Oh Christmass Tree....

My kids are absolute pro's at decorating Christmas trees by now. They have decorated 3 tree's so far this year and still have one to go.

Of course they helped put up and decorate our tree Thanksgiving Morning. Friday evening they helped my dad and stepmom do their tree and then Saturday we did my inlaws tree.

Turkey Day!

Well another Thanks"you"giving as Audree called it, has come and gone. As usual we ran around like chickens with our head cut off.


Thanksgiving morning we put our Christmas tree up as a family so we didn't have to do it that evening. The girls were so stinking cute putting all of the ornaments on it. Ashlyn did VERY good and hasn't even messed with the three (knock on wood).

First stop was my Nana's. I made my first ever homemade dressing. It was HUGE hit with everyone!! We actually ended up having it my mom & stepdads. We had food coming out of our ears. My aunt made the best twice baked mashed potatoes Ive ever eaten! I also made my famous sopapilla cheesecake which is always gone pretty quick.

Second stop was my inlaws. My father in law bought a 27 lb turkey that they named "Hank". Every year one of the kids gets to name the turkey, yes I know it sounds crazy. I was so stuffed from the previous thanksgiving that I couldn't bring myself to eat. I picked at a roll and watched everyone else eat lol Afterwards I plopped my rear in my nieces bed and took about a hour nap.

The third stop was my dad's house. There was no way in heckidoodles we could eat, so we just visited with them. The girls love going to my dad's house and playing. Their fa vorite thing of course is the stairs. We were getting ready to leave when Audree said she wanted to stay at Pop Pop's house for a bit. SO we left her there and they brough her home around 9:30 that night.

My stepmom & I hit up Black Friday! First stop was Walmart. They had a Minnie Mouse scooter on sale that was PERFECT for Audree. She told Santa that she wanted one, so she will be so stinking surprised Christmas morning. I also grabbed Ashlyn an Ariel (Little Mermaid) vanity that lights up & sings for her big Santa gift. Walmart was ABSOLUTLEY INSANE. I mean there were people everywhere. Even though I got some WONDERFUL savings, I will never ever do Black Friday shopping at Walmart again.


Overall we had an AMAZING Thanksgiving!

THANKsgiving

Well its already that time again…. THANKSGIVING!

T is for turkey on Thanksgiving Day,
H is for "Hurry, I'm hungry!" we say.
A is for Auntie, she works and she mends,
N is for Native American friends.
K is for kitchen, the oven's on low,
S is for silverware, set in a row.
G is for Grandma, the one we love most,
I is for inside, where we're warm as toast.
V is for vegetables, eat them we try,
I is for ice cream on top of the pie.
N is for never do we have enough dressing,
G is for Grandpa, who gives thanks for our blessings.

What am I thankful for?

I am always thankful for my husband & 2 daughters. There isn’t a day that goes by that I am not thankful for them. My husband is just an amazing man all around. He always make me feel special, like I am a queen and just overall loved like nobody else has ever made me feel. After 10 years of being together, I still get butterflies when he looks at me, my heart skips a beat when we kiss, its just an amazing feeling to experience. Even when were apart while at work, I miss him so much. I wish I could just be by his side all of the time. I could not imagine my life with out him.

My girls are just angels sent from heaven. I love being able to wake up to them every single morning. They put so much joy and happiness into my heart. The way the smile, laugh, talk, sleep, EVERYTHING they do just amazes me. I am thankful that God blessed our family with 2 of the most beautiful, smart, amazing, & talented kids.

I am also thankful for my family. My parents of course as they brought me into this crazy but amazing world. My in laws as they are just like 2nd parents to me. My step-parents have been the best I could have ever imagined. My Nana who is like my 2nd mother and my inspiration in life. My brother who is like a dad to me. I have always looked up to him and will always look up to him until the day I leave this world. He has become such a successful man and I am so proud to be able to call him my brother. My little sister who has such a very special place in my heart. She is growing up, moving on and really showing us how much she has learned in this life. My aunt Stacey and uncle Randy are the best aunt and uncles anyone could ever ask for. They treat me like I am one of their own kids and just are amazing. Of course my beautiful little cousins Delaney & Colton. My niece Laura, who is just like my own child. My brother in law and sister law, just cause their awesome blossom.

The Lord. My heart has been pushing back towards church. We haven’t been since I got pregnant with Ashlyn. I have been feeling the urge to go back, but she hadn’t made the decision to say yes I will go. This past weekend we attended church. To be back there was absolutely amazing. As we sang some songs, I started feeling so many emotions running through me. I closed my eyes, sang to lyrics to the songs, and just became choked up. I know it was the Lord telling me that this is where my family & I needed to be. Since this weekend, I have listened to so many Christian songs and just the words and messages it sends amazes me. My favorite right now is Revelation. Audree asks me to turn it on every morning in the car and she tries to sing along with the words. It just makes me feel so much love and joy in my heart. Lord I am thankful that you have given me the push I needed to make it back to church.

I am also thankful for my life in general. I am not only blessed to have such an amazing family, but also amazing friends. They are always there to listen to me, vent with me, or just hang out and talk. I am thankful for each and everyday that I am living in this world. Life is so short and sometimes its taken for granted. I am thankful for my health and well being and well just life!

I hope each and everyone of you have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Ho Ho Ho....... Already???

This past weekend Santa Clause made an EARLY appearance to have breakfast with some LUCKY children. Our local chic fil a opened up before our mall opened and let families in that had made reservations online.

We walked in, ordered our food and waited for Santa to make his grand appearance. I was worried how the girls would react as the last few years Audree has been TERRIFIED of him and Ashlyn wasn't too fond of him last year. Well as I was waiting on our food, I hear this terrified scream and thought hey that sounds familiar. Turned around and TA DA it was little Ashlyn crying her head off. They had the chic fil a cow dressed up and Ashlyn was SCARED TO DEATH of him. Every time she saw the cow, she would bury her head into my shoulders and close her eyes.


As we ate Santa came around and sat at each table with the kids. When he sat down at our table, the girls just stared at him. He told Brett he was on the naughty list this year, but the girls & I were on the NICE list :) Audree didn't talk to much to him, but she made sure to give him her list of things she wanted him to bring her lol Ashlyn just kind of stared at him and had no clue what to think.

After we finished breakfast we went on a parade. We made a stop at rocky mountain chocolate factory and received free fudge, a coupon and candy canes dipped in chocolate, then we headed up to Santas Village and they made it snow on all of the kids.


Overall we had a good time and that's all the matters :)

Novemember 17th- World Prematurity Day

Prematurity is something that is very dear & near to my :hearts; My precious little Audree, was born @ 32 weeks at 5:57 AM Feb 11th, 2008. She weighed in at 4 lbs 13.8 oz and was 18.5 inches long. She couldn't breath on her own as her lungs were under-developed, therefore she ended up on a ventilator. She was on a ventialtor for 5 days, cpap for 1 and oxygen throughout the remainder of her 1 month stay. To read more on Audree's birth story and stay in the nicu you can read that here

I thank the nurses and neonatoligst all of the time because without my precious babies may not be here with us right now!

November 17 is World Prematurity Day and when we focus everyone’s attention on the serious problem of premature birth. Honor the million babies worldwide who died this year because they were born too soon, and the 12 million more who struggle to survive.

• In the United States, 1 in 8 babies is born prematurely.
• Worldwide, 13 million babies are born too soon each year.
* Out fo the 13 million babies born to soon, 1 million of those babies do NOT survive.
* The United States received a “C” on the March of Dimes Report Card. The U.S. preterm birth rate is 12.2 percent.
* Preterm births cost the us more than $26 BILLION a year.
* It is the leading cause of newborn death, and babies who survive an early birth often face the risk of lifetime health challenges, such as breathing problems, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities and others.

Please help me celebrate and make this day known.

Gymnastics Kid

This past Tuesday we let Audree try a gymnastics class again. We tried a class last year, she did great for the first 3, then they changed her teacher and she had a melt down and wouldn’t go back. A friend that she goes to school with takes gymnastics so we thought it would help Audree get back into the groove of things. She has been asking to get back into gymnastics but she has seemed skidish.

Tuesday she woke up and told me she was scared to go to gymnastics, but she was going to be brave lol As soon as I got off work, I ran home to pick everyone up. Audree looked SOOOOOO cute in her leotard. She was talking non stop about everything they have at gymnastics and asking me if she got to do everything there. I explained I didn’t know, we would have to wait until we go there.

When we walked in the door, she immediately clung to my leg and buried her head. It was CROWDED with people EVERYWHERE at the class before her’s was letting out. I walked her into her class and told her mommy, daddy and sister were right in front of the window where we could see her. Her little friend Grace yelled out, MY FRIEND AUDREE IS HERE!!! It was way to cute. She was a little shy at first, but it didn’t take her long to warm up. She did soooooooo wonderful and had smile from ear to ear the entire hour she was in there.

When she got out, she told us she had a good time and couldn’t wait to come back. We will be heading back this next Tuesday to make sure she is going to do it before we fork the money out for the month. I think this time she is older and ready to keep in it.

Gettin Our Craft On....

Hi, my name is Apryle and I am addicted to pinterest. If you haven't been to this website, you REALLY need to check it out. I mean I check it several times a day, look at several different things and get TONS of ideas for things I want to make.

This past weekend we made 2 Thanksgiving crafts. We had SOOOOOO much fun making them, I hope we can keep doing these for all the holidays and just craft time around our home!

The first thing we made was a Turkey Light. Basically we painted the girls hands with acrylic paint, pressed their hands onto the glass cube, made a few little touch ups, put christmas lights in the cube and TA DA there you have it, a tukrey light. It always makes a really cute keepsake. Every Thanksgiving we can see how much the girls hands have grown :)

The second project we made were turkey shirts for the girls to wear throughout the month. Not let me tell you now, I AM NOT A SEAMSTRESS, never have a never will be. Needle and thread are like oil and water with me, we do NOT mix!!!

I have seen these turkey shirts ALL over ETSY! They wanted like $20 a shirt plus shipping. I thought about it and finally said instead of spending $50+ on 2 shirts, why dont I try to make them. A friend of mine, Ashlee, made some for her 2 girls. With some tips for her, some guidiance from my mother's friend on using under wonder, and my some what craft skills we accomplished our mission in making the shirts!

Pumpkins Pumpkins Pumpkins

This past weekend we took the girls to a local pumpkin patch to pick out their pumpkins to carve. Ashlyn was FASCINATED with all of the pumpkins. She tried to pick them all up, even the ones twice her size.

Audree picked out a hello kitty design and Ashlyn wanted none other than spongebob himself. Everytime Spongebob comes on, she stops and FREEZES and is like a zombie watching it. You can say her name, walk in front of her and she will have no clue youre there lol She loves her some spongebob. Audree helped get the pumpkin "guts" out as she called it. YOu can tell by her face in the 2nd picture that she didn't care for it too much.

My weirdo child lol She was so funny with these fake teeth in