Christmas Past and Present!

This year we decided to keep our Christmas as Simple as possible. Meaning less gifts and more love. Our kids get all the time and it really is so sad that we have done that to them. When Christmas comes around it is really hard to decide what to get for them and for each other. So this year we are just making it simple.

We love teaching Anna the true meaning of Christmas and it totally excites me when I hear her tell people that it is Jesus's Birthday. Collin just gets super excited to knock all the Christmas balls off the tree.

Our tree is kinda sad because there are only balls left from the top to the middle. I'm sure after this Holiday season is over I will still be finding Christmas balls throughout the house.

We didn't do a Christmas Card this year. We just decided to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Below are pictures from our Christmas pasts to our Christmas present. Merry Christmas!

2006



 2007

 2008

 2009

2010

Anna decorated the Christmas Tree

Collin undecorated the Christmas Tree.

 

Collin making his hand print, trying not to eat the paint.

Reindeer hand print plates

Anna and Collin with Santa, Collin not so excited.

Operation Christmas Child!

Yesterday we collected are yearly Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. We had a total of 85 boxes with the help of Bearden 1st Baptist, Holly Springs Baptist, and 1st Assembly of God Bearden. It was awesome as each coordinator from each church brought the boxes to us. We loaded the Sequoia down and off to Camden Kenli and I went.



When we got there we took each box into the Operation Christmas Child room, where I filled out the paper work and asked a few questions for next year.

Today I got a phone call from a lady who wanted to know to know if it was too late to make a sizable donation. I called Calvary Baptist and they said to come on down. When I got there they were finishing packing up the boxes and loading them in the trailer.

 From Camden, they will travel to El Dorado and will be loaded into something larger and then shipped all the way to North Carolina.

 Next, week volunteer workers from all over the United States will carefully inspect each box. They will make sure there are no liquids, war items, or chocolate candies in them. They will also add to the box if they need to.

In the packing facility, you are assigned to an area and you will be told where you box will be going. So for instance if you packed a hat and mittens and your box was in the ship to Africa area, it will be reassign to another area that the hat and mitten can be used. Nothing is ever taken out of the box, but they do sometimes add to it.

They lady at Calvary tried to explain to me how many pallets of boxes were in this facility and she just smiled and shook her head and said it is just too hard to even imagine.

Operation Christmas Child started in 1993 and has been growing ever since.

This is the Tally sheet and she was still working on packing up one more box. 869 boxes totaled so far. Can you believe that is 869 kids that will hear about Jesus Christ for the first time ever? Can you believe that 869 kids don't even know what a color is and they will be amazed when they color for the first time? It truly is a wonderful ministry to God!

The Salvation Poem

Jesus, You died upon a cross

And rose again to save the lost

Forgive me now of all my sin

Come be my Savior, Lord, and Friend

Change my life and make it new

And help me, Lord, to live for You

I pray that you will pray that pray with meaning and love and ask Jesus into your Heart today if you don't know him.



Give Thanks!

So on the way home tonight, Anna sees that someone has put Christmas lights on there house. The conversation goes as follows:

Anna: Whew! Mommy look look Christmas lights. Can we put our Christmas lights on our house?
Mommy: No Anna not yet, we have to be Thankful first
Anna: Dear God, I'm thankful for my puppies, my Mimi, my Daddy, my Mamaw, my pawpaw, and oh yeah my mommy. Now can we put up the lights.

Looks like I still have my work cut out for me. She is just too cute!

I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving and I hope after you read this post, you will stop and thank God for everything he has blessed you with. Remember God will only give you what He knows you can handle.

Give Thanks to the Lord for he has given YOU countless blessings. Stop for just a minute and name them, you will be Amazed!

Back again!

Wow! I've been so busy that I have neglected the blog once again. I have several fun things to blog about so I'll probably be playing catch up this weekend. Well maybe.....

Halloween weekend was a lot of fun for Anna. Poor Collin had a terrible runny nose so he stayed home with Mimi and Pawpaw, which I'm sure he loved as much as Anna loved Trick-or-Treating.

That day the kids went to Nonna's for a few hours while I did a photo shot with the Gambill Family and with Michael. It was so much fun. They are all naturals when it comes to taking pictures so it made my job super easy.

When I got done, I rushed home and made a big pot of chili and picked up marshmallows for s'mores later that night. I got Anna dressed and Mimi and Paw came over to watch the lil man aka superman for the night and me, Chad, and Anna headed to Nonna's house for a hayride and wiener roast, cheese dip, chili, and s'mores dinner.

Hay Ride, she said Whew I'm nervous!

 

Chad and Anna roasting wieners for the first time!



Pawpaw and Anna enjoying a S'more, loved them



Collin waiting up on us in his PJs

While we were roasting wieners the kids and my mom enjoyed a little time on the dance floor with the Monster Mash of course. Too Funny!!!

Anna was exhausted by the time when got home but I think she will tell you it was so worth it.

5 lil punkins sittin' on a gate...

Anna has learned so much since she started school this August and we would love to tell Mrs. Shanna and Mrs. Denise Thanks, so much!

Anna came home from school yesterday singing this song. I got it on video and this is her version. I asked Mrs. Shanna this morning how it went and these are the words...

5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate the 1st one said oh my it's getting late, the 2nd one said there are witches in the air, and the 3rd one said well we don't care, the 4th one said I'm ready for some fun and the 5th one said lets run, run, run.

Ohh with the wind and out with lights and 5 little pumpkins rolled out of site.

Click play to watch Anna's version...

Wish I knew what I was doing...

I'm sure just like the rest of my post this will not make sense, but who cares. I have a post ready to go, but I want to add a video to it. I've done it in the past and I did it the same way, last night and again this morning. It will not upload.

I even loaded it to YouTube, thinking I could post the think to the video, nope it doesn't work either. I'm a little frustrated right now, because I can't figure it out. If anyone actually reads this blog and knows what I'm talking about, please let me know.

I'm sure it is some setting somewhere that I don't have checked or I need to unchecked.

As for us, Chad is totally disappointed that the Cowboys totally stink right now and Tony Romo is injured and out for the rest of the season. We just may never watch football again....

Anna is participating in Drug Free week this week at school. They are suppose to dress up everyday, but today she just wanted to wear her ribbon. She asked me several questions about drugs last night. Where do you get them? What do they look like? Why are the bad?

I'm sure I didn't do a very good job explaining her questions so she will understand I will continue to enforce how important it is to ALWAYS be Drug Free.

Anna is also going through this fit stage again. I was sure that she was over the outburst of anger and throwing things when she didn't get her way. I was wrong and so again we hope that this stage will pass and soon. I hate getting angry at her.

Collin is just his little care free self. He runs everywhere and will repeat anything. I mean anything. He was so funny this morning when he got to moms. He had to get down and go check on the tractor in the backyard.

And as for me, well I'm just here. Starting to get a little photography business. I haven't felt the best in about two weeks. I'm moody and things just get under my skin lately. I went through this before and the doctor changed my medicine and now he is changing it again. I sure hope this works. I'm tired of feeling so crabby. I think that is why I lose it with Anna when she melts down.

Wow! Thanks for letting me vent. I know I'm so strange.

A little post about Collin.

It seems since I started this back all my post have been about Anna. So here is a post just about Collin. Look at this face, can you tell we had spaghetti last night. He loves spaghetti, but he loves any kind of food. He really loves fried potatoes and pinto beans. YUM!

Collin's vocabulary has really taken off this past week or so. He has been talking for sometime now, but if you say Collin can you say chicken. He will say chicken. He repeats EVERYTHING!! It is so funny.

Yesterday morning, I was getting him up and Isabelle was barking and I of course said shut up T and what did Collin say, Shut up T. Now I'm not very proud of the work Shut up coming out of my 15 almost 16 month old mouth, but what can I say.

He loves outside and loves to get dirty. He loves tractors, trucks, and any pair of car keys he can find. He loves chocolate milk and has a temper that can only be explain in person.

He had this cute little crawfish dance that he did on his own that was so funny, I think I have missed him doing it on video, because I couldn't find the dvds I needed for my camera. I hope to get it today, we will try again.

He loves his pacifier and his blanket. The tag on this blanket is just about gone, Lord help us.

He will go to sleep on his own if you lay him in his bed, but last night he let me rock him and it was so nice to hold my baby again and give him sweet kisses.

I love you Collin Brooks Weatherly!

Taco Salad and Boss's Day

Friday was actually Boss's Day, but Anthony Timberlands celebrated it Tuesday. We decided to treat our bosses to a lunch of Taco Salad, cheese dip and all the toppings. Everyone said it was really good, but since I did most of the cooking, it didn't taste to good to me. I think I had just smelt taco meat for too long.

I cooked 7 pounds of taco meat Monday night and then warmed it Tuesday morning and then put it the crock pot at my office until lunch. Hmmm...think that is a bit to long for me.

I've made this salad 3 or 4 times and it is always a big hit. Here is the recipe.

2-3 lbs of hamburger meat, cooked and drained
2 pkgs of taco seasoning (add to meat, add water and cook just like tacos)
1 head of lettuce, shredded
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 purple onion, finely chopped
1 large tomato, finely chopped
1pkg of taco strips, (can be found near the croutons in the salad section)
1 bottle of Catalina dressing

1st layer taco meat
2nd layer bell pepper and onion
3rd layer lettuce and tomato
4th layer taco strips

Add Catalina dressing and toss until all combined.

We ate it plain or in a soft taco shell.

Try it sometime.

The Weekend!

The weekend started with a huge win for the Bearden Bears. Anna and I made it home from the game and got a good night rest while Chad started the weekend by going deer hunting at the camp.

The kids and I decided to go down and visit Saturday evening and grill a great and yummy steak. It was so relaxing and Chad took Anna deer hunting with him. Kenli and GG went too and they all hunted in pawpaw's condo stand. It is a huge stand that 4 to 6 people can hunt in. Anna had a great time and they saw several deer, just none that were shooters.

We had lunch at Kelli's on Sunday and visited with my Aunt Donna and Uncle Ricky.

The kids were exhausted and i think I am as well.

The End!!!!

Homecoming Day 4 and 5

Yesterday was super busy so I didn't get a chance to post. So here is Anna on Day 4 for Tacky day. She didn't really go all out. I guess her hair was probably the tackiest.

Day 5 is dress in black and white day. She didn't want to so she wanted to wear this. I love this shirt on her, makes her look so happy. Well she is pretty happy.

Today we are having a retirement party for Chad's aunt Cherynelle. I can't wait we are going to have a yummy lunch.

I'm taking pictures of the homecoming royalty and the parade and the game tonight so my plate will be pretty busy today.

Here are a few pictures, next week we will have to focus on Collin. :)

Homecoming Day 3!

Wear your favorite Jersey Day!

Chad brought Anna this pink Romo Dallas Cowboy Jersey home from the ballgame last weekend when they went to watch the Razorbacks play Texas A&M. 

 Go Cowboys! I mean Bears!!!!

Why you should never cut your baby boy's hair?

This is Collin. He is 15 months and 2 weeks old and he has a few things he needs to get off his chest.

When mommy says here Collin hold the comb and she starts to move toward your head with a foreign object, scream very loud. It will save you a lot of ahh poor baby who cut your hair in the future.

I use to look like this....

Then my mommy cut my hair and now I look like this...

What was she thinking?

I am still cute.... but I hope she takes me to a barber next time or my paw paw.



Homecoming, Day 2!

Today is Dress your Best day because it was also picture day. I thought Anna looked really cute and we practiced different smiles. When I picked her up this afternoon  I asked her how she smiled and well lets just say it was not one of the ones we practiced.

Smile Anna, take 1.



Smile Anna, Take 2



How bout this pose, mom? K Anna, say cheese

Bearden Bears Homecoming Week!

This week it is homecoming at Anna's school aka my Alma Mata. Everyday they dress up. Here is the schedule for homecoming week.
Today          pajama day
Tuesday      dress your best day aka picture day
Wednesday jersey day
Thursday     tacky day
Friday         black and white day

Here are some pictures of Anna sporting her jams.

say cheese hamburger

side view, gotta see the poodle

funny face