A Year In Review

Wowzers. I cannot believe that 2009 is leaving us and that 2010 is almost here. Many of you know that I am a political freak and so I am really happy about 2010 coming. Mainly because I'm a conservative in a liberal controlled country but the winds of change are comin!!

Now that I'm off my soapbox, back on track we go.

This has been a crazy, life changing year. Our family grew from 4 to 5 and went from the moody toddler years to the super moody preschool years. Can you only imagine the teenage years for us when we have 3 teenagers?

Today let's do a 12 month picture review.

January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

As our family ends this year we say good bye to being a family of four, potty training (temporarily), some extra weight, curls, the bassinet, and the toddler clothing section (again temporarily)

As this year begins we say hello to baby food, kindergarten (oh goodness), a crib, probably that extra weight's return, twin sized beds, the little girls clothing section, crawling/walking, bike riding, and lots more...

do you think I got through that without crying? ha. think again.

Happy New Year.

The White Christmas

We never go out of town for christmas. We decided many many years ago that when we had kids we would stay home for every christmas. It was a great plan but this year things outside our control happened and we needed to go out of town for christmas. ugh. His Royal Highness' mom offered to come down to visit and take all our gifts back to her house early so that we would have room in the van for our luggage. It sounded like a good idea at the time.... that is until we realized that there was a massive winter storm headed toward the DFW area and she had all our gifts held hostage in that area! She's a smart one..... she also got me a Chi (real, not fake...) for christmas so she's also a giving one. But for the sake of this story, we'll just say that she's a smart one... very cunning and wise. If you want to make sure that your grandchildren come to see you, take all their gifts hostage.

So we headed off from 60 degree Houston on Christmas Eve in hopes of arriving at his parent's house by dinner time that evening and with plenty of time left in the evening for telling the christmas story and making cookies. We had no idea then that we would talk about the christmas story at Jack-in-the-Box while sharing fries instead of cookies.

A winter storm had descended upon the DFW area and our trip quickly turned into a slow steady crawl on texas ice skating rinks, known to some as roads. The only place we could find open to eat was that Jack-in-the-box hours after we should already arrived at his parents and it made a great lesson to teach the girls about how Mary and Joseph searched for a place to stay the night before Jesus was born. Eight hours later and after three hours of driving no more than 25 mph, we finally pulled into his parent's driveway and decided that we would not drive again on the ice, even if it meant we were stuck there long than expected. I was frazzled and seriously almost threw up a few times while driving. If I was by myself it wouldn't have been so bad but my heart was in the back of the van and their lives mean everything to me. I swore up and down at that point that I would never travel for christmas again..... until....

I woke up to this....

My first white christmas.... ever....I'm approaching a higher number birthday wise than I care to talk about and I've never had a white christmas. I honestly don't remember ever playing in snow as deep as we played in that day. It was magical.

The rest of the day was wonderful. The older princesses loved christmas morning even though Princess Newbie had to be woken up to join up and was grouchy. Here are a few pictures of our morning for all of you to enjoy.

Don't worry about Princess Newbie though.... she got the best gift of all. A grandmother to hold her and fuss over her for hours and hours that day. Now that's one blessed baby....

A Handmade Christmas

I'm back. I know I've been missing in action the past few days. My goal for this christmas was to do as many handmade gifts as possible. It was a great goal! I should have just started crafting in september but I chose to start around december tenth. That must be why there was three wise men in the christmas story, because women procrastinate. Jesus would have been filling out college applications before they arrived.

I actually still haven't finished. My niece and nephew in east Texas will be receiving their gifts sometime in the spring. haha.

But I will show you a few things that I did finish and have been given already....

bows. I made over 40 hair bows... all different colors, styles, materials, etc...

a monogrammed shirt with my new embroidery machine

peg dolls. 24 handpainted peg dolls. I loved these, so fun to do.

A special wooden tile necklace. Not the cookbook, just the necklace

A crayon / car wallet. look inside....

cars on the left, crayons on the right....

race track on the back.

I'm not 100% sure but I think everyone enjoyed their gifts.

So much more happened over the christmas holidays that I'll be showing you in the next few days. But for now, I need sleep... lots and lots of sleep.

I'm going to get it!!!

seriously. I know you're pumped (add pumped to that list of things I'm now too old to say)

Try to calm down and breathe.

I know you have no idea what I'm talking.

I'll be going here.....

sorry but that's the only picture I could find.

to pick up my christmas gift from my hunka hunka burning piece of love, otherwise known as His Royal Highness. I can barely contain my excitement.

I'll reveal the big gift later. I'm so excited! Santa I know him!!!!

Sometimes you have bad days in life. Sometimes you have bad months. Sometimes you might even have a bad year. Today was just one of those days that you want to file in the return to sender file. haha. Can you do that?

Just a sampling of my day:
1. Princess Goofy got her hand shut inside our sliding van door. Our van has sensors that won't let you close the door if hands or body parts are in the way. Apparently my rear end is too large for the sensors though because it has closed on that before. Don't worry, the door was not dented. Back to the story. She got her hand wedged in the one area of the door that there is no sensor. When I looked in the window from the outside of the van all I could see was her in a complete panick. She was screaming, crying, and jumping up and down all while her hand was still shut in the door. I opened it and Princess Girly Girl said in a perfectly happy sing song voice, "her hand was stuck in the door."  Sympathy, it's a gift that not all four year olds have required yet.  Thankfully her hand is not hurt in any way. She can't even remember which hand it was. We were blessed in that.

2. Princess Girly Girl threw a stompin, jacket throwin' fit in Target. The joy of a mother's heart... fits in public.

3. Gasoline poured out all over my jeans when I picked up the gas pump to fill up the van today. And I thought baby spit up was the new look for winter....

4. Princess Girly Girl slid coming down the stairs this afternoon and rammed her cheek straight into the downstairs toy box. She split her lip open and has a nice bruise on her cheek. Princess Newbie started crying when she heard her sister crying so I asked Princess Goofy to please cheer up Princess Newbie who was laying on the floor on her mat. Princess Goofy was her normal self and went stumbling backwards, falling directly on Princess Newbie. I had three crying Princesses all at the same time.

5. I got the bill for our home birth. Which was about $2,000 more that we expected, thanks to our wonderful health insurance.

6. His Royal Highness beat me at Ice Skating on the Wii. I'm the girl! I'm supposed to win the ice skating!

Hopefully now I can ignore the presents that are on the table, not in the mail as they should be, and just relax for the night. If you are expecting a christmas present via mail from me, please look for it in May.

It might have been a rough day but we are still blessed. I would pay $10,000,000,000. just to have Princess Newbie around and I would put up with a million more tears just to make sure that the older princesses are safe.

Hare Today, Goon Tomorrow

You're beautiful, that's for sure.

I got the bill for Princess Newbie's birth today. Then I had no choice but forward the email containing to amount owed to His Royal Highness. As I expected, the phone rang within seconds of pressing the send button.

That's when I heard the words. "I was going to get you a mac laptop for christmas, but instead I'm getting you a birth."  ACKAASLDUJASFOIAJSERLADFN ILASJF A>KDFNIOHJWERLKN.

In the words of my favorite children's book, Little Bunny Foo Foo.... .. "Hare today, Goon tomorrow".

Good bye macbook pro... I loved you while it lasted.

Somewhat related but not really is the fact that I dated a guy in college that proclaimed a song by Nelly Furtado to be our song. The words are as follows:

you're beautiful..... thats for sure. you're never,... ever fake.

you're lovely, but this is not for sure.... i won't ever change.
and though my love is real.... and though my love is true.....
i am like a bird, i only fly away. i dont know where my soul is.... , i dont know where my home is.
all i need for to is.... you're faith in me... brings me to tears
(((even after all these years)))))
and it pains me so much to tell.... that you dont know me that well...
and though my love is real, and though my love is true.....
i am like a bird, i only fly i dont know where my soul is, i dont know where my home is.
its not that i want to say goodbye, its just that everytime you try to tell me that you love me... each and every single day, i know im going to have to eventually give you away.
and though my love is real, and though my love is true....
im just scared...... that we may fall through.
i am like a bird, i dont know where my soul is... i dont know where my home is.


Do you think he realized that the song is about someone who can't commit? Do you think I should have read through the lines? hmmmm... and now it's funny that I am like a bird..

but I didn't find my home until I became a bird.

Best Birthday Party Ever!

I've featured the website http://www.skiptomylou.org/ on my blog before. It's one of my favorite blogs out there besides The Pioneer Woman. Today I clicked on the link to find one of the best birthday parties ever! It has great ideas for parents that have kid's birthdays in december.

Go check out this link to the santa birthday party and then come back to let me know what your favorite part was.

Mine was:

1. the candy cane placecard holders
2. Santa reading the book, "The Night Before Christmas".

In unrelated news..... Tonight we are taking the princesses to pick out an angel from the angel tree. I'm really excited. I think the best legacy that I can give my kids is the legacy of giving to others.

Too Cute For Tuesday

Adorable.

Lately Princess Newbie has developed a cowlick on the side of her head. Her hair sticks out in the craziest manner.  I don't know how to stop it! Crazy Glue?

For a Special Girl...

This weekend I made a special gift for a special girl. It's a crayon roll-up/ peg doll wallet. It's the perfect thing for a kid on the go. Since this girl happens to belong to my favorite 40 year old pastor, she's on the go all the time.

It has a special place for crayons on the right, peg dolls on the left, and a notepad in the middle. All wrapped up in a sturdy fabric case with a monkey closure makes it a perfect present for a perfect girl.

Christmas Play, oh Christmas Play....

Remember this video?

It's that time of year again. The church christmas play is in the morning. What will it be this year? Will Princess Goofy steal the spotlight again? Will Princess Girly Girl stand there like a deer in the headlights? I have my own bets on this one. What do you think?

We'll be video taping it again. .... Chances are, it might just show up here.

You know you're getting older when...

You know you're getting older when you spend your friday night browsing lowes.com looking at new ovens and dishwashers and perhaps a little drool escapes from your mouth..... just sayin'......

Meeting the Pioneer Woman

His Royal Highness claims that I stalk the Pioneer Woman. I claim that she is my best friend, although she may not know this.

This past saturday Ree was here in Houston signing copies of her cookbook. My dad was supposed to be in town so I had already accepted the fact that our day of best friend activities such as pedicures, tea, sushi, etc... would have to wait until another time. Then a little thing called the Great Houston Snow of 09' happened and my dad canceled his trip. To say that my head started spinning was an understatement. You may not realize this but I am a shy, fly on the wall type person. I am not outgoing in situations where I am not extremely familiar with people. I think I asked His Royal Highness at least 50 times if I should go to the book signing. The first time he said yes, the other 49 times he just ignored me.

So saturday morning I packed up Princess Newbie and we headed to the book signing. I honestly did not take Princess Newbie just so that the PW could drool over her but it did not help that on that particular day almost every single outfit she owned was in the wash. There were no clean socks, no matching hair bows to be found. She had scratched her face several times the night before and her hair had this oily/punk rocker look going on. I still think that she hung the moon but other babies that were there could have been on the cover of Vanity Fair they were so chic.

I got there at 11:50 and grabbed a seat to wait until 1:00 when the PW would do a short question/ answer session. She finally appeared a few minutes after 1:00.

I think a few women in the crowd might have fainted at this point.

Alright, she is not possesed.... this is what happens when I play with photoshop late at night and I'm tired. My red eye removal ran amuck.

That's better.

There's a few things that make me admire the Pioneer Woman

1. She is positive

2. She laughs a lot and occasionally at herself

3. She loves her family

4. she has killer cooking and photography skills. (am I too old to say killer?)

The question and answer session just proved all these thoughts to be true.  I now know what underwear Marlboro man wears. Yes, I do. Do you?

After she was done speaking, the waiting began. I met a lot of great people. Some of them proved the fact to me that I am actually not a stalker, they are stalkers. His Royal Highness has now changed his tune to, "You just look up to her." Exactamondo dude.  I did meet some people that are just great people and we exchanged information to get together again in the future.

Princess Newbie was so good, never crying. In fact, she decided to do a little reading.

No more baby books for me, it's hardcore from here on out!

I love it!!

Finally after about six hours of waiting and a short trip home to pick up HRH and the other two princesses, we were almost there!

I'll let you in on a little secret...... The night before I had practiced (in my head of course) about 5 different possible converstations. All of them were funny and witty. They could have won a Nobel Peace Prize, which seems to be extremely easy to come by these days.

Then....

It happened. I met her. And do you know what I said? It went something like this.... "uh...duh... Are you tired?"  AGH! That's some hard hitting journalism right there. Tom Brokaw, eat your heart out! That was not the speeches that I had rehearsed and faked laughed at.

I'm a goober. There's no other explanation for it.

So here it is.. the official picture:

Why do my bangs always break apart into little bunches like that?

Princess Newbie looks like she's crying out for help.

Ree, your white teeth are making me look like a chain smoker.

Help me Rhonda, help help me Rhonda.

Overall, it was great. It was worth the time waiting, it was worth the verbal vomit from my blank mind and it was worth my 12 pack a day habit (just kidding).

Come back soon Pioneer Woman, I'll have the sushi and Starbucks waiting.

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

I know I haven't finished posting about meeting The Pioneer Woman yet. To do that I would have to crawl under my bed to retrieve my laptop, get my camera and cables out, connect it all, and then upload all the pictures.

But while I was gone all day saturday to meet her, the house somehow exploded into mass chaos. I'm not sure how that happened. (ok.. so I have an idea) Today I spent four hours cleaning and two hours dealing with the small car accident I had two weeks ago. In case you didn't know, an extremely nice old man ran into the back of my van. There wasn't really any damage except two little holes in my bumper from the bolts that were holding on his liscense plate and some chipped paint.  Then I tried to spend the evening with my husband who will be gone for the next two days. After all of that, I just didn't have the energy to go laptop fishing under the bed. (I'm sitting at our desktop which I do not touch with my camera equipment since someone has claimed this as "his" computer.)

Basically I will have a rental van for the next week or so. I hate it. really. The girls climbed in it this evening for the first time and flipped down a compartment that usually holds the DVD screen in our van and found a sunglass holder instead. haha. I laughed at their expense but I shouldn't have. The second I put that thing in reverse I realized that I was in huge trouble. My van has a backup camera that I rely on like I do air. This one does not. I immediately broke up in a huge sweat. His Royal Highness later made a comment about how much trouble I had backing out of the parking spot. For the rest of this week I will only be parking in spots that I can pull forward out of. I'm not joking. Unless you ride with me, then I'll just make you get out, even in the rain, and help guide me out. The van is a dodge caravan but I think an elephant would be a smoother ride. Now I know why Dodge's non truck division is almost bankrupt.

Tomorrow His Royal Highness has to return to Louisiana for his cousin's funeral. Mitch was only 21 and should have had a full life ahead of him. Please remember this winter to drive slowly on wet or icy streets. Also put down the cell phones, no talking or texting while driving. Most of all remember that no one has the promise of tomorrow, make today count.

The Pioneer Woman

Ok, I finally met her. Is she fantastic? yes. Was I a total dork? of course.

I would tell you all about it but it's been a long day and in the words of The Sound of Music, "The sun has gone to bed and now must I,..... goodnight.... goodnight... goodnight".

And yes, I did hit the high note when I sung that just now.

I'll show you the nicer non-Iphone pictures tomorrow. goodnight.

UNO momentous por favor

Alright, I left. But I am going back!! I'm running home to grab the rest of the royal family. Also I haven't ate anything except a rice cake today. I'm starving!

After a fresh diaper, for the baby not myself, and a new outfit ( also for princess newbie) we will be back to meet the queen of spanx.

Waiting

Just waiting. Someone brought cookies to share with everyone which was great since all I've ate today is a rice cake. Princess newbie is asleep in my arms or I would go get food. Do you realize how cruel it is to hold a cookbook when you're starving?


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I'm here!!!

More to come..... FYI... It's boxers, no briefs for MM. I don't care but you might....,,


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Holy Snow Batman!

It snowed in Houston today. I'll give you a minute to pick yourself up off the floor. ................ ok... better now?

They predicted it yesterday and honestly I did not believe it. His Royal Highness woke me up this morning when he called to tell me that it was snowing in downtown Houston. I watched outside all morning waiting for the first flakes to fall. The second I saw them, we headed outside because I didn't know how long they would last! Later in the morning it started sticking and I let the older two princesses outside to play again but I kept Princess Newbie inside since she has a cold already!

They had so much fun and Princess Goofy asked me if it can please snow again tomorrow. I wish princess, I wish.

Princess Goofy refused to let me take her picture. I love this kid!

I also wanted to post a few pictures of these cute christmas onesies for a boy. I love the vest and bowtie combo. They turned out really cute.

Lastly, I might be going to meet The Pioneer Woman (YES, that Pioneer Woman) tomorrow at her local book signing but I can't decide if I'm going to go for sure. His Royal Highness and I talked at length tonight about how I could freak out and screw up the entire thing. Yeah, cause' I'm coordinated like that.  If I do go, I will be blogging live from the event!! Via my Iphone.