Its raining gumballs!!!~

Seems like all my spare time is off and driving these days... Im so exhausted from it. and today is no different.. Im off here in a few minutes to take Justice back home after his Christmas break with us. I think he enjoyed himself.. I know we sure did. We went today and saw Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler.. omygoodeness you should really go see it.. The boys laughed and giggled and Hunter really acted like he understood and it kept his attention well. Todd and I cracked up the entire time.. I even laughed til I cried one time... hahaa So if you get the chance.. GO see it!!! When we came out it was raining its butt off!!! And just now as I type they are sounding off the tornado sirens.. for weird.. its December 27th for crying out loud! I tell ya.. Im a bit concerned with the driving tonight. I'll just have to take it easy...

Tomorrow I have to clean clean clean! Then Monday.. back at it.. only this time the big boss will be gone.. he is heading back to Florida til after Easter... woot woot! The first thing I plan to do is re-arrange my office and re-decorate. I cannot wait for that!

Whats new in your world? When do you take down the tree and all that jazz? What was your favorite part of 2008?... What shocking news rocked your world in the past year? ... I'll be back later to answer some of these questions myself!

Have a great rest of the weekend ;o).. and oh yeah.. what do you think about the new look?

All is calm~

and all is bright... Tonight the boys opened their ONE gift.. jammies {Thanks Linda for the idea}.. its a tradition I would love to continue.. they were totally excited. As I finished the last minutes wrapping, Hunter fell off to sleep and Justice was still straining to hear Santa.... soon all will be quiet in the Dawson household and we will sleep while visions of sugar plums dance in our heads.. hehee..
Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!!!

I wish you *everything*~

Photos courtesy of Bass Pro-St. Charles, Missouri~ Circa: 2008

In the fine words of my son Hunter... "I want EVERYTHING"... I want for you all "everything"... joy, peace, love, health and friendship... not only now.. but for everyday.

Merry Christmas and I wish you a very blessed Happy New Year!!! ;o)

Proud Moments~

Look at the love going on here... This is my niece Aimee and her daughter Jadyn reunited at the airport after Aimee's return home from boot camp/ARMY. Everytime I look at this photo I just cry. Its so symbolic of my whole weekend. Taking time to think and love and enjoy your family and also the things around you. And to appreciate the blessings in our lives. And one very important thing that I think even Aimee would agree upon is to never look back. It just doesnt do us any good in our everyday living. Move forward and think positively and be kind. All things that were discussed by the speaker at my brother-Neals graduation on Saturday. Here is a pic of him and his wife. Im so proud of that whole family.. but Aimee and Neal especially for now. eheheee...

Later Taters~

Well my friends, Im off to Missouri this weekend. We are going back to have Christmas with Preston {my oldest punk} tonight. Then tomorrow we will watch my brother Neal graduate from College. Im so proud! Thennnnn... we will get to see Aimee home on leave from the Army. Its been since September so it will be a treat!

Im super excited, and hoping that even though we have many things to do its semi-relaxed. I have been so busy getting things ready, maintaining the home and working on some projects. Last night I stayed up til 1am wrapping gifts for Preston and making the sitter a book.. oh and darnit, I forgot to take a pic of it. Maybe I can catch it tonight when I pick Hunter up.

Anyway.. sorry I dont have much new to post... still trying out the new Shimmers from ChapStick.. so far its not as shimmery as my old lipstick, but boy does it taste good. hehee.

Have a great weekend.. be careful and enjoy... :o)

Ok ya'll for real... I have a secret to reveal... At night I sleep with my arms wrapped around me and my hands under my pits... remind you of anything??? ^^^.. No I dont smell my fingers afterward hahahaaa... but, I do find myself waking up with no feeling in my hands.. oh man I tell ya.. How do I do this to myself you may ask... well its called gravity vs boobs.. At night you see they try to strangle me.. so this is how I hold those puppies back.. plus my hands are alway so dang cold when I get into bed. .... So now you know... and maybe Ive revealed a bit too much.. but hey.. Im just keepin' it real. What are some of your quirks?... Come on you gotta have one.. or two?? heheee ;o}

Handmade for the Holidays & Give-a-way!~

Have you been over to Laineys blog to see what the girls have created for their homemade Christmas projects?.. Well.... what are you waiting for? hehee. She is also doing an awesome giveaway for a celebration! ;o).. so, go over there, read the directions and give it a shot. Also, share with me what you make! I made the Snowman Poop {previously posted and inspired by my friend Carol}. I cant wait to see the look on the guys faces when they open them.. hahaa. Have a great Monday night!

Cake Balls!~

Hunter and I made 70 cake balls last weekend. I dont know which was more fun.. baking the cake and getting all gooey or decorating... ummm probably the decorating. They are so sweet ya'll- I couldnt even get through one!!! Tara over at CS challenged us to post a recipe on our blog and link back to her to enter for a fab drawing. Lucky for me I had this photo, unlucky for me I cant print it and get it onto a layout for another chance.. but perhaps you can.. so head over to Taras Blog and take a peak at not only the blog but her fab challenges. And now let me give you the recipe.. These make a GREAT gift put into a pretty box. Great for those with a sweet tooth for real. PS: I have seen these made at Bakerellas site, Pioneer Womans site and Mommys Kitchen. All yummy. I think next time Im going to try spice cake with cream cheese icing. That seems a bit milder. hehee I made these with Devils food cake and Vanilla icing.

Directions:
Bake 1 cake {any flavor will do-try red velvet for Christmas .... or spice cake or chocolate.. any flavor}
Take the cake and put into a big bowl and crumble. Add to that 1 can of pre-made frosting. Again.. any flavor to match your cake. Mix all together and then roll into balls, about the size of walnuts. Place on wax paper on cookie sheet and pop into the freezer at least an hour.. I did them overnight. The next day I pulled them out.. melted whatever flavor chocolate or almond bark {I did both} and commenced to decorating. I used crushed peppermint, coconut and some Christmas white chocolate chips and then used chocolate on almond bark and vica versa. If you have any questions.. please comment and I'll help you best I can! Enjoy!!!!

Cotton loves Christmas~

Quick weekend post here. Just thought Id show ya a pic of my poor Christmas tree. Its on its last leg for real. I got this tree back in 99 I think. Somehow this year it developed a *rusty* look to it. We just left it, believe me, its more noticeable in the photo than in real. Our goal is to buy a new HUGE one that is pre-lit the day after Christmas. Hopefully as a great bargain. hehe Last year I did buy the new tree skirt. Its like faux suede and is sooo beautiful and really fits the country theme well. Along with the new tree we are thinking of buying a new angel. This year as the title of this post says "Cotton loves Christmas". Cotton is Hunters sock-monkey. We decided to put him on top this year and it really looks cute. Hunter had a lot of fun helping me set the whole thing up. Now, I need to wrap up some gifts and get them under there so it doesnt look so bare!

In other news.. Im just trying to recover from the week. I was totally stressed with work and invoicing to do much else when I got home. We managed to get the tree up and make it to Walmart one evening... where Hunter promptly set off the fire alarms by accidently pushing on one of the emergency exit doors. He was humiliated and embarrassed and told the manager he was sorry. Todd told him he was going to jail so he clung to my leg til I convinced him that wasnt so. Silly kid.
Today we went up to Highland. I love up there... a country town. I was however disappointed that I was too tired to shop and found no deals whatsoever, except for Todds new cell phone. That we got free!! I did pick up the lay away and got some of my nieces gifts taken care of. So I should feel accomplished, instead I feel blah. and hungry. Ever get that gnawing ache in the pit of your stomach and you just need MEAT. I want a steak soooo very bad. ;( Oh well. oh, hey.. I did manage to finally find the Chapstick Shimmers that Ive been wanting.. so give me a couple days and I'll give you another update. hehe I guess thats it for now. Still no scrapbooking... Im tellin' ya'll .. I almost threw my hands up today and said "I quit"... I just have no motivation right now... and I for real have some projects to work on.. just having a hard time getting on it. I think I need a day off?!? heheee... Have a great rest of the weekend!

Milk and Cookies~

I just love that song... reminds me of my lil cowboy Hunter.... and why do I say that..well, this morning the lil fartknocker wanted to wear a cowboy hat to daycare. I still have Prestons from when he was young. So I let him.. and man, did he ever look cute. Wish Id taken a pic! It brought back some memories too of when Preston was little. I used to dress him up in that hat and jeans all the time. So cute.. I truly am blessed to have beautiful boys.

We got the tree up last night.. its so pretty.. just love it... and Im now getting more into the spirit of things... hey a good paycheck will do that too huh? hahaa. {If you couldnt guess today was payday..hahaa} Naww, its just everything.. I needed to quit panicing and just live. Ahhh.. much better! As my husband would say.. it will all happen... be patient, dont stress.... Yeah we will see about that Mister... hahahaa Have a great day! ;o)

Cant Sleep~

Gah.. I cant sleep. And now I know I wont be able to because of my friend Kimmy, the enabler! LOL She posted over at Crazy 8's about the wonderful and juicy Peachy Cheap. I went to see the deal of the day and there is none other than my all time favorite papers and all the goodies to go with. Its such a great deal. BUT we are sooo tight on money right now it just wouldnt be fair to be buying something for myself. *deep breathes*... so if you get the chance, check the site out.. you may be able to find something that tickles your fancy.

In other news... yes, Im still stressed about Christmas. Seems now my oldest punk Preston doesnt want to come up. And for the first time in 3 years Ive actually taken off too. There is no good reasoning behind his decision. None that he has shared anyway. It breaks my heart. Im determined though to turn this horrible mood swing around. Tonight we are putting up the tree if it kills me and its midnight. I think I will start to feel so much better. I actually cannot wait to wrap up some gifts too! I was looking in my goodie box the other day and saw that I had gotten two new rolls of paper.. and they are sooo cool. So cant wait on that.

This weekend I may have to work since I missed yesterday out with Hunter-we felt his immunities were down so much that we didnt want to put him back into daycare when everyone there is sick. Poor lil thing just got over it. Anyway, I was thinking if we needed a little extra seasonal lift, that we could roll down to the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows and drive through their light display. We always do that, but usually the boys fall asleep hahaaa. It is sooo pretty though and I dont mind driving.. its always pretty crowded, but nice to read the story cards as we drive through. Justice will be here and he loves it as well. I think he could use some seasonal lifting as well. Too bad Preston wasnt here too. hhahaa.. may be good for him as well. Get him thinking anyway!

Next weekend we are going back home to see my niece Aimee since she is on leave for 2 weeks. Im so excited to see her! Also my brother graduates from college.. SO proud of him! So it will be a good time to get back and visit with them since we missed them at Thanksgiving. We should probably finish up our Christmas shopping, but nahhh I want to see them! heheee. Maybe we can combine shopping there as well?! hehee.. Boy Todd doesnt know what he is in for does he!?!

Back to scrapbooking... oh how I long to get back at it. Ive been restless tonight and most of it is due to an idea that I have swirling around in the ol' think tank. I drew out a sketch last night and would like to execute it soon. I think its a combo of watching Tim Holtz doing his 12 days of Christmas Tags and remembering back to my Grandma and how she poured so much time into her gift tags. I want to give some of these special ideas to my good friends as a little gift ... I am thinking that if I dont have to work, calling up my new friend Beth and seeing if she wants to spend the afternoon Sat/or Sunday making the items with me. She is new to scrapbooking but her boyfriend {a coworker of mine}relays that she is excited to get this show on the road! heheee

Ok, enough ramblings.. Im back to bed... Have a great Wednesday! ;o)

Beautiful Exhaustion~

I googled *beautiful exhaustion* and this was one of the photos under images that came up. Its beautiful I think. But it doesnt look exhausting.. it looks peaceful. I like peaceful, but too much right now will put me right to sleep and its only 7.30pm!!! ha! I have worked my fingers to the bone today. I love baking but Im telling you.. today it took its toll on me. Maybe I tried to do too much too fast.. I dont know, I do know that I put too much pressure on myself and get down on poor ol Todd for not helping out. But I do understand that he doesnt see the need in getting into such a toot over things. I just panic and think.. this isnt going to get done if we dont get on it right away. I doooo know one thing.. I love cooking with my son. Hunter just begs to sit on the counter and help me cook/bake. I let him do as much of it as he wants. Adding ingredients, talking about them, talking about cause and effect, breaking eggs, pouring, stirring and eventually tasting. I love the proud look he gets when he sees the end result of his labors.

Today we made 70 cake balls {will finish them tomorrow}, two batches of oatmeal cookies, two batches of banana nut muffins, 5 pounds of seasoned ground beef for this weeks meals and then dinner tonight. We wanted to make 2 more batches of chocolate chip cookies but we ran out of flour. So tomorrow I will probably get those going while the cake balls are setting up. I want to make a gift pack of all different things to give my Mom and her husband when they come into town on Tuesday. Id also like to make some snowman hats. I think all those baked goods with some cashews and chocolate covered cherries should be a great lil treat!

I also dug in and finished my Christmas cards {except those girlfriends of mine-will work on something extra special in the coming weeks for them} and I made up 11 packs of *snowman poop* to give to all of my workers and the guys at work. Also for the boys and my brother in law. I got the idea from my friend Carol, she posted hers that she had made at CS Sketchfest2 Winter Wonderland Bingo and even though mine are no where near as cute as hers.. I am happy with them. Oh, btw.. I won at Bingo too!!! It was 2 1/2 hours long and sooo much fun! I feel ultra guilty though as I havent been able to participate in any of the sketch challenges this week, then played bingo and won. ;( But do know that if I could have I would have. I did get all the sketches jotted down so that when the holiday season slows I can get some scrapbooking done!Have a great week!!! ;o)

See that cute lil Santa up there? Thats a piece of MME Festive Christmas paper. I so lucked out at the beginning of the season when Hobby Lobby was first putting out Christmas stuff and was able to latch onto a pack of the MME Festive Christmas cards. They are cards just like the paper, you just add the embellishments. I LOVE THEM. So.. have I finished them? Nooooo... Listen, I havent even really started. OH I put a lil glitter here, a lil glaze there and some epoxy stickers...... but do they look good???... mildly maybe. Im so behind, so stressed. I wish this was a grand time... guess its true what they say in the songs... This is SANTAS big scene... not mine. hahaa

I just spoke with my oldest punk. He told me not to stress.. that all the stress around him has made even him into a big ol' Grinch. Poor thing. I dont want any kid {yes I know he is 19}, but he is still MY baby, to have a bummed outlook for the holiday season. So I was thinking.. instead of me being so gloom and doom about it myself... I have to take control and turn this stress around!!! Im going to put that tree up, Im going to make hot chocolate and Im going to watch The Christmas Story over and over... yes I will. I will be so Christmas spirited that Hunter will start calling me Mommy Spirit! {Move over Britney Spirit-yes this is what he called Britney Spears} heheee.

There are a couple things I really want you to check out if you havent.
~1st... my friend Lindas blog. She rocks... simply rocks. If you have kids.. you MUST go there and soak up all of her cute ideas, gifts and recipes. I especially love her 25 days of Christmas list she made with her boys and husband. Linda.. you are a special person. Im so glad that we're getting to know one another! I hope you and yours have a very blessed season!

The other thing.. Tim Holtz. Be still my beating heart. God bless this mans talent! He is doing the 12 tags of Christmas again this year. I tell ya... he never ceases to amaze me. Is he Santa in Tims clothing? hehehee. Stop by his blog TODAY and check it OUT!!! Beware: Wear a bib cuz you are going to DROOL! ;)

Im from the country~

and I like it that way...
I grew up in a small town of about 12,000 in central Missouri. I grew up on a small farm out in the middle of BFE..and if you dont know what BFE is.. well lets just say its in the middle of the sticks! We used to tease that our address was 4th and Plum.. {4 miles out, Plum in the woods}. hahaa

Anyway.. I grew up with my Dad as a hunter.. although he just gun hunted deer and such. He taught my brothers how to handle guns and hunt as well. He also took my oldest son Preston out to deer hunt his first couple of times. Prestons Dad always liked to bow hunt as well as my cousins and eventually Preston got into Archery as well. Now.. Im married to an avid bow hunter and 2 of my sons are into bow hunting as well. And my brother is super into it as well... so Ive come to really understand the thrill, the technique and the skill needed to be a bow hunter... and eventually someday when Hunter is older I will start bow hunting or at least try some sort of Archery sport. Hunter has his first bow as well, so there is no doubt that he will follow in his Daddys footsteps. He also has both sides of the family to fall back on {both Uncles are avid bow hunters} and of course his big brothers.

Anyway.. Im just saying, like any sport this teaches our children that there are things to do and that you can excel and go forward and be a good person and interact with adults in a respectful manner. Im so proud that I was raised country and was afforded this same passion and was especially happy when I read the following article in my hometown newspaper this morning.


Archery in Schools Program drawing support in NB
By ROGER MEISSEN
The Fulton Sun
NEW BLOOMFIELD - Archery might soon join the New Bloomfield physical education repertoire alongside longtime favorites like softball or basketball.

At its Nov. 20 meeting, board members here considered adding the National Archery in the Schools program in an effort to broaden that focus to outdoor sports.

Superintendent Mike Parnell sees this as an opportunity to engage students in something new that could help them focus in a positive way.

“It looks like it could be a really good program,” Parnell said. “This is a way to link kids in school to caring adults and can even be an incentive for them to do well in school.”

The course is designed to teach children - from fourth to 12 grades - about the joys of international style target archery. It uses Genesis constant draw bows that are similar to compound bows, but safer and easy to use for any type of child.

To aid schools in adopting this program several businesses and groups - including the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Missouri Conservation Federation and Bass Pro Shops - have banded together to provide grants for the start-up cost of the program.

“I played football and basketball and there gets to be a certain look to an athlete,” said David Smith, manager of the Columbia Bass Pro Shop. “What strikes me with this program is there are just as many girls and boys participating so gender wasn't an issue and neither was size and background.

“All those things were irrelevant and there were a lot of non-traditional athletes - including one student in a wheel chair - that were all able to participate very successfully and passionately,” he continued. “That's exciting when you see a whole group of students involved in an activity that wouldn't have connected otherwise.”

NASP began in 2002 and has been adopted by nearly 5,000 schools in 46 states since then. Parnell stated that the South Callaway School District started this program several years ago and has seen success, and Ashland is considering beginning a program in its school.

Board members agreed that there could be benefits to students.

“I think it's an incentive for some of these kids,” Frese said. “You would think that there would be discipline problems, but it seems like the kids are so excited to do it that there aren't many problems.”

Nationally, the program has seen no archery accidents through either its programs that are in conjunction with PE curriculum or those run as an extra-curricular activity.

While many states were quicker to embrace NASP, Missouri is now getting involved more. Just this year it has started a statewide competition sponsored through the Missouri Department of Conservation March 6-7 on the campus of Linn State Technical College.

“It's real exciting to see smaller school's like New Bloomfield jump on board and get real excited about it, because it's the students that benefit,” Smith said. “It also exposes kids - that many times do not have an outlet - to outdoor activities and teaches them life skills that can translate into a lifetime of being active.”

Now New Bloomfield has to find money for the program. It costs around $3,000 for 10 righthand bows, two lefthand bows, and a startup kit, but MDC, MCF and Bass Pro offer a combined $1,500 in grants for schools. Board members said the rest will need to be raised through fundraising efforts, but think it's worth the effort.

“Kids aren't all basketball or baseball players,” Backer said. “This is something that an individual can do that doesn't take a lot of physical prowess and most kids can do so I think it's great.”

I sure hope that we can move back home as Id love for Hunter to grow up in the same small town atmosphere as I did.. but that we shall see about.... who knows where this crazy world will take us.
In other news.. Here is a pic from Thanksgiving of the boys.. After about 25 shots they were getting darn tired of having to sit there.. poor things! ;) Hope your week is good!!!