little helpers

I have two of the cutest little helpers in the world.  Ansley has been very helpful lately, and this may be due in large to the appearance of Martha the elf.  Martha is Santa's watchdog and reports the behavior of the Stokes munchkins to him nightly.  Martha's presence has been so appreciated that we wish she could stay here year-round! 

Ansley's help has been much more focused in the kitchen lately, and she has been more than happy to help with all things cooking.  On Tuesday we made rice krispy treats, biscuits and muffins.  She would've cooked even more if  I let her.  It is going to be so much fun making all of our holiday treats this year. Ans has also been "helping" in disciplining her sister.  She will boss Emmy around and scold her for doing something wrong.  The other night Pop and Mimi were going to stop by, and Emmy was very grumpy. While Emmy was crying and screaming Ansley told her, "Emmy, Pop is not going to want to see a whiny butt!" We were rolling on the floor.  It was priceless. 

Now, Emmy our little fire cracker, is actually a very good helper.  She loves to put things where they belong.  Ansley and I were playing the other day and were watching Emmy in action.  She had found a cup and was trying to fill it up in the refrigerator.  Little did she know that there was water in the cup already.  As she reached up to fill it, she dumped water all over herself.  After we were all done laughing my sweet little helpers cleaned up the water. Those little boogers always keep me entertained!! I love my girls!! 

thanksgiving

We had quite the unusual Thanksgiving this year. It was very quiet, which, honestly I don't think a Thanksgiving should be.  We tried just having dinner at home with the four of us, because we would be traveling all weekend. We all agreed that we wouldn't be doing that next year.  While we love our family of four, it just didn't quite feel like Thanksgiving.  After finishing our lunch/dinner, which Ansley helped me make, we headed up to Atlanta to see the family before we headed to Chattanooga for our family reunion.  Well...that's where the plans ended. Turns out, my body was not having any part of those plans.  I woke up Thursday night/Friday morning with the worst stomach aches/problems imaginable. I will spare you the gory details.  After I felt like I had been hit by a Mack truck, it was decided for me  I decided to go to an urgent care clinic.  A stomach virus, sinus infection, "possible" ovarian cyst, and three prescriptions later we  headed back to Augusta and not the reunion.  So all of our grand Thanksgiving plans were thwarted by my weak immune system. Boo. I spent all.   weekend. in. bed.  I think I slept a total of 20 hours on Friday. That is the most I have slept, with out being under anesthesia, in 4 years. Well, I hope y'alls Thanksgiving was better than ours! With all that said, I have a tremendous amount to be thankful for, and honestly I count my blessings every single day.

all over the place

Do you ever feel like you have 32 things going on at once, and haven't finished one of them? That is the state of my head at any given moment.  I blame the ADD, but I'm starting to wonder if I am going crazy.  I'll tell you what, being stuck inside for a week with a sick 3 year old and you yourself being sick, would make anyone go crazy.  Let me back up a little.  While recuperating from my surgery in August, I made a mental list of all the things I wanted to work on in the house.  Now mind you, I was in bed for a. long. time. So, said list is quite long.  Well, being the amazing husband that he is, Freddy has been helping me cross some things off.  Before the whole house got sick, I had a few projects in progress, which means there is crap all over the place.  I just can't seem to get everything together.  I need to finish one thing before I start another. I need to finish one thing before I start another. This will be my new mantra. However difficult (or quite impossible) that may be for my little ADD behind!

Speaking of my fantastic husband, in order to cheer me up and get my crazy butt out of the house, he took us to a Christmas craft fair on Saturday.  I swear this guy deserves a medal.  We had a blast, and when I say we I mean Ansley and I.  We got quite a bit of Christmas shopping done, Ansley painted an ornament, and sat on Santa's lap.  Emmy may still be a little scarred from her confrontation with the fat boy.  Poor girl.

On Sunday, after church we made our requisite trip to Costco. We chowed down on some yummy Costco food, bought some beautiful poinsettias, and did a little "window shopping". When we got home, I started one of my projects: painting the dining room.  While I may have had a horrendous headache and oozing sinuses, I was not going to let something silly like that stop me. Pssh. No way.  I am so happy with the outcome, even though it didn't make me feel better like I was hoping.