11.26.06

This was the view out of our window this morning at 7:30 a.m. How beautiful is that??? Lily spotted the balloon for us and we ran out in the 30 degree weather to take a picture. Thought it was so pretty and a beautiful way to start the morning. Here is chilly Lily in her nightgown surrounded by the frost on the ground:

And, finally, I figured out how to add links to some of my favorite blogs. So check them out to the right!!--->

Don't forget...Molly, the Movie is on at 8 PM tonight on Disney. We are all excited to see it.

11.25.06

So, here is a recap of the recent events around here. Tuesday, I made my way to both of the girls' schools. I helped out at the multicultural day at Lily's school and at the Thanksgiving celebration at Shelly's class (my Thanksgiving cupcakes). Tuesday night was Lily's cheerleading/football banquet. She received a trophy for all of her hard work. Here are the girls with daddy and Lily making a silly face with her trophy in hand.

Wednesday, we stayed inside all day in our pajamas. I baked and then decorated for Christmas. It was windy, rainy, and cold all day Wednesday. Lily decided to put the new laptop to good use, as well.So, a great way to spend our time inside playing (Trouble - the game), baking, and decking the halls.

Thursday, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving as a foursome. It was a bit lonely, but still nice. We had turkey, ham, stuffing, sweet potatoes, broccoli & cheese, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, and rolls. We rounded it all out with yummy Pumpkin gingerbread dessert! Once again, we enjoyed MANY rounds of Trouble and daddy put up the train...always a highlight of the season. We also were invited to a couple of neighbor's homes for drinks and laughs...good times.

Friday, John went off on an overnight golf trip. The girls and I made our way to Concord Mills outlet mall for 5 hours of good hard shopping. We made a nice little dent in our Christmas list. The girls got a kick out of the merry-go-round and Lily continues to dislike opening her mouth for photos (due to the teeth issue). Then we made our way to our hotel in Charlotte (thanks to a little Priceline bidding). The girls loved the adventure of snuggling in the king size bed and watching tv together.

This morning we were up and out by 9 AM. We stopped by the SouthPark Mall in Charlotte and we had a little Chik-Fil-A breakfast. We also completed gift buying for several people on our list. I even picked up 2 of these (the magnetic chalkboard version...in hot pink) for the bargain price of $12.99...super happy about that. After 3 hours at the mall, we were in the car and on our way back home. Fun little trip. Nice to be back home and thankful for Sunday!

11.22.06

For some unknown reason, I am up at 6:00 AM and have been on the computer since 2:00 AM. In that time, I managed to order some Christmas gifts that will arrive at my parent's home next week. That was a huge accomplishment. I also did a little digiscrap of the girls at the park. So, here is that layout:

And with that, I will head back to bed and hopefully fall fast asleep!!!

11.16.06

Lily helping sorts clothes in Shelly's room: Chest of drawers, crib, and bed (Shelly):

Lily organizing tights in the drawers:

Chest of drawers and cribby:
Bed and bookcase and the dresser and mirror in Shelly's room:


Lily's mirror and dresser:

Lingerie chest and bookcase in Lily's room:

Lily and her new bookcase:

Lingerie chest:
Happy girls in Lily's room:

The furniture arrived and we have spent the day organizing and decorating the bedrooms. The girls are so excited about their new furniture and could hardly wait to help. The are a few more pieces to hang on the walls. Overall, it's coming right along. Fun!!

11.13.06

Haven't done a random collection of nifty nines in a bit. Since I'm up at 4 AM, I thought...what the heck. So, here you go:

1. Cool clipboard for jotting down special notes.

2. A sweet bib and burp cloth set.

3. Great foof for the scrapbooker.

4. Awesome bulletin board/message system for a young girl's room.

5. Just loved the idea of a pink mini fridge!

6. Pretty flouncy fleece skirt.

7. Funky and whimsical stockings.

8. Love this...great addition for cooking items all at once...genius.

9. Super fun wall art for your favorite little one.

11.12.06

Amazing weather the past few days. Today, it's chilly and was rainy and now super windy. I have been organizing and purging up a storm of late. I organized the winter hats, gloves, etc. and labelled the boxes. Then I hit the jewelry box and got rid of some really not so attractive 90's pieces. Also, rummaged through my earrings and discarded the ones I always pass over in the box. Hmmm...what will I tackle next??? Thinking it might be the girls' toys and the storage issues related to that. Getting things cleared out for the arrival of the furniture...hopefully coming this week. Always fun to have a few days of pure organizing. Oh, and all the Christmas cards are addressed and signed just waiting for the perfect holiday picture to go in them. Feeling organized!!!! Also, found these nifty little unlined journal books at Old Navy for a mere 84 cents! Fun...hoping to alter these with a bit of scrapping stuff.

Here are a few more pictures from the past few days:

11.10.06

Yesterday the temps were in the 70s and it felt perfect! So, the girls and I went to the park and had the place all to ourselves. So fun. Here are photos from our park adventure.

Two items of note about my photos of Lily: she isn't into smiling for photos lately due to her missing front teeth. And her bangs are slowly but surely growing out...Soon, I think!!

I also wanted to share some pictures from our visit with John's family.

And please keep this little girl and her family in your prayers. http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/visitAPage.do and enter gracie1 in the site name box.

11.08.06

We had such a nice weekend with my inlaws. John's mom, sister, niece, and brother-in-law were all here for a visit. We ate, played cards, saw a movie, and relaxed together. Fun!! We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of baby Kaden in December/January. So, with that came the removal of Shelly's nursery furniture. Mary Katherine picked up the dresser and bookcase to take back to VB for the baby. That could only mean one thing: Shop for furniture for the girls' rooms!! Yippy.

Today, I ordered several pieces for their bedrooms from this collection:

Looks like it will be ready some time in the next week. Gotta love living in the furniture capital of the world!!!

11.02.06

Loved this image the other night. The girls were both in their jammies and Lily pulled out the Toys R Us catalog. We reviewed it several times and then she decided to add her checks to the pre-existing boxes in the catalog (great idea TRU). She also got Shelly in on the act and added an "S" or an "L" where appropriate. Some of the items were even labeled with both an "S" and an "L". I loved watching them look at all of the goodies that were out there...Dora, Bratz, baby dolls, princesses... I think that's 90% of the fun of making the list is perusing all of the options. It reminded me of the Sears Wish book and my days of making lists as a little girl. Life may change over time, but some things just stay the same. How cool.

11.01.06

Well, I am changing up the blog style. New header and template for a Fallish look. Hope you all enjoy it.

Yesterday was jam packed with fun. After dropping off Shelly at school, I headed for more hot dog buns and hot dogs. Then back home and then back to her school. Shelly had a party at 12 complete with yummy cupcakes that were frosted in orange. By the time the meal was complete, Shelly was covered in orage frosting from shoulder to ankle. She was a true little Halloween pumpkin. After the party, we headed over to Lily's school to see her in the school parade. It was so fun. Then, Shelly & I spent some time with Lily at her class party. Good fun!

After school, we hurried home to get ready for the big Halloween Happenin'!! The girls got their costumes on (Lily - witch and Shelly - ladybug) and we added the details to their outfits. Then we started to prepare for the neighborhood event. We set out the tables, the hot dogs, the grills, and the sides and then the goblins, witches, and fairies arrived. It was a super fun night for the kids and a great time for the adults to hang out and chat before trick or treating started. Lots of "busy-ness", but lots of fun, too.