My Thanksgiving Wish For You:

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey plump,

May your potatoes and gravy

Have never a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!

Did she really just say that?

Tink and I were cuddling on the couch last night before bed. Ya know, the kiss their cheeks until they can't stop giggling, praying they will stay this age forever, tummy tickling kind of cuddling.

She suddenly got very serious.

Tink: I keep stuff way down in my heart forever.

Me: Really? What kind of stuff?

Tink: Your love and kisses and hugs and your good byes. And daddy's good stuff too.

Me: (With tears in my eyes.) Wow, that's good stuff to keep in your heart. I'm gonna keep this in my heart forever.

Tink: Me too mommy.

Then she was back to being a three year old again and was smooshing my cheeks to make me look silly.


Where does this stuff come from? Is there a 90 year old person hiding inside her body? This stuff is too deep for a three year old.

Dear Reese,

You are a great dog. You were my very first baby. I bought you on JP's birthday more than 8 years ago and gave you to him as a gift. I had always wanted a chocolate lab. You were chubby and adorable and such a ball of energy.

JP soon became your dad and over the years you have become more attached to him. I know the highlight of your day is when he gets home from work and you can sit on his lap and give him some puppy love. (Well, doggy love. You are no longer a puppy. You are 8 1/2 and weight 110 lbs now.)

I know that JP going away for deer camp is hard on you. I know that even though I give you extra love and attention and let you sleep on his side of the bed while he is gone you are still unhappy.

I get it.

You are not happy.

You don't need to bark at me for 20 minutes every hour, all night long, every night.

I understand. If it were up to me he would come home today.

He is not coming home today.

He will be home on Thursday.

I am sorry for that.

As for tonight. You need to settle down and let me get some sleep. I am honestly on the verge of making you sleep outside in the snow. You have never slept outside before. You don't like to get cold. You will not like sleeping out there. Please quit barking and just go to sleep! I will let you sleep on the bed. Just be quiet!

Thanks for cooperating.

Love, Mom

And he's off.

Every year, since he was 12, Hubs goes to hunting camp for the first week of deer season. For the past couple of years he has been leaving earlier and earlier. This year he took off two weeks instead of one. He has been home all this week and has been hunting a little every day at our house and doing some other things that need to get done. He leaves today for deer camp.

As soon as his cousins get off work they are headed to the store to buy food (I'm pretty sure it's just beer, chips and beef jerky) for the week and are off to the "farm" until Thanksgiving day.

I use the term farm loosely.

That's what they call it, I call it a hell hole.

But then again, I am used to sleeping with no mice in my bed and no bullet holes in the kitchen wall. Really people, this place is a bit scary.

I have been there.

Once.

For like 10 minutes.

I was afraid to sit on the furniture. The entire place smells like deer pee. I was told it is called Tinks and is the top of the line deer attractant. Yeah, it's still deer pee.

I chose to sit on the front porch.

As of today I am hubby-less until Thanksgiving. I will be able to clean my house tonight and it will stay that way for almost a week! I won't have spit cans sitting on my end tables! I will have the entire bed to myself! Well, if you don't count the dog and Tink.

So, when he calls me at work later today to say that he is leaving, I will pretend that I am sad to see him going.

Then I will call his cousins wives. We will make plans for dinner together this week, we will drink daiquiris and let our kids play together. We will laugh about our hubbies at the farm and how their hot water heater goes on the fritz every year. Then I will have the shower turned on and waiting for him when he walks in the door on Thursday. Because boy does he smell bad when he gets home!

I will also get lots of Christmas shopping done. Shhhh. I don't want him to think I am having fun while he is gone.

Still looking.

Tink woke up while I was in the shower this morning. She came in the bathroom and was talking to me. She has been sick this week and now has a cough and is apparently losing her voice. Her voice was going in and out while she was talking. I told her she was losing her voice and I couldn't understand everything she was saying, she would have to wait for me to turn the shower off to talk.

She left the bathroom.

A few minutes later she came back and told me "I still don't know where my voice is, I can't find it anywhere."

My sweet, sweet girl. All I could do was smile and tell her I would help her when I got done in the shower.

Not Me Monday

I'm off again to McMomma's to join the Not Me Monday circus. Join me, it's very refreshing to get it all off your chest. If it had really happened, of course.



* I did not order a Happy Meal for myself on my lunch break. That would be silly, I am an adult!



* I did not bring Tink to work with me on Thursday, only to have her get sick and have to leave early and stay home the rest of the week.


* She was not sick until Sat afternoon with a stomach bug.


* I am not starting to feel sick myself!


* I did not volunteer to be a chaperone on the float for dance class in the upcoming Christmas parade because I am paranoid about leaving Tink with anyone but a few select people. Really, I'm more trusting than that.


* I did not cringe when a new child joined Tink's dance class. Just because she runs around and distracts the other kids instead of participating in class, that is no reason for me to wish she would never come back to class.

Hop on over and check out the other Not Me Monday posts. http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

Wordful Wednesday

The smallest Hannah Montanna fans.

Tink and my God-daughter, Miss Moore, are huge Hannah fans. They had to wear their Hannah bling to get their pics taken together.

Sadly, if you looked at my i-pod most played list I'm sure Hannah would be at the top. Tink loves listening to it while I do the grocery shopping or driving in the car or whatever we may be doing. She's getting her own mp3 player for Christmas so I can have my i-pod back. Don't get me wrong, I like some of the music, just not repeatedly. I keep telling myself it could be worse. Most 3 year olds are listening to Barney.

Tea Party Hats

I was just over at the Tea Party. Mannequin invited me to sit beside her today. What fun!!

Of course I am wearing my favorite hat. I am posting a pic of it here.

I know, it's not the most attractive hat ever. It is still my favorite. It makes me think of relaxing days spent on the beach with Tink and JP. This old and much worn straw hat has been with me for many years now and will continue to be part of my wardrobe for many to come. Of course for the tea party I rolled the brim back and put a few fall flowers on it, it was lovely.

Tea Party!

Wow, I just got invited to a tea party!


You are invited too!


Go, check it out.


They are having great giveaways.

Here at, http://fracturedtoy.blogspot.com/ you can get a great apron or a hair snug. They are just adorable and so retro looking!

Here at, http://mommosttraveled.com/ you can get a bamboo hoodie that is pretty cool.

Here http://mommosttraveled.com/trunki-ride-on-suitcase/ you can get a chance at a gift certificate for a great online store with kids travel products.

Old, Old, Old!

I am in PAIN! Seriously people, real pain.

Why, you ask. Well, my back went out. I'm pretty sure you have to be old for this to happen. So, I am officially O.L.D.!

I was on my way across the lawn to the car when this happened. I bent over to pick up Tink, didn't want her shoes to get wet from the grass, and sudden pain! I about scared the poor kid to death. I couldn't move. Any movement was pure agony. After a few minutes we made our way to the car. I was in tears by the time we got there.

I eventually made it to work and have an appointment with the chiropractor in a little while. In the mean time I have taken enough Tylenol to kill a horse. The pain is still there. It feels a bit like labor pains, except it never goes away. At least with labor pains I only had them like every 5 minutes and then I got an epidural. I wonder, can they give an epidural for back pain? I'll have to ask the chiropractor.

On boating...I mean voting!

I took Tink with me yesterday to vote. I have to admit, before I had Tink I was a slacker in the voting department. Since her birth I have made it a point to vote. I want her to know that this is important and we should be honored to have the chance to vote.

As we left the house yesterday she wanted to know "Where we were going Momma?"
I told her "We are going to vote, then go to the library to get some books, then lunch and grocery shopping." She was quiet in the backseat for a while.

A few minutes later she wanted to know "Why are we going boating?"
I told her it is "Vvvvoting, not Boating."
"Ok....Voting, why are we going voting?"
I explained "we are going to help pick the new President."
Silence.

A few minutes later. "Are they going to give us paddles?"
"No, they are going to give us a paper and a pen honey."

"Why won't they give us paddles? We need paddles." She was very insistent that we would need paddles.
"No Tink, we don't need paddles just paper and a pen."

"Yes Momma, you need paddles to go voating. You know, to make the voat move."
Now I understood, she thought we were still going boating.
I tried not to giggle. I explained again "There is no boat, we are voting for the president."
She still looked a bit confused.

As we got out of the car in the parking lot she looked around and informed me "We can't voat here, there is no water!"
I had to laugh. Poor kid, I gave up on explaining it. She's only 3, she has plenty of time to figure it out. In the mean time, she wore her I Voted sticker proudly.

Making brownies

Yep, that's us. Making brownies for Papaw's birthday.

I adore the pink chef hat and apron!

They turned out perfect!

I had to throw this one in too. This is Miss Moore, Tink's best friend. We bought her the same hat and apron for her birthhday. She's too cute!

Happy Halloween!!!

This is what our Halloween week looked like.

A painting our pumpkin masterpiece.

Just a little more green paint and it will be ready!

hmmm, this pumpkin looks a little mad.

Our pumpkin masterpiece has the place of honor on the table by our front door.

A, getting ready to go trick-or-treating. She LOVED being a black cat!

A and my oldest nephew, the Army Man.

A and I out enjoying trick-or-treating.

My adorable little niece! She was also a black cat.

A with some of her cousins after trick-or-treating.

A great time was had by all!!!

Then we all ate too much candy!!

THE END.