Makenna's 3rd Birthday

We were so fortunate that Papa Chuck was here to celebrate Makenna's birthday with us. We had a small celebration at home because as it turned out, Makenna got sick and was running a fever the day before so we wanted to take it easy on her. We had dinner, opened a few family gifts and then celebrated with cupcakes and ice cream. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Christmas Morning Highlights 2010

Christmas Morning 2010

Christmas morning was extremely exciting for us this year. This was the first year that we spent the night in our own home and woke up to see what Santa brought us. We usually spend the night at Granna's house but decided this year, we needed to start our own tradition with the kids.

Brian and I stayed up until 1am putting toys together so when Peyton came in at 4am to wake us up, we told him to go back to sleep. He had only woken up because his tummy was hurting. He ended up grabbing a blanket and slept beside our bed. The whole house was asleep until about 8. Now that's more like it!

Christmas Eve 2010

The kids and I made gingerbread cutout cookies this year and we even decorated them. It was a lot of fun...I've never had much success with frosting cookies but this year I made my own frosting and that really made all the difference in the world. Confectioners sugar icing to so much easier to work with than any other I've tried. Since Makenna is really into Mickey and Minnie Mouse this year, we did mouse cutouts and stars. The kids had a great time cutting out the designs and frosting them. They were also very excited about getting Santa's plate ready for his upcoming visit.

Weigh In

I went to my weight watcher meeting today...yes...I know it's the day after Thanksgiving...call me crazy! I was expecting a one pound loss. After all, I had healthy dishes yesterday and didn't hardly snack at all.

Oh my goodness!!!
I dropped 3.6 pounds!

I have to admit...I'm pretty proud of myself. That's a great kickoff to the holiday season...get behind me you upcoming cookies! Like I posted yesterday, I wanted to lose 20 pounds before the first of the year. Today's loss brings me to a total of 18.4! Whew who!

Any of you other crazy birds dieting during the holiday season?

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving dinner is just the best isn't it? I love talking with different people about their traditions and the dishes they have at certain holidays. This year, I have been doing Weight Watchers for about 5 weeks so I knew that Thanksgiving would be a challenge but what I love about Weight Watchers is it's flexibility. I had everything I wanted today and it was all "allowed". It is simply a matter of portion control. My mom made a delicious ham and chicken and dumplings (which I had after I took this picture) and I made two side vegetable dishes that were a hit as well. Roasted butternut squash with sage and orange zest and roasted green beans with garlic and basil. They were both full of flavor and just down right healthy. It was a nice break from the heavy casseroles that we typically have. I ate a small piece of pumpkin pie totally guilt free. To date I have lost 15 pounds. Tomorrow is my weigh in day so I'll keep you posted on how it goes. I want to lose 20 before New Years so I'll keep you posted on that as well.

This year we missed spending time with Sidney, he was sick, and Eric and Lisa who were with other family members. Sidney's girlfriend Danielle came over for a bit with her daughter Naomi. It was great having all the kids there playing and making all kinds of noise! I can't wait for Christmas! It's right around the corner now!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Love ya!

I Am Thankful

Last year I wrote a post on what I was thankful for...I wanted to do it again this Thanksgiving but when I read over last years it still seemed so appropriate. So, I simply added a few additional thoughts...

I am thankful for the blood of Jesus that was shed for my salvation.
I am thankful for the most wonderful man that came into my life 9 1/2 years ago who has never given me any reason to stop laughing.
I am also thankful that that same wonderful man is quick to forgive and loves me no matter how I act or what I look like.
I am thankful for two beautiful, healthy, loving children who also love each and adore each other.
I am thankful for parents who love me unconditionally and taught me the meaning of God's love through their example.
I am thankful for two brothers who offer two sides to lean on depending on my mood at the time.
I am thankful for in laws who love me and for the laughter they bring.
I am thankful for friends who bring out the best in me and want to see me succeed.
I am thankful for my career in banking and the wisdom that our leaders bring.
I am thankful for coworkers who allow me to look forward to working an eight hour day.
I am thankful that I walk in favor...of the Lord and of men.
I am thankful to still be living in a free country.
I am thankful for past relationships that have honed me into the person I am today.
I am thankful for a loving church family who is happy to see me when I walk through the door and genuinely miss me when I can't be there.

I am thankful...I am loved....I am happy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall Scrapbook Idea

Every September (I guess for about 10 years now) my mom and I make a trip up to West Virginia to visit with my two aunts and cousin. We also do a gift exchange that we try to keep primarily homemade or handmade.

I was inspired this year by a little scrapbook I saw at the Charlotte Creating Keepsakes convention a couple of years ago. I cranked out 4 of these little cuties in no time. The most time consuming part was cutting the cardboard. I cut the cardboard down to 7 x 6 so that I would have enough room on the side to punch holes and still have a 6x6 space for pictures. I designed a template first and then just duplicated it on the others. I cut enough to have 5 full page spreads.

Pretty simple. Pretty darn cute.

I kept the inside pages relatively simple because when giving a gift album to friends and family, unless they scrapbook too, they are not going to know how (or want to) to cut the pictures down to fit. So I placed a white piece of cardstock down denoting where the picture goes and since it's slightly larger than a standard picture, it leaves a nice white boarder above and below the picture.


As far as the cover goes, anything goes. My mom and aunts and I like to visit the local craft shows and fairs while in West Virginia and they have a pretty strong primitive theme so I designed my cover in a primitive style. I drew out my designs, cut them out, wrinkled and inked them and then glued using pop dots in a few areas for added dimension.


Last but not least, for the binding I used notebook rings which are readily available in office supply stores. Then I tied on various strips of material and ribbons. It just gives it a fun and whimsical lo0k and adds to the primitive feel of the scrapbook.

This little album makes great gifts and the themes are limitless. They are adorable coffee table books and a sure conversation piece. The best part? You don't have to invest a lot of time in this project but it sure looks as if you did!

Let me know your thoughts and certainly if you are planning on doing any gifts albums for the holidays coming up.

My husband is spoiling me!

Friday night I wasn't feeling all that great and Brian kept telling me go to bed and get some rest. Little did I know that he had hid a bottle of Gucci Guilty for me under my pillow. I discovered this new scent in a magazine at the salon while waiting on my color to process. You know how they put samples under the flaps of the magazine pages? I rubbed in on my wrist and spent the rest of the day admiring the fragrance. I've talked about it quite a bit and of course put it on my Christmas Wish List! Brian isn't the greatest at keeping secrets so he probably wouldn't have been able to hold out until Christmas anyway but it sure was a pleasant surprise and lifted my "not feeling all that great" spirits!


Then Sunday Brian took me to the Peace Center for the afternoon showing of Irving Berlin's White Christmas. It was magical, wonderful, spectacular, and did I mention magical? We had a much needed afternoon for just the two of us.

Thanks honey! I could really get used to this spoiling stuff!

Gymnastics

I ran across these pictures the other day and wanted to post about Peyton. He has been doing gymnastics since February so for 9 months now he's been doing cartwheels and front handsprings. He's really cute to watch and he practices all the time around the house and stands on his head a lot. He's thinking about quitting though and playing basketball for the YMCA. We'll see what happens. We're letting him decide...

Trick or Treat

We took the kids to the Pavilion last night for games, bounce houses and a train ride. They had an awesome balloon artist. He made Makenna a Minnie Mouse and a deer hat for Brian and a shotgun for Peyton to "hunt" with. He and his business buddy were very talented and fun to watch. We walked through the enchanted forest while character princesses gave out candy. Then we went to one of local church's trunk or treat. The kids got plenty of candy! That's for sure!

Family Photos

Happy Cow Field Trip

I took off work today and joined Peyton's class on a field trip to Happy Cow Creamery and 12 Aprils Farm. We had a really great time learning all about the cows and their milk and we even got to sample milk and ice cream. The children got to take home a decorated pumpkin as well. While I was there I bought potato bread, whole milk, and two different types of cheese. It was quite the treat!

Read On...I'm caught up!

According to my post on March 14th, I've been really slack in posting our family happenings. I am completely caught up now I'll have you know! Since the whole reason I started this blog was to help me keep events in order for scrapbooking*, I have dated my posts in the order in which they happened. So you may have to back up some in order to get the picture. I haven't taken many pictures lately so I didn't have TOO much to catch up on but enough that I was almost dreading the job....awful huh? Uploading the pictures was the biggest feat. I'm feelin' pretty darn good now...and relieved!

Read ON!

*I do all of my scrapbooking in chronological order....it feeds the perfectionist/anal side of me. Therapy is very much needed....

Tulsa Air and Space Museum

Yesterday, Brian and I took Peyton to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum along with Uncle Chuck and Hannah. We wanted to hit the planetarium but was really disappointed when we learned that it was closed for construction. Maybe next time..

Sissy's Car Preference

Friday before we left for vacation, Brian decided to take my car to work. Since he was getting off sooner than me, he was going to go home and have the car loaded and ready for us to hop in and get started on our 16 hour drive to see family.

That Friday morning, Makenna (aka "sissy") went outside to load the car for work/school and she noticed right off the bat that mommy's car wasn't there. "Mommy's car?" with her little hands up in a questioning position. I told her that daddy had mommy's car and that we were going to take daddy's car. As soon as we get to the car door to unload our bags, Makenna shouts, "aw man! Not THAT car!". I thought surely I would pee in my pants. It was so funny!

Brian has a good car but it's not the prettiest thing and she's not used to riding in it as much as my car. She cried almost the whole way to school and even after she had settled down, I heard her start back up. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "daddy took our car!".

That little girl is smart and she is such a hoot! I love this age...she's disovering so much and the way she pieces her words together is just amazing. She grows every day... way to fast but amazing all the same.

Peyton and Family

Sunday for Peyton's birthday mom, dad, and Denise came over to help celebrate. Peyton asked for a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. He got a new DS and a skate board among other items that he's really excited about. I think he had a very fun birthday....that lasted all weekend long!