What a Week!

An absolutely wonderful week!

I will give a brief summary of the events. I have LOTS of pictures to share, but no time to upload them.

Monday - I had to work while the kids were out so they stayed home with MawMaw and made Christmas ornaments using glue and cinnamon. I had lots of paperwork to get done before leaving for break. I know that Christmas break is coming fast and furious, leaving me little time to get it all done! I also had CLASS on Monday night. I had a big project due and I think it all went well. I was very nervous turning in my first big project for Grad school. I understand that research is the key, so I sited a lot of sources. It is not a course normally taken first in the graduate rotation. That combined with the fact that it is a Special Education (not gifted) course, left me very nervous that my work would be up to par. We shall see! I only have one more assignemnt and it is on Gifted, so I am feeling good about that! The kids spent the night with their Grammy and Pop (JC's Mom/Dad) and spent the day on Tuesday with them.

Tuesday - I am embarrased to say that our bedroom had become THE place to throw things when picking up the house :( There were piles of clothes, blankets, hunting gear, and MANY things that just needed trashing. So, I took the opportunity with the kids gone to tackle this project. I cleaned out the closet, under the bed, in the desk and so forth. I am so proud that now we can get up to turn the alarm off without stumbling over something. Justin arroved home at 4pm amazed at how large our room is! I had piled all of the trash and dicarded clothing/items on the front porch. Justin loaded it all in his truck for disposal. Then the kids arrived around 5pm and we started supper. Lemon-pepper chicken, rice pilaf and broccli, with extra lemon juice for me! It was yummy after a hard day's work (p.s. I was sore for the remainder of the week!!!)

Wednesday - Was mainly spent recovering from Tuesday's session! I did wash more of the clothes and get them put away. I also played with the kids which was a blast! we did not have church, so we spent the evening cleaning up Sawyer's room. We went to town in the evening and purchased food to prepare for Thanksgiving. Justin baked a Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese icing...will show you pictures...which was delicious! The kids played while I guided JC through the baking process. He did great. I was just there for moral support and what else...take pictures!

Thursday - I made chili for our "soup" themed Thanksgiving feast. We ate with the Cottinghams. It was a fun time! After lunch, the kids played on their trampoline, and the guys went through some of Grandaddy Cottingham's things. It was a great time of rememberace as every item brough back memories - many of which were funny times:) We stopped by my moms to see everyone that afternoon, and the evening was spent with leftover chili and planning Iron Bowl Friday!

Friday - Okay, I am not too sure I like this Iron Bowl Friday :( I got up at 3:00 am to head to Wal-Mart. I am not a big Black Friday Shopper because, I am not sure why I'm just not that in to it! But, Walmart was a short drive and had several things that were good deals and that I wanted for the kids. I want list them all now cause that will spoil the Christams suprise! Anyway, I actually got to put all of the stuff I wanted in my buggy and was first in line to check out at 5am. I went back home, JC went duck hunting, and I went back to bed. The kids and I slept in to almost 8! That is extreamly late for us. JC returned about 8:30 with his first duck! I was a beautiful drake wood duck. God's is the BEST craftsman EVER!! Then it began, the hunt for the 2009 Cottingham Christmas Tree! This is a really big deal for us. We love making traditions. So, we started last year going out and finding a tree. This is NO easy task. First, find a location where you have permission to cut one down. Then, you must find one that is the right size and shape! Also, you must understand this tree is not gonna look like a fake tree, or even a real tree that has been pruned to be the perfect demisions. I will get you the story and pictures up later. But we found it, and spent the rest of the day decorating, snacking, and watching Auburn scare the socks off of Alabama. I enjoyed the game. It was the next best thing to a victory!

Saturday -JC left early to duck hunt again. I took the kids to Walmart to see Santa. They got their picture made and Sawyer immeditally said, I think that was just a man in a suit! We talked about how busy the "real" Clause was and how he could only make it to the really big cities. I promided them we would see the real one in Atlanta this weekend! They always have a really good one at Bass Pro Shop @ Discover Mills Mall where we shop. The final room in the house to be cleaned out was Carys'. So, I let the kids play with my mom for an hour or so (mainly so I could throw some stuff away without protest from Miss Priss) and got it all cleaned up. Justin helped his Dad during the day, and returned just in time to kiss us and leave again for the duck woods:) We played around the house until JC returned and we then went to our friends the Tidwells for supper. They just returned from the coast and brought with them all the fixins for a superb shrimp boil! It was fantastic! Then we got some exciting news during the blessings! They are expecting a baby!!! What a shocker! The baby is due in may which means they have been keeping it a secret for 3 months now. They are really good at that. I would blab to everyone! Anyway, A great time was had by all!

Sunday - was pretty laid back Church, Lunch, Nap, Church - complete with hanging of the greens -, Wendy's for supper, and bed...

And here we are, back to Monday! I am glad to be back at work so that I don't have to clean anymore, but sad bacuse I MISS my sweet family!

God Bless!