There's No Place Like Home

Pigs and Stripes

2012-01-27T21:16:00.005-06:00

The paint is dry and everything is hung back up after my stripe painting.

I also painted the shutters white-ish and then I painted 2 frames I had turquoise, and then had mirrors put in them.

This is the before picture:

And the after again with no flash and no sunlight. So it's kind of glowey.

I painted the shutters white, so they would go with the window more, and make it not so choppy looking. But then I like the color of the turquoise with my red couch, so I made the mirrors turquoise. Make sense?

The shutters show up better in real life. In the pictures they kind of blend with the wall. I guess you'll have to come over and see.
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Today Marcus was outside doing some work and told Katie to throw on her overalls and join him. Well, we just happened to have overalls that were a hand me down from my niece! They are just 11 years old!
Vintage!

I thought I would try some pig tails this morning to go with her ensemble:

We are lucky Katie is still alive, because I just wanted to eat her up with the those pig tails!

And here are some stripes again, just in case you forgot!

I would like to put something turquoise on the coffee table that is toddler friendly. Any ideas?

Have a lovely weekend!

I Couldn't Wait!

2012-01-26T22:39:00.002-06:00

I just painted some stripes in my sitting room and I had to share!

Marcus is already asleep and I had to show someone.

I just pulled the tape off. That's my favorite part.
The project just took about 2 hours and it was free, because I had the paint and tape already.

I can't wait to hang everything back up.
I am going to be patient and let the wall dry first.

Here are some other cute stripes:

Katie put my headband on the other night and I thought she looked so chic.

I had to chase her around because she was busy!

I guess she had somewhere to go. At least she looked cute.

OK, I still need to go clean up my paint mess.
I have my priorities straight; blog first then clean up!

HB to my MIL!

2012-01-25T20:59:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was my Mother in Law's birthday!
We celebrated at Marcus's sister's house:

Katie loves a good party.
I think that she might think that all birthday parties are for her?!

Katie and her "Annie" have a special love for each other. My mother in law is so sweet to watch Katie about once a week and they have the best time together.

My 12 year old niece, Melissa, once again, made an awesome cake!

I got portraits done for My MIL's birthday, because she is always wanting professional pics of Katie.

I loved this picture, but HATED the background. Thankfully they printed it in black and white for me.

And I got the CD, so lots of these I didn't get printed, but thought were cute:

They had a stuffed pig to get a smile out of Katie, but I guess they hadn't heard of her love of soft fluffy things. It was hard to get it out of her grip!

I'm a little jealous of her lashes:

And yes, she is looking at the pig in both of these pictures!

Katie's Annie was thrilled so that's all that matters!

I am blessed to have such sweet in laws!

Christmas In January

2012-01-23T22:21:00.008-06:00

I go to bed way too late. I am a night owl. I think I feel a little bit of freedom at night, because Katie's asleep and I can do whatever I want...quietly.

The sad part about staying up late is having to get up in the morning. I regret it every single sleepy day! EXCEPT for today!

You see I have been trying to get this necklace from www.Allorahandmade.com for a really long time.

I even put it on my Christmas list, but I guess I wasn't good enough last year! So I was just going to get it for myself, but it kept being sold out!

They update the website every Monday with ready to ship items. I haven't been quick enough to get this turquoise necklace. Well, it just so happens if you check their website at 1:00 am Monday morning, you can beat all those people snoozing and snatch up whatever is in stock!
If you snooze you lose.

I am sure you snoozers were bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning, BUT I am the proud owner of a modern pearl turquoise necklace. Or at least I will be when it gets here in a few days!

I just wanted to share the cuteness with you. They have lots of other accessories too. And you don't have to shop in the middle of the night if you don't want to!

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Speaking of cuteness, this is my sister in law, Lisa:

She got an article published in Destiny In Bloom here.

It's a beautiful story of hope and encouragement, about waiting for a baby and God's love.

Happy Shopping and reading!

1.5

2012-01-18T22:33:00.005-06:00

Katie Belle turned 18 months on Saturday!
That means it was her half birthday! And we celebrate half birthdays in this house!

Marcus's family was coming over for lunch after church on Sunday anyway, so I turned it into a little Half Birthday celebration.

Of course they didn't have a clue what they were walking into!

My sister in law, Pam, got me chalkboard markers for Christmas and I love them! They are so much brighter than chalk.

I got Katie's strawberry cake at a bakery and I added the chocolate covered strawberries.

This girl asked for cake about 103 times during lunch!

Then it was finally cake time, and we sang Happy Half Birthday to YOU!

I think she wanted to skip the song and get straight to the cake!

Katie loves her balloons and they have been a continued source of joy all week!

We love this kid!

Katie at 18 months:
weighs 24 lbs
31 inches tall
wears 18 to 24 months
size 4 diaper
4 or 5 shoe

Talks a ton!
I love when she says nuts instead of uh oh.
She says HI! and buh bye to everyone and everything

knows lots of letters
LOVES puppies like crazy
and hugs anything soft.

She likes to cuddle in the morning and watch cartoonths.

Loves music and to dance.

I say it every month, but she's a joy and a blessing!

This is Katie a year ago on her 6 month birthday:

Our days aren't always rainbows and butterflies.
Motherhood is a hard thankless job most days. I just think that waiting so long for a baby makes me REALLY appreciate her. And I just CHOOSE to celebrate her life.

Sometimes I CHOOSE to be a complaining, inpatient, whiny baby too,
but lets not focus on that! :)

Thanks Betty!

2012-01-11T21:51:00.002-06:00

Today was a "I could use a cookie" kind of a day.
Katie has not been herself all week and this morning woke up with a fever. All 3 of us feel kind of blah. Cookies cure blah, if you didn't know!

Tonight I used the Betty Crocker Oatmeal cookie mix.
I always add a cup of chocolate chips to it. You can buy the mix with chocolate chips already in it, but for some reason, I think this way tastes better.

And, another tip I have for you is to use parchment paper under your cookies. They bake a lot better. I am sure there is some scientific reason behind it, but who really cares, right?

I used a melon baller to scoop my dough. It went a million times faster.

Look at all these tips I have for you!
That is rare. Usually, I am no good for any kind of educating purposes.

My cookies have been cooling while we speak, or write/read.
I am about to pour some milk and dig in.

I am praying we are all healthy tomorrow. Katie will have to stay home from Mother's Day out tomorrow since she had a fever today. So I am thinking tomorrow is going to be another "I need a cookie" day. I LOVE my kid, but I do love those little breaks too.
Can I get an Amen?!

I'm Still Surprised...

2012-01-10T22:48:00.001-06:00

when I see a baby in my rear view mirror!

And she's mine!

Good Idea!

2012-01-09T22:51:00.002-06:00

My sister knows me well.
She just sent me this picture that she found on Pinterest (her new obsession)

Anyway, I rarely agree with Lucy, because sometimes she is just plain mean, but this is brilliant.

Marcus got me a Coke Slurpee today. I count that as a present.
Can't wait to see what I get next week!

The Weekend

2012-01-08T20:30:00.010-06:00

We had beautiful weather here on Friday, so we went to the Botanic Gardens in Ft. Worth.
They aren't very botanicalish this time of year.

It was kind of dry and brown.

BUT, it was a great place for Katie to Run

and run

and climb a tree!

We worked up an appetite, so we went to Dutch's.
It's across from TCU and they have the best hamburgers. Their buns are delicious!
Nice Buns Dutch's!

Saturday night I had a craft night here with some of the girls from my mom's school.
My mom has hosted it before, but didn't invite her favorite daughters! So I hijacked craft night, and invited myself and my sister. My mom got invited by Erin!

Katie didn't want to go to bed and miss out on the fun. She organized her Aunt Kelly's sharpies for about an hour!

Today was filled with church, lunch with family, and a long nap.
I hope you had a great weekend too!

Fun Times

2012-01-03T23:44:00.003-06:00

Aunt Pam brought my nieces' old table over the other day for Katie to use.
I plan on painting it...someday.

I am not sure why Katie's first instinct is to sit on the table and not in the chair?
Of course I took a picture instead of getting her down.

Katie loves to "color". I guess it's something she learned at MDO, but when ever she sees my pens, she says "color".
And then she says it 100 more times! At first as a question and then an increasingly bossy tone until you hand over the pen.

These marks were already on the table when we got it.
I am not going to encourage furniture art. I do need to invest in some washable markers though. And maybe some magic pants that make her sit in the chair!

OK, I had to add more Just Dance pictures from NYE too!

Katie wanted to play:

I think my dad got extra points for his facial expressions!

One of the things I love about this kid is that she can really shake her booty!

She can dance AND color.
What more can you ask for in a daughter?

2012

2012-01-02T22:33:00.006-06:00

Happy New Year!

2012 has been great so far.
My Christmas stuff got cleaned up in record time, my house is pretty clean right now, went to church yesterday and then a fun party, got a 2 hour nap today, and went to Sam's.
Can't beat that!

On NYE, we just went to my parent's for pizza
and some Just Dance 3:

I am going to post more pictures soon, because it needs to be documented for future generations.

We did get to go out on the eve of New Year's Eve though.
It has become a tradition to go to the Robert Earl Keen concert at Bass Hall in Fort Worth. This year we went with some of Marcus's fireman friends and it was lots of fun!

REK didn't disappoint.

Marcus, me, Jason, Jennifer, Wynnona and Warren:

It was nice to get out!
Thanks to my parents for babysitting. In 17.5 months, I have never had to pay for a babysitter! I hope they don't start charging!

They would probably pay me to play with this cutie!
Katie has thoroughly been enjoying all of her new toys:

That bear gets hugged a lot.
Katie is also sporting her new Snoopy PJs from my cousin Kristen.

Oh, she got an important phone call:

Now she's texting her BFF

I didn't have the heart to tell her it was really a remote control!

I hope you have a wonderful 2012!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T22:56:00.000-06:00

Christmas is so much fun with a kid!

I couldn't wait to give Katie her presents!
We had to wake her up at 8:30, because we had to be at Marcus's brother's house for breakfast.

We had everything sitting out for her and she couldn't believe her eyes!

So fun!

She played with everything immediately:

Marcus and I got the bear, train puzzle and cash register when we were together.
Then we each picked out a gift on our own. He got the shopping cart and I got the car.
They are both winners!

And yes, that is Homer Simpson on Marcus's feet, circa 1999, I believe.

We had to pull Katie away from her toys to go to her Uncle Davey and Aunt Sisi's house for breakfast....and more presents!

Poppa put Katie on the pool table:

We always have a Birthday Cake for Jesus and sing Happy Birthday.

The cousins. Jennifer, Melissa, Katie and Jeddy.

Opening a present with her Annie:

Katie got a Kitchen from Uncle Davey and Aunt Sisi:

It is the cutest thing and it fits perfect in our kitchen. So now Katie can help me cook!

Me and Lisa:

Aunt Pam and Katie:

The gang:

By noon, it was definitely nap time!

Tonight my parents came over for dinner.
Marcus made steak, twice baked potatoes, green beans and salad. It was one of the best meals I have ever had!

My mom brought cheesecake:

Here's Katie modeling her scarf and my sunglasses:

It was a great Christmas.
I am so thankful Marcus was off Christmas Eve and Day. That is just how his schedule worked out this year. When you are fire fighter you miss a lot of holidays.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too.
We are so grateful Jesus was born!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T23:17:00.000-06:00

Twas the night before Christmas...

and we were getting ready to pig out on lasagna and pasta!

That's our traditional Italian Christmas meal at my mom's house.

We all head to my parents' house after church to eat and open presents!

My niece and nephew. Morgan and Ryan.

Ryan, Uncle Darren(my sister's husband) and Grampy (my dad)

Our family of 3:

Grandparents and grand kids:

Katie had a tarp under her chair. Smart!

That girl loves pasta!

We all got scratch off tickets as our place card. I won $4. I'm rich!

Katie's first gift was a scarf crocheted by her Nonni!

She always puts mine on, so she needed her own.

Playing peekaboo with Grampy:

Then it was time to get in our PJs and start opening the embarrassing amount of gifts!
Katie had me worried a little bit when she laid down:

She was just trying to preserve her energy for all the presents.

She got a Snoopy from Aunt Carol! He has a fire man outfit and a Red Barron outfit too! She loved him!

Blocks!

Aunt Kelly (my sister) and Katie

Look at the cute tags my dad made for my mom's gifts.

His face made into a Santa.
He's super creative!

Katie hit the jackpot and we still haven't even officially made it to Christmas yet!

After we got home Marcus had to put together Katie's car.
We are such rookies doing it on Christmas Eve!

Really, he was doing it. I was eating fudge and watching Elf as I cheered him on!

This is what Katie has waiting for her in the morning!

I can't wait!

Some Coke, Some Lights and a Raccoon

2011-12-22T22:00:00.002-06:00

I was so excited to see Santa drinking a Coke at Walmart! I had to buy these bottles to make up for the icky white polar bear Coke cans !

They make me happy!

If they weren't a million dollars a case, I would buy tons of them, so I could be happy all year long!

Last night, we went to the Praire lights with my sister and her family:

The displays were wonderful, but the long line of cars was not.
We will go earlier in the month next year.

They do have a place where you can stop and get out of the car. You can visit Santa, ride the merry go round or the spinning barf bears. I don't think that's what they are called, but that's what they do.

Katie saw this Christmas(?) raccoon and wanted to hug him so bad:

She's a sucker for anything soft and cuddly.

It was lots of fun and very Christmassy!

Parties!

2011-12-20T23:45:00.001-06:00

Tonight I went to the Golightly's employee party.
It's my favorite Christmas party to go to.
I have a space at Golightly's where I sell things, but I also do their blog, so that makes me an employee too. Yay for me!

We went and had yummy Mexican food and then went to Janet's for a gift exchange. We had so much fun and laughed a lot!

Lucky for you I sneaked some pics of Janet's beautiful house for you.

You're Welcome!

Thanks Janet for a fun time!

Last night we had the 9th graders over for a Christmas party too.
They were all so sweet and lots of fun!

We played Christmas song pictionary.
The girls kicked the guy's butts, of course!
( you are probably not supposed to say butt if you are a Sunday School teacher, huh?)

It's fun being a party animal!

Fun Weekend

2011-12-18T20:49:00.006-06:00

We got to celebrate Charis and Drew's 2nd Birthday on Saturday!

Those are Katie's BFFs.
It was so fun, because it was a PJ and donut party in the morning. So smart!

Courtney put all the kids' hand prints on a canvas.

She's brave!

The kids opening presents:

Drew was in love with his weed eater! He was in this position for about 30 minutes with out moving!

They had a little bounce house, which Katie loved!

She came home and took a 3 hour nap! That's my kind of party!

Today we had our family over for lunch and then we went to a neighborhood Christmas party. I don't have pictures of either of those things, so you'll have to take my word for it.

I did have to get a picture of Katie in her cute dress though:

I got it off Zulily for $15. Love it and she can wear it next year too.

Katie pushes this basket around all over the house.

Her daddy is really smart and just order her a shopping cart for Christmas.
Don't tell her! K?

We also had to play peek a boo in the closet.

Sometimes this game ends in pinched fingers. :(
Thankfully, not today.

And Katie's Nonni (my mom) stopped by for a visit:

Katie loves to look at pictures and videos on her phone.

Sometimes I dream about moving someplace pretty and treesy, with lots of land and maybe water, but you just can't beat living by family and good friends. Katie squeals with delight when she sees her grandparents...and Courtney!

If I get super rich, I will move, and then build houses for all of my loved ones on my acreage. Or I will get private plane and pilot and visit whenever I want.
Sounds like a plan!

2011-12-16T21:49:00.004-06:00

You don't need reindeer when you have a helicopter!

Katie and I went with my mom to her old school to see Santa today!
My niece and nephew go there too, so it was fun to see them.

He flies in on a helicopter along with some elves, Rudolph and of course, his wife.

Frosty was there first to get the crowd warmed up:

Katie liked Rudolph, the puppy. This little elf snatched her up, so I got a picture.

Then we saw Mrs. Claus:

and SANTA! This is Santa with my nephew's teacher:

And here's my mom is yelling at Santa:

I am sure she is saying something kind. He was moving too fast for me to get Katie in the picture too.

It was lots of fun and pretty exciting. I know there are lots of debates out there whether to do Santa with your kids or not, or just to keep Christmas about Jesus. Since Katie is here I have thought about it a lot. Trying to decide what's best for our family...and just ours.

Our main focus is the birth of Jesus, but really that is our main focus all the other 364 days too. His birth, death, and resurrection. I don't think Katie will ever wonder what Christmas is really about. Even if we do allow Santa to be in our lives a few days in December!

I had to get a picture of Katie's cute Snoopy Christmas shirt.
I have a thing for Snoopy. I just think he is the cutest thing ever.

And I think she's the cutest thing ever.

I realized as she was eating, the shirt was going to have to come off after lunch. It got a little peanut buttery!

Katie loves apples. Today I put a little bit of peanut butter on them and she was in heaven!

Have a good weekend!