It was small, but good. Anna loved getting the blanket from my mom. She was so excited and absolutely loves to sleep with it on her bed. My grandmother used to make me blankets too and I still have them. Her favorite gift besides that, has got to be her horse. It is a big horse. She still wants a REAL black horse though. LOL!! That faze may never pass. A real live horse is just not in the budget. Sorry kiddo. Anna also got a bunch of clothes (which she really needed), a set of Lego's, a few drawing things, and two books. She was very happy with what she got and she never seemed to notice that we down-sized big time this year. :) I was glad for that. Next year will be much the same. It was nice not going broke for Christmas. Oh and in case you are wondering, I got a watch, a multi-opening picture frame, a CD and Fireproof pre-buy and book. I will get to pick that up on the 27th. YEAH Me!! That was of course from Anna and Jeremy. We had a really good Christmas. Hope you all enjoyed yours as well.

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Oh and I spared you the pictures. We had like 200 plus, just from Christmas Day!! LOL!! You got 5. If you want to see them all, head on over to my husband's blog, I think he has a video. Well, I guess that's all for now. Take care and God Bless.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

That's all for now. I hope you family has a blessed Christmas today and I will be back to share our days blessings later. Remember the reason we celebrate Christmas...not Santa Claus, but Jesus' birth. Merry Christmas everyone and God Bless!!

Work Ethic

Well, I have decided that there are not enough good people at my job with good work ethic. I know my job and I know it well. For the most part, I think I do my job well. Don't get me wrong, I do have some off days every now and then, but I do know my stuff. What I am getting at here is WHERE is the work ethic in most people. They do a mediocre job and think all is well. Well, if all is well, then why I am I working my tail off to pick up your slack? I get no recognition for my work. NONE!! I am tired of working in a place where sub-standard work is ok. Why aren't we held to higher standards anymore. Is it okay in society if the doctor gave you sub-standard care? NO, so why do we accept sub-standard work from most people and think this is okay? I was raised to do your job and do it well. I was taught to know my product in the store and know where to look for things. I was taught that you will be rewarded for a job well done, but my question now is WHEN??? I have been completely be-littled and called high-strung too many times this week for wanting to do my job and the job at the store where I work correctly!! YES, God forbid I want to do my job right!! That makes me high-strung. UGH!! What has this world come to? We are way to accepting of the way society has let things become. I am thinking it is time for me to move on and get another job soon. My time at this nice place is coming to a close. I want to go somewhere where my work is appreciated. I want to go somewhere where they value people for doing things right. I want to go somewhere where they do no accept sub-standard work from people and where they make everyone hold to the correct standards. If it is done right, then it must be done right by everyone. We shouldn't let people slack off because they have a great sense of humor or because of who their mom or dad is. We shouldn't accept mediocre service from a place because that's become the acceptable norm. We should expect better. ALWAYS!!!

As you can tell, I had a lousy night at work. This actually makes two nights in a row now and I am tired of things the way they are, so I am going to have to look elsewhere. Being called "high strung" for wanting to do the job right is not something I look forward to and I am beginning to not enjoy my work place. How can this be acceptable? OH and its the other employees as well as our assistant manager. I am apparently hated at my place of work and it has to be time to move on. If you read my blog today, then thanks for sticking with me. I needed to vent. I wonder if I should put this on my bosses desk tomorrow?? Do you think it would matter? Maybe ditch the header and make sure it had no references to me, do you think he would care? OK, maybe the store manager would give half a care, but the others, they wouldn't give a darn!! Sorry, done with gripe session now!! I pray that God shows me what to do in this situation. There has to be a better way for me to earn some income. There has to be. Pray for God to open the right doors for me and allow me to find a new opportunity in life. Thanks all.

Happy Anniversary Honey!!!

Well, as you guessed from the title, today is our Anniversary. Yes, smack dab in the middle of the Christmas season. Isn't that the best place to have it? Okay, so maybe we didn't plan the wedding details right, but I wanted a Christmas wedding. LOL! I wasn't thinking of the future at the time when we have kids and need to worry about other things at that time of year, but it was a nice wedding. Ok, back to our Anniversary. It is our 9th Anniversary. We have been married for nine years now. So, Happy Anniversary Honey! Hope you enjoy the work Christmas party tonight, as that's our anniversary dinner. LOL!! I love you!!

Good Christmas Pictures?

Well, in an effort to save money, which I doubt we did, we printed our own Christmas pictures this year. I wanted to get just the right picture, so we dressed Anna up in Christmas pajamas and lit the tree lights and tried for every to get the perfect pictures. On the way, there was a lot of this type:

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Are we done yet?

Cheesy Smile! This will work, right?
You want me to do what?

I'm tired of taking pictures!!

Now, don't get me wrong.

we got some cute ones along the way, like these:

But it wasn't quite what I wanted to send out on our Christmas cards, so we kept going. About an hour later, I finally got the picture I wanted:

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Now, isn't that a very cute adorable picture? I love it!! It is so Anna and it suits her and me just fine. I just can't believe we had to take pictures for an hour to get this. Oh well, you do got to admit that it is a good picture. Even I was stunned that it turned out so good. So for those who never got our Christmas card, this was the picture we sent out with it. I loved it and it turned out very cute. Merry Christmas everyone!! (Don't worry, I will post more before then.)

The Dog House

Here is a cute video about being in the dog house. Please watch it. It is extremely funny!! I laughed so hard!! Enjoy!!

The Nutcracker

On Wednesday night, we had an opportunity to go to Ballet Lubbock's The Nutcracker!! It was a lot of fun and it was the second year for Anna and I to get to go. We get free tickets from Anna's ballet class. This year, Daddy got to go with us. Here are a few pictures from the night-

Standing next to the TALL Nutcracker:

Hiding Behind the Program:

There, that's better:

As you can see, we had a good time. Anna had a new shirt bought with a gift card from a nice store that I never shop at. It was very nice and the perfect color for her. We had a great time and it was a lot of fun. We hope to go next year, but we will have to buy our own tickets. I don't think Anna wants to take Ballet again.

Last Ballet Class

Yesterday was Anna's last ballet class. I will post pictures of it at the end, but she did so much better this year than last year. she mostly knew what she was doing and stayed with the other kids. It was very cute. They danced to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Very cute. It was funny though, because as I was getting her ready for her last class, she said, "This is my last ballet class, right mom?" I responded with, "Yes, this is the last one, but we can sign you up for more classes in January." Her response was an un-resounding, "YES!!!" I think she was glad it was over. I really don't care if she continues with ballet, but I do want her to go to some sort of classes to learn some structure. Especially since we homeschool. I feel it is important to learn listening skills and classes outside the home are a good way to do it. Anyways, that's it. She did well and class is over.

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Sitting with Daddy before class:

At the bar:

Practicing Moves:

Too Priceless:

When a jump didn't go quite the way she wanted, we were left with this picture. It was very cute, even though she says it was embarrassing. Yes, we talk about embarrassing stuff a lot lately. It was fun!! Stay tuned tomorrow for highlights from the big ballet!!

Polar Express

You know, the book, the movie and the fun train ride? We went on Sunday night with Grandpa and Grandma, Aunt and Uncle and three of the cousins! It was great!! Everyone had a great time. There was a reading of the Polar Express book and then we arrived at the "North Pole" and Santa and his elves got on the train. It was so cute and so much fun. We got pictures with the conductor, the elves, Santa, and one of the hostesses, dresses in white and black of course like the movie. It was fun. The kids received a bell from Santa and they had a cookie and a little hot chocolate. It really was a very fun time. I may have a picture or two, so let me get them and I will post more when I get them from my brother, our camera died unfortunately part way through the ride.

I am sure this one speaks for itself:

Waiting to board the train:

On the train with Daddy

(too much going on, getting her to look at me was difficult):

All 4 kids in their pajamas:

The hostesses

(also singers and entertainers):

The Conductor:

As you can see we had a great time. It was so much fun. We hope to go back again next year. I know I would definitely think its worth it now!! The kids looks as we arrived at the North Pole was priceless. I am so glad we had the opportunity to go. Thank you Grandma Renea and Grandpa John!! We LOVED it!!

It Could Be Worse

Well, today I took Anna to the Doctor. I know, I know. She has not been sick. She has really bad hands. I mean bad as in dry. Super dry!! They have been aching, er, uhm, I mean "stinging" her, really bad. They were even changing colors and it made me worry that they might be infected. So, after 3 weeks of trying different soap, zinc oxide, neosporin, lots and lots of lotion, and numerous other things, it was off to the doctor we went today. The diagnosis: She washes her hands too much. Yes! You read that right. My 7 year old washes her hands too much. LOL!! He prescribed some steroid cream to help clear it up and then said no more antibacterial soap for her at all. She is only to use Dove unscented for sensitive skin. She is also to use Eucerin or Aveeno cream after every hand-washing. UGH!! So, we got the prescription and she is fine with it. I couldn't believe that was my daughter's diagnosis. Too much hand-washing. Like I said, it could be worse!!

On an up side, the clinic I have been taking her to has finally decided that she needed a primary care doctor there after 2 years!! YEAH!! So, she will start seeing a regular doctor at the follow-up visit in 3 weeks. I hope I like her, she is supposed to be good. I just want Anna to be treated nice.