almost Turkey day... and then CHRISTMAS!!!!!

I am cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving! Yup, you read that right! Me! Joanne is confident she can teach me (she hasn't spent much time in a kitchen with me!) so I'm gonna give it a try! Don't worry, I have a Little Ceasar's a block away and I already made sure they are open on Thursday, just in case! Ryleigh has learned to say "gobble gobble", so as you can see, we are all ready for a wonderful Thanksgiving! After lunch at our house Ryleigh and I are heading down to Corpus for my traditional shopping with Bette trip! And Ryan is staying home to watch the Longhorn/Aggie game, of course! woohooo for a fun week! Which I think is in order since it started out so icky. Let me just say that today and yesterday have been two of the worst days in a long time! I have been BATTLING with a horrible agent at State Farm for seven months now to settle my injury claim from the car accident. Now you tell me how he can (with any sense of right and wrong) treat me like the bad guy and make me jump through flaming hoops to get every little piece of information for him multiple times, never return calls, try to close my claim before all the bills were in, and generally treat my like crap. If I were an agent I would at least be polite to the people that MY CLIENT (the illegal unlicensed driver nonetheless!) had hit! How hard is that?!? Nothing makes me angrier than feeling helpless, and after all the work I have done to get this claim closed, and the countless hours on the phone, running back and forth to Office Depot to fax things, calling to try to have someone confirm they're there, them losing the fax, me going back again... you get the picture! And it's STILL not over. It makes me so angry that this is STILL consuming my life, all these months later! argh!!!! Ok, enough ranting and raving. Whatever. It will be over soon and we will have some money (well earned at this point, I think!) to add to savings. Anywhoo....
In other news, I am practically giddy for the Christmas season to actually begin!! Ryan tells me I have to wait until it's actually December to put up the tree and begin decorating the house... we'll see! I really don't think I have the willpower to make it that long! lol! I've already been secretly rockin' out to Christmas music all day while he's at work! Roo loves this random song by George Strait called Mrs. Santa Claus - she sings "ho ho ho" along with it and it's just adorable! I am so excited b/c I think she's old enough now to get into Christmas more, and maybe just maybe won't scream bloody murder at Santa?! I want some cute pics!! You know that's the most wonderful part of the most wonderful time of the year is - PICTURES! I would rather have the pictures than all the presents! Here are a few of my faves from last year...

just showin' off!

my first cupcake cake with the awesome pan Ashley gave me for my birthday!

In Ryleigh's Eyes...

I took this picture of Roo at the playground today, and I LOVE it! It got me thinking about the way she views the world. Like right now she's going through this disgusting phase of licking things. For example, concrete, car doors, Ryan's boots... it's really icky to me, but I guess she's just wondering what they taste like, and decides to go on and find out! I mean basically most of what happens to her on a daily basis is a totally new experience, and how can I blame her for wanting to take it all in any way she can think of? Also I think about how she perceives the things I do. I know she gets frustrated with me when I am busy doing homework on the computer or doing the dishes, etc. To her eyes I'm ignoring her and choosing to do something other than play with her. It makes me more conscious that sometimes when I'm doing those things I really can just let it go until she goes to bed, and take that time to play with her, or sit her up on the counter and let her "help" me scrub plates like I did today. She was laughing so hard, and we had soapy water all over the kitchen! I guess the point of all this is that instead of going about my day dragging Ryleigh along for the ride, I want to make an effort to consider what she is getting from each activity. I'm gonna try to see more things through Ryleigh's eyes, and not always holller "no" at her for trying to do things I'd rather her not do. I mean if it's not dangerous, of course! So hopefully this won't lead to a horrible infection of some sort if I let my kid lick the occasional object, I figure if she licks enough gross things she may discover that this new habit does not have great payoffs!? Anyways, thats' my ramblings about THAT!

ah! free time!

I finally finished my papers and can breathe a sigh of relief! Roo is asleep, Ryan is playing Xbox in the living room, and I am gonna take some time to digi-scrapbook and read magazines! YAY!

I found this in the back of Parenting magazine, and anyone who has had to read Goodnight Moon to their kid as often as I have will appreciate it, so I thought I'd share...

GOODNIGHT MOM
(with apologies to Margaret Wise Brown)

In the messy green
family room
There was a telemarketer
ringing the telephone
And a crying toddler
because his brother
just popped his
red balloon
And a picture of-

The cow jumping over the moon
(which someone colored on
with permanent marker)
And there was a missing
teddy bear, and a girl with
gum in her hair

And one to be scolded
And laundry to be folded
And a very hungry spouse
And something stinky in the house
(that no one else seemed to smell)

And a comb and a brush and a colicky
baby who just won't shush
And a frazzled mommy screaming #*%#@

Goodnight messy room
Goodnight scribbled-on moon
Goodnight cow getting out while she can
Goodnight telemarketers and the
popped balloon

Goodnight long-gone teddy bear
Goodnight cereal bar smeared all
over the dining room chair

Goodnight spitup
And goodnight leaky sippy cup
Goodnight much-too-little house and
goodnight grumpy spouse
Goodnight comb and goodnight brush
And goodnight to a certain 2-year-old
who just needs to hush right now I mean it

Goodnight Elmo
Goodnight toys we'll pick up tomorrow,
or the next day
Hello chardonnay and TiVo -
"me" time finally

- Sarah Jio


In other news, I am officially an addicted Skype user! We have the webcam up and running and are ready to chat, so add us if you have Skype too! Our username is Hemperly Family! Roo and I got to chat with Auntie Maraka from all the way in Kuwait today, it was the highlight of my day to see her gorgeous face and talk with her! And of course Roo thinks the only thing better than Elmo on the computer is Grammy and her doggies! Mom's initial reaction to the video conferencing - "It's like something from The Jetson's"!! lol!


here's a pic of Roo from playgroup yesterday! she found this ice cream cone and came running to me to show me that it was the same as the design on her dress! Very clever, right?! I'm pretty sure it's an early sign of genius! lol!




Well nighty night folks, I'm gonna enjoy my un-productive time tonight!

OH NO!!!

I think Ryleigh's favorite phrase pretty much sums up tonight's election results.
"OH NO!!!"

I have a sinking feeling about what Obama will lead our country into, but I will be praying that God will control the situation.

On a happier note, my little Roo is now sleeping in a "big girl bed" after repeated leaps from her crib over the past few days. yikes! she is growing up so fast! Grammy Autumn is going to make her a special quilt for her new bed, and we are so excited!

I am struggling through some icky research papers this week, so wish me luck!

This weekend I will turn 26 (I already got an AARP card in the mail. seriously!) and Ryan's brother turns 21, so we are leaving Roo with Grandma Joanne and going to Austin to party on 6th street! woohoo!!

So yup, thats what's new with us! And here are some more recent pics for ya...

Ryleigh wiping her boogery nose on my t-shirt!!! GROSS!!!


bath time


me and my baby brother on my recent trip to Flagstaff

Halloween Pics...

Hang on to you broomsticks, there are a TON of them...

our entryway I'm so proud of!




my pretty little pumpkin!


Ryleigh had to say "hi" and pet every single pumpkin!


Roo and her Grandmas!!






sittin' on a pumpkin!




hop hop hop






so proud of her stash!


glaring at me b/c I took her candy to put it in her pail! mean old mommy!


keeping up with the big kids!


Our Halloween Party...

Ryleigh "got bangs"!

Roo got her first haircut on the 23rd,and I'm just now getting around to posting pics! Our friend Erin did the honors at her salon, and she was beyond wonderful! Ryleigh was skeptical of the whole situation at first, but watched very closely, so we will be keeping scissors away from her for awhile! lol! here are a few of the photos....










and a random spaghetti face pic because it's just so darn cute!!!