What I Am Thankful For...

My 2 beautiful and wonderful daughters...

My funny and sweet "baby boy"...

And my darling hubbie...

My list goes on, of course...my entire family, our friends, our health, church, jobs, our children's education, food, shelter, etc., etc., etc. We are SO blessed. Thank you, Lord! We had a great day. We went to Mimi and Papaw's for lunch, and Mimi prepared a FEAST. It was incredible. Then, we came home and napped. I've already decorated for Christmas inside. MG pretty much put all of the ornaments on the tree this year! I'm going to put up our wreaths outside soon. I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving Day!

MG and Mark on his motorcycle.

Mattie and Hannah Kate on the 4-wheeler.

HK and Mark

And HK came over to visit for a bit yesterday afternoon. Mattie kept them entertained by making Christmas ornaments and giving them makeovers. (Don't ask about the soccer shirt. MG wears it EVERYDAY!!! And I'm not kidding...)

Imagine

We had a girls day in Jackson yesterday. First, we went to Easely Amused for the peace sign painting which is called "Imagine." It was so much fun. I highly recommend to anyone to go there. They take you step by step through the painting. We then went to eat lunch at Peppers and shopped. We headed back to Greenville late that afternoon and picked up Lost Dog Pizza on the way home. It was a fun, filled girls day!

MG and Mattie with their blank canvases.

MG with her painting progressing (I did help!).

Mattie with her painting.

I ended up finishing MG's while she drew on the paper table cover with a Sharpie.

And, ta-da, the final "Imagine" paintings! They both did a great job! We have already hung them in their rooms!

And I had to add this. The other day, the kidlets were playing so quietly and peacefully in Mattie's room. I didn't dare go in. That evening, they gave Mark and me their "gift" they had made - some letters, drawings and magnets. As you can read (sideways, sorry!), Mattie's letter said that we were awesome parents! MG's said thanks for all the memories we shared! And Mark's said Parents, I Love You! Sweet keepsakes to treasure...

Playing in boxes

It has been kind of quiet around here besides schoolwork and homework. No tennis, no soccer. MG still has her gymnastics that she takes and loves. But I'm glad things have quieted down for a bit just in time to pick back up after Thanksgiving. In December, we have our St. Jude 1/2 marathon, 2 birthday parties to plan and have, various Christmas parties, etc. I haven't bought one Christmas present! Oh, except for me (Thanks, BD!). I reminded my sweet hubbie that he needs to bring the tree and the Christmas decorations home next Wednesday. We store all of that at his office. He wasn't too thrilled! We usually decorate our tree the night before Thanksgiving which he thinks is way too early. It probably really is, but the kids love it and we have free time to do it then! I actually saw my first Christmas decorations lit up outside some one's house about 2 weeks ago!

I got one of MG's birthday presents in the other day in this big box which she took over as her vehicle.

As you can see, it is complete with its own steering wheel and other people too! (Sorry, I don't know how to turn the picture.)

MG took this picture of me and Mattie all by herself. She did a good job!

And Mark took this picture of our guard dog Lola! She is so sweet...

This weekend, Mattie, MG and I are going to Jackson on Saturday to go to Easely Amused for the Peace sign painting; and, then go eat and shop for a bit. I'll be sure and post pictures. Also, 2 GREAT movies are coming out that I CAN'T wait to see - New Moon and The Blind Side. I don't know which one I'll go see first. Have a great weekend yourself - Peace Out!!!

Lots of Praise!!!

As most of you know, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at 46 and died at 52 years old of that insidious disease. Her mother also battled breast cancer at 48 years old in the early 70's. And my first cousin Jen was diagnosed 2 years ago at 37 years old, and I'm ecstatic to report that she is in remission and doing great! Most of you have also probably heard in the news of the Breast Cancer Gene Test that is being done now too. I recently had my blood drawn and sent off and tested. And I am happy to report that the test was NEGATIVE!!! I had the BRAC Analysis test done of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer syndrome. I got the negative test results today with "no mutations detected" in any of the blood tests! THANK YOU, LORD!!!!!!!!!!!

Mattie doing her homework.

MG eating a Popsicle outside.

Mark reading for AR.

Oh, and I also saw Liz Davis who won P. Diddy's Starmaker on MTV (which I watched every episode) in a store here in Greenville today! She is an adorable, awesome country singer! So, I'd have to say today has been a good day! Thank you again, Lord!

The end of soccer (for now)!

Last night was the end of fall soccer for Mark and MG. Mattie still has a couple of weeks left. They played their last games and got their medals. They were both so excited!

MG posing with her medal.

Mark posing with his.

MG eating her pizza and cupcakes at her team party.

MG and her Daddy posing before bed!

"I Will Bejoice"

Another video of MG singing at her program "This is the Day." I told her that it is "rejoice," but she still sings "bejoice"! Funny girl...

200th Post!

Mary Glenn had her Fall Program at school tonight. The kids sing a few songs and then a slide show is played of all of the different children and their classes. It was so cute, and MG did excellent. She knew all of the songs and sang loud and proud!

MG and HK after the program eating their snacks. MG was being a little testy and not wanting her picture taken. We also had a major ordeal at the house getting dressed before the program. She did NOT want to wear this cute dress! So we made a deal that she would wear the dress but would not have to wear a bow in her hair!

MG and her best bud at school.

HK and Mattie before the program.

And I cannot believe this is my 200th post! Thanks to all of you faithful readers (all 2 or 3 of you!!!).