And the Thursday Thirteen Winner is...

Kristie of Kristie's Notes. Congratulations! As soon as I hear from you then I will send the prize out. If I do not hear from her within 48 hours then someone else will be chosen.

Here are the answers...
1. I S M K S C - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
2. I C U A M C - It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
3. I H A B C W Y - I'll Have A Blue Christmas Without You
4. F T S W A J H S - Frosty The Snowman Was A Jolly Happy Soul
5. A I A M N C F A B - Away In A Manger, No Crib For A Bed
6. I H T B O C D - I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
7. O C A Y F J A T - O Come All Ye Faithful, Joyful And Triumphant
8. U O T H R P - Up On The Housetop Reindeer Pause
9. J O S N L Y E T W - Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Lean Your Ear This Way
10. O T F D O C M T L G T M - On The First Day Of Christmas, My True Love Gave To Me
11. S B R A Y L - Sleigh Bells Ring, Are You Listening
12. I D O A W C - I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas (It is white enough now and can stop though!)
13. J T T W T L H C - Joy To The World, The Lord Has Come

BONUS A W H H O H - Angels We Have Heard On High

Thank you to all who played...Hope that you have had fun with this one. I will be doing another Tastefully giveaway again soon. In the meantime check out my other gveaways - Country Bob's and one coming in the next couple of days...

Happy 6th Anniversary!

Doesn't He Look Handsome!

As if December isn't busy enough, today my hubby and I will celebrate 6 years of wedded bliss. Granted there have been some disagreements but for the most part we have not had any major arguements. We both know that we are stuck with each other because divorce is not an option so we might as well get along. JK We met just over 7 years ago on a blind date - set up by a mutual friend. The ironic part is that both of us had sworn off blind dates because of past experiences and look what happened!

Now, after three kiddos and his work schedule, it is hard to find time for just the two of us. I would really like to work on that in this next year. My friend Lisa and her hubby made a 2008 New Years resolution to eat at one new restaurant every month...someplace that they had never been before. That was a great idea - I think I will steal it for 2009 - hope you don't mind Lisa and Donnie! That would at least give us two hours of talk time per month...

Happy Birthday to my big boy - D!

Dan's finger compared to his arm!

Today is D's 5th birthday...I can not believe that he was so little when he was born - 5pounds 3ounces. He was born 5 weeks premature and spent 10 days in the hospital. It was a very hard Christmas because we could not take our sweet little boy home with us. We actually spent Christmas at the hospital to be with him. We missed Christmas with our families that year. Dan's family graciously made the trek down to the hospital to spend a couple of hours with us even though they could not get into the ICU because the hospital was limiting visitors - it was a really bad flu season and they didn't want the babies to get sick! Here are some pictures of him along the way...

And today, you would never know he was born premature...he is a smart (sometimes too smart for his own good), healthy boy with a HUGE imagination. He loves to cuddle with his mommy and is also very sweet (most of the time) with his brother and sister. It is so fun to watch him WANT to learn how to read and various other things. He has been into Dinosaurs and Ocean Life lately and "thinks" that he is an expert at it. he can sometimes be the biggest pain in the **** but most times is a great joy in my heart! Here are some recent pics of him...

So - Happy 5th Birthday my wonderful firstborn - I love you!

Picture Tag

My friend, Jeannie from I'm Losing It! tagged me to play this fun game.


The rules of this game are as follows:
*Go to the 6th picture folder in your documents.
*Find the 6th picture in your 6th folder.
*Pray that you remember what it is about.
*Blog about it.
*Tag 6 people to do the same.


Here is my picture:

The picture was taken in April of 2005 and is of my nieces and nephews making silly faces. That is my D in the front looking back at them like they are crazy. All three of my nieces shown here have a birthday in April and so we were at their birthday party. We were getting pictures of all of them together on the stairs, when they were being goofy so I told them to make silly faces. One of my nephews at the time is not in there...now we have four more boys and two more girls to add to this picture. I will have to get a picture of ALL of them at Christmas time and post that. I love big families - especially when they are all so close in age so that they have someone to play with!!!

I am now supposed to nominate 6 more players but don't know if I know six more bloggers that Jeannie didn't pick...I guess I have to wait a bit until I get more familiar with some bloggers...

If you want to do this feel free...just let me know in your comments you are doing it so I can go to your site and check out your pictures.

TO BE CONTINUED.....

Thursday Thirteen #5 Christmas Songs with Giveaway...

Today I decided to do something different - yes, there is a catch - You can win some yummy Tastefully Simple product for your troubles. I am going to list 13 Christmas Songs (OR lines from the songs), but it will only have the first letters of the word. If you can figure out all of the songs you will be entered into the drawing for a chance to win. The prize is the Artichoke & Spinach Warm Dip Mix, Warm the Oven! Savory Dip Mix, Spinach and Herb Dip Mix and the Bountiful Beer Bread Mix - Retail Value just over $35.00 with Shipping and Handling. Perfect for entertaining your New Years' Eve guests or anyone in the cold to warm up a bit. Make sure if you are entering that I know who you are and have a way to contact you back in case you are the winner! (HINT: You don't actually have to know them to enter, that would require thinking - just post a comment!)


Here is an example: H A H J C would be Have A Holly Jolly Christmas


1. I S M K S C

2. I C U A M C

3. I H A B C W Y

4. F T S W A J H S

5. A I A M N C F A B

6. I H T B O C D

7. O C A Y F J A T

8. U O T H R P

9. J O S N L Y E T W

10. O T F D O C M T L G T M

11. S B R A Y L

12. I D O A W C

13. J T T W T L H C


BONUS 1: A W H H O H for an extra entry - need not have all thirteen to get the extra entry but you DO need to know this one.

BONUS 2: If you actually know all 13 enter another comment letting me know that you have all of them - I will be testing you if you do this!

BONUS 3: Blog about this on your site and let me know the link - or if you are not a blogger, email five of your friends this Giveaway link and copy me on the email. Make sure you come back here and leave a comment!

BONUS 4: Now if you have never heard of Tastefully Simple - you are missing out on yummy food - click on the name above and go to the website and check it out - come back here and post another comment telling me what your favorite product is - or what yummy one you would like to try - for an extra entry.

YES - that is a total of FIVE chances! Again, make sure if you are entering that I know who you are and have a way to contact you back in case you are the winner!

Giveaway ends on Saturday, December 20th at Midnight and the winner will be chosen by Random on Sunday and I will ship your package out to you as soon as I hear back from you. If you do not reply back within 48 hours another winner will be chosen.

Good Luck!

Comfort Foods - Made Better With Bob's

Country Bob's All Purpose sauce is pretty good as a sauce. I tried it over little smokies in the crock pot this past weekend. I like the smokies already, but I took seconds with the Country Bob's sauce on them. I made myself stop! Everyone at the party liked them, too. Even some that normally would not eat them. I have not tried a recipe from Country Bob's website or the pamphlet that came with the sauces yet but as I sit here I am finishing my second bowl of Chili made with some of the All Purpose sauce. I made it for a work potluck but find myself wondering if I could just keep it myself and bring something else??? Hmmm....okay - I will share.

Country Bob's is a Christian company that gives full credit to their CEO, Jesus Christ. I love that about their company. It is on the website and on the bottles. That is one of the reasons why I would like to promote Country Bob's site.

Would you like to try Country Bob's with your favorite comfort foods??? Country Bob would like to help you satisfy your cravings for some yummy new recipes. They are giving TWO lucky readers of my blog TWO bottles of All Purpose Sauce EACH. But if you are not a winner OR when your bottles run out, you can head on over to your local Wal*Mart store and pick some up.

Entry is simple...just head on over to Country Bob's website and let me know what recipe you would like to try with this sauce.

Giveaway ends December 31st at Midnight. I will email the lucky somebodies on New Years Day! What a yummy way to start off the New Year. You have 48 hours to reply before I pick someone else...

Rewards Received...

I have recently received an award and I need to say Thank You to my dear friend Sarah, from Sassyfrazz, who gave me the Marie Antoinette Award! Thank you Sarah! Sorry it has taken so long to acknowledge this. You are very thoughtful and sweet.

Here are the rules of the award:

1) Please add the Marie Antoinette award photo on your blog

2) Place a link to the person from whom you received the award

3) nominate 7 exceptional blogs to receive the award

4) put the links to those blogs on your blog

5) leave a message on their blogs to tell them they are the chosen ones!

Now, I have not been around the bloggin' world too long so I don't have 7 blogs that I frequent yet but would like to give this award to these FIVE great bloggers:

Daisy Crazy Living, Canoearoos, Bring Your Own Cheese, Movers4Life, and Sobeit

Congratulations - love your blogs...