The exception, not the rule.

Snow Day

2012-02-13T08:02:00.000-06:00

We thought snow was a thing of the past. We usually get a handful of good snows each year, but when the high has been in the 60's, snow doesn't really come to mind. We got a good snow Sunday...the dry, fluffy, skiing snow. We got about 2 inches.

This was the first time Spencer has EVER played in the snow because we usually get wet, messy snow. It was all we could do to keep Spencer in the house. He had to wear his big jacket from last year and Rick's gloves. We didn't buy those things for him this year because he has never needed anything other than a light jacket this winter.

He had a blast! We was DYING to make snow angels (and makes them quite frequently in the living room floor year round). I guess he's seen that on TV and he's just always done it. Well now he can really make one!

Our little snow bunny!

They've cancelled school today (completely unnecessary if you ask me because the high is 60, but we'll take it)! Time to get some things done around the house.

Meal Plan

2012-02-11T11:58:00.004-06:00

I have to start this post off by tell you DO NOT MAKE the lemon baked chicken that I posted about last week that I got from Pinterest. It's the worst stuff EVER. You can acutally taste the olive oil in everything and it's GROSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Coming up for this week:

Saturday - going out with friends...can't wait!
Sunday - good ole hamburgers on the grill
Monday - shrimp salads
Tuesday - Buttermilk chicken with butterscotch carrots
Wednesday - Turkey pesto burgers with salad
Thursday - Sour Cream & Bacon crockpot chicken

Source: momswithcrockpots.com via Kara on Pinterest

Friday - chili dogs

A babysitter is coming to stay with Spencer for the first time ever tonight. She's the sweetest girl and is one of his teachers at school. He just loves her, so we're hoping this is a smooth "first" for him (and us!). I'll keep you updated how it goes.

Breakfast

2012-02-10T22:18:00.001-06:00

Breakfast is something I have to be real creative with. I don't eat lunch every day until 12:50, so I can't even think about skipping breakfast. My breakfast also has to be something I can eat/drink in the car on my way to school each morning. I have a tendency to burn myself out on food/drinks because I will find something I like and won't let go! Thankfully for good ole Pinterest, I've been able to mix up my breakfast each week and not burn myself out.

I wanted to share with you some of my breakfast finds that I enjoy in the morning...

Spinach & Egg Quiche Cups - my all time favorite! It makes enough for me to eat on for 2 weeks. Just freeze, pop them in the microwave as I'm headed out the door! I add way more veggies than this calls for, but it's just whatever you prefer.

Source: under400.tumblr.com via Kara on Pinterest

Peanut Strawberry Granola Wrap - eating these this week and last...super yummy! I leave out the bananas because I'm not a huge banana fan. The only downside to these is that you have to actually make them in the morning. Half of a wrap is plenty for breakfast!

Source: flatoutbread.com via Kara on Pinterest

Oatmeal Cupcakes - yummy! Makes enough for 2 weeks worth of breakfast. Keep them in the fridge and pop them in the microwave before you walk out the door.

Source: greenlitebites.com via Kara on Pinterest

These are next on my hit parade. I make a low carb smoothie that I enjoy, but these just make it look so much less time consuming in the mornings.

Source: laceyinloveblog.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

What are your favorite on-the-go breakfasts?

Blogging Lull & Weekly Menu

2012-02-06T16:59:00.001-06:00

This past week to week in a half have just been a whipping for the most part. I've had multiple people ask me when I was going to start putting our menu up on the blog again because they look at it before they make their grocery list. Ha! Well, we always cook no matter what, but we've just been sticking to some things that we've made for a long time. I've not made anything new off of Pinterest in the past week, so I haven't really posted anything. But, now I see that other people are looking at this trying to get new ideas from dishes that may not be so new to us, so I'll continue to the menu posting.

Our menu for this week:
Saturday - spaghetti (get the meat sauce from Orlando's, make your own noodles and buy the Texas Garlic Toast and this is super good and cost effective)

Sunday - roast w/carrots, onions and potatoes

Monday - roast salads (Sounds gross, but we had brisket salads last week which were the bomb and this is pretty much the same thing except I'm not spending $28 on two pounds of brisket like I did last week! Eek!)

Tuesday - Tilapia Vera Cruz (we cannot get enough of this and could eat it every week) Recipe here.

Wednesday - Sausage Squash casserole (oldie but goodie of ours...very low carb)

Thursday- Lemon baked chicken w/green beans & potatoes (from Pinterest!)

Source: realsimple.com via Kara on Pinterest

Friday - Turkey, basil & tomato paninis (We <3 our panini press!)

Most of our last week has been crazy deluxe:

Our computer in the computer room crashed! Thank goodness the hubs is an IT manager and can fix that stuff, but took about 3 days.
Spencer had a rough week at school which resulted in a requested teacher conference by us. We just know that this week will be much better! :)
Decided to go to a smiley face chart system at home due to the previous bullet point. Crossing our fingers that it works!
The amount of grading I did this past week was INSANE!
Zach passed his NCLEX exam - yay!
Rick did our taxes...not paying into social security is a killer! Such is the life of a teacher I guess...
I had our middle school UIL competition Saturday and our school won Sweepstakes!
I'm sure there's so much more, but I need to focus on this week and what great things lie ahead!

And I leave you with this picture of our very own Santana...

Spencer has really gotten into all of his guitars. Yes, all of them...he has 4! We really think we will put him in guitar lessons when he's old enough.

Last Week

2012-02-02T18:41:00.000-06:00

Just realized I hadn't posted these pictures from last week. It's been one of those weeks! Enjoy!

January 22: Love this! Spencer was so excited to show me the picture of a church he drew. See the two crosses?

January 23: Caught the ear infection before it got out of control.

January 24: Poser galore.

January 25: Tilapia Vera Cruz made by my sweetie! Man this stuff was good!

January 26: Southwest airlines nightmare...opened my suitcase in San Antonio to find this.

January 27: Great experience in San Antonio at the YWLA school there. Found me a good electrophoresis kit!

January 28: No picture...too tired to even think about it. :/

Picture-a-Day

2012-01-23T08:59:00.009-06:00

I've seen this on some blogs that I follow and I love the idea, but not sure I can make the commitment. Well, I'm not going to worry about it if I don't. As long as I do it here and there, it will make me post something other than recipe/food stuff! Ha!

A peek into last week...

We need to just sell our stroller because these things are the only thing he wants when we go shopping at the mall.

I made Spencer a cape using this tutorial via Pinterest (of course!). He always wants us to tie his blanket around him so he can Buzz Lightyear, so this was perfect & SO EASY.

O.M.G. I've started this before my regular workouts. Who knew 4 minutes could hurt so bad?

Yep, this face says it all. Tantrum central at our house Wednesday night!

L.O.V.E. these! Never had them before and so, so, so good! Great low carb snack!

A scary monster came to visit us at bath time...

Played around with my Silhouette for a birthday party we went to. I love my Silhouette!!!

Birthday Party & Fun Night

2012-01-22T11:14:00.001-06:00

We had a birthday party at the Science Spectrum for our good friends' son, Cash. He turned 4. Him and Spencer have been buds since they were just one. They go to the same school and live two blocks apart from eachother on the same street. Their moms work at the same school and their dads are both managers at the same car dealership. Now those are some serious connections between those two! Ha!

This was by far his favorite! This is a new part that just recently opened. He kept saying, "Back away mom & dad, I'm going to outer space!"

Afterwards, we stopped at Orlando's for some pizza and then met Zach at Caprock for a little bit. Spencer was SOOO good the whole time. He was quite preocuppied with the camera at Caprock. It was hilarious seeing all the pictures he took afterwards!

And the crazy pictures...most taken by Spencer...

Such a fun afternoon and night!

Not so stellar meal plan...

2012-01-21T12:02:00.005-06:00

A lot going on this week, so really not trying a lot of new things...some, but not much.

Saturday baking
Lemonade Layer Cake

Source: myrecipes.com via Kara on Pinterest

Saturday
Cheese & Jalepeno nachos w/Quesadillas

Sunday breakfast
McMuffins

Source: macheesmo.com via Kara on Pinterest

Sunday
Steak & Salad

Monday
Chef Salads

Tuesday
Slow Cooker pizza chicken

Source: allrecipes.com via Kara on Pinterest

Wednesday
Tilapia Vera Cruz

One of our favorite dishes from Abuelo's and they actually sent the recipe in their e-newsletter this month!

Thursday & Friday

I'll be out of town so Spencer & Rick will be "bach-ing" it!

Science Spectrum

2012-01-16T09:20:00.000-06:00

The Science Spectrum has been such a fun place for Spencer for as long as I can remember. I can remember going there when his feet couldn't touch the pedals on all the little tricycles they have there to ride. Now, he's too big to ride them. :( Dad & Dana gave us our first membership 2 years ago and we got our renewal for Christmas. This gift is the BEST! We never renewed our membership when it was up in June because they were re-doing their kids play area and we wouldn't have gone until it was finished. Well, it's been finished for about a month now and we went for the first time last weekend.

A little grocery shopping...

The weather for this week...

Weekly Meal Plan

2012-01-15T09:27:00.001-06:00

Complete success with last week's meal plan. Out of the Pinterest recipes we cooked the baked spaghetti and the stuffed pepper soup were the favorites. The other ones we REALLY close though.

This is what's up for this week...

Saturday
Pizza Monkey Bread

EPIC FAIL! This is a good idea in theory, but not good otherwise. The bottom completely burned. The few pieces that were in the middle were really good. I did it exactly like the recipe said except I used store bought pizza dough. Don't know if that was the problem, but will not be making this again.

Source: jasonandshawnda.com via Kara on Pinterest

Sunday breakfast
Veggie Fritata

OUTSTANDING! This is good eats. The broiling is not a good idea though. You need to actually bake it at 425 and just watch it. With the broiling, the center wasn't getting done, but the edges were browning too quick. We will be eating this again and probably for supper!

Source: thedragonskitchen.com via Kara on Pinterest

Sunday dinner
Cream Cheese Chicken Chili
(We didn't make this last week because we had so much left over from the stuffed pepper soup we just ate it two days in a row.)

Breakfast for the Week
Oatmeal Cupcakes

Another hit! Good stuff here!!!! I did not buy the almond milk because the pricing is just crazy just to get a cup. I made my own and it was GOOOOOD! Just add 2 tsp. of Splenda and 1 tsp. of almond extract to the cup of milk and WAAALAAA...almond milk!

Source: greenlitebites.com via Kara on Pinterest

Monday
Grilled Shrimp Salads
Hey?? We love our salads in our house!!

Tuesday
Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Source: skinnytaste.com via Kara on Pinterest

Wednesday
Grilled BBQ Chicken w/veggies
An old favorite of ours!

Thursday
Eating out/picking up - Open House at school until 8:00 pm

Friday
Fish Tacos
Another old favorite!

What are you eating this week???

Pinterest Meal Plan

2012-01-08T16:36:00.001-06:00

I would like to start doing a meal plan post about what we're eating every week because we plan out our entire week and go to the grocery store once. It's so nice. Well, we've been getting in kind of a rut here lately with eating the same thing all the time, so everything we make this week will be something new. And I got all the recipes from pinterest. Here it goes...

SATURDAY

Chicken Crescent Roll-Ups

Very good and rich. I didn't have cream of chicken soup, but had a can of broccolli and cheese soup and used that. It was great!

Source: plainchicken.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

SUNDAY BREAKFAST

Cream Cheese Sausage Rolls

THE.BEST. Spencer is currently on his 7th one for the day. There are so many possiblitiles with this recipe. SOOOOO good! I rolled the dough the "short way" so the pieces were bigger.

Source: abiteofmylife.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

SUNDAY DINNER

Baked Spaghetti

Source: salad-in-a-jar.com via Kara on Pinterest

MONDAY

Shrimp Salad

Not from Pinterest, but we have grilled chicken salads every week and we needed a change.

TUESDAY

Skinny Chicken & Tomato Pasta

Source: skinnytaste.ziplist.com via Kara on Pinterest

WEDNESDAY

Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

Source: plainchicken.com via Kara on Pinterest

THURSDAY

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Source: skinnytaste.com via Kara on Pinterest

FRIDAY

Tuna Sandwiches w/Tomato Soup

Obviously not from Pinterest, but we make our Fridays easy.

Christmas Part II

2012-01-07T12:10:00.001-06:00

OK, onto the second part of our Christmas that we spent in Tyler with Rick's mom and sister. I've said it a million times and I'll say it again...I LOVE GOING THERE! We had the best time (as usual). We got to spend a lot more time with Terry than we usually do which was so nice. I actually got to spend a whole afternoon with her just shopping, shopping and more shopping. She introduced me to Tuesday Morning. Love.That.Store. And who would've thunk it...we have one in Lubbock!! We stayed in Tyler for 5 days and it was much needed to get out of Lubbock. Good times!!

This couldn't have been any better of a gift for Spencer!

Spencer opened up one of my presents that I didn't even know I had. I had to fight him and Jean for these house shoes ALL week long!

Relaxing with his new chair, guitar and microphone from Terry & James (and of course the house shoes).

Jean took Spencer on many walks (which Spencer LOVED).

Christmas Part I

2012-01-02T08:20:00.000-06:00

I am a little behind on the Christmas posting, but will get caught up!

We had a wonderful Christmas as always! Stephen was here to share it with us. I had a hard time sleeping the night before because I was so excited to see the excitement on Spencer's face when he got up that morning. This really is the first Christmas that Spencer really understood what was going on. When he sat on Santa's lap, he told him he wanted a kitchen with a coffee pot and a fire truck.

Pure bliss!

And we have Buzz flying around our house all the time now. He LOVES Buzz!

And PaPaw and Gram came to visit!!

More Christmas to come...this was just a sprinkling!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T20:55:00.000-06:00

Christmas Baking

2011-12-23T18:31:00.000-06:00

Well, I think we're about ready for Christmas. I baked all day long with the help of a special, handsome boy. I love making special things at Christmas. Rick's sister and mom always love getting all the goodies, so I do it mainly for them. We get to hand deliver the goodies this year because we are heading to East Texas next Tuesday. CANNOT wait!

This is the first year Spencer has iced cookies with me and he did such a great job. I make sugar cookies that are actually my grandmother's great grandmother's recipe. Did you follow that? If not, it's 100+ years old and I can remember the ones my Grandma used to make. They are the best!

I also made all of this via Pinterest of course...

White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn - COMPLETELY addicting!

Source: skiptomylou.org via Kara on Pinterest

Cherry Shortbread Cookies - THE BEST!

Source: bhg.com via Kara on Pinterest

And of course I made a BUTT load of Chex Mix which is always a hit and good ole cinnamon candy.

Tis the season!

Chrismas Program

2011-12-21T12:33:00.000-06:00

Spencer's Christmas program was two weeks ago and I hadn't posted about it because I wanted to post a video with this and the video we shot is way too big and won't load.

I had been waiting for his program all week! I just knew I was going to cry like a little baby when I saw our precious angel singing his songs that he has been singing over and over and over and over at home for weeks. Boy was I fooled...

It was standing room only and it was like the paparazzi was there with all the camera. Spencer was SCARED TO DEATH! He was front row and barely moved the entire time.

Bless his heart!

We are Thankful

2011-11-26T10:18:00.000-06:00

Saying we are thankful is a full blown understatement. We had such a great Thanksgiving. Emily got to come in from Boulder which made it extra special.

Rick's homemade rolls are always a must and this year, he had a sweet little helper.

Why would I think I could get a "normal" picture???

There we go...

Feast of Thanks

2011-11-23T07:58:00.000-06:00

Wednesday was Spencer's Feast of Thanks at his school. We always love going up there and spending this time with him. I'm so fortunate to have an amazing principal that lets me slip away for sweet, family moments like this.

My loves...

Spencer's favorite food on he planet...cupcakes...

Recipes of the Week - Major catch up time!

2011-11-09T08:32:00.001-06:00

Well, as you can tell I have been slacking majorly on the recipe of the week. I'm at home with a sick, little boy so what better time to play catch up. I'm going to post some of my favorite Pinterest recipes I've made here lately. Yes, I'm a Pinterest addict and very proud of it! Enjoy!

Taco Cornbread Casserole

Source: debbidoesdinnerhealthy.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

BLT Pasta Salad - this is to die for!!

Source: abirdandabean.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Source: plainchicken.com via Kara on Pinterest

Butterfinger Cookies

Source: recipegirl.com via Kara on Pinterest

Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

Source: jamhands.net via Kara on Pinterest

Santa Fe Breakfast Ring

Source: bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

Halloween

2011-11-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

Dr. Spencer had a great Halloween!

Halloween party at school...

It's sad that he never smiles...

Dr. Spencer Swindell

Trunk or Treat

Eddie, Spencer's favorite neighbor

Courtney, Spencer & Zach

ABCs

2011-10-23T20:24:00.000-05:00

This sweetheart could literally sing all day. I'm doing my best to get every song on video.

Corn Maze

2011-10-16T19:46:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to the corn maze. I totally forgot that I hadn't blogged about it. We have never went and had heard it was so fun. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. This what his year's maze looks like, in honor of Buddy Holly.

We got lost plenty and only made it to the halfway point and we were able to get out. They had people stationed along the way to help you if you needed.

After we got through the maze we HAD to have some fresh grilled corn!

And then some farm animals...

Our sweet little pumpkin family...BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE!!

Our Little Reader

2011-10-04T11:48:00.000-05:00

Spencer is totally into books these days. I am so glad for many reasons, but one is I was always worried because before this, he has had NO interest in books. I guess it just takes time. Rick bought him three new books at the book fair at his school and he reads them all the time.

Well, he's very into reading to other people and that includes Cheyenne. He plopped down right next to her and began reading and showing her everything in book. He would say things like, "Very good Cheyenne." "Yes, that's right Cheyenne." It was the cutest thing ever. We are so lucky that Cheyenne loves Spencer and pretty much lets Spencer do whatever he wants to her.

Spencer laid all the books out that he was going to read to Cheyenne

For the love of Darth Vader...

2011-09-28T09:19:00.001-05:00

Spencer has become quite the fan of Darth Vader & Star Wars (mainly due to his big brother's Star Wars obsession). Zach has given him R2D2, Darth Vader and OB1 figurines that Spencer plays with all the time and usually needs one of them when he goes to bed. We can't find Darth Vader at the current moment so that could make things a little tense in our house right now.

Well, in watching TV last week, this commercial came on and is Spencer to a 'T'. It is also something Rick would do with Spencer. He already does this with our sprinkler system and Spencer acts like he's casting a spell on the sprinklers with his Harry Potter wand and then Rick turns them on. Spencer is amazed!

We really want Spencer to be Darth Vader for Halloween, but we don't think he will wear the mask long enough to really "be in costume". This might have changed our minds a bit last night...

Egg & Spinach Quiche Cups

2011-09-23T11:42:00.001-05:00

These little beauties have been the best breakfast for me for the past two weeks. They are so yummy & super easy to make. I of course got them off of Pinterest (the story of my life these days).

The only changes I made to the recipe were adding more onions and red bell peppers and adding cheddar cheese. You decide how much cheese you want, but I can't imagine them without cheese. I also added small pieces of ham when I made them last weekend and they are fab as well! The amount of egg whites in the recipe is not nearly enough for these. Have your egg whites carton handy and when you fill the cups, "top" them off with the egg whites. I took them out of the muffin liners (use foil) and put them all in a gallon freezer bag and just pop 2 of them in the microwave for about a minute and a half and there's my breakfast!

Just click on the link below for the recipe.

Source: under400.tumblr.com via Kara on Pinterest

Bad to the Bone

2011-09-18T17:38:00.001-05:00

It was dark outside when we videoed this last night, so it may be a little hard to see.

And now, I give you the best (and the cutest by far) air guitar player I've ever seen...

Tilapia & Veggie Gratin

2011-09-05T15:14:00.001-05:00

Well, I tried the first things off of my Pinterest boards for supper last tonight. I have a lot on my recipe board that I want to try, so I just started with these.

Source: skinnytaste.com via Kara on Pinterest

Source: fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

Click on the link under the picture for the recipes. They were both SOOOOO good. I actually took a picture of the "gratin" before I put it in the oven because it looked so pretty.

My mouth is watering talking about these dishes...they were that good! We will definitely be eating both of them many more times!

My Life in "Instagram"

2011-09-03T17:09:00.001-05:00

I promise I'll get better about blogging like I used to, but school is kicking my tail right now. It's a good kick, but I'm super busy!

I can't participate in all the "Instagram blogs" because I don't have an iPhone, but I have an app that is similar (picplz), so I'm joining the party even if I wasn't invited!

This is what has been going on lately...

Beautiful flowers from our advisory board at school. Such a sweet surprise!

Spencer gets to pick from the treasure chest when he gets smiley faces every day of the week. We now have orange and yellow sunglasses.

Not a lot I can say about this except HILARIOUS!

Couldn't edit this one because it would take away from its greatness! Homemade peach cobbler made by Rick!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Pinterest Obsession

2011-08-23T13:34:00.006-05:00

Yes, I caught the bug and caught it hard. I {heart}Pinterest! This is exactly what I've needed in my life for a long time. Check it out and if you need me to send you an invite, leave me your email and I will.

Here are some of my favorites that I've found as of lately...

Jalapeno Cream Cheese Crescent Poppers

Source: tastykitchen.com via Kara on Pinterest

I'm making this for Spencer's room...

Source: masonsroost.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

Ideas for the classroom...

Crate seating!!

Source: adayinthelifeofmisskranz.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

Source: lisaleonardonline.com via Kara on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Kara on Pinterest

And you know I love some holiday crafts and baking...

Source: epicurious.com via Kara on Pinterest

Source: sassysites.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

Manly Shopping

2011-08-14T16:13:00.001-05:00

Manly Shopping = Spencer and Rick usually going to Best Buy and having the time of their lives!

Spencer loves going manly shopping and often requests it before Rick can ask him. Any time we drive by Best Buy, Spencer promptly points out that he goes manly shopping there. Well, Rick took him manly shopping today and they went to Bed, Bath & Beyond (to get a glass pie dish for Rick's homeade pecan pie he's making at the current moment) and then to Gander. Spencer LOVES our Gander here because the shopping carts are big trucks that kids sit in and steer as you push the cart. They literally just go there and wander around and have so much fun.

While they're gone, I just think about how they are both grinning from ear to ear and my heart is full because Spencer has the best dad and makes special times already for just him and Spencer to go places. Rick tells me later what all goes on and it usually involves letting Spencer fill up the cart with all kinds of stuff and they rarely come home having bought a lot of stuff! Ha!

This is the picture I got today from their excursion...

Friday Favorites

2011-08-12T17:24:00.002-05:00

O.M.G. it's been over a week since I've posted!!!! I've started back to school and I've bee so busy. I always do new teacher trainings for the district prior to when my contract starts and then I do numerous district trainings once we're all back to school. I'm exhausted when I come home every night and the blog is the last thing I want to do if I can spend some time with my 2 sweeties.

Enough whining...here are some of my/our recent favorites...

1) The Sandlot has taken the place of Harry Potter for Spencer right now. He loves watching it & from time to time doesn't hesitate telling us, "You're killing me Smalls!"

2) Sugar free hazelnut lattes...all I can say is this has to stop when school starts. *tear*

3) This.Stuff.Is.Good. Man, I can't get enough of it. Low carb and calorie count!

4) HIIT workouts...I hit a plateau in my running and I just have 12 pounds to lose. I did some research and HIIT (high intensity interval training) seemed to be the best. It's shortened workouts with bursts of high intense running (sprinting). It's really worked and I'm excited to see where I go with it.

5) Spencer has had more fun playing baseball and soccer in the backyard. Maybe that's why the Sandlot has become so important. Ha! Rick and I have so much fun playing baseball with him! We're already having to look at a different baseball and bat set because he's wearing his out!

Enjoy your weekend!

Friday Fun

2011-07-30T12:20:00.002-05:00

First off, let me say that I WON the blog contest! Well, I didn't really win anything, but just lots of exposure for our blog. It was great fun and thanks LambAround for the opportunity!

Now onto Friday...

I knew Friday would probably be our last true Summer day because I'm at a conference all next week and the week following, I've got school stuff to do and then it all starts back. :( Spencer also starts back to school full time next week.

We got our hair cut at 11:00. Notice I said our. Yes, I've never done both of us at one time, but Rosalinda assured me it would be fine. And it was. I didn't get any pictures because I was just concentrating on Spencer not going crazy in the place while I was getting my hair done. He was such a good boy.

Then on to swimming we went! It always seems that the last swim of the summer Spencer has the most fun. We didn't even leave the pool until 3:00...WAAAAAAY past nap time. I figured I was a glutton for punishment with that one. He took a quick 45 minute nap when we got home and then he was ready to go!

After the long 45 minute nap (haha!), we headed to Bahama Bucks for a snow cone. Dad got to meet us there! Spencer has never had a snow cone (Mother of the Year, I tell ya). All he wanted was a pink one, so we did bubble gum. He loved it and we had a great time!

I really hope we get another "summer day" before I'm in full school mode.

Best in Show?!?!

2011-07-24T18:00:00.005-05:00

I got word that my blog is up for Best in Show over a the LambAround blog! What?? Me?? I was so excited. But, I need your help! Please go to the LambAround blog and vote for The exception, not the rule... on the right side of the blog. I would be so grateful if you did! :) Go here to vote:

www.lambaround.blogspot.com

3 Meat Pasta

2011-07-24T09:49:00.002-05:00

You know I love me some Paula Deen and this is another home run from her! And, to my surprise, there's no butter in the recipe! Ha! We had this last night with bread sticks and it is fab! I tweaked and added some things, which are in red.

Ingredients

1 pound angel hair pasta (I used spaghetti just because I already had it in the pantry.)
2 cups cooked chicken, off the bone (I used 4 medium sized chicken breasts & cubed them.)
2 cups cooked sausage, cut 1/2-inch thick
2 cups cooked ham, cubed
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, diced (I added this because a lot of the reviews said it was a good addition and it was!)
2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
16 ounces cottage cheese
8 ounces sour cream (She added this on the episode, but it's not on the online recipe.)
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1 cup hot water
1 to 2 cups Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot, boil salted water for angel hair pasta. When cooked, drain and set aside.

In a large bowl mix together the chicken, sausage, ham, onions, cheddar cheese and cottage cheese. I did things a little different here. I sauteed the onion, bell peppers while I cooked the chicken breast pieces. Then I added the sausage and ham. I think this is the best way to do this so everything is already cooked. The flavor was so good!

In a separate small pot, dissolve bouillon cubes with hot water and pour over the meat and pasta. This seemed weird to me, but do it and pour all of it on there.

Pour mixture into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch greased baking dish and top with the Parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the bubbling around the edges.

Image from Food Network

Vacation Part II

2011-07-19T17:07:00.001-05:00

We're back and had a wonderful time on vacation! It's just so hard to get back into the swing of things again. :( We got back Sunday afternoon and I'm in a workshop ALL week, so no rest for the weary.

We finished out our Austin excursion with a trip out to Salt Lick (best BBQ you'll ever put in your mouth) and found 2 new favorite restaurants along the way...Juan in a Million and Shady Grove. We drove out to San Marcos on Tuesday to go on the glass bottom boats. It was a complete let down to be honest because we didn't see much and Texas State is sure not taking care of it.

Salt Lick

Spencer's new thing is saying "Rock n Roll man!"

Waiting to get on the glass bottom boats

Shady Grove

Posing at Shady Grove

Didn't quite make it into bed

We did a lot of swimming too!

I love this picure of him!

We got into Emerald Bay (Lake Palestine) Wednesday afternoon and we hit the ground running. We went to the zoo Thursday and did major shopping with Rick's mom and sister on Friday. We just hung out on Saturday and did some running around.

Looking at elephants

At the zoo with his cheetah on a stick (i.e. best $3 we spent!)

Fun at Gander

Davy Crockett sighting at Gander

Zonked out...couldn't even uncross his legs

I HATE these things at malls...2 fits later we peeled him off of them!

Hat from Aunt Terry

Such a wonderful vacation! One week (next week) for me to do nothing and then school stuff starts. So much for summer, huh?

Fun in Austin

2011-07-11T12:56:00.001-05:00

Just checking in real quick while we're on vacation. We've been in Austin since Friday and will be headed to Tyler on Wednesday to see Rick's family. We've had a great time here so far and it has not been unbearably hot (thank goodness). We've eaten at a lot of great places (our favorite thing to do here!) and have done some new things.

Saturday, we went to the Round Rock Express baseball game. This was Spencer's first big sporting event to go to. Our seats ROCKED and we were in the shade. We lasted 5 innings and then Spencer was ready to go. We will definitely be going back.

Spencer with Spike, the Express mascot

We're going to Salt Lick tonight and going to hit up some of the ever famous food carts here in Austin today. We may do the glass bottom boats tomorrow and I HAVE to go to Sam Moon's before we leave. I don't know if I'll post anymore until we get home next Sunday, so we'll see.

Hope you're having a fabulous week!

Lost footage...

2011-07-07T14:13:00.000-05:00

I ran across these two videos today & realized I hadn't posted them. They are from about a month back.

The fireplace is his stage...

Our 4th of July

2011-07-06T08:14:00.000-05:00

We had a super laid back 4th of July that consisted of family and fun...does it get any better? HECK NO! We had plans to go to our really good friends house because they had rented a huge blow up bouncy slide with water, but their daughter Addison (almost 4) said it broke her bones going down it and didn't go another time. So we knew if she didn't go down it, Spencer sure wouldn't. It was a little too big for youngsters like them.

We had already invited my parents over for dinner and we were just going to do the slide for about an hour and come home. We had the greatest time just sitting in the back yard and relaxing. Rick made burgers and stuffed jalepenos. We switched up the stuffing for the jalepenos this time and did red onion, cream cheese & chicken flavored rice. OMG they were the best he's ever made!!!! I made homemade ice cream and that was the extent of our menu that night.

I had my camera with me the entire time and only took 2 pictures! Nice, huh? Oh well, they were great pictures because Spencer had a BLAST playing baseball with PaPaw and now it's a nightly ritual in the backyard.

You have to notice the baseball glove on my Dad's hand. Spencer insisted he wear that. Ha!

All in all it was a perfect 4th of July. We are so very lucky to have such a wonderful family!

Geology Field Trip

2011-07-01T10:05:00.000-05:00

Just got back last night from a conference in Austin for science and math teachers. It was great fun, but SO glad to be home with my boys! While at this conference, I ~~was signed up for~~ got to go on a geology field trip to a clay quarry in Elgin. This is the site of the Acme Brick company. It was 100+ degrees with 5000% humidity and this was mid afternoon. We had to wear long pants, closed toe shoes and hard hats the ENTIRE time. You should already be sweating thinking about this. This is quite possibly the hottest I've ever been. As many of you know, I'm not a naturey, outdoor-go-hiking type of person. My idea of roughing it is Motel 6. But I put my big girl panties on and tried to make the best of it. I was going with my great friend Jo Anne, so we'd have fun no matter what.

We got to walk, climb, hike...whatever you call it in two clay pits. We actually found petrified wood which was completely cool! We could take away any samples of anything we wanted. Yes, my bag was empty. :)

After losing 15 pounds in sweat, we toured the brick plant and got to see how they make bricks. This was actually really interesting, but it was hard to concentrate after being outside for 4 hours. This plant makes 180,000 bricks a day!

We got to walk ON TOP of the kiln. I was scared as scared could be! Nothing like having an oven below you that is burning at close to 3,000 degrees!

And they had "peek holes" where you could see inside the kiln.

They had stacks of Texas Tech, UT and A&M bricks where we could take however many we wanted with us before we left. I thought that was so nice, so I did get some cool things.

I was super excited to be back on the bus and heading back to Austin. It was a good experience, but that is probably the last time I'll be in Elgin, TX. ;)

Better than a swimming pool...

2011-06-27T08:23:00.000-05:00

...well, maybe...but when it's 111 degrees outside, any way you can get wet will work. And this gets the job done and we have TONS of fun with them!! (I'm going back for a third gun today. Hey, it's so much fun that we ALL need to be cooling off, right??)

Party Preparations

2011-06-22T14:07:00.000-05:00

I'm doing a post specifically on the goodies at the party. The main reason is because I'm going to link up on other blogs so other people can see. I want other people to see because I had a hard time finding anything online that had to do with a reptile party, so I did it all myself. Maybe I can help some other "reptile party seeker" out!!

This is the invitation. I made it (high quality in Photo Shop) and have been doing invites on the side for about a year now. My hope is to get my invitation blog/business up and running this summer. Please, please email me if you would like me to design one for you and I'll get the prices to you.

I'm not one to run to the grocery store to buy a cake, cupcakes or cookies if I can make them myself and they turn out better. I used two white cake mixes and did the colors like I did here, but did green and yellow. I also just bought two containers of white, whipped icing to ice them with. I wanted something super cute to go on top of the cupcakes and I found EXACTLY what I wanted at the dollar store. I found plastic lizards in packs of 4 for $1.00! I colored the icing green and I think they came out great! This also gave the kids something else they could take home because the lizards were a pretty good size.

I wanted to have some type of fruit to serve with the cupcakes so that not everything would be jam packed full of teeth rotting sugar. So, I went with frozen bananas dipped in chocolate. I wanted to half bananas and do them that way on a stick, but with little ones, they needed something more manageable. So, I cut the bananas in about 1.5" pieces and stuck them with the little decorative forks (pack of 75 for $1.00 at the dollar store). These were so fun and the kids LOVED them and had many parents asking how to make them. The one thing I will say is that you have to move fast on these suckers because bananas thaw out quick. All I did was:

1) Cut bananas.

2) Put them on a wax paper lined cookie sheet in the freezer for about 2 hours.

3) Use the chocolate melts that I use for these and get to moving FAST. If you want to sprinkle them, you have to sprinkle immediately after you dip them in chocolate.

4) Freeze until ready to eat.

Now the goodie bags...this is what took me so long to come up with because there was NOTHING online to help me or get me started on ideas. There was one thing I knew the bags HAD TO HAVE in them...a rubber snake. You know how hard these suckers are to find that are less than $3.00?? I stumbled upon them at Wal Mart for $1.00 each.

What's inside:

-Laffy Taffy

-birthday & animal silly bands

-Pixie Stix

-Unfrozen popsicles, 5 of them (dollar bin at Target)

-Toy Story markers (dollar bin at Target)

- RUBBER SNAKE!!

The favorites out of the bag were the popsicles and the snake. I loved putting the popsicles in there because that's totally unexpected and who doesn't love popsicles in the summer?? One thing, I busted 3 or 4 when I was pulling them apart to put in the bags. They are MUCH easier to pull apart when they are frozen.

And last but not least...the thank you notes...

I hope someone can get some good ideas from this and let me know if you are doing a reptile party and what you're doing. I would love to hear from you!

Spencer's Birthday Party

2011-06-21T19:08:00.002-05:00

We had Spencer's birthday party a little early this year. We wanted to do it this weekend, but where we were having it (Science Spectrum), they were having their annual Critterfest (SUPER cool) and weren't booking parties. And, the following weekend always is 4th of July weekend.

Science Spectrum is the place to go for birthday parties. The kids had a blast and could just run around like crazy. We had a reptile show as well that the kids LOVED. It was a wonderful day with friends and family and we couldn't have asked for a better time!

I'll let the pictures do the talking...

REPTILE SHOW

And let's play...

What a weekend!

2011-06-20T21:51:00.000-05:00

I have no words to describe this past weekend. Well I can give it a try...HAPPY, SCARED, THANKFUL, JOYOUS, WORRIED, LOVED... We had our little guy's birthday part (I'll do just a post about that probably tomorrow.) and then a CrAzY Father's Day!

I'll give you my favorite picture from the party on Saturday and then onto Sunday...

Wow, I love my sweet family!!!

OK, let's get to Sunday...just a low key Father's Day is what had planned, but God had different plans. About 11:30 I went into Spencer's room to put up some clothes in his drawers that I had just folded and he was walking toward the end of the his bed, tried to step over a pillow, tripped and fell face first onto the foot board. I picked him up immediately and there was a dime sized HOLE above his eye. He had just busted his head open. Luckily he didn't pass out, but I was FREAKING out! Rick had ran to the grocery store and I was trying to keep Spencer alert, wipe away blood and call Rick. It never crossed my mind to call 911 because I was so distraught! Rick sped home (after he told me to call 911), the ambulance and fire truck showed up and away we went.

Got to the ER, got in a room and then Spencer threw up so they had to immediately order a CT scan. He had to be basically put into a straight jacket to have the CT scan. It was a nightmare! Spencer took everything like a champ. Long story short he got 3 stitches above his eye and the CT scan came back negative.

Brave little boy!

We not only left with stitches, we left with a broken arm (not caused by the accident on Sunday). Spencer had fallen on the playground at school (jumping off of something) about 2 weeks ago. They told me when I picked him up and we never thought about it again because his arm hadn't hurt him after that day. Well, last week he really started complaining that his arm was hurting. I scheduled an appointment for today (Monday) with his pediatrician to get it looked at. I mentioned that in the ER yesterday and they just went ahead and x-rayed it while we were there. Well, it was broken and had already started to heal/calcify! So they had to do a hard splint and now we're seeing a bone specialist on Thursday.

We are just SO thankful our little boy is alright. Now, it's trying to get him to slow down and ease his frustrations about him really having only one arm for now. God is good!

Turkey Pesto Burgers

2011-06-16T08:16:00.002-05:00

OH. MY. GOSH. These are so good I can't wait to eat them again! Why haven't I been making these all along? I got the recipe from Ask Ana. Please let me know if you try this and how FABULOUS you think it is!

Ingredients
1lb ground turkey
3 TBS basil pesto (I added way more than this & so glad I did)
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup bread crumbs
4 sliced Pepper Jack cheese
4 Ciabatta rolls (We ate them without bread, but they would be yummy either way.)
Cooking spray

Directions
1. Mince garlic.
2. In a large bowl mix together turkey, pesto, garlic and bread crumbs.
3. After ingredients are mixed well form the mixture into 4 patties. Preheat a large skillet to medium-high heat. (I used our George Foreman grill instead and it worked great.)
4. Next turn the broiler in your oven on Low. Place the rolls on a cookie sheet and spray them with cooking spray. Place them in the broiler until the tops are golden brown.
5. Place patties in the skillet. Cook for about 3 min on each side. When they are almost done place the cheese on top of the patties and cook until it is slightly melted.
6. Spread a thin layer of pesto on the ciabatta roll and then place the patty on top.

Enjoy!!

Spencer & Emie

2011-06-14T07:50:00.000-05:00

Saturday was Spencer's sweet friend's birthday party. Emie and Spencer have been going to school together for forever and ever since they were really little, they would always kiss and hug each other when one of them got to school and when they left school. Well, the love affair has carried over through the years and here we are. They are not in the same room at school now, but only one door separates them and they manage to find each other. Emie is a sweetheart and I'm so glad her and Spencer and buds...or a couple...or whatever 3 year olds call it!

Her party was at Jumping Jungle where they have a barn/warehouse full of the bouncy houses and stuff like that. Spencer had so much fun!!

Spencer & Emie

GOODNESS is all I can say...

Salee & Spencer

Baby Spencer

2011-06-12T11:49:00.003-05:00

Last night, Spencer and I were looking at pictures on our camera and I showed him two short videos of him just minutes after he was born. (Yes, I STILL have all the pictures of that special day on our camera. Even though they are saved in a million places, I just can't bring myself to delete them off of the camera. Weird I know, but oh well.) He loved watching them and he knew that was him when he was a baby. These are the two he was watching. (They are literally less than 5 seconds each.)

Well, in the bath last night he was telling Daddy how baby Spencer was crying. It was a riot!! I will say he does sound pretty much like he did 3 years ago!

Give me a mountain and I will climb...

2011-06-07T08:22:00.000-05:00

As mentioned before in previous posts, Spencer climbs and jumps off of EVERYTHING and doesn't think twice about it! Well, yesterday we went to our usual park and it was closed for maintenance, so we had to go find another one. I remembered some of my friends talking about this small park and so we went to that one instead. I don't know that we will be going back for awhile because it was obviously for bigger kids and there wasn't much Spencer could do...except CLIMB!

Creamy Chicken Taquitos

2011-06-05T15:34:00.001-05:00

Found another good one here! This one I found at Our Best Bites blog. I'm telling you, these suckers were GONE in less than 30 minutes and I doubled the recipe (which I highly recommend). One thing I liked was that these were SUPER easy to make and didn't take that long. I made homemade guacamole to go along with them and they were excellent.

Ingredients
*I doubled everything except for what I put in red.

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese (I used 8 oz.)
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic (garlic powder)
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions
2 C shredded cooked chicken (I grilled 4 chicken breasts and chopped them finely)
1 C grated pepperjack cheese (I used the Mexi blend cheese)
small corn tortillas (I used the white corn tortillas)
kosher salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or come unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing. (A lot of mine cracked, but it was probably because I put too much filling in them. It doesn't matter though. It just doesn't look that pretty.)

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

Dip 'em in salsa, sour cream, or guacamole.

Mine certainly didn't look like this, but they are sooooo good!!

Big Boy Bed

2011-06-01T22:40:00.002-05:00

And when I say BIG, I mean BIG! Spencer's bed is a lot bigger (taller off the floor) than we thought. We were going to wait to do it all this weekend, but the mattresses came in early today and we just couldn't wait. We love it and to say that Spencer loves it is an understatement. He's snoozing away right now in it and we are just praying that he doesn't fall off. We've got pillows galore on the floor to make his soon-to-be fall more comfortable!

I can't wait to post the super awesome pillow cases my friend Kristina is doing for his bed. I'll just leave it at that...I can't wait to get them this weekend! Other than that, we need to change out the curtain and get rid of the "baby decor". I don't think we need a bed skirt, but we'll just have to see as time goes on.

What happened to our little baby???

Spencer was just plain wild for the rest of the night UNTIL Zach invited him in for a pizza/Harry Potter party. Spencer was so excited!! So sweet!!

This mama is going to bed. It's been a big day and not to mention the fact that Spencer started a new room at school today, Early Pre-School. O.M.G. I can't handle all this in one day!!!

Park days have arrived!

2011-05-31T12:54:00.000-05:00

School is out and it's time to do fun things with the little guy! Spencer LOVES the park, but with the horrendous temperatures here lately, we had to hit it early. Spencer can spot this park a mile away and loves going there. I just sat there today thinking back to last year at this time and what he was like at the park and I will say, things are a bit different...in a good way of course! This child has no fear and will jump off of ANYTHING! I had to tell him no a couple of times when he tried climbing over the edge of something that an adult couldn't even jump off of. None the less, a wonderful time!

Ready to go!

Worn out!

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T15:27:00.001-05:00

First, I have to start off by saying THANK YOU to all of our service men and women who are serving and who have served our country. Freedom wouldn't be existent without you. My great grandfather served in WWII at Iwo Jima (actually saw the raising of the flag there) and, to my favorite service man...my husband...

...THANK YOU!!!! How wonderful to have such an inspiration for Spencer! I love you so much!!!

LOW KEY are the words of the day for us. I seriously doubt I'll leave the house today. We're cooking out steaks tonight and drinking some good beer and that's about it. Spencer and I made red, white & blue cupcakes this morning. I've always seen the multi colored cupcakes and figured you could do the same thing with red, white and blue...and I was right! They turned out pretty darn good!

My little helper...he LOVES to use the mixer!

The cupcakes are easy peezy...just use a WHITE cake mix, divide the batter evenly in 3 bowls and add food coloring. You have to add a TON of food coloring...probably more red than you do blue. Then, layer them in the muffin tins. I did blue on the bottom, white and then red.

Hope you and your family have a blessed Memorial Day!

Cake Balls

2011-05-24T10:41:00.002-05:00

I've made these twice in the past week and a half and have had TONS of request for the recipe. You will not believe how easy these are to make and how much people like them. I actually made them for Spencer's Valentine's Day party and they loved them! I didn't take a lot of pictures while making them last night because your hands are super messy the entire process. But man oh man, they are DELICIOUS!

Ingredients
*1 boxed cake mix (any flavor you want...I've made strawberry, chocolate & red velvet)
*1 can/tub of cream cheese icing
*chocolate to cover them (you need the type that hardens quick...can be found at Wal Mart in many different colors)

I like these because they only require a microwave, a spoon and a bowl!

*sprinkles of your choice (of course optional, but I don't make them without them) :)

Directions
Bake the cake mix according to the directions on the box. The cake MUST be completely cool before moving on. I always make the cake the day/night before.

Once the cake is cool, crumble up the cake in a large mixing bowl. Add the entire tub of frosting and mix THOROUGHLY with your hands. Welcome to the messy part!

Once mixed, roll the cake/frosting mixture into balls on a wax covered cookie sheet. The size of balls doesn't matter, just whatever you want. But the cookie sheet into the freezer for 2-3 hours. The cake balls will not freeze completely, but they need to be firm before they are coated in chocolate.

To coat with chocolate, take a large spoon and dollop chocolate on top to try to get all the sides and top completely covered. You will not get everything completely covered (as you can see from my picture) and that's OK. If you're adding sprinkles, add them immediately after you've covered with chocolate because the chocolate starts to harden fast. You'll have to add sprinkles one cake ball at a time. Keep them in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve them. Enjoy!

These are strawberry cake balls that I made last night.

First Step

2011-05-19T14:31:00.001-05:00

Well, we've taken the first step to switching Spencer to a full bed. And that step is that his bedding is ordered. This is what we went with from Pottery Barn Teen (minus the peace sign sheets).

We wanted nothing with a theme and something that he could use for awhile. I love the orange accents around the edge. I hope to find orange jersey sheets to match. Rick is on the lookout for good pillow top mattresses and when he finds that, we've got everything. Spencer's crib in a 3 in 1 so we already have the headboard and footboard.

It's hard for me to imagine this sweet, little 29 pound boy in a full bed...

...but he is SUCH a restless sleeper and moves around like crazy. He just needs more room. We hope he loves it! Stay tuned for when it all starts coming together!

Pleated Poppy Love

2011-05-14T13:54:00.000-05:00

I've blogged about The Pleated Poppy before and my collection keeps getting bigger and bigger because her stuff is just so darn cute and functional. I did a purse dump as Lindsey calls it and most people are probably shocked that all of this fits into my purse, but it does! I have a gigantic purse! I got my new iPad cover in today and it fits nicely in my purse with all my other Pleated Poppy greatness! Please, please, please check out her shop...you won't be sad you did. Every person that I have told about her shop and have ordered from there are HOOKED!

THINGS FROM THE PLEATED POPPY:

*Car zipper pouch for all of Spencer's snacks, toys, etc.

*Green polka dot iPad cover

*Black and white damask gift card/credit card holder

*Sunglasses case

*Blue and pink polka dot check book cover

NOT PICTURED: my AWESOME notebook cover!!!

Spencer-isms

2011-05-13T13:33:00.001-05:00

I always tell myself to start blogging about things that Spencer is doing that I won't want to forget and I have NOT done a good job with that. Today seems like a great time to start this for two reasons...#1 Blogger has been having issues the past 3 days so I haven't blogged about anything and #2 I don't have any recent pictures of our goings-on.

We are proud to say that Spencer is fully potty trained! He really did it himself and flew with it! It also helps that we have GREAT support from his school. Well, he gets really excited when he gets to go poop and the other night he pooped in the potty and turned around to look at it and said, "Look, a snake!" Oh that little guy!!

He has become very affectionate with his stuffed Curious George monkey. He has had him for forever, but all of sudden he's taken a liking to him. He will take Curious George to go potty and then we'll hear him flush the toilet (really hoping he didn't flush George down the toilet) & say, "I'm so proud of you!" He says that because that's what we tell him when he potties. So cute!

His imagination is through the roof and we couldn't be more thankful! He makes us coffee, cupcakes, salads and chicken in his sand box and delivers each and every one of them to us and tells us how hot they are and not to drink or eat it. He blows on it for us and then we are allowed to eat it.

The minute we get home, the clothes come off. He's never been like this before and to be honest, it was quite the opposite before he was potty trained. He always wanted his clothes on and his shoes. Well, not any more. It doesn't bother Rick and I one bit except for the time he started shedding his clothes in the front yard when our sprinklers came on!

Out of the blue the other day, we heard Spencer saying, "Uno, dos, quartro, cinco." (Yes, no tres, but none the less...wow!) I knew they taught them Spanish at school, but I didn't know this early. So cute! And, another out of the blue moment while he was playing, we heard him say, "Forever and ever and ever and ever and ever, Amen." Sweet, sweet!!!

That's it for now and i leave you with his Spring school picture. I used the scanner at school and it's not as good as the one at home, but you can still see how STINKIN' ADORABLE he is! Man, the love we have for him is unbelievable!

Friday Favorites

2011-05-06T11:29:00.002-05:00

I thought I would share some of my favorite products that I use. Mainly because I love looking at the things other people use.

Paul Mitchell Mousse...with my crazy, curly hair, this stuff works wonders. It doesn't leave it hard and it still has some bounce to it.

Again, back to my curly hair...Garnier Fructis Spritz is great because it holds so well (I have super thick hair and aerosol hairspray doesn't hold). It also doesn't get hard.

I have been using St. Ives Apricot Scrub for some time now. I just love how my skin feels and I rarely have breakouts. I'm beginning to learn if a product wins the Best of at Allure, it's good!

To say I love Mary Kay's Cream to Powder foundation is an understatement. My skin is really oily and I HATE wearing a ton of foundation and this stuff does the trick. It's like foundation and powder in one. A MUST have! I wear beige 3.0

I'm adding this one in for Spencer...Aveeno Baby is THE BEST! It moisturizes like no other. Spencer has a tendency to have dry skin and he doesn't at all once we started using this (when he was about 6 months old!).

And I saved the best for last....I.AM.ADDICTED......Sally Hensen Nail Strips. These things are the best! I love painted nails and in all colors! Nail polish won't stay on my fingernails for anything, so I had given up hope until these! My favorite colors are the hot pink, blue, yellow and the glitter ones! I haven't been daring enough to try the patterned ones. LOVE THEM!

Teacher Appreciation

2011-05-02T12:22:00.000-05:00

Teacher appreciation week comes when us teachers need it the most...the first of May! I'm the NJHS sponsor at my school and we've got things to give to the teachers every day of the week. I found almost all of them on other blogs, but there's a couple I came up with that I'm posting here.

Thanks for holding everything together!

binder clips attached to the tag with curly ribbon

Helping Hand

clear glove filled with different colored, shredded paper with goldfish tied to the back

*I have to say I had completely different plans for this. I wanted to fill the glove with goldfish but didn't for two reasons...#1 Who wants to eat goldfish that taste like plastic gloves? #2 It didn't look good at all.

Where I had the most fun was finding something to make Spencer's teachers at school. I did a little search in blog land and came across this at Skip to my Lou. I loved that she made the flower picks to where you could insert any name. I just purchased Gerber daisies at Wal Mart. I did add a few things different. I used colored butcher paper to wrap the bottom. I also printed his teacher's names on card stock to help personalize it a little more. I used popsicle sticks as the picks. I really love how they turned out.

What are YOU doing for teacher appreciation this week??

Morning of Superheros

2011-05-01T18:49:00.003-05:00

Spencer and I walked at the March of Dimes march for babies Saturday morning and had a wonderful time. This year it was so much better and at least 10 times as many people there than last year. (Last year, the weather wasn't so great and it had to be re-scheduled.) We got there and quickly found my girls from school and guess who popped up from around the stroller?? Spiderman! Spencer was beside himself! That boy loves him some Spiderman! We took tons of pictures with him and the other superheros and Covenant was sponsoring the pictures and you could go to a table after the walk and pick yours up.

{INSERT THE PICTURE WE PICKED UP HERE}

Our scanner is having serious issues right now. Maybe I can post it later. :(

I love how much Spencer loves superheros and I was so glad he got to see all of them, but the more I started thinking about it, the walk that morning was ALL about superheros...Spiderman, Wonder Woman and MOST importantly, all of us walking for such a great cause. We are all the superheros for these sweet babies. We're so fortunate to not have had to use this wonderful organization, but we have friends that did and thank goodness for March of Dimes or sweet Pate might not have been here. Anyway, it was a wonderful 3 mile walk and we had such a great time!

Spencer spotted the firetruck from clear across the park. He LOVES firetrucks and the fireman let him get inside! He was on CLOUD NINE!!!

More superheros!!

And these giant horses were right by where we parked and Spencer kept saying, "Take a picture of me! Take a picture of me!" Well, he got his wish.

Carrot Cake

2011-04-26T12:35:00.002-05:00

It's back and I'm so glad I'm back to cooking and baking! Rick's birthday was this past Saturday and the only dessert he wanted was a homemade carrot cake. I've never made one before so I scoot on over to Food Network and try to find one. I used this one from Emeril. OH.MY.GOODNESS!!!! This was the greatest recipe and Rick said this was the best carrot cake he had ever had and he knows his carrot cake. Spencer helped me every step of the way and even used the mixer all by himself! I didn't change much, just a little something with the icing that I think is a must.

Ingredients
3 sticks, plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots (I added another 1/4 cup)
1 cup chopped toasted pecans (Didn't add)

Pecan Cream Cheese Icing:
8 ounces cream cheese (added another 8 oz and I believe this is a MUST)
1 stick unsalted butter
1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped toasted pecans (again, didn't add)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter 3 (9-inch) cake pans with 1 tablespoon of the butter and set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer. Add the sugar, and beat. In a medium bowl or on a piece of parchment, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, and mix well.

Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the eggs, beating well after the addition of each. Add the vanilla extract and mix. Add the carrots and beat on medium speed until well incorporated, about 2 minutes. Fold in the nuts. Divide between the 3 cake pans and bake until set and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest in the cake pans for 10 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, remove from the pans, and let cool.

For the Frosting: In a large bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar gradually, beating constantly. Add the vanilla and pecans.

When the cake is cool, place 1 cake layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread the top with cream cheese frosting and top with a second and third cake layer, spreading the icing between each layer. Spread the icing around the sides of the cake and let harden slightly before serving. To serve, cut into wedges.

I didn't take a picture and didn't even think to. We ate it up so fast!

Easter

2011-04-25T11:39:00.003-05:00

Easter 2011 = SUCCESS!! Did I think otherwise? Heck no! We had a great time as always and we're so fortunate to be able to spend this sweet day with family. We went to Dad and Dana's and had a great time. We had lunch and Spencer got to play with his cousins Eric, Alex, Adrianna & Ethan. Hunting eggs was a blast and all of them were so sweet to share with each other and it was such a blessing to see. Kids these days just do not share like this. I'm a proud mama of a sharer!! ALL of them shared their eggs and candy without parents telling them to do so. So sweet! Spencer did not want to leave (imagine that!) and fell asleep on the way home. Once we got home, we put him down in his bed and he woke up immediately and there was no napping after that.

I found one!

Sweet PaPaw!

We had planned to hunt eggs with him again at the house later that evening and give him his basket from the Easter bunny, but we skipped the ~~eggs~~ candy (for obvious reasons).

Spencer has this sudden infatuation with Batman and Spiderman. He already has a Batman and of course needs a Spiderman to go with it! These trucks are for him to play in his sand table with and he loves them!

Hope you all had a fabulous Easter!

New Look!

2011-04-21T09:25:00.001-05:00

My new blog layout is now down (as you can see!). I LOVE it! Major shout-out to Laura Jane Designs for my sweet looking blog! What do you think??

I have tons of stuff to post because I have been holding off until I get this new lay out, so watch out. Also, I'm going back to the recipe of the week because we finally have appliances and I can cook again!!!

Spencer has been just been growing like a weed. He is pretty much potty trained and that took place in one weekend...not.kidding.one.bit! He does major milestones on his own, but definitely in his own time. Getting rid of the bottle was nothing. He just quit taking it one night. Switching him to his bed with rails was nothing. He just did it. Same thing with potty training. Now, only if the paci could go that easy. I just don't think that's happening. We are also toying with the idea of switching him to his big boy bed. His crib goes down into a full bed. We're having some sleep issues, so we're thinking this might help him.

Here are some videos of the past couple of weeks. Rick taught Spencer how to motion "I love you" and it's the sweetest thing ever. He almost always does it when you're not expecting it.

And we still love our guitars...

Sand Table

2011-04-16T20:41:00.001-05:00

We got Spencer a sand table and we picked it up yesterday. We've wanted to get him a sandbox for awhile now, but I'm not crazy about a sandbox on the ground with stray cats and our neighbor's cat. It just grosses me out. So, we got him this:

And he loves it!!!

There was no time to even take off his pajamas!

Sweet Shower

2011-04-03T12:51:00.000-05:00

We had Angie's diaper and wipe shower yesterday at Stella's. It was such a great place to have a small, intimate baby shower. Angie didn't want a lot of people and a "big to do" for this shower since it was her second one and now because she's already getting contractions. I think baby Cooper is coming early. We had a wonderful time and I hope she did too!

Lindsey, Crystal, Paige, Angie, Me & Elizabeth

Lindsey, Bellamy & Angie

Elizabeth & Crystal

Oh the conversations were great!

Would you look at that tray of greatness?!?!?!

Name Blocks

2011-04-02T14:36:00.001-05:00

These are so fun and easy to make. I got this idea from my friend Jenifer & wanted to tackle it myself. I made this set for my WONDERFUL friend, Angie and we used it on the table at her diaper and wipe shower. She can then use them in baby Cooper's room. I also plan on making a lot of these for Christmas gifts. My friend Jenifer made these for her girls' teachers at Christmas and they loved them!

Materials
1 - 2x4 board
scrapbook paper
paint
modge podge

1) The blocks are 3.5" x 3.5". One 2x4 makes 32 blocks.

2) Sand each block with a medium grain sanding block or paper. This literally takes 5 minutes max.

3) Paint with acrylic paint. Mine took two coats due to the dark color. You could also stain them instead of painting.

4) Cut scrapbooking paper into 3" x 3" squares and modge podge them to the blocks. Use something to "scrape" the top of the paper so there are no lumps or bubbles of modge podge. You want a level surface.

*Note: About 5 different types of paper works the best so you can have a variety of letters. You really have to lay it out and play with it to see what works best. The more contrast you have, the better it works. I tried to match his bedding the best I could.

5) I used a die-cut to cut my letters because our scrapbooking store has them. You could also use your Cricut or Silhouette machine. Any way would work for whatever type letters you want. Modge podge the letter to the scrapbook paper square.

6) Once completely dry, use a fine grain sanding block or paper to rough up the edges so it has a "worn" look about it. Of course, this step is optional and they look great if you don't sand here.

Hope you can use this wonderful, easy and cheap idea!

Granite!!!

2011-04-01T08:47:00.000-05:00

I promise I'm not slacking on posting, but my new blog will be up and running soon, so I want to hold off on some posts until the blog looks super spiffy! BUT, I can't contain myself with this one...we have granite finally! After a long fiasco with the granite not being available, oh we found it, you can choose from some other ones, blah, blah...we finally got it yesterday. This is not the original granite that we had ordered (refer to the previous sentence), but this is so much better than the one we had ordered. Guess it all happened for a reason!

Where do we go from here you may ask? Well, Tuesday or Wednesday of next week all of our new appliances (that are sitting in our garage) will be installed. We'll put in new flooring, back splash and paint all within about 2-3 weeks. As many of you know, we cook all the time, so not having an oven has about done us in. Let's just say our Hamilton Beach grill has gotten quite the work out.

Have a great weekend!!

ABCs of me!

2011-03-20T13:50:00.000-05:00

My blog is getting a huge overhaul this week (hopefully), so I'll just post something fun for now...

A – Austin, TX – Where we want to live and our favorite place to vacation.
B – Brownies – I'm a sucker like no other for BOXED brownies. They are definitely my favorite!
C – Coffee – Wow...never knew how much my body relied on this stuff until I didn't drink it for two days over spring break and have gotten HORRIBLE headaches!
D – Dooney and Bourke – The best brand of handbags and I will won't carry anything else!
E – Evo – I was a dire hard Blackberry chica until this phone. I wouldn't make it without this sucker!
F – Farmville – One of my BIGGEST pet peeves on Facebook. No I won't help you raise your roof on your barn!
G – Grace – My maiden name and I love it...thanks dad...one of the MANY great things you have given me!
H – Honda – Well duh!!! Only the best cars ever!
I – Ice Cream – It's an addiction and I LOVE it! My new favorite is Blue Bell's birthday cake cookie dough...wowsers!
J – JCPenney – Where I met Rick and where I LOVE to shop like no other!
K – Kitchen – Where I love to be cooking, baking and hanging out with Rick with Spencer "helping"
L – Lists – I'm a huge list maker. I have to have it on paper so I can really feel that I can accomplish it. You should see my desk at school!
M – Milk – Definitely my favorite drink. It even quenches my thirst better than water.
N – Nails – My fingernails have become my latest obsession due to Sally Henson's Nail Effect Strips
O – Outside – Boy do I love being outside with Rick and Spencer in our backyard and sitting on our patio. Such great fun!
P – Pink – It's been my favorite color for a long time and anyone that knows me knows that I have tons of it!
Q – Qi – My favorite word to play in any Word Wise game...always brings in the points!
R – Rick – My husband, my best friend, my biggest cheerleader...need I say more??? I love him with all that I am!!!
S – Spencer – My incredible son and I have no idea what I would do without! He is the light of our lives!!!
T – Treadmill – I took a break from my treadmill for about 4 months and I guess I just couldn't stand to be away. I'm an inside runner and I'm proud of it! I love my treadmill!!!!!
U – UTD – University of Texas at Dallas where I got my master's from...what a great choice I made!
V – Voicemail – Not a fan. Just text me.
W – Wine – I'm a wine drinker on the week for sure. It's easier on the carbs that my good hoppy beer that I like on the weekends.
X – Xylophone - I love when Spencer plays his crocodile xylophone and ALWAYS sings Jingle Bells or his ABCs at the tops of his lungs!
Y – Yanni – I'm a closet Yanni fan. Something about his music is so calming...
Z – Zucchini – I love zucchini...stuffed, grilled, fried, you name it!

Updates & our sweet helper...

2011-03-10T11:43:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know it's been 2 weeks since I've posted, but honestly, this kitchen renovation is pretty darn crazy and we've both been pretty tired every night and just want to sit down and hang out with each other and Spencer. This is where we're at on the kitchen renovation:

*All cabinets and handles are installed.
*All appliances (dishwasher, refrigerator, microwave & stove) have been ordered & will start coming in on the 21st
*Tile is busted up in the kitchen. Flooring has to be put in after all appliances have been installed.
*Granite will be in in about 2 weeks. We're using our old counter tops for now.
*I will be painting the dining room & kitchen over spring break. Pictures to follow.

This is what the lack of tile looks like...it was hard work ALL done by Rick...

We've had such a great time together doing this and Spencer has just been PRECIOUS! He got a work bench with tons of tools for Christmas and he has really put them to good use. Whatever tool he sees Rick using, he runs into his room and gets the same one and gets right to work! He has worn his safety goggles so much the fabric is fraying and they may not make it much longer.

Had to get a little guitar practice in...

Helping Daddy take off the old cabinet doors...

Kitchen Renovation Part I

2011-02-24T22:10:00.000-06:00

Today was finally the day we've been waiting for for a LONG time! Our new kitchen was installed! I call this part I because we will not have counter tops or flooring for about a month because it takes granite a month after installation to come in. We are also getting new appliances. BUT, look at this:

BEFORE

Back splash gone with gigantic holes in the sheet rock.

Cabinets gone!

WHAALAAAAA!!!

Aren't they beautiful?? We couldn't be happier! I can't wait until the granite & new appliances come in. I'll keep you updated!

Valentine Cookies

2011-02-16T17:42:00.000-06:00

Our little Valentine's Day activity with Spencer was icing cookies and letting him "decorate" them. He LOVES icing and will not eat the cookie portion of any cookie if there's icing on it. He'll lick he icing off and then want another one. Ha! He had a great time and don't these cookies look so yummy??? Hehehe!

I love how serious he is taking this...

Yes, that's a knife in his mouth...we were careful, though! ;)

He had eaten so many sprinkles that it turned his face pink and red!

Grammy's...Swindell style

2011-02-13T22:02:00.000-06:00

We have a budding muscian on our hands. We had to force him to take a bath and put down the microphone and guitar. He seemed to like to use the handle to his hammer and his baseball bat as musical instruments (even though he has a microphone & guitar). Love this little guy!!

I love how he's strumming his guitar...

Valentine's Party

2011-02-12T08:58:00.001-06:00

Spencer had his Valentine's party yesterday. It was a little bitter sweet for me because I know there are no more school parties for awhile. :( Spencer gave out the heart crayons for his Valentine's and I made red velvet cake balls from Bakerella and marshmallow pops. They turned out waaaaay better than the picture shows. They are super easy to make and look so cute!

Rick went to Spencer's party and of course there were TONS of goodies there!!

Cupcakes...his favorite!

Marshmallow Pops!

Red Velvet Cake Balls...yummy!!!

Swindell Valentines

2011-02-10T12:25:00.000-06:00

I can't tell you how many times Rick and I have asked each other what we wanted to do for Valentine's Day in the past week. We really have no desire to do something to celebrate one day out of the year. We never do much on Valentine's Day because it's just not that important to us because we literally celebrate Valentine's Day every single day of our lives. I can't tell you how grateful I am to be able to say that and MEAN it.

However, I do want to do something fun for Spencer. I thought about baking sugar cookies and letting him ice them which he would LOVE! We might run into one snag though...our kitchen is being DEMOLISHED this weekend and we will have no cabinets until ours come in which are scheduled to make their entrance into Lubbock ON the 14th. We'll see though...

Do any of you have any good ideas for a 2 1/2 year old to do on Valentine's Day that would require much of a kitchen? Ha!

Crayon Valentines

2011-02-06T15:43:00.001-06:00

I have been dying to try this for a long time and Valentine's Day was the perfect time!

What you need:

-crayons with paper taken off
-silicone baking mat/tin
-oven

It doesn't get any easier than that! I got my silicone baking mat/tin at Hobby Lobby (40% off) so that was a great find. They also have a lot of other shapes on their baking aisle.

Snap your crayons in fourths. And having a cute little helper to do this doesn't hurt either. ;) Don't know if it was a good thing teaching a 2 1/2 year old to break crayons! Oh well, he was a big help!

For the thickness that I wanted, I used 5 crayons for one heart. I played around using two and three different colors and I liked them both. I will say that the dark colors are more dense, so I would definitely add more light crayons vs. dark crayons to each heart. For example, use one dark blue crayon and 4 yellow crayons.

Put them on a baking sheet (just in case something spills) and put them in the oven at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.

There will be air bubbles when you first take them out, but they eventually pop. The first set that I did, I took a toothpick and tried popping all of them. I got tired of that and come to find out, they pop on their own. Also, these would be considered the "bottom" of the crayons. When you pop them out, the tops are so pretty!

After about 3-5 minutes, put them in the freezer to set up. Only leave them in there for about 7 minutes. Set a timer because if you forget about them and leave them in a long time, they will develop a white film on the top of them and you have to start the process all over again.

Pop them out of the mold and WHALAAAA!!!

I'm giving 2 "crayons" to each of Spencer's classmates as their Valentine from him. I used cellophane bags that I got at Wal Mart. The ones I got were too big, so I had to cut the tops off of them before adding the topper.

I made the toppers using Photo Shop and printed them on card stock. With just two staples, you've completed your sweet little Valentines! I will be more than happy to send you the jpg file of the toppers if you become a follower of my blog and comment and tell me who you are going to make these for! Be sure and leave your email address!

Sorry about the glare on the cellophane...

Backyard Fun

2011-01-31T17:08:00.001-06:00

It has been super nice here on the weekends and Spencer has loved being outside playing. Luckily for him, Zach has spent some time out in the backyard with him. Spencer got a baseball, bat and glove for Christmas from Gram and PaPaw, so he's had a blast in the back hitting the ball. He's got pretty good hand-eye coordination for a 2 1/2 year old. He doesn't swing per se, but usually hits the ball. It's so cute! An arctic blast is going to hit us tonight, so these outside times may be too few and far between for awhile.

His giggles melt my heart!

The Weekend {tad bit late}

2011-01-26T21:40:00.002-06:00

I'm ipretty late with this post, but wanted to update on the swimming party Spencer went to Saturday. Well, Spencer has been talking about this party for a solid week and thought he would just jump right in when he got there. The pool is 1ft deep the entire pool with a few slides, stairs, water squirters, etc. Well, there's also this GIANT "bucket" that fills up with water and dumps down all over the place and we found out first hand that is not good for our little sweet pea.

See the scary bucket at the top? ;)

He wanted to leave immediately it scared him so much. We thought he would see all of the kids from school (especially Emmy) and want to jump right in, but not so much. So, about 30 minutes pass and he decides he wants to go on the stairs only if Daddy goes with him. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, Daddy had jeans on. Guess what Daddy did? You got it! Jumped right in there with him and took him up the stairs. I'm pretty sure 99.999% of dads/moms wouldn't have done that. It really almost brought tears to my eyes because he didn't think twice and went for it. Then we were just sitting on the edge and I had my feet in the water and Spencer thought it would be fun to TIDAL WAVE splash me, so needless to say, we were the VERY wet parents at the party. Rick ran home to change and came back in time for pizza and presents. Needless to say it was a great time and Spencer ended up having fun which was the most important thing...not our wet clothes.

He had fun...he really did!

We had great weather Sunday and Spencer loves playing in the back. His latest thing is running. That's all he wants to do in the backyard (as well as kicking the balls). He has started being very curious about our large tree in the backyard and I'm pretty sure it'll be no time before he's climbing it like a monkey.

Where has our little baby gone? What a big boy!

Lately...

2011-01-21T19:25:00.001-06:00

Man, I have to get back to posting more regularly. I don't know what's happened to me. Don't you worry, I will starting NOW!

We haven't been doing a whole lot out of the ordinary lately...

...found some new hiding places.

...enjoyed our monthly micro brew shipment.

...grilled pizza & ketchup.

Spencer has a birthday party tomorrow at an indoor swimming pool and he cannot wait! Swimming in January, who wouldn't??

Can you dig it?

2011-01-13T12:20:00.000-06:00

It seems lately I'm diggin' some things more than other things. Here's what I'm totally diggin' at the current moment...

1) Reading - These three are on my nightstand and I'm currently reading The Omnivore's Dilemma. See a trend here? I do love me some George and Laura!

2) Ragin' Cajun Jalapeno Relish - We have been eating this stuff like crazy on EVERYTHING!

3) Chai Lattes - Thank you Day Break for making the best ones on the PLANET!

4) C9 Fitted Running Capris - Man I love these things...perfect for cold days & you don't get too cold with part of your legs showing.

5) Fun Hair Clips/Pins - I do have a pretty hard time finding these because my hair is so thick and most won't hold my hair, but I've found some pretty heavy duty ones from Goody and Target.

What are you digging these days??

Resolutions?

2011-01-05T08:35:00.000-06:00

I'm not one to stand firm on making resolutions every year because I never have. Most people who say they don't make them it's because they can't keep them. Not me, I just have never made them. I'm usually pretty good at setting goals for myself anytime during the year and sticking to it. Well, in the past week or so, the word 'resolution' has come out of mine and Rick's mouth a few times, so I thought I would post some of the resolutions I have for the new year...only two of them...

1. Spend a lot more time together...just Rick and I. We get so wrapped up in parenting and we love every minute of it, but we just don't take the time we need to to go out with each other. Babysitters will be used more and of course Spencer's favorite, Gram and PaPaw time. We have more fun together and it was so nice the last week when Rick was on vacation to get to spend time with each other.

2. Lose those 10 lbs I talked about in the summer that have now turned into 12 lbs. I've started running outside now and have been able to tell a difference in my clothes and some people have even told me I look like I've lost weight, but I need to be back to where I was before getting pregnant. End of story. So, the ab lounger is coming out of storage (Rick loves hearing that) because that sucker REALLY works. Rick is going to get a stationary bike to go with his BowFlex that he loves. We eat healthy as a way of life (except the garbage we eat on the weekends...haha), so being fit needs to go back with it.

Now I've taken the liberty to make some for Spencer (and I know Rick will agree with me on these). These actually are probably more our resolutions for Spencer, but you get the point...

1. Get rid of the paci! If you have any creative ways to do this that work, please, please comment and let me know.

2. Potty trained in the coming months. They work on it at school and we have to be diligent at home to work on it. Again, any creative tips for potty training boys would be appreciated! We bought one of these to help us:

Baby Bjorn Potty Seat

3. Play more in his room, rather than dragging out toys all over the living room. This really fits into part of my resolutions for myself (and Rick) because sometimes we just need to go in there and play with him. He's surrounded by kids at school all day to play with and when he gets home, it's just us three. He loves playing with all his toys and we want his room to be a fun place for him to go play whenever he wants.

4. Finding an effective "spot" for time-out. The score on time-out sessions at the current moment is Us - ZERO, Spencer - 4,595 ...get the point? We're looking for a time-out chair to put somewhere and hopefully that will work. Any suggestions??

Here's to 2011 and accomplishing these resolutions!

Brotherly Love

2011-01-02T22:17:00.001-06:00

Spencer is SO fortunate to have such sweet siblings and siblings he can truly share quality time with. He is infatuated with his brothers and has had such a great time with them this past week. So many special memories!!!