The Holidays are my most favorite time of the year...

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Now that I have become older and "grown-up" I really realize now that Thanksgiving is all about. Years ago when my Grandma and Papa were still alive we would have Holiday's at our house. Most of the time we had at least 20-25 guest. All the kids would be back in the bedrooms playing, the guys would be watching football on TV, the ladies would be in the kitchen talking and reading paper. Those were such fabulous days. Now, since they are gone, and everyone had moved on, we just don't get together like that anymore. I miss that so much. This Thanksgiving we had quite a few family together. I loved it, it reminded me so much of the big groups we had before.

I got smart this year and took of Wed, Thurs, and Fri. of Thanksgiving week. I have never done that before. Go figure Conor and I get sick. Ahh yes, my few days off work were not joyous. Conor had an ear infection and the throw-ups, while I had a sore throat and sinus trouble. Luckily I got him into the Dr for some antibiotic, I was not so fortunate. I had to tough it out all week. I am feeling about 85% today. I should be good to go for work tomorrow.

So, did anyone of my Blog readers attempt "Black Friday"? You will never guess whos alarm was set for 5am. NOT MINE! Craig actually, got up at 5am that morning and made his way to the Target for a bargain. He only stood in line for 30 minutes, after the doors opened, he was and out in 10 minutes. One of my Christmas presents was on sale fo $99.99. It was one of those under cabinet TV's. It is something that I have wanted for a while, I just thought that anything over $150 was just too expensive. Now my "I want to watch the news" is no longer a valid excuse for not getting dinner started earlier! Later that day afterr some much needed rest, we went to the mall. What were we thinking? It was packed and Conor was in NO mood for busy places that day. We managed to find a couple of good deals before heading home. We returned on Friday evening. I just had to take advantage of the Bath and Body Works sale before it ended. Glad I did because I got what I needed for way less than I would have paid the next day. I am no stranger to a bargain. Finally, last night Craig and I hit Wal-Mart and Toys R' Us to finish up the last few items of our lists. We are done except for one more item. I don't believe I have ever finished all my shopping before December. I am going to be so busy at work during the month of December that I won't have any time before we head out to Tenneessee. I am kind of glad that I don't have to worry about it anymore.

Since I was sick this week, I don't have any Thanksgiving pictures to share with you all. I tried to post some random pictures, but of course Blogger isn't being cooperative.

Turkey Day is almost here...

So, the past few weeks have been busy! Since my last post, lots of things have happened....

• Craig has taken two business trips.
• My parents squeezed in a trip to Wendover, NV for some gambling.
• Craig and I got the Christmas Lights up on the house
• I decorated the inside of the house.
• We have gotten nearly all of our Christmas shopping done!
• Last, but not least, Conor has learned the phrase (which he also uses frequently) "I want to go shopping at Wal-Mart".

So this year, I got to put up my new Christmas Tree. Craig and I bought it at Wal-Mart last year during the after Christmas sale for $39.00. It was a fiber optic 7ft tree. I literally sat on the box until Craig could find a basket. So, this is the first time I have seen the tree. Much to my surprise, it looks nothing like I thought. I mean, this tree was $159 regular price, so I am thinking it is going to be a fabulous tree. Well....If anyone paid $159 for it, I feel bad for them. I am lucky I only paid $39. I would have liked something taller, maybe a little more full. Oh well, at least we have a tree. Here is a picture of my masterpiece.

Now that I have seen a picture, it is just me or is it leaning to the side? It looks a lot better in person.

Another Christmas item in the house that I pride myself on is my little village. I love these things. They are so fun to collect. This is a picture of my absolute favorite house.

Moving on. Here are just some random pictures of Conor.. He looks so grown up. He doesn't look like a little baby anymore.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Pumpkin Patches Rock....

I haven't blogged very well lately. I seem to have been busier over the last couple of weeks at home and at work. The beginning of each quarter is hectic as always at work. On top of that Craig and I came down with Strep last week. Talk about luck. I came home from work on Monday. Everything was fine. No more than an hour later Craig crashed. He felt terrible. His throat was the culprit. He stayed home from work on Tuesday and went about my business. Around 1pm Tuesday afternoon, I crashed. I was out the Nancy doing out Monthy recognition purchases and I felt terrible. My throat hurt like nothing else! Craig scheduled he and I a Dr. appt first thing that next morning. Strep was the verdict. A fabulous shot and some antibiotics were prescribed, and we were on our way. We feel better now. I never want to be sick at the same time with Craig again. It was just pitiful and poor Conor was the one to suffer. Enough of the sick stuff.

Fall is in the air! Autumn is my favorite time of year. Three things happen: 1. Pa and Cookie usually come visit, 2: The pumpkin patches are open, 3: Halloween!

Conor loved the pumpkin patch. He asked for days to go and take pictures with the pumpkins. Here are some pictures.



Moving on....today was the Fall Festival at Conor's daycare. This is the first year he has gone. Last year he fell asleep on the way there, this year I was determined that he would go and go in his costume. Success!!!!!

Take some time to think.....

I personally witnessed the hearts of kindness and generosity among the people I work with the other day. The e-mail below was sent from a co-worker. Read below...

Last week I had something amazing happen to me. I was going to pick up
Matthew, my oldest son, from school. I usually am there right on time, but on
this day I arrived about 15 minutes early. I was sitting in my car when I looked
over and noticed that the city was giving parking tickets to the cars in "no
parking". I glanced over and saw a man running to his car begging the
attendant not to give him a ticket. It made my heart sad because I had seen this
man everyday, brining his grandson to school and picking him up. The attendant
acted like she had not heard a word he had said and simply placed the ticket on
his windshield. I got out of my car and proceeded into the school, that's when
something very strange happened to me. There was a man sitting on a bench by the entrance of the school, as I walked past him he said out loud "that's a shame,
he's really struggling". I looked at him but he was not talking to me. Then
something inside of me said "turn around" so I did, and I walked up to the man
that had received a ticket and ask him if he would let me pay for the ticket. He
looked at me and said "why?", I told him I would like to pay for it if he would
let me. We started walking towards his car to get the ticket and I started small
talk about his grandson. He told me that he was his grandsons guardian, his wife
and daughter (the little boys mother) have both died within the last 7 month.
Tears came to my eyes as he proceeded to tell me that he had raised 5 children
but wasn't ready at his age to again take on the responsibility of a 5 year old.
He said he was trying to do his best but times were hard. I reassured him that
things would be ok and we said our goodbye's. After he left I went to speak with
the little boys teacher, I asked him if he knew of anything I could do to help.
His teacher told me that he wears the same clothes at least 2 - 3 times a week.
I contacted the social worker and the school and she has since talked with the
grandfather who let her know the little boy, is in need of clothing. I
am trying to get some things together for him. He needs shirts, pants,
socks, underwear, shoes, and a coat for the winter. Would you be willing to help
me out? I have received some donations already, some people are bringing clothes and some people are giving money. Whatever you are able to do it would be
greatly appreciated and make a big difference in a little boys life.

As the rest of the week went on, tons of items and money has been donated. It is amazing how people can come together and give give give. My friend Nancy and I went to Wal-Mart that very same day and bought some items that we thought this little boy might need. As I stood there looking socks, I started to cry. This little boy, who at this young age, no longer has his Mommy or his Grandmother. It just seems so unfair. From day to day, my family and I live our lives. My son has everything and more that he could ever need. I have a beautiful home, a nice car, and husband to die for. My parents are wonderful, my sister is great, my in-laws are fabulous. I have, what I consider, a great life. I have so much to be thankful for, and I get so disappointed in myself when I take it for granted. All that I have could be gone tomorrow, so I must ask myself -- If today was my last day, what did I do to make it my best.

Fall Daycare program...

What can I say, Conor is not much for the stage. Today was his second program at school. The kids have been practicing for weeks to get up on stage and sing two songs. "Let a Little Love in Your Hear" and "Walking on Sunshine" were the two songs. The program is held at Frenship Junior High Auditorium. We arrived shortly before 2pm and I walked Conor to the back to prepare with his class. It took some bribing and help from the Director to get him to stay back. I took my seat with Craig and my parents and patiently awaited the curtains to pull back.... I just knew in my heart this would not be good. Trying to be optimistic, I tried to make myself believe that he was just going to follow along with his class and sing the two songs. Nothing prepared us for what we saw when the curtains pulled back.

My poor son, is standing at the end of his class row, apart from the group, crying hysterically. So, I have two options. 1) Look like this asshole parent and leave him up there. 2) Run up and get him because leaving him up there only makes it worse. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a softie. I ran up and got him. He was crying so hard he could barely breath. So skipping nap today didn't help, but he absolutely does not like to be on stage. That is ok with me, that just means he is destined for other things. As long as he gets over his fear before he is presented the Heisman, he will be fine.

On a happier note, Craig and I celebrated our 4th Year anniversary. Our actual anniversary is on 10/12, but Craig is going to be out of town on business that day. So we decided to celebrate early. We went to O'Hana for some Japanese cuisine. Then we took in a movie. It was a nice night. We haven't been able to just be the two of us in quite a while.

Finally, we visited the new Target today. Holy Mackeral, that thing is huge. There were so many people, that you bascially had to find your own basket in the parking lot before going inside. I will give it another month or two before I go back. Too many people for me.

Short post I know, but I have a little bit more homework before I finish up my class. Talk to you all next week.

Family Reunion!

This weekend was the 41st Annual Sanders Family reunion. You know, when I was kid I was a brat. Of course, some my argue I still am a brat. Anyhow, I used to think family reunions were so boring and a waste of time. What the hell was wrong with me? I love my family and my extended family. There are so many of us. Attendance each year is over 100 and still growing. What is not to love about a family that big? As the years have gone by, especially recently, the old veterans of the group have passed on. Now it is what you make of it. They will never be the same, but we will have many more memories made. Now my kid(s) will have the same memories that I had when I was kid. Only this time around, I will make sure they appreciate it more than I did at that age. There is something comforting when you learn about your family history. It makes you so proud. Finding out where you came from and knowing the stories behind it, is so exciting to me. Especially, when you get to the age where you are really interested. Just recently, when Craig and I were driving back from Thanksgiving in Tennessee, we stopped in New Boston, Texas. That is where my Paw-paw was born. I got instant chills when we drove into the little town. I even cried. Just knowing that I was in the same town where he lived made me feel happy inside. I wish we had had more time to look around to learn more, but we were right smack in the middle of a 15 hour drive and home was the only thing on my mind. Maybe next time. Anyway, I got off the subject....Here are some pictures from our family reunion. Cheers to another great year. I love you all :-)

Conor with the some of the cousins..

This has to be one of the most awesome family trees I have ever seen.... The night before. Aren't we cute! Aunt Ashie and Conor acting up.... And people say we are related....Here is the 'ol Beal clan. There is a whole lot more of us, but they didn't get to make it. The terrible trio Another terrible trio! More family... The biggest group of them all!!So anyway, Blogger is probably upset with the size of this blog so I better stop. Let's all raise a glass.... Here is to family reunions. If you don't have family, you ain't got nothin'

So, fire me. It has been two weeks since my last confession..um I mean post :-)

Hello Everyone!

I know, I know. It has been two weeks since I posted last. I somehow developed a bad attitude towards my posting because I thought that no one ever reads it anyway. I mean I can't tell who if anyone is reading up on the McMahans. Then I got to thinking about how neat this will be when Conor gets older to see a week by week journal of our family....

We learned that Conor is allergic to Cashews. So anyone who is reading this that comes in contact with our family, please please please DO NOT give Conor a cashew. Better yet, no nuts of any kind just to be safe. We were hanging out at my parents house on Wednesday. Craig was eating some Honey Roasted Cashews and Conor came up to get one. Within a few seconds he complained that his tongue was hot. He started scratching at his neck. Next thing we know, he lips started to swell. Then his left eye nearly swelled (sp??) shut. Whoa! Talk about scared to death. We gave him a dose of Benadryl and the swelling went down quite a bit. His eye was back to normal by the next day. Here is a picture...

Moving on....Conor came down with a terrible cold on Friday evening. I noticed he had a cough on Thursday, but he acted fine so I wasn't worried. By Friday, he broke out in fever and threw up and stopped eating. Thank goodness his Dr.'s office is opened on Saturday. I had the phone in hand waiting for 9am to call for an appointment. By 930 we were sitting in the office. Conor's regular Dr was out, so we saw the other one in the practice. Conor had an ear infection. She seems to think he had strep too. Since she was going to put him on antibiotic, she opted not to test him for Strep. He felt bad enough, I didn't want to make it worse. After 24 hours of antibiotic he feels so much better. I hate it when he is sick. I know how bad you can feel, especially with fever.

My Mom and Dad had to return the Superman Halloween costume for Conor. He absolutely would not wear it. If you don't already know, he is going through is Buzz Lightyear/Power Ranger phase. He decided on the Buzz Lightyear costume. He actually put it on so we should be good to go for Halloween. It is a littl big, but anything smaller would have been too short. Get a good look, this may be the only time you see him in it. :-)

That is all for now!