~Update~

I will have to say that I think Hobby Lobby is my favorite store, which isn't really a good thing b/c it means a new project everytime I walk through the door~Oh well, I disgress~I took my mat back today and the great lady in the framing dept cut it down for me to fit my frame! Here's the final product hanging on my living room wall~



I'm so excited about this b/c for the last family pic it set me back $160 this only $20 How's that for a bargain!

It doesn't take much..

If you've been reading my blog for any period of time you know it doesn't really take much to make me happy~really it doesn't. At the beginning of the week, Walgreens had a free 8x10 offer, so I ordered one of our new family pictures, while I was cruising around on their site I thought hum, I'll order a bigger one for my living room since the one I have hanging is 2 years old. So I ordered a 12x17 (or something like that) I would have preferred a 16x20 but it suggested that it wouldn't be a good print~Well I got it today in the mail & I am so happy with the way it turned out




I already had the frame (Thanks, Rachella) and I picked up a mat but of course it wasn't the right size so I'll have to take it back tomorrow and get them to cut me one the right size. It will be perfect for my living room!

Thanks Alison!

Ok so you can see...

What I spent a better part of the day doing! I made the header at the top! I'm so excited! I've been wanting one for a long time & I finally did it~Thanks to thecutestblogontheblock.com

TY!!!

I'll be back with something super cute!

~Merry Christmas~

Merry Christmas From the McDaniel's!

This is our Christmas night self portrait! We had a great Christmas~I'll be honest Tyson & I were a little bummed that we couldn't get the kids more than we did, but me (being the voice of reason & the one who helps the kids clean their rooms)~HaHa when you quit laughing I'll finish! told Tyson that they would be excited about what they were getting since it pretty much was stuff they had asked/begged for~


So they WERE excited this morning~Santa brought them all a new bike, which they desperatly needed since they've all outgrown their old ones.

Then my mom bought all the kids a Nintendo DS~they were so excited! then my sisters and my mom bought them all a Wii game & a DS game~

Then they all got hoodies~I didn't make Jed's but his is purple and says panthers across the front. I put PACK on Heather & Caorline's b/c next year Heather will be going to the Middle School and they can only wear sweatshirts if they say the school name or have something to do the team~we are the panthers so we are part of the panther pack!

Then they all got somethign they wanted~Jed got his deer mounted, Caroline got a baby that poops and pees & Heather got a makeover thing you do on the computer.

I try to do this when buying their gifts~something they want, something they need, something to wear, & something to read. Santa brought them all a book in their stocking & I guess the something they need & wear is the hoodie!

Thanks mom for all the goodies you sent and the GPS!


On the job front, we received a letter a couple of weeks ago letting us know that Tyson's plant would begin laying off Feb 15 and continue until Feb 27~they could possibly retain 5-10 employees but we don't really know who that will be so we are assuming that the end of Feb we will be out of a job~

We really don't have a plan right now, other than apply for various jobs, so who knows where we'll land.

It's time to start thinking about 2009! ACK!!! What will your goals be? Will you blog about them? (I found that if I put it out there, then I'm more responisble)

OK so I'm FINALLY excited about Christmas

I'm sure one of my friends will be seeking my mental health evaluation SOON~I had this great idea for the girls for Christmas~I ordered 2 plain grey hoodie sweatshirts and I was going to PAY someone to applique them for me~but of course you know the crazy person inside my head took over and decided we (her & I) could do it ourselves~I think I've told everyone about the project

so here are the final results~I REALLY wanted to do their name across the front but both of their names are too long~maybe when they get older! haha This is Caroline's hoodie




it's a far cry from perfect but I'm sooooo happy with the way it turned out. I'm making Heather one that looks exactly the same so she can wear it at middle school next year. I am thinking about having my friend Rachella embrodier their names on the hood part~I think that would be cute.

So what if I'm crazy, I think I'm a ROCKSTAR tonight!

~My Family~

when we were in Austin, my sister took some family pictures of all of us! I'm really impressed that we all took good pictures I have some more but I haven't uploaded them yet from my email!

UGH! I can't get them to post right~I'll post them later!

~On My List~

I have heard rave reviews about this movie but couldn't find anywhere locally to rent it and I didn't really want to buy it until I knew for sure I liked it so it FINALLY dawned on me to rent it from ITunes DUH!!!! So I just spent the last couple of hours watching a movie on my IPOD! haha It was worth it though!




So I think I am going to buy it. It's definitely inspirational even if you aren't a runner or don't care to be.

Kinda Cool

I came across this neat video tonight as I was cruising around the Christ Centered Christmas link on my sidebar

Joy to Everyone

So Cute...

My friend at school was telling me about these socks and tights she found one day while she was out shopping~

I wasn't too sure but I finally remembered to check out the website and I thought they were cute too!

LittleMissMatched

Don't you think your little girl would look so cute wearing these?

I can't wait to put my order in tomorrow (payday)!

The rumor is if you sign up/register they'll send you a free pack of socks.

Still Alive but Barely KICKING...

What a busy couple of weeks! I can't even remember what was going on last week but this week I've been busy getting ready for the Church Christmas party I was in charge of~Tyson's mom offered to cook the enchiladas for me~all 300 of them. She's been at our house for a week! She's letting the kids help her make Christmas candy tomorrow so we can make treat plates for all of their teachers! She was a huge help this week! I bet she's looking forward to going home soon so she can rest! haha

ok so I have a challenage for my loyal readers (if there are any left)~I was asked this question earlier this week & COULD.NOT.THINK.OF.ANYTHING.

What's something about yourself that not many other people know or an embarrassing moment that you've had?

So do you know something about ME that I could have put? Let me know what it is! I am taking it as a sign that I need to live a little~haha Always looking for an excuse!

I have a million and ONE projects that I want to do over Christmas break (which happens to be in only 4 1/2 more school days) PLUS I need to Christmas shop~yep, that's what I said~So far the kids only have the one thing that my mom bought them! and it's not even wrapped and put under the tree yet! I'm pathetic I know~have I mentioned how much I *HEART* online shopping seriously~how did I survive before?

so that's it in a nutshell~I'm 52 weeks behind on everything around me and it's not looking up anytime soon!

How about ya'll?

Another Project...

I've been wanting to learn how to applique for a long time~finally today I sat down with all the supplies and went to work! I'm very happy with the way my practice shirt turned out and it really wasn't hard! and yes, I used my cricut on this one too! :)

Next time I need to put the letters a little lower, but other than that I was very pleased with the way it turned out!

I know, I know..

no one likes someone who brags but I'm so excited about this project~I've put it off for months literally because I thought it would be too hard & I would screw it up. Today we are just laying around with not much to do so I brought out the Cricut and started on the project!

Here are the final results~these are in my main bathroom which is really the kids bathroom but the one that the guests use also so I didn't want too grown up or too kiddie

the first one is above the toilet & the second is above the towel bar!

~Book Review~

Our book club is reading this book this month. I read it in a weekend and thought it was pretty good. I really found that I could relate to the father/daughter relationship b/c I kind of have the same relationship with my mother. She always told me I was going to college even though she didn't graduate from college. She's always taught me that you had to work for things~Really it's a great & fairly easy read! I have the book if anyone wants to borrow it! :)

Busy Week

We've been busy this week spending time with my family. My mom came down last Friday to see the kids & then my step-dad & sisters & brother came down on Tuesday, then yesterday we drove over to Austin to my cousin's house for Turkey day.


me & my brother Max


my sisters & I with Max



the cute Turkey cupcakes our neighbors brought over!


My cousin-in-law Devin carving his 25 lb bird! Thanks guys for having us! We had a great time~

I forgot to blog about my early Christmas miracle the other day


FILLED MY CAR UP!!!!YAY~!!!

This weekend~or week whatever it maybe...

I am so ready for Thanksgiving break~It cannot come quick enough!

This past week we had Literacy Night at school, then Heather has a cheer competition tomorrow morning. We've been busy, busy!!!

This morning Tyson & I ran a 5K at our local high school. It was a lot of fun & my time improved by 10 minutes~47:28 & I got 3rd in my division!




This is my friend's little boy! He ran the whole thing! Tyson got 1st place in his division!

Tomorrow we are off to Tyler to Cheer!

Here are a few pictures of the kids:

What have we been up too?/*SPT*

Sometimes I wonder how we get from weekend to weekend, because the week seems to fly by~we really didn't do anything exciting this week other than work! (I know~contain your excitement!)

Tyson & I did go on a date last night but all we really did was go out to eat b/c we are so boring & couldn't think of anything else we were dying to do so we picked up the kids and came home and went to bed! haha

I did manage to get up this morning and go running~I was really dreading it b/c it's cold and windy today, not to mention that I didn't walk or run all week~it ended up not being so bad and we had a good time. We got in 3.7 miles today. I made my friend (and coach) Robin take a self-portrait with me after we were through.


And YES, I really do look THAT glamourous when I go running!

I came home and started cleaning out the fridge~it was NASTY, but it's all sparkly clean now for you MOM!!!



I've got the washer & dryer all pretty & sparkly too AND the OVEN. Now I can't really mention the floors at this point but it's a work in progress right! haha

I'm off to a grade level party at one of my co-workers houses!

~Super Saturday~

I told you it was a Super busy weekend!

Saturday morning I went running with 2 girls from church~I kind of dreaded getting up early on a Saturday but it ended up not being so bad!

After our run, I ran home to take a shower then I headed over to the Church for our Super Saturday Craft activity day. Below are a few of the crafts we made. I'm slowly unloading my car so I'll pull the rest out tomorrow.








We really had a great time & most of the crafts were fast and super easy~

Sunday we got to go to Church an hour later! It was nice!!! Then it was back to the grindstone this morning!

Really...

I do have ALOT to blog about but I've been super busy this weekend! Hopefully tomorrow evening I can update!

~I'm Impressed~(& SPT)

yesterday I came home from school & tyson was home~I didn't expect him to be b/c he said he was going hunting~he was ALL excited about going running~I had to go run an errand then I told him I would be home. So I came home & changed well then the kids bring a box out of the bedroom~it was a present for me~for my birthday!

I had no clue what it was~so I opened it and it was new running clothes! I was so impressed that Tyson went & picked them out himself!

so then I had to go change AGAIN! I love them! He said "if you're going to be training you need some good clothes!"

So i'm impressed! haha

and I did 3 miles last night (walking/running combo)

And this pic can serve as my SPT for this week! And it can also serve as my "Me at
35" Picture! haha

For your viewing pleasure...

i know i know haha right?

here's some pics from the newspaper from our 5K walk~the good ones start around picture 21

CASA pics

Weekly Update...

This has been a crazy week at school since it's Red Ribbon Week~Each day the kids could wear something special~of course I didn't take pictures of that~Last night we went Trick or Treating & they had a lot of fun.

Here's a picture as we got ready to go out TOT~



This morning we got up early and I went to walk my 5K with 2 of my friends~we had a good time~Rachella & I walked until the very end & my friend from school Ms. R~walked & ran~she beat us of course! It was a great experience though & I feel very accomplished! haha

here we are BEFORE the race


here we are at the starting line~we were a little intimated by all the professionals!


here I am running to the finish line~there were some HS girls that we had passed up towards the end and they started running & I was determined they weren't going to pass me up~haha



here we are after it was over!

I finished just under a hour~57:21~

it was a lot of fun~and now we know what to expect next time!

Cute Cute

There hasn't been much in the way of fall decorations at my house this year mainly b/c we've just been so busy~

Kristi at Everything's Pink posted about these cute banners at EmmieCakes

My mom bought me 2 of them~one for Halloween & one for Thanksgiving. I sat down tonight to do the Halloween one before I ran out of time. It turned out really cute~I hung it above my entertainment center~Tyson wasn't crazy about it hanging in front of the TV~haha

Happy Halloween!!!

The kids had decided what they wanted to be several weeks ago~Heather & Caroline wanted to be cheerleaders~Jed wanted to be Boba Fett from Star Wars

So this week I realized that Halloween was getting closer. I wasn't too worried about Heather & Caroline's costumes because we had cheerleader costumes in the dress up box. So I started looking for Jed's costume, of course they didn't have the one he wanted in his size so he agreed to be a clone trooper from Star Wars so I picked it up.




Fast forward to this morning neither one of the cheerleader costumes fit Heather anymore so we set out to find one at the goodwill. Caroline didn't need a costume but she saw this PINK barbie cheerleader and decided she needed it. Of course we couldn't find one but we found this old Panther Pride (drill team) skirt at a thrift store & we set out to make a costume. Heather decided to be a member of the Panther Pride. We went to Hobby Lobby to get a purple shirt, gold ric rac, & gold sequined letters. Then we went down to the Dollar Tree and found a purple cowboy hat~and an hour before the party this is what we came up with~

8 Point Buck~The big NEWS of the Day...

This weekend is youth hunting weekend for deer season. Really I think it's just another excuse for the grown ups to get to hunt one more weekend. Tyson called and said they (him & Jed) got an 8 pt buck. Another deer for my living room wall~I'm so excited! haha

Super Saturday

I'm teaching a class at our ward's Super Saturday this year~Of course I picked the 2 easiest things to do, but I've gotten lots of compliments on them and lots of response! I'm excited to make some stuff myself.

The glass block has a hole in the bottom so that you can put clear lights in it or tissue paper~I ended up putting gold tissue paper in mine b/c I can't find the clear lights. I was bummed about that.

I don't know why the I on Christ is always bigger when I cut this out but I never remember to fix it! UGH~Anyways, I can't wait to put this on my entertainment center!
Thanks to Lindsey for cutting my vinyl! :)

*Something MAJOR*

I've been talking about doing a 5K all year long~The other night I signed up to do one next weekend in Nacogdoches. And for the record, this is the first one I've actually signed up for and paid for! I'll probably end up walking most of it b/c I haven't run lately so we'll see how it goes! I'm doing it with some friends from school so it should be fun!

~Mom & Me Cub Scout Camp~

Last weekend Jed & I went to the Annual Mom & Me Cub Scout Camp. Jed really enjoys Cub Scouts & I hope he continues to enjoy scouting.



Here he is fishing & he caught a stick fish! haha


They had a stick horse rodeo & during the Craft station they had to make their stick horse.

Kindergarten Pet Day

Caroline has been so excited about Kindergarten. They have a Pet Day every year & of course she wanted to take our dog but I told her that was too much trouble so she agreed to take the hamsters I have in my room as a class pet! They were a big hit.

Dad & Daughter Activity

Last week the Activity Day Girls had a Dad & Daughter activity. They got to carve pumpkins. I think Tyson & Heather had a good time.


Although in this picture Tyson looks like he took a hit of something while he was there! HAHA

In Love Again...

so I called Nike+ today and the guy was very helpful~I wasn't however able to recover my lost miles but I can walk again with confidence that I won't lose anymore workouts (yeah right) and I am more educated about my IPOD~which makes me HAPPY!

I went to Academy and bought an armband to put my IPOD in so when I walk I won't have to carry it~I'm not sure what I think about it yet!

I walked 2 miles today and that felt good~now if I could just quit eating so much crap I might lose some weight!

I had some exciting news this afternoon~Caroline's teacher came in my room this afternoon and had this look on her face~of course I immediately asked what was wrong~what had my SWEET angel done wrong~haha~she told me she tested Caroline for her reading level today & she did really well~she is almost where she needs to be at the end of Kinder~now at the end of the 1st 9 weeks~don't get me wrong we've got long ways to go but she's doing great! I was so proud of her! I'll have to video her reading one day!

:)

All those great things I said about Nike+...

ignore them for now! I hate the whole setup!!!! Really not with Nike+ but with my IPOD~seriously really I"ve been having issues with it which includes losing lots of miles! needless to say I'm disgusted!

Nike+

because I {HEART} my readers (I know, like all 3 of them) & if you know me at all you know how much I {HEART} a good deal so I'm sharing this with all of you who want to join our challenge~(I know, I'm getting smoked~it's been a rough week!)

You can go to

Sports Authority

and buy these shoes for a smokin' deal & FREE shipping



just don't buy up all the 8 1/2's


then you can go to

RoadRunner Sports

and order the NIKE+ Armband and then you'll be all set to join. The armband should be $50 and then free shipping on that too~

See, I told you I loved you! Let me know when you are ready to sign up!