Did I tell you I'm an Aunt again?! :)

I've been meaning to upload this picture of my darling new little neice (that hopefully I'll meet before too long, being that we live hundreds of miles apart!) LOL





My twin sister and her husband had a baby girl. There little 3 year old son is a proud big brother too!

She was born early February 18th a little premature and weighed 5 lbs and some odd ounces.


Here's a quick digi card I made for her. It's funny because I LOVE pink and she HATES pink! She says that she won't ever put her daughter in pink and is giving our mom a hard time about it too (Our mom says that she'll wear pink when she stays with her!) LOL....oh the joy of family!

Family Fun

We had our Family Fun Day at Catherine's school earlier this month. It's a typical carnival type day at the school. The night before Bobby and I went to help pull all the games down from the attic, then we were there early Saturday morning to help set up.

Towards the end of the day I realized I hadn't gotten any pictures, so I snapped a few of the girls, then Catherine took the camera and went around and too pictures. I'm amazed at the pictures that she took. They came out so well, she focused on getting pictures of people, and she did a great job I'm proud to say. Here's one I took of Abby on the inflatable.

Here's one she snapped of me. This was just after a few of us PTO moms, a couple teachers and the principal did a Video-Kareoke song (it was a beach boys song that I didn't know - something about school). Warning though - this was taken after I've been up since 5 am and working/running around all day. :)

Bobby was away earlier this week - he's home now, and we're all happy! We miss him when he's gone. He's such a good dad! Bobby helped out all day at FFD too, it was a STOP! No work, All Play Saturday...with a bit of a construction/traffic signs theme. The guys all helped out with the food in the kitchen, and they wore those bright yellow reflective vests, while the rest of us had these cool t-shirts (it helped the kids to identify those who were "working" and could help them if needed).

The weekend is coming up and we hope to do something fun. Our 11th anniversary is coming up (on the 15th) so we have the girls scheduled to have a sleepover with a friend. We're not sure what we'll be doing this year. Last year we went to a great B&B. I don't want to spend too much this year though, we have lots of summer vacation plans.

I'm still planning on our big 25th annv - we want to travel to England, Ireland, and Scotland. Of course I'd love to make a day trip over to Paris to see the Eifel tower, and to eat some pastries at one of the cafe's outside.

Oh, so Dr. Suesses birthday was this month. Last week I went in to the school to cook some green eggs and ham (sadly, I forgot to take my camera) but before Catherine went to school I snapped a quick picture of her. They were to wear red & white in honor of Dr. Suess...but we went a little further (yes, her hair is frizzy on purpose).

Backtracking...Catherine's Birthday

Some pictures from Catherine's Birthday last month. It was a Spa Girl party with a small group of girls. It was lots of fun!

As you can see, all the girls were in their PJ's for the spa party including robes & slippers. It was cute. They got to soak their feet in fizzy water, foot lotion, pedicures & manicures and a facial. They ate fruit & granola yogurt parfaits, later they had pizza, cupcakes & ice-cream. Oh, and the fizzy fruit punch cups were rimmed in berry sugar cyrstals.

Catherine finally got her American Girl doll that she has been wanting! :) She got Elizabeth from us, she received money from a few people, and she is planning on buying stuff for her doll. She wants to buy the AG bath tub set, a bed from target online, and coconut the dog. She doesn't have enough money for it all, so she's still trying to figure out which pieces she wants the most. :) She got lots of really nice gifts and she was very thankful and sweet to every guest.

I couldn't have pulled this party off without the help from my sister Tammy that came in for a visit, and my great friend Jenn and her daughter Britanny. They were awesome!!!!

Catherine's first Talent Show

I have now experienced something that many proud parents have many times before me. Seeing my first born performing up on a stage for the first time at a talent show. Yes, I'm a very proud mother! :) I can't stop smiling from the excitement from the evening! I'm just as bad as the kids! LOL :)

It was so adorable seeing Catherine and two of her friends (Samantha & Shannon) up on stage dancing to a song from The Cheetah Girls. They danced a great routine that my friend Jenn (she's also the mom to the other two girls) and I came up with for Girl Power (remix). (Click to hear a sample of the song)

Girl Power (Remix) chorus:
throw your hands up if you know that your a star
(they threw their hands up, and their legs out - making an X)
you better stand up if you know just who you are
(they "popped" back, with their hands on their hips)
never give up, never say die
(they shook their head no, and waved their finger)
girl power, girl power
(they clutched their right hand to their heart, then threw it up and out in an exaggerated motion)

During the rest of the song they turned to the side (rotating from L to R from one refrain to another), shook their hips, and threw out their hand (the one towards the audience) snapping their fingers. ....too adorable really!

They were so awesome! :) I'm waiting for my SLR pictures, because I got some really crappy ones from my digital. I did get a good shot of the girls before they went on stage though.

The audience loved them, and got a kick out of how cute they were, there was lots of chuckles, awwes, and clapping! :)

Catherine also participated in a group collaboration that the room mom put together for their classroom. They sang "If you're happy in first grade, clap your hands..." they wore white shirts, black pants, bright colored scarves/bandana's on, and a kazoo for a special stanza that mentioned their teacher! :)

It was great! A great evening! :) Our school is loaded with talented children, some kids really blew me away with their singing abilities! There were some really cute performances. I can't wait until next year!


Here are some recent pictures of the girls! They are getting so big!!!




Catherine in her Cheetah girl coat ready to go to the talent show (with glitter in her hair and make up on)!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Birthday!

I'm behind again!

Today my first baby is 7! I can't believe 7 years has passed. She is 7 going on 17 though, I might add! :) Her party is this Saturday. It's going to be fun it's a Spa Girl party. I've got my girl friend and her teenager all lined up to help me out with the manicures/pedicures/facials, etc... :)

I just made some yummy cupcakes that I'll take in to her classroom at school. She has brownies tonight (She's selling Girl Scout cookies!) which, it's our turn for snack, so I have the snacks all ready to go. It's so cold outside today, that I put the juice boxes outside to keep chilled! :)







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Christmas was great. The girls were so thankful for everything they got this year. I loved their attitudes. It was very low key and we stayed in our PJ's all day (I have to admit that was really nice!) because we didn't go anywhere and nobody came over.

Oh, we got a new tree this year. It's the first time we've had an artifial tree in years! But I love it, it's from Target, a really nice pre-lit tall skiny tree! :)

I hope everyone had a great New Years!!!! We brought the new year in with friends. It was nice.

Let's talk Turkey!

:) LOL

Is everybody getting excited about Thanksgiving? It's just 2 days away now! :)
Tomorrow I get to make my pies! Yummm, the house will smell so wonderful with all my baking!

I do have to admit that I'm not making homemade rolls this year. I bought some rolls in the freezer section that you bake. Shhh...don't tell anyone! :) LOL

I went to the store last week and bought all my ingredients for our menu. I can't wait.

We'll have the usual

• Turkey
• Stuffing
• Gravy
• Mashed Potatoes w/garlic
• Cranberry Sauce (& sugared cranberries)
• Sweet Potatoes w/caramel sauce
• Green Bean Casserole
• Carrots (I'm not sure if we're doing a honey glaze or just spices)
• Rolls
• Pecan Pie
• Apple Pie

I picked up a couple bottles of wine to go with our meal today. We've got Apple Cider, which I might make some hot spiced cider with part of it.

In a coffe filter I put ground spices: 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. Allspice, 1/4 tsp. Cloves, then tie it off with a rubber band then let it simmer in a half gallon of Apple Cider on the warm setting in your crockpot...it smells so good, and tastes so great too! You can add rum to it if you like, but I'm serving wine so I won't be doing that.

Of course a fun alternative is to let Apple Cider simmer with melted down red hot cinnamon candies (general rule is 2 tsp of candies to every cup of cider).

I am adding a new pie this year, something light and fresh for a twist, Cherry Cheese Pie! ;)

I'm not making Pumpkin Pie, I don't like it, but it just doesn't seem right to not have it, but Bobby told me not to worry with making it. I don't know though, I just might run to the store and pick up the few extra things I'll need to make it...our friends might really want it. I'll just send all pie left-overs with them! :) We did invite a few others over for desert afterwards, I'm not sure if they'll come though...but just incase I need to be prepared, right?! :)

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Catherine is so sweet. Today she was thanking me for all kinds of things I guess she's really taking Thanksgiving to heart. She told me thank you for making her dinner, and helping her with her homework, fixing her hair and all kinds of little things that normally kids just take for granted. It was really heartwarming and I appreciated it. Meanwhile Abby sat at the table saying "Tartersauce" becuase she couldn't get the cap back on her markers! :) LOL

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I'm planning on taking some really great photos of our dinner this year. I'd like to make a little Thanksgiving Recipe Album, so it would be nice to have a great photo with each item, the recipe and some comments about it. I'd also like to include some general "Gratitude", "Blessings" type of pages too. Something that I can have sitting out around the Thanksgiving Holidays for years to come. I'm even thinking of having some blank pages so that Guests can sign it like a Guest book and write a short note of what they're thankful for. I'm really excited about this, I just wish I had time to create this before this Thursday! :) Hmmmm......I wonder if I could squeeze it in....

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As much as I love Thanksgiving, I really can't wait to pull out my Christmas decorations. :D Friday, after I go to the gym, I'll clean the house back up from Thanksgiving and I'll be ready to unload the storage closet just to get to the tubs of Christmas decorations. Funny how much stuff we have for just one month huh?! :)

Anyone going Black Friday Shopping? Not me! No thanks!!! To me, that isn't any fun, and doesn't capture the Holiday Spirit...I don't care how good the sales are, the crowds and traffic just isn't any pleasure to deal with!

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Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!

Disney on Ice

I just got back from taking the girls to see Disney on Ice - Princess Wishes. What a wonderful show, the girls were just mesmerized with the show. They laughed, they giggled, the dreamed, they wished, they had a fabulous time! It was just beautiful, and I loved watching their faces light up with each new princess story that was developing! Wonderful show, go see it if it's in your area!



Catherine my little photographer took this picture of me (I'd do some cropping, but my photo editor isn't working right) I've lost 2 sizes in clothes, so last night at the mall I hit the clearance jackpot at Old Navy. I got a pair of cords and two pairs of jeans for under $20! :) I'd love to loose another 10 to 15 lbs, but I'm really glad that I've done this well so far!

Well, we finally got a new big screen tv. It's future ready with High Def and it's 1080 resolution. It's 57" which is soooo big! I think we need a larger house just to hold it! :) LOL I haven't had a chance to clean up from the install yet, but here's the girls with the new tv...

Well, we had Catherine's 1st grade teacher/parent conference this past week. She's doing great, and is very well behaved in class (I wouldn't expect anything less, she's such a good girl). She's in her the top reading group, spells wonderfully, is doing fantastic in math as well. I need to work with a little on writing, she's doing good but a few letters/numbers she writes backwards (this is common until 3rd grade but now is the time to make the corrections). She's still loving school, and I'm so proud of her! :)

I hope you're all doing great! Hugs!