Mooresville Christmas Parade 2009

This year, we took Gaby to his first Mooresville Christmas parade! MeMe went with us and we all had a blast! I think MeMe and I had just as much fun(or more!) than Gabriel did! We had a great spot to watch from, which was near the beginning of the parade. MeMe bought Gaby an awesome blow-up Rudolph, he loves it and now tries to ride it at our house!! My favorite part of the parade were the Clydesdale horses, which were right before Santa at the end of the parade. I have seen them before on TV (think Budweiser commercials!), but never in real life. They were HUGE and absolutely gorgeous! Gabriel liked the bands and music and of course he was excited to see Santa. He cracked me up because he just HAD to sit on the ground beside two girls who were probably 6 or 7. He is already a big flirt!!! I think we have started a new tradition and I look forward to going back next year!!!!!

So Thankful!

I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving! I know that I have so much to be thankful for this year. I am thankful for my special family, for all my wonderful friends near and far (think Bunn, Texas and Vermont!), for my cool new job, for Cedric being back in school to become a nurse, for little Luke getting a new heart on Halloween, and for having a house, food, clothing and all the things that we take for granted everyday. This has been a special year, watching Gabriel grow from a little baby to a rambunctious little man is a joy everyday. Not a day goes by that Cedric and I don't look at him doing something outrageous, then look at each other and smile. Wow, I am so thankful that God decided to make me a mom!

I hope the year to come is filled with happiness, good health, and good fortune for everyone. Please take time to enjoy each other today, we all truly are so lucky and we need to slow down and just enjoy it today!

Where's Big Bird?

Holiday Fun

Well, our tree is up and I am definitely in the Christmas spirit! Tomorrow is a big day! I have going to Gabriel's Thanksgiving Feast at his school for lunch, then we are meeting up with MeMe (aka Melissa) to hit the Christmas parade in downtown Mooresville. It has been YEARS since I have been (probably 6th grade, maybe middle school) and I am so excited to take Gabriel. Growing up, we went every year, then went to my Aunt Laura's to help decorate her famous sugar cookies for Thanksgiving. So much fun! Now I get to begin a tradition with him! Ceddy may meet us there, depending on when he finishes up with his class and also the traffic.

Wednesday, I will be busy cooking for Thanksgiving and maybe doing a little Christmas wrapping! On Thursday, we will have lunch at my Grandma Dot's, then head to Kings Mountain to see Cedric's family. Then we hope to stop by my Aunt Janie's that evening. We need to get to bed early because Friday is one of my favorite days of the year, BLACK FRIDAY! Mom and I have gone shopping on this day for as long as I can remember. We used to go to Charlotte back when I was in elementary school, but now we go to Hickory. Cedric will be going with us this year, this is his first year of not having to work at the DARN Mat Firm the day
after Thanksgiving, YIPEE!!!! I can't wait for him to see the madness!

Saturday, I will do the rest of the decorating around our house, right now we just have the tree up. Then Sunday, we always get together to decorate the tree at mom and dads! I just love this time of year! Looking at the Christmas tree all lit up seriously makes me HAPPY! OOH, one more bit of excitement...The Cedric Moore family will be lighting the advent wreath this year at the Christmas Eve service at church. I have never done this before and am really honored. Dad and Zach are predicting that I trip and fall when walking up to the wreath, which is up the stairs at the front of our church. To be fair to them, I do have a history of tripping at big moments. I fell down the steps several times while acolyting in church as a kid, and also tripped going UP the stairs at my high school graduation :) Hopefully I will be able to not get injured this Christmas Eve!

I'm The Mother Flippin'

This is HILARIOUS! The guy with the bandana and red shirt is my friend's nephew! LOVE THIS!!!!!

Rappers with beard from Miramax on Vimeo.

Nap

Wow! I just woke up from an afternoon nap with Gaby and man, was I sleeping good or what? It is the kind of sleep where when you wake up you have no clue where you are or what day it is...The phone woke me up, but he is still konked out! I guess I was worn out from my long day of work yesterday...I left the house at 5:00 a.m. to head up to Haywood County in the mountains to do an all day training event at the hospital and I didn't get home until 8:00 pm. I tried to watch UNC play last night, but I fell asleep probably before halftime! The traning went great, it is a part of my job that I really, really enjoy. We go into hospitals and train the people that work in labor/delivery on using our computer software program for entering the data from their newborn hearing screens. It is always fun to meet all the nurses and see the different birthing facilities. Plus, you know I love to talk and this is all I do, all day long, it is right up my alley!

Today I took Gaby for a haircut with Jenny, that boy LOVES to get his haircut. He sits there all serious, it just cracks me up. It is one of the only times that he sits still! Then we headed over to Mooresville to do a little shopping. I was looking for some jeans for him. We have a time fitting him for pants. He needs the length of 24 M, but he is too darn skinny for them (must be nice). In the clothes section of Ross, what did we find but a Cookie Monster jogging suit? I am not a big fan of character clothing, but he LOVES C. Monster and it was only $7.99, so it came home with us. As soon as we got home, he had to try it on and go check himself out in the mirror, he is full of himself! We also bought Ceddy's Christmas gift from Gabriel. Gabriel helped pick it out, it was very cute! Tonight, I am planning on hanging at the house and watching the Heels play. Tomorrow, we are putting up our tree and then I am hitting the new Twilight movie with Mease at 7:00, can't wait! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!!

How Pumpkin Pies Are Made!!!

A friend from work sent me this and I thought it was hilarious! Enjoy!!

Gabriel Meets Santa

So Gabriel has been talking for several weeks, so we decided to take him to BASS Pro Shop, where they do the picture for FREE!!!! Needless to say, he was a little scared of Santa and would not sit on his lap. He stood close to him, told him what he wanted (a bike), and then backed away. Of course Santa patted his knee for me to sit on, and I could not turn him down :) Gaby then sat on my lap and hurray, they got a pretty good shot of us! I highly recommend going there to see Santa. Not only is it free, but they have a great decorated area, complete with Santa's workshop, big reindeer, lots of Christmas trees and lights, and lots of fun free things to do. Cedric and Gaby both loved the remote control monster truck! Plus they were giving out free samples of yummy fudge.

Speaking of fudge, I had a bad food weekend. It started off with queso and chips at Chili's at Concord Mills. Once you break bad, it just goes downhill from there. But I recommitted today and plan on going strong until Thanksgiving Day, when I am going to eat whatever the heck I want (hopefully sweet potato casserole made by Aunt Carol, hint hint!) But I will get right back on it on that Friday, no eating the good stuff for the whole weekend. Man it is hard as hell to lose weight. I just wish I could be one of those people who can eat what they want and stay skinny. I gotta tell ya, I really do like to eat (and drink yummy beer)! Speaking of beer, here is a good holiday one to try. Harpoon's Winter Warmer. It is a yummy ale, with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg and it has cute red, green, and white labels. Zach and I have decided to become beer conisseurs (spelling?)...Our first batch of home brew is now ready to be chilled and we hope to crack into it this weekend.

Gabriel's Christmas Portraits

Picked up Gaby's pics today, I think they turned out pretty darn cute! We are definitely getting into the Christmas spirit around here. Gaby and I love Christmas tunes, Cedric pretends to think we are nuts, but I think he secretly likes them too! We are hoping to take Gaby to Bass Pro Shop to get a picture with Santa, they do them for FREE there!!!! And I plan on putting up the tree on Sunday or Monday if I can figure out a way to con Ceddy into helping me :) We had plans to travel to see Laura, Travis and Tyson for the UNC/Miami game this weekend. Sadly, Cedric's cousin Shirley passed away after a long battle with cancer, and we will be attending her service on Saturday. Please keep Cedric's family in your prayers, Shirley was a very sweet mother and grandmother and will be greatly missed. Hope we can reschedule a visit with The Smiths, we miss them!!!

Please, please let the weather clear up for the weekend, this rain is so GLOOMY! We did have a fun Veteran's Day off yesterday though, despite the rain. I had planned to send Gaby to school and clean up this house, but he was just so cute and snuggly when I woke him up that I just HAD to keep him home with me! I didn't get a lot of cleaning done, but who really cares! We went over to Mooresville with mom, dad, and Zach and hit Lowe's and Target (two of my favorite places), then drew names for Christmas at Aunt Janies, put the pink/white tree up at mom' s house, then went out to eat last night at Stacey's with the family. Very good day! Thank you to all our Veterans for all your bravery and for keeping us safe!!!!

NO MORE HAPPY HOLIDAYS BULLCRAP, IT IS MERRY CHRISTMAS!

UNC HOMECOMING 2009

Halloween 2009

We had a great Halloween! We started off on Friday in full costume for the Costume Parade at Gaby's school. Saturday, we all got dressed up again and headed out for trick-or-treating. We hit Nonnie and Dwight's, Aunt Janie's, Mamaw Dot's, the Anthony's, and then Mitchell and Rita's, before heading over to Grammy and Papaws for the Halloween party. Even though it rained and we did not get to build the bonfire, we had a blast. Lots of good food, fun, and laughter. We also got some great news on Halloween, Baby Luke found out he was getting a new heart! The surgery was completed early Sunday morning and he is on the road to recovery!

Sunday, we went to church for a special All Saints Day. It was a very special day for our family because Pete was honored. We miss you Petester!!!! Please keep Melissa and the rest of her family in your prayers over the next few months, the holidays are going to be tough without the presence of Pete, but we know he is somewhere looking down on all of us and smiling! I am sure he has been cussing Jake Go Home (aka Delhomme!)this football season and will be cheering for the Tarheels as baseketball season begins! After church, Ceddy and I did a little Christmas shopping and then we headed over to Zach's house to bottle up the beer we have been brewing. Zach got a beer kit for his birthday and we have made the first batch, Oktoberfest with added cinnamon and brown sugar. It will be ready for chilling in 2 weeks and we can't wait to try it!!!!

Yesterday, we took Gabriel to get his Christmas portrait done, and we broke out the Christmas music. Cedric thinks I am crazy, but I don't care! I LOVE this time of year! I love the sights, smells, and sounds of the Christmas season! Gabriel is talking about going to sit on Santa's lap and I cannot wait to take him!!!!!