Dressed and Ready

I cannot believe it is almost Christmas! Can you??

I mean, seriously! It's less than a week away!

Where the heck has this year gone???

I decorated the house the weekend after Thanksgiving (after we got back from Alabama...like, the DAY after) but haven't posted about it yet.

I haven't been posting much of anything lately. But I want to fix that.

So, even though I couldn't figure out how to make my pictures consistent with the lighting, I'm still going to share the pictures of the decorations I have up. :-)

My beautiful tree! The pictures don't do it justice and there are now presents under the tree but I love my tree. It is a 7 foot white tree with red, silver, and black decorations. I love, love, LOVE my tree!

The door to my sister's room.

The door to Little Butt's room.

The table in the living room.

Here's a close up of the lantern I made (spray painted).

The walkway from the living room into the dining room.

The hanging light over the dining room table even dressed up for the occasion.

The centerpiece of the dining room table is a candy cane vase that I made. It's sitting on top of a poinsettia mini table runner.

Elfis even made his debut after Thanksgiving! (Don't mind Emeric, he's harmless)

And I can't have a decorated house without a pretty wreath on the front door. So I made this one to match my tree. :-)

So that's the walk through my Christmas house. I figured you guys didn't need pictures of lights around the windows. And I'm not about to get on a ladder outside and put up lights. So that's about it.

I hope you enjoyed it!!

Have you decorated for the holidays? Do you go crazy or subtle?

Mom's Day 2011 Weekend Recap

**Don't forget to vote for me HERE if you think I deserve to be one of the Top 25 Military Family Blogs at Circle of Moms**

Please don't yell at me! I know this post is super duper late...like a couple weeks right?? 

But better late than never??

At least I'm finally getting around to it.

Mom's Day over here was kind of more like a weekend. 

Saturday, we were invited out to a small town called Taylor, TX. We have some friends who live out there and the town was having their annual street fair. We thought it sounded like a grand time so we jumped at the chance to go. 

We went and picked up our friends and headed over to Main street. We bought some tickets for Little Butt. 

First stop! The pony rides! 

Every girl should ride a pony at some point in their lives right?? Little Butt loved animals and she had a freaking blast on this pony. And yes...this is the exact one she chose.

She had this huge smile plastered on her face for the entire ride! It was really adorable. She was in her own little heaven right there.

After the pony ride, it was into the little animal petting area. They had ducks, goats, sheep, potbellied pics and a resting pony. At first Little Butt didn't quite know what to do. She was a little timid.

She saw the pony in the back corner. She approached and sized up her prey...

Then she moved in for the kill.

Success!!! All was well until...

She was ambushed when she lost situational awareness. Way to NOT secure the perimeter Daddy!

But Little Butt and her opponent quickly sized each other up and came to a truce. All was well. So it was time to move on.

At this point, it was time to procure food! Meat, dipped in batter, fried and eaten from a stick was absolutely on the menu. She loved it and ate almost the entire thing (Daddy ate the rest). After lunch, we ate the most amazing Italian ice EVER! The Hubble and I both chose cherry and blueberry while little butt got blueberry and watermelon. (I may or may not have sent The Hubble back to get me another one after we had made it back to our friend's house. What?? I'm pregnant. What can I do??)

After we ate we made our way over to the jumping balloon area. Little Butt, of course, wanted to go on the biggest slide in all the land. This slide had to have been a couple stories high. She swiftly climbed the stairs, reached the top, looked down the slide and started crying. She refused to slide down the slide and just stood there screaming while other kids passed her by. 


I would have had sympathy for her if I didn't know her better. She is a daredevil of a kid and I knew if she just went down once she would be hooked. The nice girl who was taking tickets went up to slide down with Little Butt. (We tried to convince the girl to just push the kid down the slide but she didn't feel right about that. Blah!)


So Little Butt and the girl went down the slide. At the bottom, Little Butt's first response was "I want to do it again!" 

So they went up and slid down again...

And again. By this point we figured we would leave the poor girl alone so we went to find something a bit more fit for Little Butt's size.

And we did! We found one that was perfect for her! She jumped and played in this jump house for quite some time.

Then we finished our time at the street fair with a train ride for Little Butt. 


She had an absolutely blast there. Us adults had fun too...except for me afterward when I realized I had the worst sunburn I've ever had in my life!

We went back to our friend's house. The Hubble and Little Butt took off to get us some dunch (dinner/lunch) and he brought me home an edible arrangement bouquet!! Woohoo! I've only been wanting one for about 4 years. But hey...better late then never right?? The fruit was so juicy and delicious.

And naturally, Little Butt went for a chocolate covered strawberry before anything else.

A face only a mother could love...LOL!!


Saturday came to a close shortly thereafter.


On Sunday, Mother's Day, the day I was supposed to rest and do nothing...I decided to host a brunch for my mom, older and younger sisters and my niece. 


The spread was amazing and everyone was super full. We ended up inviting the Dad's over as well and we played games all day then ordered pizza for dinner that night. It was super fun, but I was exhausted by the end of the whole thing.


So that's my Mom's Day extravaganza in a nutshell. 


Did you do anything to celebrate Mother's Day? Either for yourself or your own mom?


Thanks for bearing with me through this long post!

Thanksgiving 2010 Recap

Wowwee, wow, wow, wowwee, wow. 

I can't believe how long I've been gone!

Sorry I've been missing. 

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving???

We did. Although, ours included a TON of traveling. 

Well, probably not a ton. But we did clock a significant amount of miles.

On Saturday (no, not tomorrow or last Saturday...the one before Thanksgiving...yes, that's how long it's been since I've been on here) we drove to my dad's house in Alabama. That was a good 12 hour drive. 

We got into town and were starving so we had some yummy Mellow Mushroom pizza. If you have never tried Mellow Mushroom, you don't know what you are missing! They have the BEST wheat pizza crust I've ever tasted!

Anyway. On Sunday when we woke up, my stepmom, stepgrandma and I made a grocery list for Thanksgiving. Since we were headed to Kentucky mid-week we got the groceries early so Friday we could whip together our meal. After we got the list situated and all got ready we went grocery shopping. It wasn't too bad at that time. We got all our stuff for a delicious meal. That night, we went for a yummy sushi dinner. Is it wrong that the best sushi roll I've ever had was made in Dothan, AL?? 

Monday was a nice down day where we just sat around. I did go for a run that morning but that was the only day I did run. We had too much going on. We packed that night.

Tuesday morning we got up, got ready and jumped in our BAV (otherwise known as Big Ass Van) to head to Kentucky for my stepbro's graduation from Basic.

Here's the BAV my dad rented for our trip. We had 7 people traveling and needed room for our luggage as well. We all fit quite nicely actually.

The Hubble definitely looked right at home in the BAV. Although, I think he's pretty used to riding in these things by now.

Little Butt was pretty excited as well. 

So we drove 8 hours to Ft. Knox on Tuesday. We got in around dinner time but didn't end up settling in and getting dinner until around 8pm.

We all turned in pretty early because the next morning we had to be at the gymnasium for the graduation by 0730.

The graduation was awesome (I'd never been to one before) and my stepbro looked so proud to be wearing that uniform. He had all his own Army tales and 'horror stories.' It was so cute to see all these young men so excited about signing up and serving their country.

The Hubble wore his uniform to the graduation as a sign of respect and tradition. He was moved to witness such a momentous time for these young men as well. This dude loves what he does and it shows. 

And I love it when he wears that uniform. The red suspenders. That's what it's all about baby. Sexy!

We ended up signing out my stepbro and a friend of his for the day. We found food then went to the mall. The guys were just so happy to be anywhere other than post that they were excited to walk through a mall.

I did end up finding a coat there though!

Source

I love it and am very excited that after 11 years I finally found the perfect coat!

On Thursday we were able to get into a restaurant that was having a "by reservation only" Thanksgiving buffet. The food was amazing and the service was incredible. I'm so glad we were able to eat there. It was delicious.

While my stepbro visited with his father and my stepmom, The Hubble, Little Butt and I spent a lot of time in our hotel room. We wanted to give them time to visit as a family. 

So Little Butt played a lot.

And The Hubble and I read a lot. 

I was able to read a couple books during this trip so that was a big plus!

Friday morning we got up and got on the road by 0600. We drove the 8 hours back to my dad's house and made it there a little after lunch time. 

We quickly got to work making our own little Thanksgiving dinner for us...only a day late. 

I made a pumpkin cheesecake. 

My stepmom and stepgrandma tried to kill themselves to make stuffed jalapenos. (The Hubble threw these on the grill and they were SO much better than oven baked)

The Hubble even helped!

And then my dad carried around Little Butt in a bag. I don't know. I try not to explain these things. 

The meal turned out delicious. 

We ate our weight in food and watched Love Actually. I've never really gotten that movie. 

The next day was spent doing laundry, packing and reading. Just so we could get up on Sunday and make the 12 hour drive back home.

I have to say though. The ultimate icing on the cake for me this trip (besides seeing my dad, stepmom and stepgrandma and being able to attend my stepbro's graduation) was the amazing gift my stepmom gave me.

That's right!!! I am now the proud owner of a nook! 

My stepmom got this nook several months ago and had never used it. She didn't see herself using it anytime soon and she knew I would put it to good use. So...she gave it to me! I was so shocked and excited. I felt as though I couldn't accept it but secretly wanted to grab it and run for the hills in case she changed her mind! But she insisted and it now lives with me. I'm super excited about it.

Hopefully this post will help me get back into the swing of things. At least until it's time to take the 3 week road trip through Texas starting on the 18th of this month. 

Phew!

If you made it to the end of this you are amazing and I want to be your best friend. 

Now...to make it through my Google Reader. I'm sorry to say I may not read it. When I logged in the other day it was closer to 800 than 700 and it's probably gotten worse. Anything new with you??

Halloween 2010

Little Butt decided she was going to be Cinderella this year. 

I just think my little princess is so beautiful.

The Hubble even got into the "spirit" of things.

I don't think The Hubble is as beautiful as my little princess. 

We did A LOT of walking and gathering of the candy.

 But thankfully we made it home before midnight. No one turned into a pumpkin.

But we were all pretty tired and frazzled by that point.

The Hubble even let us know how he felt about it all.

And I have to post this picture because he looks SO pretty! Not all of his makeup came off and he looks so sad and Emo. If you see him...just ask him if he's been crying. He loves it!

You Look Like a Monkey...

...and you smell like one too!

Yesterday was my birthday.

Last year around this time I was sad and miserable.

Last year I turned 30.

I thought I was going to be one of those people who would take my 30th birthday by storm. I thought I would approach it with vengeance and be more fabulous that day than ever before.

Then reality hit.

I was SO not excited about turning 30. The Hubble was deployed. I felt old. I just didn't want to do it.

Yesterday...I turned 31.

Though I'm not incredibly thrilled with getting older and being 31...I really like being in my 30's.

When you are in your 20's people tend to look at you like you are a kid.

Sadly...there's a reason for that.

I feel like I know so much more now than I did when I was in my 20's.

I am actually super happy to be in my 30's now.

But talk to me in another 9 years and I'll probably be singing the same tune I was last year!

Yesterday started off kind of off. I had a headache. Little Butt woke up with a tummy ache. But I vowed to have it turn around.

 When The Hubble got home from his workout, I was finishing up my shower. When I walked out of the bathroom I found pretty Halloween-y flowers!

Then we went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I am in lust with their new harvest yogurt parfait and I had to have one. It's so freaking good! If you haven't tried it...you must. It was the apple streusel French toast at first but then I started running and decided I needed a healthier option. The meal that the parfait comes with has eggs, a breakfast meat and an apple bran muffin. I think it's only around for a short amount of time so hurry and go try it! LOL!

When we got back from brunch I opened my present! For the last 10 1/2 years I've hoped and hoped that The Hubble would just know what I wanted for my birthday. That.Doesn't.Work! So this year I told him exactly what I wanted. And he delivered!!!

You may be thinking "where's the fun in that?" if I had to tell him what I wanted. I would know what I was getting right?? No! I was extremely shocked and surprised that not only did he remember what I told him...he actually followed through and went and got it! LOL!

Later that evening, we went out for sushi with some friends. I tried sashimi (raw fish) for the first time and it was SO good. I'm so happy I got it! I think it's going to be my newest obsession. I can't wait to go again.

My friend Lauren made me some cupcakes for my birthday too!

Hummingbird cupcakes with coconut pineapple frosting (the pink) or lemon frosting (the white). Lauren and her husband, John, also gave me a gift card to an amazing liquor store in town. Woohoo! I can't wait to figure out what to spend it on!

Another awesome thing that happened to me on my birthday was that Kristen from That Army Wife Life left me this award:

Kristen is pretty dang awesome and is even a top 3 finalist in the Army Wife Network HH6 2011 Contest. I told you she was awesome! If you have a minute, you should jump over to the AWN site and vote for Kristen in the poll halfway down the page!

And that's how the anniversary of my 30th birthday went down. Yeah...I'm getting older...but I'm loving it!

And many more...on channel four...