Thanksgiving and weirdness

I forget how many turkeys I've done now in my {short} life. I think this is the 3rd full-size and I've also done one breast. Baking a Thanksgiving turkey gives me this huge sense of accomplishment - much like music, yoga, work, child birth... {I'm still laughing on that last one. Hope you are, too!}
Anyhow, sis, bro-in-law, and us three celebrated Turkey Day together and it was SO. MUCH. FUN. I was fresh off a plane from Boston so I was fearful that I'd forget to buy something. Thankfully, I had a brief day to go shopping and Sis and I ended up with WAY more than we needed. Sis and I baked and cooked and had loads of laughs in the kitchen. I think BIL {that's bro-in-law for those that don't handle acronyms well} is still amazed at just how much butter went into this bird.

The finished product. And yes - she was a very juicy bird.

Is it weird that I like to take pictures of the turkeys I bake? Oh - and please note that the wedding china made an appearance. I think this is only the second or maybe third time we've eaten off of it. {Mental note - must do more entertaining.}

My daughter likes to take pictures with food, too. {Ok - I admit I may have lured her into this, but you all needed to see this turkey from the 'best' angle.}

The best Black Friday purchase = NEW VACUUM. I'm weird. I know. But - I've needed a new vacuum and this baby was the one I wanted. Funny story:

1) It was NOT on sale at Sears.

2) It WAS on sale at Sears.com.

3) I bought it IN STORE at an ONLINE kiosk. Site-to-Store. One word - awesome.

4) Saved about 50%! YAY!

{Please ignore the array of toys in the floor, on the couch, on the coffee table, etc. Mads likes to make sure there are multiple toy options at ALL times.} And I've now met my quota on ALL CAPS. :)

And now that Blogger has decided to randomly double-space my entry. I shall leave you with this quote:

"It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air."

Little Sooner

Hello blog land. It's been a while. That's what happens when life gets in the way. ;0)
Madelyn went to her second OU game in November and she really did great, considering kick-off was during her normal nap time. She did fall asleep on me in the stadium, which wore me out trying to hold all of that limp weight. She loved watching The Pride play their pre-game concert on campus corner and getting to see the ponies and Schooner. Not sure that we'll take her again to a game that kicks-off during nap time, but she's definitely becoming quite the Sooner fan!

She was WAY more interested in seeing the ponies than sitting with the Roughneck Queen. Can't say I blame her.


Showing off our #1 fingers! BOOMER!

Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere

We've been to this pumpkin patch every year since Madelyn was born. It's our tradition now.
Some things we like about it:
1) It's FREE! Free Parking. Free rides. Free bounce houses. Free photo ops. Free fun! The only thing you pay for are the pumpkins or snacks.
2) They take canned good donations for a local food pantry.
3) Everyone on the staff is so friendly.
4) We always have a great time, no matter how crowded it is.
5) It's near one of our favorite restaurants (see previous post) and we're making that a tradition, too!

Checking out all of the little pumpkins in the 'pumpkin house.'

"What?! You want me to touch one of these muddy, gross pumpkins?"



That's more like it. What a sweet little expression!

Happy Halloween from all of us!

Annual Pumpkin Patch and Culver's trip. Gotta love a good ButterBurger. {more pics coming soon.}

Saturday morning fashion model. 

Ready for a weekend of football. 

Hair today, gone tomorrow

About a month ago we finally got up the nerve to take M for her first real haircut. She had a home bang trim twice, but nothing else. Well, it was occasionally taking on the appearance of a mullet. Yes, we live in Texas. And that probably seems like it should be ok for this part of the country. But I couldn't take it any longer. Not to mention I was stumped on how to "style" her hair. So off to Cool Cuts we went.


So, this is the before shot. She was pretty excited. Even though the child in the seat behind her had BOTH parents holding him and he was still kicking and screaming.

She never cried. Not even one tear. {And I didn't either.} Having her own personal TV with Dora playing probably helped. This was when the stylist was trying to make bangs for M. She literally had bangs coming all the way from the back of her head prior to this haircut.

The after shot. Still a little wet and probably too much hair goop, but MUCH better.

Yay for first haircut! The hair on top is pulled back to try and encourage it to lay the "correct" way - these are the things they don't tell you about little girls and their hair! I mean, don't we all just come out of the womb with bangs and correctly styled hair? :)

{These are the bangs that were laying/growing forward and should really be part of the rest of her hair.}

Best swim vest ever.

Most people use "floaties," "wings," or "life jackets." Around here - we've discovered the greatness that is "Puddle Jumpers."

It helps her stay in an upright position and floating and still achieve a feeling of independence. And it's super cute!

And even though she's taking swim lessons (her last class was Saturday) Miss M has even MORE confidence in the water thanks to this wonderful invention. Sometimes she likes to wear her puddle jumper - other times she doesn't. {And the best part? She bought this with her birthday money from Great-Grandmother in WV. Thanks so much for the birthday money, GGBK!}

Two

The table decorations and fun cupcakes we made. M had some great party helpers this year - thanks to everyone!

This girl could live on juice - especially if Big Bird is on the box. And no, she's not dressed in only a hawaiian lei. But she REALLY liked wearing several at a time!

Playing a fun beachball game. Yep - we made it up on the fly. One creative family! {And I found the beachballs on sale for 50% off! We already had the large beach towel.}

Opening presents. She was definitely excited about her party moreso this year than last year. She would say "Oh boy! Oh boy!" over and over again. Her voice is the sweetest. :)

Telling her about her presents. She was very excited about all of the gifts and so were her friends! They were all so cute and sweet. {Side note: it appears I am growing a balloon string out of my nose. Hehehehehe!}

We're horrible about remembering to take pictures, and thus - this is probably the only and best picture of momma & M on her birthday. Dang balloon ribbon. {I guess this means I need to hone my Photoshop skills.}

M & her "boyfriend." He was the only guest she cared about being at her party. And she's looking forward to his party, too! They used to go to daycare together and are only a month apart in age. Two little sweeties!

Everyone's favorite gift - M's new play kitchen. The boys were showing her how to use all of her gadgets and knobs. So funny!

{Another side note: Blogger and I are not getting along right now. It's not playing nice with spacing out my pictures the way I would like it to. Grrrrrrr.....}

Who swims like a little fish?

I know all of you blog addicts are anxiously awaiting someone's 2nd birthday pics, but we're still playing "catch up" around here, so you'll have to wait a little longer. :)


After loads of researching and collecting opinions, we're doing swim lessons with Emler Swim School this summer. These photos are from her second class (once a week for 11 weeks!) She's now going underwater for 5 seconds and the goal by the last class is underwater for 10 seconds. She loves her class and her teacher. She acts very confident - maybe a little TOO confident - everytime she's in the pool. We're very pleased with how it's going and love our little fish!

Waving 'hi' to Daddy on the sidelines.


Working with the barbell floaties. These are her favorite!

Rockin' the pigtails!

The 'bye-bye song' - complete with a jump to Mommy.

Seven Falls - Colorado

We took a trip to Colorado two weeks ago and really enjoyed the chance to get away and just be a couple. Our first day (after the flight) was spent at Seven Falls. Here's a taste of the incredible beauty. Yes - we climbed up and down that crazy "staircase" on the left side of this picture. 225 steps each way. Oh dear....


This was at the top of the stairs. Don't remember the name of this particular waterfall. They all had silly names.


Sunlight dancing in the leaves.


A pretty chilled out couple if you ask me. {Not a great photo, but you take what you get when someone else uses your fancy camera.}

New bed

Ok - it's not really a new bed. Just a new rail.
M moved up to a "big girl bed" exactly one month ago. We fully anticipated a brutal transition, so we made the switch over Memorial Day weekend. Well, it's been nothing but easy and seemingly no big deal. As you can see, she was pretty excited and it seems as though she really loves the fact that she can take her "fan club" (i.e. Minnie, Big Bird, Buddy Bear, etc.) in and out with the greatest of ease. We did have one nap incident where she was trying to play instead of sleep, but quickly reinforced that it was "nap time, which means it's time for sleeping and not playing." She's definitely not a baby anymore. A fact which blows my mind...

22 months (a little late...)

If you know me, you know that June is the busiest month work-wise, so I'm trying desperately to catch up.
On May 24, Madelyn and I went outside to just plain have fun in the sprinkler {and water our trees.} As you can see, she loved every second of it. So much that I don't think she cared how wet her little feet, leggings and dress ended up. She even started paying so much attention to the camera that she fell face first into the sprinkler. I think it just shocked her more than anything. She's growing so fast and is such a sweet, little lady.

Look who's....

...sitting at the table in a booster seat now!

The first meal in the booster seat was dramatic, but she immediately took to it for snacks and coloring time!

MayFest

Fort Worth has an annual event called MayFest that is really geared towards families and has some local artists and crafters along with the usual carnival foods and games. This was our first year to attend {last year was cancelled thanks to Mr. H1N1.} It's known for bad weather, too, but we lucked out - the rain held out and we enjoyed a fun stroll around the Trinity River area! Madelyn is a little young still for a lot of the activities, but without a doubt, she loved the baby farm animals and riding the ponies.

So many colors

Ready...

Set...

Go!
Hooray for Easter Eggs!