Audra Kate

Today Kelly at Kelly's Korner is hosting a Single Ladies/Guys day! So I decided to post about my sweet little sis!

This is a post about my wonderful yet single little sister, Audra Kate! She is so amazing and fun! Here are some of things that make her who she is.

-She's 21.

-She lives in Thomson, GA

-She loves Jesus more than anything! (Just got back from Passion 2011 and had the best time!)

-Is very active in our church ..she does nursery, the Kids Alive program, and sings in the choir.

-Speaking of singing.....she sings ALL. THE. TIME. ha! She loves music...and is always singing something!

-She loves Southern Gospel and loves to go to concerts all the time.

-She is so funny and makes me laugh every day! Seriously, you should hear some of the stories this girls got....Colbra!

-She is such a great aunt to my sweet little girl!

-She has about a million and one friends because everyone loves her so much! (Sometimes I call her Elmer because she's the glue that holds all the friends together!) *in this pic she's on the left with the big earrings!*

-She loves to go....always going somewhere!

-She loves football....UGA all the way!

-She is very loyal.

-She is beautiful.

-She loves to wear big jewelry...the gaudier the better!

-She loves her family and is very close to all of them.

-She works in Augusta as a receptionist/secretary for an auto repair shop.

Well, I probably left off something that I wanted to say, but I love her so much and want her to find a great guy! If you are interested in meeting her, just send me a message at ginya001@yahoo.com . BTW- no creepers allowed! ha!

Thanks Kelly!

Ballard knock off books

When my new Ballard Designs catalog came in the mail acouple of weeks ago, I of course started looking through right away! I love almost everything in there but most things come with price tags that I don't like! Sometimes, I see an item that I can easily make my own version of. That is the case with these "antique book bundles" that they have shown here.

Very cool, but starting at $18 a piece....I think I can do better! My favorite Salvation army gives away 5 Reader's Digest books with purchase every day of the week so the last time I was in there, I gathered up 5 of the oldest books (the actually had neat graphic covers on them....) to use for this knock-off. All I did was carefully remove (some of them were already coming off) the covers and the first and last page of the books. Then you're left with some books that look a lot like the Ballard's ones! I tied two of mine together with twine because they are thicker than the originals and are using them as a riser for a picture frame. Here it is!

I love how they turned out and the price --- FREE!

Sunday Funnies

Look at this little "Gypsy" in the making!! What a hot mess! ha! (no offense to Irish Travelers, I personally love them and wish I was one! ha!)

Snow Day

We had ANOTHER day of snow today! We just had a little bit of snow two weeks ago and then last night, it began to snow again! We got about 2-3 inches and then ice on top of that. Not the fun fluffy kind....but still beautiful....AND Adam didn't have to go to work!!! YAY! Alabama actually loved the snow this year! Last year, she didn't want to get in it at all! It's funny that for both winters of her life, we've had snow! She's going to think this is the norm (which it's not around here!). We had a great day playing in the snow a little, "snow hoodin'" (yes, we attach an old car hood to the back of the tractor and pull it around the yard! very fun!), had some family time and lunch with my parents and sisters, I organized pictures, stayed home and got to be a little lazy, baked cupcakes with Audra, danced and played, cuddled, and watched TV. Thank you Lord for the snow that provided some down time and that we still have power! Planning to get back to "normal" tomorrow. Adam is supposed to be in to work by 9 and Daddy wants to go to his lesson if the roads are driveable. We'll see!

Christmas Evening

On Christmas night, all of my Mama's family came to my house and I made Shana's famous lasagna (which was amazing as usual!). We always have way too much food so I decided to do something a little non-traditional for Christmas and keep it simple. It was also great because I prepared it a few days before and then cooked it that afternoon. Super easy! Nana came up a little early and when Alabama woke up from her nap, she was happy to have more people to play with. She was especially excited when Jenna got there!! Can you tell?? ha!

We had a crazy time opening gifts (although we try to do it by opening one at a time, it takes a long time!) and then had some delicious desserts that Nana made....like red velvet cake! Alabama of course got way too many gifts but she loved them all! ha! (No one stuck to my one present rule!) From Nana she got the Baby Alive that jumps up and down. She has seen this for a while when we got to Wal Mart and she loved it! She also gave her a cute pink heart dress, a puple shirt, a cookie, a santa singing bear, some socks, and two fleece outfits. It was hilarious seeing her dig into that huge bag. Look at Aunt Betty's face in this next picture...so funny!

Aunt Kathie and Uncle Bo and Jenna gave her a super cute pink John Deere wheelbarrow! She can sure use that to help Daddy and Mommy (mostly Daddy) work on our garden this year.

Aunt Betty and Uncle Jerry gave her a really sweet Baby Alive that has a little bottle that you put to it's mouth and it sounds like it's drinking it. They also gave her a pink utensils set for her kitchen. I love the little pizza cutter! And she loves her "Go Dawgs" that is a cute little bear with a bulldog shirt that actually says "Go Dawgs" and plays the fight song! Perfect for Alabama the UGA fanatic! ha!

Audra gave her some dress up jewelry and a dress up set (with her first high heel shoes! How appropriate!). It is so funny to see her click through the house with those shoes on like she's been wearing high heels all her life! ha! She also gave her some cute red and green striped pajamas that say BAMA on the front. Here she is modeling some of the jewelry!

Alicia gave a wooden food set that you can "cut" and a wooden cookie set that you can slice, cook, decorate, etc. They are both really nice. She also gave her another Baby Alive that eats/drinks and goes to the potty. I think we will put that one away a little longer. She gave her a cute Gymboree outfit with purple monkey princesses on it, too.

Mama gave her a Baby Can Read DVD set!!! I've been wanting her to have it for a long time and now they sell it at stores...I'll let you know if it works. So far, we've watched about half of the first one. *If only they made one starring Barney!*

She was definitely into the opening gifts part this year! She even helped everyone else open their gifts, too.

It was a fun night and I wish we'd gotten to hang out a little longer and play games and such, but Bo and Kathie had to go and finish packing for their cruise and we had church the next morning, too!!!

Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning was so much fun this year! Alabama woke up around 9 and was excited to come in and see what Santa brought her! (I think I was more excited than her, though!) She was such a good girl this year and Santa brought her lots of presents! She got a chair, a tricycle, a dress up outfit, some diapers for her baby, a giant coloring book and crayons, some shoes (this is what she told everyone Santa was bringing her! Where does she get this stuff??? ha), a Santa cookie, some Princess pajamas, and some play ice cream.

She also got some goodies in her stocking. Some "fut naks" (fruit snacks), candy, lip balm, bath book, and a wooden cake and pizza.

(This excitement is over the "cana" (candy)!)

Sharing her lip balm with Daddy.After she played with her new things for a few minutes, we went to see what Santa left at Mimi and Papa's house. At their house he left her a cute Gymboree outfit, a ladybug Pillow Pet, and some stocking goodies.

Before we left, she had to rearrange the Manger scene to include Ho-Ho! ha!

We started cooking brunch (which has become a family tradition) for Mama and Daddy, Alicia, Audra, Granny, and Aunt Judy. We finally ate at 12 but it was soo good and Alabama had lots of fun showing off her new toys. After we ate, they sang lots of different songs over and over again with her. She would say "more, more!" as soon as they would stop. *Here she is putting on JuJu's sweater!*

I'm really glad that we got it on video, too.

After they left, we had a little break to clean up and rest a minute and start round two! More to come in a second post.