This entire weekend was a whirlwind! Friday afternoon - I had my company Christmas Party (lots of prizes are given away); but sadly I went home empty handed - no winner here! :(
They did let us leave early which was nice!! I went straight home and got to making a large amount of chicken spaghetti - I boiled the chicken in the crock pot overnight - so the hard part was done. I diced veggies and made one put of noodles before I had to pick the girls up from school.
I picked up the girls and headed home to finish up the spaghetti. Within an hour the giant pot was made and I was out the door to do some shopping (last minute party needs).
We picked up what we needed at Aldis - dropped it off at home and then headed to the Elementary for Winter Wonderland. I needed cash - so we stopped at the store and then made out way to Winter Wonderland!! Issy made a marshmallow snowman (ate it before we got to the next station), played tons of games - bowling, limbo, toilet toss, tic-tac-toe, toss, made some crafts - a sleigh, a painted hand Santa, a snowman, etc.
We spent an hour in Winter Wonderland then packed up and headed over to the ATA school to see the Black Belt Extravaganza. We watched all the black belt awesomeness and then headed home by 7:30. I still had some party needs unmet, so we all loaded up and headed to Walmart. What is it about that place that you go in with a list of 5 things and walk out with a cart load f nonsense! LOL
We got all the final items on our party list and then loaded the car up with everything we could think of to take over to Erica's for the party!
Makaila and I headed over to Pasadena to do the party drop off! We unloaded and hung out for a few minutes then headed home!!
Saturday morning. I woke up a tad early. I did a load of laundry (long overdue) and then got to cleaning up the music room. We got ready, and practiced a bit and then headed over to the ATA school for our Belt Testings. It was a long morning! We were there until after 1pm!! I was winded and aching by the time we left!! (I really need to start working out more). We all did pretty good and Danny got there in time to watch me and Makaila do our self defense and sparring portions of the testing.
We all went to eat at Iguana Joe's afterwards and then back to the weekend grind. The girls went over to SJ's Birthday party while I folded some laundry and then headed over to the groceries again to pick up the pastries and birthday cake!
I came home and got ready, went next door and rounded up the girls, and then off we went. We got to Erica's and finished getting party things together. Started the lasagnas in the oven, made the tea, sliced up the salad toppings, and set everything up.
At about 6:30, the girls and I headed over to Elaine and Fidel's for cookies with Santa. (They have been doing this for a few years now - and we didn't want to miss it!). We took our obligatory family pic with Santa and had some cookies. I even sat on Santa's lap and asked him to pay my house note, or at least light bill! LOL
The girls stayed with Danny and I headed back to Erica's. We hung out and danced and laughed and chit chatted for awhile. By 10:30 I had eaten far too much and my tummy was aching - so we headed home! I was SOOO tired!!
Sunday morning, the girls and I headed to church to our last service at AHS!! Our new building is ready and we will be having our first service there next weekend to kick off our Christmas Services! Just as planned (I honestly didn't think it would be ready - but what do I know!)
Church Notes:
Dancing In the Darkness
Sometimes the problems in our lives can steal our joy and passion!
There are 7 things we can do to experience the divine gifts of God:
1. Live from my convictions -
* core convictions produce passion
* without convictions there is no passion
* if you don't stand for something you will fall for everything
* know that God is greater than your giants
2. Let go of my disappointments
* don't let disappointments steal your joy
* disappointments turn into bitterness and resentment
* let go of the pain and keep on dancing
3. Long for God with my whole heart
* Nelson Mandella said: Bitterness is like drinking poison and thinking it will hurt your enemy
* Do the things you do with your whole heart and full intention - not halfway or sloppily!
4. Lean on God's Promises
5. Listen to the Voice of Truth
* Satan loves to whisper lies and discouragement
6. Look for a great Challenge
* Don't just get comfortable - be passionate
7. Lift Up God's Name
Nelson Mandella - Courage is not the absence of fear - it is moving on despite those fears.
After service - we headed home to wrap our angel gifts. This year we took three angels from the giving tree at church and it was time to turn them in. We dropped them off at the church and then headed to the mall to go see Frozen! Sadly - the movies prices at the e mall went up yet again and it was $25 for the three of us to see the movie - which I refused to pay so we headed back home and watch Christmas movies on Netflix instead!
At 5 pm we headed out to tour ATA Christmas Dinner. It was a potluck dinner and we took some rice and a cookie cake, some cupcakes and some sugar cookies. We enjoyed the company with our ATA family and then headed home to get ready for bed! I watched One for the Money (Now that we finally joined the Netflix bandwagon - but I'm glad I never paid for it - not good!). Danny and I sat in bed and talked about what we are still missing for Christmas and then dozed off to sleep.
It was a hectic weekend, but it was filled with Family, friends and fun - blessings galore!!!! I loved every rushed minute of it all!
Here is our weekend photoalbum:
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