Happy Birthday, Craig!

Craig is 33! Woohoo! We spend the entire weekend celebrating! Friday night I threw a small party for him at our house. We ate BBQ and a Spiderman cupcake cake. I never though someone over the age of 10 could love super heroes as much as my husband does! He was so excited when he saw the cupcake cake was topped with a Spiderman that you can stick to a mirror, window, etc. (My awesome cousin, Alisha, surprised him with the cake!) We played games and enjoyed each others company. I am so grateful for great friends and family!
Saturday we purchased Craig's gift. He spotted this item a week ago and text me a picture of it while I was in New Orleans. The picture he sent doesn't do it justice. My reply was, "awesome," because the picture was awesome, but not AWESOME!
When I saw it in person I saw what all of his excitement was about. Captain America was life size and gorgeous! I'm not as into comics and stuff like he is, but being his wife, I have learned a few things about the subject. I am proud to say I can tell the difference between something cheesy and something cool. This was cool and AWESOME! So, needless to say, we are now the proud owners of a massive Captive America paining on canvas. It is so big that it would not fit in our car yesterday. Craig had to go back today, with everything cleaned out of our Explorer and seats down, in order for it to barely fit. The artist was even at the store for him to meet in person! We hung the picture tonight and it fits in perfectly with our super hero theme in the gameroom. I have to say, I think I've won some kind of "Wife of the Year" award for this!

Happy Birthday, Craig! I love you!

Ice/snow day #4

I am happy to announce that I am not going stir crazy. I have loved this unexpected time with my family. This does not mean they haven't gotten on my nerves...it just means, I love being with them. I know these times won't last forever. All too soon, they will have cars, boyfriends, girlfriends, things to do, places to go, that are more important than snuggling by mom by the fire. So, I am soaking every cold moment I have for now.
I'll give a quick recap of how we spent our 4 glorious days...
Day 1: We woke up doing the happy dance as we learned school had been cancelled. Chocolate chip pancakes were made, cartoons were turned on, and jammies didn't leave the body. Craig tried to buy more firewood, but every store around us was sold out. Luckily, we had some saved.
Day 2: More pancakes, homemade pizza, homemade cookies. Looking back, I guess this was our baking day. Pretty obvious, huh?! The little boy from down the street came over to play and Tay and I played dress-up. Livie wanted in on some of the action, so she sported lip gloss and glitter nail polish! Rolling blackouts began, though, we never experienced any.
Day 3: We ventured out briefly. Though the temperature was still below freezing, Collin, Tay, Liv, and I went to Toddler Time at Chick-fil-a, while Craig went to get Caleb and Noah. We met Brandie, Cassey, and a few other moms for lunch and craft time. The kids made candy necklaces. I think the necklaces were eaten in about 10 seconds, but they had fun! Livie played in the kids play area. She climed up the play set, and slid down the slide! She screamed the entire way down! I'm not sure if it was a good scream, or a bad scream. We stayed about 2 hours, then left with exhausted kiddos!
Day 4: Snow!!! We woke up to about 3-6 inches of snow. In some places, it is deeper than that. Craig served me breakfast in bed. You guessed it... pancakes!! Pancakes, bacon, and a big red! We then took the kids outside to play! Olivia slept this first round of snowball fights. Craig took them down the street to a hill where they used the tops of plastic boxes as sleds. I stayed home with Liv during this excursion, but they said they had a blast! They arrived back home with red cheeks, snotty noses, and huge smiles. I think that is a sign of a good time!

We are now all back in the house, warm and toasty. Hot chocolate is in the works, along with lunch. Ahhh...this is the life.

Dickens of a Christmas

I took the girls to downtown McKinney for Dickens of a Christmas. Aunt Shea went with us and we met Shannon for some quick photos.
We had a great time! The square was decorated top to bottom for Christmas, carolers were singing, Frosty was riding in the little train, and everyone had on santa hats as they rode the carosel.
We went into a few of the little shops along the square. They were full of things I'd love to decorate my house with, but I did good, and didn't buy anything. I tried to buy Livie anything in the childrens boutique. She had a death grip on a chicken nugget and I was trying to trade her with everything I could! Nope, she was not letting go! So, she's holding it in the majority of her pictures. I was able to snatch a few bites to down-size the nugget, and Shannon cropped it out or took close-ups until she finally decided she was done with it. I tasted the nugget, and there was nothing special about it. The adorable $50 kitty blanket was 100x better, but whatever. I saved money!!
Taylor loved having Aunt Shea with us. She pranced around posing for pictures anywhere she could! Her day was complete when she rode the carosel on a pretty painted horse.
The pictures Shannon took turned out amazing. I have been blessed with gorgeous girls that clearly love each other! Now, I just have to get some pictures of my boys!!!

Chicken Spaghetti

Craig loves Chicken Spaghetti. It is something that he told me he enjoyed for a while before I finally caught on and made it. I did my research, looking up a variety of recipes for it, and tried a few before I found the recipe I use today. It's pretty stinking good if I say so myself!

You will need:
1 can of cream of chicken
1 can of cream of mushroom
1 large brick of Velveeta Cheese
1 large pack of spaghetti
1 can of Rotel (I mix 1/2 can of original and 1/2 can of hot because I like the heat)
1 large can of chicken (I've also cooked the chicken and pulled it from the bone. Honestly, it tastes the same to me and it's soooo much faster in the can!)

To make:
1. Bowl water for spaghetti. I make a lot of spaghetti and slowly mix it into the cheese mixture until I have a good ratio of chicken:sauce
2. In a large pot mix the cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, rotel, and velveeta all together until the velveeta is all melted. ( I cut the velveeta into small cubes, then put it into the pot to melt) Then, stir the chicken in.
3. Combine the spaghetti and cheese sauce


It's super easy and super good!

Livie with Santa 2010

Olivia visited with Santa this year and she loved every minute of it. Her visit was not planned at all. Nope. I had the cutest little dress for her to wear when we planned our visit to Santa, and that was not what she was wearing. Oh well, at some point the minor details will not surprise me.
We were at Stonebriar celebrating my dad's birthday at Dave & Buster's and we decided to walk down to let Livie "see" Santa. Notice I said "see" not "talk to". There was no line, and the mall was about to close, so we jumped on the chance to get an annual picture with Santa.
Olivia went to Santa without a problem. She was awe struck, seeing him in person. She kept pointing to him saying, "Sant-e, Sant-e". A few times she reached up and touched his beard. A few pictures were taken and Santa allowed her to hug on Rudolph (the snuggle from Build A Bear), then off we went!

Texas Skatium

This past weekend, I took Collin and Caleb to a birthday party at Texas Skatium. Walking into this place gave me more flashbacks than I care to describe. Everything about it looked exactly how I remembered it...the disco ball, the mirrored DJ booth, the 4 corners of the rink numbered for various skating games. Ahhh...good times.
The boys had each been skating one other time. As they put on their skates, they each found me and hung on me. Let me state this, my plan was to go the party and relax as I watched them zoom by on their skates, waving to me (maybe even blow a few kisses my way) as they passed. Within the first 5 minutes of their skates being on, my plan was quickly screeching to a halt. Luckily, for only $4 each (yes, I said $4-we're not getting anything for free, don't worry)I was able to rent each of the boys a PBC pipe contraption that resembled a walker, except it had wheels. This brilliant invention is what gave some hope to my delusion of relaxing. They boys skated their little hearts out once they had these! They were sweaty, stinky boys by the time they had made a few laps around the rink. By the end of the party, they were each ready to try skating without their "helper", and they did a pretty good job! They each had their share of falls, but the smiles never left their faces! I am so glad that there are some things, like roller skating, that haven't changed much since I was little. I love that I was able to share this experience with them. Oh, I should mention that I did not put on skates and give it a go. I'm sure I still have mad skating skills, however, my goal was not to show-off to the other parents. My goal was to be the encouraging mom to my two newest skaters.

Happy 1st Birthday, Olivia!

Happy 1st Birthday, Doodle!
I can hardly believe that you are already one! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital. Each and every day you have brought joy beyond measure into my life. I love the sweet way you say, "momma". It is like music to my ears. I promise you that I will never forget the way you say it now. I laugh whenever I hear you say, "meow..." The way you move your mouth is cuter than anything I could begin to describe. I admire your independence, though I know there will be a time when I am not so fond of it. You are always watching your older brothers and sister, eager to be doing whatever it is they're doing. I can see the wheels in you mind turning, as you soak everything in. You are brilliant already, sweet girl. I can only imagine what big things God has in store for you!
For your 1st birthday, we celebrated at home. We had banana cupcakes(your favorite)with cream cheese frosting.I wish I could say you dug in and had cake everywhere, but you did not. You were very lady-like. We decided that you weren't going to take full advantage of your smash cake, so we gave you a cupcake instead. You enjoyed the icing (purple)and were successful in getting that just about everywhere. Daddy was on hand to stick you in the kitchen sink for a quick bath! You received lots of great presents from people that love and adore you. One of your favorite things to play with right now is Little People. You show off your brilliance, yet again, every time you play. Daddy and I got you a Little People's house. You have already figured out that the baby goes in the cradle and you keep putting the people in the beds. (I guess you feel they need a nap?!) You love pushing the button that makes the little doorbell ring, and the button that makes a sound like a toilet flushing. Your little face lights up with these sounds.
You are one special little girl, Olivia. I love you more with every breath that I take. I am so blessed that God chose me to be your mommy.
Thank you for an amazing year. Happy Birthday, Doodle.