Hello??? Anybody?

No, we have not fallen off the face of the planet, we have just been really busy.

Last post our baby was 9 weeks big...now, "it" is 19.5 weeks big. We actually go tomorrow to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl. If Baby J is a she, her name will be Olivia Kate; a boy will be called Levi Mallie.

Jennie's baby, Gracelynn Elizabeth, was born on January 25th. They are actually here this week visiting. She is a cutie...she takes after her aunt :)

We just found out Tuesday that my Grammy, the one that set the stove on fire this summer (read post from July), has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. They are trying to make her as comfortable as possible but please say a prayer for comfort for her family. She has four children including my mom and she is my last living grandparent.

Not much else BIG is going on but I felt compelled to post at least something between Christmas and the birth of our first baby :)

Merry Christmas...and a very busy New Year

Christmas was here and gone and I was still looking at the Black Friday papers...so what else is new? It seems that it snuck up on me this year for sure. Seth had all his shopping done and presents wrapped by the beginning of December and I had bought a few drill bit sets and a pack of gum. Thankfully, I went back to third shift on December 13th, which meant I had Fridays off to do my shopping while Seth was working. That didn't happen until last Thursday because yes, I am a slacker and didn't even know what I wanted to get. I finished my shopping on Thursday and was still wrapping on Christmas Eve with the help of my dear husband.

Christmas Eve, we went to Seth's dad and stepmom's for dinner and gifts. We draw names with them and I got a new sweater and some rain boots that I really needed. Seth got a nice knife set for fish, a new button up flannel shirt (his fave) and a new work shirt. Then, the big surprise! We gave his parents a frame that said something about grandkids on it (I have no idea what) and put a baby picture in it...our baby's picture. Our 9 week old baby. We are having a BABY! They died when they saw it. They are very excited! We have known since the Monday after Thanksgiving and haven't been able to tell anybody! We were about to burst!

Christmas Day, we went to my parent's house after we did our little family Christmas at home. Seth is just a wonderful shopper. I got 2 new sweaters, a paisley print long sleeved shirt, a new flannel shirt, and all kinds of new crafting stuff. I can't wait to *cough*clean out my craft room and*cough* PLAY! We are off ALL week so I may do just that. Maybe. Seth got a kinds of new tools and I am sure some of them may have to be taken back because, let's just be honest, Home Depot is not my number one store. I can function but I don't thrive there. A new pair of work pants, some tool bags (no toolbox yet because we are still looking for a house), a book, a gift card for more books, etc. We are so BLESSED!

At my parent's, we piddled around for almost an hour before we started opening gifts. I wanted to get this show on the road because I was DYING to tell my parents. Luckily that day, I had a small reprieve fromthe queasy yucks that I have been having so I could act semi normal (whatever that is). After we got all our gifts open, I asked Seth where that one with the gold paper was. I must have laid it to the side when we got there...silly me. We had put the book "What to Expect When You're Expecting" in a box and Seth had put a piece of paper over "You're" and had written "Katie's" on it. My dad was trying to take his stuff to the garage and it was all I could do to try ot keep him there without giving it away. Sheesh! Anyway, when she opened it, she cried, I cried, my dad was confused and Seth was jittery as usual. This is perfect though because next Christmas is my sister's year to come to TN so not only will her baby be here, but so will ours. My mother is so excited to have 2 babies next year. I'm sure they won't be spoiled AT ALL...yeah right!

Lori came over shortly thereafter, we Skyped with Jennie and Ben and told them, we ate lunch, laid around, played a game and went home about 9ish because it was really snowing. Overall, we had a pretty good Christmas and are already looking forward to next Christmas.

Black Friday 2010 Buying Guide!!!

Click on the link below to see the sale papers for Black Friday. They are safe and hosted on Google Docs. I'm SOOO excited!

Don't Tread On Me: Black Friday 2010 Buying Guide

Once Again...

Once again tragedy has struck our small town. I know that all deaths are sad but I guess we would somehow think it is easier to accept when we are "planning" on it. No one knows what tomorrow will bring but we have a vague idea of how the day should go and the timing of things. Unfortunately, plans get changed and sometimes things go happen as we would like them to.

Today, 2 young women lost their father and an amazing woman lost her husband. It was a surprise to say the least. I remember when I was little, Molly and I would have "slumber parties" at her house after my T-ball games. Her dad would always play with us and tell us stories. He and his wife used to babysit my sister and me and I do believe that the famous "Checkers" story occurred at their home. I remember him being at all the important events in his children's lives up until the time they started attending another church. I remember him always being encouraging and humorous and always having something good to say. He was an amazing and Godly man. He was a role model for fathers and husbands everywhere and I am proud to say that I knew him.

I would like to ask that you please keep the Tipton family in your prayers as they transition into a new and unexpected time in their lives. I ask that you pray for a healing that will only come through time and trust in Jesus.

Good News...

So some of you may have already heard but .......

My hubby started his JOB this week!!!

He is working for Resto-Pro in Erwin. They go out and at least bandaid your roof if a tree fell through it. Not only do they do damage control, they also help repair water and smoke damage. They are also working on a house here in town across from the Country Depot. Pretty handy huh? Today Seth went to Erwin, Limestone Cove and Bristol to work. He has been in Telford and Jonesborough earlier this week so he is moving moving moving!!!

While I am sure that this is not his "career dream job", we are so blessed that he was able to find something and only the Master Planner could orchestrate the timing so the job would be in Seth's field. Anyway, currently Mr. Jones is working 8-4 (approx) and Mrs. Jones is working (3-11) While this arrangement is not ideal, it is only temporary. I should be going back to 3rd shift at least by the end of November (keep praying). Then, I can be his alarm clock and he can be mine!

Fall Favorites

As I am eating yet another piece of pumpkin roll (let's not discuss the addiction today, ok), I decided to list the top 15 favorite things about Fall… in no particular order

1. Tasty treats such as a pumpkin roll, pumpkin cookies & Kettle Korn
2. When the leaves change colors
3. Beauty Spot rides when the leaves change
4. Hunting season
5. Pumpkin carving
6. Jeans and sweatshirt weather
7. Random warm days
8. The smell of the heat kicking on for the first time
9. Apple Festival
10. Football
11. Decorating for Halloween
12. Halloween
13. Changing light summer bedding back to heavy winter bedding
14. First fire in the woodstove
15. Operation Christmas Child- this is a really neat project and if you have never heard about it, you should definitely contact me. It is so much fun and a great to help children in need. It is also a great way to encourage your children to help.


Feel free to leave a comment of your favorite things about Fall

Apple Festival

I just finished my first piece of a pumpkin roll that I bought this weekend. We had our 33rd annual Apple Festival this past weekend and as usual, they had way too many things that were tasty…and of course, I had to try some of them. Like I said, I got a small pumpkin roll (no, I’m sorry but I will NOT share) and I bought some Kettle Korn (it’s my favorite), a funnel cake (Seth wanted it) and 2 homemade donuts. Let’s talk about those donuts, shall we? They were HUGE and they could be a serious competitor for Krispy Kreme. They were $2 apiece but sooo worth it. I got one for myself and one for Seth (he was in VA hunting). I ate a few bites of mine when I got home and it was still warm but we ate the rest of them this morning for breakfast. My advice; eat them when they are still warm.

Also this weekend, we parked cars at the church. We are right at the end of the Festival and we have a HUGE field in the back of the church so we have plenty of room to park cars. While we weren’t as busy as I can remember us being a few years ago, we still were able to raise about $1400 for the youth group. That’s not too bad for 2 (10-12 hour) days of parking cars. Seth and I worked on Friday afternoon/evening until about 7. At that point, not many people are still looking to park so we just went on home. Seth left for VA about 8 and I spent the evening with leftover pizza and John Cena (rawr…)

Anyway, I have decided that I HATE sleeping by myself at night (hence, the reason I LOVE 3rd shift) and I don’t know what I would do if Seth got a job where he had to work 3rd shift while I stayed at home. I would probably DIE! I think I had a mini panic attack Friday night when I woke up to strange (aren’t they always) noises. I tried to listen but all I could hear was my heart beating and a roaring sound in my ears. Also, I could hear someone (apparently myself) breathing like they had just come up from 2 minutes underwater. CRAZY! I eventually feel back asleep but not before I ran through about 87 different scenarios where I always ended up dead! Apparently my imagination activity goes into overdrive after midnight :)

Busy weekend. Long weekend. Looking forward to a boring regular week…yeah right. Seth has a birthday on Thursday so that means we will have at least 2-3 separate dinners to celebrate and then I have to sleep at some point so he and I will probably wait and celebrate on Saturday. Maybe next week…keep on dreaming Kate :)