Oh, Christmas Tree...

We did it...we got our Christmas tree this weekend! We searched and searched the lot and I think we found a good one. Not too fat, not too skinny, not too tall...JUST RIGHT! We even remembered this time to take the tree stand with us so that the tree guys could go ahead and put the tree in it. ALWAYS a good thing! OG had a good time running around the lot trying to find the perfect one. There was even a doggie in the lot running around so that provided some good times.

As we were decorating, hubbie said "I think we should keep track of how many of these glass balls get broken"...not 30 seconds later CRASH. The first ball fatality of the season. At least it was something that wasn't so great or pretty. HA OG was trying to hang it herself and it just slipped. Luckily she had on shoes and I was able to clean it up quickyl since we have hardwoods. Keep checking in...I'll keep you posted on any more ornament disasters as the big day approaches!! I am sure there will be more to come with a 2.5 yr old and a dog with a long swinging tail in the house.

Our next big task is to get a picture for the Christmas cards...this year with OG being so active and silly I think it is going to be hard. I tried this weekend but she wouldn't sit still. I used to have my cards out the day after Thanksgiving and was always so organized. Not so much anymore. I now do labels instead of addressing them all, and last year it was around Dec 13th when they got out...THAT freaked me out. I have a feeling this year it will be about that late or later. Lets hope for a good photo shoot with smiles and little tears in the days to come! ;) And if you normally get a card from me, don't say I didn't tell you so when it arrives on Christmas eve (or after).

REUNION!!!

After we got back home from seeing some of the Grandparents for Thanksgiving, we had some houseguests. We got home around 11am on Friday and around noon, the visitors started arriving!! This was a day I have looked forward to for MONTHS! Two of my BFF's and sorority sisters were coming to visit, along with their daughters. One was Shannon (who lives in Charlotte and who I don't get to see nearly enough considering she is only 1.5 hrs away) and they other was Ilaria (who right now is living in the Philipines for a few yrs due to a transfer with her hubbie's company). I haven't seen Ilaria in about 4.5 yrs.

Shannon came with Wes & brought sweet Baby Ava with her again!!! Ava is 13 mths old. Ilaria came with Caroline who is about to be 3. She left sone Owen & hubbie Michael at the in-laws in Asheboro. Our little reunion was sooo great! You know you are wonderful friends when you can be apart for so long and once you are together again, it is like you were never apart at all!

Here are the girls LESS THAN THRILLED to be meeting new people and getting photos right after their arrivals:

After everyone settled in, we hung out and chatted for a while...then we gals decided to take the little ones to the Children's Museum! Now THAT was fun! They all had a great time.

After we returned home the little ones played a while then had a group bath!! We even dressed them up in our old sorority shirts! LEGACIES!!!

Then, after the girls were asleep guys made us a FABULOUS dinner! YUMMY YUM!! After a few "beverages" at dinner, we all decided the next get-together will be in the Philipines. HA Ilaria is fortunate enough to be put up in a fatty house over there with all of the amenities you could ever want...and $6 IN-HOME massages to boot! Check out her great life HERE!!

After dinner we were just like little college girls again, gossiping and being silly and looking at old photos & sorority scrapbooks...amazed at how AWESOME we actually looked 11-12 yrs ago when we thought we were fat! LOL

The morning came too soon...by about 11am the visitors were gone from our house. It was actually sad and I got a bit teary eyed. ;( I miss my friends, and wish I could see them more, but know that the bonds we share will last a lifetime!! That sounds like the lyrics to some cheesy sorority song, but it is true. And now that our girls have met, they can be lifelong friends too!

Holiday Fun & Frenzy!

Well, the long Thanksgiving Holiday weekend is ALMOST over and I can truly say we are POOPED! Our holiday started off with a trip to VA to see Paw- Paw & Grandma. We stayed there on Wednesday night and then had Thanksgiving lunch there on T'Day. While we were there, we watched the parade that morning. It was OG's first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade that she watched, and I think she enjoyed it!

To add even more fun to the day, everyone made turkey hands...some were really good. MINE was a girlie-girl turkey and she had blue eyes and eyelashes...

OG made TWO turkey hands...Baby Turkey's!...

Paw-Paw made a multi-colored turkey complete with a beard and cool beak (you can't tell from the pic but it looked good...

When we left VA we headed BACK to NC to JJ & Papa John's house (which is still about 1 hr 20 mins from our house). There we had Thansgiving dinner a mere 5.5 hrs after we stuffed ourselves for lunch in VA. Some of the items were the same but there were many different ones too. Regardless, it was ALL yummy! Especially the mashed potatoes which OG "whipped up" herself!

So...we were able to see FOUR out of the EIGHT Grandparents this long weekend...not bad. The rest we will see over the next few weeks and at Christmas. :) HOORAY!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We wish you a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving! We have so many blessings to be thankful for this year and we hope you have a great holiday surrounded by friends and family!


Now, some GREAT OG artwork to get your holiday started!!!!

Me and my Shadow....

OG found her shadow in the dining room this week!! She thought it was fun...we tried to teach her to make shadow animals, but she wasn't quite ready for that, LOL. It was cute though!

Sick Day!!

OG had to stay home Friday for a sick day, so THAT is why we had no Diva Dress-Up. Her school called me on Thursday a a few hours after her shots and said I needed to go get her because she had a fever. We all assumed it from from her 2 shots she had earlier in the day. She always gets a slight fever after shots, as do many kids. The next day she was still warm so we BOTH stayed home. After some meds , she cooled down a bit and acted and seemed fine. But it was a nice day for her to just lay around and do a little bit of nothing. She probably watched way too mcuh TV and Wiggles...and I was trying to work from home so that much TV was OK for that day only. :)




Since Friday afternoon, OG has been complaining about new pain. "My mouth hurt" she says. So now I think the fever could be all from her new 2 yr molars coming in. She was drooling a lot on Friday and her mouth started hurting then too. She barely ate anything from Friday until dinner last night. She would put something as soft as a banana up to her muth and then decide before taking a bite, that it was going to hurt. POOR BABY! I tried all the right products to help her but it just seemed to be too bad. Let's hope she gets better soon. She is back at school today and I advised her teachers of her pain and that she might be Miss Grumpy pants, and NOT to call me unless she was throwing up or had a fever. And if they DO call then "I" will be calling Daddy to go home and do the duty...since he was out of town from Tuesday a.m. through Saturday night all last week. I was with OG the whole time while she was sick and only wanted her Daddy. GOOD TIMES!

I LOVE the Doctor...wait, maybe not so much anymore.

This morning OG had to go to the Doctor to get a few shots. I had been telling her all week she was going to the Doctor and she was excited. I think it was because the Wiggles sing about how great it is, and books we have talk about how nice the Doctor is.

When we pulled into the lot she was so happy to see the "dot-ors". She couldn't wait to go in. Once we got in we hung out in the waiting area for a while. We looked at the fish and played with some toys. It was fun.

THEN our name was called. We went back to the room. The nurse had the shots ready and she asked me to hold OG's arms. She seemed ready at first...but when I held her hands she looked up at me like "what is up with THIS??!!". Then it was shot time....she got 2 shots, one in each leg in less than 10 seconds. BAM, BAM! It took a moment for the screams to kick in, and then they came out. Poor baby! I picked her up and hugged her and she was fine 30 seconds later. She got 2 cool band aids and then was able to go get a sticker for her bravery.

After we left I asked her if she liked the Doctors office and she just looked at me like "are you kidding me?". I guess next time we go see the Dr the excitment won't be as great. Thank goodness for stickers & fun band aids...they take all the pain away. When we drove away she just kept saying "I got shot in the leg Mommy" over and over...her future career of "stunt woman" flashed before my eyes!

Fast Food Nation

Hubbie and I are always game for a bad cheeseburger from somewhere, even though right now we are trying to diet/eat better. But nothing is better than a fountain Coke and fries from Mickey D's!! We are not fast food addicts but we do like some greasy goodness every once in a while. :)

OG though was never really exposed to fast food until recently. I don't think she even had fast food until I gave her a few bites from a cheesebuger from McDonalds when she was about 1.5 yrs old or older. The next day she was sick so I blamed it on the grease. She didn't get more fast food util months later. Now at almost 2.5 yrs old, I can honestly say she has only eaten fast food maybe 8-10 times (give or take 1 or 2). I think that is pretty good!

In those 8-10 times I would say MOST have been at Chick-Fil-A, and she had nuggets and a sugar free lemonade or milk. Their nuggets aren't all that fried and seem much better for you than a Happy Meal so that makes me feel better.

Last night we went to Chick-Fil-A with one of her school friends and her Mommy. It was family night so they had discounts and freebies and it was lots of fun. When I told OG we were on our way she was excited because she knows that they have an indoor play area and she likes it. As we pulled in the parking lot she saw where we were and promptly announced: "Fit-Sha-Lay...Fit-Sha-Lay". Yes OG...we are at Fit-Sha-Lay!! HOORAY!

More splashin'!!

Last night, we were invited to eat dinner with some friends at their house. We went over early so the girls could have play time and the adults could gossip & chat. We then ate a YUMMY dinner of homemade chili and jalepeno cornbread muffins! Mmm Mmm GOOD! I practically licked my bowl it was so yummy....and I probably would have had we been in our own home. :) Oh yeah, and before dinner we had Tostitos and spicy queso dip. OG loved it! She was eating up that cheese dip...spice and all. And she was double dipping too a few times...but that was Ok b/c Whitley her little friend was also double dipping BIG TIME. If the host double dips then by all means, you can double dip. But only if you are under the age of 3.

After dinner it was time for Whit to have a bath. Since we were there and to save time when we got home later, OG and Whit had a bath together. Splash Spalsh Splash...they had a blast! They even got their own little Alfafa hair do's. SO CUTE!!



OG also borrowed some of Whit's PJ's afterwards....they smelled so nice & clean. (Why is it everyone's fresh laundry always smells better than yours??) I think her Mommy uses the Downey ball with Lavendar softner. Smelles so nice! Run out and get you some! I sure will.

Diva Dress-Up...Vest Edition

The cold weather is here and it is jacket and fuzzy vest time! OG really likes her coats and things. It is so hard to get them off of her when I get her to school in the mornings. She wants to keep them on all day and WOULD if we didn't yank them off of her (ha). Most kids hate putting on coats, so I guess we are lucky.

This post is just COATS & VESTS...kind of boring but still Diva'ish. ;)
Have a good wknd!


OH, and Happy 6 yr Anniversary to hubbie & I tomorrow on 11/11!!!

Time to get the rakes out!

The leaves are falling, the leaves are falling!!! This weekend it looked as if it was snowing leaves in our neighborhood. It was so cool. Our main tree in front of our house is not too huge, so we don't get a ton of leaves, but our neighbors trees are big so THEY get leaves...and some of their leaves even float into our yard (LUCKY US). Our one neighbor had JUST raked and mowed his yard on Saturday and by Sunday morning, their yard was covered! UH OH. But it provided the perfect backdrop for OG to run and play in the leaves! She loved shuffling through the leaves and making little pathways...it was very cute. Based on her fuzzy coat she looks as if she should be in Antartica instead of in the leaves!!

Mmm Mmm Good!

How yummy is that beef and macaroni!?!? The pictures say it all!