Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who drops by our "house" every now and then. We hope you had a wonderful day celebrating all we have to be thankful for. I am so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ who has given me LIFE eternally. For my husband whom i adore, my precious children, loving extended family, and dear dear friends!

We had a wonderful day celebrating at my aunts house today. We had the traditional huge thanksgiving lunch and as i type i am feeling slightly ill from the sickening amount of food i ate. : )
i just had to share this funny (or slightly disturbing?) picture. I had no idea todd put cranberry sauce all over his face as this picture was takenHow gross! (although i have not read the books or seen the movie, it reminded me of twilight!) He thought he was pretty funny. I had to remind him this is thanksgiving... not halloween : )

Oprah

Today Oprah had some holiday gift ideas on the cheap! lots of fun and crafty ideas.. but i wanted to pass along a little deal she has going.

You can download some holiday music (faith hill, josh groban, tony bennett) for FREE until 4:00 on Friday, November 29th.

Go here to get your free christmas music!

Picture Perfect.

Ever since Jordan was born (which was nine months ago TODAY- WOW!) I have been trying (with no success) to take a good picture of them together, looking at the camera, and smiling. Any mother would know that's a tall order. But i have been patiently waiting to capture that moment. And today it happened. But let me back up and share how this experience usually goes:

Usually I have one great smile (hi jonah!),
while the other one is looking away.

And, vise versa.
or, what is even more typical....
no one looking at the camera.
(i can't tell you how many of these i have!)

Now that someone is crawling...
it's a challenge even getting her to stay put.
Oh, and someone might end up getting slapped. :(

So as i was beginning to give up once again, I tried flipping the camera view finder out so the kids could see themselves, and this is what i got:

Who would of thought it could have been that "easy"?!?

Groupies.

We seriously might be starting the CPD fan club over here! We just love their photography (and their friendship :) Late October we had a session over at my mom and dads place. You can see a few of the pics here . You may see one of the pictures on their blog as the HuffordHouse christmas card! : )

My Favorite Princess...

Would it be Cinderella?













Or Perhaps Snow White?














Or...what about Sleeping Beauty?












Maybe Ariel?














Or Belle?













Tink? She's a cutie....













No, I think it would be you, little Miss Jordan!!!






















funny story. i purchased these "ribbon dolls" online thinking they woukd come in the mail in order to use for my disney scrapbooking. instead i found them in my inbox. how the heck am i supposed to use these? they are so cute though . If you want to by your own digi-dolls go here

Also, i realize the content of my more recent posts have been very girly... sorry! I will give some Jonah updates soon! : )

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Six years ago this past weekend, Todd and I were dancing to Brudda Iz's version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" at the Fountain Square Theatre. I was in a wedding dress, he was in a tux (he would always refer to himself- and every groom- as "rental boy"). Oh what a wonderful night it was... but even more wonderful than 11.16.02, is the last six years and the marriage we have shared thus far with one another. We have shared many joys and challenges during these last six years, but i do believe God has only increased our faith in Him and our love for one another.

It is funny because i have noticed that every even anniversary we have gone on some big trip (not always b/c of our anniversary, it's just a great time to travel) On our 2 year we were in China, and 4 year in New Zealand. so where do we decide to go for our 6 year? Drumroll Please............. Chicago! I know, I know, not as exotic as china and nz, but cut us some slack, we DO have two little munchkins at home!

And speaking of munchkins. If you know us very well, you probably know we love theatre (todd loves to attend the shows, i enjoy being a drama queen. j/k) it's hard for us to pass up a good show. so in chicago we got tix to see "Wicked" and ohhh was it fabulous. Basically it is "the untold story of the witches of Oz". There was no "Somewhere over the Rainbow", but a great story line and fabulous music. Go see it if you have the chance!

OH. and speaking of Rainbows.... this is what we ran into going back to our hotel in Chicago:

That was a first for both of us. We were in the middle of an equal rights rally on Michigan Ave.

So i realize this post is all over the place! Maybe because i started writing it this afternoon and finally finished it in the evening! ha! i guess that's how life is now!

lil' cupcake

at 4:00 (most) everyday, oprah is on tv and the best light of the day is shining through our south-west windows. usually i gasp at how the 4:00 light "reveals" all the nasty dog hair on my floors, but instead, today i decided to take pics of my little cupcake while my little jonah-bear napped. lil' cupcake began crawling last weekend... well i should say that she takes a few "Crawls" then will roll to her desired location. we (ok, me) are having fun putting bows in her hair and putting her cute little leggings on her (babylegs.com). what a delight she and her brother are to our family.

i love that little bum!

Confession.

This is what i did this afternoon:


i promise i am not trying to be a martha here, but i had an idea and went with it... if you have read my blog for awhile you may remember the fact that i love decorating the house for christmas (and finding reasons to leave the decor up until february ... which last year, i would blame on this). anyway, i thought this year i would get a jump start and spare my husband of having to look at our christmas-y mantle well into february. So hear ya go.. Thanksgiving decor. (and i will also confess the laundry was completely ignored this afternoon so i could get out the christmas lights 2 weeks early.)

I can hardly believe 2 more weeks until Thanksgiving. So much to be thankful for this year...

A United House

The votes have been cast and America has spoken... Sen. Barack Obama will be the President of the United States next January. That has left many people with varying emotions and thoughts as the dust begins to settle from this 2 year (ish) long campaign and election. (way too long in my opinion). I came across a blog post written the morning after Election Day by Christian author Beth Moore. I found great inspiration and peace as I read these words...

A United House

To my beloved Sisters who I esteem so highly and consistently find to be part of the solution to our problems in the Church rather than the cause,

Please join me in praying for our President-elect Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, and his precious daughters, Sasha and Malia. Go with me before the Throne of our sovereign God and ask Him to grant wisdom from above to President-elect Obama and the indwelling presence and power of Jesus Christ. In the words of the Apostle Paul, "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior..."

Please also join me in the active and deliberate pursuit of unity and purity in the Body of Christ at this historical time in our country. I implore you in Jesus' Name to have zero tolerance for prejudice whether it is regarding party-affiliation, color (whether you are Black, White, or Brown), economics or the like. Disagreement is not sin. Prejudice is. Satan has plotted events and planted attitudes that, should he be successful, will result in havoc. We must not stand for his schemes or cooperate in a single way. We would severely displease God and invite untold chastisement upon Christ's Church in our nation. Speak clearly to your children and graciously but emphatically draw a line in your work places and social circles regarding your stand against prejudice of any kind.

"Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.'" (Matthew 12:25) A united house stands. A divided house falls. The devil has much to gain. But he also has much to lose.

We are the Body of Jesus Christ and we have an opportunity to show His character. This is our watch. We stand for what is right not from our feet but from our knees.

I humble myself before you and make these pleas under such bold direction of God that I could not resist it nor disobey it. He made it a fire in my bones.

I love and esteem you so much. Shoulder to shoulder, Dear Siestas. Let's leave not one inch for the enemy to come between us.

"Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve Him shoulder to shoulder." Zephaniah 3:9

Happy Halloween

It was a BEAUTIFUL evening... perfect for little trick or treaters. We had alot of fun having dinner at Papa and Yaya's, then walking to cousie's - Charlotte, Jack, and Natalie's house to trick or treat together. Jack and Jonah's little legs couldn't run fast enough to keep up with Charlotte... but they had ton's of fun in the meantime. The evening ended a little early for my lil golfer.. he saw a scary mask and it was all over. Our little Jor had her first Halloween and dressed up like a kitten. She rode along in the wagon and was as happy as could be. Hope you had a fun evening as well!