Winner! Winner!

Amanda Sarchet, you are the winner of the give away! I'll email you! Thanks everyone for participating! I'll have another one soon. Stay tuned! Happy New Year's Eve!

Christmas, Snow, and a Give Away!

We had a great Christmas here at The Smith House and I hope that you and your family did too! I think that everyone got what they wanted but most important was spending time with family and celebrating the birth of our Saviour! One thing that I did this Christmas was eat wayyyyyy too much! I always spend Christmas Eve cooking...I mean the entire day! I cooked sausage balls which my cousin and I destroyed in about 3 hours, Oreo truffles which are sooooo good and I can only make them once a year or else I'll have a serious problem getting into my skinny jeans, homemade hot chocolate, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, green beans, and rolls. Yummy! My dad's side of the family came over for dinner on Christmas Eve and we ate all of the above plus turkey my aunt made and most importantly my Meemaw's caramel pie! Oh my!

The sinful Oreo truffles!

My Meemaw and me. She is a true blessing to me!

My cousin Nate and I! It had been 1 year since I'd seen him. He's more like a brother. We were basically neighbors for 18 years.

All ready for bed so Santa can come!

Chevy played one last prank

 

As I hadn't had enough to eat on Christmas Eve, I got up Christmas morning and cooked Cheesey Potato Casserole, eggs, biscuits, pigs in a blanket, and we had a Honey Baked Ham for Brian's family. They always come over on Christmas morning and then we headed over to his aunt's for Christmas with the rest of the family and another HUGE meal.

 

Laura and Shane, Carrie, and Brian's mom with our family of 5

Carter got his boots!

Aubree with a pair of converse that I like much better than the others!

Me and my boys!

 

It snowed here on Christmas night. A very rare thing! The kids were excited...well, except for Caleb!

 

Carter had to ride his Jeep in the snow.

 

And last but not least, I want to welcome all my new followers! I hope that you will enjoy reading my posts that are mostly about me and my kids. I started this blog to keep up with our lives and print off yearly in a book as a keepsake. I want to say thanks by doing a giveaway with a few of my favorite things. I hope you'll like them! All you have to do is follow my blog, if  you're not already click "join this site",  leave a comment to let me know that you are following and register with the rafflecopter thingy! Tell your friends!

 

$15 Starbucks gift card, Aveeno postively radiant daily scrub, Baby Lips moisturizing lip balm (it's the bomb), sour crawlers =), and relaxing mint gum!

 

 









a Rafflecopter giveaway

Santa!

I'll be working all weekend and the first of next week is going to be super busy so I thought I'd make a post to wish every a Merry Christmas just in case I don't make it back on here. We took the boys to see Santa tonight. They did good!

Carter with Santa

 

Caleb with Santa

 

Also, my sister-in-law, Laura, is a new blogger. She is one of the sweetest and most stylish people that I know. You can check out her blog, here. I promise that you won't be disappointed. A bonus is that she is always posting coupon codes and so much more. Happy Holidays! 



Friday Randoms

This could possibly be my most random post ever. Haha! So, my hubby comes home yesterday morning and is watching all this stuff about how today is the last day for the world and I was kinda listening but not really because my opinion is any day could be your last so I feel like I am good with the man upstairs and I have no worries. Anyways, I did hear them say something about losing electricity and major crashes within the "technological world" and what do you think I woke up to this morning? A cold house with NO POWER! What?!? It wasn't out for very long...perhaps our local electric company was playing a joke? Now I have to reset all my clocks...firstworld problems I tell ya!

I haven't said much on the blog about our Elf on the Shelf, Chevy. I post lots of pics on Instagram (linzlee1982). Well, last week Chevy took our milk and brought back some green "North Pole Milk". It was cute. The kids loved it.

 

 

While I was at work Saturday, I got a text from Brian with a picture of what he cooked for himself and the kids...Hamburger Helper Stroganoff with North Pole Milk. Ughh! I don't think I could have brought myself to eat it and Carter didn't.

 

Ughhhhh!

 





 Caleb saw no problem at all with green stroganoff! Hahahaha!

 

 

About this crazy weather...we survived very windy conditions yesterday with gusts around 50 mph...if nursing doesn't work out I sound like I'd make a good weather girl. Just checked the weather forecast for us this morning. Look closely at forecast for Wednesday, December 26.

 



 

You see the pretty snowflakes? Well, unless you're not from here, you see a headache! Why? Because a lot of folks around here like to run to the grocery store and wipe out everything like they are hoarding food and water for the end of the world and guess what?!? The stores will be closed the day before so that means the panic for the blizzard, lol, will be on Christmas Eve like it's not going to already be crazy enough at the local Walmart.  It took living in the upper Midwest for a while to realize that we can act CRAZY down here over snow. I didn't adapt well to the winters of Minnesota. I woke up one morning to 8 inches of snow and was shocked. I'd just been to the grocery store the day before and everyone was acting normal. The news didn't have any "breaking news" about the snowy situation either. Hahahaha!

 

Last night while eating dinner, Brian asked Carter what he asked Santa for and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I have not taken my kids to see Santa this year!! What kinda of mother am I? I suppose we will go stand in line at Christmas City tonight and wait with all the other locals who waited until the last minute to go see Santa. I am not sure how it slipped my mind. Christmas totally crept up on me this year. Carter didn't think much of it. He said he wrote him a letter so that made me feel better. At least I remembered the letter!

 

Last but not least by any means, I wanted to share the green ribbon in remembrance of those in Connecticut a week ago today. I am still shocked and disgusted. Just the thought of waiting on your child to come out of that school building that day is unbearbable. I can't imagine what those parents are going through. Yes, this is depressing to talk about, but people this is what the world we are living in today is becoming and I never want for something like this to become something that I get so used to that I don't feel like it is worth mentioning. I read a story about a teacher killed, Vicki Soto, she shielded her students in a closet and was shot to death while doing so. Is that not the ultimate sacrifice? If that isn't the most Christlike thing to do than I don't know what is. May God be with those effected this holiday season.

 



 

 





Holiday Linkup!

 

 

This looks like a fun linkup! Btw...I am so not vlogging this because today I refuse to do anything with my hair or put on makeup! Hahaha! Here we go...

 

 

What's your favorite holiday movie? My favorite holiday movie, without a doubt, is Christmas Vacation! Home Alone is a close second!

Do you have any special traditions? I try to but sometimes my husband and I have to work on holidays so that can make it difficult. If we are off on Christmas Eve we always watch Christmas Vacation and go to communion at church. Christmas City is also a tradition we have here. It's a church campground decked out in lights that you can drive, walk, or ride a train through. Santa is there on the weekend too. You're never too old for Christmas City!

What's your favorite ornament or decoration? My favorite ornament is this little straw basket with a plastic Baby Jesus wrapped in a blue blanket that my mom has on her tree. Baby Jesus may or may not be missing his painted on eyes from me bothering him when I was younger.

Best gift you've ever received?  Well, this is a tough one...as much as I use my iphone I would def have to say that is the best one BUT anything that my kids make for me is a favorite!

Worst gift you've ever received?  A very ugly ornament but it's the thought that counts! Right?

Favorite winter accessory?  It used to be my UGGS but geez those things are awful for your feet. I love gloves because they are an extra barrier to keep nasty germs off my hands because they keep my hands nice and toasty.

Real tree or fake?  Def a FAKE tree! I have too many allergies to chance buying and decorating a tree just for it to make me sneeze a million times plus I don't have time to deal with the mess a real tree makes.

When and how did you find out that Santa was not real? I was about 10 years old I think. We were on Christmas break from school and I was doing my chores...hanging up something in my mom's closet and there on her closet shelf for all the world to see was everything off my Christmas list. I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure if she was going to wrap the stuff from her and my dad BUT come Christmas morning it was all from Santa...=(

 

I am excited about Christmas this year! How about you? Is anyone else around here afraid they may blow away today in these 50 mph wind gusts? Lawdy!

 

 

 



 

Technology!

This morning I got up early and did some cleaning and even made a post on my blog via the Blogger app on my iphone and then someone called me...what do you think happened when I answered the phone call?? My entire post was erased! Heck, if I remember what all was in the post so I'll just start over this evening. It was a really good post too! Technology can be a pain sometimes.

Carter's Christmas program at his preschool was this week. He was a cow. LOL! He was the cutest cow ever!

Isn't he cute?

That's Carter in the center.

Carter with his teacher, Miss Jennifer (Miss "Jemmimer") and Miss Lenora

 

My gift from Carter. So sweet!

 

I finally finished up Christmas shopping this week...I think...maybe. I am looking forward to spending time with family to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

 

I'm not sure what to think about this crazy weather we are having. It sounds like my windows are about to break the wind is blowing so hard. Earlier today we were playing outside with no coats on because it was 70 degrees. Crazy!

 

 

 

 

Can't Imagine...

New Look

I am so excited about the new design on my blog. A big thank you to Chris! It's exactly what I asked for and I love it! I have been MIA all week. Most know that I am a clean freak and I designated this week as "deep clean" week around the house. I'm glad I only do that every 3 months or so. My normal blog time has been taken over by Christmas shopping. I try to do as much as I possibly can online. It makes life so much easier. I am sure my great grandmother who had 12 kids would have loved online shopping...or just being able to shop at all. So...you add all of these things up plus I am getting used to sleeping at night and going to bed earlier since I am on dayshift now and you get a neglected blog.

I was nominated for 2 Liebster Awards this week, by Lindsey and Chrissy. Thank you ladies! I am terrible, I know. I will answer your questions ASAP! I don't seem very award worthy...ha!

So, I was just saying hello to everyone. I had to check out my new look! Have a lovely day!

Recipes and Relaxing!

I am a day late on doing a linkup with my sweet blog friend, Lora. She hosted a linkup "What's for Dinner"? So, I am going to share a recipe that everyone loves. I have many requests for this so I hope you'll like it too. It's Chicken Rotel Spaghetti, sorry no pics! I also am going to include one that I kinda made up from a mixture of recipes that I have found. My Meemaw, the greatest in the world, makes a mean Mac N' Cheese among many other things but anytime I ask her for her recipes she laughs at me. LOL! I am not sure why but I just laugh along with her. It's still not as good as hers but it's close and it's for the crockpot which is one of my best friends! By the way, neither of these recipes are low in fat or healthy by any means. Sorry!


Chicken Rotel Spaghetti
16 oz. Spaghetti cooked as directed
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 jar of cheese whiz
1 can of rotel (I use original but spice it up if you want)
1 stick of butter
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cooked (I cook mine in the crockpot for about 6 or 7 hours on low, season as you wish)

Preheat oven to 350. Cook spaghetti as directed and drain. In a separate pot over low heat, mix the soups, cheese whiz, rotel, butter, and chicken until everything is melted and mixed well. After it is mixed well, add the spaghetti and mix all of that up. Pour into 9"X13" dish and place in oven. Bake for about 30 minutes or until it is bubbling. I like mine to get a little brown on top because I am weird like that. Enjoy! Oh, and you can sub one of the cans for a can of cream of mushroom soup. I had a friend try that and she said it was good too.

Crockpot Mac N' Cheese
2 cups of macaroni cooked as directed
1/2 block of cream cheese
2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup of milk (I use 2%)
1/2 cup of cheddar cheese
1 small package of Velveeta cheese (The one you find on the shelf at the store. Ours is by the pasta.)
salt and pepper as desired

Set crockpot on low and spray with PAM or whatever you use. Add the cooked and drained macaroni to crockpot. Now, add the cream cheese, butter, milk, and block of Velveeta cheese and mix well. Cook for 2 hours. Top with the cheddar cheese when done and allow it to melt. (From the Crockin' Girls and me)



The hubby and I are off to the River Inn in Downtown Memphis tonight for some R&R. Gonna get some massages too! Yay! Enjoy the weekend!

How in the World?!?!

Yeah...so all you mama's out there that work Monday-Friday 8-4, 9-5 or whateva...how in the world do you make it? Geez! I have been working just Saturday and Sunday nights for the longest so basically I have been a stay-at-home mom that has a bad sleep schedule. LOL!

I was in orientation at the new job this week during the day. Luckily, Brian was able to take vacation time and stay here with the kids all week. So, you would think we would have felt like a normal family, right? Ummm..no! We are so used to working opposite schedules and living like single parents which these kids had better appreciate one day that we were both like why are you doing that, what you are doing?? We are really used to doing our own thing. I don't think that's good but it's just kind of the way it is. For example, I always give Caleb his reflux medicine, some oatmeal, a bottle and he's off to bed then I have blog time for a little while followed by a hot bath, pinterest on the iphone then it's time to snooze. Oh nooooo...not Brian and that wasn't flying with him either. Apparently after he puts the kids in bed he tiptoes around here in the dark and goes to bed. Hahaha! I was driving him nuts and he was me too!

On Tuesday, Brian texted me asking if I needed anything from Walmart. I felt so excited! He was grocery shopping like I always do on Tuesdays. I get home and he tells me he spent $200. I was like well that's about how much I spend every week on groceries and he tells me that he only got enough food for 1 meal for the week. Brian, what in the world?!? I will give credit where credit is due though...he did stay home all week with the kids and never complained about it, cooked dinner 2 nights, gave 2 baths, swept the floors and did a little Christmas decorating. Carter made it to preschool on time both days this week.

So what if he wore his shirt backwards to preschool?!? Yes...I noticed this at 7:00 that evening. We all had a good laugh. Well, it took Brian a minute to find it funny.

 

Don't worry, I will be back to my weekend schedule in a couple days.  I start on dayshift Sunday.   Thanks for all you did this week, B-rian! I love your mean, grouchy self! Tomorrow night the hubby and I are going to stay at a nice hotel in Memphis and go get some back massages while the inlaws watch the kiddos. So excited!

 

Tomorrow I am doing a linkup with Lora. True and funny story, Lora and my hubby are friends. They went to high school together and we are all the same age. How do you think I found Lora in the blog world? I found her through my friend, Holly, from St. Louis! What?!?! I know. And to think we live in the same small town too.

 

Ok...I am done for the night. Sweet dreams!





 



Celebrity Sightings

One of my favorite bloggers, Holly, is hosting another linkup with Erin. I love these things. This one is about your personal celebrity sightings. After posting this, I feel that I need to get out more and meet some famous people...yeah, right.

Yes, Holly, I have met and touched the hand of Bill Clinton. You are not the only one that loves this man. LOL! He came to Covington, my hometown, during one of his campaigns, many years ago. It was crazy. Here we have this small, quiet town and in rolls Bill on his big bus and there's metal detectors all over the court square and FBI on top of all the buildings. I think our town is still recovering from the excitement.

 

Next, we have Peyton Manning. Peyton was a speaker at a steak dinner sponsored by The Gridiron Association of the high school I attended. My mom was a county official in our county so of course she got the hook-up on tickets. He was still in college at the time and played for the Vols, and, by the way I am the only one in my family that does not bleed orange or sing "Rocky Top" in my sleep.

 

 



Harry Connick, Jr. Well, wouldn't he make a cute Christian Grey? Hmmm....anyways, while on the elevator of the building that a condo we were staying in at Destin, FL, he was on the elevator with my sister and I. My shy sister was about to have a come apart. I kept looking at her like what is wrong with you?!? Stupid me, had no idea who he was! I was still clueless after she told me. My mom comes up later all excited because she saw him too. So, sorry Harry! I would know you if I saw you again!

 

 

Wow...talk about going from one extreme to another. Here we have Playa Fly. Unless you are from Memphis or "The Dirty South", you may not be familiar with Playa. He is a rapper, whom I believe is locked up, yeah, ok so anyways. He's a cool guy and has lots of gold teeth. I am not sure what the sign he is holding up means either. Hmmm...

 

 

John Calipari...JERK! Yeah, I've met his trifling, two-faced self! The only reason I included him was so I could post this ugly pic of him. I met him when I was a student at The University of Memphis, before he became a TRAITOR!! Whatever, Cal, whatever!

 

 

 

Not sure Mayor A.C. Wharton, Jr. counts as a celeb, but he's well-known around here. I worked on a project with him during my senior year in college. He is an extremely nice man. At the time he was the mayor for Shelby County but is now the mayor for The City of Memphis. I like the man. He tells it like it is. He's got his hands full, that's for sure!

 

And finally, another Manning boy. Yes, I have met Eli. I met Eli at the airport in Houston while connecting from Las Vegas to Memphis. Brian was so mad that I wanted to talk to him and get his autograph. Whatever Brian, I owed it to all my Ole Miss friends! He was on our flight to Memphis, which was the worst flight ever. They couldn't even bring out the beverage cart and the pilot kept coming over the speaker telling the flight attendants not to get out of their seats. Love flying in storms...not!

 

So that's all my celebrity sightings! I can feel your excitement! Ha!

 



I'm a Slacker

True story. I have been slacking in the blog posting department lately. I have meant to write a post the last several days but it's a tough one. So, I saved it and doing my usual. Lol! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know that we did. It's always wonderful to spend time with the ones that the mean the most to you and the food and wine is a bonus. The kids and I spent most of the day with Brian's family while he slept after working all night then my dad's side of the family came here for dinner.



Carter and Spiderman bonding during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

 

 Caleb and Laura

 Carter, Lightening McQueen, and Shane

Haha! Sometimes you still have to farm, even on the holidays!

 

 

Meemaw and me

 

Aubree's shoes for a future "I Wore What" blog post! LOL!

And "Chevy" came back. The skittles spell out "Be Good". Ha!

 

In other news, Tuesday morning while dressing Carter for preschool, I noted that his jeans were more like capris and his shirt was more 3/4 sleeve rather than long sleeve. This is called a plan that has backfired, ladies. Yes, before I left for work Saturday night I noticed that Carter's clothes needed to be washed but thought of ALL the Mondays that I have gone to get him dressed and he had nothing to wear because Brian "forgot" to wash his clothes. He washed them this weekend...and when I say washed I mean in HOT water and dried them on HIGH heat. So, today I took the kids shopping for almost an entire new wardrobe for Carter. Luckily, I think this is funny. Mainly, because I will never forget the look on Carter's face when he put his clothes on.

 

 Tuesday night was the first annual "Lighting of the Christmas Tree in Atoka", our town, so we went and it was cold. Aubree is in honor choir at school and they sang. It was nice. The free cookies and hot chocolate weren't bad either.

 

Oh, and I got a flu shot this week. First time ever! I know what you're thinking, you're a nurse! Why don't you get a flu shot yearly? Frankly, because I hate shots and once upon a time had a bad reaction to one BUT a certain little boy shared the flu with me last year and I swore never again would I go without getting my shot. Get yours, people! They predict this flu season to be BAD! Everyone here has been immunized except Brian. He says we're protecting him. Yeah...

 

Next week, I am starting the C25K. I am planning on going to St. Louis with 2 of my local blog peeps, Lora and Janessa, to meet Holly and Melanie for the St. Louis Half Marathon. I hope I'll be able to run. I'm definitely gonna work hard at training!

 

And finally, I caught Carter about to pee on the Christmas tree tonight. What?!? Yes...I was cooking dinner and I look into my living room and he was really just about to start peeing and I screamed. He jumped and said "what"? I asked what are you doing, he said peeing! Like...duh, lady, what does it look like I am doing. I told him to put that thing up and go to the bathroom. I think he really thought it was ok to just pee on the tree like he's outside or something. Males!!!

 

I hope I finish this other post I am working on but it doesn't look good. Ha! It's about some big changes in my life. No I am NOT pregnant or getting a divorce! LOL! Can you tell I am from a small town?





 

 



Thanksgiving!

 

I am doing a linkup with one of my faves, Holly, and Erin about Thanksgiving traditions. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and I am off this year so, for that, I am very thankful! Remember those in healthcare over the holidays that are busy saving lives. =)

 

 

1. What do you look forward to more: the food, football or parades?

Definitely the food but football is a favorite too.

 

2. What is your favorite non-traditional Thanksgiving Day dish?

This is kind of a tough one. My family is pretty traditional when it comes to our holiday dishes. The menu doesn't really change. Does it count that I had Sonic for dinner on Thanksgiving a couple years ago on my way to work? Ha!

3. After dinner, is it football or a nap?

It starts out as football but turns into a nap unless my kids are acting crazy.

4. Do you watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Which is your favorite float?

I do watch the Macy's Parade but it's more in the background while I am getting everyone ready to go. None of my kids get excited over the parade like we did when we were kids. My favorite float is Snoopy.

5. Where do you go to celebrate and eat your big meal? Who is there (family, friends)?

We ALWAYS did Thanksgiving at my aunt's house in Union City, TN but I had to work the last couple Thanksgiving's so I couldn't go and now all of us kids are grown and married with family's of our own so it's really hard to get us all together. Sad, I know. This year we are going to Brian's aunt's house for lunch and then my dad's side of the family is coming over here for dinner. Brian has to work the night before Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving night so it will be easier to do dinner here.

6. What is your favorite turkey day dessert?

My Meemaw's caramel pie. Oh...I could literally sit down with the pie and a fork and eat it all. Yum yum!

 

 

 

 

 



Brian is Back!

After leaving for work in Atlanta, Brian is finally home. We missed him and we are glad that he is back. I took the boys to visit him last week. It had been almost 2 weeks since he'd seen them. He was afraid that Caleb was going to forget who he was. Poor thing! So yeah...that means that I flew to and from Atlanta with a 1 year old and a 4 year old by myself. Fun times, people! Seriously though, I never knew that there are still so many nice people in this world. I had multiple people ask me on both flights if they could help me with my carry-on, the stroller, etc. Carter has flown so many times so he did fine but Caleb hadn't flown since he was 3 weeks old. He did well but descending really hurt his ears. Poor little man!

While in Atlanta, we went to Legoland while Brian was working one day. Carter enjoyed it. Let me just say that I have never EVER driven in anything like Atlanta traffic. OMG! Plus I was in a little rental car and I'm used to driving my big Tahoe. I thought I was gonna have a panic attack. LOL! It was worth it though. We made some good memories.

My FIL visiting the boys before we left



Caleb watching our plane pull up

Daddy missed his little baby

 

Carter is a pro at traveling. He needed no assistance with his luggage. Ha!

Legoland! He had fun but said the one in Minneapolis is better. Agreed!

He was feeling a little overwhelmed at all the Legos.

Carter making legos in the lab.

 

We took the early flight home since it had the most empty seats and Brian came home later. I made his favorite dinner, Spaghetti and surprised him with another favorite, Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. Poor guy hadn't had a home-cooked meal in weeks.

 

On Saturday, we switched out Caleb's carseat. He is big enough to face forward now. My baby is growing up.

 







He liked it!







He was passed out before we got to the highway. LOL!

 

So for now, things are back to normal. You know...the usual craziness of a home with 3 kids but I love it.