Last year I got the flu immediately following Thanksgiving dinner and never made it out of bed to go shopping.

It made me sad all year long.

This year, however, I found a friend who has actually done this before….and most importantly-is as equally passionate about it as me.

Lacey.

We figured we might as well make it a ladies small group event and made Kara go with us. She was not trilled at getting up in the 3 o'clock hour. She got over it.

Ryan, however, looked a bit sad as I drove off without him.

He got over it too.

We went to Old Navy at 5am. We were among the first 50 in the door and got a free MP3 player.

Next was Target. We got there about 5:25 and waited in line for them to open at 6am. We were in and out (with everything we wanted) by 6:16am. 

After Target was Wolfe camera. They had a deal for 3 free 4GB CF cards. Sweet.

By 6:25am we were at Michaels. By 6:50am, JCPenny and 7:10am we were at LifeWay.

I got everything I needed, and got a tiny bit extra for me (scrapbook paper on sale 65% off at Michaels…..like I need more!)

By 7:25am we were home. Ry and X had just woken up.

I wish I could get up to go shopping at 3am every day. I LOVE IT!

*Sorry Nat…these are all the pictures I took. It was slightly raining out and I didn't want my camera to get wet holding it outside in line. And I couldn't carry a purse to put it in b/c that would have slowed me down. 

Thankfulness: Day 5

Yesterday at noon, my sister came home from 8 days in the hospital. She ate dinner with my family (her usual tradition).

She even got to go shopping with my Mom for some Black Friday deals.

I am sooooo thankful for her recovery.

And for being able to enjoy some of the simple pleasures of life.

Love you sis!

That is what E said all day long. I think he learned it at church last Sunday.

Stinkin' adorable.

What a fabulous Thanksgiving day we had here at the Newcom's!

We hosted two Air Force cadets for the day. Randy & Malcolm.

It was pretty super. I had never heard of doing this before our neighbor mentioned it last weekend. We are so glad we did it.

It was great to have guests and they were so amazingly thankful to be away from base, in a home, eating turkey.

Once I realized that they hadn't had any contact with the outside world in 5 weeks we quickly offered  up both our phone lines and our computers so they could talk to their families. (I took the above picture of them so they could post on their myspace account)

Everyone was having so much fun around the house all day that Ry and I decided not to give E a nap.

We found him on our bedroom floor right before dinner. (That's Choo-Choo Moo-bie on the TV)

What were we thinking? He only joined us for a dinner roll and dessert.

That is, he and his new Choo Choo (Stanley) came to the table.

He was a total train wreck the rest of the night.

Dinner  was fabulous (if I may say so, myself!) I think Randy and Malcolm liked it too.

Oh, I feel so thankful for this day.

Yes, E  has no pants on.

Day 4: My friends

I cannot possibly list all the amazing frieds I have been blessed with over the years.

But, for the friends who have become my family here in San Antonio, I am truly grateful for.

Day 2: My children

Everyday when I look at my children I am reminded of the amazing reward of surrendering to the Lord's will for my life.

All I wanted was one baby. All I prayed for was the chance to be a Mother.

God gave me way more than I knew to ask for. 

Today I am abundantly grateful for my three amazing children. 

Everyday this week I'm going to document something I am overwhelmingly grateful for.

Day 1: My husband

He is so beyond good to me and the kids.

I couldn't not imagine life without him. I love him more than anything else in this world.

Even coffee. And my camera.

My leg still hurts…..but, whatever, that is last week's news.

Our weekend was good. Lots of good family time.

Saturday the girls and I went to a birthday party for my friend Cortney's daughter, Tessa.

I think this could have possibly been the first birthday party Krys has been to. She had a fabulous time and was extremely well behaved. I've actually been very pleased with her behavior lately.

X on the other hand is a different story. She has the jealousy bug.

Every single time Krys gets an ounce of my attention, X demands my attention at that very same moment. If Krys says, "Mommy….my tummy hurts" (which was said at least 25 times yesterday), X jumps in while Krys is still talking and says, "Mommy!" even louder (acting as though she needs me for something).

I'm not going to lie. It is really annoying me.

She also has been clinging to me 24/7. And when I say 24/7….I mean every hour she is awake. Yesterday I could not get her off me. Literally…..a body part of hers had to be touching me at all times.

I try to hug her and love on her but it doesn't make her stop. I was ready to scream yesterday for some personal space. I have no idea if this is normal for her age or her situation. I think a lot of it has to do with her thinking Krys is getting more attention than her. 

She's also upset b/c she thinks E likes Krys more than her. X doesn't understand it's because while she is following me around like a shadow, Krys is on the floor playing with E.

I'm praying for some more compassion and patience on my end and for understanding and peace on X's side.

This describes my day at doctor's offices.

The vascular surgeon was worthless. He basically looked at the back of my leg and said, "No, your problems aren't with this vein. I can take it out though and it will look better…."

I told him (in tears) that I could care less about the way it looks I just wanted to know why I'm so much pain.

He suggested seeing another doctor, maybe a neurologist.

I left very frustrated. Ryan (being the super husband he is) immediately called my PCP back and got me another appointment today at 4pm.

So I went to PCP but still didn't get any answers. He suspected a muscel/nerve issue that will go away in its own time. In the mean-time I should load up on anti-infammatories, use an anti-inflam gel he gave me a sample of, and call him if it persists.

So….

I will return to work on Monday and work through the pain.

Thank you for your prayers. Continue praying that the pain goes away by then.

Also, if you could pray for my sister, Lori. She is currently in the hospital recovering from a Pulmonary Embolism (a clot in the lungs). Praise Jesus that it was  caught early as these are often fatal. The doctors are unsure if she'll make it out of the hospital before Thanksgiving. We are very into Thanksgiving in our family (especially the day after) so I'm sure this is devastating news for her.