Saturday, November 28, 2009

I Got Sold Out!

If you know me very well, you know I LOVE Black Friday. I would go if I had nothing, absolutely nothing, to buy and just watch people. I love the rush of a good deal, buying for people whom I care about, a hot lunch at a fancy sit down restaurant, the fellowship of good friends. But with 4 kids and a bunch of family, I'm never gonna have nothing to buy, so the planning begins weeks in advance. I am kind of obsessed, I admit. Black Friday websites, making my list, revising my list, copying my list into my Black Friday notebook as opposed to my master Christmas list. Did I mention I'm obsessed. (Why can't I be this organized about anything else?) This year, we found a flat screen TV we wanted and after 2 years of shopping for them, I decided I would do anything legal (and nice, not gonna spoil anyone's shopping day) to get one. Mom and I left about 3:45 to be in line at Walmart for this TV. I must say their new Black Friday was VERY impressive. Not having to wait in the cold until 5 when everyone rushes in all at once was a great plan. I am just very sorry it cost someone his life for them to make the changes. We got our TV (early - didn't realize it wasn't just an early bird special) and other goodies, dropped it off at home and headed for Toys R Us. That place is always a mad house but the line moved quickly thanks to some awesome managers and were done and to the mall by about 8:30. Long story short, we made many several a few more stops, met friends for lunch, it was AWESOME.

Here's the sold out part. Donnie was home with the kids. (I am supposed to tell you that he is wonderful for keeping all 4 children all day, giving me free reign on the shopping and virtually no curfew. He really IS wonderful, but he would have done this just about anytime and not just Black Friday, 'cause he's good like that.) I called to check in on them midafternoon and he told me he'd gotten a call from the bank a little earlier. I just KNEW he was pulling my leg! He said they wanted to confirm that some purchases were made from our account that day. "NO WAY!" I said. Then he quoted amounts. I was dumbfounded!! They really did want to verify and told him how much I had spent at three different places. DUH, folks! It was Black Friday. I mean, I appreciate their concern that I may have getting my identity thieved, but really, they could get a girl in trouble!! He, by the way, could not really verify that these amounts had been spent by me, as he had no idea where I was shopping or how much I was spending. (Dear Founders, Mark it down. I am going shopping next Black Friday. It may be the next time I get away to do this. I will be spending money. Please refrain from calling my husband to verify this. Your faithful customer, Tracy) Only 363 days til next Black Friday. ;)

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

One year olds!!

Today while I cleaned the kitchen, this is what Jon Tyler did.




















We moved on. I cleaned the bedroom. This is what Jon Tyler did.





















I am thinking that I defeated the purpose and should just play and not clean. That, however, will not go over very well for long. Thank God for cough medicine that makes babies sleepy so they take four hour naps. He really does have an awful cough, and I am somewhat nervous about a long weekend and this cough. We do, however, have the cough meds, a nebulizer and are praying for a recovery without a doctor visit.

Friday, November 20, 2009

My Book

I've heard many mothers say they are going to write a book on things they never knew they would say to their children but I've never actually seen the book. I'm going to write my own. From this morning I have to add - "No more light sabers before school." Yep, never pictured myself saying that one when I pictured having children. While we are on the subject, I always wanted 4 children and as much as a person can picture that, I tried to. I never, however, NEVER pictured the amount of laundry generated by four children. Especially in cooler weather. NEVER.

Just random Friday thoughts.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

November

Well, I can't believe it is the middle of November and this is my first post. I have been, I suppose, too busy to blog, but I can't remember what I've been doing to be too busy. There has been some ebaying (mostly selling, which is a good thing) and online shopping for Christmas so I haven't spent time on my blog. Truth be told, the month has flown by us uneventfully. At any rate - here are some highlights.

We celebrated Mom's birthday at the zoo the first weekend. Corey thought it was weird to celebrate her birthday there and he wanted to know how she was going to find that any fun. Truth is, as I explained to him, she chose it, so all of us (my sister and her boys included) met and spent the day there. Pictures are coming.

Next came Donnie's birthday on Veteran's Day. This is the first year that he has had the day off in about 8 years so he enjoyed a lazy day. We had a lunch date (yes, alone!) and his parents ate with us at supper.

Jon Tyler is walking, really walking now. Until about 2 weeks ago he'd walk a little ways, fall down and crawl to his destination. Now he can stand himself back up and keep going. Oh, yeah he can do this too. I caught him up there one day.























He LOVES being outside and has a fit when he can't go out. He walks across the driveway to the neighbor's and back, or around to the front and climbs the steps (if I turn my back for 2 seconds), eats a few rocks. You know, typical one year old stuff.

He also got his first haircut not long ago. I thought the during shot was great, but he wasn't very cooperative after for me to get a good shot of the new 'do.
























Allie is loving K4! She is learning very quickly, recognizes most of her letters and can write about half of them. Her teacher, Mrs. Nita, is leaving next week and she will have Mrs. Diane after Thanksgiving. I am happy for Nita, but VERY sad for Allie. She really loves her, and Mrs. Nita is the best thing since sliced bread when in comes to preschool!

Corey is still making a game out of about every movie he can think of. He and his loyal side kick Allie are in Star Wars one minute and Indiana Jones or Batman the next. His teacher is out on maternity leave until after Christmas, but all seems good so far.

Hannah has won the award as our first, and prayerfully only (Please Lord!) flu victim. She has complained of feeling tired all week and had a low fever in the afternoons. She was fine in the mornings, though, so I sent her to school. Not smart, but two weeks ago 10 of the 14 students in her class were out with something so I don't think we did too much harm. So, we will be spending this weekend indoors, missing her best friend's birthday, the Point of Grace concert, and Thanksgiving stew at church Sunday evening. Boo!

As for me, I've shrunk 12 pounds (as London Tipton would say, YAY ME!! but I should also say Yay, God!). Six pounds to go before Christmas. I'm going to be cutting it close, but maybe it will happen!! We've also started a new home group, which is basically a group of us as friends who meet and share and pray for each other. Our last experience was much different and I'll just leave it at that. We are SO enjoying this time around! Great friends - I'm looking forward to years of "doing life" with them!

Well this post ended up sounding like one of those Christmas letters you write for Christmas cards each year, but I figured it was the easiest way to let everyone know how November is treating us. So, don't count on a Christmas letter. A card - yes, picture enclosed - hopefully, a letter - most likely not!