Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving


Many blessings to you and yours on this Thanksgiving Day...

 

 

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Festival of Lights

Bella had her very first dance performance this past weekend at the Festival of Lights.  Thank goodness they were able to perform inside because it was cold, wet and just plain yucky outside and as you'll see from the pictures, our girls would have froze! 

I know I'm her momma but I think she's a little princess here...

 
Her daddy brought his camera and took some pics while she was dancing.  All the girls did so good but again, I'm especially proud of Miss Bella. Their little routine was to Frosty The Snowman and they were so adorable.  Aren't their costumes the cutest?!
 

 
 
 
 
 
Here they are at the end. Bella is second from the left waving at her mommy :)
 
 
 
And after with a very proud momma!
 
 
 
And a very proud Godmomma :)  DiDi is also my cousin.
 
 
And the three of us...
 
 
Dina took a picture of Bella with mommy and daddy both with her but I'm guessing it didn't turn out because I didn't get that one.  Oh well.  We tried.  They will have one more Christmas performance the first weekend in December at Light Up The Capitol and I can't wait to watch my little Boo again. 
 
Oh...I have to show you this picture of her hair when I finished curling it.  It was soooo beautiful. And then it fell.  I was sad.  It still had some wave and small curl to it but looked nothing like this.  Oh well...she was still beautiful and I am still proud of her.  Not too bad at all for her first year and first performance!
 
 
Can't wait to see how she'll improve through the year!! 
 
Y'all have a great one!
 

Monday, November 25, 2013

Tonight

Your granddaughter has been talking about you a lot tonight, like she has spent time with you. Has she?

I'm missing you so much tonight momma...and always.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Christmas Is Coming!!

I absolutely love Thanksgiving but the holiday that really gets me excited and happy is Christmas.  Everything about it puts me in a happy giddy mood.  I have been fighting the urge the last couple of weeks to put up my Christmas tree and start decorating.  I usually can hold off until Thanksgiving but man I'm having a hard time this year.  Its really kind of sad because I want to enjoy what little Thanksgiving décor I have, especially since I acquired a few new pieces in Canton but I think I'm going to have to give in this weekend.  There will be a cold front blowing in so I think that will make it perfect weather for the task, although it does take me a few days to get it all done. 

Part of my Christmas décor includes a nutcracker collection I started several years back thanks to my sweet girlfriend Amye Jo.  Usually Target puts out a new line every year however, this year they must have forgotten about us because they don't have anything.  We had to look elsewhere which I must confess was kind of fun.  Amye Jo started the hunt last week by hitting Hobby Lobby.  I guess I've never really paid attention to their nutcracker collection but I was giddy with excitement when I received his picture from AJ...
 
 
AJ went with the Santa in the far right bottom corner.  I had my eye on the candy cane Santa down in front. The elf nutcracker was very cute but he just wasn't Santa.  I set out to find my nutcracker Saturday while my children were with their dad--I needed concentration.  ha!  I found one but remembered AJ telling me she saw more down one of the aisles so I set off to see if there were other choices.  I found a whole slew of them, all candy cane inspired but with different features.  I picked out a couple I liked and put them in my basket to mull over while I looked around.  I turned around to see what was on the other side of the aisle to find this....
 
ME SQUEALING!!!!!!
pardon the blurry picture...but isn't he the cutest little dang nutcracker??
 
 
He even comes with a piece of chalk hanging off the board!  I sent the picture to AJ with the caption "Squeal!!!!", and laughed when I got her response.  Apparently she didn't see these and wanted to know where he came from.  I still can't believe she missed these but you can bet she'll probably end up with one of these too.  He was a little more $$ but still half off.  I could NOT pass him up.  He's so purdy!  One thing I liked about the Target line of nutcrackers is that they always had the date on them each year but I will just write the date on the bottom of this one. Problem solved.
 
Last year I purchased a skinny Christmas tree from my girlfriend's flower shop in town.  I LOVE it!!  I absolutely love sitting in the living room with just the tree lights on at night, candles burning, Christmas movie playing.  Perfectness in my book.  Only thing that would make it even better is if I had a fireplace.  Maybe some day. 
 
I'm hoping/planning to incorporate baking Christmas cut-out cookies this year.  I have never done it.  I know, its sad.  But I so want to tackle it this year so I've given my Aunt Carolyn a holler and she is going to send me the best sugar cookie recipe.  I wish y'all could enjoy all the baking she does each year.  I always look forward to sampling her work Christmas Day.  Total yumminess!  I bake but not to the extent she does.  I'll get there one year.  :)
 
I'm going to do my best to make this the best Christmas ever for my children.  I have no idea why I am so excited about this year but I am.  And no...there is no special man in my life, but that is another subject and posting all its own. 
 
Until then, y'all have a good one!
 
P.S.....what are your Christmas traditions??
   

Monday, November 11, 2013

The Sparkle Is Back

After being sick for an entire week, the sparkle finally found its way back to my girl's eyes and this momma has never been so very happy to see it again.  As I've said before, I absolutely hate it when my babies are sick.  Fever scares me more than anything, especially when its high.  Go away big nasty fever and don't come back!!  Yes...I said that more than one time last week. 

Look at that sweet smile playing peek a boo with me :).  I was off today so I kept my girl home with me one last day.  This is while we were waiting for Christopher after school.  She was keeping a look out for him. 

 
 
And here she is playing in the leaves....I absolutely LOVE this moment I caught....
 
 
 
Sweet girl...
 
Its good to see that sparkle again....
 
Y'all have a good one!
 
 

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Right Where I Need To Be

Miss Bella has been sick since Sunday evening. I thought she was only going to be down one day but her fever spiked Monday during the night so Tuesday morning I called Dr. Patti to get her in to see what was going on.  Turns out her ears were clear and looked good (shocker) but her throat not so much.  Strep it was along with very, very bad allergies.  Poor baby girl.  An antibiotic and allergy meds later, she finally started getting the rest she needed...on momma.  I tried to get her to nap on the way to the doctor and back home.  None doing.  After we got home, I set her up on the couch with her stuffed giraffe, blankets and cartoons.  None doing.  I was folding clothes in my room when she wandered in there and asked me to snuggle with her in my bed.  Of course I obliged....and out she went.  I got up later to go to the bathroom and get a snack.  She woke up and came to find me.  We went back to the room, she laid down, snuggled up to me, laid her head on my chest and out she went again.  This is where I stayed the rest of the night.  I'm not going to lie...I loved every minute of it.

 
I'm thankful I have understanding bosses who are fine with me being home when my children are sick.  I worry about missing work but I know that with my babies is right where I need to be and should be. 
 
Blessed beyond words.
 
 

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Our Halloween

Our Halloween was pretty low-key this year.  Not that there's a lot of hoopla any other year but we didn't have friends and family...and friends of family...and friends of friends of other friends joining us this year so yes, its was low-key.  Did you follow me?

The kids had an early dinner with their dad this year, I picked them up and off we went to Pop and Nana's to meet up with the Rubio's (my sister and her family) for some trick or treating in the neighborhood.  Pop ordered pizza and I did bake an apple pie.  Don't get excited...it was frozen so all I did was pop it in the oven.  But I tell you what...it was a dang good pie!

Here are our goblins before we headed out to trick and receive treats, Ninjas 1 & 2, Cleopatra and Princess Ariel...

 
 
The boy decided to stay put this year and pass out candy to the goblins who rang the bell.  I told him he had to wear the mask I bought him a month ago that he had to have, but he didn't.  I did get him to snap a picture with me that morning.  Look how tall he's getting!!!
 
 
 
The Princess decided she only wanted to wear her headband and not her crown so I decided to wear it.  I was so excited that I FINALLY got my crown. LOL!!
 
 
 
The Princess also had a meltdown on the way back to the house.  Tired of walking, tired of carrying her bag of candy, feet were hurting...she was just whiny.  But as soon as we got back to the house and she unloaded her candy to see what all she had received, that smile showed back up.
 
 
It was a good night.  We stopped by a friend's house on our way home to see them.  We stayed long enough for them to SPOIL Bella with a ton more candy and then we headed home.  We were all tired and ready for bed.  All in all, it was a good Halloween.  I prefer it to fall on a weekend so the kids and I can do fun things during the day but we still had a good time. 
 
Now...bring on the turkey!!!