Saturday, January 21, 2012

{the most long awaited snow day EVER}

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It FINALLY came! Snow! Some of you who live in warmer climates may think we're nuts, and that's fine. We northerners like a variety of weather. Well, at least this northerner does. I like my winter a bit on the snowy side. Now come March 22nd, I would rather not see any more of the fluffy white stuff. But, having to wait until January 19th for snow....well, that's too much. And, truth be told, I actually enjoyed getting up at 7am  - ON A SATURDAY - and shoveling the driveway this morning. It was so peaceful. No one was out with their snow removal machines. Just me, Eric, our shovels, and a gorgeous sunrise. Nothing better than that to start the day.

A bit later, the girlies wanted to get outside and enjoy Mother Natures present for them. And enjoy they did.

Did I mention that this girl got straight A's on her progress report? Did I mention that she has a 99% in math? She just LOVES school. She LOVES learning new stuff. We are so proud!
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She did eat quite a bit of snow while she was outside - hopefully all those smarts come with some common sense.......we do have yellow snow around our house.

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Building snow forts, and making cherry ice pie. Sand toys do double duty.

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Happy snow day to ALL!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

{41 and mothballs....}

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Eric turned 41 today. We celebrated last night because he works late tonight - I KNOW, on HIS BIRTHDAY - and because my Mom couldn't be here today. Not that my Mom HAS to be here for Eric's birthday, but she did get him a gift, and that entitles you to a piece of cake. Right? Well, maybe that's just my rule.

Anyway, at 41 Eric is still the same as he was when he was just 40 - except now he wears a tie. Apparently, over 40 means FANCY. Guess I had better get my cocktail dresses out of storage. I still have a couple years, but I think I may need some time to get that mothball smell out.

And, now, this has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with Eric, or turning 41, but I thought I would share a story, that probably only I think is funny...it has to do with mothballs.

My friends Tracy and Ian bought a house years ago from a an older woman. The house was in it's original condition when they bought it - I believe it had been built in the 60's. It had PINK carpeting, although some may have called it rose, and PINK walls. It also had the traditional pink bathroom, and baby blue bathroom. It was all kinds of awesome. If you saw the house the day they moved in and then saw the house today, you would swear it was a different house.

Anyway, the mothballs. So, of course, the night they moved in, we had a painting party, and painted all the walls white. PINK BE GONE! Tracy's Mom was kind enough to cater dinner - KFC. We ate quite a bit, and put the leftovers in the fridge, along with our cans of soda, and some delicious brownies that another friend had brought over. This is FLORIDA people. You can't leave food out. EVER. Unless you like ants.

The next day, they renovations continued. And we got hungry. So, we opened the fridge and prepared to eat the delicious chicken leftover from the night before.

Are you wondering what all of this has to do with mothballs? Are you hungry for KFC?

We all took out first bite of chicken, and then we all promptly spit it out. It tasted like MOTHBALLS!! WTF? How. In. The. Heck?

Okay fine. We'll get something else to eat. Let me just get a drink of my Coke.

HOLY CRAP! MOTHBALLS!! REALLY WTF? It's a SEALED can!!!!

And then we looked over at the tray of brownies. And then we cried, for these brownies are the BEST. BROWNIES. EVER. And now they also tasted like MOTHBALLS.

I don't know why they didn't kick the fridge to the curb at that point, but they didn't. I recall Tracy froze some meat in the freezer soon after they moved in. She defrosted it, and made dinner with it - and guess what? MOTHBALLS. Then they kicked the fridge to the curb.

I guess the original owner was so OBSESSED with not having moths, she put mothball EVERYWHERE. Including behind the refrigerator. After years of it being in the vents for the fridge, it became the mothball refrigerator.

Thus endeth the mothball story. Don't you feel better now?

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIC! We're having mothballs for dinner tonight!

Monday, January 16, 2012

{aware}

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I was reading this blog post today, don't carpe diem, and oh boy, did that resonate with me. To give you the cliff notes, it's about those people who tell you that you should appreciate and enjoy every moment of your child's young life because it's fleeting.

I know it's fleeting. I know that tomorrow my kids will be one day closer to teenager-hood and adult-hood. But, when I hear stuff like that, I can't help but feel a little guilty about my days with my girls. Did I appreciate them enough? Did I stop and really LOOK at them?

Maybe. I am not sure. I might have been too busy caught up in the mess that was left in the kitchen/bathroom/bedroom/basement. I might have been too busy yelling at them to get along. I might have been too busy cleaning up yet ANOTHER spilled cup of juice. Or working. Or doing laundry. Or cooking.......

Do you know when I will have a moment to stop and remember all the cuteness, the things they said, their teeny fingers, their jokes that make no sense....do you know when?

When they are all grown and out of my hair.

If that's not an advertisement for scrapbooking, I don't know what is.

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And YES, I am truly aware that Emily is not in even ONE of these photos. She's not home during the day - she's in school. And when she is home, she is NOT into having her photo taken. She's too busy with her friends. 

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Monday, January 9, 2012

{cowgirl}

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Picked up these adorable pink cowgirl boots on clearance today. There were a couple of other options, but once Paige saw the PINK cowgirl boots...it was all over. And of course, once we got home we had to ACCESSORIZE!! I love this girl.......

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Friday, January 6, 2012

{besties}

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They are having a sleep-over in Emily's bedroom tonight.

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I love how much they LOVE each other. I enjoy the heck out of it because soon, it will be a bunch of: "she stole my sweater, she ruined my favorite shoes..." and door-slamming. Sisters are forever.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

{emily @nine}

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Her favorite food: pizza
Favorite TV show: Spongebob Squarepants
Favorite color: hot pink
Favorite time of day: time to play with friends
Favorite thing about school: specials (art, music, PE and science)
Favorite thing to wear: what she's wearing right now
Favorite movie: The Parent Trap
Favorite song: California Girls by Katy Perry
If she could go anywhere it would be: Hollywood, CA, because she wants to be a movie star. (what?)
Favorite restaurant: McDonald's and Red Robin
Favorite thing to do at home: play with Paige
Favorite holiday: Christmas
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Some things don't change: She's still the silliest kid that I know. She is still really into reading. Right now, it's The Dork Diaries, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Boxcar Children books and A to Z mysteries. She still loves to play with her Nintendo DS.
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But some things don't stay the same: She is a little bit more interested in her clothes now. She has been changing her earrings almost everyday, instead of once a month. She is much more likely to wear a hair accessory than she was a year ago. And lately, the more glitter, the better.
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Her BEST friend: Hands down, her little sister. And the feeling is quite mutual, I assure you. Emily is seriously, the BEST big sister any little sister could hope for. She truly loves to hang out with Paige. And that is SO COOL. They even got a couple joint Christmas presents because Santa knew that they both wanted the same thing....and they could definitely handle sharing. And they did.

Nine wonderful years. What changes will TEN bring? What will stay the same?

Stay tuned......

Monday, January 2, 2012

{christmas 2011}

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I could not continue on with 2012 without looking back at our Christmas 2011. It was a whirlwind of activities, and this year, came and ended without a ton pf pictures. But that's okay. I have the important ones. We always take our family picture - mostly because we are all dolled up in our Christmas finery - right before we leave for my Aunt and Uncle's house on Christmas Eve. And no matter how hard I try and get things ready ahead of time, we are ALWAYS in a hurry to get the photo. ALWAYS. This year, our remote timer was acting cranky, so we had to do with the timer on the camera.

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And this one is the best of the five photos we took - we are all kind of blurry, and the color is YUCK. And if you look really hard, you can see that Eric and I are both kind of annoyed.....Merry Christmas!
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BUT, after all that, we got to my Aunt and Uncle's house and had a blast. The most entertaining present, for both kids and adults, this year were the Connectigons. Thank you Ryan, Julie, Aunt T, Uncle D and Kelly. The girls still play with them everyday.
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The most entertaining present for the adults - Paige's squirrel. Apparently, it was rabid.
(Matt, you KNOW I could not resist posting this)
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And then we jammied up the girlies - Grant was already sleeping at this point.
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Goofed around a bit more.....
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And we headed home. I think we pulled in the garage around 11:30pm. Paige was sound asleep. So it was up to Emily and I to sprinkle the reindeer food outside - in very high winds, we were done in seconds. And we set up the cookies for Santa. Emily was in bed close to midnight. It was at this point I realized I left my good camera at my Aunt and Uncle's house.....
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So, at approximately 8am, Christmas morning, I snapped this picture. And at approximately 8:10am, it was all over. Emily was very surprised that Santa brought her a DSi XL. It wasn't on her list, but somehow Santa just KNEW she really wanted one. Paige was very excited about her American Girl doll Molly - but she was most excited about her Pinkalicious DS game. It was a very great morning, followed my much toy playing over the next week. Emily has expressed many times, her gratitude towards Santa this year, and has big plans on making him a huge Thank You card.
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Hope your Christmas was Merry!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

{new year, new outlook}

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This year, is going to be good. Maybe not great, but good. I truly don't have a whole bunch of control over it, but the parts that I do, I will.

This blog is not going to be a neglected part of my life this year. There will be posting more than once a week. I will be bringing you a small slice of our life. A slice of our normal, good, life.

So, please, come back and visit. I promise to make you smile.

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My mantra for the year: Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.

-Mary Jean Iron