My Honest Citizen

M was chosen at this month's character kid from her class.

Each month there is a character word and she was chosen for Honesty.

I'm so thankful that she was recognized for this valiant trait.

I hope it's always something she strives for.

She was so surprised that I came to share this with her. I love my girl.
This is M and her classmate Nicholas with their principal.

My Decorating Style

Am I the only one who woke up one day and realized that I had no personal decorating style???

That the only room that looks like ME is my cherry kitchen?

That when I registered as a twitterpated engaged girl that I was clueless?

That the lovely green towels for my bathroom would soon turn into a drab grey?

Or that all the sentimental hand-me-down decorations would always make me smile, but wouldn't exactly make my heart sing?

I hope I'm not the only one.

I think I'm finally starting to find my groove though.

I like BRIGHT! (sorry hubby)

We made vinyl blocks at church a few weeks ago and I went BRIGHT and I LOVE it!

The backside of the blocks has a year-round message.

I discovered what I wanted for my living room three years ago at an Ikea in Utah.

It came to me in the form of a pillow embroidered in rich reds and blues.

(ignore my 80's floral couch that will one day finally leave!!!)

So, I wanted the same rich red and blue for these blocks.
One day, the drab towels will be gone.

The couch will finally die!!!

And I will slowly continue to find what I like.

I got out my Christmas decorations tonight. They all made me smile. And some of them will only grace us with their presence one more year.

Until I can scour the after-Christmas sales!!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Grandma Mardie: (singing) Sometimes you feel like a nut...

Miss M: Sometimes you feel like an acorn!

Do you see what M is thankful for?

love it!

I love the "mountain" by my parents' house! It is alive with red, orange and yellow right now and so beautiful!

Christmas is coming!!!!!!!

Fall Nesting

I love a good holiday project!

I am loving the free downloads from Moselle! And this one, I had fun with lace and doilies too!!

I hope a Christmas one comes out too!!
We are hoping to assemble a few quilts this week too! We'll see how far we get!
Next on the list...pies!

Harry Potter 7, Part 1!!!!!!

Yes!

I went to another midnight showing!!

After a fun, crafty Enrichment (I'll show you soon the cute thing I made! :), Moonpie, Jennifer and I had a tasty Greek dinner and went to the theater!!

It was a great movie! I was disappointed in one scene, but I was pleased with how well it followed the story overall! It is not for kids. But for me, it was awesome! (And I can't wait to see it again, Grace and W!)

Moonpie and I are having fun with our new friend!
We were in the Platform 9 3/4 theater, across the hall from the Hogwarts Express theater. Love that they have fun with it!

Storybook Character Day!

This week in Pre-K I learned how to make mouse ears.

For Angelina Ballerina!!

Isn't she so pretty? Love my girl!!!
....we may need to make more mouse ears....

Pumpkin for dinner

Mom made a stuffed pumpkin for dinner last Sunday! It was AWESOME!!!!

She substituted sausage and kielbasa for the bacon. It was fabulous!

A Shutterfly Christmas

We skipped Christmas cards last year. We felt so in between.

In between homes.

In between jobs.

In between school.

Let's face it. 2009 was a rough year and we didn't feel like we had much to share.

This year, I can't WAIT to order Christmas cards!

I feel much better about this year!

We have been so blessed this year.

New job.

More settled into our home.

New friends.

New school.

And through all our adventures, now we get to send Christmas cards to many places to keep up with our friends!

And thanks to this deal, you can start off with 50 free cards from Shutterfly if you're a blogger! Hooray! I've ordered from Shutterfly before and always been happy. We made photo books with Grace's wedding with them. Now, I can't wait to try their cards! I love the classic looks. I love the bright colors. I love the idea of a collage of what we've been up to. (with cute pics of the girls and maybe a tiny thumbnail of W and I, of course. Let's face it, the girls are who everyone wants to see!) Now to choose!

I think it's that H that sucks me into this one (we like the letter H at our house!)
I love the simplicity of this one!

Decisions, decisions! Shoot me a comment if you want one of these beauties (or another we choose) in the mail soon!

WICKED!!!!!!

Merry Christmas to me!

It came early!

I told my husband that what I wanted for Christmas this year was to NOT miss Wicked when it came to Little Rock!

So I joined a big group of people, we got fabulous seats at a group rate, and off we went!!

I had read the book, so I was familiar with the story which helped. It is a fabulous musical and we enjoyed every minute but the best part was the end of the first act, I must say!
But I'm getting ahead of myself!

First, we went on a fabulous date to the Capital Bar and Grill. Yummy yummy food-we had catfish cakes with remoulade and pickled green tomatoes. Yum!
And the FANCIEST banana cream pie ever for dessert!
It was also Jazz Ensemble night at the Grill-they were great and it was fun to have live music to enjoy dinner with!
And yes, I took a picture in the bathroom. Everyone should go to the bathroom at the Capital Hotel. Just to use their wonderful "paper" towels!
Then we were off to the show!!!


It was wonderful! The evening was perfect! It was the best November Christmas ever!!

Shoes

There was a girl in my kindergarten class who got to wear black patent leather Sunday shoes to school. She had blonde hair, and always had a bow in it. I was insanely jealous of all of these things!!!

I remember one day, I snuck my Sunday shoes into my backpack with the intention of changing into my pretty shoes at school. I have no idea what kind of school shoes I had to wear, but they definitely were NOT as cool as Sunday shoes. SOMEhow, my mom found out. :) I'm sure it was not difficult, really. And I not only didn't get to wear my Sunday shoes, I got into trouble.

M has has sparkly pink tennis shoes for school.

I make her wear them everyday.

I want her to run and play and have fun-not worry about scuffing her church shoes.

Yet, she has the same desire I once had. She wants to wear her pretty shoes to school. Thank heavens for boot day last month and the "fancy feast" this month!!

She got her wish, even suckering me into letting her wear her new Christmas dress to school for the feast! She was escorted by her darling classmate, N, and they had a lovely lunch (at 8:30am!) and fancy feast!

Trashy Flowers

funny story.

I was in Hobby Lobby recently and they were sweeping the floor around the floral area.

There were several flowers in the trash pile, and yes, I scooped them up!

I took them to the register, found my favorite cashier who looks like my sister-in-law's mother, explained that I did not take them from the floor in the floral area or off the flowers and begged to take them home with me! She smiled, put them in the bag and I took them home!

So, the lovely silk flowers that will soon be adorning my daughters' hair? Yeah, they're from the trash pile.

Look-Alike

This is a story from the bathroom.

This picture hangs in my bathroom. It has for several years now. It used to be in my bedroom as a teenager.

Lu walked in one day when I was taking care of business.
She looked up and said,

"that Lucy"

"Yeah, that Lucy, yeah"

Now, squint your eyes, and yes, you'll see it too!

That Lucy!

Shopping with the Girls

Caught on the iPhone....

creating havoc in American Eagle...

they look so innocent...
squishy hugs...
telling secrets...
lunch with Chik-fil-A...
makeovers at Sephora...
glamorous eyes...
pink, of course...
not one to be left out...
"tranquil" Ruby...
rides in the Safari...
WILD rides in the Safari...
I'm an excellent driver...
you should see me delightfully crash my stroller into displays!
and then crashing in the car on the way home for naps!!!

A thoroughly delightful Friday morning!