And we're off...

I'm sitting in Atlanta in Cousin Brett's room to send out this quick blog post...

and my picture isn't cooperating with me... again... ugh!

So, I took one, but I can't post it.

It was a photo of the roses that Brandon surprised me with when he came home from work today. Since we'll be in Atlanta visiting with family this weekend and won't go out on our own Valentine's date, he got me roses a day early.

We will be celebrating Valentine's Day with Cousin Brett, Aunt Karen, and Uncle Mike tomorrow at IHOP!

After dinner, Brett and I will drive to the airport to pick up Evan! YAY!

44/365

Wow!

I was at Wal-mart tonight after my girls were in bed...

43/365

It looked like Valentine's Day threw up all over Wal-mart!

This was only 1 side of 1 display of about 30 spread out around the store!

I'm so glad my kids weren't with me... It would have been nothing but desperate pleas for gigantic Valentine's Day balloons!

Tomorrow evening we are driving down to Atlanta for the weekend. We'll spend 2 nights at Cousin Brett's house (technically his parents house, but you haven't been introduced to them... yet).
Saturday night, I'll pick up Evan at the airport!! I'm so excited!

A Belated Christmas from the South!

I know it's already January 4th, but when I saw this video I KNEW I had to post it!

My mom's family gets together at Christmas each year...
When we sit down to eat it is tradition to sing "The 12 Days of Christmas".
My grandmother has a set of "12 Days Glasses".
If you are fortunate enough (or unfortunate enough... depending on how you look at it) to get one... you get to sing that day of Christmas.

We (Brandon, myself and the girls) were not able to be there this year... we were celebrating Christmas morning with Brandon's parents.

I was so excited to see that Erin (my sister) had made a video this year and her husband, Joel, posted it on youtube!

In case you are curious...
My dad sings the 1st day of Christmas
My sister, Erin, sings the 7th day
Her husband, Joel, sings day 11
My mom sings day 12

I would tell you who everyone is, but you probably don't really care that much... just know that they are all aunts, uncles, and cousins on my mom's side of the family. :)

And yes, you may recognize Brett... the cousin who wants a post all about himself... standing with (more like trying to get away from) my sister as she sings.

So, here it is...
A merry belated Christmas from the southern United States... more specifically, Georgia!!
**Enjoy the accents!!

I knew I couldn't keep it up!

Well, it's Tuesday and I just realized that I didn't do a Monday Mumblings yesterday OR last week... oops!

So here's 2 weeks worth of Monday Mumblings.... on Tuesday. :)

1. All 8 members of my family got some sort of stomach bug over Christmas.
Riley got it just after we opened presents at my in-law's house on Christmas Eve.
Chandler got it about an hour later.
I woke up Christmas morning MISERABLE!
Brandon got it sometime the day after Christmas at my grandmother's house.
My sister AND my mom got it on the Saturday after Christmas.
Joel AND my dad spent all Saturday night and all Sunday day SICK!

2. The good news in all of that is that whatever it was, it didn't last more than 24 hours for any of us.

3. Because of being sick on Christmas morning, I don't have a single picture of my kids opening presents. :(

4. I got some great gifts for Christmas.

5. We have all been enjoying our Wii.

6. Chandler is quite the bowler, golfer and boxer! :)

7. I LOVE the Wii Fit!!! I'm a hulla hooping CHAMP!

8. We MIGHT be slightly obsessed with the Wii right now.

9. We have TWO televisions set up in our living room. 1 for the Wii and 1 for watching movies and tv WHILE we play the Wii.... As soon as the holidays are over the Wii will move into the bonus room and my livingroom will get back to normal.

10. I am THRILLED to know that Mummy McT got her package (or parcel as she calls it... I love Australian accents!) ON CHRISTMAS EVE! YAY!

11. I'm looking forward to having some good friends over tomorrow night for New Year's Eve!

12. I need to clean my house before those good friends get here!!!!

13. I'm excited to start planning my trip to Forks, WA (Washington State for my non-U.S. readers) with this guy...

My cousin, Brett.

14. Brett thinks there should be an entire blog post just about him... careful what you wish for Brett! :)

15. I'm also excited that Evan will be here in just over 6 weeks.

16. I need to start seriously planning my list of random U.S. things that I'm going to expose him to! I'm open to suggestions!

17. I still haven't finished my list of 30 things to do before I'm 30.

18. There are PLENTY of things I want to do, but I'm trying to be practical about it.

19. Chandler's 6th Birthday is ONE WEEK from tomorrow. I need to make some party plans!

20. Since Chandler's birthday is one week from tomorrow... that means MY birthday is TWO WEEKS from tomorrow!

21. The longer this list gets, the more I realize I have to get done in a fairly short amount of time!

Got any random thoughts you want to share?

Don't really have time...

Well, I'll fill you in on our Christmas "mishaps" when I've actually got a few minutes to organize my thoughts, but for now I'll leave you with a link to a few of the pictures from our photo session.

Jared Wielfaert Photography: Jennifer's Headshots

Check out Jared's Blog and his website for more info on what he has to offer. :)

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas!!!

A Very Merry Christmas!!

Well, it seems as if most, if not all, of my bloggy friends are taking a "blogging vacation" over Christmas so I may just do it too!

We are headed out of town in the morning... so begins the season of holiday travel. :)


Merry Christmas everyone!!


Oh! By the way... the photo session went quite well. I've seen a few of the proofs and I'm very pleased with the results. We managed to get some REALLY good ones of Chandler and a few of me and Brandon together. Riley wasn't too cooperative due to an ear infection, runny nose and well... being on the threshold of the "terrible 2s". :)

Fortunately for all of you, I didn't get Janna's clothing suggestion until AFTER the session. Ha! (see the comments on the previous post.)

O Christmas Tree!

Ready for picture overload?

Brandon and I FINALLY got into the Christmas spirit (sort of) and got a tree. He and Chandler went to Lowe's last night and picked it out... perk of waiting so late? Our tree only cost $17 with tax! :)
We are still not doing our full blown decorating... no lights on the house... no Christmas dishes on the table... I just don't want to watch Riley like a hawk for the next few days while hoping and praying that she doesn't grab the table cloth and pull all of my Christmas China onto the tile floor! **I'm sure you moms can understand that!

So, we decorated the tree and SOME of the house tonight...

Yes. I am one of "those moms" that fixes the ornaments that her children put on the tree. I really didn't move too many of them... we have LOTS of heavy ornaments and they must be hung "just right" to keep them from crashing to the floor!

Chandler HAD to put the star on this year... it's the 1st year she hasn't complained that we have a star and NOT an angel.
I have no idea what kind of face she is making!

The finished product!!
I told you my presents are all wrapped and ready to go!

All lit up... anyone know how to get a picture like this that ISN'T fuzzy?

So, I've read TONS of blogs lately that have had pictures of trees and homes all decked out for the holidays...
Since I don't have much to show as far as home decor is concerned, I've decided to show you some of my favorite ornaments. :)

These first 2 are gifts from my mom and dad.
They are from Hungary and they bought them on one of their trips through Hungary headed to (or back from) Romania.

Brandon tells me every year to remind my mom to look for more while she is there... he wants an entire tree FULL of these bells!

I'm pretty sure they are one of a kind since they are hand made out of porcelain. :)

Ok, every year we try to buy an ornament that reminds us of something we did that year.
If we go on vacation, we buy an ornament while we are there... it's my favorite vacation tradition!

This one isn't from a vacation, but we bought it to remind us of our very first UGA game!
Gooooo Dawgs!

This one is from a trip I made to Kennebunkport, Maine.
I made the trip with the choir at church a few years ago... back before Riley, but I'm not exactly sure what year it was...
Kennebunkport is BEAUTIFUL! If you live in the U.S., you NEED to go... I recommend going in the summer... the weather was PERFECT!

This ornament was the very first one that Brandon and I bought after we were married... it's from our honeymoon to Aruba.

This little lighthouse is from our first vacation to Jekyll Island with Brandon's parents after we were married.
I had been with them to Jekyll before we were married, but we didn't start the ornament tradition until after our wedding.

This cute little Santa is from a trip we took to Myrtle Beach in 2002. It's the only vacation the two of us have ever been on alone.

The candy cane is from 2004. We vacationed on St. Simon's Island that summer with my parents and my sister.

Bet you can guess where this one came from!
We took a vacation to Disney World with my parents and my sister back in 2006.

This one is from another vacation with my parents. We spent 2007 up in Gatlinburg.
Fortunately, we did NOT see any bears!

**I do not have an ornament from my trip to Australia. I looked for one while I was there, but didn't find anything that I really loved. I've sent Evan on a "Australian Christmas Ornament Mission". We'll see if he succeeds.
I'll keep you posted!


These next 2 ornaments are special because they have pictures of my babies in them!
Brandon's mom got each of the girls a photo ornament to celebrate their 1st Christmases.

Chandler in 2003

Riley in 2007


I mentioned last year how much I love my nativity.

It's the one my sister and I grew up with and it's VERY old.
The bottom of each piece is stamped, "Made in West Germany".

It is chipped. It is scratched. Some of the people have had heads glued back on, but I wouldn't want a new one... even if it was a duplicate set.

A few years ago, my sister in law Lainey, bought me this Flurryville set.
It's Santa's Workshop, but all of the pieces are snowmen... I LOVE IT!
Thanks Lainey!!! It's one of my FAVORITE Christmas decorations!

So, that's all in my livingroom.

Next we have our kitchen...

My Gingerbread Welcome sign... a gift from my sister. :)

A cute little gingerbread man hanging on our French doors.
My mom found him at a yard sale... thanks mom!

Another gift from my sister... a little gingerbread family pillow hanging out in an extra kitchen chair.

Chandler and Riley's tree got moved to the kitchen so we could keep an eye on it.
I mentioned last week that Riley is just a tad rough on it!
Now it is wedged between my china cabinet and the fridge.

Riley went to bed before the decorating got under way tonight so here are a few pictures from the night we decorated the little tree... it was still in their room at the time.

"Puppy Mom!"

"ohhhh... I can take the ornaments off all by myself!"

What else on a Monday morning?

My brain is full of random half thoughts this morning...

1. Kristy has inspired me to kick myself into gear and work on my list of "30 things to do before I'm 30"... her list is 29 Things Before 30, but I'm gonna 1 up her! :)
**Jenn also had a list a while back ago... she's the one that originally made me start thinking about working on my list.

2. Brandon and I are both going to make lists... maybe some of them will overlap... we can hold each other accountable! :)

3. It's stinkin' cold outside!

4. I am singing this Thursday night for a "Senior Adult Christmas Banquet"... jealous? :)

5. I have partially decorated my house for Christmas... I'm just not in the mood this year. :(

6. The girls have a 3 foot Christmas tree on the bedside table in their room... so far there have been 2 broken ornaments and I've picked the tree up off the floor atleast a half dozen times... that's not counting the times that Brandon has picked it up.

7. My friend, Jared, is going to be taking some headshots for me sometime in the next few weeks... I'm excited about that!

8. Remember when my guestroom was supposed to get a makeover in July and then the date moved to September... well it's December, but it is finally ALMOST DONE!!! 4 of the 5 things on my list to do in that room can be checked off, but I still need to finish the last one and add one more thing to the list... it WILL be done before Christmas!!!

9. Here's the results from the ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) specialist that I took Riley to see last week... "If you WANT to have tubes put in, we can do it. If you DON'T want tubes put in, we don't have to do it."
Uh? Um? Well? I DON'T KNOW!!! YOU ARE THE DOCTOR! TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!!!

10. My follow up appointment with my surgeon went well. I have to go back for a mammogram in March... that mammogram will serve as my new "baseline" picture to which all future mammograms will be compared. After my mammogram I will go back for another follow up with my surgeon.

11. I am no where NEAR being finished with my Christmas shopping!

12. My friends, Brian and Trish are in the process of adoption. Trish just started a blog... go check it out. They are SUPER people and will be AMAZING parents!!!

13. They have a cookbook that they are selling and all proceeds from the sales are going straight to their adoption fees... need a nice cookbook for yourself or one to give as a Christmas gift? Check out her blog. They are only $15. They are VERY pretty... kind of a scrapbook appearance to the cover AND I even have a few recipes in there! :)
Brian is a chef... yep, that's his actual occupation... and he has a TON of recipes in the book.
I told Trish that they should auction off Brian's culinary talents. :)
I'd pay to have him come cook a nice dinner for me and my family!! Especially in the craziness of the holidays!

14. To make things ever easier... you can buy the cookbook on Ebay! Check it out!! For less than $20 (including shipping) you can help Brian and Trish and add some new recipes to your cooking repertoire! :)

15. My parents are currently in Romania on a mission's trip. If you can spare a minute or 2, say a prayer for their safety as well as the safety of their team.

Wow... I think I'm all out of randomness. Ah. Now I have space in my brain!

I told you it's cold outside...

Don't believe me? Even Rainn Wilson and Selma Blair say so...

Yeah, I'm still here!

Sorry for the lack of posting lately... we got back from having Thanksgiving in Atlanta with my extended family and I've been playing catch up since Saturday night!

As soon as I have pictures from Thanksgiving I'll be sure to post them... I forgot to take my camera (I know, I know... what WAS I thinking!!!) so I used my dad's camera and the camera is currently with him in FL. :)

Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving... I've really enjoyed reading about everyone's holiday!

Can't wait to hear how Mummy McT's Thanksgiving meal turned out!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, technically Thanksgiving is not until tomorrow, but we'll be on the road then so it's a Happy Early Thanksgiving to my bloggy friends! (Unless you live in Australia... it's already Nov. 27th there so "Happy American Holiday that my Australian friends don't Celebrate"!!)

I hope every everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving surrounded by friends, family, loved ones and FOOD!

I just finished making my dirt cake for tomorrow's big lunch. :)

Now I'm off to figure out what in the world I will wear!!

**Thanks to all of you who asked about Chandler... she is feeling much better today. No races to the bathroom since about 4am this morning! :)

Riding in the car with girls...

We are currently visiting Brandon's parents in Georiga for the weekend. We are celebrating an early Thanksgiving in combination with Brandon's birthday (11/18) and our nephew, Colten's, 2nd birthday (11/8).

On the way down last night, I was reading (Ecilpse. Yes, it's the 3rd book in the Twilight series and yes, I am reading it AGAIN!), Brandon was driving, and the girls were watching a movie.

Suddenly...
C: "Mom. I know what the ocean is."
J: "Really? What is it?"
C: "It's a large stomach of salt water."
J: "Huh?"

Brandon and I exchange puzzled looks

B: "Chan? Do you mean a large BODY of salt water?"
C: "Oh. Yeah. That's what I mean."

Because I know you are DYING to know...

The Miles Family already has Halloween costumes for next year...

But I'm not going to tell you what they are... only that they arrived in the mail yesterday! :)

Halloween Happenings!

So, my real life friend, Christina, thinks that her family waited late to carve their pumpkin this year... Um, we carved ours when Chandler got out of school ON HALLOWEEN DAY! :)

The girls helped scoop all of the insides out...

Well, Chandler helped... Riley was too grossed out!

She kept making this face and saying, "Blech!"

Our happy little pumpkin!

Then it was time to get ready for a night full of friends, candy, costumes, and cries of outrage!

My Tinkerbell and Belle!
Chandler's hair was MUCH easier this year... although all of the pin curls under the wig took some time.

Chandler wanted to recreate last year's Halloween photo... You can view it here.
I think her exact words were, "Mom? Would you like for Riley to look at me like we did last time?"

Me and my Belle!
And I told Chandler that I actually AM in costume this year...
Um Hello? Did you not expect a Twilight themed Halloween?
Yes, I am Alice Cullen!
I thought about going as Rosalie Hale since I had a long blonde wig from a party we went too the previous weekend, but my dear friend, Evan, informed me that I do not pull off blonde very well!
Thanks Evan! :P

Me and Tinkerbell

Tinkerbell was too busy running around the yard to get a good picture!

We stopped at Zaxby's for dinner... it's turning into an annual thing, I think. :)

Then it was off to Trunk or Treat...

We paused for a photo op with Dorothy and a Flying Monkey (aka Katelyn and Sean)

Chandler got her photo with JoJo again this year!

Riley started figuring out this Trunk or Treat thing...
"Ummm... I do believe they have candy over there!"
By the end of the night she would hold her bag and say, "pweese".

The Allen's are big FSU fans...

Their trunk came complete with a grill Florida Gator!

It was a good night, but we headed home early this year! No mall, no block party, a few tears, but we survived!

Happy Halloween?

I'm not really feeling the Halloween vibe this year.
Maybe it's all of the craziness that has been my life over the past month and a half.
I haven't even decorated my house for fall... and you know what? I may not do it at all this year... I think I just heard Brandon give a sigh of relief!

I LOVE to decorate for the different seasons. I have all of my seasonal boxes full of decorations all color labeled and stored away in the attic. I have my fall boxes. My Christmas boxes. My Valentine's day boxes. I have one box with St. Patrick's day and Easter decor... it's hard to decorate for those two holidays for some reason. MAYBE because I'm NOT Irish... and at Easter time I'm so overwhelmed with the Easter program at church... maybe. :)

So here's a glimpse back at Halloween 2007....

I would like to make a few notes...
*This year I will NOT be rolling Chandler's hair... You'll see why when I post the pictures from Trunk or Treat tonight.
*Riley will probably STILL be eating grass in our photos! :)
*We are ONLY going to Trunk or Treat tonight... I don't think I can handle the mall crowd again this year!
*Riley's costume this year is probably the most precious thing I've ever seen her wear... mainly because it shows off her potbelly!
*Chandler has already asked me if JoJo will be there tonight
*She also reminded me that I did not dress up in a real costume last year. UGH!

Easter

Easter morning started early for us... Chandler wanted to open her basket before church so I had to wake her at 6:30 in order to have enough time!

Chandler's Ariel themed basket

Riley's Puppy-Dog themed basket

Chandler dove straight into the markers and chocolate bunnies

Riley joined us a little later... about 7:00 and was just happy to wake up to all of the excitement!

"Ooo!"

"Mmmm!"

Yes, I let my 1 year old eat a chocolate bunny for breakfast. :)

Riley's Easter Bow

I didn't buy cardigans (as reported in the previous post), but someone had given me this one when I was pregnant with Chandler. She never wore it so I pulled it out for Riley. It didn't really match, but it got the job done.

I wasn't able to be in the choir's Easter production last year because Riley was only a few weeks old so I was excited to be able to be apart of it this year.

Because of choir robes and costumes, I didn't get a new Easter outfit, but here I am with the girls in my lovely "Mary Costume"... at least that's what Chandler called it. :)

"ENOUGH!" Riley was worn out! She took a nap in the nursery, but 5 hours at church is a really long time when you are so little!
Who am I kidding? 5 hours was a long time for me too!!! My voice, ankles and back were killing me when I got home!

Jonathan and Amy came over for lunch. We had quite an impressive spread. Again, I forgot to take pictures... maybe one day I'll get a photo of the 6 of us all together... and then again, maybe not! :)

I hope everyone had an AMAZING Easter!