Show N' Share

I am seriously slacking when it comes to blogging lately. Everything has been so hectic lately that the blog has had to take the back seat to life. I think after the holiday I will finally be able to get things caught up. I've said that before though haven't I? :o)

Last Friday Taylor took Madison to school for Show N' Share (same as show n' tell). It was so sweet. Jess met us at the school and as soon as they got there Taylor just lit up. In fact, she cried when I told her Jess wouldn't be there at noon but she would come later in the day. She sure loves her little cousin! 

It was so cute to hear all the little questions the kids asked - "how long have you had her?", "where did she come from?", "is she yours now, Taylor?". Love those little minds!! 

I was so happy we got to take pictures of it and Jess even recorded some of it. I have a feeling these two girls will be very close growing up. It will be fun showing these pictures to both of them in a few years.  

More posts soon to come! I have so much to share ;o)

It's Wednesday?

How can it possibly already be Wednesday night? Actually, it's pretty close to being Thursday already and I am not really sure how that happen.

I hate when you start out the week with all these great intentions and then somehow they all get put on the back burner. I did manage to accomplish a few things I wanted to so far.

We got together to start a craft with Aunt Jess. You can tell in this picture that Taylor really wasn't feeling very well still.

We got the carpets cleaned on Monday. Oh. My. Goodness. They needed it. Bad. I was shocked when we moved our couches at how dirty our carpets got in just over a years time. The Company that came was so nice. I'm happy with our floors again. So while we had everything moved out of the way I took advantage of cleaning all the other rugs and hardwood floors. I love a clean house.

Tuesday I got to get a lot done that needed to be done. We even managed to squeeze a craft into our day. DJ was lucky and got to sneak off to work while the carpets were still drying so Taylor and I got to start Tuesday off by putting the house back together. She liked rearranging her loft and I have to say we did a pretty good job. It's still a work in progress but it's clean and now we just need minor touches to complete that room. 

We played "beauty saloner". I love playing this with Taylor. She gets out her princess hair and makeup kit and says she wants to pretend to be a "Beauty Saloner Girl" (meaning a hair or makeup stylist). She always makes me so beautiful. I didn't get a picture of me this time so I told her we could do it again really soon. She even did my makeup that time! I kept trying to kiss DJ with my hot pink kid makeup lips but he wasn't having it. :o) Taylor loves wearing the pearl necklace my grandma gave her. So priceless!

We did a lot of running around - trips to Target, Michael's and Home Depot. Then grocery shopping. Sometimes I don't mind grocery shopping but I just wasn't feeling it yesterday. I think we'd been to enough stores that I just didn't have the energy but I put on my big girl panties and went. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the garage working on our craft project. 

We did pedicures in the middle of kitchen floor. 

And did all her Valentine's Day cards for school. Here's one for one of her teachers. I should have gotten a picture of both.

Everyday for us is jam packed until Monday so I am so glad we got some of this stuff into this week. We have 2 birthday parties, a baby shower, a family lunch, brothers to pick up at the airport, an assessment for Taylor at school, book orders to put together, tests for school that need to be taken, taxes that need to be done, and my list goes on. But I won't bore you. I will post pictures of our craft project tomorrow. It's bright and exciting. Let's just say it involves the name Tootie-Fruitie.

A Future Host

On any given weekend morning you won't hear cartoons blaring in the background of our house. Instead you'll hear a cooking show. It's not me watching these shows - it's Taylor. We have our DVR setup to record some of her favorite Disney cartoons - Doc McStuffins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Gaspard & Lisa. Every now and then she'll ask for a cartoon but I can't tell you the last time it was her first choice. Given a choice she would prefer to watch one of her favorite cooking shows over a cartoon any day.

She's pretty slow to wake up in the mornings so when she can she comes down to the kitchen with a blanket in tow, asks for a glass of milk and if DJ or I can put a cooking show on for her. I think it's so funny and we have decided that if she could, Taylor would be the host of her own cooking show by age 14.

So if you pop in on a slow morning at our house this is how you're most likely to find her . . .

Her favorite is Pioneer Woman and coming in second is Trisha Yearwood. 

It doesn't matter if she has seen every episode more than once. She'll watch it again. And every time she watches these shows she comments on something - saying "we should make that" or "see how easy that is mom".  We've even caught her playing 'Pioneer Woman' (as Taylor calls it). She goes into the loft and gets out all of her play food and sets up her little kitchen just so. Then you can hear her saying "Add a fourth a cup of. . .", "bring to a boil and stir", or "just chop these up real nice". She's even used her play dough as 'food' and gets a butter knife from the kitchen so she can chop it all up. It's the funniest thing. The other night she was even playing it in the bath tub and got out saying, "I'm Mrs. Ree Drummond". Oh how I wish Taylor could meet Pioneer Woman one day. It would be a dream come true for her. And I think the Easter Bunny may just leave a copy of one of Pioneer Woman's cook books in her Easter basket. She'd be more excited to see that than anything else. 

Creating Memories

I've been watching Taylor the past few weeks realizing just how quickly she's grown up. DJ and I always go through pictures of her as a baby, watch the videos and reminisce over the funny things she used to do. It was only a few years ago that she was a baby so it's easy to remember a lot of it. I got sad thinking that in a few years it won't be so easy to remember everything and I may start to forget things. I decided then that I need to make sure I am more present in the everyday events. I need to make sure she has my full attention when we're playing a game, let the dishes sit in the sink a little while longer if she wants me for something or just stop to give more hugs. I need to write down more of the funny things she does and says, keep a hold of more of the art work she does and really enjoy the simple everyday things that go on here. After all isn't that what makes being a mom so great?

These are all the things I want to remember the most. Nothing great or over the top about any of it. But I want to remember the everyday moments that bring a smile to my face. 

Her drawing skills are getting so good! I want to frame everything she does. I was working on the book order packets for her school one night and I told her while I worked on that I wanted her to work on her own project. I wanted her to draw a very special picture for her Daddy since he was missing her a lot. After she drew it she had to explain it to me. . .

She started with just her hands and added the flowers. Then she wanted to draw a picture of Mommy and Daddy and we're supposed to pretend we're on the beach. I'm the orange one and DJ's the green one with the beard. I thought the beard was a nice touch on her part. So cute! She thought it would be helpful if Daddy knew how to hang the picture too so the purple circles at the top are where he's supposed to put the nails. Since she did that I know I need to find somewhere in the house to hang it! Maybe on DJ's side of the bed. :o)
And I'm thinking about making this the new image on my phone for when DJ calls. . .

She was holding her baby so tight last night that I found her like this . . . 

Her poor lip was just stuck to that baby dolls head! She'll be such a great mommy one day.

We were cleaning up dinner and Taylor was setting up the game Connect 4. As I cleared the table I leaned down to her and said "Hey, I have a secret for you. I love you!" Her response was "I love you too. Hey Mommy, I have a secret for you too. You're old." Taylor's lucky she's so cute! She can't wait to be a true grown up so I'm thinking in her mind this was a compliment :o)

We often have the discussion that goes something like this . . .

Me: "Well when you're a big girl you can (insert what she wants or wants to do)

Taylor: "Mom, I am a big girl!! I'm 4!! (saying this as she's holding up her four tiny fingers as high in the air as she can)

Then I have to continue to tell her that there are different types of big girls and there are just some things she isn't big enough for. She gets so exasperated and mad when I tell her this. I wish there was a way I could explain to her that staying young as long as she can really is a good thing.

She got a bad blister over the weekend. 

We've been having to replace the band-aid throughout the day because she says her toes are so sweaty that they're making the band-aid come off. I never like to see her in any type of pain but it does warm my heart to know that I can make her feel better just by fixing her band-aid. 

Whether its a priceless drawing, a goofy conversation at dinner or replacing a band-aid for the umpteenth time that day I want to remember all of it. I am so lucky to be this little girls mommy. 

V.I.P.

Taylor is always a VERY IMPORTANT PERSON (VIP) for DJ and I but for one week of the school year she gets to be the class VIP. Man does she ever get excited about this!

She wanted to pick out her own outfit for her last day of being VIP.

 My little fashionista in the making! Before we left for school she had paired this outfit with yellow princess high heels. . . 

She gets to take show'n'tell on both days of class, gets to be the special class helper, wears a special ribbon on her shirt and her teachers help her fill out a paper about herself. 

Last year was her first year of preschool and it was too cute to see. She took Gabby and Baby Alive for show'n'tell last year and this was the form she filled out . . . 

I love that the teachers do this with them every year. I may have to write these things down each year just for my own memories sake.

I didn't get a picture of her form yet but it was pretty darn cute. Her favorite food is still Daddy's steak but now it's Daddy's Steak with Mom's Corn. I sure am good at opening that canned corn and putting it in a pot! :o)

Her favorite thing to do is still play with her babies and her favorite movie is still the Barbie and the Three Musketeers.

I am not sure where she got this (maybe the cooking show we watched the night before about making glazed donuts) but her eyes are no longer just brown. They are 'glazed brown'!

To my relief she doesn't want to work in the concrete business anymore. Nope, now she told her teacher she wants to be a stay-at-home-mom with 3 girls! She's a girl after my own heart but I'd at least like to have a boy in the mix. :o)

On Monday she took Grandpa for show'n'tell. She told her class about going camping, playing in the backyard and getting to help grandpa take care of all his plants. When one of her teachers, Ms. Chris, asked Taylor what she liked to do in Grandpa's yard she said "pick up dog poop". It was priceless! 

I looked back at her first day of school pictures and I wanted to cry just seeing how much she has changed.

(2011-2012 school year)

(2012-2013 school year)

I can't wait to see how much our little VIP changes next year!  

Happenings Around Here

Every New Year I get this crazy itch to get organized (more than I already am), to de-clutter the house and make a list, not resolutions, but a list of things I'd like to get accomplished. Of course, just like any other year, I did just that.

And since the New Year I have been working feverishly to get that list done. I don't like to let it sit around all year not getting accomplished. That list is also why I haven't gotten much blogging done.

So here's what we've been up to lately. . .

DJ's traveling more than usual so I baked for 6 hours one day so he would have lots of food readily available for when he needed it. I made Cinnamon Delight Bread (a great recipe I got from my Aunt). . .

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins. . .

...Jambalaya, and Mini Chicken Pot Pies. I didn't get pictures of everything because quiet honestly I was tired at the end of the day. I'll share the recipes soon!

I got a lot of stuff checked off my new list of things to do - updated my external hard-drive, typed up a bunch of recipes I've torn out from magazines, and I've caught up on a lot of reading. I have finished one book and am already on to the next. I always have a lot of cleaning on my list of things to do. So far we've organized the loft, cleaned the laundry room (including behind the machines!), and cleaned/organized the office which turned into a full day event.

Taylor played dress up while I finished cleaning the office. My first communion dress is still a bit big for her but she fell in love with it!

She has been studying a lot . . .

I took over the book order duties for Taylor's school . . .

We went to a birthday party . . .

I still have several big things on my list-of-things-to-do but it's getting smaller everyday and we've been busy around here. Classes start again for me on the 22nd so I'm hoping to have most of it done by then. :o)

Christmas Morning 2012 Video

Before we get too far into the New Year I wanted to get this out there. This made one of my favorite Christmas memories! We open all of our gifts on Christmas Eve so she only had to see what Santa left her. It was so funny to watch! Santa really came through this year though - especially with 2 packs of fake long nails!

Merry Christmas 2012

We had a fantastic Christmas here. We started celebrating Christmas Eve with the traditional BBQ dinner at our house. It was smaller than years in the past but it was still nice to be surrounded by family on Christmas Eve.

Preston's girlfriend got to join us this year. Taylor loves Kasie. She's always showing us where she lives when we drive by her neighborhood and asking Preston if she can go with him when they hang out. Taylor is one lucky little lady that Uncle Preston's nice enough to let her tag along.

Tay got her very first softball glove! I can't wait to look out the window and see her and DJ playing catch in our yard.

And a very special treat from Daddy. She got her first NFL jersey and of course we can't get a jersey for anyone but Peyton Manning. We love him in this house.

New Christmas jammies. . .

And what family event would be complete without some type of frosting battle? This time it was with the chocolate from the chocolate fountain. Poor Great Grandma. I'm glad she has fun goofin' around with these boys!

We left cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer. We wrote our note for Santa and Taylor really hoped the reindeer would eat all their carrots this year. Last year she was pretty upset to see that one of them had left half a carrot behind.

We read two books before bed - The Soldiers' Night Before Christmas and the classic Night Before Christmas. Taylor woke up at 5:30am to tell us it was Christmas morning. We made her crawl into bed with us and fall back asleep. At 7:30am she woke up and excitedly said, "Merry Christmas! Daddy, Mommy, it's time to get up now! It's Christmas time!!". Then DJ explained to her that we had snuck up on Santa last night while he was dropping off presents for her and we got pictures of him by our tree! Taylor just looked at DJ with big eyes and said "you mean like the M&M's did"? We were so confused and she said "you know, when the red one says 'he really does exist' and then falls over". We had no idea she was referring to an M&M Christmas commercial.

She thought it was so silly that Santa left some crumbs from his cookies behind but loved that we got pictures of him next to our tree as he dropped of presents for her.

 I LOVE her morning hair. The bangs crack me up!

She was very excited to see that Santa came through this year and brought her a pink Razor scooter. But my favorite part of Christmas came when she got to see what Santa left in her stocking. She opened up her stocking, closed it on her lap, looked at me and DJ and said, "Are you kidding me?!?! 2 packs!!" She was over the moon about the 2 packs of fake press-on nails Santa had left in her stocking. Santa sure did good this year!  

I honestly think she may have been more excited about the little things filling her stocking than she was with everything she had opened on Christmas Eve. When she found the package of new princess panties she pulled them out and said "New panties! It's just what I wanted!"

A new tooth brush got a great reaction too . . .

Special new earrings of her very own . . .

And the morning wouldn't be complete without a test drive through the hallway on her brand new scooter.

Her big present from DJ and I was the V-Tech Innotab 2S. It's like an iPad for little hands. Everything she likes to do on DJ's iPad can be done on this. She can play games, draw pictures, read books, work on writing and spelling. The best thing about it is the games have different levels so they can be played up until she's 9 year old. She hasn't let it down since she got it.

After Christmas morning festivities at our house we went to Paul and Carrie's for Christmas breakfast. We look forward to this every year. After breakfast the younger kids (Taylor and cousins) get to open gifts and this year the adults all did a White Elephant gift exchange. It was pretty fun and I think everyone was very happy with what they got. Joel and Ranee got to join us this year too!

Taylor got a Barbie camper from Grandma and Grandpa. I think it was very fitting since she's always asking to go play in their real camper in the back yard! She's even made Grandpa have a camp out back there this summer! One morning he even let her eat breakfast out there after having a sleep over.

We spent the rest of the morning snacking on food, playing games and hanging out. Later in the afternoon we headed over to Paul's parents house to spend some time with that side of the family. Taylor was so excited to see her cousin Sophia. That poor girl gains an extra shadow every time Taylor is around. We are so blessed to have such great family to spend the holidays with. We wouldn't want it any other way.  

And just for giggles. . . my two loves dressing alike . . . We may have to get DJ a jersey for the Bronco's though.

Here Comes Santa Clause

Taylor was so excited to go see Santa. We went to the Bass Pro Shop again and I was excited to see that it was the same Santa she's seen for the past two years. Now when she looks back on the pictures she won't ask why Santa has changed so much!

Every year we get a picture of Taylor in front of this old red truck. I love it!

While you wait for Santa they have a whole slew of things to keep the little ones occupied!

Taylor was so excited to see Santa this year. She does have one concern though. Taylor thinks that because we don't have a fireplace Santa will just bypass our house. DJ told her that Santa has the code to get into the house through the garage and I told her that if he forgets the code he has magic powers.

I love that he is listening so intently as she tells him she'd like a pink Barbie Razor scooter and fake long nails for Christmas.

I'm glad this isn't on her Christmas list this year!

The girl version of A Christmas Story!

 "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!"

Santa text me the other night when a certain Miss someone was misbehaving and told me that she better be careful not to get on the naughty list! I felt a little bad afterwards because I didn't think she would react so strongly to it. She sat strait up and was on her best behavior the rest of the night. The next morning she even asked me to text Santa again and tell him that she was being very patient and acting like a good girl. This is such a fun age! (I made a contact in my phone named Santa Clause and used my own phone number. I can just send a text to myself and delete some of them to make it look like Santa and I are having a real conversation. I got the idea off Pinterest). :o)