No He Isn't: Thanksgiving

I sincerely hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving. It has been quite busy around the Hess house with little baby Lincoln and with our families in for Thanksgiving and you know, trying to figure out when to shower...

Today's post is a little about our Thanksgiving, but I know many of you are awaiting Lincoln's birth story. Don't worry, I'm trying to put it into words. It's just a little harder this time around, because his birth was only the beginning of this little guy's life, not the end like Hannah's. Somehow the story seems less significant, because I can tell you so many stories about his life afterwards. 

But I am working on it. His birth was a most incredible, indescribable day. But today, here's a little about our Thanksgiving.

November 27, 2014

Today was a most wonderful Thanksgiving.

Because of Lincoln's impending birth we made our Thanksgiving plans a little differently this year. We decided not to travel as Lincoln was due right around Thanksgiving and under no circumstances did I want to be stuck on the side of the road having a baby.

So this year our family came to us. They came for Thanksgiving and many of them came to meet Lincoln for the first time. Both of our families poured into town into our little home for Thanksgiving. Yes, I had been a little stressed about all the events and visitors and food preparations.

But it was perfect.

It made my heart smile to see my brother laughing with Kyle's sister and her husband. It made me happy to see my family playing board games with Kyle's niece and nephews even though it meant the rules constantly changed in favor of the younger player. It made my heart so very full to see my sister and Kyle's niece skipping around the house together like the two 'baby sisters' that they are.

We filled our garage with long white tables and folding chairs. We had paper plates and plastic utensils to make things easier. We had numerous crock pots cooking Thanksgiving dinner because we just didn't have the oven or stove space to cook everything otherwise. I would have pulled in our ping pong table to eat off of had we needed it, because yes, it felt very perfectly Charlie Brown.

But just a few minutes before we sat down to eat, one little guy said something that filled my heart more than he could ever comprehend.

Kyle's sister Rebekah's oldest son was holding our little Lincoln so very carefully on the couch. His younger brother and sister surrounded him, as if they needed to be less than a foot from Lincoln to love him best. I was explaining to them how although Lincoln is not the first grandkid on 'their side' of the family, that he is the first on ours, the oldest like Rebekah's oldest on 'their side'.

And then our little nephew looked up at me so very matter-of-fact and said,

'No he isn't.'

'Because Hannah.'

And as my heart swelled I looked at him and said, 'yes, that's right.' Those were all the words I could get out without crying the deepest tears of joy.

It is Thanksgiving, and our family was together, all of us remembered. Thankful for a home full of love, our little Lincoln, and our sweet Hannah.

Happy Thanksgiving. May you be thankful for all the blessings the Lord has given you, even the ones that may not seem like blessings to the world outside.

Oh Thanksgiving Break!

I'm someone who over the past few years hasn't quite had an actual day off of work. Since we spend our summers up in Colorado, I save up my vacation days to make Colorado happen. Yes, I do get the summer off from the school work, but usually just in time to fly right in to my job in Colorado. Complaining? Never, I LOVE our two lives and I love figuring out how to live life in two states, lol.

But...

When I realized I got the entire week off for Thanksgiving my wheels started turning! Usually we'd plan a trip to see family in Louisiana or Oklahoma. But now that we're thirty six weeks pregnant (crazy! I know) we haven't really gotten the go ahead to travel to the next state. When we asked my doctor about Thanksgiving she recommended we stay home for the holidays and then said, 'well... you can travel if you really want to... but you'll need to stop every 30 minutes to get out and walk to prevent blood clots, and then is there a hospital near your parents' house? You'll need to make sure they can deliver babies and we can send your files over just in case..."

That was a little too much for us, when she said "Is there a hospital near your parents' house?" we figured we'd better stay close to home. And after our car troubles a few weekends ago, we decided we'd surely need to stay put. So that meant I'd have an entire week off!! The list making began!

This Week's Thanksgiving To-Do List started out this way:
Nursery:
 - Organize the nursery, store away those wonderful gifts
 - Finish the homemade wall art
 - Hang the shelves my Dad made, decorate shelves
 - Hang the picture of my grandmother
 - Hem the curtains
 - Poly the dresser (once it's no longer freezing out!)
 - Setup the nursery for pictures!

Thanksgiving:
 - Make dinner with all the trimmings: Turkey, cornbread dressing, stuffing (Kyle loves Stovetop, lol), homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, yeast rolls.
 - Watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade
 - Watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
 - Make a list for my husband who will be hitting the Black Friday Sales

House:
 - Finish the headboard, prime, paint, poly, install.
 - Clean out our bedroom. It's like a closet exploded in there and we need to get it clean before baby arrives!

Monday:
So I was lazy on purpose on Monday. People are always telling me to be lazy and sit on the couch and watch TV before the baby gets here and changes everything, lol. So I did. But I also made some wall art for the nursery. I printed a free printable from Vanessa Brady at Gerbera Designs. It's one that you can print and then color yourself, meaning you get to pick the colors! I grabbed my cheap watercolor palette from 2nd grade and got to work.

Then I realized I had three frames to fill...

So I decided to put a personal touch in the frames with a little inspiration from Vanessa's print. I pulled out parts of her design, traced a few things, and added Mom and Dad's own handwriting to the design. Yes, I traced it right off my computer screen... I'm not sure that's good for the computer. But we went from these written messages...

...to these prints.

And now they hang in the inexpensive Ikea frames on our little nursery wall. I'm pretty impressed with myself, especially since this project cost me less than $6 including the frames.

I spent the rest of the afternoon running to the store to get a little food and supplies for other projects. Felt, glue, and 6 screws and we're ready to hang some shelves...

Finished up with a little Thanksgiving Dinner with friends and I'd call Monday a pretty good one.

Tuesday:

Tuesday got crazy when they rescheduled my doctor's appointment from Wednesday to Tuesday. So I woke up made some cake balls for the ladies where I used to work at the VA. Ran to the doctor's office for my first 'when's labor going to happen' check and found out we're not really that close. Swung by Sam's to find out our membership expired, but still at pizza lunch there. Drove to Longview to visit the ladies I used to work with at the VA and bring them those yummy cake balls... planned to stay 30 minutes to an hour-ish and ended up staying for 2 hours, lol. I ran by Target in Longview (much better selection of baby items than Tyler Target!). Headed home for a relaxing night with the hubs. Whew... I was tired!

Wednesday:

Wednesday Kyle was home and I put him to work. Since the cold weather was keeping me from finishing the paint job on the dresser, we tackled the nursery. We broke out the tools and Kyle hung a couple of shelves that were made by my very own Dad. He had made the shelves for me when I was in middle school and gladly let me pull them off the wall when I got married. I love that my Dad made something in the baby room...

And then I got to what they call 'styling' the shelves. I used a few books, a framed sonogram picture, a few stuffed animals, and repurposed a few of the cute cards I had gotten with baby gifts. One I simply cut the front off the card and placed it on the shelf. The other along with a spare piece of cardboard, got a makeover...

Then I got Kyle back in to hang the picture of my grandmothers. And I finished up the shelf 'styling.'

Since I already had the iron out, I got out my Stitch Witchery and hemmed up the curtains. Organized a few things in the baby room. Put a cover on the changing table, and this room is almost ready for a baby. And for taking a few full-room pics to share once it's all done.

We may have also reorganized every cabinet in the kitchen. Maybe it's nesting... maybe it was just wayyy long overdue...

Thursday:

THANKSGIVING! Just the two of us, but I made the turkey and all the trimmings. Even though it was just us, we really did have so many things to be thankful for this year. We have a God who is more than we could every imagine, who is true and just and merciful and who blesses us in so many ways. We have each other, my husband really is more than I could have ever asked for. We have families who love us, even from far away. We have friends and community and church and jobs that we love. We have a house that makes us feel so warm and we know that many, many people cannot say all those things. We are truly blessed.

And we stuffed our blessed tummies with lots of Thanksgiving food...

Then we went Black Friday Shopping on Thursday night... and I know last year I was saying "Black Friday is no place for a pregnant lady!" And then this year as my husband was heading out I asked in the sweetest voice, 'can I go with you???' And with our small Walmart and me in the no-battle zone where the steam vacuums were it was very calm. I didn't even lift anything heavy, we got a few great deals on some gifts for the fam, and we were home and in bed by 9:30pm. It was pretty low key, and I got to spend some funny times with my wonderful husband...

Friday:

Friday was full of rest and football. (And a little bit of cleaning once I got a hold of the Lysol wipes...) We watched the games and sat on the couch. My sweet friend Elizabeth came through town and I got to meet her sweet baby (who's now one and a half!). Low key night with pizza rolls and a movie, felt like vacation.

Saturday:

We started the morning helping our friends pick out and cut down a Christmas tree. How fun is that? Like right out of a movie, weather was great, and it was so Christmas-y. Then we got back on the ball and we reviewed some of our birthing class material, and I got out in the warmer weather and got that coat of poly on the dresser for the baby room! Once that cures it'll be packed full in the nursery! I spent some time cleaning the mountain of things that have somehow accumulated on my side of the bedroom into this mountain of things... We rotated the mattress, I sprayed allergen-reducer on almost everything, we washed the sheets, and I got pretty into cleaning. Maybe nesting is coming??

Oh and then football of course... there was some great college football on TV Saturday.

Sunday:

Church and then we got the Christmas tree up... may be the last year we don't have a little one 'helping' decorate the tree. Or the last year we don't have to worry about the 'breakable' ornaments, lol...

Round Up for the Week:
Nursery:
 - Organize the nursery, store away those wonderful gifts
 - Finish the homemade wall art
 - Hang the shelves my Dad made, decorate shelves
 - Hang the picture of my grandmother
 - Hem the curtains
 - Poly the dresser (once it's no longer freezing out!)
 - Setup the nursery for pictures!

Thanksgiving:
 - Make dinner with all the trimmings: Turkey, cornbread dressing, stuffing (Kyle loves Stovetop, lol), homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, yeast rolls.
 - Watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade
 - Watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
 - Make a list for my husband who will be hitting the Black Friday Sales

House:
 - Finish the headboard, prime, paint, poly, install.
 - Clean out our bedroom. It's like a closet exploded in there and we need to get it clean before baby arrives!(Let's just say that one's about halfway done..)

So now we're just relaxing and staring at the glow of the tree. So thankful this week. It was just what we needed...

Thanksgiving Rewind

We spent our Thanksgiving (and Black Friday) in Oklahoma this year with Kyle's family. Tons of family, tons of food, and really, leftovers for days. It was very yummy. I didn't quite get a picture of all the food, but I made sure to take a picture of my addition to the feast: Jeweled Fruit. We have it with my family at every holiday, it's kind of amazing. And it's a great way to sneak dessert into the main meal... Great way to bring a little of my family to Oklahoma, too.

But after the feasting we discovered an enormous pile of leaves in the neighbor's yard. The kiddos out there had been raking all day. Then they were running and jumping in it. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was huge.

So we decided we'd take the Hess Family picture right in front of the huge leave pile. But there were so many Hesses (or Keys or Malthaners) that the pile of leaves got a little hidden. Also, I apologize for the insane amount of hair and hair poof I have in this picture... I fixed it on the run and the neighbor girl said it looked great. #timeforahaircut

Then we tried to get the Key kiddos in a pic. I hate to post "bad" pictures of any kid, but the progression here is hilarious, if you know these kiddos it makes it even better.

Then just a few more leave pictures. Because playing in a massive leave pile is just what you do on Thanksgiving. At least I remember doing that in Little Rock a few times. This one I think is my favorite.

Or maybe this one...

Or maybe this one. Too many favorites.

So then we went on a family bike ride. I was impressed by the number of bikes available for adults to ride. I was also impressed by the fact that we got to ride to the Seven Eleven to get Icees or at least Seven Eleven brand Icees. I worked off my turkey and replaced it with Icee. Totally worth it.

The leaf monster road bikes too. But we ended Thanksgiving with the Black Friday shopping, the Nebraska game and the LSU game on Friday, pedicures with the ladies and the OU game on Saturday, and Pizza Shuttle, don't forget the Pizza Shuttle. Headed back to good ole Texas in time for the work week.

Good times in Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. And now Christmas begins...

And a shout out to Caralie, birthday girl. Who I had a crazy weird dream about last night that involved shopping malls. Happy 26th Birthday to You... we're getting old.

Black Friday 2012

So I actually wrote a post ahead of time about Black Friday, then after it happened I realized I'd have to write up the real story.

First of all we're up in Oklahoma. So if you're saying that "you should be spending time with the family on Thanksgiving," you don't know the Hesses, lol. Spending time with the family on Black Friday means heading out to the stores together, fighting the crowds, yelling at each other across the store, cheering one another on, holding a place in line. It's hilarious, it's family time, and we did it big two years ago last time we were here.

The stores opened early and while everyone was saying "oh they open so early," we were saying, "wow we can get in and out of the stores and then get back to sleep at a decent hour." It was kind of incredible.

So to give you the best representation of how things went, I thought I'd share my texts to my brother last night. He's known me since I was born, so poor thing he usually has to suffer through any situation I have to suffer through via text message. Mostly because I can hear him laughing even though I can't really here him.

The sales started at 8pm at Walmart and there were lines starting for some of the items going on sale for 10pm.

8:32pm Brit to Jared: So I'm sitting in a line at Walmart lol I'll be here until they give me a special tag when the sale starts ... at ten pm. I told Kyle to go find me a book in the store to read.

8:36pm Brit to Jared: The line is in the auto section ... So I'm starting at cans of fix a flat. Wouldn't be a better time to have an iphone.

8:37pm Brit to Jared: And the teenagers next to me are talking about making deals making deliveries splitting cash and hiding whatever it is they're selling...

8:39pm Brit to Jared: Yep. Something that comes in bags. They are totally drug dealers. And fifteen. Or maybe sixteen because I guess they drove here.

(Note: I can't confirm they were breaking the law... just for anyone who says "you should report them." Maybe they were delivering pizzas... in bags.)

8:41pm Brit to Jared: I think they're taking bets on if I'm under or over 40. But I hope I misunderstood. :(

(Note: To clear that one up, I'm under 30...)

8:42pm Jared to Brit: Hahaha sounds like you're having quite a time! You shoulda brought your camera. Don't get drug into their mess. You'd hate to get arrested!

8:42pm Jared to Brit: They think you look forty?! They must be on drugs.

(Note: That's my brother... making me feel good :)

8:44pm Brit to Jared: I know. I have my skinny jeans on, my LSU sweatshirt and even my cool yellow flats. Maybe it's my phone ... :)

(Note: this is my phone:

8:45pm Jared to Brit: Haha maybe that's it!

8:45pm Jared to Brit: We're playing spoons and someone just drew blood! My finger is bleeding!

(Not: My brother was at home in Louisiana. Not sitting in the auto department of Walmart.)

8:50pm Brit to Jared: Oh man. I'm in a store full of crazy shoppers and you're the one who is bleeding lol.

8:55pm Jared to Brit: Haha let's hope you don't bleed tonight.

8:57pm Brit to Jared: True. Ive seen both of these guys' moms come by. They were both in fancy workout clothes and in great shape. Makes since that they'd think I'm forty, lol.

(Note: Then my phone started to die. Had to stop updating Jared every few seconds. He was probably grateful. I knew if my phone died I may never find Kyle in all the crowds to get home...)

9:30pm Brit to Jared: Kyle brought me a Pioneer Woman cookbook to read. I think I'm going to survive.

9:39pm Brit to Jared: Hahaa I know you'll enjoy that!

(Note: I finished the cookbook pretty quick. And then I was hungry for anything with chipotle peppers. And then I went back to looking at this:

9:50pm Brit to Jared: A guy has been talking about himself for about 30 minutes ... He just compared himself and his life story to Babe Ruth... only ten more minutes.

9:58pm Jared to Brit: Hahaa.    Please.   Babe Ruth.

9:58pm Jared to Brit: Get Ready!!!

Then the line started to move. Then I got my life back. And then I returned to the crowds.

In bed before midnight and I'll say Black Friday Thursday was kind of relaxing. And for me at least, quite entertaining...

Much love to you all on Black Friday. I hope you're full of yummy turkey and dressing and read to see some good football today. As always, may the odds be ever in your favor (that is just so fitting in so many situations). Well, unless you're the Razorbacks, then may the odds be in our favor.

Happy Black Friday Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we head up to Oklahoma for a Hess Family Thanksgiving. Guaranteed to be full of yummy food, happy kiddos, and Black Friday shopping... oh and football, we can't forget the football.

But I wanted to encourage you to really think about what you're thankful for this year. I think most years I say a little thanks on the day of, but this year I think I realize how much we really are blessed.

I was in our little kitchen cleaning up after hosting Bible study and I started to look around. One of the girls at Bible study hadn't seen our house yet, so I had the pleasure of giving her the house tour (which I love doing, by the way). So after every one had left I looked around our kitchen.

We have food, yummy food, like the ability to go to the store and buy whatever I want. Now, not all day every day or we'd go broke, but I can go to the store today and buy a turkey if I'd like or those yummy looking cupcakes in the bakery section without bouncing the check for the electricity.

I look around my little kitchen, and I know I talk about how I'd love to paint the cabinets and the flooring is very very retro, but we have a kitchen! Like we own a kitchen, that works and doesn't (usually) have bugs and we've even got a gas cooktop that I LOVE! (Well I guess the bank still owns part of the kitchen).

Although Kyle was out of town that night, I have a husband that, you guys, is the most incredible man that could have ever decided to marry me. Just this week he left me a note on the mirror when he left town, he did so many dishes, he cleaned up the house on his day off, he helped me make dinner, and then just the other night he helped me hang the gallery wall. Yep, me all "um, maybe the frame should go just a little bit to the left, oh not here, oops, maybe hang the frame a little more spaced" and him just helping along, or actually doing all the work while I "supervised." (Can't wait to show you the gallery wall!!)

I have family and friends who love me to death. I cannot tell you how fun it was last weekend to get to hang out with all of my siblings, and have fun (I feel like a lot of people can't really say they enjoy that, but we do!) I've got a job that I actually like going to, I'm healthy, and to top it off my hair has natural highlights, lol.

I have a God who loves me more than anyone ever will. Who paint the sky in sunsets and sunrises just for me sometimes, who teaches me in little and big ways how much I need to trust him because he is all love and all in control.

I know there are more things, and I'm thankful for them all. But I encourage you to stop in your kitchen sometime this week, while the house is filled with guests and dishes and pies or while the house is quiet and empty, and thank the Lord for all the things he's given you. Even if you spend more time wishing you had the Jones' Ikea, trendy, all stainless steel commercial grade kitchen... take a few minutes to love your own, your own kitchen, your own family or your own friends.

We said this as loud as we could with my kiddos at church on Sunday night, like yelled it to the tops of our lungs with hand motions and everything, lol:

Be joyful always, pray continually, Give Thanks in all circumstances. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

And of course, Happy Thanksgiving. And be careful out there all you Black Friday shoppers, it's a crazy world out there.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Hess House

I know it's not Thanksgiving, but.

I understand that Thanksgiving is not today. And I understand that most of us have moved on to Christmas, it being 9 days away and all... but I think I'm just now realizing how much I am blessed with, and how much I have to be thankful for.

Growing up in the culture we live in seems to produce the American Dream that we hear about on the news so much these says.  We're told at a young age that we can be anything we want to be. That if we work hard we can always get what we want. That you make a list for Christmas and if you're good enough, you get everything you want on your list.

Do you see how many times "want" is mentioned? It seems it's out of the norm to talk about what we need, or much less what others may need, what others may want, and especially true: what the Lord wants for us.

This year I've been so focused on what I want. Now that I'm married my life is supposed to be all put together, that's what they say right? And so go my thoughts:
I want to have the cutest blog, the funniest blog, and the blog everyone reads... I want to have the best decorated house...I want to be the best wife and cook the best meals for my husband every day, always healthy, always on budget... I want to be financially responsible, I want to stick to the budget, I want to reach the 7th Baby Step... I want to look put together, I want to have the shoes that match the scarf that match the earrings that match the hair... I want to finish my Bible study every day, to memorize all the good verses, and to pray hours on end for all the prayer requests I've been given and all the ones I think I should also be praying about... I want to pour into others around me, I want people to like us, I want people to remember us, I want to be 'in'... I want to get my Masters, I want to pass my RD exam, I want to be the best dietitian and bring the best cookies to our Christmas party... I want to send our Thank you notes for when people do nice things for us, I want to have beautiful Christmas cards, I want our house to have lights... I want our toilet to not have mold, I want to clean the bathtub, I want people to think our house is spotless... I want to workout an hour every day, I want to have arm muscles that looks great in a dress, and abs that look awesome in a swimsuit, and I want to be able to run a marathon... I want to learn to really sew, and be crafty McCrafty, and paint, and for everyone to see... I want to be the best friend that always calls, always visits, and always remembers, I want to be the daughter that always calls, always visits, and always remembers...

It's exhausting. And that's not even all of it.

But 'they told me if I work hard enough that I can have all of it' right?

We wonder why we are stressed, and wonder why we are tired, and wonder why it seems that we always fail. Well maybe we... me... I aught to look a little closer at all the blessings I already have, and use those to accomplish His plans for His glory.

I have a husband that I fall more in love with every day and who is a man that makes me better and better and who is patient and who does the dishes and who warms my spot in the bed before I come get in, who really is even more incredible that I thought he was the day I married him. I have a family that is beyond wonderful who is silly with me or makes faces at me when I'm silly, but loves me anyway, who cooks yummy food when I come home and who I can talk to at any time by phone and who understand how wonderful it is to fall asleep on the floor. I have friends that are as busy as me but still find time to call, who still love me no matter what and who I 'm friends with even when we don't talk for months. I have a wonderful, cozy, house filled with Christmas galore that we got for free and was called "cozy and warm and full of Christmas" just last night. and honeslty I could go all day, that's just the beginning.

I have a God that loves me no matter what, literally no matter what because it's in his being. And he saved me, and he's a God that I would not be worthy to even look upon if he had not sent His son to die for us. ...Remember Christmas, little baby Jesus...

What does the Lord want? For me to trust in the Lord with all my heart, to not lean on what my own mind creates, to remember that yes it is Him who is in control and who is there for me and who provides all things I need... and he will make my path straught.

...so much easier than the 'I want." :)

Merry Christmas, Happy Thanksgiving. What about you?

Stay tuned. Soon to come: Christmas Cookie Extravaganza Part II, The Big 12 Game, and Finally the Yard Sale Pictures.

And of course, as soon as it happens... Christmas!

Thanksgiving Marshmallows and Black Friday

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I know I'm a day late, well two days late.  But we've been busy up here in Oklahoma.  We've been fooding for Thanksgiving, shopping for Black Friday, footballing for all the big games, and of course leftovers, rubber band wars, and marshmallow gun fights! 

You really wouldn't believe the things you can fit into two days, especially when you stay up all night shopping. So for anyone who doesn't participate in the day after Thanksgiving shopping, here's how it goes down with the Hess family:

1. Grab the ads. Get the kiddos to choose what they want for Christmas from what's on sale! Perfect!

2. Make your own Christmas list, some sale items, some not. And make copies for everyone in the room.

3. Make your gameplan! What time do all the stores open, what's the best deals, who do you have to buy for, what do they want that's on sale. Cross compare the ads, to the lists, to the plan. Figure out who's going to what store and who can grab something for you (even if it's what you'll be giving them for Christmas).

Example Plan from Kyle and Brittany:

11:30pm  - Be at Walmart, find the deals you want to grab and make sure to be at the front of the line.

MIDNIGHT - Time to grab and go mad, and run to the number 2, 3, 4 priority item on the list.

12:30 - Dash to the front register as everyone else grabs the last items and meets you in line!

1:00 - Head to Old Navy for jeans for $15 a pair!

1:15 - Leave Old Navy realizing that the line literally goes up and down every aisle and is 3-4 hours long!

1:45 - Head to Walgreens for wrapping paper at 1.99 a roll plus 1 free rolls! Then realize that has been the sale for like 5 days, oh well.

2:15 - Go by Norman's second Walmart looking for a particular toy for a particular nephew that sold out in like 10 seconds at the other Walmart. Go up and down every aisle looking for that toy someone may have set down and decided not to buy...

...keep looking...

...keep looking and find Toy Story 3 for $10!

...keep looking and find the toy in pink and purple :(

...keep looking...

3:00  - YES! Found the toy in boy colors on the floor on the greeting card aisle! Wooo!

3:15 - Head back to home base to check out the online Old Navy sale for jeans and realize I am not a size 0 or size 16 so no jeans for me.

3:30 - Pack up and head to Target! Lady in the parking lot tells us the line starts in the back of the store... the line goes from the South entrance, past the North entrance, past the Motherhood Maternity store, past the Verizon store, past the AT&T store, around the dumpsters and back around to the AT&T store. WOW!

Picture taken by Emily Hess real early in the Morning!

4:15 - Run into Target, get everything we were looking for and race to the checkout to get a great spot in line and out in like 15-20 minutes!

5:00 - Head back to Old Navy just in case... and they have even more jeans available, the line is short, and we score jeans half off! Woo!

5:30 - See a line outside in the mall and wonder what people are waiting for. Hop in the line. Get a free gift bag with a "sport ball" in it. But the lady in front of us got a $50 mall certificate! Good for her, she was very cute!

4. Rest

6:15 - Make it back to home base, SNOOZE!

Can you say, wonderful, adrenaline, and whoa tiring! But we're officially done with all the gifts for Kyle's family. We'll wrap them today and leave them here!  So I encourage everyone to get out and do that next year, really because at least at 2am there's some fun involved as opposed to 2 weeks later when the stores are just as packed, you don't get any sales, and you don't seem to think it's quite as exciting.  And now we can focus on decorating! right? (and buying for the Kingsley fam of course).

More to come soon on our fabulous fall! My trip home to Lake Charles with the fam, our trip to College Station... and SOON to come decorating the house for Christmas!! (once we do that :)

What did you do this Thanksgiving? and what are you thankful for?