Black Friday Tradition with My Girl

Tay and I look forward to our special early morning Black Friday shopping day each year. We planned it out the night before, based on what stores open at what time and mostly, on what time we could get to Chic fila for our breakfast recharge..lol. 

We woke up extra early but it was hard to get moving, so we ended up leaving the house at 6ish. It was starting to get light outside so we were a tad bit disappointed in ourselves but decided to play things by ear, having no time restrictions. We really had nothing in particular that we were shopping for either, so that made us extra chill this year. We got to Walmart, the parking lot was surprisingly full! We looked through all the sale stuff and ended up just buying Dad some jeans and some AA batteries..we are so boring. lol. 

We grabbed bfast and sat in the warm car, eating in the parking lot of Target, our next stop. It looked so crowded, we almost felt like backing out but went on in. We found a couple little gift items but nothing much. The line was down by the time we checked out too so that was awesome! 

We went to Michaels, then the mall. We had never gone to the mall on Black Friday before so that was new...it was bustling with shoppers and pretty awesome to see. Tay got a couple things from Hot Topix and Earthbound. I felt like we barely got anything, but Tay mentioned that she felt like our shopping morning was a win, I'll take it! One thing that her and I agreed upon, is that the mall arcade is not what it used to be...such a let down with the grabber machines, no attendants, no tickets, no prizes. But that's okay, we still had a wonderful morning together and a free day ahead. Happy girls! 

October Fun

October is always a busy and fun-filled month for us! There is so much to do, so much going on! PLUS, fall is my favorite time of year, so we pack it full of fun!

decorating our graveyard!

It's National Dog Day....she deserves some shaved ice!

thumbs up for astronaut food!

Nico's Birthday!

The boys went on their annual hunting/camping trip this month. They traveled out to the Danville conservation area, far far into the woods, and set up camp. Apparently, it was too warm to kill and eat much over the campfire as they have done in the past! Tay and I stayed home and had a girls weekend.

Taylor's classroom decided to collect socks for the homeless. She did a little video and got lots of collections to give. They are always doing special stuff with Ms. Dye.

#socktober

Mustache Day

Tiger SuperGirl

We attended the Whitacre's Annual Halloween Bash again this year. I was a black cat, Blake was Trump, Tay was a skeleton cat and Billy was a Hanging Chad...lol! Kids always have a blast running around, playing creepy games, and drinking hot cocoa! It was a fun night had by all!

Taylor got to go trick-or-treating twice because she went to visit Aunt Susie and the senior community! This is always so fun and rewarding because the grandma's and grandpa's really enjoy getting to see all the kids in costumes and they give out some really great stuff! Tay even made some money!

Billy's 50th

Billy has been dreading the big 5-0...he's been bumming. I try telling him that it's just another number , not sure that's helping but it is his 50th bday, so we decided to do some special stuff for him. We talked to Allison months ago and had planned on having a big family surprise party but as the months went on, so much happened and schedules got changed etc...anyways, extended family wasn't able to make it but Allison still got to, so we planned around that. I knew he would love nothing more than getting to see her on his special day! I wanted to keep it a surprise, so the kids and I told him that we were just gonna make a special bday dinner and watch a movie. We bought steak, his favorite beer, wine, and a German chocolate cake to finish the meal off...at the last minute, when I got a heads up that Allison was near, I told Billy that a lady wanted to buy some bowls off Craigslist. I asked him if he would take them out to the driveway and meet with her because I had to get ready to go pick up the movie from the rental place. He was okay with that, so as Allison pulled up, I pushed him out the door with the bowls...as she got out of her car, he started to say, "here are the bowls", then Allison walked closer and he realized!!!  It literally took him a second glance to really get it through his head that it was really her...lol!!  It was hilarious and he was so happy to see her! It made for a great surprise for him! We gave him some gifts: wine we labeled "aged to perfection", the Sam Adams we labeled, "cheers to being 50!", an air freshener labeled, "for an old fart", golden wrapped candy as "for the golden years", hot sauce as " still hot at 50!" and for the hazard that 50 candles can cause while being lit on a cake....a fire extinguisher! lol! The kids and I also put together a jar of "50 memories & reasons we love you". we all really enjoyed that one.

The following night, we invited his music buddies and their wives over for some chili and music playing. Loved having them over, topped off his birthday weekend! We have such wonderful caring friends. Blessed that it all worked out!

Our 13th Anniversary

Billy knows that I'm not crazy about getting flowers, but our little Tay Tay LOVES to get flowers and thinks it's so special. Perfect day for Billy to get to give someone flowers...Tay loved them, even though she is extra goofy and dramatic! Later that evening, Billy and I got to go to Red Lobster and had the most wonderful dinner...I even had a monster pina colada! I love this man!

Missing Aunt Kathy

Aunt Kathy had been sick for awhile, she ended up hospitalized in Arkansas. Billy went down to be with her and support the rest of the family. It's a really good thing he did, because he got to say goodbye to his sister. She went to be with the Lord, and her love, Danny. Again, I'm really glad that Billy got to be there to help support the rest of the family, he is a real rock for everyone around, when difficult times take us over. This is heartbreaking for those of us who miss her, she was sweet, silly, caring, and always able to see the positive in people, even those that might be in midst of quarrels. We loved it when her and Brenda, her bulldog, came to visit. We will never forget her jumping out of her car, Brenda kind of rolled out, but then Aunt Kathy started doing cartwheels across our front yard! The neighbors were laughing along with us. She always had a sweet word to say, always calling us Sweetheart, Honey etc..I really loved her and will miss her so much. I'm bummed that we didn't get to hang out more and that the kids didn't have more time to get to know her.

The ONLY thing that was nice about going to Arkansas, was getting to see Billy's side of the family. He had gotten to spend a week or more with them and I know if was hard but good at the same time. At least we got some family pictures.

July at a Glance...

Again, this month was filled with lots of outside time spent with friends, swimming, bbq's, baseball, and movies...loving summer time spent together! Dad even took Blake on a Father/Son outing...they got to go see some cool cars at the Classic Cars Museum and go Go-Karting!

One night, we heard tree frogs going absolutely crazy, being super loud...we wondered what was going on out there, and the next morning, we found out! There were tons of little froggy eggs floating all over our pool! We started to just net them out, but then decided to let Tay keep some in her critter cage, just to see if any would make it. What do ya know???? Lots of them survived, grew tails, and seemed to be doing just fine! Wow, we were so excited to grow some frogs...we researched their diet and care and even created a little home for them on the patio table. Neighbors even came to check out our new little pets. This was a short lived experience, as the very next morning, something had gotten on the table and must have eaten and killed them ALL. It was disturbing, as we still, to this very day, have no idea what would have done this. Was it a bird? Was it a racoon? Another frog? Hmmm??