Mother and Son.

Sunday Afternoon.

Thanksgiving Day Photos.

I Rocked BLCK FRI and saved $121+ dollars!

That's right folks, I rocked Black Friday. I was up at 4:30 and in no rush and had that, "If I get it, I get it" attitude. I went to Target first cause my no. 1 item was the 2 set headrest DVD players for $88 and I got them, Check. Then I picked up some odds and end, and saved a total of $73.99 there and got a $10 gift card for spending $100. I was in and out within an hour. Then I ran to Michaels, which is next door to TRGT and saved $14.70 there on Christmas gifts : ) and that took me less than 5 minutes.. Over to Walmart, where I wanted to get Jason snow boots that were $7 and picked up more odds and ends. I was out of there in less than 30 minutes and on my way to Kmart where they had men's 6 pack undies for $7.99 and they are normally a 4 pack for 9.99 so I bought two packs. I also got some kids pajamas and clothes for $3. I had really wanted a wool coat that was $19 instead of $80, but there were none left and some $3 hinged wallets and they never had any wallets. Total I saved over $121.00 that qualifies as ROCKSTAR shopping.. Let the holidays commence!

For Them, I am the most Thankful.

I am thankful.

I am thankful to Mr. Clean and his magic little erasers that take crayon off the wall like nobodies business. I am thankful to Crayola for making the washable crayons because even though white Martha Stewart paint is not cheap, I would never squash my babies creativity just for coloring on the wall. The world is their canvas.

I am thankful for health insurance that covered 1.5 years of speech at 2 sessions a week. I am also thankful that after losing 4 front teeth, he still is speaking correctly and keeps his tongue in place.

I am thankful for excellent, stylish friends and family that are lovable and reliable, even states away. Thank you.

I am thankful for my husband and his support. I am thankful for his love and affection, cooking abilities, and bedroom skills. I love you, Hubby and here is too our 9th Thanksgiving together. I am thankful to have found you, and kept you on that leash.

I am thankful for the friends and family that have blessed my life, certainly to the fullest, but are not around today. I miss, love you all and we will see one another again one day.

I am thankful for for our freedom and those that are out their fighting for it right now, as they are everyday of the year, instead of home with their families for the holidays. Thank You, Friends and Soldiers.

I am thankful for Sprint and their unlimited mobile to mobile and texts so I can call my peeps and not worry about the high rates.

I am thankful for passion. My passion. I am thankful for paper and glue to express that passion. And I am thankful that it seems all of my kids have that passion for paper and a good pen.

I am thankful for new travels and books that take me where some travels, or Becca, can not. I am thankful for those experiences and living life with no regrets.

I am thankful for everyday conveniences like my stellar new automated coffee pot, the hot water heater, premade cookie dough and indoor plumbing.

Today I will be thankful for those overlooked material items that are sure not a necessity, and are usually taken for granted, like purple sequin shoes and embroidery hoops.

I am thankful for the everyday important, food, house over our heads, money, job security, warm blankets, health...

I am thankful for our family's fur legged, non judgemental, foot warmer who hasn't peed on our floor since July. I am so happy that we found him and have him in our lives. Such a great dog.

BUT mostly in life, I am thankful for the 3 boys who are my life. Even with all the biting and wall colorings. I couldn't be any happier to see smiles in the morning. I am thankful to be a full time mom and thankful for the light they shine so bright everyday in my life. I love you, boys.

Twins.

twins.
Originally uploaded by mandydake

Just saw this and teared up, they are so grown up already.. Look at my babies!

Ryan's Cackel.

Ryan's Cackel.
Originally uploaded by mandydake

So cute. Nov, 20

Monday.

Zack says, "Rockstar" all the time.

Ryan is 28 pounds and Zach is 25 pounds.

I have posted new photos on flickr and still have more.

I am done Christmas shopping for Jordyn and Jason.

We got a new coffee maker this weekend. Ours is really old, cheap and un programmable. I found one at Lowe's that was $79 on sale for $39. It is programmable. Now the sweet nectar will be ready for me every morning without me in zombie mode making it.

I saw New Moon on Friday and loved it. I have started to re read it again. "For in failing at this, I fortified any desire to live." Bella

Ryan holds your hand and walks so well with us. Zachary will set down in the middle of anywhere to get you to let go of his hand. Then he takes off.

We got our tree up extra early this year on the 19th.

Jason is the Senior Student in his karate class. That means he is the highest ranking kid in his class. There is a belt test next week. He will be testing for his first rank black belt.

I have all the Christmas cards already finished with the return address. I figure I will do one thing every now and then and they will be ready to go in time. There are only about 32 in my box, and that is all I plan to send out, if that many. So if you get one, you are someone special on my list.

My Christmas list includes a cheap or used sewing machine, nothing fancy. I just need one that runs a stitch. EDITED: My very best BFF has just called to say that I can have her sewing machine. I guess someday I can always get her a new one as a wedding present. I also always need more picture frames 8x10 or 5x7 in black.

Jason has only 2 days of school this week and will be 7 in January.

Zachary will not take half of a cookie if you break it. He only takes whole ones.

Ryan loves chicken, Thomas the Train and naps so well.

Boys on Toys.

Have a Great Weekend.

Edinburgh, Scotland.

Hooray for recovering photos shot in the wrong format. These photos have been stuck in my memory card since our trip in September. They are all from Edinburgh. Lunch at Thai Orchid and the bill and payment, 19 pounds+ which is a little less than $40 US dollars. We split the tab. There are 25 total and they are all on flickr and you can see them all here Scotland. These are also some from The Scotch Whisky Experience that we went on, where I learned that I am not a scotch drinker. Ugh.

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

Today a lady informed me that one of the twins had longer eyelashes than the other. Wow, two different people having two different lengths of eyelashes. Someone please alert the media.

Possibly The Best Shoes EVER.

And I'm going to need them in about every color. These are Footzyrolls, rollable shoes. I could carry them around in my purse and change them at every stoplight. How awesome is that? Be sure to check out the link Footzyrolls, for more colors, especailly you Julie, I know you are a shoe girl at heart.

And just so Santa knows, I wear a Small and need every color.

HINT, HINT Santa.

I Shop Like a Rockstar.

Food Lion $18.54 saved in coupons and sales. Walmart $13.20 saved in sales alone. Petsmart saved $8 off dog food with coupon. A GRAND TOTAL of $39.74 SAVED just tonight!And last week.. Food Lion was $26.98 in coupons!

Friday the 13th.

I ordered 3 books from Amazon today.

I talked to Lewis twice this morning.

I have a to do list for Food Lion, Walmart and Pet Smart.

Jacques was late to work this morning.

I had a going flat tire this morning.

Jason is at school. The babies are sleeping.

I watched Seven Pounds and Changeling last week.

I need to buy 4 postage stamps.

Most days, I leave the coffee pot on until noon.

New Moon will premier in 7 days. I already have my ticket.

I am working on a Christmas project.

I donated/bought 134 Vaccines to UNICEF.

Jacques emptied and organized my ipod last night.

I made our first Hummer payment today.

Lincoln is barking and I have cold feet.

I have a box of things to bring home to Kansas. We will be staying at the Weis Inn in Culver, Kansas.

We are planning to spend Spring Break in Houston in April. We get really good rates at the Allemans.

I have not read in over 2 weeks, maybe longer.

I need brown felt and my be slightly addicted to Facebook.

I Heart Thursdays.

This was what I did yesterday. It's a heart.. literally.

Toay my baby sister is 18. Happy Birthday Bert. You are legal and will be tried as an adult. Keep that in mind on the weekends.

Today Jason has speech and there will be more rain and embroidery.

Mandi- I think you embroidering is a great idea! You should really pick up the book, Sublime Stitching. I read through it and took it up that day. There are patterns in the back. I have a copy from the library, but liked it so much I ordered it from Amazon and the 2nd book too.

Julie- I will email you today.. I feel like I haven't spoke to you in 4 days, which is how long it has been.

Janie- I will check up on you too and Congrats on Drake being accepted to K State.

More later.

On Wednesday.

I had a check up with the dentist this morning. All is well, but I still need to get my wisdom teeth out. Not a big fan of having multiple teeth ripped out of my head at once.. at all. I was suppose to have them out in '06 but managed to avoid that too.

I have a cart at Amazon with $52 worth of Christmas goodies in it, just need to check out.

I have cold feet and two sleeping babies.

I will Thank many Veterans today.

I will drink more than 1 cup of joe and am ready for Friday.

I have a new project going on.

It has been raining for 2 days and will again tomorrow.

The hubby is off today, but running errands.

Tonight is karate plus homework and a book report to work on.

I have a book in at the library that I will pick up today. Hopefully.

More Later..

I heart Thread.

I have to say, I am loving embroidery. Here is my process.. On Sunday, I had nothing to work on, so I pulled out a page from Jason's coloring book, copied it, taped it to the fabric, then taped that to the window and traced. Volia! A new piece to work on. Jason wants it framed and in his room. I figure that I enjoy it so much because it is something I can keep busy with while I am raising a family. I am not one to sit and do nothing, even if I am watching tv. I have to be busy. I can easily watch football, ugh, with Jacques while the boys play at my feet and I run my needle. Or in the car on trips, even standing in the kitchen with dinner going. Plus how cool is it that there is no right or wrong stitch?? I can do whatever I want, which works great for me. I can also start and end a piece with no knots tied off. The biggest concern I have is what to do with all the pieces I will create and how to store all the thread... This piece is not done yet, but getting there.

There are a new batch of photos up on flickr. I took the boys to the park yesterday for an hour and a half. Zachary says, "park."

Something New.

I taught myself to embroider a couple days ago and I am having a blast with it. It is something I can do around the house, around the babies unlike scrapping where I have to be away from grabby little hands. It is also one of the cheapest hobbies to have, some floss, needle and a hoop.. all which I already owned. I made a flickr set which you can see by clicking here embroidery.The bird is the first project that I did and completed yesterday... and here is a sneak at what I am working on today...
And on this one, I am already adding my own spin to it. The banner was an iron on template from a book, but I drew on my own heart. I finished up the heart this evening, but have more work to do on the project before it is complete.

Here's Ryan!

Just so you know, twins still do come in twos. Here is the other half that manages to escape the camera's lens most of the time.

Friday Photos and Saturday.

These photos are from Friday night's wrestling session. I love that there is not a care in the world with this dog and the kids. He loves them to death and they cuddle him to death. What I really love about the first photo is that Lincoln has a toy and it's Zachary that's chewing on a sock. I will post another batch on flickr. I have some really good ones of Lincoln alone.

Saturday- Today has been a great family day! Jason played his last soccer game which they won. Afterwards we went to McD's with some of the team so the kids could play and we could eat. By the time we got home, both babies were asleep and slept for 2.5 hours. While they were asleep, with their dad, I ran to the store and have been home ever since. For supper we had steak, corn, twice baked tatos, and garlic bread.. everyone ate well. And now it is 6:44 and we are ready for the rest of the night.

Headed to Flickr now to post more photos.

Thursday.

Zachary colored on the wall. Zachary emptied the entire wipe case. I watched Nights in Roadanthe; cried like a baby. Cereal and coffee for breakfast. Cold feet. Photos up on flickr. Ryan has a cough and clear runny nose. Jason has speech. Zachary is sleeping. Ryan is watching Thomas. Lincoln is spoiled. Took photos today for the first time in 5 days. Emailed Lewis and Julie. Talked to Mom. More tattoo embroidery. Love and Hugs, M

Wish List.

I have been getting lots of "What do I get the Babies?" Christmas and Birthday questions. Well these are what we are getting the babies for their birthday/Christmas gift. We are getting them each one and with a hefty price of $219 each. All I am asking for for the boys is Walmart gift cards or cash that I can use to help with the price of these. Jason had this same one and rode it for 3 years before it gave out and we upgraded to the four wheeler.

Thinking About...

Christmas Lists.
Embroidery Stitches.
Sookie Stackhouse Book 10 May 2010.
Australia the movie.
Pens.
Twins.
Jason.
Jacques.
Ballet Shoes.
Silver Toms on my Christmas list.
Music.
Composition Notebooks.
Coffee.
Becca.
Coffee.

Tuesday.

I am sitting trying to be productive with some George, but it's more fun to watch him than glue. I just can't focus. Maybe he is not the best muse.

Jason lost his last top tooth on Sunday and Monday morning, after a $10 visit from the Tooth Fairy plus a piece of bubble gum, he says to me, "Mom can I buy a new set of Sharpies?" Is that my boy or what? Being content in life with just a great set of pens and some gum. I took him last night and he picked out a splendid set.

Earlier I also watched this video You Look So Good by Jamie Foxx. If you have 4 minutes and 23 seconds, watch it. It is really good and he should definitely release this song as an R&B hit.

Zachary loves suckers, lollipops and says, "sucker" as plain as day. Last night he said, "arm mee" as in Army.

It really looks like the Dake's are coming home for Christmas. We are thinking Dec 18-26. More on that next month.

We watched Australia on Sunday night. By far, the best movie I have seen in a while. Long, but loved it. Insert tears here..




There are a ton more photos up on flickr.




I really want to get to ihop eat their holiday pancakes. Then yesterday, I got a free kids meal coupon in the mail from ihop.. We may go this weekend. The kids love it and Jason especially loves that treat.




Our Halloween Day was great. Soccer and trick or treating on Fort Jackson. It was 80+ degrees out which made for a hot night in costumes. Jason got a ton of great candy.



Today I took time to watch Grandpa Lee's Memorial Video. So beautiful. It is almost 10 minutes, but I just love to watch it every now and then.




Jason came home with another 7 A+'s on last week's papers.



I picked out 2 new recipes to try next week.



Also at the zoo on Sunday, I said, "Ohhh I hate that ugly elephant snake" and Jason replied, "Mom, don't say that about God's creatures." So sweet.. but it is a really ugly little thing.




There are 3 movies I plan to see this winter: Christmas Carol, New Moon and Blind Side.


Sorry about the crazy spacing.. Blogger is acting up.

November hear me roar.

Here is my lovely large Lincoln. This was taken on November 1st. He will be 9 months on the 9th. Isn't he just so beautiful, even with a ditry nose? He got a big new blanket and will get a bath tonight, a new dose of flea meds and a manicure. It's a spa day for Lincoln. And here is what our Novmember looks like so far. However I have already added more to the schedule since the photo. Jason has his last soccer game Saturday. And can you see the bottom of the calendar?? It says, "Twins TWO." Wow.. can you believe it? Where does time go? I think I will try to bottle some up today.

We spent a few hours at the Zoo on Sunday. It was cool and wet and not busy so the twins ruled the zoo. Zachary couldn't see the cobra in his cage and he would not leave. He kept saying, "in nere, in nere." Toddler Translation: "In there."

And the face you all love.. Z

all he wants for Christmas...