Life as a Lewis

We had a really nice Thanksgiving. Brian hunted, shot, and did whatever you do to a deer most of the day, Camden stayed at Gram's house, and Rory and I cooked and cleaned. Our dinner was wonderful (maybe the best turkey I've ever eaten) and we had a good time visiting after. I also did some online shopping and got some good deals which always makes for a good time. I really, really wanted to hit the mall EARLY Friday morning as usual, but this is the first year with two kids, and we thought that it probably wouldn't work out well. We did go shopping a little later in the morning, and while they were really good, keeping up with a stroller and a 5 year old in the massive crowds and small store aisles wasn't really that much fun. We did not stimulate the economy much either - just replaced Camden's Cars movie (his all-time favorite movie; he watched it so many times that he wore out the DVD almost a year ago), bought Enchanted , and this CD . Oh, and we did FINALLY bu

Knock on wood, but Camden and Rory played very well again together yesterday. Two days in a row must surely be a record for our family. We had a quick shopping trip that was pretty uneventful, although I did pick up a couple of gifts. I've been searching for a cute coat for Rory, but the only thing I can find are those huge puffer coats, and I'm not really interested in that. I've got a pink puffer coat from Korea that Rory can still fit into but for sentimental reasons I was trying to avoid using it. It still smells like Korea and Mrs. Park's house, and brings back lots of memories. I think we're going to use it, though. It seems unreasonable to buy another one when this one still fits. Last night I made cake balls and chex mix for a bake sale/blood drive PVCS was having for Christian today. I'll just go ahead and give you the cake ball recipe cause I know you're going to want to try them! Cake Ball Recipe 1 cake mix 1 can icing 1 pkg almond bark Bake the c

Camden and Rory played so well together all morning yesterday. It was wonderful (and not likely to happen again in the near future). Typically, if I'm lucky enough for them to play together, it's with this stroller (the best yard sale purchase we've ever made). Now that Rory received accessories to go with it for her birthday, Camden straps on the diaper bag over his shoulder (at least he makes it look like a man-bag), Rory puts her purse over her shoulder, and off they go. They alternate who gets to push the stroller and who has to hold on to the side of the stroller (which is what I make Camden do when we're out). I love mail these days. In the last several days, we've received several of my scrapping Christmas projects, our Christmas cards, some new make-up I purchased, Etsy gifts I've purchased for friends, and my two favorite arrivals: our Angela Crutcher prints and a Shaohannah's Hope 5-year anniversary book. Our prints look great and we also received

So the weekend did not go exactly as planned. That sneaky stomach bug only tricked me into thinking it was gone for a few brief hours on Friday and then I spent the rest of the weekend sick as a dog. Brian had to take Camden to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory while Rory spent some time at Gram and Gramp's house. I missed out on church and the Thanksgiving dinner. Rory had a rough time - she couldn't understand why I was in the next room, but she couldn't be with me. I tried to stay separated from the kids so they wouldn't get sick. So far so good! I've been meaning to share a website I discovered a while ago. Actually, I might have already done it, but I'm too lazy to go back and look through my posts. Just in case I didn't, here it is. Every morning after breakfast, the kiddos sit down and we listen to Keys for Kids . I can remember reading these devotionals when I was a kid, and now they're offered online. You choose the Bible translation and they ar

Yesterday was not a day I want to repeat anytime soon! Thankfully, the kids are both still well (except for Rory's new runny nose) and I'm hoping they stay that way. I still don't feel great, but better. Even though I've got plenty to do around the house, I think we're going to try to get out of the house today. We've spent most of the week inside because of the cold weather, and Camden and Rory are going a bit stir crazy. The weekend should be fun. Brian is pretty relaxed because he only has a 2-day week next week. I'm taking Camden to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Nashville Children's Theater with our friend Kathy and her two girls while Brian babysits Rory. Sunday is our Thanksgiving service and dinner and then Sunday night is the 2-hour 24 on TV. Sounds like a good weekend to me!

I woke up with a stomach bug this morning and have spent lots of quality time bent over the toilet. I am just praying Rory and Camden don't get it! Hopefully it doesn't last long. I'll be back with a regular blog post tomorrow.

I grabbed the camera yesterday as the kids were playing and took a few pictures. They are seriously just much too cute. I know - you're not supposed to say things like that about your own kids, but I had nothing to do with their biological make-up or looks so I can say it! :) With Rory's hair pulled back like this, she looks alot like the first few pictures we took of her in Korea when we met her. Her foster mother had her hair pulled back from her face like this. (Side note: take a look at her ears. They're the same size as Camdens. When we got back to our hotel room in Korea, one of the first things Brian and I commented to each other was that she had big--but cute--ears.) I found Rory playing with a bug yesterday (can I get a collective "eeeewwwwwww"?). At least it was just a ladybug - they're fairly low on the "ick" factor. I have Camden to blame for this. He thinks they're his "friends." Still no nap for Camden yesterday, but I mad

Camden missed his nap FOUR days last week. And apparently this is not going to be a trend, but our new normal since he did not go to asleep yet again during nap time yesterday. I may not survive napless days. I'm thinking "quiet time in your room" will replace nap time. Rory has a new phrase: ma too ("my turn" for those of you who don't speak in Rory-ese). We hear this new phrase alot, and she's got it down pat as to when to use it. Unfortunately, her idea of "ma too" is not quite the same as Camden's, which can lead to blood curdling screams from both kids with maybe a pinch and slap thrown in from Rory. I hear this sharing thing doesn't really get any better, but I am determined to not live in a household of blood curdling screams. Any suggestions? I think it probably requires more patience than I'll ever have. Brian is sick with a cold, and I'm just praying he doesn't pass it around. Typically, his colds are over before y

We had a slow, fairly relaxed weekend, and it was great (but over much too quickly)! We went out to eat Friday night and while I've almost decided it's not quite worth the effort to get us all out of the door, it turned out to be lots of fun. We ate at Logan's , and Rory thought it was really great that it's perfectly acceptable to throw peanuts on the floor! And Camden ate so many peanuts that I'm surprised he's not sick. We also grabbed ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery, which is my absolute favorite. Saturday was a pajama day - it was very cold and dreary outside. Brian and the kids worked/played in the basement while I spent a couple of hours cleaning out the filing cabinet and organizing all our old (and current) bills. This week should be a bit slower than last week since I don't have errands planned for every single day. I am grocery shopping today and I've decided to try to shop for 2 weeks at a time so my list is pretty extensive considering Th

Not much to say today because I'm too tired. Only 3.5 hours of sleep 4 nights in a row just isn't enough. We have nothing planned for the weekend except for dinner tonight, which I'm quite excited about. One of the hazards of going down to one income is very few meals out so I'm happy to not be cooking for once. Otherwise, I think we're home all weekend. Dani Mogstad: Sweet November (available at SSD tomorrow) Julie Billingsley/Heather Rosselli: Trail Mix (available at SSD tomorrow)

I've got some Gap coupons I can email out if anyone is interested. They're valid in store only and are for 30% off your entire purchase at Old Navy and Gap November 13-16. Email me at camdensmommy @ gmail.com if you want one.

I had a good birthday yesterday - Camden got up and sat on the couch with me for a bit, then he must have suddenly remembered it was my birthday because he jumped up and sang Happy Birthday to me. It was so cute! My lunch with friends was alot of fun and the highlight of my day. Now that gas is down to less than $2/gallon, I feel freer to make trips to Nashville again so we're going to run around today. If the way the kids acted at the restaurant and church yesterday are any indication, they're ready to be out of the house as well! I'm attending my first MOPS meeting tonight at a church in Nashville with a friend, and I'm looking forward to it. I don't really have any idea what to expect, but I've heard good things about the meetings. I tried to take some fallish pictures last week, and out of 150 pictures, got only two decent ones (coming soon to a layout near you.) Here are a few outtakes. On the run Just a tad windy Okay, maybe really windy Scrunching up the

How bad is it that I'm a year older than I've thought all year? I know - it's ridiculous. Last year I knew that I was turning 32, but somehow throughout the year I forgot and until about 2 weeks ago thought that I was still 31. So turning 33 this year is a bigger blow than usual! LOL When you're 33, there's pretty much no big celebration, but Brian did run out and get me coffee this morning, and I'm going to lunch with my group of Wednesday girls. I did a little shopping at Sephora's sale last week, and we're hoping to squeeze date night into Thanksgiving weekend to celebrate in a couple of weeks. We finally made those Halloween cookies yesterday (it's only been on the schedule every day since the week before Halloween), and Camden loved heaping sprinkles onto each cookie. Rory couldn't quite figure out how to actually drop the sprinkles so she was covered in frosting, but had lots of fun! I've been putting pressure on myself to try to potty

I actually made progress in my "project organization" yesterday - I threw away an entire garbage bag of stuff from our bathroom. What's even worse is that the cabinets are still basically full! How did we get so much junk? I may have to make another run through. Do you think it's too much if I kept 6 bottles of (unopened) shower gel? Brian had 4 containers of deodorant. Seriously. That might be too much information to share on the blog - it makes it sound like we're living in filth, and I promise we're not! :) We all kind of dragged yesterday. I did get things done around the house as well as grocery shopped, but no one was really in a good mood around here. Rory was very quiet and needy yesterday. She's done this before, and it always makes us worry. She wants to be held, and if we're not holding her, she walks around the house with tears in her eyes, dragging her towel, and sucking her lips furiously (sucking her lips and a serious addiction to her

Fall (or winter?) has finally decided to arrive in TN. It's in the 30's this morning and I'm freezing! Not complaining, though - I love the change in seasons. Our weekend was b.u.s.y! Brian worked late Friday night trying to get ready for his fall festival, then we had revival at church Friday night. He spent Saturday working on the fall festival, which was a success Saturday night. I spent Friday and Saturday cleaning the house. I keep the house generally in order, but I've been bitten by an organization bug and am trying to get closets, drawers, etc. organized. I spent hours Friday and Saturday working in Rory and Camden's rooms and closets, and they look so much better. I'm going to tackle the bathrooms this week. I'm not a pack rat by any means (that title would go to Brian), but for some reason I cannot throw away make-up or bath stuff. It's about to all get tossed, though! I figure if I haven't used it in the 3-4 months, then I probably don'

I apologize to those of you who read the blog and could care less about buying clothes/carriers, but it's working for me so I'm gonna do it. :) Email me at camdensmommy @ gmail.com. Prices include shipping. New Janie and Jack, size 12-18 months, $24 Gymboree, worn once, 12-18 months, $19 Baby Gap, new without tags, 18-24 months, $8 Like new Chunei, $40 Great used condition Babyhawk (standard size), $35 Cute girl: not for sale.