Weekend Wrap Up

I had an amazing weekend. It started out by getting the three youngest grandbabies. Although at 14, 10 and 8 they are no longer babies. The two youngest ones piled on the couch with me. They wanted me to take a picture but they were going to "fake" sleep in it. As you can see Colby got the giggles and couldn't quite pull it off. Of course I had the giggles because the little squirt kept tickling my feet. He's a hoot. Alexis was vegged out on the other couch with some sweet tea.

The next morning we had our children's Christmas program at church. The 3rd from the left is my granddaughter, Shelby. She has always been in the programs singing with all the kids. But this was the first year she actually had a speaking part. She's used to be really shy and still is sometimes, so we were proud of her for actually deciding to do this. I think a lot is because of her BFF Megan to the right of her.  

Shelby played the part of an angel named Joy. While she is a joy to be around, we weren't real sure about the angel part since she can sometimes be a wild card and you don't know what to expect. But she did an amazing job and showed no fear of speaking at all. 

After church, we came home and got back into our pajama's and had a popcorn/Hershey bar party and watched The Christmas Chronicles. They were spellbound. So was I. I love Kurt Russell in anything and he makes a great Santa.

After the movie is was time to get dressed again and go out to dinner with the whole family to celebrate birthdays. My twins had there birthday yesterday and mine is coming up on Thursday.

I woke up Monday morning to a small amount of snow which really puts me in the Christmas spirit.

I love the frosty look on the trees in the field across the road.

So I turned on the tree lights and a small lamp. I turned on the fireplace and that really got me all Christmas-y feeling.

I turned on Netflix to watch The Star. I just love that movie.

Then I addressed my Christmas cards while watching it. 

I wrapped some presents for the family and slipped them under the tree.

Then I got out my planner and my list book. I planned the next two weeks of events. I updated my Christmas gift list and made my menu and grocery list for Christmas eve and Christmas day. I am so ahead of the game this year. I love it. But I work some 10 - 13 hour days between now and Christmas so I'm cramming what I can into all my down time. 

Then I headed out to work. We didn't get any snow on the roads in my area so that was a blessing.

I just like enough of it to look at and enjoy but not so much that the roads are dangerous. This was just the perfect amount.

Once I got to work, I had a great day. Even got an early birthday present from my friend Jessica. I am so in love with this. It is perfect for me. 

Since I am a group greeter, part of my job is passing out the surveys. Because of the timing on when we do surveys, I get to the see the nativity part of the program every single show that I am working. It is so beautiful and I never get tired of seeing it....even after three years of working it. the camels and the angel is my favorite part.

Since it was just one show, I got off work at 8:00 last night. I love our Christmas lights. The snow was gone by the time I got off work, but the Christmas feeling is still in the air.

People can say what they want about me and it doesn't bother me. But one thing I think everybody can say is that I sure know how to have a lot of fun in my life.

A special birthday....

Growing up, I always said when I had children that I wanted one boy and one girl. Never dreaming that God would answer my wish by giving me both at once. Twins. It was the best gift and the best surprise of my life. Today, I want to wish my babies a very, very happy birthday. They have been such a blessing and I love them with all my heart. I can't begin to express the joy they have brought to my life over the years. 

Have a happy birthday Diana and Chris.

Christmas Songs

Some good plans.....

Since Thanksgiving, I have been working some really long days, especially on Saturday. When I say long, I mean long. Like 14 1/2 hours long. That's like doing two days in one. Welcome to the world of tourism in the Great Smoky Mountains at Christmas time. But I am super excited about today. I am only scheduled for about 8 hours. As I sit here and make out the schedule for my greeters and assign the 'who's doing what' tasks for the day, I want to do a happy dance. I have enough staff that my 8 hours should fly by. But I'll still be counting the minutes till I am leaving.

When I get off work, I am going to pick up Alexis and Colby and they are going to spend the night and the day tomorrow. 

Tomorrow morning, we will go to Sunday School and church. The children's Christmas play, Angels Say What?, will be during church in the morning.

Shelby has always sang in the Children's Choir on any performances. But this is the first time she will have a speaking part. She surprised us all for asking for a part. But she has come out of her shell over the years. She plays the part of the angel Joy. She ran into a lady recently whose name was Joy and she told her all about playing Joy in a play. She never talks to people she doesn't know so that tells me how excited she is. 

Sunday afternoon will be about vegging out at the house until evening. Then it will be time to meet up with the rest of the family at a yet-to-be-determined restaurant. We have three birthdays to celebrate in upcoming week so we always combine them all into one birthday dinner. My twins, Chris and Diana, have a birthday Monday and mine is Thursday.

It promises to be a great weekend. 

I fell in love today...

I fell in love today....with a dog. She was beautiful. I have never seen one like her. She is 1/2 St. Bernard and 1/2 Australian Shepherd. She was so tall that she barely raised up and could put her hands on my shoulders. She didn't jump or move fast at all. I don't normally feel comfortable around bigger dogs, but she stole my heart. This isn't a picture of her, but it is exactly what she looked like. She was a sweetheart.

The Happy Planner

It started last Christmas. I just wanted a planner. A simple book to keep all my to do's, my appointments, my thoughts and plans together in one spot. But I wanted one I could add to or remove pages from to customize it to fit my needs. I researched and found the Happy Planner. Easy to customize due to the fact that it is a disc bound system where pages slip in and out easily. Even has a whole punch available to make your own pages to insert.

There are a lot of downloadable ideas for extra pages or you can create your own. 

You can even buy accessories and stickers and use colored pens and washi tape to make your pages more appealing or to highlight the really important days. Some people go to the extreme and create a book to store their stickers in. 

Some decorate like they are doing a scrapbook.

I love being organized but some are a little bit over the top even for me.

I like to open my book and enter my to do or appointments, but this lady has more time to do stickers and decorate her planner apparently. If I did all this I wouldn't have time to actually attack the things I put in there to get done.

And some people have more than one and in more than one size. They use them to journal, to keep appointments, even to log how much water they drink a day. Look how many she has? They say this keeps them organized. How? When do they have time to do all the things in all those books? 

They even create home office around their planner goodies. I have 3 rolls of washi tape and one package of stickers.

Now I will admit to being and addict to colored pens. It helps me color code for quick glances. But I have always been a fanatic about pens.

I see pictures like this where one lady uses 8 planners. WHY???? I would need one planner just to keep track of which planner I was using for what. 

That being said. I have under my tree a new planner for 2019 along with a new pack of pens, and a few other accessories but nothing compared to the above.

My latest obsession....

I have liked pink for awhile, but recently I have fallen in love with the soft shades of powder pink. Then in the mail I get a holiday guide from Thirty-One and it has some new pink items. I am in love. I am going to need to get these before spring gets here.