Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, I am such a dork.  My sister and brother-in-law were here for the whole Thanksgiving holiday and I did not take a single picture.  Not a one!  I was too busy having fun I guess.  The best I can do for you is a picture of these cute turkey candle holders that Kendall and I made.  They'll be featured over at www.thehallsgetttingschooled.blogspot.com.  Back to Thanksgiving.  As stated before, my sister and brother-in-law came and we had such a nice time with them.  They are so laid back and fun to hang out with and my girls are CRAZY over them.  Grace has the biggest crush in the world on Uncle Rich and every night she would ask me, "Will Uncle Richard be here in the morning?"  They let the girls play with their I-Phones and they had all kinds of cool games on them (according to Kendall).  We ate and ate (of course) and then Angie and I braved the Black Friday shopping.  We left the house at midnight and stayed out until about 7:30am.  We will probably not be doing that again!  The lines were insane!  I've never seen anything like it.  It was still fun though and it was good to get in some sister time.  We also had another first this year and that was frying a turkey.  Luckily, Richard had done it before and was able to guide us a little better.  The boys had to do it in the garage because it was raining and it made the whole garage smell like frying oil!  It was worth it though because that turkey was DELICIOUS!  Then the boys went to see Catholic High play in Danville on Friday night and Angie and I stayed with the girls.  We were so tired we just sat on the couch and stared at the TV.  Man, we were zonked.  I am going to sleep like the dead tonight.  I'm super thankful that I'm tired from having fun and not tired from working. It's a much more fun type of exhaustion, don't you think?

True Blue Gracie We Love You

This will be a very fast post because we're trying to get ready for church this morning.  It's too funny to let it pass by and be forgotten though.  Byron had a map of Lexington out this morning and Grace, in her special 3 year old way, was asking about 500 questions.  Where's this?  What's that?  Where is Lexington?  Where's our house?  On and on and on.  Then I hear her ask "Where are the basketball players?"  Yes, even a 3 year old can't get away from basketball fever when you're living right next door to it.  Good grief!

The Smeller's the Feller

So a while back Maddie had a weird smell coming from her nose.  We were in the process of moving but I was just about to take her into the doctor and the smell stopped.  She'd had a runny nose at the time and I just contributed the smell to a runny nose.  Then the smell came back again.  So after much blood, sweat, and tears of dealing with all the rules surrounding the stupid patient health care privacy yada yada I got Maddie into a doctor.  The first thing the doctor said to me was that he thought Maddie had stuck something up her nose.  This came as no surprise to me because I had already Googled "smelly toddler nose" and this was the number one reason.  Plus I've caught Maddie sticking stuff up her nose before.  According to Google, it seems that kids love to stick sponges and couch foam up their nose.  He laid Maddie down on the table and took a good look up that little booger maker and sure enough he saw something.  Well it almost felt like Christmas morning.  What was going to be in Maddie's nose?  A lost earring?  Money?  My ipod charger?  Okay, probably not that last one.  Any guesses?  It was blue playdoh!  It was big.  At least the size of a quarter.  Poor Maddie!  I hope she felt a lot better afterward.  Her nose smelled better immediately.  The doctor asked me if I wanted to take the play-doh home and I almost said yes just so I could take a picture and show everyone on the blog; but I changed my mind.  Sorry!

I've Got a New Attitude (Okay, Maybe Not)

So I went to get my driver's license switched over to my new address last week.  You know how when you are dreading something and it makes the actual event worse because you have a bad attitude?  Well, I know all about that and should know to avoid bad attitudes at all costs.  However, you would have found me whining to Byron the night before how I didn't want to go down to the DMV and how awful it would be etc. etc.  I should have kept my mouth shut.  I get up the next morning and announce at breakfast that the kids and I are taking a little field trip to the DMV.  Well, you would have thought I said we're going out in the tobacco fields for 8 hours of hard labor with all the whining I encountered ( I don't know where they get it!).  I had gathered all my documents before and we headed out the door.  Well, we almost headed out the door.  After coats and shoes were on, Maddie had a diaper blowout.  Okay, Maddie and I shed our coats and shoes and change her diaper and pants.  Coats and shoes back on and out the door.  Now it's raining.  I had been in Lexington for three weeks and it has only rained twice.  Of course it's raining today.  In the car to get to the DMV.  The dvd player in the van is not working.  The kids are chanting, "Put on Cinderella!"  I tell them they will survive because we're not going far.  We get there.  Grace falls on the sidewalk on her way in and starts wailing.  I get in the door and immediately get dirty looks because I'm toting a crying child.  I ignore them.  But thankfully no line!  Who hoo!  I hand over all my paperwork.  The lady behind the desk informs me she needs my original birth certificate and not a copy.  I inform her my original is a mess because it has some weird dark parts on it that makes it hard to read.  She says if she can't read it I have to drive to Frankfort to get a new one.  Oh great.  Okay, back home to get the original birth certificate.  We get back and in my hast to get out of the rain I spin around and some how shut my jacket in the van door.  Now I'm like a turtle on my back and cannot get turned around to open the door.  Kendall has to climb into the other side of the van and open my door so I can get free.  Back into the DMV where they process my information.  I go over to get my picture made and the guy tells me I need to scoot back because it looks like I have a pumpkin head!  Well that was just the cherry on my sundae.  I can't help but wonder if my day would have gone better with a good attitude.  I'm pretty sure it's hard to have a good attitude after you've attached yourself to your own vechile and been called a pumpkin head.

Ladies, time to Vote!

Some of the first women to vote in November 1935

I hope you got out and voted today.  I especially hope you did if you are a minority or a female.  There are so many before you that have fought for these rights and the best way to thank them is by exercising your vote.  So no complaining or whining about the lines at the poles being too long.  You've waited longer for a table at a restaurant.  No complaining that candidates don't keep their promises.  Maybe they do, maybe they don't.  If they don't, you have the chance to not vote for them again.  I don't want to hear that the ballot is too confusing.  Really?!  It takes me all of 5 seconds to read the ballot and there are tons of volunteers at the polling site to assist you.  My remote control is harder to figure out.  The number one reason to get out and vote today?  If you don't vote; you can't complain about the government!  To non-voters I would give these words of wisdom I share with my kids, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit."  If you don't vote then you are just stuck with what everyone else chooses.  You don't want someone else picking your house, car, clothes, etc.; so why would you let them pick who represents you?  Plus, if you go to the polls they give you a sticker that says, "I voted."  You can't beat that.

Side note:  I just saw on Facebook that my friend Kelly took her 4 year old son to the polls with her and he was disappointed they didn't have food there.  LOL!!  I'm with you Wyatt, would it kill 'em to put out a box of bagels and a coffee pot?  Geez!