WHEW! That was fun!

Got tons to say and even more pictures, I'm just gonna throw it all out there and let you guys figure out what goes with what. OK? Good.

Christmas eve C got to stay home, so that was a small gift right there; I had made sauce earlier in the week for tonight b/c I had seen a recipe about adding good things to your diet without sacrificing taste... this one was substituting pasta with spaghetti squash. Now, if you know us, you know that we are not good about eating fruits and veggies AT ALL, and I'm starting to feel badly about that because of The Girl, so I bought a spaghetti squash. I cut it in half lengthwise and scooped the seeds out. At this point it is just like working with a pumpkin, it even smells like one. Then I sprinkled it with some extra virgin olive oil and S&P, turned them cut side down on a roasting pan and shoved those bad boys in the oven at 400* for 45min- an hour. They even smelled good when they came out of the oven, they smelled kinda like roasted chicken actually, ANYWAY... then I scraped my fork inside of it to make the spaghetti noodle things and put some parm cheese on it then sauce and then b/c I think it looks pretty, more parm cheese on top! I really enjoyed mine, and I really enjoyed knowing that I was eating something that was good for me. The Girl really liked it too. C says he had trouble with 'the texture', but that the taste was really good. I'm pretty sure he was just having a mind over matter moment. He never knew of texture aversion until he met me! So here's some pix of Christmas eve dinner...

Right out of the oven, the one on the left is all scraped up already, to give you an idea...


mmmmm, ready? dig in!



I decided to start our own little CE traditions, and made sugar cookies. This year, I didn't have an assistant, but I'm pretty sure next year I will. I did have plenty of helpers to EAT the cookies though!


At one point, she even managed to help herself to some cooling on the rack on the counter. Note to self: push items you do not want on the floor or in the garbage or broken or missing or in someones mouth... further away from the edge! You will do good to remember this! ;)

There was much playing and fun and love in our house this night!

yes, that is a dog bed, but what can I say? It's comfy!



awww kisses! I mentioned there was love, right? ;)

She had sauce on her face, he was only trying to help! :)

We were SO BLESSED on The Girl's 1st birthday that she had so many presents that I put away a few for her to open later, when I thought about getting them out for her I decided that it was too close to Christmas. So I wrapped them up Christmas style and let her have them again! Some of you may have seen these gifts before. :) Thank you, she REALLY loves them! :D

Christmas eve we let The Girl open one gift, I would start the tear, let her continue it, but as soon as a piece came off in her hand she thought she was done, so mostly she enjoyed me ripping the paper and of course I made a big show of it so it looked REALLY fun. :D That night's gift was a puzzle with animals on it, we spent A LOT of time that night making animal sounds. :D I'll try to post some video another day for you. :D I'm not sure when The Girl went to bed, probably sometime after midnight, I put the rest of the gifts out and took some pictures (for you guys of course), b/c we all know that I don't scrapbook! (grrr!!!)



Here it all is... except for the stockings, they are 'hung by the chimney with care'. ;)




ok, I'll post Christmas day later, got lots to do!

~Til next time!

too many thoughts in my head!

so I'm getting some stuff out here....
we had some GREAT weather here yesterday and today. On Sunday it was disgustingly warm, in the 70's, yesterday it was in the upper 20's and windy, today it's in the lower 30's and icy and I'm totally LOVING it! It's really put me in the Christmas-y mood. I'm hoping to get those pictures taken today and post them up here for you.
C was sick over the weekend, and also stayed home yesterday. He got up today still not feeling 100%, but showered and went to work anyway, well, shortly after he left, the phone rang I could tell it was C and so did not want to get off the couch, The Girl and I were snuggled under a blanket on the couch and both dogs were cuddled up to us and it was SO COZY. I managed to detach myself from all the cuteness and get the phone, I answered it with 'this had better be good' and C says 'I'm on my way home'. He checked his voicemail and he had missed a call saying that the team was working from home today. I had told him last night that he should bring his phone upstairs in case he got a call in the morning. Apparently the call came in while he was in the shower and I was already downstairs w/ The Girl. Let's just say he isn't getting much work done today. LOL!



She is such a daddy's girl!

A quick 'exercise':
Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following.
They have to be real places, names, things . . . nothing made up.
And you can’t use your name for the boy/girl name questions.
What is your name? Denise
Four Letter Word: Damp
Boy Name: Dennis
Girl Name: Dorothy
Occupation: Dentist
Color: Dark blue
Something You Wear: Denim
Beverage: Dr. Pepper
Food: Dumplings
Something Found in a Bathroom: Doody! :giggle:
Place: Denmark
Reasons for Being Late: Distractions
Something You Shout: DUMMY

Have a great day!

~Til next time...

EW! GAG!!!

Soooooooo I thought I was going to spend some time in my scrap room last night....
I opened the door and was engulfed in the foulest smell EVER!!! C thinks something died in the wall in the closet. Thankfully, it's in the 70's here today, so I made C open the windows to kinda air out the room, maybe after church tonight I'll be able to take a deep breath, run in and grab some supplies and maybe work downstairs in the dining room. Wish me luck!

~til next time!

Is that better???

Someone mentioned that a previous post of mine about The Girl falling asleep in the highchair was useless b/c I didn't have pictures.....





is that better?? :D


and I took this one about 5 minutes ago.




~til next time...

What's happening?

Not much here, actually. Since we got back from our Tday trip, we've been taking it pretty easy. The Girl has vastly improved her health, so we are all happy about that. The only thing is now she has decided that she is an early to wake up type of kid. I know that some of you wouldn't think that 8:30 is 'early', but I very much enjoyed quiet time by myself before I had to start my day and now that she is up with me... well, the time is not so quiet or spent by myself anymore. This year, I will be accepting babysitting coupons for Christmas presents! LOL The good thing is that she is enjoying her classes at The Little Gym more now though, b/c she is awake more to participate in them! :)

C has been practicing at the church for a small Christmas program that we are doing on the 21st. You are all officially invited to attend and hear C sing and play his saxophone... not at the same time of course...or I'd have to sell tickets! :)

We did have some sad news this week, our former pastor in IL passed away on Monday as well as one of the ministers in our church here. The passing of Bro. Joy is especially sad b/c it was a shock and he was young and has kids at home. The passing of our former pastor is bittersweet. For the past few years, his health was no longer permitting him to live a quality life. We are sad b/c we will miss Pastor Switzer and we know that the family has to bear this pain, especially around the holidays; it does help to remember that he is no longer suffering.

I've been spending my time decorating for the holiday and the winter season. I'm hoping to get some good scrapping time in to make a few gifts. I'm also hoping for some time to spend baking some goodies in the kitchen. :D I don't think I've made a cheesecake yet in my new oven! It's also the time of year for Snowflake cookies... YUMMO!!! I need to do some clean up and then I'll take pics of my decorations for you to check out! LOL Someone needs to see them! I can't think of a time when we'll get to have people over. :(

Hope you are all doing well!!!


~til next time...

As promised....

I didn't like it one bit!

Ro- In the last 2 pix, do you see what she is holding in her hand? :D

So NOT fun.

The Girl has been sick. Like 15 diapers or more a day sick. EW!! And we are out of town. Called the ped dr on Wed she said to just make sure she drinks plenty of fluids, try to get her to eat starchy food, cut the dose of the meds that I gave you on Monday for her ears in 1/2... blah blah blah. Yesterday we called her again, no change, what do we do? "Go to the ER" AAAACCCCKKKKK!!!! Sooooooooooo we go, and wait for 2 hours and in those 2 hours have 4 diaper changes. FINALLY get to see the ped er dr and they say the meds are tearing her up inside and she is dehydrated. So they said they'd give her some saline and a new med for her ears. 1st of all, I don't even look when I take my dogs in to get their shots. Poor C had to practically lay on The Girl to keep her down while they searched for a vein. I'm leaning against the wall focusing on taking pictures with my phone b/c that helped me not focus on what they were doing to my daughter. They finally get the needle in and the vein blows. That is when I had to walk out of the room. After much screaming by the girl and much hair pulling and big sighs and tears from me, they find a TINY needle and a vein that they can get it in in her thumb. When about 1/2 the bag of saline was in her she really started to perk up, that's when we had a lot of hospital staff coming in to peek at her and play with her and remark "awww all we had to do was water her and she blossoms like a flower" (GAG!) She even did her tricks; which by the way my favorite is when you ask her what a beatle says, she answers "Yeah, yeah, yeah" (as in 'she loves me yeah yeah yeah')
We got to leave around 9pm and headed to our friends house, where we are staying, where they we also hosting a party for us and another couple that had come back to town for the holiday, to visit with everyone. We arrived fashionably 2 1/2 hours late. ;) I had SO MUCH FUN playing cards, pictionary man, and chatting with our friends... gonna make me HATE leaving them all again. Visits are fun but so hard too.
All in all, Thanksgiving was nice, the food was great, I enjoyed the company of my friends, but C and The Girl should have been feeling better. C woke up on Tday morning with some kind of stomach virus, he managed to come up stairs for about an hour, but then went back downstairs and slept for a few hours.
We are heading to St. Louis today to go see my 'adopted family'. Hopefully, no one will be or get sick!

OH yeah, after all the excitement of last night, the girl didn't go to sleep until almost 3am!!!! We are one set of tired parents today!!!


When we get back home I'll be able to download my pictures from my phone so you can see how FUN it was at the hospital!

I threw in the towel.

I just couldn't take it. I had to tell the mom of the baby I've been watching to find someone else. The schedule didn't work out; the baby gets here before 7am and stays until 6pm, then we are up until midnight or later. That is just not enough sleep for me and that makes me VERY CRANKY. The Girl was adjusting to having L around, so it wasn't that anymore. I didn't like that I felt like I couldn't go anywhere and not b/c the mom didn't want me to take them out, it was b/c once the two of them where in the shopping cart then what??? Where do the items go? Plus I wasn't buying a double stroller until I KNEW this was going to work and for the past 2 weeks, The Girl and I have been missing our walks. (and my body too) :( I told her that I was willing to stick with it until she found other arrangements. I feel SO BADLY about it though, I know it was helping her out.
In other news, we are going North for the Thanksgiving holiday. YAY!!! Get to see friends and 'adopted' family! I can't WAIT to hug my boys!!!! Man, I miss them!
The Girl has been sleeping in her high chair for the past 2 hours. My back hurts for her! LOL


~til next time!

14 and 1/2 hours!!!!

Holy cow!!! The Girl fell asleep last night at 8pm in her high chair, it had been a L O N G day and she didn't quite get the nap that she is accustomed to and just crashed where she landed. We figured we'd let her sleep for about an hour and then wake her up, well when we tried to wake her up she just was not interested. So C brought her upstairs to her crib. Like fools we stayed up and watched a movie and I chatted w/ a friend online. Around 11:00, I said, we'd better go to bed b/c The Girl is going to wake up early tomorrow. So we headed on up, but b/c I can't go to sleep early simply b/c I am going to wake up early, so we did a few crossword puzzles and finally around 12:30 I turned out my light. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I opened one eye at 9:30 and thought for sure that I had missed The Girls early morning cry and that she and C would be downstairs, but lo and behold C was still in bed! So I asked him if she was alive and he said that he had heard her squawk once around 7. I went into her room and peeked, she was uncovered, but still breathing and totally sound asleep! Saturday mornings are big breakfast days in this house, so me and the Pancake Man went downstairs to get started, finally at 10:30 I couldn't stand it anymore and went to wake up The Girl. As soon as I opened her door her head popped up w/ a GIANT smile on her face. She's been awake for about 40 minutes now and is the happiest person alive, which of course makes C and me the happiest mom and dad alive. Today should be a very good day.

~til next time!

Green eyed monster

She loves me, she really loves me! :D

If you know me in real life... you know that The Girl is the biggest Daddy's girl that has ever lived; well, today, she decided that she loves me too. :)
The 6 week old baby (whose name on this blog will either be L or 'the baby') that I mentioned I was going to start watching was here this morning when The Girl got up. I showed The Girl that L was sleeping and told her that we'd play with her later. She could tell something was going on but didn't know what, so she didn't care too much. About an hour later the baby woke up, and needed a bottle. I got things situated and The Girl saw the bottle, probably thought it was for her b/c she lifted her arms up in the pick me up pose. I handed The Girl her cup w/ milk then I picked her up and sat her in the spot next to where I was going to sit and then picked up L and we sat down next to her. The Girl got all sorts of jealous and tried crawling into my lap and such. I managed to get her right up close to me without being all on top of L. After the bottle, L was a bit fussy, The Girl plucked her Nuk out of her mouth and offered it up. SO CUTE! So far, so good. Both are sleeping now. I don't think we are going to venture out into the world today. Tomorrow we have class for The Girl at Little Gym, that's going to wear me out I can tell. For the record, this does NOT give me baby fever! They are sooooo much work!

We spent the weekend in Austin to celebrate my aunt and uncle's 35th wedding anniversary (how awesome is that!?!) and had a great time. I really enjoy our trips down there, they are fun folk! :)

The Girl has healed up quite nicely from her ear infections, C and I could tell last night that 'our girl' was back b/c she was being all cute and whatnot at the house. 'Our girl' has been missing for the past 10 days or so and we had some whiny clingy kid... that kid is so not welcome here anymore, we much prefer 'our girl'. She did ok in Austin, but was so much better last night.

OH! We are on the look out for some sort of backyard play structure. In Austin, we hit up a playground and The Girl LOVES them! I've never seen a little kiddo enjoy a slide and swings so much, and the higher and faster... the better! My camera got left in Austin, but my aunt snapped these:










A good time was had by all!

~til next time!

It has been brought to my attention...

that I have been neglecting the blog lately. And well, its not that I've neglected it, its more that I have nothing to add to it. The Girl and I have had colds, hers progressed into an ear infection in each ear. Is this a milestone? Its her first official ear infection... also her first round of antibiotics. :( I broke C's work laptop... again. In August, I broke it by hitting the little tv stand type table that it was on which sent the laptop to the floor and caused the bulb in the monitor to bust, then the week before last I was vacuuming and again hit the table the laptop was on and sent it crashing to the floor this time causing damage to the power cord. We just got it back yesterday, so maybe I'll blog more than once every 2-3 weeks now that I can blog from anywhere in the house.
In an effort to bring more funds into the home I offered myself up as a babysitter to a girl who had a need.... and I'm scared to death! I start watching her 6 week old infant next Monday. We are going to see how well my girl can handle this. I'm not sure who's going to have more difficulty her or me!!! I've been thinking about how I won't be able to take my girl for walks in the stroller and I'm REALLY hating that!!! Going ANYWHERE is going to be super difficult. This babysitting thing is a Mon thru Fri, all day kind of gig too. Oh well. We'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

I'll catch you all later... I think I hear someone stirring! ;)

In an attempt to blog....

I falling back on an old email fill in that has been passed around... I figure it is better than staring at C's butt for a few more days! LOL

1. Do you like blue cheese?
No, even seeing it makes me gag.

2. Have you ever smoked?
Cigarettes yes, and it was purely a rebellious act. Pot? no.

3. Do you own a gun?
Not yet!

4. What flavor Kool Aid was your favorite?
punch, don't remember if they call it tropical or fruit.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
yes, so I don't go.

6. What do you think of hot dogs?
I'm picky. They have to be of a certain brand; Hebrew National or Sabrett or Nathen's.

7. Favorite Christmas movie?
The Grinch (just about any version)

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Coffee, hot tea, Tropicana OJ or Simply Apple apple juice (and yes it can only be those brands)

9. Can you do push-ups?
Yes, but not many in a row.

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
My wedding set. My wedding band is from my mom, it was her mom's, whom I've never met.

11. Favorite hobby?
cooking and scrapping when I can.

12. Do you have A.D.D.?
Yes. I finally got on meds and I LOVE who I am now!!!

13. What's one trait you hate about yourself?
I get angry VERY quickly.

14. Middle name?
(How does this one qualify as ODD?) Renee

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?
1. I wish I would stop coughing!
2. I wish Sydney didn't have a cold too.
3.When is it gonna get cooler in TX????

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink.
Coffe, water, and tea

17. Current worry?
The election
Finances
Am I doing the best that I can?

18. Currently hate right now?
That my hair is falling out, badly.

19. Favorite place to be?
In C's arms.

20. How did you bring in the New Year?
I honestly don't remember.

21. Where would you like to go?
Home

22. Name three people who will complete this?
who knows.

23. Do you own slippers?
yes and I wear them too!

24. What shirt are you wearing?
a grey hockey tshirt... I think I borrowed it from one of the boys I used to nanny for and well, he never got it back and not b/c its awesome or I'm in love with it... it just became a permanent piece in my wardrobe. Sorry, T!

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?
No, they are too hot besides they are corny IMO

26. Can you whistle?
Yup

27. Favorite color?
Depends on my mood. Usually its orange or blue

28. Red or white wine?
No wine for me, but I do enjoy sparking grape juice! or Martinelli's sparkling cidar

29. What songs do you sing in the shower?
I do not sing in the shower. EVER. (but C does on occasion... and I think its adorable!)

30. Favorite Girl's name?
Sydney! :)

31. Favorite Boy's name?
Gabe

32. What's in your pocket right now?
I don't have pockets

33. Last thing that made you laugh?
Most likely something Syd or my dh did.

34. Worst injury you ever had?
Stiches near my eye

35. Do you love where you live?
No, its too hot. I miss having 4 seasons, besides I don't have family nearby. I need a babysitter!!! I'd LOVE to take the day to clean my house instead of waiting for C to be home and doing it then and then we don't get to enjoy our time together.

36. How many TVs do you have in your house?
1

37. Who is your loudest friend?
Dee

38. Do you have any pets?
yes. 2 dogs and a 90 gallon fish tank... I'm not sure how many fish are in there though.

39. Does someone have a crush on you?
I hope C still does. ;)

40. Your favorite book(s)?
hmmmm this is a tough one... I've read a lot of books!

41. Favorite Sports Team?
NY Yankees

42. What song do you want played at your funeral?
Home by Michael Buble (It's actually what C wants and since I figure he can't go without me... )

Ok, one more email thingy...
My answer has to be only one word.

1. Where is your cell phone?
counter

2. Your significant other?
Working

3. Married?
yes

4. Your mother?
Missed

5. Your father?
tough

6. Your favorite thing?
security

7. Your dream last night?
none

8. Your favorite drink?
Coffee

9. Your dream/goal?
debtfree

10. The room you're in?
Family

11. Your fear?
unknown

12. In 6 years?
older

13. Where were you last night?
class

15. Muffins?
yum

16. One of your wish list items?
furniture

17. Where you grew up?
house
18. The last thing you did?
read

19. What are you wearing?
socks

20. Your TV?
off

21. Your pet?
dogs

22. Your computer?
on

23. Your life?
full

24. Missing someone?
everyday

25. Your car?
gold

26. Something you're not wearing?
pants

27. Your favorite color?
blue

28. When is the last time you laughed?
today

29. Last time you cried?
forget

30. Mood?
sick


I'm working on an 'update type' post... should be up over the weekend.

Have a good one folks!

~til next time...

aawww

Let me show you some scrappy things.

A friend told me about a LSS (local scrapbook store) that does this page in a bag contest thing. Once a month they put together a bag w/ a few scrapping supplies in it, you have to come up w/ a page that uses at least some of all the things in the bag and you can add your own things to it if you want. You turn in the layout to them and there is a contest to win a gift card to the store. I've played the last 3 months (sorta. long story.) So I'm gonna show you my pages... and a card that I made that I totally stole the design idea from my friend, Reba! oh wait! can't show you the card for a few more days... I made it for someone that actually reads my blog!! lol

From what the store owner told me, this 1st page of mine almost won. oh well!

OH this is sooo cute!

Something tells me that the pup has done that before...
the brick on the roof, the boards over the door...
Now I know where Josie gets it from!
Cute little punks, aren't they?

On the move!

and she's off!!!

The Girl is getting around on her own 2 feet!!!
She still would rather crawl, b/c she is better at it, but she has finally made deliberate independent steps. For the longest time, she has been holding onto anything and walking around, I thought she'd never let go! It was like she was always singing "I can't even walk, without you holding my hand..."! :)

Got a lot going on right now, our ladies group at church is organizing and hosting a ladies retreat in 2 weeks and I've got some work to do for that. I LOVE it!!! :)

I'll try to capture The Girl on video and upload that for you.... we'll see, she's pretty sneaky about walking still.

I wanna go back on vacation!

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


I love all the different colors of the houses. Their is even a town called Watercolor b/c the houses are all painted different colors. It is just soooo pretty!






I think we actually wore her out!!!

On our last full day in FL we drove to the town of Seaside. It's so quaint and EXPENSIVE! Somehow their beaches are even more beautiful than the ones in Destin.

This morning The Girl was NOT HAPPY to wake up to just me. She's had 11 days of waking up to both her mommy and daddy and clearly, I just wouldn't do! MAN! She is SUCH a Daddy's girl!!!

just a few...

we went to the beach yesterday, at first The Girl wasn't too excited about it, but she warmed up to the sand and the waves pretty quickly. We are going to seaside today and then back to the beach.
It's our last full day here. :( I'm not ready to go yet. :( :( :(

We had fun...

at the Gulfarium!!!
and because blogger is stupid and I'm lazy, you get to see our day in reverse!
I should have put these in a slideshow, but like I said I'M LAZY!!! ;)
I'm hoping to blog nightly so that you all can be on vacation with us. As long as I have an internet connection, I can't think of a reason why this wouldn't happen. I figure its easier to do it this way, rather than have to play catch up when we get back.
The weather was perfect, it wasn't too hot. It rained a bit at the perfect time, when we were under the canopy of the stands during the dolphin show. As long as hurricanes don't make a sharp right after the southern tip of FL, this is the best time to come to the Gulf, there are no crowds! :)
Enjoy!!!

She's a gem!


Look, I'm in a picture!


Sea lions resting after a hard day of perfoming!


Waving HI! to Daddy! (and yes, its ME, AGAIN!)


WHOOOO HOOOOO!


Even The Girl was impressed!


Rays... scary!


Her first live PENGUIN sighting... I think I see love!!! :)


Totally cool dolphin tank, I've got a lot of these.


"Just keep swimming... just keep swimming... just keep swimming"


"Fish" "Fish" "Fish"


and even more fish.