10 MORE DAYS AND COUNTING!!

12/12/2009

No, not till Christmas, till I get to see my family in Idaho! I can't wait! We are all busy counting down the days here.

Well, as you can very plainly see, my friend Tiffany came through once again with her amazing photography for our family Christmas pictures. It was such a beautiful afternoon down at the park by the water - about 4 hours before the nasty cold front blew through. Thanks Tiff for another fantastic job!

Here are a few of my favs:

This Girl Puts Her Mom to Shame!

6:30am

Friday morning

I stumbled into this from my warm, comfy bed...watched for 20 seconds and stumbled to get the camera - she had no clue I was recording!

Fun Despite the Crud

12/03/08

Last weekend was a mess - we were all sick with the crud except Shawn (who continues to cross his fingers that he won't get it). We're all much better now - Kaylee and Aaron still have nasty coughs, but you all know how that goes...and goes...and goes...

We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with our good friends Rudy and Patsy and their family on Thursday evening, then set our tree up Friday night. We had a good time together as a family. Here's a clip...

And the finishing touch...

Yay for Target after Christmas specials - this is the first year for both a pre-lit tree AND a star! How fun!

A GREAT CVS TRIP!!!

11/28/08

Happy Thanksgiving!! I started off my day taking my girl to CVS (for those of you who don't have them it's a pharmacy/drugstore like Rite-Aid or Walgreens. Here's what I got:

Merchandise total: $79.83

Here's what I paid:

$2.82 out of pocket

Here's what I got back besides the merchandise:

$35.41 in extra bucks to use on pretty much anything in the store.

I LOVE CVS!

I'M BACK!!!!

11/24/08

Woohoo - the opera is OVER! What a hard couple of weeks, but I am SO appreciative of time with my family now! It was a good learning experience for me - I learned that I need to see the score BEFORE I commit. My goodness, what a project that was.

Some other happenings during the last week...

Kaylee's class at school did a really cute Thanksgiving play last Thursday - here's a short clip of my little pilgrim.

Also, Aaron got his second tooth in on the bottom. He's been a little trooper - almost as smiley as he was before. :) The end of last week was cold outside - here's a picture of my little ones finally bundled up for the cold...(well for a day or two anyway - it was back up to 85 today!) Kaylee had a "Mardi Gras" hat on that she made for a hat parade at school.

I have had a really fun day today with Kaylee and Aaron, and am looking forward to some much needed down time with my family. Shawn and I have said a lot of "Hi-Bye's" to each other lately, so bring on Thanksgiving break!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

One More Tooth is History :)

11/15/08

Opera Time!

11/10/08

YAY! The crazy, insane opera rehearsals start today and I can finally have my life back again next Saturday morning. I (somewhat foolishly) commited this summer to accompanying Hansel and Gretel for a new opera company that's starting up here in Corpus. So for the last three months this is what my life has been: play with the baby, feed the baby, change the baby, put the baby down for a nap, PRACTICE, repeat ad nauseum. I got myself in a little over my head with this one - it's been terribly difficult and time-consuming to learn, as it's an orchestra reduction part that I've basically had to rewrite to make it playable. So, to compensate for the can't-sleep-because-rehearsals-are-starting blues, I've spent the last hour reading thru new posts on all your blogs.

Jen - LOVE the baby blessing pics - you guys look so great! What a little sweetheart she is, and I love the bracelet. Jason looks so big next to her! Thanks for your thoughts on mommyhood - I couldn't agree more.

Mandi - I will be trying your home-made donuts! And love the Halloween costumes - you are the cutest marshmallow man ever! Sara is getting more gorgeous by the post, and I love little Luke's baldness!

Nicole - HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY! You look so great - love the new hairdo. And the Halloween pics - Abbi is growing big-time. So glad you got to go out and celebrate.

Stacy - wait-a-go with the applesauce - you rock! I can't believe how much Mason looks like Johnny in that one closeup - such cute kids! (And I want one of those apple-peeler things).

Kathy - I do love the new hairdo - you look great! Your kids are getting big so fast.

Tiff - CONGRATULATIONS! I love that photo - and I'm so mad you didn't tell me yesterday! Between that, the enchiladas and the pecan pie - HELLO! You are one talented lady!

Jennifer O. - YES! Love the new hat! And love that I just found that out about you - I will be on the lookout for hats!

Ericka - Can I hire you as my personal chef?! And what did you end up putting in that fabulous pie crust? Although it did look good enough to eat just like that. :)

Jennifer - Your skunk costume was hilarious - love it! And your kids looked precious for the primary program - we just had ours yesterday too - it's always my favorite Sunday. But my fav post was the most recent one - THAT'S the Jennifer I remember! Love the bangs!

Myra - SUCH cute kids - I love Otho's costume, but where are the parent's garb??? Did you guys decide to take a year off?? I'll never forget that Halloween when you all dressed up in the Star Wars gear...

SUCH GREAT FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!! Thank you all for being a part of my life! And now I will try to salvage a few hours of sleep (although trying to fix my blog background is tempting Nicole!). Have a happy week everyone!

Summer in November

11/01/08

It's official - summer #2 is here in Corpus! After washing the car with daddy this afternoon Kaylee donned her swimsuit and ran in the sprinklers.


And here is our first summer produce from our garden...




Check out the Corpus gas prices - it was down to $1.86 in Portland - woohoo!

Halloween 2008

11/1/08
After Kaylee/s 101 degree fever all day that finally broke around 3 in the afternoon, we went out and did a little trick-or-treating. Poor girl, she was so excited to go to school for Halloween and there were many tears because she had to miss. We caught up with her teacher, Mrs. Baker that evening (in the picture below), then went to our friends Rudy and Patsy's house for some eats to hang out. Kaylee went to a few more houses, but was still fairly weak, so she was content to pass out candy. Check out my little guy - I had the Princess and the Pea this Halloween. (Although technically she's a butterfly...)

Me and My Little Guy!

10/29/08

My friend Tiffany took some pics about a month ago of Aaron and I for a photography class she's taking - isn't she talented? Here's her photography blog site if you want to check out some of her other work: http://www.pineappleportraiture.blogspot.com/. Thanks Tiff!

Old and New

10/24/08

Gained a new toy

Lost an old baby tooth (#4)

Gained some new veggies

Lost some old branches thanks to the cold front

Gained some new friends

Played with an old friend

Delores, The Garden Queen

10/18/08

Every Saturday Kaylee and I weed the garden, and on Monday, Delores the Garden Queen comes while Kaylee's at school and leaves a note and a dollar for our bags of weeds. (Don't think I'm clever enough to think this up - I found it in Family Circle). Well, today Kaylee decided to write Delores a note and leave it for her to pick on Monday. Ah, the world of a child...!

Vote for Kaylee!

Well, in case you've been wondering why I haven't been posting lately, it's because I have become a bargain freak. Now I'm trying to get a gift certificate for Great American Cookies from KRIS missing tooth contest. So here's the link - paste it in your browser then click on one of the stars to vote for her. http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9153197&nav=menu192_7_4 You can only vote once from the same computer.

In other bargain news, I have found a new website thanks to the Oprah show called Couponmom.com, and let me tell you, it is FABULOUS! Bargains, bargains, bargains! I am learning so much about how to save and I am loving it! Now, I know there are those of you out there who will say, "Coupons, oh please, I just end up spending more buying stuff I didn't need to begin with." Good point; HOWEVER, if you are someone who has self discipline when it comes to shopping, you really can save! I love getting a deal - just love it!

Happy bargain hunting!

Yes, Leaves DO Change Color in Corpus!

10/07/08

I was so excited to walk out in the backyard last night and see these beautiful colors on our tree! It almost made me feel like I live in a place where there is a fall season! Almost... :)

Hurricane Ike Photos from Galveston

10/07/08

Last Saturday my schweetie went to Galveston to help with the clean-up effort from Hurricane Ike. He went with about 5 guys from our ward, who were part of a larger stake organization from the Corpus area. He left about 4 in the morning and got back around 10 or so that night. Long day of hard work. They got to the Stake Center in Galveston and he said the cultural hall was so organized. On one wall they had bottles of water stacked, on another wall tools you could check out, on another something else...Anyway, they gave them an area to go to and they were just supposed to look for someone who needed help. So they drove to the area and found a lady about our age outside of her home and asked if she needed help. She said she was pulling down drywall and after they said they were there to help with that sort of stuff she got this really suprised look on her face and accepted the help. They spent all day at her home pulling all the drywall out - the water had come to the ceiling. They also moved furniture out of the home. These pictures are from 4 hours away from us, so we really lucked out this time.

The Blog Award

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaP1UpL8PDMeBxf_hr9n77KT16dc1x1J2kwzOebmNkoBu_OvKkTxR3L9-vfK7FKqAGSEQAtPBkDQJcchtAT4AQ_NFD894Sy24msSL5SYk6Zl1YhHo0L5gFBuOnP5LJJ0D8awb_PdAm7wMB/s1600-h/award.jpg

So fun Nicole - thanks!

Here are the rules: I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then I must pass it on to seven others! This award comes with a list of questions:

1. Where is your cell phone? counter
2. Where is your significant other? work
3. Your hair color? blonde
4. Your mother? caring
5. Your father? gamer
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your dream/goal? sleep
9. The room you're in? dining
10. Your hobby? reading
11. Your fear? roaches
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
13. Where were you last night? rehearsal
14. What you're not? famous
15. One of your wish-list items? wii
16. Where you grew up? Idaho
17. The last thing you did? eat
18. What are you wearing? purple
19. Your TV? panasonic
20. Your pet? Sparky
21. Your computer? laptop
22. Your mood? quiet
23. Missing someone? yes
24. Your car? Maxima
25. Something you're not wearing? necklace
26. Favorite store? Pam's
27. Your summer? gone
28.Love someone? yes
29. Your favorite color? purple
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? dunno

Those who I think are deserving of this Brillante WeBlog Award are:
Everyone in my favorite blogger list

3rd Tooth and Counting!

9/29/08

My girl lost her first top tooth tonight after a very painful process of Shawn and I convincing her to let us pull it out. So that's two on bottom and one on top. Way to go Kaylee!

A Day at the Park

9/29/08



Last Saturday we took the kids down to Cole Park. It was a beautiful day - we got some chicken and had a picnic, then played on the swings and took a walk on the pier. I love Corpus in September when you get the first hint of the coolness to come after a long, hot summer. My morning jogs have been so nice with the lows now in the mid 60's - I love it!

One of the very few times you will see Aaron asleep in his car seat - what a life!