We Are All Ready...

The presents have been wrapped

Its the last day of school

The weather is crazy!

I wish it would stay cool



Its getting much closer

There is excitement everywhere

Parties and food and present galore

Children can't wait to see what Christmas morning has in store

But on that morn

Before all the hustle & bustle

Let's all take a minute to remember

That it is the day

The Son of Christ was born

Shopping for Christmas is complete!!!

We finally went shopping this week! I always wait until the very last minute to get the christmas shopping done. Its a little problem I like to call PROCRASTINATION!!!

We hit up Academy, Kirklands, Dillards, Shooters, and Starbucks (of course). We didn't get any presents at Starbucks.. just Venti Peppermint Mocha for me and Venti Mocha for Hubs.

My husband decided to purchase a new shotgun and when he went to buy it they couldn't let him because his license was expired! Had been since his birthday! In November!! So we also took a trip to the Office of Motor Vehicles.

Last night, the Tupperware that was ordered for my party came in, and so I had to get that together to pass out last night at our weekly prayer meeting.

Then we had a fun little get-together with our Bible Quizzers. We had chicken from Popeye's. I brought christmas cookies, and we passed out gifts. It was fun!

Here is Milah. She isn't in Bible Quiz, but her mom is head coach.

This is Morgan.. We thought this was pretty cool.. Ain't nothing like a Cajun Fry!!

Here is the crazy cousins acting, well... crazy!

I also accomplished something so amazing, so spectacular, so, so , SO totally awesome!! I finished wrapping all my gifts!!!

I still have quite a few that I'll have to put in gift bags..

We also had a Ladies Party at church that wass pretty fun!

Oh, and.. when I was shopping, I had my hair down because I pulled a muscle in my neck and it hurts to wear it up like I usually do. (my hair is past my bottom) I was saying all day how I didn't like it down because its so much to control and I was always getting it stuck on stuff. Well, we are walking into Dillards and a lady is behind me and says "Ma'am, you have a piece of paper stuck in your hair" It wasn't just a regular piece of paper... it was a receipt! It was huge to be stuck in my hair! It was hilarious!!!!!

A Day in the Life....

This week, I woke up at 5:30. Why, you ask? I thought I smelled pancakes. I walked in the kitchen thinking maybe I would find my husband setting out short-stacks. No such luck. He was cooking down some okra, though. Now, why did my brain turn that smell into the smell of pancakes? The world may never know!

Anyways, moving on...

This morning after all the girls got on the bus and left, my husband and I went to his friend's land. He has a crawfish pond and a duck blind there. My husband was going to help him out and dig a trench and put a levee around the blind so that it wouldn't fill up with so much water. Of course, I had to bring my camera with my new lens attached. I think I got some really nice shots.

some random weed

pretty pretty

I LOVE THIS LENS!!

The front wheel of the crawfish boat*

hard at work (that's the duck blind buried about four and a half feet deep)

he had to bale out water that had filled it up

setting up the blind to camouflage it

the finished blind..

it was freezing cold. I even brought my favorite blanket

never in my life have I been so happy to see this!!!

None of these photos have been post processed other than being resized. I love this lens and I will have to practice a lot more, but I am definitely enjoying it!!!

Stuff...

As I lay in bed this morning, listening to my youngest s-daughter butcher O Come All Ye Faithful just enough for me to know she hadn't realized that all the F were supposed to be played sharp, I was thinking about Carlotta's On Cloud Nine.. seriously. And I get a really great one picked out!! I don't play every Wednesday, BUT I knew I just HAD to play this Wednesday. This photo makes me THAT happy!!

Before that, though. I get out of bed, grab my phone, and start looking at my Google Reader to see if she posted yet. She had and she did bokeh!!! Well, that's ok.. we'll just have the same kind of picture that makes us happy today.

I call ( K ) into the dining room and tell her to bring her book too. So, I ask her a couple of the fingers, and look up the finger for F#. I start playing and let her watch me do it, then she does it, and I correct her finger a couple times. Then I tell her to go get the other recorder (yes we have two that are played OFTEN). We proceed to play together. She messes up... I mess up... we get confused. She looks at me and says "Momma, how do you know how to play the recorder?" Honestly... I don't know.. except maybe because I played clarinet and tenor saxophone all through school. What she doesn't know is that when she gets her flute next year I'll be learning it too!! Can't wait. So, now she is in her room practicing and trying to get it right.

This is all before 7 AM, mind you. Oh, to go back to the days when I didn't have to be up until 8:30. Nah.. just kidding. I was lonely then.

So, back to Carlotta. She does On Cloud Nine every Wednesday. Just put up a post on your blog containing one photo that you've taken. You can add as much or as little text as you would like along with it. After writing your post, go here to link up (and yes, that is a copy & paste from her blog with a slight change... what? Its EARLY!)

Don't forget to grab her button and check out other peeps photos. Leave some comments and love. And have FUN!

Here is mines....

I'm So Happy!!!

Last week I posted a link on facebook of the lens that I would like to have...

My husband seen it and made a funny little comment, but he went ahead and looked at it and we even went to a store around here that was supposedly supposed to have it. When we got to the store, they said they didn't have it. So we went home and I showed my husband the website and when I walked away he ordered it!

Sunday, after church, we were on the way home and he said he had to go back to town to pick something up. Well, he didn't tell me what it was, so ( I ) said "Its probably a present for you since he didn't tell you what it was".

He finally gets back home and he walks in and just hands me the box. I had NO idea that he was getting it for me!!! I didn't actually figure it out till he said he had to go pick something up, and I just GUESSED that's what it was.

Here's some pics...

Concert Band '10

Last week, my middle s-daughter ( I ) had a concert for band at school. She plays clarinet and really enjoys it. It was their christmas concert and they did really good! I was so proud of them.

I used to play clarinet in school, and I LOVED concert band!!!

They had 6th grade and two 7th & 8th grade bands.

Once was symphonic, and the other concert.

I enjoyed all of them!

The best part was that her band teacher was the same one I had when I was in middle school!

It was so good to see her again. She was the best teacher ever and I'm glad that ( I ) gets to have her too!

Another Night of Fun...

This month has been busy! My cousin Lauren is in Piano Lab at her school. Its one of the only Piano Labs around here that is offered through school. Every year they have a recital at Acadian Village. This was Lauren's 2nd year.

Acadian Village is a cute little place. They have a town set up and they decorate it for christmas. You can go and see the lights and they have different shows. Recently, they started putting of fair rides, and they definitely add to the fun!

This just a small part of it.

She played What Child is This. It was beautiful!

While walking around, you come to these little scenes where you can take pictures. This one was really cute!

Its my cousin David and my husband Ivan (he's sucha good sport)

and here is the pianist, Lauren, with Hannah (we are all cousins)

They have been best friends since they were old enough to play together. They are only a few months apart.

They are so fun to be around. They crack me up!

We had such a fun night. I'm so glad we could make it out to hear Lauren play! Its a beautiful place to visit and we always try to go once a year. The kids enjoy it, we enjoy it. It really gets you in the mood for Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

And I certainly couldn't go over there with ALL those lights and not take any bokeh shots!!