Merry Christmas... Part 4

Okay, so this is the last one... I promise!  One of the miracles that unraveled at our Christmas celebration this year was that my Nana got her class ring back after it had been missing for 25-30 years!  Apparently, when my biological mom and dad were "dating" (they were only like 14-16 at the time) my mom had given it to him.  Recently, while going through some things in his attic, he stumbled across it, and was able to mail it to me so that I could return it to her this Christmas.  She was so thrilled.  It was something she had always talked about when I was growing up about how she wished she had it- especially when Lyndsey and I ordered our class rings.  So, now she has it back!

Nana's class ring- Valley View High School, Class of 1961

Cousin Sydney, a freshman at Univ of Alabama, wanted "meat money" for Christmas so that she wouldn't have to eat in the Cafeteria all the time!

Deven Shea loved her Peek-A-Blocks from Aunt Z (Lyndsey)

In closing, I hope everyone has not gotten overwhelmed with the magnitute of the 4 part saga of Christmas celebrations at the Isbell House!  I hope you all had a blessed new year and are as excited as I am about 2009!  Love and God Bless!

Merry Christmas Part 3

So I may have drug the Christmas celebrations out a little too long, but this was Deven Shea's first one, so there was lots of fun moments to capture and share!  The second part of our Christmas Journey was coming back to Jonesboro and spending time with my side of the family on the day after Christmas.  We went to my Papa Stark's on Christmas night and had dinner and then had brunch and spent the day at my Nana's on the 26th.  It was so much fun.  

Here are some more pictures!

Deven ready to hit the road again!

Deven and her Nana

Deven opening her "laptop" from Mommy and Daddy

Cousin Abby reading the Christmas story, which I have to say was the most hysterical reading of Luke 2 I have ever heard.  When she got to the verse that talked about how on the 8th day Mary and Joseph took Jesus to be circumsised, she mispronounced the word and after stumbling around a bit, she said, "crucified" and my Papa the Rascal (he's there in the background) piped uo and said, "same thing!" it might have been one of those "ya had to be there" moments, but it had us all laughing til we cried.  Too funny!  Ahh.. Memories!

Christmas... Part 2... Mashed Potato Mess

Okay, so Christmas lunch was over and most of the food was gone.  Deven ate so good- lots of veggies and turkey, but made a big mess in the process so we stripped her down to her diaper and the following video is what transpired as Mommy sat her on the kitchen table.

Here are a few pictures of the aftermath:

Somehow we both ended up with mashed potatoes on our faces!

Belated Merry Christmas Everyone! Part 1

Well, with all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I am a little late getting our Christmas pictures up.  Deven did not rip into presents as I had hoped, but she still had fun with all her new toys.  Tyler and I think we had said "No, No, No" to her a few too many times to keep her curious little hands out of the presents, that when it was finally time to open them, she thought, "I don't know about this!"  After a few presents, she was kinda overwhelmed so we even saved a few for the day after Christmas.  We had a great time though traveling to Charleston, MO to see Tyler's family and then spending the 26th at my Nana's and Papa's here in Jonesboro.  My favorite Christmas present was my clean house courtesy of my Mom who came to clean it after we left for MO.  Talk about a blessing.  That was the best.  Anyway, here are a few pictures of all the festivities:

Deven and Uncle Walker with her "big" present, a "Little People" nativity set.

Deven with her V-Smile from Nonni and Pop

Daddy and Deven opening presents

Fall Fun... A little (ok a lot) late

A few months ago, I thought my memory card on my camera was messed up. Turns out I had just saved the pictures/video on the internal memory instead of on the memory card. These were all taken late Oct/ Early November, but I thought I would share them anyway!

Deven after she finished eating lunch one day.  Watch her little lips at the end.  So cute!

  Deven sitting up in the high chair at Chickfil A like a big girl!

 Her playing with the baloon they brought her, after she pulled her headband out.  Sarah, how in the world do you get Lydia to keep her's in?  It is a constant battle with Deven!

I am going to try to post Christmas pictures and a pre-Christmas peek at all Deven's gifts.  We had so much fun picking them out this year.  I think it was more fun in the toy asiles picking them out than it ever was peeking under the tree Christmas morning!  I spread them all out when we got home just to see what her spread would look like Christmas morning!  So fun!

Meal Plan Monday

I am getting a jump start on my New Year's resolution this year- better meal planning and more meals at home. I feel like I have really gotten out of the habit of cooking and my husband and I both have the waistlines (or lack thereof) to prove it. I have been inspired by the ladies over at Grocery Cart Challenge she feeds a family of six on $60.00 per week!
I am going to try to use less processed foods in the coming year, but for the first few weeks, until I use up what we have and slowly replace it with healthier choices, you may see processed items on the list. Plus, we are big hamburger helper fans around here, so I am sure it will make its appearance here and there to. I am going to try and stick to a grocery (food items only) budget of $20.00 per week as I go shopping. We are pretty frugal and eat with family a few times a week, and eat out on occaison, so this should not be too diffucult.

Here is the plan for this week:

Monday
Lunch: Leftover chicken strips and broccoli cheese rice
Dinner: Chicken tortilla soup with tortilla chips

Tuesday
Lunch: Corn dogs
Dinner: With family

Wednesday
Lunch: Pizza Knots from an Auntie Ann's fundraiser
Dinner: Deersteak and Rice

Thursday
Lunch: Lunch date with Luke and Donna Moore (We are going to Ruby Tuesdays, one of our favorite places. They recently delivered coupons for $10.00 your total ticket, which means that Tyler and I can both eat, frugally, for around $12-15 dollars. That's exciting!)
Dinner: Breakfast for dinner, including sausage, biscuits, gravy, and eggs for four people as the Bennett's are coming over that night!

Friday
Lunch: Chili and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Dinner: Philly Cheesesteak Hamburger Helper

Saturday
Lunch: Pancakes and Bacon
Dinner: Hashbrown Potato Soup

Sunday
Lunch: With Family
Dinner: Out to eat

Grocery List
3lbs of cheap hamburger meat, plan to use rinse method found here
Milk
Bacon
Bread

I have everything else on hand. Not bad at all!

Okay, so there you have it, my first Meal Plan Monday Post!

Turkey Time... and Deven's first ear infection

Well, Tyler and I have been on "Fall Break" this week, but it has really felt like no break at all. The both of us has been swamped with school projects and worse of all, our sweet baby girl has been sick. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Tyler worked full days on campus and then on Thursday we had lunch at Papa Starks (my 92 year old grandpa's). It seems the crowd gets smaller every year. It was particularly sad this year because his health has really gone down hill a ton in the last year. He didn't really interact with anyone that was there too much, just ate and slept in his recliner, bless his heart. That evening, we had dinner with Pat and Justin Register and Justin's Mom and Dad, who were visiting from Alabama. It was a nice change of pace and it was good to see them.

On Friday I worked a split shift in The Children's Place in the mall. 6am-11am and then 5pm-10pm. I did manage to squeeze in a lunch date with my Aunt Pam, Uncle Bill, their two girls and Uncle Rob and Aunt Rhonda and their daughter as well as my Nana, Papa Rascal, and my sister Lyndsey. We ate at Mazzio's pizza which seems like no big deal to most people, but my Nana and Papa probably eat out once a year and it's almost always at Coltons so for them to go to a pizza place is one of the most unlikely things ever. On Saturday, we made the trip from Jonesboro to Hardy to visit with some of Tyler's dad's family. They have a "family house" up there just across the highway from the Spring River. It is honestly one of my favorite places to go. It is not much to look at, just an old house with a wood burning stove and not even air conditioning, but I know when I am there with family there is nowhere else I would rather be. Here are some pictures from the day:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

On Sunday morning during church Deven began to get extremely fussy and her fever spiked at a 103.5 at Nana's that afternoon. She refused to eat and just screamed constantly. Sunday night and all day to today was pretty much no better. She didn't want to eat, sleep or anything- just be held. The Lord was faithful and the only opening her clinic had open for the afternoon was with her pediatrician. Come to find out she has an ear infection in her left ear. We have her on ear drops, antibiotics, and Tylenol now so hopefully she will feel better soon. I know her daddy and I both are glad she is sleeping tonight!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and if you're like me, you can hardly wait until Christmas!