Christmas Pictures

Abigail & I had our family Christmas pictures taken at JC Penney this year. Since I'm a Lifetouch employee, I get a really good discount. I wasn't expecting much, because as a photographer myself, I can tend to be picky about pictures of my daughter, expecially! However, I was really pleased with the results! So we ordered cards and a few pictures to share. Make sure you take time to get your family picture updated - you never know when that will be the "last" picture! Your memories are priceless...

Christmas Season

The Christmas season is in full swing! I've taken Abigail to the mall a lot recently, mostly to play at the small playground they have there. It has been unseasonably bitter cold here, and taking her outside to run off all that toddler energy is just not an option! My goodness, the kid doesn't even have a winter coat! I might be able to add that to Santa's list if I'm quick about it...

Anyway, while at the mall, I had her picture taken with Santa. She did awesome! She was so happy to sit on Santa's lap, talk with him, and of course she gladly accepted the candy cane he was handing out. Now when we head to the mall, she says "Hi Santa!" and waves just like they are old buds. It is so cute!

We've also made cookies a time or two. Marissa and Abigail helped make, bake and frost our first of many batches of traditional christmas cookies. I had a bunch of really cute photos, but realized at the end that the memory card wasn't in the camera. BUMMER! Marissa is such a great help with Abigail! Abigail just thinks the world of her of course...

Then, the other afternoon Mom came over for a little "grandma time" with the munchkin. They colored, made a Dora christmas tree complete with Boots and Swiper, and we ordered pizza. It was a great night! Mom & I got to talk, when we could get a word in edge wise, that was... Hope to have more of those...

Grandma took this one yesterday morning. We were wrapping presents and Abigail loves to play with all the empty rolls of paper. Did I mention she also wants to tape everything? So she is running around banging everything with the empty roll and she realized that one of them would open and she could wrap herself up in it. We added the bow to complete her look! She is really enjoying the season!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Another bittersweet holiday. We had a delicious dinner, which I made might I add (okay with help from Grandma)... at Grandma's house. It was also nice to have a toned-down family gathering. Missing some of our regulars (Mom, Stacy & Bryce & John) and of course - my husband. Jen's kids went to inlaws and their father's house right after dinner, so there were even fewer kids running around afterwards than usual. We ate until we could eat no more and then we played cards for a few hours. Euchre is the game of choice around these parts.

But I couldn't help but wonder how my husband was feeling spending Thanksgiving without his family. I know it was his choice, but still I have not turned into some cold-hearted bitch. We haven't talked really, other than a few emails and texts since he left, but I'm sure Thanksgiving was just one day recently that he wishes he made another choice.

On happier notes, Gram & I took to the mall for Black Friday. We were happy to see our local mall filled with shoppers, as it usually is so barren we are afraid of it closing. I was happy that Aunt Nancy agreed to take Abigail for the day so we could be toddler free! Thank you Aunt Nancy! That was a HUGE help! I got a lot of shopping done and even snagged a $70 purse for $20 bucks for myself at JC Penney's. I realized that my Gram is really getting older than I like to admit. Normally she would have gone shopping all day and it not really bothered her. Friday, after 5 hours she was toast! Her back hurt and she was ready to plop into bed. I guess she is entitled, she is over 70... Although I have to admit, with the plantar faciitis in my right foot, after 5 hours my foot was killing me as well! I even wore tennis shoes, but it still burned like fire.

Saturday Marissa spent the day with us and we made christmas cookies. I let her & Abigail mix, roll out dough, use the cookie cutters and then decorate the cookies. I even took such cute pictures along the way! Only to realize that the memory card was not in Grandma's camera! I was so mad! My point and shoot will tell me if there is no card in the slot, but I found out the hard way today that Gram's camera has no such warning... Oh well, the girls had a blast and the holidays have begun! This evening we went shopping to a few more stores and headed out to Steak N Shake for dinner. Two nights and two days of thanksgiving food was enough for me!

Christmas Pictures

Abigail & I went to JC Penney's yesterday for our annual Christmas card pictures. It was bittersweet, because last year's picture was so different from what this year's card will look like. Although I'm certain that this year's card will shine like the bright star in the east, it will only don two of us. Last year my family seemed more complete. Sal was still around and Sabrina was a part of our busy mix. By now Sal has resettled himself in Denver and really doesn't want to be part of us, and Sabrina is happily back home with her mom, which of course, is where she belongs. However, it still seemed incomplete for a holiday picture of two.

In the end, Abigail was WONDERFUL for the pictures! I couldn't have asked for a better 2 year old! She smiled sweetly on command, giggled at all the right times, and was so beautifully dressed! While we both have experienced a pretty traumatic fall, we do have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving & hope that you do too!

Trick or Treat! Smell my feet...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We had a fabulous time trick or treating with Maria and her girls again this year. I had been practicing with Abigail all week to say "trick or treat" as correctly and loudly as she could. She rarely will say whole words, let alone phrases, so I wanted to give her lots of time to practice! I think she remembered going out last year, because she was so very excited! She picked out her own costume this year, and she was a gorgeous little devil! We tried to talk her into a princess outfit, but nope! Guess she knows her personality the little stinker! Anyway, enjoy the photos!

Pumpkin to Jack-O-Lantern!

Tonight was the perfect evening for carving our pumpkin!
We started outside at Gram's and I let Abigail pick out the design.
While she got to help, Mommy did all the actual cutting.

I'm afraid our little girl has a little OCD complex in her.
She HATES the feeling of some textures, especially ooey, gooey
ones. I knew we would only get one shot to capture
a good picture of her cleaning out the pumpkin guts.
She gagged for 10 minutes until Gram hosed off her
hands and leg.

All finished! No worse for wear and the jack-o-lantern
turned out pretty good! What is with the
one shoe on, one shoe off? Did I mention we think
she is a little OCD?

Fall Fun

To start off our new adventure living with Grandma, we make Halloween rice crispy treats. Abigail really enjoyed stirring and decorating the treats. She liked eating them too, but thought they were a little sweet for her taste. More for Mommy & Grandma!

She is so proud of her decorated treats! Although she had more fun picking off the little candies!

Tall, Tall Ships

We headed to downtown Tampa earlier this week to tour a couple of visiting ships. They were massive indeed! Gram called and said she thought Gabriel would really enjoy touring the ships and learning about life at sea. The ships are actually sail boats (huge boats!) belonging to Columbia & Uruguay. Each ship has a unique history, but now both train Navy recruits during publicity appearances around the world. The recruits learn about life at sea, ship maintenance and sailing.  One of the young crew members absolutely fell in love with Abigail! He tried to pin a button on her sirt - she was quite cooperative - but he was a little embarrassed I think! His limited english speaking skills weren't helping matters either. But it was so cute!

Before embarking on our adventure, Gabriel stated over and over that he wanted to join the Navy and work on an aircraft carrier. However, just while we were at dock - with very little wind or sea movement I might add - poor Gabriel got very sea sick. While touring the Gloria, he turned quite pale and began sweating, was dizzy, etc. I realize it was quite hot, but Gram nor I felt any movement at all! I thought he was going to throw up - or pass out! He is rethinking his career in the Navy...

We enjoyed ourselves immensely and Abigail loved climbing the narrow stairs to each level of the ship, although Gram didn't ~ and later required a visit to her massage therapist to work out the kinks in her hip. We ended our day in downtown with a visit to Champs restaurant  for lunch and cool drinks. It was a really hot day & I ended up with a few new blisters for all the walking we did, but what a great day it was!

Gram, Gabriel & Abigail on the ARC Gloria from Columbia.

Abgiail wanted to steer the ship - but they had the helm tied down tight. Good for them!

By this point Gabriel is ready to get off the ship! But Abigail is just getting started!

and after a long, hot day touring ships, Abigail found her favorite place ~ right in Grandma's lap!

First Trip to the Dentist

Today was Abigail's first dental visit. She was a little nervous at first, but did really great! She only started crying at the very end when the doctor came in. Other than that she was all smiles. She was REALLY happy to get her new Dora toothbrush - Dora is her favorite show and character - so a Dora toothbrush was a sweet prize! No cavities to report and only a small chipped front tooth to keep an eye on. It was a good day!

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God Bless the USA!

I hope your 4th of July holiday was super special. Ours sure was! Jen & I had planned to take our families to the Hometown USA festival in Dunedin, FL. We had missed the fireworks locally the week before, so Dunedin was a close alternative. Beside - there was a baseball game, carnival type stuff for the kids to do, an Jimmy Buffet cover band concert & the fireworks. The best part was - it was FREE! We really like that part on our limited income these days. Anyway - when we got there, Jen found our other sisters already there! Stacy and Heather each brought their families as well! Coinky-dinky huh? Anyway - the baseball game got rained out do to the all day down pour. But the concert was still one! Of course the stuff for the kids was called off too, but that didn't stop them from running out on the field in the rain (no dangerous FL lighting to worry about!). They had the time of their lives! Then the fireworks afterwards were pretty cool too. Another year of fun & pictures to celebrate the birthday of our country. God Bless the USA!

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Toddler version of falling asleep in the recliner!

We had dinner at Grandma's yesterday evening and Abigail didn't quite make it through! Earlier in the day we had errands to run, so she napped in the car for about 25 minutes or so. I left her at gram's to take her nap & have a few hours of quiet time to myself before returning for dinner (tacos ~ YUM!) Needless to say, little missy here didn't take a nap at all, so she was too tired to even eat! Caught it all on tape! Love having a camcorder! We let her sleep for awhile - only to wake her to go home. Boy that was fun ~ NOT! She is not a happy camper when she gets woke up!

Lawn Work

We've been working on Grandma's yard for the last week or so. It is so blasted hot here that we can only work a couple of hours in the morning before we melt. Anyway, weeding and planting and carrying cement pavers from the store to the car and the car to the backyard and then once again in the right place (only to discover at least half of them had to be moved yet AGAIN) does have its rewards. Yesterday we took time to play in the hose before we wrapped up for the day. Sabrina and Abigail had an absolute blast! I really think it was Abigail's first time playing in the hose. Grandma ran to get the camera because she was having so much fun. Her denim skort was soaked and slowly began to fall down. Just look at the photos ~ it was HILARIOUS! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! BTW - the yard is almost done!

Abigail discovered that by jumping up and down, she could hit herself with the spray of the water.

See those bags of mulch? Those 20 bags also had to be carried from the store to the car, from the car to the back yard, then distributed to their final resting place. We are not yet finished distributing those 20 bags.

The skirt is going...

going...

GONE! She will love these pics one day!

Catching Up

It's a new year, so time to return to the things of the past that worked well, and drop those that didn't! I enjoyed keeping our family blog. I can't really recall why I got off pace - life got in the way I guess. Actually - it was Facebook, to be honest! I've posted most of our updates there in the last 5 months. Still - something about the permanency of our blog that keeps me coming back. Look for more to come!