Strawberry Ruckus

Rules for Rating Reading Material

2012-02-01T19:42:00.000-06:00

I like alliteration.

The other day I was talking with a fellow book club member and I mentioned I really liked the last book choice. Her reply was, (correct me if I'm wrong) "I know, I read your blog, but you only gave it a 7.5?" It was a valid point and made me reconsider for a moment. However, I still agree with my rating. It does seem confusing so I figured it was time to lay down the explanations for my ratings of books so you have some reference into the weird rating scale I understand completely in my mind.

If I give a book a rating of......

Less than 1 = means I feel I wasted my time and life reading it. I kind of want to burn the book and possibly the person who suggested I read it.

1 = I'm not sure how this book even got published. The subject matter didn't interest me and I could barely finish it.

2 = Boring. Blah blah blah. I don't care about the characters and I am anxiously awaiting the end.

3 = This book could've been worse but some part of it saved it from being a total waste of time. I kind of dreaded reading it each time I picked it up.

4 = I see slight potential in it but there is a serious aspect that keeps me from caring much about it.

5 = Meh. I'm neutral on this book. It kept me turning pages but I kind of wish I'd been reading something else the whole time.

6 = I obviously liked some part of this book because I kept turning the pages and I finished it, but I'm not sure I'd tell anyone else to read it.

7 = While this was a good book and I enjoyed it, I will easily forget it when I'm done. I'm still glad I read it though.

8 = I enjoyed this book. If someone asks me for recommendations I would tell them about this book.

9 = I really enjoyed this book. It kept me interested throughout. Cleverly written and organized. It stayed with me even though I put it down.

10 = I loved this book. I thought about it when I wasn't reading it. I stayed up too late at night turning pages. I feel the need to tell others about it. I might even read it again. I will google to learn more about the author and other subjects brought up in the book.

Above a 10 = All of the aspects of a 10, plus if this book were a person I would want to marry it. I want to memorize it word for word and quote it to people constantly. I neglect personal hygiene to stay cozy a few more minutes to read its pages. I would also like to stalk the author and get inside their brain and live there forever. Congratulations (posthumously) J.D. Salinger and Ayn Rand. I think you are the only 2 to achieve this goal....so far.

Now you will better understand my ratings, and I will try to link back to this list from now on when I do my ratings. I also usually rate a group of 4 or 5 books at a time, so sadly if I just read an 11, the other books will pale in comparison no matter how much I liked them. It might be unfair, but so is life.

Must See

2012-01-31T20:02:00.000-06:00

If you haven't seen this already you need to. It'll make your day. It made mine.

Dinner and a Movie and a Craft

2012-01-30T20:06:00.002-06:00

After the pedicure fun we had a movie night with Liv's favorite friends...her bears (and lone sheep Jacob AKA: Ja-bob).

If Ry and I are going to sit through a kid's movie we are going to be picky so there was no Thomas the Train or Strawberry Shortcake. We chose a stop motion animated one from Netflix entitled A Town Called Panic. Netflix recommended this movie based on our preferences for other ones so we thought why not? We didn't notice that it was a French foreign film with subtitles until we started it. Oops! Oh well it was still weirdly entertaining and Liv laughed a lot. Her attention span for it was about 30 minutes and then we played with toys while the movie finished playing. Then she "helped" me make a Valentine's Day wreath I saw on Pinterest!

It turned out pretty adorable!

This Fun is Brought to You by OPI

2012-01-29T13:34:00.008-06:00

I'm so glad I have a little girl who likes to have paint on her toes as much as me!

We had a fun weekend that started off Friday after nap time with some pedicures.

Liv did really well at sitting still and letting hers dry while I painted mine.

They still got smudged after playing for a bit but that's ok, she is 2.

Thanks Pop for our fun toenails (he got me nail polish for my birthday, or Christmas, I can't remember.) If he were with us right now I'm sure he would tell me that my toes are the prettiest blur he ever did see (he's mostly blind, but still has a way with the compliments!)Charlie was miffed that we didn't include her in on the fun pedicure party but then I politely reminded her of the fun we had with paint last weekend and she thanked me instead.

Outtakes

2012-01-27T20:30:00.001-06:00

Here are some outtakes to make you smile this weekend!

Can you tell someone still loves her princess pajamas? This is what she does when they come off.

Book Review

2012-01-26T20:24:00.000-06:00

The Fountainhead. Wow. This book. The only thing I can say is that it's my new best silver book friend. (The gold of course being Catcher in the Rye, I can't replace you totally Holden). I loved this book. It's a classic, and it's got a whole heaping philosophy behind it: Objectivism (which I don't believe in 100% because you really can't unless you are an atheist). But the story alone is worth the read, all philosophy put aside. It's a long read, so I only recommend it if you can stomach big books. I really did like a majority of the message behind it though: self-respect, ideals, knowing yourself, not living to prove yourself to others, etc. Ayn Rand has a wonderful prologue at the beginning of the copy I had, and I loved this quote from her: "The purpose of my writing is the projection of an ideal man. It is not the philosophical enlightenment of my readers. I write and read for the sake of the story: Would I want to meet these characters and observe these events in real life? Is this story an experience worth living through for its own sake? Is the pleasure of contemplating these characters an end in itself?" The answer for all these questions to me is "yes indeed" and I give it an 11. It made me self-reflect and I enjoy that about any book. It was made into a movie decades ago, which I have not watched, but it is on my dresser. I hear it's no good, but I will watch it anyway. I would just like to state for the record if it's ever remade, the characters should be cast as follows

Howard: Ryan Gosling (can't think of anyone red haired to fit the bill)

Dominique: Charlize Theron

Peter: Vincent Kartheiser (he practically is this guy on Mad Men already)

Gail: Ted Turner or John Slattery

Ellsworth: Stanley Tucci

Catherine: Elisabeth Moss (can you tell I was thinking of Mad Men a lot? Probably because of NYC but not really the same era)

Does anyone else cast a book while they read it? I do with every single one.

I got a lot of quotes from this book, but this review is already long enough so I'll stop here.

Century. Ok this next one might not count because it's more of a coffee table book with pictures but there are words explaining a lot of the pictures and I read a lot of them. The story behind this book is that I bought it for a Dirty Santa gift for my very first office Christmas party at Chateau in 2005. I got sick and didn't end up going but I kept the gift. I've browsed through it before but I actually went from cover to cover this time in order. It's a cube shaped book with over like 900 various pictures from around the world depicting moments in history of the last century. Many are very depressing shots of war and poverty, but they aren't all sad. It did make me realize how little I know about world history and I would pause a lot and research certain events on the Wikipedia. I'm sure I've learned a lot about other countries way back in school but I just didn't keep it in my long term memory bank. And who are we kidding....does anyone need that info unless they are on jeopardy or playing Trivial Pursuit? I won't rate this because that's weird to rate a picture book.

The Language of Flowers is the book club pick for this month and I really enjoyed it. The book unfolds the mysteries of a girl who grew up in foster care homes and is now struggling as an 18 year old emancipated "adult". She gets a job at a flower shop and recalls the lessons she learned from one of her foster mothers about the Victorian meanings behind flowers. Usually in a book like this that has 3 running themes (her childhood, her present, and the language of flowers) I find myself only interested in one aspect, but I actually liked all 3 and found them to blend well together in this story. I give it a 7.5

The Ghost at the Table was given to me awhile ago by a lady at church who also likes to read and I finally got around to reading it. It mainly centers around a family who is getting together for the first time in a very long time at Thanksgiving and the drama of the past that comes up. Unlike the last book review, I was not interested in the main character's past or present as much as the random info about Mark Twain that kept coming up because of the protagonist's ongoing research of his family for a book she's writing. Totally off subject but I kind of want to read about him and see his house. The thing I did like about the book was the theme of how unaware we can be of ourselves at times and how our memories can play tricks on us and at times ruin relationships. (I don't know why the letter "O" on the cover art of this book is red? Anyone have any ideas?) I wasn't a huge fan though, I give it a 5.

What are you reading? I've got a few good ones lined up....but I don't want to spoil the surprise for you!

Recipe Rundown

2012-01-25T20:08:00.003-06:00

If you aren't on Pinterest, you should be. I've been trying all sorts of new recipes I've found on there, and while I don't have time to publish all the details of them, here are some that I tried and liked enough to keep in a list to remake sometime. (I have tried some that we didn't like and I just delete the pin!) If you'd like the recipes for any of these...click here and find the pic! Plus you can see all the ones I want to try in the future!

Mango Blueberry Quinoa Salad (I used peaches instead of mango)

Chicken Salad (replace mayonnaise with Greek Yogurt, heathier and delicious!)

Watermelon smoothie (I made this long ago for Lo's bday craft night)

PW's sour cream noodle bake (not gonna lie, tasted like Hamburger Helper but still good)

Turkey wrap with cucumber and cream cheese (and I put swiss in there, and it also tastes good with ham instead of turkey....Liv even gobbles this up!)

Honey Garlic Chicken...I think I've already blogged this one

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia--yum-o!

PW's Veggie lasagna. Ok so Ryan and I did not like this but I've made it for a few people and they loved it so I will take their word instead of ours!!Quinoa Veggie Burgers. Lesson learned: a blender is not a food processor, but I made do with our tiny food chopper and these turned out well considering!

Everything is better with friends!!

2012-01-24T20:39:00.000-06:00

Liv and I go to the science museum at LEAST once a week...sometimes twice. I decided to up the fun level by taking a friend and Elle was the lucky lady last week! They had so much fun together and held hands when going from different activities. When we dropped Elle off Liv cried the ENTIRE drive home sobbing "My Elle! My backseat, my Elle! My friend, my Elle! Play with my Elle!" I think she enjoyed the car company as much as the museum company! The only fail moment I had with two toddlers in tow was forgetting the camera so you'll have to enjoy the grainy and blurry phone photos I got!

They built towers

They knocked down towers

They planted a garden

And painted a house

And designed a walkway

And built a dog house.

They used a crank conveyor belt

And crawled through tunnels

They commanded an AWACS

and rode a moon buggy

They watched Thomas the train go round and round (for WAY too long)

They perfected the tuck and roll

and found Noah to join in the tumbling fun!

They painted faces and floated boats and made bubbles and spun tops and see-sawed and went down slides and shared their lunches and learned about gravity and put pennies in the vortex and built cars and so much more. I look forward to more future fun with toddler friends!

Family Art Project

2012-01-23T20:44:00.005-06:00

The winner for being most patient during this project goes to Charlie!!!

Just look at that face of disgust!

The finished product. Can you tell whose prints are whose?

Done-zo! Ready to hang in Liv's room.

I realize I don't have shots of Liv with paint on her hands but I was cooking while this was going on so I missed some parts!

Liv's Big Girl Room!

2012-01-21T17:08:00.006-06:00

It's very similar to her nursery, but the crib is gone!

And some rearranging has been done and of course there's a new awesome book wall and there's a "new" rug and her diaper station (microwave stand) is now a storage dresser and there's some fun hand print (paw print) art that will be featured in an upcoming post. And that was a bad run on sentence. I love her room, but more importantly she loves her room! The morning after we had put up her new shelves she just kept saying "Oh thank you my bookshelf daddy!" And he was at work the whole time but she just kept saying it over and over again to no one in particular. She loves to have meals with the bears at her little table, she likes to request me to draw things on her chalk board, occasionally she scribbles on it, she likes to put baby dolls in the bed, and she sleeps 12 hours most nights in her twin sized bed.

Here's the run down like they do on design blogs

(except I'm cheap so it's boring but thrifty people will appreciate it)

Bed = estate sale circa 2007

Bedding = Walmart circa 2001 (it was mine in college)

Word pillows = stenciled by Ryan and me

Pear pillow = Embroidered by Ry's company

Animal Pillows = made by me in high school home ec class

Curtains = Walmart

Valances = made by Ryan

baby doll bunk bed = antique gift at baby shower

Wicker table = I think this was Erin Cornell's she gave to me in college

Rocking Chair = Goodwill from Ryan's college days

Slipcover = Surefit

Rug = Second hand from Nicole

Easel, lamp, blue table, and book shelves = Ikea

Dresser = Microwave stand from Walmart

Kid Chairs = church garage sale

Decor shelves and frames = Garden Ridge

The Braverman Family Kitchen

2012-01-20T18:50:00.004-06:00

I'm not a huge fan of the show (it's alright) but I am a huge fan of Zeke and Camille's house. I love everything about it. So much so that after looking at it, Ryan and I decided it's an attainable look for our kitchen. We've been debating on what to do with it since we moved in 5 years ago and after pinning tons of white kitchens online because I thought that's what I wanted, I think I've settled on this! Plus it matches the look of the rest of our house.

Now let's just see how long it takes to get moving on it! And if we actually get it done I think it will have to be referred to as the "Braverman Family Kitchen" and I might even hang something in it that says "Braverman"

He was good for something....

2012-01-19T20:10:00.000-06:00

I'm sure when my high school boyfriend got me this giant stuffed gorilla he wasn't imagining my future toddler playing with it and inviting it to pretend tea parties.

I'm glad I kept it.

And I'm pretty sure Olivia is too.

P.S. I just saw an episode of "How I Met Your Mother" where they debated keeping things from exes, so that's why I think I thought of this. Do you own anything from an ex?

P.P.S. I just asked Ryan if he cared that I still have it and his exact words were, "I didn't know it was from your ex. This changes everything. Now I'm going to use it's stuffing to light a fire and burn the house down. I'm kidding, I don't care."

P.P.P.S. But doesn't every joke have a little bit of truth in it? Good thing we have smoke detectors in case he was serious.

Two Beds in One!

2012-01-18T20:48:00.000-06:00

Liv sleeps on the top bed and we pull the trundle out a little bit just in case she rolls off. Which is good considering I've found her like this a few times.

Ryan has found her on the floor but she doesn't seem to mind that either!

Bandwagon Soap Maker

2012-01-17T20:08:00.000-06:00

I've been called worse things so go ahead and call me a bandwagon laundry soap maker...see if I care! There have been numerous blog postings about making your own laundry soap and I even made the liquid version about a year ago, but I was not a fan of it. I made this powdered recipe I found in a book before Christmas and have been testing it out now for a few weeks and I LOVE it! It's easy to make, makes my laundry AND washing machine smell good, and it's going to save a LOT of money because each load is only 1 tbsp of soap.

Here's what you need: Borax, Baking soda, washing soda, and laundry bar soap. (tea tree oil or lavender if you are one of those people with essential oils laying around your house) As far as soap goes, I prefer Fels-Naptha over Zote but that's just my two cents. You can also use ivory or pure castile bar soap.

The recipe is easy: 2 parts grated soap, 2 parts Baking soda, 1 part borax, 1 part washing soda, a few drops of scented oil. Mix it all together and it will look like this.

Olivia helped me grate the soap. She was so proud! And no one grated a finger which I was surprised by!

She did keep thinking it was cheese and would put it in her mouth, then realize her mistake. But 5 minutes later she'd do it again.

Then put your concoction in a cute container in your laundry area and enjoy!

My book says to only use this in warm or hot water as it won't dissolve properly in cold...but I haven't found that to be true so far. I keep liquid detergent on hand just in case for now though! It doesn't get sudsy but that doesn't mean it doesn't work. I wish I'd done this a long time ago.

Playing at the Pinon Palace

2012-01-16T07:03:00.008-06:00

It's that time again! The time when we've missed ol' Sal so much we just can't take it much longer, so we must return to her mansion in the great (but totally weird) state of Texas. Plus her sweet and ADORABLE baby girl is a year old and we'd never met her. We figured now was a good time to start the grooming process for Liv's future college roommate. Liv and Liz. Come on, how perfect is that?!

Who needs toys in a palace when you've got Sally and an afghan?

Texas is a strange place for lots of reasons. The one most frustrating is their confusing and massive amount of roads: tollways, interstates, highways, farm to markets, all with changing names and constant new construction and poor signage. But we found our way there with a stop at DQ...for Ryan and Liv, sadly I still wasn't up for eating ice cream. Just look at this happy baby! She was cutting like 6 teeth and still had lots of smiles for us!

We had a delicious dinner and our daughters got to play happily until bedtime. This went MUCH smoother than last time we visited (when Liv was teething and slept zero hours). Liv loved sleeping in the pitch dark theater room in her princess sleeping bag. She would've slept longer in the morning and at nap but we made her get up. Once the kids were asleep it was time for some board games and I think we accomplished playing Settlers, Blokus, and Ticket to Ride.

Saturday we slept in, reminisced at college scrapbooks, shoved Ryan in the trunk and headed to In-n-Out for lunch. This was our first time to eat at one. Sorry fans, I don't see the fuss, but it was good. The weather was so nice we got to sit outside and play games by passing the ipad and chatting.

I'm wearing a tank top outside in January! I love that kind of winter. Here's a new stock photo ad for Hasbro....

Then we woke the kids up to go to the park and play some more. Sally got the trunk space this time.

Check out Ryan swinging out of the picture!

Before bed the girls got to have a mega splash down in the bath and we got some pretty cute photos!

After another relaxed and fun evening at the Palace we went to bed and awoke early Sunday to say goodbye, arm ourselves with better directions, and attempt to find the McDowell's church in Frisco. Last time we tried this we got lost and just ended up shopping at Ikea instead. This time we thankfully found it and even got to go to lunch at Babe's with them afterward. Sorry I didn't get a picture, but Macy and I became fast friends over lunch and I think she's planning our next visit when we can stay at her house and I can sleep on her bunk bed. (She's in 1st grade). THEN of course we went to Ikea and tried not to spend too much money before heading back to OKC.

Thank you Pinons for a wonderful weekend! Now that we know our child CAN actually sleep at your house we might be back even sooner!

(If you like the Pinon Palace and need a home built in the Mansfield area I highly recommend this guy.)

Things I've never mentioned on the blog

2012-01-13T21:59:00.001-06:00

When looking back on the blog throughout the years I found a few things that I never mentioned. And I added those in with a few things I just need to say.

This trip actually was awful. I'm surprised we even smiled for a photo. What were we thinking taking a newborn on a trip?!
Lo and I told each other we were pregnant on the same day. It was one of the funniest long distance calls of my life. There was screaming involved. I was in Nashville at a conference (remember when I used to be a career woman?) and she was in OKC.
My awesome* ob/gyn told me I was probably having a miscarriage at my first pregnancy appt with Liv and told me "just go home and try not to think about it because there is nothing you can do" why oh why did I stay with her? (* denotes sarcasm)
I quit my job in 2006 bc my boss was a manic lunatic. I couldn't say that then, but I can now. I hope she got help. The company then went bankrupt.
I kept the crocs Joe gave me but I ONLY wear them to the mailbox and to do yard work in. As you saw in the newsletter, Liv LOVES to wear them.
That adorable quiet book I made last Christmas lasted one day. None of the stuff was strong enough to withhold my daughters grip and she tore a lot of it up. Therefore it's still waiting to be fixed in my new craft project drawer.
They never found the person that hit me in the car wreck when I was pregnant but over 2 years have passed so thankfully I'm not still getting any paperwork on it! We still drive the Corsica (or Chevalier as mom calls it) and the Corolla.
We still eat Taco Bell every Wed. It's a fun family tradition.
I guess my mom's labeling has rubbed off on me since I just labeled a ton o' stuff in our house when I did all my purging
Even though we just cleaned the entire house, in every nook and cranny, including the garage, we cannot find our CDs. There are probably over 150 in a leather case and they are no where to be found and I lost a lot of sleep thinking about it one night. Do you know where they are?
I'm just being honest, but I wish people would give up on their new years resolutions already so the parking isn't ridonculous at the gym right now :)
My kid has drank the paint water after painting on her easel.
I got sick again Monday and had to go to the ER again. Please keep me in your prayers that the doctors will figure out what keeps causing this. Thanks again to all our friends who helped us out and took care of Liv. I have faith I will eat normally again one day....
We are headed to Chateau de Pinon this weekend and I'm super pumped! This time Liv will have a little playmate and we finally get to meet Elizabeth.
We will also be stopping by Ikea on the way back home Sunday so if you have any small shopping requests (they have to fit in our trunk with the luggage) you may text me before Sunday.
I'm also really excited for the remainder of the "Big Girl Room" transformation that will be completed soon. It won't be very drastic but there might just be a book wall involved.....
and it will be going where this crib once stood. :)

Getting Better eh???

2012-01-12T21:40:00.000-06:00

I've been practicing....

I think I'm getting better and faster.

But neither are good enough to survive past naptime!

Cuz It Make Youz Smarter

2012-01-11T21:50:00.003-06:00

Lately, I've been keeping track of words I don't know when I'm reading. Sometimes (if Ryan is beside me and already on the computer) I make him look it up for me immediately. But usually I just write it down and look it up long after the fact and a few seconds before I type this out. Hey, don't judge, I'm still learning! I just use my 2nd grade context clues skills to figure out the word's meaning until I have a dictionary (google) handy. Here are the latest new words in no particular order...

obstreperous--1. marked by unruly or aggressive nosiness 2.stubbornly resistant to control
anodyne--1. serving to alleviate pain 2. not likely to offend or arouse tensions
strafing--to rake with fire at close range and especially with machine gun fire from low flying aircraft
prognostication--1. an indication in advance 2. an act of prognosticating
antipode---the exact opposite or contrary
opprobrium--1. something that brings disgrace 2. public disgrace or ill fame from vicious conduct
dipsomaniac--an alcoholic
theosophy--teaching about God and the world based on mystical insight

Did you already know any of these? If so advance to the head of the class. If not....read more! No don't feel bad because even google spell check didn't recognize some and decided to underline them red in this draft. Maybe I'll challenge myself to use some of these in upcoming posts. I make no promises to use them correctly though.

Newsletter: 28 Months

2012-01-10T19:33:00.000-06:00

Dear Olivia,

It's so amazing how much you change from month to month. You think I'd be used to it by now right? Last month the big news was potty training and this month you moved to your big girl bed! It was an easy night time transition, but nap time was a bit harder. Once we got a sticker chart though it was smooth sailing!

You started out on the trundle, but now you are up on the big twin bed and we just pull out in the trundle a bit in case you roll off. You've only done it once so far. You stay in bed and usually yell when you wake up but most times I have to wake you up if you sleep past 8am or 4:30 for your nap.

My favorite thing you've started doing this month is singing along to songs. You're favorites are ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars (Tweenchle Stars), Jesus Loves Me (Jeezy Bible So), and Jingle Bells (Jaddle Bales). It's so cute to hear you sing them and you get most words right but they are mixed up in your 2 year old language and I hope I can video it so I never forget it! Sometimes at church you just sing the word Jesus over and over again during worship singing. You also like to say "Amen" rather loudly at the end of the prayers, which always leads to some quiet pew snickering around us.

You are still pretty obsessed with the two Christmas bears. We put all the Christmas decor away, but they got to stay out since you play with them every day and drag them in the car places. You sleep with them most naps and then when you're awake, they are always being fed pizza and carrots (play food) in your room. You are really enjoying having a little table and chairs in your room since your crib is gone and we plan to make a bigger room transformation after a trip to Ikea this weekend. I enjoy seeing your imagination grow more each day while you play!

You have also become a bit obsessed with your princess pajamas. When it's time to put on clothes in the morning you usually start crying and whaling "No my pinceth, MY PINCETH!!" But after I remind you we only wear them to sleep in, you begrudgingly oblige. I've started wondering if we just name all your clothes with the word "princess" in front of them if you'd wear them more easily! You don't even know what a princess is, but nonetheless already love that word.

We had a great holiday season with the family and you got to stay with your grandparents and Gigi a few days all by yourself while daddy and I lived it up in OKC without a child. You napped and slept well every day for them. You didn't cry once. You had exceptional manners and we couldn't have been prouder of you!

You've started apologizing a lot this month which is nice when you do something wrong or hurt a friend, but I'm a little worried that you think things are your fault that aren't. Like if I bump into the counter or doorframe and say Ow! You'll say "sowwy mommy" very sincerely. Or at the science museum one of your favorite exhibits was broken and I tried to explain to you that it wasn't working today. You got a big pout on your face and said "I sowwy mommy, I sowwy." I explained that it wasn't your fault and it would work again soon. Maybe you just still fully don't understand the word. One day I wasn't feeling well and you patted my back and said "Sowwy Mom, feel better" and I about cried at how sweet you are.

The weather has been so nice we've been enjoying the park a lot and we even got to go to the zoo...in January! I figure we better enjoy the outdoors before an inevitable ice storm comes! You love the park, you love the science museum, you love to get a big pile of books and read through them, you love all your bears, you love making silly faces in the mirror, and you love to play your sesame street matching game in your princess tent. You're favorite book right now is Rosie's Walk and it's mostly a picture book with a fox on each page trying to catch a hen. As I turn the page you get excited and will say Catch you fox?! (satchew fos?!)

You've figured out more things to do on the ipad and can easily pick people to skype with, pick shows from netflix, and your favorite right now is the puzzles on Tozzle. I don't let you play on it too much though and I try to limit your TV time to just sesame street after breakfast and a little Thomas the Train before nap time while we calm down.

My heart still swells with pride each month as I write these letters to you. The more you grow and the more of a personality you develop the more I love about you. I would've never been able to understand this kind of love before there was you. You are perfection to me. Is your behavior always perfect? No. Do I have to discipline you because I love you and want you to grow into a well mannered functioning adult in society? Yes, but it's so hard sometimes because even when you talk back to me I have a hard time not laughing because it's just you being you: my baby becoming an independent and thinking little human being. And I love every bit of it!

Love,

Mama

Brunch with Bears

2012-01-09T07:23:00.004-06:00

Saturday morning Ryan let me sleep in a bit and when I got out of bed this is what I found...

It just doesn't get much cuter than that!

An Ode to Cloth Diapers

2012-01-06T08:11:00.006-06:00

My daughter has been diaper free for about 2 months now and I finally got around to packing up all the cloth diapers last week. Well the ones that were too big to pass on to baby Gen right now. As I reflect back on our diapering days, I must say it wasn't nearly as difficult or disgusting as I thought it might be in the beginning. I don't have a favorite brand to rave about because I had my favorite types at different stages. If I ever diaper another baby I do think I will use liners sooner, but that's about all I would change. I'm not all preachy about it, and I don't think it's for everyone, but don't knock it til you try it! And now a look back at our journey in cloth! (and some great shots of Liv's crazy hair!)

For those interested in learning about cloth diapers, check out the Green Bambino or DiaperSwappers.

Meeting Her Best Friend

2012-01-04T21:37:00.006-06:00

Genevieve came into the world the night I posted a video of Liv pushing on Lo's belly trying to get her to come out. She just needed a little prodding from her new best friend. Don't tell me 2 years is too far apart to be best buds...after all Lolo and I are 3 years apart and we get along swimmingly.

Even though it's been a few weeks, I have no pictures of sweet baby G until today, because I'm a bad friend. No, really it's because of the chaos that happened when Gen was only 12 hours old so I completely forgot to take any pictures. The morning after she was born, Liv and I headed to her house to bring them breakfast and take a peak at the sweetest little girl you ever did see. I was holding Genevieve and Olivia was looking at me funny and started whining and acting weird. I just assumed she was getting jealous of seeing me hold another kiddo. So I passed her back off to Lauren and as soon as I picked up Olivia she VOMITED ALL OVER ME. And all over Lauren's bedroom floor. This was the first time Olivia had ever thrown up so no wonder she looked so funny and confused, and no wonder I just stood there going "What do I do?! Oh Gross! What do I do?!" Luckily she didn't throw up on the 12 hour old baby! And luckily Brad and Lauren already have 2 kids and weren't phased by this in the least. I put on one of Lauren's maternity shirts and combed puke out of my hair and Liv was as happy as a lark after that so I think she must've eaten something weird. I was mortified and thought she was going to give baby G some disease but they assured me kids puke all the time for random reasons so we stayed and hung out awhile. Anyway lessons I learned that day....

1. The sight of me holding another baby induces vomiting in my daughter, thus confirming my belief that she really should be an only child

2. Wait until your friend's husband is OUT of the room before you take your vomit covered shirt off....sorry about that, Brad.

3. We will tell the story of Liv puking when meeting Gen to the two of them for a long time I'm sure! (Liv still talks about it at random times!)

I think she might be telling her about it in this photo!

Closing out the 2011 Book Reviews

2012-01-03T21:44:00.002-06:00

In the year 2011 I believe I attempted to read 70 books. 3 I just couldn't make it through so that leaves me with a grand total of 67 books for 2011. I'm not gonna lie...that's a lot. Like super nerd level. That's more than a book a week. If you quiz me on any of them...I probably can't tell you much about them, because that's how my mind works, but I enjoyed them while they lasted and I have the reviews on the blog to remind me! I don't think I'll make a resolution to read more this year. I think 67 is a good number and less or more would be great numbers too. Here are reviews for the last 2 I read in 2011.

Unbroken was a hard book to make it through but I did. It was the pick for book club and if it hadn't been I'm not sure I could've finished it. I've read books in the era of WWII before but I think this was the first book directly ABOUT the war, and it was very disturbing...as a book about war should be I guess. It's the true story of Louis Zamperini and his amazing will to survive despite a plane crash and years of torture and starvation in POW camps. He really led a "larger than life" type of life and it reminded me of the father in the movie Big Fish at times. The ending was all about forgiveness and how he was able to face the people who imprisoned him and that was a nice message that made it worthwhile to read but overall I was just disturbed by it. Knowing it's reality and it's what thousands of people went through (including people in my family) from our country and many other countries is just sad to me. Maybe it should make me more appreciative of people's sacrifices, but ultimately it just makes me sad for man kind to read about it all. I guess I give it a 5, but I really can't recommend it unless you like war stories.

I am Half Sick of Shadows was the 4th Flavia de Luce novel I've read and I've gotta say...I'm losing my interest in the series, but not in her! I wish more was revealed about her mother and her family and I'm not sure the author plans on doing that. I hope he does though. (fun fact: the author lives on Malta. I wish I'd known that when we were there...I might've looked him up. It's a small place ya know.) She is still my favorite 11 year old chemist/murder mystery solver but I don't know if I'll be chomping at the bit to read the 5th one...but I probably will anyway. I give it a 6. I recommend it if you liked the other Flavia books! On an unrelated note...I do really like the artwork on all the covers of the series.

What are you reading? I'm currently in the middle (more like beginning...it's 700+ pages) of the Fountainhead. So far I like it but I'm pretty sure the deep philosophical parts are lost on me. I have lots on my list to read this year. If you have any recommendations, send them my way!! Happy reading in in 2012!

Can you hear me now?

2012-01-02T21:37:00.005-06:00

If you can't get a hold of me, it's because I don't get good cell phone service from the princess tent. And that's where I've been hanging out.

These past few vacation days have been a lot of fun. The weather was great and we played a lot indoors and outdoors. We don't want Ryan to go back to work. I'm not sure who is sadder: me or Liv. Probably me.

If you need to reach me tomorrow, we'll probably be moping in the princess tent. Just let yourself in. Scratch that, there's really not much more room. But we can talk through the tent walls.

Outtakes

2012-01-01T19:53:00.008-06:00

What better way to start off the new year than with a laugh at some photos that might've been a waste of film if film was being used.

Happy New Year!!

2011-12-31T23:12:00.005-06:00

I think I'm supposed to wax poetically about what we've done the past year and what our goals are for the next....but I'm not feeling it, so I'm not going to. I'll just keep it short and say Happy New Year!

The Isenbergs are partied out and ready for 2012!

Bring it!

Crafty Christmas!

2011-12-30T21:47:00.000-06:00

I didn't feel as crafty this year as last but there were a few crafts I thought I'd share. I did make the scarves for a few peeps and the sock snowmen that I already showed you. But my favorite thing are the wooden spool people I made Olivia. I followed this tutorial. You just paint wooden knobs to look like whatever faces you can create. It's easier to do this if you use a dowel rod stuck in the bottom.

Let them dry, spray with acrylic finish to make them shiny, then glue onto a spool body and pick some clothes for them from your scrap fabric collection! Voila!

We also made these handprint snowmen ornaments for some family members. I attached a little poem about Olivia's handprint. Some snowmen were blowing in the breeze and some were missing a finger but they turned out cute and you can use marker for the details once the handprint dries.

Olivia even got crafty at Mother's Day Out by making this little wreath covered in holiday socks with bells added. And a handprint Christmas tree! I love it when she brings home crafts!

Christmas in Branson

2011-12-29T22:06:00.000-06:00

Here's the crew that took care of our wee one until we arrived a few days before Christmas. Liv had lots of fun at Gigi's house and keeps asking me when we can go back!

She got to open the last of her countdown books with grandma every night.

With all the ipads and iphones around she was stocked with electronical fun. Uncle Mike got her to perform for quite a few musical videos.

And Aunt Debbie kept her entertained as well! She was not short on people to love her!

As I mentioned before, I was under the weather most of the time we were in Branson, so I didn't take as many pictures as I normally would, but Ryan snapped enough to remember the fun week we had. And it really was fun despite the illness. The first night we were there we went to see Silver Dollar City all lit up with lights. At first Liv was scared by the big musical tree but then she liked it. We walked around in the cold, played with a blue flashing snowflake toy, saw a show, and got a candy cane from a Santa-ish man. The next night everyone went over to the Broyles to decorate cookies and sing songs. I was laying on a couch back at Gma's. I think Ryan took pics with Mona's camera because I have none of either of these nights. On Christmas day I rallied with great gusto and made it to church and through present opening and even for a nertz tournament. Kira beat me by a few points so I'll blame the illness :)

Liv got lots of fun gifts that she is enjoying at home now.

She really likes her princess tent and I'm looking forward for the first invitation to a sleep over so I can ship her off with her princess sleeping bag too!

She has no idea who the princesses are on anything but I reckon she'll learn!

She likes telling other people what to color more than color herself but she's getting better!

Here are all the great grand kids that were there. Emma, Olivia, Theoden, Molly, Mason, Wyatt, and Asa asleep in the corner on the floor.

And here is Grandma with her kids and spouses (Uncle Sam is missing)

And that was our Christmas in Branson!

That evening we headed to the Bed and Breakfast for a 2 night stay, this was the only picture I took of the view from our balcony. I'd like to go back when it's warmer.

Then we came home on Tuesday night. Now we are all unpacked and finding organized places for all our presents so we can get them out and play with them often!

Christmas Before Branson

2011-12-28T22:34:00.001-06:00

We had Olivia's Christmas before we took her to Branson. Then before Ryan and I headed up to be with the family, we had our own Christmas with just us....and Charlie of course. We just did stockings this year since we decided to stay here 2 nights while in Branson. It was a wonderful place and I hope we can return another time and maybe I won't be sick next time! (you know me, traveling out of town + a holiday + no immune system = inevitable trip to urgent care) I feel old being excited about new hot pads but I really wanted some new ones!! Charlie stuck her head WAY down in her stocking to get her treats.

And the traditional loot photos!

(Ryan says my necklace looks like Reese's Pieces)

List of Accomplishments sans toddler

2011-12-27T22:26:00.000-06:00

I dedicate this post to my mother. She might be the only one to read it all and the only one to fully appreciate how organized I CAN be when I try REALLY HARD (and don't have a toddler pulling at my leg).

These are the things I did while my daughter was living it up in Branson with her grandparents the week before Christmas. Neither one of us missed each other one bit but we both sure were glad to be reunited! There are a few pics to keep you interested....

Rearranged Olivia's closet
Went through her clothes to donate, hand down, keep
Made labels for her clothing storage with my awesome label maker
Moved furniture to make room for her new easel and to prepare for the "big girl room" switch (the pics were obviously taken when the toddler returned)(more pics when the crib finally goes away! We aren't ready QUITE yet)
Made homemade powder laundry soap
Made homemade all purpose cleaner
Finally sent off the paperwork for Olivia's Cherokee ID number
Updated pictures in frames in the house
Had my engagement ring inspected for its biannual check up....like a well baby visit for jewelry
Vacuumed and dusted each room
Redid the laundry "room"
Cleaned the washer and dryer inside and out
Sorted through all junk and catch all spaces in the house
Bought storage containers for various places
Bought Christmas gifts
Went through file cabinet and purged paperwork older than 3 years
Went through DVD, CD, VHS...and finally threw out all VHS
Made memorabilia folders from my time in Europe, mission trips, and job stuff
Reorganized office desk and tv dresser drawers
Reorganized toys and books and purged
Put up Christmas cards on the memo board
Visited baby Genevieve and family
Reorganized our closet, got rid of some clothes, emptied a few drawers and shelves
Sorted jewelry and accessories and made a new spot for it hanging in the closet...this is by far my favorite thing. Lo made my earring holder for my birthday
Made a spot for all my books stacked up to read and return
Cleaned out nightstands
Sorted through all my craft/sewing items that were strewn throughout the house and turned our living room tv cabinet into a craft cabinet (got rid of the tv in there)
Courtney came to help me with this huge task. Then I labeled all containers. It may look a bit junky in the photo in the photo above but trust me it is ALL organized and in one place. And best of all it all shuts up behind two doors! Plus just look at how junky it was before!
Sorted through cards and made organized container for them all, ones to send and ones to save
Went through Livs memorabilia baby stuff and compiled a smaller more manageable amount to maybe put in a baby book....or box
Reorganized the dining room buffet so I now have a place for my sewing machine and gift wrapping area
Mailed the something special books at church
Went to the chiropractor
Updated iPod with new songs and playlists
Blogged
Made storage area for Livs kitchen activities (like markers and play dough)
Organized Charlie's dog stuff
Backed up pictures to external hard drive
Watched Ellen, Parenthood, checked Facebook, emails, blogs, words with friends sparingly (I didn't read or go to the gym once! I was too busy organizing)
Rocked out with pandora while cleaning
Took down a few Xmas decorations
Wrapped Xmas gifts
Watched okc utilities put in new plumbing from the street to our house
Did laundry
That's enough right?

So now I just have to finish the kitchen, under our bed, and the garage (well that's really Ryan's domain). It feels so good!

Don't worry, I didn't work the entire day. When Ryan came home from work we went out to eat every night and even watched some movies and went shopping. And we didn't whisper after 8pm because there was no baby to wake up! It was heavenly! Thank you soooooo much Rick and Mona and Gigi for loving on Liv so I could organize our lives and spend some quality time with my main squeeze.

Early Christmas: The Countdown Comes to an End

2011-12-21T07:17:00.009-06:00

Day 16: We read Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and the activity was to open presents the next morning!

I know, I know it's a bit early huh? But Ryan's parents were going to be in Branson already so we thought we'd take her up early so her grandparents could have more time with her and so we could have a few days to ourselves! Then we'll head back up there for this weekend. Ryan still had to work this week, but man oh man I am getting so much organizing done around the house!

Occasionally I stop to watch something on Netflix but mostly I'm cleaning and purging our house of clutter! Maybe a post will be coming up about that. Anyway back to Christmas pics! We started off the morning with cinnamon rolls.

While they were prepared I had to take multiple pictures of this girl and her two bears that she's obsessed with.

While they cooked daddy joined us while we watched the end of Ernest Saves Christmas.

Then we went into the living room and saw Santa had come!
She wanted to start painting on her easel right away. So we let her, because she's our only child and we can pause present opening to let her enjoy her gifts!

Then she got to open the gifts from us.

Then came the stocking! Her adorable stocking was a prototype at Ryan's work that they gave us when they were done. I love it!

I just lover her posed smile right now. It's so adorably fake, and yet still wonderful. Oh the anticipation!Here is her Christmas loot. She got lots of fun things to play with and wear and eat and read. Here is our family on "Christmas day" with the tree. (Ryan and I are opening stockings before we go back to Branson)So our countdown ended a bit shorter than we first planned, but we got to do lots of fun things and I think we will definitely be doing this again next year! I look forward to adding different activities the older she gets! The rest of the books she is opening with her Grandma and Grandpa in Branson each night, and I don't remember what they are. I'm sure they are doing lots of fun activities each day though! But I must go now and get back to organizing while I only have one day left without my little girl! Merry Christmas to all of you and I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend spent with people you love!

How We Fell in Love

2011-12-19T21:16:00.001-06:00

Ok maybe this was actually just a homework project from college that Ryan found on an old CD. But watch it again and notice a few things
1. My awesome Mrs. Nesbit glasses! (they were a roomate joke and are also featured in the commercial below)
2. How adorable is my husband in college?
3. What kind of prom hair-do do I have going?
4. Ry's shirt that I got him in Ireland that was a little too short but he wore it because he loved me...or because no one told him it was too short

Now check out another good ole college assignment featuring me, Mrs. Nesbit, Holly, the house on Chinaberry and Puppy LOO!!!!
These crack me up and are probably just weird to you but they bring back some hilarious college memories!

More Christmas Countdown!

2011-12-18T19:58:00.008-06:00

We're continuing the countdown if you're just now tuning in...

Day 10: Holidays Hugs and the activity was to watch White Christmas! I had never seen this movie until I was married and my husband said it was a family tradition. Therefore it became a tradition for us as well. It has grown on me, but I still usually fall asleep through half of it. Olivia actually watched it. She liked to dance along with the musical numbers. If we looked bug eyed in this photo it's because I am always shocked at the grotesque Barbie like proportions of Judy's body.

It's just not healthy. Her waist is like 10 inches and her thighs don't even come close to touching?! Someone told me she had an eating disorder at the time. I hope she got help.

Day 11: Olivia Helps with Christmas and the activity was to make paper snowflakes. First of all I would just like to say that I love the original Olivia books. All the ones that Nickelodeon wrote after they bought the rights to "Olivia" aren't nearly as adorable, but I will still read them, it's just a bit of a downer. I highly enjoy this original one though. Anyway, Shanny was here for the paper snowflake festivity and it's a good thing because I was more focused on taking pics that instructing my 2 year old in scissor safety.

Don't worry, as frightening as these pics are...no one was cut. She liked hanging them up more than anything.

Day 12: Another version of The Night Before Christmas and the activity was to make a Christmas craft.

She helped me make a sock snowman prototype before Erin and Allison came over. We got the tutorial from here. It was super easy and you probably have all the stuff you need laying around your house if you're a crafty person.

Day 13: The 12 Days of Christmas was the book and the activity was to help spread holiday cheer to others.

We totally sang the whole book.

Liv liked the numbers and the turtledove. Our church had a service night at a nursing home so we went to sing carols to the elderly to spread the holiday cheer. Here is Ms. Laura helping Liv pass out gifts while we sing.

Liv was a pro at this. She went around afterward with her daddy saying "Merry Kismas" to each person. If he skipped one she'd point to them until he went over there. I could take a lesson from her as nursing homes and the elderly tend to freak me out, but I did my best and made it out alive. (I was slapped in the face by a 100+ year old lady at Tealridge while playing scrabble with her in college. I'll blame her for the start of my prejudice toward the elderly)

Day 14: Xmas music card and the activity was to read the nativity story. I had bought this fisher price nativity set back in the spring at JBF and was saving it for a Xmas gift, but I decided to let Liv open it after we read about Baby Jesus.

She got to play with it all evening.

V-seats for Baby Jesus!

Day 15: Baby Jesus is Born and the activity was to pick out our family ornament for 2011.

We have picked a Hallmark ornament every year we've been married and we plan to let Olivia pick one for herself to start her own collection when she's a year or two older. It's so fun each year to unwrap the ornaments and remember where we were in our lives at that time. This year we chose a vintage Little People House.

The doorbell works and it even opens up and has attached little people on it! Olivia has a similar house that I bought at an antique store (it's from the 70s or 80s so it's not really antique but whatever) and we love to play with it so it seems like a good choice for the 2011 ornament!
There is more excitement ahead, although the countdown was cut a little shorter than we had originally planned. More about that coming up!

Growing Up

2011-12-17T20:03:00.002-06:00

Life is much better now that she can throw a bone to Charlie.

And "rake" the leaves.

And push her own stroller.

And push the car when it breaks down.

Just kidding. Ever since she saw her daddy push the Buick onto a trailer she loves to pretend to push cars. She's growing up!

Bruschetta Chicken

2011-12-16T20:11:00.005-06:00

This recipe is straight from the back of the stove top dressing box, but it is delicious and easy and therefore worth sharing with you! (not because you are delicious and easy, but because I like to assume other people want fast and yummy recipes too) Here are the ingredients:

About 1.5 lb of chicken

1 pkg of Stove Top Stuffing mix for chicken

1 can of 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes

1/2 cup water

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp basil

1 cup mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Then cut up your chicken into bite size pieces and put in a 13 x 9 dish.

(The best time to make this is when my husband is home so he can cut up the germ infested raw chicken instead of me, and I don't have to freak out AS MUCH about cleaning up the germs. I just remind him to clean EVERY nook and cranny he even looked at with a clorox wipe while handling raw meat.) Then top with basil.

While your spouse is cutting up meat, you can mix the tomatoes, stuffing mix (dry), water, and garlic in a bowl.

Then let your toddler sit on the counter (because who really has one of these?) and help measure cheese.

Let her sprinkle it on top of the chicken and pray that she doesn't get salmonella through the air being that close to raw meat.

Then even it out, because most likely there will just be a big glob of cheese in one place if your child is 2.

Then spoon the stuffing mix on top and bake for about 30 min or until chicken is cooked.

It makes about enough for 6 so it's a good time to invite friends over to enjoy!

Even Olivia ate this! I like to think helping make the food makes her more likely to eat it but really there is no rhyme or reason in trying to figure out why toddlers do anything they do.

Christmas Countdown AND Reasons to Love OKC

2011-12-15T20:09:00.006-06:00

If you haven't checked out any of the downtown in December activities in OKC, then you are crazy. My dear friend Allison is in charge of it all and she has done an amazing job!! I hope we get to enjoy more events like the ice skating, tree lighting, free museum days, water taxi, and snow tubing in the future, but this year we were more than thrilled to enjoy one of the winter activities on our countdown: Saturdays with Santa!

Day 9: Baby Jesus and the activity was see Santa at the Myriad Gardens. All of the things at the Myriad every Saturday with Santa are free!! When we visited we got to take pics with not only Santa, but Rumble as well!!

Once again she wasn't too thrilled when the time actually came to sit in his lap but this Santa was so sweet and nice and talked to her to ease her fears before we took a photo with mommy :)

Then we got to make some adorable reindeer antlers.

Check out the reindeer snot!

Classy

And enjoy mini cupcakes from Sara Sara. Yum!

The weather was so nice we enjoyed the playground there as well.

Thanks for organizing all the fun for families in OKC Allison!!

So this is Christmas, and what have you done?

2011-12-14T20:18:00.013-06:00

We've been having lots of fun with friends this holiday season as well. Here are some shots of all the good times.

Even though Liv loves her toddler friends at church, her favorite friend might just be Ms. Jerri. It could be because she brings her treats or because she plays basketball with her in the gym, either way I don't care because I adore her too!Here is Liv enjoying a night with the Fosters so Ryan and I could go on a date. Liv loves her some Chick-fil-a!

I don't know what her and Caleb are doing in this photo.

She and Lexi bonded so fast that kissing on the mouth only seemed natural.

When we picked her up she started screaming and crying so I guess she had a fun night!

These pics are of Liv and Noah at the science museum.I promise we didn't even pose them for this photo. They just love each other that much.

And we also met up there with Pierson and Jensen one day!

Piper and Violet came up to play with us from TX.....and we didn't get any pictures! :( But the Merediths came from Utah and I did get pics of Liv and Shanny cuddling while watching videos on the blog.

Liv now has a new combo name to talk about:MattShannon.

We had a fun night with our small group too where much junk food was consumed and much laughter was had from that drawing game that no one can ever remember the name of but it sure is fun to play!

I love these girls!

Here's a fun, blurry shot of some of the toddlers after church on Sunday. This isn't even all of them!

Oh and did I mention the awesome Elmo birthday party we went to for Haylie last week? Liv was in elmo heaven.

And last night I got to celebrate with Erin and Allison for our tradition Elf night!

We watched the movie and did a snowman craft.

Somehow in the middle of Elf! the conversation changed to Ryan Gosling though and we ended up watching Crazy, Stupid, Love instead. We might change the yearly tradition to a Ryan Gosling night. The snowmen all talked about it and thought it was a good idea.

And of course there's been a lot of time spent with BenDes.

We just go over in our PJ's somedays, we don't even bother to get dressed. They are brainwashing my daughter to love OSU as much as them.

Her favorite color is now orange and she can sing the fight song.

We even made the snowman sock craft over there today!

We've been anxiously awaiting that silly Genevieve to come on out and play with us too. For those who didn't know, Lauren has a 9 day old baby inside of her.

Any day now baby G will get to join all of this fun too! Phew...I'm tired now just from looking at all the fun we've had....and there's still a few weeks left in the year :)

Christmas Countdown!

2011-12-13T20:09:00.001-06:00

There are so many pics from Day 8 I had to make it a post all it's own!

Day 8: A Cup of Christmas Tea. It's an ornament but it's actually the whole book. Ryan had the help of a magnifying glass to read it. Ha!

The activity was to drive around and see the Christmas lights.

We hit up some of the houses in the Linwood neighborhood, then drove to Nichols Hills, then hit up Chesapeake, and back through downtown to see the buildings on Broadway all lit up! This was a really fun night and Liv kept shouting "More Lights Please!" These were some of our favorites spots!

This house's gates made me think of heaven

Then back home to our lit up house!

Kiss-mas Treats!

2011-12-12T20:48:00.002-06:00

This is the easiest and tastiest little sweet-n-salty treat! First preheat your oven to 350. Then line a bunch of pretzels on your pan. I used square, but you could use circle or pretzel twists too. Then unwrap Hershey kisses or hugs and place in the center.

Pop in the oven for 2 minutes. The kisses will keep their shape but be soft enough to melt. Keep toppings nearby for snacking on while you wait....Take them out of the oven and place another pretzel on top or smoosh an m&m in the center. Then put them in the fridge so the chocolate will harden faster. Try not to eat a ton while you make them...but this is impossible. Throw some on a snowman plate with assorted cookies and pass out to your neighbors and friends! Trust me you'll want to give these away because if you keep them around, you can't stop eating them.

P.S. Thank you Roxanne and Pinterest for the idea!

Christmas Countdown!

2011-12-11T20:39:00.000-06:00

The Countdown continues!

Day 2: Christmastime is Here book with flaps and the activity was Eat Snowmen Donuts.

Charlie even enjoyed this book!

I was going more for this style of donut, but I woke up feeling sick and didn't show Ryan a picture of my inspiration, so he improvised and they looked more like this.

Still cute and delicious! No complaints from the powdered lipped ones!

Day 3: Politically Correct Holiday Stories and the activity was Mayfair's Christmas Pageant night!

Once again, not age appropriate, but we skimmed a few pages and she couldn't care less. Olivia was a sheep along with the other toddlers in the pageant and she got to see Santa and Mrs. Claus.

We talked about Santa for a few days ahead of time and she seemed to enjoy pointing him out when she saw his image at various places, but when it came time to see him in person....she was still scared out of her mind. She did sit on Mrs. Claus's lap, and we took a family photo with them. Good enough for me!

Here's the interview I gave her on the way there.

Day 4: Olivia Claus and the activity was Christmas music dance party!

I know you might get tired of the "reading books part" pictures, but I like it and Ryan takes such creative photos. (To answer your question, Leslie, we got my dad's hand me down camera in Sept. but anytime there are good photos on the blog...it's because Ryan took them)

We rocked out to some of our fav Christmas tunes in Santa hats and Olivia has Jingle Bells already down! This video goes out to Liv's fairy godmother, Erin, who sent me a dance/karaoke video of herself for my bday. We were going to skype the dance party with her but she wasn't home yet.

See you can't say I only embarrass my husband and daughter on the blog now!

Day 5: Sesame Street Christmas Coloring book and the activity was to color Christmas pictures

Sorry there are no pics of her coloring in it but she did!

Day 6: The Snow Family pop up book and the activity was to mail Christmas cards. Liv didn't help much with this one but I did include pictures she drew in some of them!

Day 7: The Night Before Christmas (we have 3 different versions of this in the line up), but can I just say that I love any illustrations by Gyo Fujikawa (she illustrated this book) and the activity was make Christmas treats for neighbors and teachers.

Here is Liv laying out the Otis Spunkmeyer frozen treats bought from a school fund raiser...who says all treats have to be homemade?

Ok I'll stop there and save the other days for more posts!

Newsletter: 27 Months

2011-12-10T20:24:00.008-06:00

Dear Olivia,

Well I guess the biggest change since last month is that we are 100% out of diapers!! You are completely potty trained and have been since Thanksgiving. We tried the 3 day method that a lot of our friends did and it really helped you get over your fear of public toilets and helped you stay dry at nap times and night time! We were happy to pass on those cloth diapers to Lauren and baby Genevieve. Now that you don't have that cloth diaper fluffy bottom your pants sure have a hard time staying up! But I can't complain; I don't mind having less laundry!

You have a lot of new words and phrases this month. One of your favorites is definitely "Myself." You want to do everything by yourself and you let us know it! Read myself, dress myself, potty myself, pants myself, etc. You would think with this new sense of independence I would be missing my baby but your other favorite word this month is "tuddle" (cuddle). In the mornings and after nap you often say "tuddle me mama" and we lay and cuddle in my bed. You'll ask for the covers and we'll take it easy watching elmo on the ipad. You have gotten lots more snuggly this month and I'm not complaining one bit!

Other favorite phrases this month include:

Papa's shudda budda (sugar booger--his nickname for you)

Rain 40 days (from your Noah's Ark Bible lesson)

More lights pease, pretty lights (looking at Xmas lights while driving)

Jaddle Bells (Jingle Bells)

Go to BenDes house (you've combined their names for easier usage)

Thank you, pease (another combo phrase)

Night night daddy, salvus daddy (salvus = I love you)

You've started calling me "Katie" more often and calling Daddy "Ryan" or "Bubby" (we don't encourage this)

And you can count to eleven (seven is "sevus" and eleven is "Elevus")

We had a great trip to Tennessee for Thanksgiving and you had a lot of fun playing with the family we usually only see in pictures or on Skype. You know all of their names and talk about them often now that we are home. Your daddy even said he thinks you have the family names down better than he does!

You are a huge Elmo fan and even though we watch Sesame Street about everyday you just call it Elmo Show. You do know just about every character by name and like to point them out in your coloring book. You even can say the Spanish sheep's name Ovejita! It took me awhile to figure out what you were saying!

It's getting colder so we aren't playing outside as much but when we do some of your favorite things to do are to run down the driveway with your bear in the "strolley" and play in the piles of leaves. We've been using our science museum pass a lot and you love the different play areas. I think your favorite might be the gymnastics mats. It's my favorite too because you get lots of exercise running and tumbling and then take a great nap when we get home!

You are a constant stream of conversation in the car these days. We used to listen to music but now we have conversations about what we are going to go do, who we are going to see, what we just did, and it's so nice to be able to carry on an understandable conversation with you! Your memory is amazing too and you bring up things that happened days ago just to talk about them.

You've started singing lots more this month. You make up tunes with people's names in them, you've got Jingle Bells down already, you try to sing songs from Bible class, your rendition of Jesus Loves Me is to the correct tune but the words are just "Jeezy Bible So", and you are really trying to get the ABC song down but usually get stuck on "C, B, B, B, B." You also enjoy the letters F, G, W, X, Y, Z.

You've really been enjoying the holiday season and I have been enjoying it through your eyes! You started pointing out HoHo (Santa) when we were in TN even though I'd never told you about him! I'm not sure where you picked it up. But now you know his name is Santa Claus and you love spot him when we go places. We talked him up a bunch before we saw him at the church Christmas program and you were so excited to "sit on Santa's wap". But when you actually came face to face with him you were scared. But you did sit in Mrs. Claus lap. Then when we left in the car you laughed and said "I chry in Santa's wap."

Gearing up for the holidays season has been fun since you are definitely more involved this year. I enjoyed decorating the house with you and setting the tree up in your room. You love to play with the ornaments and rearrange them. You are usually pretty gentle with them. You LOVE the two red and green Christmas bears and carry them around with you all day sometimes. You stare at the troll nativity and I try to explain the characters, but I really don't want you thinking baby Jesus had long purple hair so we skip over it! You dance around with the snowman and santa dolls in the tv room and we've been reading Christmas books for the countdown each night.

You request every day to "watch Livy" on the laptop. You LOVE to watch videos of yourself and I must admit it does come in handy if I need to make a phone call or cook something in the kitchen and nothing else is keeping you entertained. I like watching them with you sometimes and we talk about how much you've grown since the videos. I can hardly believe my baby is out of diapers and speaking in coherent brief sentences! I'm not complaining one bit though. You are so fun right now, and lately I wake up each day excited about spending time with you. I don't want to waste any minutes I have with you right now, and I thank God each day for all the blessings you bring to me.

I love you!

Mama

Perception

2011-12-09T20:36:00.003-06:00

Is my sister tiny or are her husband's pants very large? You decide.

She says he needs to lose weight. I say she probably needs to gain some. We might both be right :) In honor of Amy and Joe here is a song Olivia was singing at the dinner table about them the other night. Apparently she was singing about all of our TN relatives but when Ryan started recording she just sang about Joe and Amy.

Gym Update

2011-12-08T21:14:00.000-06:00

People have been asking so I thought I'd let you know about the gym situation as of today. Things are looking up over at Gold's. I'm not gushing with pride about them or anything, but I'm not dragging my feet to go work out as much. I'm still not a fan of the class times, size of certain classes, and the crazy parking. BUT I am warming up to some instructors and getting in a groove of going. I hate leaving Ryan and Olivia in the evenings but I'd rather leave her with her daddy than in the child care there. The best news of all is that after enough requests they are hiring our favorite teacher Mandy to start teaching the Thursday class.....hurray!! All of us that were bought from Aspen are like little groupies in the classes, and we stick together. I still can't get over how many people are there EVERY time and how many of them look like professional body builders or models or something. I might be intimidated if I weren't this good looking ;) I'm only intimidated by everyone's awesome gym attire. I feel I need a new wardrobe just to sweat. The logo mascot man of Gold's gym cracks me up. I call him Biff McLargeHuge...which I think is from a Mystery Science Theater quote but I can't remember.

Speaking of working out....I've got to go finish making holiday junk food. Hopefully I can keep off the holiday pounds with all the sweets going around but I make no promises! If you'd like to try out a class with me I think you can get a free visit and they do have a delicious smoothie bar. :)

Book Review

2011-12-07T20:48:00.002-06:00

Bel Canto reminded me of a crazy but more serious version of the reality show Big Brother. It's about a bunch of wealthy people from various nations being held hostage at a political figure's house in South America for months. It focuses on a few of the people and the surprising romantic feelings that happen even when they don't speak the same language. It's an interesting look at how easily your world view changes when your world is now held inside the walls of a mansion and unstable people surround you with guns. It was slow at times but I enjoyed it overall and give it an 8.

Make Your Place is a book I picked up at Powell's and gives all sorts of tips on how to make your own laundry soap, facial soap, garden, first aid kits, etc. It's nice to have a homeopathic mini encyclopedia to go to so I don't have to google everything. It also has awesome illustrations and is written like a zine. I like it because even though some might think it's hard core, the author always points out you don't have to be extreme. Modern medicine isn't the devil but it has it's place. Anyway I give it a 9 although it's more of a reference book than pleasure read.

Holidays on Ice I have read a few times before, but it makes a great Christmas gift for the sardonic person in your life. Or for a fan of David Sedaris. Hilarious short stories centered around the holidays...mostly Christmas. This was the book club pick for the month and I give it a 10 and recommend you read it every year at Christmas for a good laugh! My favorites stories in it are "Christmas means giving" which is about a competition between neighbors to see who can be the most philanthropic and "Six to Eight Black Men" which is about the traditions surrounding the Dutch Santa. This was the first ebook I read via my ipad. It was neat, but I prefer a "real" book.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me is a collection of humorous essays by Mindy Kaling, most well known for being on The Office (she's a writer of the show too if you didn't know). If you read Tina Fey's book then you'd enjoy this one. She's a hoot and the stories range from how she got into the business, to the awkward teenage years, to what she thinks the perfect friend is, to her favorite comedic movie moments. It's all over the place, and I loved it. I give it a 9.

Mad Mary started out with me being a little skeptical as I'm not a huge fan of religious fiction, and I always feel like I have to feel guilty about that, but I shouldn't because it's not like God wrote these books?! The first half is a fictional parable about a modern day Mary Magdalene and the second half is a non fictional study of the real Mary Magdalene. I found the second half much more interesting (The first half was a bit hokey to me) I get all of those Marys in the New Testament confused (did you know there are like 7 different ones?) and some of the ones I thought were Mary Mag were not. The moral is....Mary Mag gets a bad rap for how she was portrayed in history and in many paintings and movies, but you should be a fact checker and read your Holy Bible, because I bet most of what you think about her isn't true. Anyway despite the good info I learned, I wasn't a huge fan of the author's style so I give it a 5.

Here I am at the Melting Pot with my photoshopped book club friends....jk they really are real people, Leslie! We went all out for our last book club dinner of the year. It was a wonderful night with wonderful girls.

You all might think you know Annaleise but do you know "fondue Annaleise"? TOTALLY different person!

I'm not sure what's next because it's the holidays and who has time to read?! Have you read anything good lately?

Deck the Halls!

2011-12-06T20:38:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics of the decorating we did around the house and outside the house! This was our Day 1 activity of the Christmas Countdown. I'll post some other days' activities later in the week. It was really fun for Olivia to get more involved this year. She even has her own little tree in her room. She likes taking the ornaments off and rearranging them.

(Did you notice we made the motorcycle toy into an ornament, Joe? It's her fav)

I'll post a pic of the lighted house eventually but it's still not done thanks to rain and cold temps and a steep roof. :)

P.S. Sadly we found many tiny bugs had eaten a lot of the ornaments my grandmother had made out of yarn. They were in Tupperware-like storage in the garage, but the bugs somehow got into the boxes and had their way with them, leaving their carcasses and fuzz everywhere. Some bugs were still alive, so I'm sure they are now feasting on our furniture and rugs. I emailed our bug man about this. Has anyone else ever had this happen? Should we use moth balls or something in our containers? Inquiring minds need know!

Honey Garlic Chicken

2011-12-05T20:04:00.000-06:00

This is probably my favorite crock pot recipe right now. I get a bit tired of ones that require cream of _____ because they end up all tasting the same. It is Honey Garlic Chicken and I got the recipe from this lady's blog (she apparently can cook with her crockpot every day of the year!)

The Ingredients are:

1.5 to 2 lbs Skinless Boneless Chicken Thighs (she says thigh meat holds up better)

3 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped

1 tsp basil

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

1/3 cup honey

Put chicken in your crockpot

Then freak out at the nasty raw meat and wipe everything with clorox wipes...including your hands and even parts of your kitchen the chicken wasn't even near. At least that's what I do. Then mix the other ingredients in a small bowl

While mixing, if a toddler is tugging at your pants leg saying "mommy, mommy, MOMMY, Katie, Katie KATIE!", throw some dry beans in a bowl and let her use different scoops and containers to entertain herself.

Pour on top and cook on low for about 6 hours or high for 3-4.

It's so flavorful and delicious!

Serve with rice or quinoa or salad or peanut butter or dirt...who cares, just eat it!

Wooly Willie Part III

2011-12-04T19:44:00.001-06:00

Remember Parts I and II? Well it's time for another one and Ryan and Liv both "wanted" to participate. Ry was nice enough to take pics of his beard shaving process so I wouldn't feel I missed out. He didn't mean for the pics to be posted online, but guess what.....he should've known better.

Pretty studly. He did not take one of the finished product but you can see that in the last posts.

Next up, Olivia.

I'm getting better at trying to do things with my daughter's hair thanks to Pinterest. Some are better than others. Usually if I can do it right when she starts watching Sesame Street then she happily sits still for me! This one is really easy and keeps the hair out of her face, but I still can't get straight lines in her part when I do it. You just make ponytails and then flip them inside a hole you make above the rubber band. (like topsy tail...remember that?!)

This is just criss crossing ponytails in the back.

It did not survive through a naptime but it did survive hours of playtime. Once again my part lines weren't straight but oh well!

I keep trying french braids, but I just can't get them tight enough to stay. I guess I just need more practice. I'll keep you updated when I ace it in Wooly Willie Part IV!

Christmas Countdown!

2011-12-02T19:45:00.002-06:00

One idea I've seen on the interweb for awhile now is to unwrap a holiday book each day in December as a countdown to Christmas. I combined this with the idea of a family Christmas activity each day too by writing the activity to do on the tag. I'll try to post weekly the different fun things we are doing. Here are the books layed out before I wrapped them.

Here they are after wrapping. And yes hindsight is 20/20, I don't know why I cut out numbers instead of just writing them with red and green sharpie but oh well. Maybe if they don't get torn, I can reuse them next year!

I put them in baskets on either side of the fireplace and we are going to read one each night in front of the tree and then do the activity the next day.

Day 1 was The Nutcracker and the activity is Decorate the outside of the house for Christmas!

I'm sure our book collection will grow as the years go by so there will be an even better variety to choose from!

P.S. We already had most of these books, but I had to scrounge to find enough without using some from the library, which I considered doing, so not all are toddler appropriate like my long version of the Nutcracker and Politically Correct Holiday Tales. One "book" is actually an ornament but you can read it. One book is the musical Christmas card seen in the last post. Also I just did enough books until we leave for Branson which is technically a few days before the 25th. And yes we have 2 Olivia Claus books.

P.P.S. I call it a countdown instead of Advent because we don't believe Jesus was born on Dec. 25. We believe no one knows the exact date Jesus was born, but it was an important day and when many people in the world are thinking about His birth I think it's a great time to engage others in it, so I included books about the nativity in our line up.

Holiday Tri-fecta: Christmas

2011-12-01T20:01:00.002-06:00

It's weird to me to think that some of you out there don't travel long distances for the holidays. You stay at home, or go to family or friends houses in the same town, and it sounds so lovely and completely foreign to me. Traveling and holidays just seem to go hand in hand. We traveled to Michigan every year for Christmas growing up, then I moved to OKC for college so I always traveled home on breaks.

Now we live here and my family and Ryan's family live all over the place, except in OKC, so it's only natural for us to pack up the car and venture out to be with the ones we love on holidays. Of course it's a hassle packing suitcases, the dog bag, the food bag, the toy bag, the toiletry bags, the emergency bag, the electronic bag, the presents, etc. but I honestly wouldn't want to be without family on the holidays!

We will be with Ryan's family in Branson this Christmas, so we went ahead and celebrated it in TN with my family on Saturday.

Christmas with a 2 year old means that she actually opens all the presents for everyone there.

She was a great helper and loved seeing all the presents, even if they weren't for her! She wanted to eat mommy and daddy's candy in our stockings so we had to tell her they were our potty prizes for when we go potty. Don't laugh. It worked.Her favorite gift was definitely the Christmas card that played music from her Pop.

All the holidays we celebrated just wiped Olivia out!

But she regained composure long enough to pick her nose and play on Uncle Joe's phone.

Holiday Tri-fecta: My Birthday

2011-11-30T19:17:00.006-06:00

Today is my actual birthday but we got to celebrate it on Friday in Henderson. I went to visit Celeste and baby Maddie in the morning, and when I came home my husband surprised me with a shaved face!! He's had a beard since Olivia was a few months old so it was nice to feel those smooth cheeks against my face! Don't get me wrong, I like the beard, but I also like to not get beard burn when I kiss my husband. We took some family pics since we were all together. Doesn't he look younger? I feel like I'm robbing the cradle!

I'm sure some of you will be receiving one of these in an Xmas card.

Then more family came over for lasagna and cake

But since I was sick they didn't want me to blow germs all over the cake, so my aunt graciously held the candles for me to blow out. Then I napped for way too long and missed saying good-bye to Greg (bye Greg! Sorry I overslept!) When I woke up, my husband surprised me again with a dinner date to see the Muppets movie and then stay in a hotel without a kid...in a king sized bed. Oh how I love those extra inches of horizontal sleeping space!! He knows the way to a girls heart. He celebrated me today too with breakfast in bed (sadly back to a queen size in OKC) and flowers. And now for your viewing pleasure....the face of a 29 year old.....

Ok technically I was still 28 when this was taken but guess what? I look EXACTLY the same. Go figure. Thanks for all the birthday wishes you sent my way via email, phone, text, snail mail, and facebook. I appreciate all the ways you all have blessed me in my 29 years!

Holiday Tri-fecta: Turkey Day

2011-11-29T20:01:00.002-06:00

We arrived in Tennessee Wednesday night after the easiest 10 hour drive we've ever had since Olivia was born. She was an excellent traveler! I hurriedly ran to see this sweet baby (that I somehow got no photos of, but I really couldn't capture a sweeter image than that) and her parents. I know I've had a kid for 2 years but when your best friend has a baby it makes it all more real how grown up we are. And yes I cried as soon as I saw her. And if I think about it too much now I will cry some more. I hate that I'm so far away from them!

Anyway the next day we watched the Macy's Parade before heading to my aunt and uncle's house. Liv really enjoyed the musical numbers in the parade and did lots of dancing along with them! My cousin Greg was able to come up from Ole Miss and we had fun playing games with him and my Hendo cousins after the scrumptious meal. The adults played outside with Olivia with I napped in the recliner. See the video below of my mother trying to figure out the physics of a teeter totter and my Poppy trying to figure out what day of the year it is. Here's a ton of pics of all the fun we had that day!

Coming of Age...the older one

2011-11-28T20:42:00.005-06:00

We're home! But before I get to holiday tri-fecta posts here's a tangent post for you.

I usually watch things on hulu or netflix to fall asleep. I pick a TV show and go through the whole series. I just finished The Wonder Years and now I've started My So Called Life. I enjoyed both of these shows many years ago and am enjoying them again. But this time around it's pretty weird, because I'm not an adolescent anymore. When I watched these shows before, I was a kid and I totally related to the children/teens in the episodes. But now I'm at an age directly in the middle of the kids and the parents and I can relate to both. I still remember my childhood and teenage years, and while thankfully those 16 year old hormones are behind me, I am not old enough to forget arguments with my mom, drama at school, crushes, dating, fights with friends and all of that stuff that "coming of age" entails.

But I'm also old enough this time around to relate to the parents in these episodes. The struggles they have in their lives, career woes, marital challenges, frustrations with children, and the all around suckiness that comes with being the responsible one in your household. It makes me enjoy these shows on a whole new level. And now I can just look forward to years ahead when I will watch them again, having completely forgotten my younger years, and imagine the way I will scoff at the rudeness of the teens portrayed on the shows and the ridiculous idealism young people in general have. Just another reason to have a blog...so maybe I won't completely forget....

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T18:46:00.004-06:00

This was the delicious table spread at my aunt and uncle's house today.

Ryan is most thankful for the mashed potatoes that were present today.

I am most thankful for potty chairs, that allowed us to stop wherever we were in the middle of nowhere on the 10 hour drive home so my daughter could relieve herself. I know, I know she'll kill me for that photo late in life.Hope you had a wonderful holiday with people you love to remind you of all the blessings in your life!

Re-fashionista: Scarf Tutorial

2011-11-22T20:00:00.000-06:00

You know you've seen this on Pinterest and you've pinned it in your craft folder and you think you'll make it for the holidays but you haven't actually watched a tutorial on how to do it. Well you're about to find out, and it seriously takes about 5 minutes. The one I made below isn't as fluffy and full as the one in the above picture, but it's still cute. You can also watch this video to learn how to make it and others similar to it out of t-shirts.

First get an XL or larger tshirt from your husbands dresser or from your local thrift store. You can easily score them around here for 99 cents. Then trace large circle on the front of the shirt.

You should be able to get about 6 (I think this shirt was a Large so I only got 4, the more circles you can get, the fuller the scarf will be). If you cut it out while the shirt is laid out flat you will get 12 circles (because there's a front and a back to a shirt...I hope you are following me)

Then cut each circle (You can cut more than one circle at a time by stacking them) into a spiral and stretch the fabric out.

Not too hard or you'll rip it, but it should start to make a bit of a curly spiral.

Lay the spiral-y strips out and put 6 on one side, 6 on the other, and then either use fabric glue to connect them or a few stitches with a needle and thread.

I sewed, but I hear glue works just as well.

Then Voila! That's all there is to it!

There's about 400 ways to tie a scarf, this is just one I did for a photo for the blog. But seriously this takes about 5 minutes. I made 6 while watching Wonder Years the other day.

P.S. Ryan said this picture should be a stock photograph for "confident business woman" ha!

P.P.S. If you get a Xmas present from me and it's wrapped in something that looks like t-shirt shreds....it's one of these scarves, so don't throw it away. Unless you hate it and then give it away at a dirty santa party. Or send it back to me and I'll wear it!

Happy Birthday George!!

2011-11-21T20:05:00.000-06:00

My oldest nephew turns 8 today! Eight?! Carrie was pregnant with George the first time I met her. It was the summer Ryan and I were 1900 miles apart trying to have a long distance relationship over instant messenger and he got to fly down to see me in OKC, to drive back up with his pregnant sister. (David was off doing something with the military, don't worry he didn't leave her!) After George was born (in Biloxi, MS) they moved to Altus, OK; Ryan and I went down to visit them in and got to babysit baby George. He holds a special place in my heart for being my first nephew...the others have special places too though so don't get all jealous. Here are 8 pieces of wisdom from your favorite aunt (sorry Aunt Laura and Aunt Melissa, you guys are pretty awesome too)

1. Never stop playing with legos, they are a great toy for all ages of life

2. Cherish the days with your brother in your awesome man cave in the basement

3. Never date the same girl as your brother (I'm gleaning lots of brotherly advice by watching The Wonder Years on Netflix)

4. You have reached the age where the naked dance after bath time is no longer appropriate in front of mixed audiences....but at home, knock your socks off! (except you aren't wearing any socks if you're dancing by the rules so nevermind)

5. You're never too young to set a Christian example for your friends and your siblings. Start now and it will be easier when you're older.

6. Keep leading singing, even when your voice starts to change

7. Spend time helping your mom cook in the kitchen. Women love a man who can cook!

8. Spend time in the garage with your dad. (I know you already do) Women also love a man who is handy!

I love you George and although you are 8 and practically a man....I will always remember you like this...

Reasons I Love OKC...

2011-11-20T20:42:00.005-06:00

The Museum of Art Theater

I also love the part of the museum where there is art and the cafe, but today's post is just about the theater. The museum has a variety of films that don't usually come to the big chain theaters here. There are many documentaries, foreign films, and independent films played there. Ryan and I always enjoy going to see the Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films each year usually in February. They've even done Sound of Music sing-a-longs, and I'm sure they do a Rocky Horror day too. This week I got to enjoy a documentary with my friend Allison called Being Elmo.

Olivia would've been sooo jealous if she knew I'd gone. She loves that muppet! It was all about the man who is the puppeteer for Elmo and it was such a good film. I might've even teared up a bit...and that is rare! He is a very talented man with such a passion and dream for what he does. It made me love Elmo even more. I recommend the film to anyone and the museum of art theater as well! Clink on the link above to see what other movies are coming here soon!

Fun Fact: While viewing previews for other films that will be shown there, I learned that Ray Eames was Charles Eames's wife. I came home and told Ryan who also had always assumed Charles and Ray were brothers. This was shocking to us both as we are both graduates of design programs who studied Eames furniture and products and never knew! I hope we aren't the only two out there that thought this.

Pumpkin Bread: A Perfect Autumnal Food

2011-11-17T20:18:00.001-06:00

I'm not gonna lie, I make a mean pumpkin bread. And by mean I don't mean rude and hateful, I mean delicious. And it's because I learned from the best! It's my mom's recipe...which means it's probably Betty Crocker or something, but either way here are the ingredients:

3 1/3 c flour

3 c sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 t baking soda

1 1/2 t salt

(omit above 3 if using self rising flour)

1/2 t cloves

1 t cinnamon

1 can (15 oz) of pumpkin

1 c oil

1/2 c water

4 eggs (beaten)

Preheat the oven to 350. Then grease or spray your bread pans. I believe I used two 9 x 5 x 3 sized pans.

Then mix your dry ingredients in a large bowl (preferably your Kitchen-aid one)

Once it's mixed well, make a well in the center and pour in your oil.

Then I start mixing it on the Kitchen-aid.

Add water, egg, and pumpkin

And mix well.

Pour evenly in your pans.

Bake for about an hour. (Please ignore my filthy oven)

Then take out...using oven mitts. Do the toothpick test if it makes you happy.

Let cool, then dump out, cut, eat, and serve!

Eat the pieces that aren't pretty...they'll still be delicious. And if you're keen on presentation I like to arrange them on a plate like so.

I usually freeze one of the loaves to eat at a later date.

Hint: Make sure to use saran wrap to cover your bread up. This ensures it is moist every time you eat it and magically makes the crust extra gooey and yummy!

A Diaper Cake My Brother in Law Might Like

2011-11-16T20:17:00.001-06:00

While helping plan for my dear friend Danielle's baby shower, I happened upon this beauty on Pinterest and thought, I could do that! So I did...with the help of my talented husband. It takes two sets of hands to pull this off people. It took about 30 min to make I think...I wasn't watching the clock. I tried to do a step by step pictorial for you in case you want to try this sometime!

What you'll need is about 50-60 diapers (we used size 1), 1 pair of socks, 1 bottle, 2 bibs, 2 receiving blankets, ribbon, straight pins, and possibly some wire or tape.

The first step is the hardest. Fanning out the diapers and wrapping them around something cylindrical (glue bottle, toilet paper roll, etc) to make the wheels. Trial and error gets it done. Then wrap the ribbon around tightly and pin into place. Then you can remove the center item and the diapers will hold in place.

This is the front wheel. Then you're going to roll up the two blankets (if you roll them up on the diagonal they will be longer) and place in the center of the front wheel like so....

Then make two more "wheels" and put them in place. Wrap the back blanket in through the center of the other two wheels.

Then place the bibs on top: one for the seat and one for the wheel cover. You can put socks on the ends of the front blanket for the handlebars but you might slip in a piece of thin wire before you do this so they'll stay in place better.

Place the bottle on top of the front wheel and pull the handle bars on top of the bottle and tie with ribbon into place. If you use wire you can now shape them to look right and put the socks on the ends. I also used tape to make it stay in place.

Voila!

I realize it's technically not shaped like a cake but it's still called a diaper cake. I don't know why, it just is.

We had a great evening chatting it up, eating, and watching Danielle open gifts up for baby Todd. She is such a wonderful and creative mother, I feel blessed to know her (and all the other moms at the shower!) We can't wait to meet that precious little boy soon!

Eat More Chicken

2011-11-15T20:13:00.000-06:00

Our friend Laura won a free dinner party for her and some friends at the most awesome Chick-fil-A in OKC and we felt so lucky to be invited. They had tables set up with balloons and decorations and we had our own waitress!

We got to order whatever we wanted on the menu...dessert included. And our group got to take our picture with the cow (which is supposed to be on their website but I can't find it so I can't post it for you). I know it's fast food but this restaurant goes above and beyond. Everytime you're in there people are passing out free samples of stuff and the staff is so stinking friendly. They also have family fun nights with clowns and face painting and balloon animals. Not to mention the indoor play area that the kiddos love. We had a fun evening and I'm sure we'll go back to use the coupons we won in our raffle game with the cow. Here's a picture they WON'T be putting on their website I'm sure...

She was a bit scared of him to say the least. Thanks Laura for inviting us to your awesome party!

(I forgot my camera card so the cell phone pics will have to do)

I'm All Shook Up

2011-11-14T20:20:00.002-06:00

Unless you live here or are obsessed with seismology, you probably don't know that our state has had 3 earthquakes within a week of each other. Maybe it's considered one with the other two being very large aftershocks, but I don't technically know, because I don't technically care. The first one we slept through. The second one I had enough time to walk to the other side of the house (after thinking a car with loud bass was shaking our windows) and say to Ryan "Is this an earthquake?" To which he replied "I think so" to which I replied "I think we should stand in this door way." So we did, and the house shook for a few more seconds and then it was over. Then I got on facebook and had fun reading everyone's status updates. The third one was a few days later and I was doing laundry. The dryer was already shaking beside me, but I thought I felt the ground shaking under me too. Once again I walked to the playroom and said "Is this ANOTHER earthquake" and Ryan said "I think so." And we went on about our merry business. I wasn't scared. I didn't wake Olivia up...she slept through all three...and I don't have an overwhelming since of impending doom. But it is kind of weird that we've had that many close together. This was the funniest thing I saw on facebook after it happened.

Maybe after a few more I'll look up to see what the safety precautions are for these things.

Reasons I Love OKC...

2011-11-13T11:13:00.000-06:00

Buy for Less

(groceries AND free cooking classes!)

I recently switched grocery stores and have really been enjoying the Buy for Lesses in our area. Some are nicer than others but they have a really good produce section and offer many specialty items including organic food, gluten free food, ethnic foods, etc. Their prices also are hard to beat! A week ago I noticed ads for cooking classes with their nutritionist so I called to see what the dealio was and it was almost too good to be true! A FREE cooking class and you get to eat the meal she prepares! The bonus is that it is when Olivia was at Mother's Day Out AND during my normal grocery shopping time. I think I have a new activity to do each month now!

This month focused on gluten free recipes that would be great holiday dishes: hummus, quinoa cranberry salad, baked chicken, and pumpkin cinnamon muffins. I enjoyed it and although the portions were small (it's only a VERY LIGHT lunch) it filled me up til dinner. Plus I plan on making the quinoa salad this week.

If you live in the OKC area click on the link at the top to see if you can attend a free class!

Don't Knock It Til You Try It!

2011-11-12T12:41:00.003-06:00

(these photos are not me)

Acupuncture. I'm not even kidding people. Recently my doctor recommended I have another surgery that I was adamantly opposed to. After discussing it with my husband we decided it was time to try all other options, even crazy sounding ones, before another surgery. I started seeing my chiropractor more, went to a nutritionist and got lots of random supplements, and signed up for acupuncture with a doctor recommended to me by a friend.

I was a little skeptical about it but I was put at ease and chatted with the doctor awhile before laying down and letting him put about 20 tiny needles in all over my body. It felt like a tiny pinch when he put them in but after that you couldn't feel it. After 30 min of lying still with needles in me and listening to a relaxation CD he came back in, I turned over, more needles, 30 more minutes, then done! I honestly was so relaxed I had a hard time standing up afterward. I slept so well the rest of that week.

I went back two more times over the next few weeks and when I went for a follow up with my surgeon.....the problem was gone, and he no longer recommended surgery. Praise the Lord! Here's the thing....I'm sure I've already lost some of you....I'm not crediting acupuncture for healing me. I'm not crediting the supplements, or chiropractic care, or any one specific thing except for God. He can work through any medium he wants to and I will give Him full credit for any healing, but I do think all of these things had a hand in it and some people might think that's placebo or voodoo or even sacrilege, but I choose to think God can work to heal my body however he wants and that's all that matters! There are many things that acupuncture is recommended for and I suggest you check it out to see for yourself before making judgments. Plus it's way cheaper when compared to surgery or medications...with no recovery time or negative side effects!

(I did not link to my chiropractor, surgeon, nutritionist, or acupuncturist on here but if you would like any of their info I would gladly share it with you. I like all of them.)

Reasons I Love OKC...

2011-11-11T12:56:00.003-06:00

The Science Museum!

I'm so thankful Olivia's grandparents gave her a pass to the science museum for her birthday! We finally checked it out for the first time (well I've been before but it was years ago) last week and had a blast! We didn't even get to see it all in one visit. There is so much to do and see! Liv loved being able to run around and play with all the different things. Here is a small sampling of the things we got to experience. I'm sure there will be more posts for the future visits we have!

She got to build things with all sorts of different blocks

Her favorite thing might've been the ramp to race lego cars on. It measures the speed too! She had no idea what she was doing but she would watch the big kids and then just put pieces of legos on the ramp to slide down.

They have a beautiful garden area right outside the yummy and affordable cafe. It's a great place for a stroll

And for pictures with your kids

And for rides on a turtle

The huge treehouse area was lots of fun and I even braved going down the five story spiral slide with her!

It was truly a hilarious moment for all around.

Did I mention there's a segway there you can ride? Noah did great at it, but Liv was not about to set her foot near it.

I definitely wanted a turn though. This guy doesn't ever leave your side but he does let go. I don't blame him though, I've been known to wreck lesser expensive vehicles.

Of course the bubble area was a hit...and a slippery mess

She liked watching the random machines

Here is a video of some of the fun we had with the money vortex, tornado chamber, mirror maze and garden...and per usual I only expect the grandparents to watch it all.

We also laid on a bed of nails, played the theremin, rode on a train, looked at various airplanes, watched a pendulum make art, saw lots of exhibits, learned about dental hygiene and autopsies, went to a crime scene investigation, played on the gymnastics mats, looked at optical illusion art, and briefly went to the planetarium show. We'll have to go back and try it again. She was a little freaked out by the darkness but talked about the moon moving and stars she saw for days afterward! So check out the science museum if you have nothing to do on a rainy day, and call us to join you if you want company. It's fun for little kids and adults!

Newsletter: 26 Months

2011-11-10T12:50:00.002-06:00

Dear Olivia,

This month you've really started learning how to say all of your friends names and you talk about them a lot! When we drive in the car you'll ask to go to Des's house or Aujrey's (Audrey) house. You'll tell me about Annee chrying (crying) at Mother's Day Out and Silly (Sydney) playing. And Kee (Keely) and A-el (Elle) in Bible class. But the person you love to talk about most is Noah's Daddy. All will be quiet in the car and you will just randomly say "Noah's daddy" and I'll say "What is Noah's daddy's name" and you'll say Sean. Except you draw it out like Shhhaaawwwwwnn. We don't even really see him that often but for whatever reason you sure do like to talk about him!

The potty training is in full force and you are wearing big girl undies all day except at night! I'm going to be trying a "3 day potty method" with you this weekend that our friends tried out and swear by it. We'll see if that helps at nap time and night time. I'll let you know in the next newsletter I guess! The pez candy helped you get over your fear of public toilets, but now you are a bit of a candy monster. You'll pee just a teeny amount and then cheer and get a piece and then sit down and pee some more and get another piece and the cycle continues. We'll have to work on that.

The time change I think has been messing with you and you've been waking up before 8:00 lately which I am NOT used to. It's ok though, because even if it means I get less reading done, you are so fun in the mornings! You eat your breakfast (usually oatmeal with "Sprinchles peez") and then immediately demand Elmo. You've had a hard time understanding why Elmo isn't on tv all the time but usually you calm down and will watch whatever else is on PBS while I clean the kitchen up and try and look decent for whatever adventure we have in store for the day!

Most days when you wake up you start yelling "MOMMY OUT!" and then as soon as I come in you'll say "Daddy home?" and I'll tell you what day of the week it is and say Daddy works today but he'll be home Saturday morning. And oh the joy on your face when Saturday morning comes!

Some popular sentences right now are:

Play Me? (when you want us to play)

Tower Me? (when you want to build a tower)

I want two (you always want two of every item)

I peepee!! (always said by arching your back and clapping hands in excitment)

Hi-O Char-ee! (when she sees Charlie)

Hold you Mommy (when you want me to hold you)

This my Jeezy Bible (Jesus is on the cover and you pronounce it Jeezy, I think you think Bible is his last name)

I'd say you only nap about 50% of the time right now. You still have to be in your crib for about 2 hours whether you sleep or not. But usually I hear you talking to bear or making silly noises and occasionally jumping in your bed. You can entertain yourself very well. We tried to make the move to a big girl bed one day at nap time and you would absolutely not stay in your bed. The minute we left you just played with books or climbed in your chair and sat. We made many efforts to put you back in but after about a dozen we decided the crib would work for now.So I think we'll hold off on that a bit longer.

You still say you are five when we ask how old you are but then I'll say "How old are you really Olivia?" and you'll look all sad and say "Two" with slumped shoulders and a frown. You're so funny! One day you even said "four" at first. At least we're getting closer!

You are loving your books still. You can actually "read" Brown Bear with help and your favorite page is the teacher page. You call Go Dog Go! the "Puppy Go!" book. And sometimes at nap time if I say we can read 3 books, you just want to read your zoo book with the flaps 3 times in a row. You love to point out the seals on each page and love the hippos hugging. You call most animals by their names except monkeys and pigs. Those are still called by their noises: ooo ooo's and wee wee's (the little pig says wee wee wee all the way home)

When your great grandparents were here this month you waited for them on the porch steps and now anytime I say someone is coming over to our house you'll say "wait on porch." Sometimes I'll say it's too cold and you'll say "Pants? Coat? Shoes?"

Now that your vocabulary is growing you are piecing things together with your memories. When I mentioned Derek the other day you said "boo!" because one time he scared you pretty good playing peek a boo and you were afraid of him the rest of the evening. But that was MONTHS ago. The other day we drove past the Dollar Tree which you were in for 3 min. with me to buy Halloween candy 2 weeks ago but you pointed to it and said "Candy Store!"

Since it seems you are actually remembering things I'm trying to realize things we are doing now might actually make it into your long term memory bank. This is a wonderful thing but also frightens me a bit as to what I want your memories of me to be as your mommy. We have lots of fun together but I could always be more patient with you. I could always speak a little nicer when I'm frustrated and I probably lose my temper a little too quickly at times. I will always be a work in progress...and so will you! But I know I will look back on these times with you and see them as fun and I hope you do too!

I love you,

Mama

OC Homecoming

2011-11-09T12:48:00.001-06:00

Hail to Oklahoma Christian

Hail they purpose full and free

Life and truth to Alma mater

May thy glories ever be

Lift your voices anthems raise

Swell the chorus in her praise

Hail to Oklahoma Christian

Alma Mater hail to thee.

I still remember it! We had to sing it every Monday in chapel back in the day. I was a good alumna and actually participated in homecoming festivities this past weekend. Allison and I attended the OC production of Beauty and the Beast Friday night and were simply amazed by the performance. The set, and costumes, and characters were all wonderful! I did not attempt to take Olivia as it was a very late show and she wouldn't have lasted very long but we didn't need a kid to enjoy this show!

Then on Saturday Ryan and I went to the OC Alumni luncheon and saw several people we knew. Then we just walked around the campus with Olivia looking at all the improvements that have been made since we left. It made us a bit nostalgic for the old days, especially when touring the art department. Life goes by fast, before we know it, Liv will be ready for college I'm sure!

There was no one around to take our family photo by the beautiful trees changing color in the forum so these will have to do. Can you tell it was a bit windy?!

Simply Delicious Pork

2011-11-08T12:28:00.004-06:00

I love a recipe with an adverb in its title, don't you? I cannot take credit for this recipe, I got it out of one of my cookbooks. It is easy and delicious and fills your house with a yummy smell that has my mouth watering all day in anticipation of supper time. Or dinner time. Or whatever you call it in your house. The ingredients are

1 to 1.5 pounds of boneless pork tenderloin (cut in thin slices)

3 or 4 golden delicious apples (cut in thin slices)

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Salt

3 T Brown Sugar

First cut the pork in slices. If you freeze and let thaw slightly, it's really easy to cut and keeps the pieces together nicely.

Place in slow cooker.

Cut up your apple. Place slices on top of meat in slow cooker.

Combine salt, sugar, and cinnamon.

Sprinkle over top in slow cooker.

Cook for 6-8 hours on low and serve!

Simply Delicious!

Book Review

2011-11-07T12:46:00.002-06:00

The Thorn Birds was the book club pick for the month and I didn't want it to be over! It was an epic novel and after I finished I found out EVERY SINGLE WOMAN over a certain age at our church read this, so now I figure every woman in America about my mom's age probably has read it too. Then Ole Sal tells me it's her third favorite book ever! People, please when I ask for book recommendations, give me some! I felt robbed that so many people knew about this book and never shared it with me! It's a tragic forbidden love story that spans decades and seems like something that would not be my cup o' tea but it was...and I wanted to drink a gallon of that tea. Who knew Catholic priests could be so tantalizing?! Anywho...I had a few fav quotes but the one I'll share is this "We all have comtempt for whatever there's too many of. Out here it's sheep, but in the city it's people." I give it a 10.

So this isn't a book but I watched the miniseries of the Thorn Birds after I read the book and feel I need to review it here. Of COURSE it wasn't as good as the book, but it was ok. The main thing I found appalling about it was that the Cleary family did not have red hair. That was kind of an important trait in my opinion but whatev. Also they left out 2 of the kids. And Father Ralph wasn't handsome enough. I give it a 4. Don't waste your time on this....just read the book...now!

The Last Letter ~~from your Lover.~~ Do NOT judge this book by it's title. In fact I'm ashamed to even call it by it's title so we will just call it The Last Letter. (Can anyone say the word "lover" without saying it how SNL does in this scandalous skit? Lov-uh. I can't) It's not a trashy Danielle Steel novel but it is another forbidden romance book that a lady at church told me I had to read. There are two story lines it follows: one in the 60's about a woman who awakes from a coma having no memory of her family, her husband, her life. Then she starts finding letters in hidden places suggesting she was having an affair before her accident. She is piecing together the puzzle while the second story is set in modern day and a woman comes across one of these letters and is curious to find out what happened to this couple and how it can help her in her confusing relationship. Ok enough is enough. I'm not supposed to even tell you what these books are about, just my opinion, but I really liked it. A lot. I even liked both stories which I usually don't (like in Sarah's Key) I give it a 10. I'm giving a lot of 10's away this month! (speaking of Danielle Steel novels, I have never read one so I guess I shouldn't judge them blindly. I'll put it on my list of things to read so I can have an honest opinion)

The Dive from Clausen's Pier was also given to me by a lady from church...gotta love those church lady recommendations! It's a heartbreaking tale that is so honest and sad about the complexity of human emotions when tragedy strikes in a relationship. It's not a feel good book but I think you know by now that I don't mind that. It really captures the feelings of someone on the brink of adulthood and I can relate to that even if I can't relate to her fictional characters specific troubles. I give it a 9 and do NOT plan on seeing the Lifetime movie that I hear it was made into. One of my fav quotes "Memory is strange--part movie, part dream. You can never know if what you remember is the essential thing or something else entirely, a grace note."

Crazy Love probably needs no introduction since I think it's been pretty famous for awhile now. I read it on and off for a few months with my morning Bible study. It's a fast read, but I just took my sweet time with it. It's another one of those books that'll make you think about what it means to be a disciple of Christ. It challenges you and convicts you and I give it a 10. My favorite quote was actually him quoting someone else but it was "Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter."

Talk Talk was one I randomly picked out after seeing the author's name all over at Powell's in Portland last time. I did not like it at all. I never got interested in any of the characters and how they responded towards an identity theft situation seemed highly irrational and unlikely to me. Maybe it's because it's a male author and many time when I read male authors I do not think the characters would do what they make them do. Much like in Little Bee. Now I'm going to have to look back and see what male authors I do like...surely there are some. Anyway I give this a 2 and I recommend it to no one.

What are you reading? Do you have any recommendations for me....even if you read it 30 years ago and they made it into a sub par miniseries?

The End of an Era

2011-11-05T11:10:00.005-05:00

My gym is closing next week. Everyone found out this week...including employees. Short notice, pretty bad business move (in my opinion), and our memberships were sold to the Gold's Gym down the street. I checked it out the other day and it is very nice, but it felt weird. I'm sure it'll grow on me, but that's not what this post is about. This post is a love letter to my gym.

I, Katie Isenberg, am not an athlete in the slightest. But a year ago I encountered numerous health issues all at once. I mentioned them some on the blog and was very vague about them at times because I don't feel comfortable posting ALL my business on the interweb. All the various doctors and physical therapy were getting me rather depressed, and there wasn't much I could do to control a lot of it. So I decided to control what I could and see if working out helped me any. It's not like it could hurt right? I didn't even know how to use any of the machines at the gym. The only athletic shoes I owned were over 10 years old. But I laced them up, put my daughter in the care of gym-babysitting-strangers, and went to a few classes. After awhile I had my weekly routine down. I had favorite teachers and favorite classes. I found friends to join me and we've encouraged each other to keep working out. And it was fun! A year later those gym-babysitting-strangers now know my daughter by name, she runs to them off the elevator with a smile on her face, I have made new friends, and most importantly I am healthier! I have lost 20 pounds (granted some was due to a stomach flu, but it stayed off!) and I feel better about myself. Not all my health problems are gone but exercising regularly helped some of them and definitely helped me deal with the stress of them. I sleep better, I eat better, and I like myself better, which makes me like other people better too! And I can rock a pair of skinny jeans thanks to my fashionista friend Allison convincing me to buy some! I'm going to miss my instructors and the little gym community I came to know and love. But now that eating season is upon me, there is no backing down. I will move on. I have to. I love working out now! I will find new teachers, new classes, and probably even new gym-babysitting-strangers that will take care of my daughter just as well. But I will hold a special place in my heart for the first gym that taught me how to love myself and others more by staying in shape!

Our last zumba class. I will miss shaking my booty with these people each week!

Recent playdates

2011-11-04T12:47:00.004-05:00

I just went through my October pics and found a few things I never posted, so here's a random smattering! Yes we still have playgroup, and here they are enjoying a day at Amanda's.

Liv and Grady practiced sharing while riding a giraffe.

Sometimes it gets a little chaotic and it's time to pop in some Veggie-tales so the mommies can chatter while kids calm down before nap time.

The weather has still been amazing so we ventured to the zoo last week specifically to check out the baby tigers. There are three! I guess they were born in July but somehow we hadn't seen em yet!

We saw lots of other animals as well.

And we also found Ben and Des.

I love Des's "upward eyebrow" face

We did not go to Haunt the Zoo, but they had all the decorations up in the day time too, and Liv loved to look at them. I hear the crowds are ridiculous for it so I doubt we will ever go at night!

And here is Liv reading in car probably on the way to the zoo or playgroup!

Habitat for Humanity

2011-11-03T12:49:00.006-05:00

On Saturday before the Fall Fest I spent another day with Amanda and Jenna, but this time we weren't dancing to save boobs. This time we were working with Habitat for Humanity.

I brought my camera along to take before and after photos, but we arrived on the third day of this project, so there wasn't much to show for our work, but we helped install new windows, spackled walls, caulked tubs, sanded walls, put holes in walls (on purpose), inhaled lots of sawdust and did other various jobs. I'm not that much of a handy woman, but I felt compelled to help out since this organization will be helping Jenna finally move into her house after a horrible contractor scam that has been drawn out for months. We were just sharing the love with someone else!

And we cracked each other up all morning while working, so the time flew by!

Halloween: Trick or Treat Night

2011-11-02T12:04:00.001-05:00

On the REAL Halloween night we donned our Waldo uniforms once again and headed for the Schatzel's (or should I say the Toy Story 3) house.

We took some photos and then headed out. Liv got to trick or treat with Buzz Lightyear

And Woody

And they brought along one of the aliens and Lots O' Huggin' Bear

Then the candy mission began!

Their neighborhood really goes all out and lots of houses decorate for the ghoulish occassion. We trick or treated down their street and then came back to their house to help pass out candy.

I feel like this was Liv's first Halloween even though it was really her 3rd. I guess since this was the first year she actually walked to people's doors and knocked and got to eat some of the candy she was given, it felt like the first one!

Holidays really are more fun when you have a kid's eyes to see them through.

The whole time we were walking around the neighborhood I kept wondering what she was thinking in her head...."so I'm dressed in a weird outfit, I knock on a strangers door with my toddler friends, and an adult I don't know puts candy in my bucket for no reason?"

Liv was hesitant at first to pass out any candy because she wanted to keep it to herself, but after awhile she caught on. She would point and laugh at their costumes and would try to give them handfuls of candy!

She would see people coming down the road and start yelling "More people, more people!" as she waited with armfuls of sweets. At the end of the night we were all in a sugar coma and Lo was scraping the neon green alien paint off her belly. It was a fun evening and now we have a candy drawer full of stuff I don't want any of us eating, but I'll try to ration it!

I hope your Halloween was fun...I promise tomorrow's post won't have stripes in it!

Halloween: Trunk or Treat

2011-11-01T12:23:00.000-05:00

Our church held their Fall Fest Saturday night and we helped out by being part of the Trunk or Treat caravan. You decorate your car and pass out candy to the trick or treaters like you would if it were your house. We had the Waldo theme going so Ryan and I decided to be Waldo as well....and why not make our car Waldo too?!

All parts for the car came from junk we found laying around our garage with a little paint added to it. It was quite windy, and the trunk kept blowing down but we took turns holding it up! I like how the American Flag in the neighbors yard goes along with our theme. Our costumes were made by painting Tshirts and making hats out of scrap fabric and yarn. Liv's was an actual little boys shirt I turned inside out and her hat was thrifted. The glasses are from the Dollar Store. Here were two of my other fav cars. A sushi roll (Lynn was a geisha and her hubby was a sumo wrestler. I'm bummed they aren't in this photo!)

And Hogwarts!

Liv had fun getting candy (of course) and she even got to see some of her friends there. The dinosaurs, a kangaroo and the cutest little monkey!

Liv won a prize for funniest costume and our car one first place overall. Here we are posing with our ribbons and another costume winner!

I think she had about 4 suckers that night, but she slept well!

I know you might be getting tired of the Waldo posts but there's only one more.....

Halloween: Storybook Forest

2011-10-31T12:51:00.000-05:00

I'd heard about this Storybook Forest at Lake Arcadia for a few years, but this was our first year to check it out.

Thankfully a friend tipped us off on the ridiculous lines, so we got there before it opened on Friday night and didn't have to wait too long at all.

We met up with some friends from church there and tried to get photos of the kids together.

Elle decided to join the bunch. And that's as good as we can get! Close enough! There are nursery rhyme scenes set up throughout the forest and you can read the story and then get candy. At first Liv tried to give the person a piece of her candy. How thoughtful. Then she caught on and became a greedy glutton who wanted to stick her hand in their bucket and pull out a fistful. "Candy" is now one of those words she talks about daily. We haven't let her have much though. They had a hayride and games for kids, but we skipped those to roast hot dogs around the campfires.It was fun, but now that we can check it off our list, I'm not sure we'll do it again since there are free things we can do instead! And yes she kept the glasses and hat on for most of the evening because we told her she couldn't get candy if she didn't. It worked, and now we've created a monster. Just look at this candy crazed fiend!

Now for your viewing pleasure.....

Where's Waldo?: Nursery Rhyme Edition

Hansel and Gretel were intrigued by this candy house. Waldo snuck in too, quiet as a mouse. Can you spot him?

The Three Little Pigs think they're tough. Can you find Waldo among their stuff?

The little old lady lived in a shoe, Waldo would like to live there too! See if you can find him.

Peter Piper may have put his wife in a pumpkin shell, but Waldo is trying to hide there as well! Can you spot him?

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, not a Waldo! But he was there anyway, do you see him?

Ok that's enough. I crack myself up...I really do. Don't worry there are two more Waldo posts coming up! And the next one features Ryan and I....and our car as Waldo too!

P.S. I keep wanting to type forest with two r's but I kept getting auto corrected. I really thought it had two r's

P.P.S. Disclaimer: All costume ideas come from Leslie's blog (specifically this post). All creative ideas ever invented might come from her as well. She is awesome.

Where's Waldo???

2011-10-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

There's about to be a whole lotta posts featuring this wee Waldo.....

...A Storybook Forrest Adventure, A Fall Festival, and Halloween!!

Stay Tuned.....

Guess Who Came to Town?

2011-10-28T06:50:00.000-05:00

My grandparents!! All the way from Ann Arbor, Michigan!

This was their first time to visit us in OKC.

We were a good pit stop on their way back from the Grand Canyon. I hope I get to travel as much as they do when we retire!

We got to eat at Cattleman's, tour the city, stop by the Memorial, and of course play with Olivia.

Thanks for visiting us! We love you!!

Party-Hardy: Part II

2011-10-27T06:50:00.000-05:00

I think those Schatzels just keep having babies so we can keep having parties! And that's fine by me, because I like them and all of their friends! And I like all of her babies.

The second party of Saturday was a baby shower for baby Genevieve at the Rasp's Ranch in Arcadia. And these are the cute invites my hubby helped me make for it. He did the computer work, I did the crafty part.

The weather was perfect and the set up Micca had outside looked like one big idea board from Pinterest. It was so perfect.

I will let Lauren post all the fun pics on her blog but I had to put a few on here for memory's sake too! We hostesses are so thrilled she's finally getting a little girl.

And Liv was thrilled to ride another dog.

And the third party we went to was Caleb's birthday bash in OKC. It was pouring down rain when we arrived, so I didn't even bring the camera inside to take any photos, but Roxanne sure did make some yummy food for it!

It was a busy day full of car trips all over the place, but it was fun to be with so many friends that we love!

Party-Hardy: Part I

2011-10-26T07:09:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we went to three parties in three different cities! The first one was a 30th birthday bash at Lake Thunderbird in Norman for Chris.

Somehow I got no pics of him, but it's prob because our little girls were too photogenic for me to remember to take photos of anyone else.

Their family actually camped out the night before and I totally give major props to Danielle for camping with a toddler while also being pregnant. Not my idea of a great time, but she's just awesome like that!

Liv and Elle sure know how to have fun together! They were talking about something so hilarious I guess they fell out of their chairs. They keep me laughing! Liv played so hard she conked out on the way home. That's the true sign of a morning well spent. And check out this adorable photo I got of Liv looking just like her daddy walking beside him. Love it.

Swimming in the Fall

2011-10-25T08:06:00.000-05:00

The weather has been so amazingly perfect lately. I love autumn. And while it's not warm enough to go swimming outdoors, we definitely did not pass up on the chance to swim indoors at Audrey's grandparents house last week!

Liv did the best she's ever done with her water wings on. I barely held on to her and she just kicked and floated all over the place. It was a bit scary since she thought she could just jump in when I wasn't ready to catch her, but she didn't drown so we're all ok.

She's quite fearless sometimes.

Noah was there too, but only for a bit, so I didn't get any pics of him, but Liv met his daddy, Sean, and talked about him all week. I think she just liked to say his name. She also met Audrey's great grandpa and as soon as she saw him she said "Hi-o Poppa!" I guess she knows all elderly men might be grandpas!

This is the face I got when I requested a smile.

Close enough. She was having too much fun to stop and take cute pics! Thanks for inviting us Audrey, hope we can swim again soon!