(little) Big Fish

Saturdays are swim class days. Madelyn has a major crush on her swim instructor. He's in the Core of Cadets at A & M!! Really nice and funny guy. By the end of this summer, she'll be swimming independently through the water. Hard to imagine, but Madelyn is determined, very brave and confident. She is the youngest in her class of 3 swimmers, but is already a show off! These are pictures from the first class.

I really thought she might be anxious about me and daddy not being in the water with her, but as usual, she proved me wrong. Such a fearless little girl.

Gearing up

Trying on her new princess swim ring. And yes, that's Leroy in the background. And no, he's not dead. Just a happy siesta from the horrid heat outside.

Coming Soon...

After a long hiatus, I think I'm ready for blogging again. Please stay tuned.

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."