Christmas Bazaar

Last Saturday was the Christmas Bazaar at church. It was great fun! I'm wishing I had a bowl of that spicy Chicken soup they were selling right now....mmmm that sounds good. Anyway, here are some pictures I took. Click on the slideshow to enlarge.

Cold and hungry,
Anne Marie

A trip to the zoo and a bazaar for you!

The kids were out of school Monday and Tuesday so I too, took some much needed time off from work. Monday, Paige and I took the kids to the zoo. It was a beautiful day! We told them, "You better not act up or else they'll think you belong in the zoo and lock you up in a cage." It must have worked because they were just lovely all day. Here are some pics from our trip.

Saturday, we are having a Christmas Bazaar at church. Please come and enjoy the beautiful talents of those at CPC. The girls and I will have a booth (all items $8 or less). Here are a few pics of what we will be selling. The bazaar is open from 10 - 2 on Saturday in the church gym.





Living in a zoo,
Anne Marie

Jesus take the wheel.....

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
‘Cause I can’t do this on my own
I’m letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I’m on
Jesus take the wheel
Oh, take it, take it from me!

I’ve heard this song 100 times before but today while driving the kids to school it came on the radio and struck a chord with me. As we sang along, the tears began rolling down my face, behind my sunglasses. I’ve been struggling with my load lately….my workload mainly, but also my responsibilities as a mother, wife, sister, daughter and friend. My stress level at work is at an all time high. Every day another deadline to meet, another challenge, another road block .... I’m use to this cycle, I’ve done this kind of work for a while now. I’ve dedicated nearly 20 years of my life to the company I work for but as the company continues to grow and grow I feel like nothing more than a number to them and I'm tired. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a great career…my management and leadership teams think highly of me, I’ve always been very productive, received good marks and pay for the work I’ve done but now there is so much “red tape” and people hiding behind processes that it’s nearly impossible to get any work done. It then bleeds over to my personal life, despite my best efforts. I find myself taking things out on the kids or my husband that I shouldn’t. Friday, I beat myself up for not being at the elementary school for the Fall Festival. The girls really wanted me to come but I had to work. I had to try to get some stuff done, to mark them off my list. I chose work. I told Jason I feel like I’m failing at everything….work, our home (if you look around there is probably not one clean room in my house), I don’t cook lavish meals for my family every night, I actually seldom cook. I don’t make great efforts to spend quality time with my husband; I’m too tired and broken. I haven’t made much effort to see my brothers and their wives and children, to visit my family in Georgia or to foster friendships. I am such a failure. Are there other working moms out there that can relate? Why do I do this, why do I beat myself up for not being perfect? For not having the perfect job, the perfect marriage, the perfect family, the perfect life. This song reminded me that Christ loves me, he forgives me and he doesn’t expect perfect from me. I’m not capable of that but he loves me anyway. I apologize for the doom and gloom blog, it’s just where I’m at right now. I’m praying that Jesus will take the wheel, that He will take it from my hands and save me from myself.

PS. There is way too much chocolate candy in the house for the amount of stress I’m under. This could be hazardous to my health!

Preaching the gospel to myself as I listen to Carrie Underwood,
Anne Marie

Good clean fun....

Last night we attended the Fall Festival at our church. It was alot of fun! The girls had a great time! Emma dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood, Macy was a 50's chic wearing a poodle skirt and McClain was a witch. They enjoyed the hay ride, moon walk, face painting, tattoos, putt putt and other games but they loved the cake walk! You should see the bag of cookies and cupcakes they won. Here are a few pictures I took when I wasn't playing pin the wort on the witch's nose. It was a night of good clean fun!

I must say, Ty (dressed as a women) gets my vote for best costume of the night. It takes great confidence AND legs to pull that one off!

Thankful that I wasn't in the dunking booth,
Anne Marie

Mummy Dogs and Bat Bread!

Tonight the girls made their own dinner...mummy dogs and bat bread! We were inspired by Kim Hill's blog. Thanks for the cute idea, Kim.

I don't have a picture of this, but last weekend the girls were playing outside with their friend from across the street and it was pretty chilly out, so I decided to make them some "ghostly" hot chocolate. I made them each a cup of hot chocolate and placed a ghost marshmellow peep on top. They enjoyed watching the ghost melt and it gave the hot chocolate an extra sweet taste. Try it!

Another cute idea that someone started in our neighborhood this year was to "BOO" your house. One evening we found a pumpkin bucket full of candy and goodies for the girls. Inside were two sheets of paper. The first was a poem explaining that we had been "BOOed" and encouraging us to "BOO" two neighbors to spread the holiday spirit throughout the neighborhood. And the second was a Boo sign which you hang on your door so others know that you've been "Booed". I thought it was a cute idea and the girls really got a kick out of it. Their bucket had halloween socks, cups, pencils, playdough and lots of candy. If you're interested in the poem, let me know and I'll send it to you. Again, a cute idea that you should try. I hope everyone is enjoying the Fall holiday season!

Things are looking dim.....

For Auburn football, that is! Last Wednesday, Coach Tuberville fired offensive coordinator, Tony Franklin. Tuberville stated to the media, “I’m not satisfied with the progress being made on offense”….seeing football games with baseball scores, I tend to agree….not with the firing necessarily but being dissatisfied with our offense’s lack of progress. We manage to painfully “progress” our way down the field but can’t seem to score on 1st and goal from the 5 yard line! Are you serious? At this point, I think the Moody 95lb team could give Auburn a run for their money. Our defense has been pulling the load, scoring half the points in some games, but they’re tired and not used to losing. With West VA, Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama on the schedule, the rest of the season is looking pretty dim….pretty, pretty dim! We have at least a dozen on the injury list and a big question mark at QB. Will Kodi Burns start the rest of the season or is his job on the chopping block, too? Barrett Trotter, expected to sit out the entire season and pick up a redshirt, may be playing before we know it. He’s used to running a spread offense from his record setting days at Briarwood. He may be just what we need! Don’t get me wrong, I hate that Tony Franklin got fired. I really sympathize and will pray for Tony Franklin and his family. I also don’t want Kodi Burns to miss his shot either….and what about Neil Caudle and Chris Todd? Why is football so sad?
What are our chances at a Bowl game now?.....Are we headed anywhere other than the tidy bowl? I don’t like losing. Maybe I’m a sore loser. I know there is a lesson to be learned here. Maybe I’m to see how quick I lose faith in my team….do I do the same with Christ? When I’m not satisfied with the progress do I quickly lose faith? When I feel my faith in Christ fading – I pray. That’s what I’ll do for Auburn – I’ll pray.

I don’t know much about football but I do know this….get it together Tuberville or your job may be next on the chopping block.

War Eagle!

Trying to console my husband,
Anne Marie

Another busy week behind us...

I haven't blogged in awhile,... it's been busy in the Webb household. Last weekend we had Emma's 4th birthday party at Pump It Up. She was so happy to see all her friends from school and church. She had a great time, although I knew something was up when it came time for cake and ice cream (and cheese puffs, her favorite, the ones that dissolve in your mouth) and she took only one bite of ice cream. Later she said "Mommy, my throat hurts". She passed out in the car on the way home and later began running a fever. So on Sunday, instead of being in church, I'm at the pediatrician's office - hoping that my sweet little girl who just celebrated her 4th birthday with about 20 other sweet kids, doesn't have strep throat! Fortunately, it wasn't strep but rather an ear infection that had irritated her throat.
Tuesday was our actual birthday, (Emma was born on my birthday - Csection baby) so my dear husband and I took a day off from work to spend together. I awoke at 5:30am, showered, woke the kids and off to school we go. I go back to Emma's school at 9am for cupcakes and cheese puffs for her birthday. At 10am, I head to the elementary school to have lunch (at 10:15 mind you) with Macy who is "Kid of the Day". I return home around 11:30 to my husband who is ready to go. For lunch he took me to John's City Diner for a fabulous pan seared Mahi-Mahi...mmmm! Afterwards, he takes me shopping, a true rarity for Jason. When we return home he fires up the Vmax and takes me on a wonderful motorcycle ride for about an hour and a half. We graciously return home at 5pm to pick up the girls from Paige's, only to find that she had made me and Emma a chocolate chip cookie cake! It was a lovely birthday and one I will cherish forever.
About 2pm on Wednesday, I get a call from the school nurse who tells me that McClain is running a low grade fever. So once again, instead of being at church Wednesday night I'm home with what we later determine to be a fever virus. It makes a path over the mountain top, striking Landy, Carson, Josh, McClain and Shirley. I manage to work the rest of the week but McClain missed a couple of days of school.
Come Friday, the kids were asked to be flower girls and ring bearer for Brittany & Matt's wedding (Jason's other sister). We head to the Donally House for rehearsal and then to Outback for rehearsal dinner. I must say, despite the busy week, I was eating good! Saturday, after pressing four dresses, painting 40 toe nails and six braids later we arrive at the Donally House for wedding pictures. Of course the guys were all in a tizzy because there were several football games transpiring during wedding pictures and the wedding itself...thank goodness for Tivo! It was a beautiful wedding! We all had a great time, especially the girls who burned up the dance floor.
We ended our week with a trip to the State Fair, after church. You must go see the 1100 lb National record holding largest pig, Harley. It is times like this that not having a sense of smell is no longer laughed at but envied!
It was a rather emotional day for the girls...pure excitement turned to pure fear on the roller coaster, pure enthusiasm at winning at the Duck Pond game turned to pure sorrow when Emma later lost her rainbow-colored bear, she'd won. Pure anticipation turned into a nose pinching odor at the sight of the 1100 lb "Harley the pig". Pure exhaustion turned into pure alertness after a bag of cotton candy and a brief circus performance. Overall it was fun and the girls enjoyed themselves.
I'm glad to have this week behind us and look forward to seeing what next week holds. For more pictures, click here.

Keeping busy,
Anne Marie