Smith's Thanksgiving

Saturday night the Smith family gathered at Freddy and Charlotte's house for supper. It was so good, and I finally got my Thanksgiving turkey! (My uncle Harold can smoke the best ones!) Our family seems to get bigger every year. This year Noah (Matt and Leah's little boy) was a new addition and Emily is engaged so Keith will official be part of our clan by this time next year.

Katie Lee and Addie Mae had the best time playing together. They played so well together which is always nice. Katie Lee had been talking about Addie Mae all day and wanted us to get her that morning and take her shopping with us. :)
Baby Noah slept through most all of it.


Katie Lee, I think, is a little on the jealous side when it comes to one of us holding a baby. She wants no part of a baby, and the talk of a brother or sister just really upset. Good thing we aren't ready for another one anytime soon.

Kitchen Re-do

Today I am joining Between Naps on the Porch for another Metamorphis Monday.

Here is the before of our kitchen in our rental house. It had pretty good bones. The owner had recently updated a few things.


Here is the after. I really think that it turned out pretty good. A big thanks to my mother and my sister, Kathryn, for all of their help decorating.

Basketball and Cheerleading

Tuesday night, we went to ABS to watch Mary Kaitlyn cheer and Hayden play basketball. Katie Lee was super excited and is just crazy about them. She was a big help with the Cheerleaders and I just knew that she would run out and try to chase Hayden down at any time.

Thanksgiving Recap

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I hope that all of you did too. We began our day with a huge breakfast at Mother and Daddy's including my favorite homemade biscuits and chocolate gravy. It was delicious!! It was all gone when I thought of taking a picture. This has become our tradition rather than having the traditional turkey and dressing. I love it!

Katie Lee did make her own Thanksgiving feast too.

Donnie also went hunting that morning and got one.

The afternoon was spent with me decorating for Christmas,Katie Lee napping, and Donnie shopping at Gander Mountain.

We had the McNatt Thanksgiving that night at Aunt Mary's. I had saved up all day for this and it was well worth the wait!!
I made Cheesy Apples, and I am proud to say that they did not burn. (I haven't had a lot of luck with this oven.)

Katie Lee took pictures of everyone. Some turned out ok while others did not.





Katie Lee had fun drawing and playing with James.

Aunt Mary also gave each of them their Christmas gifts. Katie Lee love it. She got a Santa stool, a puzzle, and a dog, which she quickly named Ms. Smith. HA HA We have yet to figure out how she came up with that name.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We have been blessed so much and have so much to be thankful for.

Visitors for Lunch

Today Donnie and Katie Lee came to eat lunch with me at school. We had talked about it all week since Donnie is off work this week. I thought that Katie Lee would just love eating at school with Mommy. I had my camera with me but forgot to get any pictures during lunch. This was OK anyway because when they got to the lunchroom, Katie Lee was already crying. She wanted the little white chair in the hallway. She sat in it back in the summer and I guess she thinks that it is just for her. Anyway, she got over that and sat down to eat. Our chairs do not have backs in them, so she fell out. That ruined her for almost all of lunch. Highlight of her lunch time was when one of my girls gave her a banana from their lunch tray and another to take home with her. She was quite happy then. On the way back to my classroom, we picked up the chair to bring to my room. She also made one of the crafts that my class was in the process of making for Christmas. A Reindeer. She really thought that she was something.

To finish off their visit, it breaks her heart to have to go and leave me at work. Needless to say, I doubt if she will be wanting to visit again any time soon.

Another Busy Weekend

Aren't all weekends busy these days? Friday night, Katie Lee and I joined Virgil for Thanksgiving at the Manor. The ladies there had prepared turkey and dressing and then the family members brought the fixings for our feast. All of the food was really good. I think Virg. and Katie Lee enjoyed themselves. They had music while we ate which kept Katie Lee entertained long enough for us to eat.

Saturday, we headed to Huntsville shopping. I think that I am about finished with all of my shopping. We first went to the Delta Zeta Marketplace, the mall, Hobby Lobby, and Target. We met up with Donnie and my Daddy for supper later that night. While we were at the mall, Katie Lee saw Santa. Of course, I really did not think that she would sit in his lap but she did!!! I was so surprised. I let her out of the stroller and told her to go tell him what she wanted for Christmas. She RAN up to him JUMPED in his lap and gave him a big HUG!!! I could not believe it. I did get the picture because I thought next year she may be afraid, and it was just too cute. She also gave him her Christmas list----clothes!!

Sunday after church I took Katie Lee to have her picture made with the photographer that Beth Tuten was selling. I think that they came out really cute. I cannot wait to see.


We did take some time to be at home and play. JuMpInG on the bed is Katie Lee's favorite night time treat!

Enjoy the week!!!

Wishing Julie the Best

Today was my friends Julie's last day of work until January. She is having a baby boy any day. I am really going to miss her while she is gone, but I know she will love spending time with her babies. Our 4th grade surprised her with a little shower Thursday. I wish her the best of luck and cannot wait to meet Baby Ethan.

I Can't Pull It Off

You know how you see people out and they look super cute no matter what they have on. Well, I am NOT that person!! I see people out shopping all ages and sizes who are wearing sweat suits, and they look great. I look horrible in them! This past Wednesday, we had the Booster-Thon Fun Run at school. We (the teachers) were the coaches. We had our coaches t-shirts and were told to wear athletic wear. Well, I have none unless you count that really gross stuff I clean house in. Anyway, I go out and buy me a sweatsuit. I thought it looked pretty cute hanging on the rack at K-Mart. I even brought a little nicer one because I thought this would be great to wear shopping sometimes. Wednesday rolls around and I get dressed. By the time I got to school I was already feeling pretty sloppy. By the time the day was over, I felt and looked even worse. I do believe that made me instantly look like I gained 25 pounds!!

So, I am writing this to say, kudos to those that look great in sweats, but as for me I will just stick to dress pants.

Love Hate Relationship

For as long as I can remember, I have loved this time of year. The weather has a chill to it. Just yesterday, I walked outside for bus duty after school and it even had that Christmas time smell. It felt like time to put up the tree. The days are shorter and the nights are longer. This usually means more time at home with the family. It is getting close to Thanksgiving so this begins the deliciously long food indulgence of heavy meals, finger foods, and lots of yummy treats. Christmas shopping, crowds for the mad rush, and bargains are my adrenaline rush. Decorating the house, wrapping gifts, and baking cookies are a few of my favorite things.

Now for the hate part of this relationship. As all of you know, Donnie is a UPS driver. I am very thankful that he has a wonderful job that provides for the needs of our family. This time of year though is harder than the rest of the year. The UPS men become Santa's helpers. This means longer than normal hours. Then to top it all off Donnie comes home last night and tells me that he will be working even later from now on. They will also be starting later because all of the packages cannot get there early. He will now start at 8:50 which means he could still have 12 hour days with an hour of lunch meaning that he could work until 9:50!! This means he would not get home until about 10:50!!! At least it will be over by the middle of January. Oh the life of a UPS widow!!

Take Two....

This afternoon, we tried again to get the perfect picture for Christmas. I won't show it to you just yet. You will have to wait on your card. :) I do want to show you some of the other cute ones.

Gingko tree

Just hanging around...

watch out for the squirrels
that dress was just in her way

Thanks to Grammie and Poppie for helping
What trip to ASU would be complete without checking out the bear!

Thanks Aunt Kitty and Uncle Wez

Friday night, Aunt Kitty, Uncle Wez, and Grammie came over for supper. Katie Lee has been talking about Aunt Kitty coming to her "new house" for days now. Earlier in the week, Katie Lee was talking about Aunt Kitty coming to her house and I asked her if she wanted Aunt Kitty to come over real bad. She answered me, "No, Mommy not bad. I want Aunt Kitty come over HAPPY." I thought that was too cute. Anyway, they brought Katie Lee a surprise. A huge floor puzzle of the world. She was super excited about it and had to have Uncle Wez help her put it together right then. Thanks, Aunt Kitty and Uncle Wez.

Pictures Around Town

Today I decided to try my first attempt for this year of the perfect Christmas card picture. I think I don't want to try to get one in front of our Christmas tree this year since our tree may have to be down-sized. I thought that outside pictures always do best so downtown Elkmont is a great spot. Today however, was a little too windy. I'll try again another day.
At the park
Window shopping

Red Caboose
Depot