Christmas and the Abraham Family Vacation

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with the Dawson family in Woodville. After Christmas Eve candlelight service, we enjoyed appetizers with childhood friends of my Dad.

We enjoyed lazing around Christmas Day in our pajamas, lunching on YUMMY food, and then a late-afternoon game of Skip-Bo.

Whew, so much food makes a person sleepy!

The day after Christmas Josh and I drove to Sandestin to meet the rest of the Abraham family. We enjoyed 5 days of food and fun with his parents, brothers, and Jase's girlfriend Whitney!

The guys played golf everyday, lost a few DOZEN golf balls, and swung a couple hundered times, but had a large time improving their skills.

While Jim, Josh, and Jase played golf, Whit and I enjoyed girl time. One day we rode bikes all over the Sandestin Resort and got LOTS of good exercise.

Baytown Wharf if a great place to stay, and the nightlife isn't half bad either! Jim, Josh, Jase, Whitney and I had a blast! We danced, sang lots of popular hit such as "Africa" by Toto, and enjoyed time together.

On our way home we turned around and saw this:

But we were actually very glad becuase this had happened:We were crusing along, and BAMMM (I thought I had been shot) we had a terribly flat tire!

The hole in the tire was the size of a baseball. It's hard to tell in the picture how big it was, but I'm surprised we didn't see whatever it was we hit!

Josh and I were standing on the side of 49 in the POURING rain trying our best to get the tire changed when a Sherriff's deputy stopped to help, and (to make an hour and a half long story short), we ended up calling a wrecker after the jack bent in half! The wrecker lifted up the rear end of the truck enough for Josh to get the spare tire on the truck!

We finally made it home safe, and are VERY glad to be reunited with our pups!

It's a time for family and friends!

I've been out of school since Friday, and life has been non-stop! I decided it was time to update the blog before it was time to go back to school and it hadn't been updated!

Last Wednesday we had breakfast with Santa and he visitied our classroom. Then we had our class party where we baked a gingerbread boy and girl. When we went to the oven to get them out, our gingerbread people were GONE! So, we went on a scavenger hunt to look for them all around the school. Click HERE if you would like to see the pics of the day!

On Friday there was a school wide sing-a-long and Margie allowed to me flash back to my Wave Connection days and assist her with the microphone. It was a blast as you can see below. The kids were lovin' the dancing!

Friends have been all around- we had a Coach's Christmas party and then a teacher's get togther and road trip to Doe's in Greenville!

Josh's Christmas present came a bit early, it is a new stand for our tv! He's been wanting to get the TV up higher, and Jerry did that for him this week!! It looks great, and was custom made to fit the space! THANKS JERRY!

Mom, Dad and Bran got here on Monday and we have had a great time! Slugger and Suma have loved the extra laps to snooze in!

Cookie Swap

Yesterday Margie hosted a cookie swap and it was a blast! As I mentioned in the post "True Confessions" posted yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet some fellow bloggers, and finally had the chance to visit with them! I also got to meet many of her friends from parts of life that I hear her talk about lots!!! Kristen, India, and Kelly, it was great to meet you all!!

Margie's house was decorated beautifully and she had great snacks and wonderful coffee. She shared her Keurig with us-- it's the neatest machine.

Thanks Margie for a wonderful event!

Accepting THE trophy

Thursday was accept the trophy day for our Best In Show award on the Christmas Float. We loaded a bus with 39 kids, and almost as many adults-- and headed to city hall to accept the trophy.

All children felt like celebrities with all the camera flashes going off!

Approximately 18 seconds before we were called to get our trophy, Claire (the float chairwoman) decided that she couldn't talk. She loves to talk, but got nervous and wouldn't do it on live TV. So, guess who was sitting beside her-- yep you guessed it!

Let's just say that I got a meal at ROCA out of the deal, and everyone was thanked!

True Confessions!

During this time of year there are many gatherings and parties in which you see people you may not see often at other times in the year.

Or you may meet someone you have never met before, yet you feel like you know them (becuase you stalk, ahem I mean, read their blog)

Have you ever been in the Junction at MSU on gameday and see someone walk by and say to yourself, "That's Johnny and he has a wife who runs marathons and has a dog named Bob" ?

Well, I have- becuase I like to read blogs!

My friend Margie hosted a wonderful Cookie Swap this morning and there were many, "I feel like I know you becuase I read your blog!" or "It's so nice to finally meet you in person, even though I check your blog at least twice a week!"

Oh how fun it was to admit to others that you blog stalk.........and then, while turning red, they admit that they have been reading your blog for months. Swapping blog stories and making new connections thru old friends is SO much FUN!

I've added a few new blog links on the side, now that I've actually met the people and don't feel so stalkerish.

Kelly-- shout out to you, it was so great to meet you!

It's such a small world we live in. This precious girl walked in and said, I've seen your before you were at a shower I hosted. India is friends with Kellie and her husband and Taylor are in school together. She is precious and I tried to convince her to restart her blog!! Hopefully we will be reading her blog again soon.

S0 now that we all know that sitting at a computer and reading blogs of people we have never met is a fact of life, post a comment here if you are reading-- even if we have never met.

I won't think you are strange, I PROMISE!!

It's That Time of Year!

It's the time of year when everyone is decorating their homes, attending Christmas parties, and shopping for the perfect gift to give that special someone! It also means it's Christmas Parade time.

The overall theme was "Christmas Thru the Eyes of a Child". We wanted to portray a toystore, and thought FAO Schwarz was the perfect one to do! So.... SAE Schwarz it was!

Lots of people pitched in and made this a stunning float, and I wish I had taken more photos throughout the process.

Friday night Claire, Debby, Margie and I were putting the finishing touches on the float, and it started snowing-- what a way to get in the Christmas spirit. Pizza was a must for our hungry tummies, so we had a pizza picnic on the floor of the warehouse.The overall theme of the parade was "Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child". Our school wanted to portray a toystore, and thought FAO Schwarz was the perfect one to do..... so SAE *Schwarz it was! (*SAE- Sherman Avenue Elementary)

Our assistant principal was the jack-in-the-box, the adults wore aprons, like the workers in the store, and all 112 of the children were dressed as toys and candy. Santa even stopped by before the parade started! The kids were thrilled. Mr. Hume was home sick, so after the children got off the float, we headed over to his neck of the woods, so he could see the float! We had a wonderful time and all of the hard work paid off! The judges voted Sherman Avenue's float "Best In Show"! This photo was on the front page of the paper this morning!(Photo courtesy of The Vicksburg Post)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Mr. Dawson, CEO

My Dad accepted the position as CEO of the hospital in Kosciusko and I am so excited my parents are moving back to Mississippi!!

Congrats Dad-- welcome back to the hospitality state- and get a room ready for some weekend visits from your daughter and son-in-law, oh and Slugger and Suma too!

Another Congratulations goes out to my first cousin Kristen for two reasons:

1- she had a PET scan last week and after 9 months of chemo and radiation, her scan came back clear-

and

2- she is getting married!!!

This is a picture of Kiki and I at my wedding, and soon the roles will reverse. She will be wearing the white dress, and I will be walking down the asile showing my support. I couldn't be more excited for her! Congrats Jeff and Kiki.

Christmas Cheer

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate, no doubt. My brother loves Egg Nog, and so does Slugger, thanks to Bran, but I will stick with the hot chocolate!-- oh and I have a great recipe for homemade HC!
2. Does Santa wrap the presents or just set them under the tree? Sets them strategically in a spot in the living room. My brother and I always had spicific spots for our loot.
3. Colored or white lights on the tree/house? Had colored on the tree growing up, but now I prefer white on my own tree.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No.
5. When do you put up your decorations? The Sunday after Thanksgiving is when I start- it takes a few days to get it all done.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Ohh I don't think I can pick just one. I love dressing and all the sweets
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Waking my brother up and having to wait at the top of the stairs for our grandmothers to get down the stairs.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Oh please. Santa visits as long as you believe!
9. Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve? Only one- and it was usually the one from our neighbor, Mrs. Patterson.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? We have more than one- and I love that they all have their own personality. Main tree- HUGE bow on the top with ribbons cascading through the tree. All ornaments that are red and green. Pencil Tree- lots of assorted ornaments that Josh and I recieved as gifts at our ornament shower! Little Tree in the Den- various MSU ornaments.
11. Snow! Love or Dread it? Oh I love it but it's not around very much in Mississippi.
12. Can you ice skate? haven't tried in years, but I would guess not.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Could never pick just one. When I was in 5th grade I got a boom box with a cd player, and Garth Brooks cd.
14. What is the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Spending LOTS of time with friends and family.
15. Favorite holiday dessert? I like them all!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Driving around looking at Christmas decorations and then having appetizers after attending Christmas Eve Church.
17. What tops your tree? a large green and red sparkly bow
18. Which do you prefer- giving or receiving? I love buying gifts for people and sometimes can't control myself when doing so!!
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Can't pick just one-- Love them all.
20. Candy Canes? I can't wait to make candy cane reindeer with my students using candy canes!

A Week Off!

After a week of Thanksgiving Fun at school, it was time for a little rest and relaxation! Josh and I have been enjoying our week off!

We started the weekend with a visit to Brady and Joshyway in Jackson to see their new baby Doss. Josh Abraham didn't want to hold him, but I got some good cuddle time with him.

Saturday we enjoyed a day of errand running and visiting with friends. Then Saturday night we went to Misty and Sam's wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and the reception was a blast. It was great to visit with our Tupelo friends and spend some time dancing and hanging out with them.

Enjoy your time off if you have any, the Christmas Season is right around the corner, and that means life kicks into full speed!!

Happy Thanksgiving my Friends!

I am Thankful!

I saw this on LT's blog and thought it was neat! I have so much to be thankful for and an A-Z list could never list them all!

A freedom to choose, religion, education, all the things others don't have.

Brother- Mine is, no doubt, the coolest brother in the world

Communication...calls, emails, texts...any way to keep in touch!

Diet Dr. Pepper
Electricty
Friends. They make life worth living

Grandmothers- I have 2 wonderful ones!
Health!
Ice- the crushed Sonic kind
Job and one that I love and never dread going to!
Kids. My 20 little 5 year olds
Love, from my family, friends, and husband
My Family
News (I love watching the news)
Off time from school, and my kids I love so dearly.
Parents. Mine are the most wonderful ones out there
Rest and Relxation
Slugger and Suma- 2 dogs that couldn't be loved more.
Teacher friends. They make work worth while!
Understanding Boss- that is great to work for.
Vacations! Like this week off- I am very thankful for.
Weekends. Time to relax and have some fun
X- I'm sure there's something- but I can't think of it!
Young children- if they didn't exist, I wouldn't have a job

Zzzzzzz's...many nights of sleep!

Time is Flying by......

I can't believe it's already the beginning of November, but that means it's a little bit closer to my favorite time of the year!

Do you think it's too early to put up Christmas Decor? I'm afraid it is, but I'm already planning it out in my head and in my newly purchased notebook with SUPER crisp pages!

Things that are making me want to decorate:

1. Misltoe Marketplace

Thursday I was joined by my mother and aunt and we went on an outing to Misltoe Marketplace! WOW did we have a great time! If a day of shopping at Misltoe doesn't put you in the holiday spirit, you are a SCROOGE! While there, I met Hope Brady from Days of Our Lives. She was so kind and giggled when I asked if I could have a photo with her-- 2. Peppermint Mocha Coffee Creamer

For some reason the peppermint mocha coffee creamer makes me so happy and brings about many fond memories of Christmas. Did I drink it when I was younger, well NO, but still. It can only be found in the asiles of the grocery during the holiday season months!

3. Cooking FOOD, FOOD, and more FOOD

This past weekend, my job loving and VERY devoted husband, spent from 4:20 am on Saturday to 7:08 pm on Sunday (yes, my friends, that is almost 39 strait hours) cooking and passing out 500 boston butts. His players (with LOTS of help from their parents) sold 497 tickets for boston butts! They butts were smoked by a Dad who has prior experience, with help from the Coach and a very devoted group of parents over the last 37 hours. Josh and the parents worked very hard, but the profit they made was WELL worth the work.

I'm so proud of my husband and his dedication to his players and parents! Oh, and he's a great husband too!

Happy Fall Yall-- hope you are enjoying the cool weather and all the great football games!

Christmas Dresses

As a little girl I remember having dresses to match every season. Some were smocked, some were painted, and some were appliqued. A few of them were t-shirt dresses. Mom said that I loved wearing the t-shirt dresses, and she thought I should make some to sell. This afternoon I decided that I would give it a try! Here is how they turned out. If you want one for your little girl, e-mail me or leave a comment!

If you would like to see a larger image, click on the image.

This is more of an empire waist style with Merry Christmas and lights in rhinestones!

This long-waisted dress has a Christmas Tree in rhinestones on the front!

I got Boo-ed

When I returned from Memphis on Wednesday night, I had a little surprise at my door! It was a note and I had been boo-ed. There were 3 pieces of paper, and a bag of candy. The poem was precious, and the directions said to make 3 copies of each paper and pass along to 3 friends. You were instructed to post the ghost in your window or on the door so others would know that you had already been boo-ed!

As I prepared the bags of candy and papers to pass along and boo 3 of my friends, Josh was reminding me how ridiculous it was! He was not cooperating, until I suggested that we boo a good friend he works with! Then he was ALL in. I had to drive the get away car- and he was all about it. We had so much fun boo-ing our friends---- and then trying to keep a strait face when they were telling us about being booed.

Oh and by-the-way! If you boo-ed us on Thursday night-- we don't know who you are--

The Most Important Dr. when you teach Kindergarten!

When you teach kindergarten, the most important Dr. is a lady named Dr. Jean! She sings silly songs, shares her ideas, and most of all, makes the children smile.

Claire, Cheryl, Allyson, and I went on Monday night to Memphis so we could be there in plenty of time to see Dr. Jean on Tuesday. We stayed in a very dark hotel (the rooms only had one lamp and a light in the bathroom) and had LOTS of fun!!

We wanted to make a shirt to wear to see Dr. Jean, so Allyson's assistant was in charge of helping us come up with a catchy slogan!

"Team Tootie Ta" on the front and "We had a ball at Dr. Jean" on the back was the winner! We got the shirts made, and even made one for Dr. Jean!

Here we are with Dr. Jean when we gave her the shirt we made!

Dr. Jean was so real! She was very personable and guess what????? I got to go up on stage with her! Well let me be honest, I sort of lost control. She said she needed a volunteer-- the next thing I knew I had crawled under the table (image me on all 4's crawling under a table) and jumped up on stage with the one-the-only-Dr. Jean!

We had lots of great food, learned some new tricks for having fun while learning in the classroom, and had lots of girl time!

Fall

Fall is such a beautiful time of the year! The most wonderful thing about it is all the time we get to spend with our family and friends!

Fall means football! Football means time with family and friends, and tailgating! Yesterday we enjoyed the beautiful fall weather and saw some great friends in the Junction. The game was dissappointing but the stadium was full and cowbells were a'ringing.

Josh and I had some great quality time with Jase, Whitney, Jim, Mrs. Patti, and Mr. Jimmy! It's hard for all 3 brothers to get home at the same time-- but this weekend it happened and it woas wonderful!!!

After a great week and weekend, we are getting ready for another week of fall fun!

A few projects.....

This past week I enjoyed time in Columbia with my parents and Mom and I did a bit of sewing! Here are the finished products!This month our Garden Club decided that we would do a plant swap. Each person should bring a cutting of a plant, and we would swap. At the previous meeting, our speaker presesnted on things from your yard you can use in flower arrangements. The Aspidistra is also known as the "Cast Iron" plant and she was a huge fan of this shade-loving leafy green beauty! I have a large pot of aspidistra but was afraid to dig in the pot-- so Dad dug up some plants from Nana's yard for me. Here they were ready for swapping.

Why in the world would I need all this ribbon? It's October and it's Christmas ribbon!

In a recent Mississippi Magazine there was an article about a Halloween party where the lady made a table cover out of left over ribbons. She sewed the ribbons together and wa-la-- a festive way to add some color and fun to a table for any occasion! The ribbons hang off the edge of the table and cover the open space under the table.

I was inspired and went to Hobby Lobby where I found some Christmas ribbon 50%. This is what my finished product looks like! I haven't fastened it to the table, I think it's a bit early in the year for that yet!

It's back to work for me on Monday- enjoy the rest of your weekend!