Hello all you lovely people who come here and read my blog! If you follow me on Facebook (
http://www.facebook.com/pattycampbell ), then you may have already seen these photos plus many others. But I'm posting here for all to see. Nothing major, but I'm proud of my girls and I'm gonna show 'em off!
Also, finances remain less than perfect, but we've decided to do whatever it takes to make Christmas amazing for these girls, especially since we had to start over with the tree and decorations, stockings everything. The kids are resilient though and are loving the changes and cool hip colors we chose for the tree which is REAL this year! I know I know, still no pic of the tree. I'm a bad bad blogger. I'll get it! But, anyway, the house payments is up to date and has been for months, I'm only a little behind on the Explorer, electric is paid and water will be tomorrow (I hope), and the pantry and freezer are stocked. All presents are bought (unless we have to get one for my FIL, not sure yet if we'll see him - he might get a white elephant gift LOL). They're all wrapped and ready to go to my family's party or are all stacked under the tree. The girls can't get over the fact they have MULTIPLE presents! I'm so happy to see even the teenagers looking at the gifts and grinning and looking for theirs and shaking them and giggling. And it's also so good to know that Sunday morning after Santa has visited, they'll be equally surprised and thrilled. We owed these girls a really good Christmas, and we are doing it.
January will mean getting back out of a hole and just hoping we can get the house payment in on time. But we're still sticking with the plan of getting the cash advances paid off as soon as possible. In the budget we're supposed to get all 4 (though now there's 5, shhhhh), paid off in January. Now I just hope we can get 3 paid off, but even if that's all we can do, it's ok. It's a big improvement. Besides in Feb, we should be getting our tax refund. Then new flooring and paint the walls! WOOHOO!!
I've spent the last couple days cleaning the master bedroom really well (we have so much room in there now!), and I've been keeping up with laundry. I'm still doing the makeup and pampering thing, but I really need to streamline it. I am not used to allowing so much time for getting ready. I used to barely look at myself before leaving the house at all. We ripped up the carpet in the hallway finally, it was even worse than the living room! I also moved the book/game shelf out of the hallway and moved it to my office space and it looks GREAT! I'll try to do a post soon on just the master bedroom. When we finally get the flooring done, I'll do a whole post on that whole thing beginning to end, before and after.
So, now here's the pics! I'm just posting a few. Feel free to swing by my FB page and look at any others.
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| Rhiannon with the Advanced Chorus singing at Barnes and Noble |
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| Rhiannon (in red and white striped scarf) with Advanced Chorus at concert. |
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| Rhiannon in the High School Gospel Choir |
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Faelyn (blonde in white in middle front row - half hidden by piano) with the Middle School Chorus
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| Rhiannon, Zoe and Faelyn waiting to watch the parade in my hometown, Rogersville, TN. |
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| Mike and David, my nephews taking the coffee cart around to parade viewers. They work for their Mom, my sister Connie. She owns Miss Bea's Perks and Pies in Rogersville, TN. It's named after our Mom who died of cancer before it opened. |
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Tractors are my second favorite thing in a parade (marching bands are first).
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These are from the parade here in Greeneville, TN
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| The Greeneville High School Green Devils - State Champs 2 years in a row!! Go Green Devils!! |
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Rural Resources which is the organization my kids work with had a float for the first time in the parade this year and won 3rd place!! Nothing on the float was bought, it's all recycled or homemade stuff.
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| That's Faelyn in the black hoodie, waving. |
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The haybales were *supposed* to be a Christmas tree, but it wasn't very high... and that thing on top that looks like the Pope? That's Rhiannon dressed as a "star" LOL. She said she got tired of holding her arms out HAHA! Everyone asked her if she was the Pope! lol
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We've had a great time as a family this Christmas time. Christopher has had to work like 65+ hour weeks, but he still was able to go to all the plays/concerts and I got them to the parades. We've gone to look at lights, Rhiannon's had several big parties to go to (the perks of being in a highschool full of rich kids LOL).
The get together with my side of the family is the 23rd at my sister's coffee shop/bakery. We didn't get together last year, and this year my brother has insisted we all make it this time. Corina (my oldest who lives with her fiancee) unfortunately has to work, but everyone else will be there. We do a White Elephant gift exchange, so I got a couple of gag gifts and some cool ones to take as well. Looking forward to it, though we'll get there late. Christopher has to work til 7 (unless he can slip away early).
Then Saturday, he gets off work at 5 and we'll chill as a family and let Christmas descend upon us. A nice dinner, Christmas carols, board games and presents among just us five. Then Sunday morning, they'll get up and find their stockings and presents from Santa (yes even the teens), and we'll have waffles in my new waffle maker I got as a gift. Later on, my mother in law (and maybe father in law too) will come over as well as Corina and Tyler, and we'll have a big Chinese dinner. Cashew chicken, zippy chicken stirfry, potstickers, lomein, rice, shrimp sauce. mmmmmmm The kids are really looking forward to it. Last year we did Mexican and it was a huge hit, but they voted on Chinese this year.
So, in case I don't post again before this weekend, MERRY CHRISTMAS from my quirky chaotic little family to you and yours!
Here's to an amazing 2012!!
