christmas break, so far...

Our Christmas break (so far) has flown by so fast. We are half-way through and it seems like we are just getting started.

The past few days have been spent loving on our family and friends.

Thursday, December 23, was my 27th birthday! Wow, it hurts when I say it out loud. It just sounds so old. Seriously, how can I be so close to 30?

Ok, I will stop rambling about my new number before I get real upset. =)

(Before you think I am crazy, I must say that I have been beyond blessed for the past 27 years and wouldn't change a single thing!)

My Girls. We are all three rockin' the boots.

The Sisco Family plus Janny and Jimbo

Celebrating my birthday with Family...

Blessed to have these two as my "people".

One of my favorite things to do while back in East Tennessee...

Love on, play with, spoil, put pretend make-up on, dance around with, read bedtime stories to, say sweets prayers with, basically spend as much time as possible with Josie B.

Heading to Ruth's Chris to meet some friends for dinner.

My Josie.

She looks so grown up, makes me sad.

She kept telling me, "sit KeKe, sit!"

She can't say Kayla yet so my Mom taught her to call me KeKe.

Eating lunch in Kingston with Julia.

I loved our 2-3 hour lunch!

We hope everyone has had a safe and wonderful Christmas.

dave barnes

Last night we had dinner with our little family of friends.

(Thanks for the sweet birthday card and ornament!!)

After dinner, Trav surprised me with tickets to see Dave Barnes, Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors (Drew is from Memphis and his family is very involved with our church) and Gabe Dixon.

I wanted to go see Dave a few months back but it didn't work out. I didn't even know he was going to be in town performing his Christmas show.

It was a great surprise. I love my husband!

There he is. Dave. What a cutie. =)

We spent most of the show standing listening to Dave. We did sit down a little though. Hey, don't judge it's been a long week. Audrey & JB were there enjoying a date night and it was fun spending some time with them.

Heading home. Gosh, my eyes look tired after a long week of school.

Thanks Love for a great night that was completely unexpected!

rock.band.

The other night, after a yummy dinner at Huey's, we went over to the Trammell's to play a little game called Rock Band!

I don't think any of us are ashamed to say that we aren't the most talented group around.

The boys are pretty good....

but not as good as the girls. =)

We made several videos but this one is definitely the best one! It's only about a minute and a half, make sure you watch it until the end and listen closely.

5 down...

...3 more to go!

Trav completed his first semester of his third year today! Wow, that's a mouth full.

It is so hard to believe that he has been in school for two and a half years and is making his way to the end (kinda). I must admit, I am a little bit jealous of him. I am not out until next Friday. He has seven full days to enjoy! I guess he deserves it..

Congrats Love. I am so proud of you. You are only three semesters away from being Dr. Sisco!!

thankful.

I am thankful for...

A loving husband who is my rock. We are 'team Sisco'.

A faithful, caring, loving, always present God.

A beautiful, supportive family who is always there and loves me for me.

A job that makes me smile every day.

A 7 year old dog who loves me unconditionally.

A Memphis group of friends who have become like family.

A wonderfully small house that is perfect.

Friends who have known me for many years and are still around.

I am truly blessed and only have God to thank!

We headed home to East Tennessee for Thanksgiving Break. We spent every moment surrounded by family.

Will always be a Daddy's Girl.

We went over to our neighbors house and she has this sign in her garage.

I love it and need it in my house.

Thanksgiving Desserts = too die for!

Ben relaxing after enjoying the delicious desserts.

Can you believe we were sitting outside, in short sleeves on Thanksgiving Day?

The weather was great, for a few days at least.

Dad and his younger sister, Arnetta.

The best family a girl could ask for.

We love Josie B.

We stole Janny's camera and took a few pictures.

Josie was suppose to make a silly face.

We love being back in East Tennessee..

My little love bug and I reading a book.

I love snuggling with her.

Sweetest little girl I know.

Granny Janny and Papaw Jimbo looking good.

Look too young to be grandparents, don't you agree?

Sweet smile.

Uncle T and Josie B snacking on some chips.

She's a fan of the beard.

We always love going back home and spending lots of time with family.

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Christmas will be here before we know it.

just around the corner

Seems crazy to already be thinking about Christmas.

Where does the time go? Seriously...

Travis, Reecie, and I went down by the beautiful Mississippi River a few weekends ago to take some pictures. It's such a great spot. I am trying to get ahead of the game and have our Christmas cards ready to go as soon as Thanksgiving is over.

(Thanks Puryears for playing photographer!)

I love our little family.

We did a little bit of decorating. Not much. Our home is so little, which I love, and cozy that we don't need a lot of decorations. I am proud to say that I reused all decorations from last year and haven't spent any money on new items. That's huge for me! Getting much better at this "saving my money for more important things" gig.

Tomorrow kicks off a two day week for Me! I am in need of some family time. East Tennessee bound very soon. Happy Holidays!!

new josie pictures

I am in love with these pictures. A few weeks ago, the Mattmanns met up with Carrie Curry, the owner of ella minnow pea, for a little photo shot. She's taken pictures of them before and they were just as good. If you are near Kingston, give her a call. Ok, I will stop talking so that you can get to the pictures.

Enjoy these precious pictures! Some look a little small. Click on the image to enlarge. =)

Such a Little Monkey.

Loves her Daddy.

"Are you serious?" kinda look.

Love this.

Waiting for Baby Brother Charlie to get here.

I just can't help love her more and more.

Two of my favorite girls.

christmas cards, already?

This news just made my day! While being nosey and catching up on some blog reading, I stumbled across this Shutterfly promotion on two different blogs. Shutterfly is offering bloggers the chance to get 50 FREE Christmas cards. Yep, you read that correctly, 50!! All you have to do is submit your blog. Click here to submit your blog and pick out your card.

I have not yet chosen our card yet. I am still trying to decide.

Their photo cards are awesome! Anything I ever order from Shutterfly is always great. My sister ordered her cards at the beginning of the week and already has hers in her hands. Quick delivery is important when it comes to Christmas cards. She is very pleased with her cards this year.

It's such a hard decision. Seriously, these cards stick around for years. My Mom has sent out a Christmas card every single year since my sister was born. (I want to be just like her!) She had the cards framed (two separate frames) and has them hanging in the house. No one can walk by them without stopping and looking at a few. It's incredible to see how much our family changed over the years. I cannot wait to have my own frames filled with Sisco family Christmas cards.

I love this one. Not sure if anyone would want to have four pictures of Travis and me, though. I am going to try to talk Summer into using it...

Oh, so cute! I love this one. My friend, Lauren, said this one was her runner-up. Maybe it will be a winner with me? Who knows...

Some other things that I love about Shutterfly? Their calendars! They are very cool. They are very colorful, have room for lots of pictures, the layout is easy to follow and they are the perfect size to have sitting out. Mine hangs from a ribbon the side of my fridge. My sister makes us all one every year. For the past few years, it has been full of Josie B. pictures. I love getting my calendar every December.

Another great thing about Shutterfly?! Their photo books. Some of my friends have a few of their books and I love looking through them. I helped my Mom made one for my Mamaw. It was very easy to make. You can pick out the outline for each page and decide how many pictures you want per page. I love the pictures that cover an entire page. I am hoping to make a few when Travis graduates from Dental school. I would love to have a book for each year.

Shutterfly has lots of great things to offer. Everything is practical and always has great quality!

painting

Here are a few things I've made lately.

I made this frame for our sweet friends, Lauren and Chip. We cannot wait to meet their little one in May.

Halloween themed frame.

For Josie.

A wall hanging for a sweet little girl.

And a frame to go along with the painting. Not sure why the picture is so blurry...

Bucket ready to be filled with baby goodies.

Snakes and snails and puppy dog tails that's what little boys are made of. Trims the top.

Love at first sight. Along the bottom.

For Josie's sweet Grandma Pat.

For my school's Crossing Guard, Ms. Riley. In just a few short days, my amazing school raised $1, 280.14 for her. This frame was presented to her at our "Pink Pep Rally" with a picture of her and her Mother.