Scent-Sational Scentsy!!!

Im a Scentsy Consultant Now!

Well folks, after my good friend, Christine, turned me onto the family of Scentsy products last Christmas I have since become a huge fan and now become one of ''them". And very proud of it, I must say! I am currently planning my open house and drawing up a guest list. It will be a ton of fun for a bunch of ladies for sure!!!! Be sure to check out my new Scentsy web page...I have put blood, sweat and HTML into it so humor me! :) For those who don't yet know it I legally changed my name to Mia so you didn't end up at the wrong website! You may think it's crazy, but hey, it's me and we all can't be conventional. I mean, what a vanilla and flavorless existence would that be? I like rainbow sherbet myself. :) Welcome to Scentsy!

My Scentsy web address: https://www.scentsy.com/Miamode

Post Script: The name Mia is closely related to Mary which means "Who is like God?" I like it.

6 kidney stones in 7 days

Here I am AFTER the morphine! ;)

Well, my hubby and I usually do things in pairs, but I must admit this was one thing I would have been happy to have him do on his OWN!!! He started off last week at the ER with 3 kidney stones then flushed them out a few days later. Then 5 minutes into the worship service on Sunday morning he started doing the squirmy dance again and I KNEW he had another little bugger so we spent another whole day at the ER. Well, that day I started having the same pleasant symptoms of those little buggers. So there we were last night all night from 9PM until 6AM. So now he still has the one kidney stone and I have two. Aren't we going to ring in the new year in style?

Trying to give me a smile

My poor honey before any pain relief...I felt so bad for him!!!

There's no one I'd rather be in pain with! :) I love him so, even after almost 14 years married.

Santa's Gifts!!!

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness, SANTA CAME!!!!!!!!! Here is THE video in all its glory. Enjoy. :0

A Saviour Is Born!!!

What a week of excitement this has been! Broken arms, asthma, laryngitis, and my poor, poor husband getting kidney stones just 2 nights before Christmas! We are just a mess around here! But you can't postpone Christmas so we had the lowest key celebration we have had ever. Poor dad was so doped on pain meds (and STILL in pain and nauseous) that he made a brief appearance for the opening of gifts then went to lay down again...what a man! :) But even with all that craziness we can feel grateful for many reasons. One is that in our struggling economy we have the security of the military and the many benefits...thank you Lord. Second, we have friends and family that are second to none (MANY thanks to ALL of you). And last but not least we have the hope that these bodies are nor eternal bodies and will not house our souls forever...one day we will peel them off and be free from pain and strife. This Christmas I am thinking of HOPE as our theme...as I am sure many Americans are as well. Thank you Father for all you many gifts and most of all for your son Jesus Christ.

Our picture parade:

Thank you Grandpa Thomas and Grandma Ann for Gold tickets to Wild Adventures for the second year in a row. We are all so thrilled we can't put it into words...but these smiles do the talking for us! Look at these girls and their happy faces! What a generous gift!

Kaela holding her Santa gift while I was still snoozing. Look at the barely controlled glee...whee!

Emma holding her Santa gift.

Santa brings Emma a Spyro the dragon game for the Wii.

And Kaela gets yet another Pokemon game for her DS player...hey, as long as I don't have to hear about it all the live long day.

Kaela bought her sister a stuffed and oh so yummy (oops, I mean soft) pig.

Kaela got a pair of Chip and Dale pants from my Aunt Debbie. She is so thoughtful to continue to think of us every year. Thanks Aunt Deb! You're the best! ;)

Here Emma is snugging her new cow from mom and dad.

We decided to get Kaela an artist's pad so all of her artwork could be in one place. She certainly looks the part of a bohemian artist with that bandanna on her head.

Here is Emma with her gift from Aunt Debbie. How fitting for her to wear Eeyore! If only the flip side had Tigger it would be a perfect representation of Emma's dynamic personality!

What in tarnation is THIS?!

Mom did you wrap me up a stick?

Emma's unwrapped "stick" for her room from Michael's Memaw.

A beautiful paint by number sent by Michael's Memaw.

Awww...Eeyore

Kaela, recapping the day with her grandparents, wearing her new earrings. BTW, even though the pictures aren't in this blog entry we are so appreciative of Grandma and Grandpa Ritchey's Christmas gift this year! They gave us the gift of time spent together in Chattanooga by paying our way and putting us up in a hotel with them . That's something that will never spoil and can never be thrown away. Thanks for your thoughtfulness and generosity...some things never change. ;)

Thanks also to my brother Bryan and my sister Dee! You guys are the best! We are going to post the picture of our new piano in February for all to see so stay tuned! We loved your Christmas card...such a cute couple ya 're!

Merry Christmas to All!!!!

A Tennessee Thanksgiving

Don't my folks make a beautiful couple? They have been married for 38 years now! Happy Anniversary guys...forgot to tell you this year with the chaos of Kaela's broken arm and all the other "stuff". I wish you many more happy years together! Thanks you for the wonderful example you set for us all of these years. ;)

Dad, I know what you are thinking...where is that mistletoe?

Look how darn cute!

Kaela's Play-Doh creation...I've had nightmares about this one

Up all night sick...poor Kaela :(

Doesn't Kaela look overjoyed to be in a family picture? Yeah she felt really shiny that day as we were pretty much all sick that weekend. 'Tis the season!

Beautiful Day to Give Thanks

This Thanksgiving we had the pleasure of having Michael's family come to town from Alabama (his mother-in-law's sister, Sarah lives in Valdosta). Well, Sarah has a gorgeous home out by Valdosta's amusement park, Wild Adventures, on a lovely plot of land that includes a sparkling pond and plenty of fishes to keep the kids occupied. We had a wonderful time chatting with family and just kicking back and enjoying all the wonderful FOOD! Sarah is a wonderful cook and her dad even made a great pecan pie...terrific folks! It was great to hang out and give thanks to the Lord for all he gives with these wonderful folks! We all had a terrific time! :)

Talking sports and more sports no doubt...is there anything else in testosterone land? Oh, yes... meat.

Our Own Evil Knievel

Emma was the one that watched as her sister stubbed her toe and tumbled off the edge of the trampoline so she was pretty shaken up about it. The whole 3-4 hours Kaela and Dad were at the ER she cleaned Kaela's room and made her a welcome home sign for her door. Our sweet, sweet Emma. That IS why I call her my "Sweet Pea". Aww

Well, Kaela's stunt days were cut short after attempting just one of her dangerous somersaults off the trampoline. Here she is posing just minutes after returning from the ER. She may have surgery in a few days if needed. And she still smiles...whata girl! :) Get this, she didn't complain one bit the whole ride to the hospital or even while they were tugging on her arm to help set the bone into place...only while they put the IV needle in! When the bone doc was pulling and pushing and tugging he was so surprised by her quietness he asked if she had fallen on her head as well! He did then ask if it hurt and then she looked at him and said, "Well, yeah it hurts!"...like you *&#$@. That's her sarcastic side and I like to think she gets that from me. :) Anywho, she has broken both the radius and ulna clean through about 3 inches down from the elbow and it looks like she may have surgery on Tuesday but we will see for sure Tuesday morning. Here's to Tylenol #3! Cheers! :)

Cranberry Sauce Dessert

Here is another crowd pleasing recipe that is a holiday staple around here. Beware though, you may find yourself needing to call Jenny Craig in the new year if it makes you greedy (me). Christine, this one's for you! :)

Christmas Yams

When this time of the year rolls around I think of many good recipes, but one of my all time fave's is my mom's recipe for yams. Mmmmmmm! If anyone needs a great recipe for a holiday gathering this is IT! Thanks Mom for the great recipe, and Tony, this one is for you! :)

Some of My Favorite Things

Here's my tree all dressed up with those ornaments we made last weekend. Awww, don't you just love gingerbread men and Christmas stars? I love it all lit up at night. Now if we just had a fireplace (and had enough cold weather to use it).

Here are two ornaments that my friend, Christine, got for me several years ago and man does she know what I like. Thanks girl! :)

Mmmmmm, Sugar Cookies

Best sugar cookie recipe in the world. This one comes from a long time family friend. Love ya, Bev! :)

Emma loves her reindeer cookie cutter...here she is in action.

Ooops, she decapitated Rudolph! Guess he won't be guiding that sleigh this year! Poor Rudolph.

Yummy! Thanks for the best sugar cookie recipe in the world, Mom! :)