Christmas 2010

We started our Christmas Eve evening by attending the Christmas Eve service at church.  The evening was filled with story telling and caroling by candlelight. The night concluded with this awesome performance by the band at Northside.

It was definitely a WOW moment.

We headed home and got our Santa snack ready- milk and one cake ball- because from what I hear Santa is watching his waistline these days.  We wrote our letter about how "good" we have been and reminded Santa of the things we really wanted.  Then it was jammies and of course the classic bedtime story, The Night Before Christmas.

Here is our beautiful tree.  I love our tree. I love that when I pick up an ornament I can remember when and where I got it, and who gave it to me. Each year I get Cade a few ornaments that represent things that happened this year. This year we added a "C" cookie ornament because Cade is always helping me bake.  A circus elephant because we went to the circus for the first time and a felt gingerbread man since we had our first ever Gingerbread party at our house. I'm saving all of these "special" ornaments for Cade in a box so that one day when he has his own tree he can open up the box and reminisce.

Santa gave Cade a red guitar....

A tri-level parking garage, Bert and Ernie blocks, aqua doodle mat, Home Depot 18 wheeler tool kit, play dough, and a stocking full of stuff!

Lucy got a new doggie bed and a box of bones!

Travis got Campfire (HUGE) marshmallows, crackers a Hershey bar and stakes to use on our new fire pit!

A camping set with truck. 

One of my favorite pictures of the day!

After we celebrated here we headed over to my parent's house and opened even more gifts! It was a long day of opening presents and eating delicious food. Merry Christmas friends and family! 

For New Years we are planning on firing up our new gas grill and grill up some fajitas. Should be fun! Especially if I can whip up some margarita punch!

Happy New Year!!

CakeBalls

I did it!

I finally did it!

I took my time, I followed the instructions and I'm still surprised at how nice they turned out!  Usually when I make cakeballs I just roll them, freeze them, dip them, serve them.  This time I went all out!

I only made 3 reindeer.  I forgot to add the pretzels while the chocolate was drying... and they are supposed be the "pretzel" shaped pretzels (broken-up) to resemble antlers. I only had the pretzel sticks but I think these turned out pretty cute! One thing I'll need to look into is getting a different edible pen.  This one was a doozie.

I decided to add white candy coating on top of the chocolate and then added some festive sprinkles. 



I thought I'd share the pictures that didn't make the Christmas card this year.  Why is it this hard to get an almost 4 year old to smile...

uhh, where's cade?

cute, but what's with the red dots??

cute, but where did that stain come from?

Oh well! Enjoy your Christmas card from us!

A great shot

Here is what happens when Cade gets ahold of the camera.  

so cute!

Christmas in Grapevine, Texas

 This past weekend we spent in the fabulous city of Grapevine, Texas.  I absolutely love Grapevine! I could move there- TODAY.  It's just this small town with in a semi-BIG city.  It's perfect.  

Our drive up was about 4 hours.  It really went by faster than we expected and we only stopped 2 times.  One out of necessity since we were dropping Lucy off with Travis' dad in Buffalo and the other was to Bucee's since they claim to have the world's cleaniest bathrooms. 

Our visit was packed with FUN things to do.

After we checked in an freshened up a bit we headed over to the Gaylord.  Talk about an impressive hotel.   We parked and went exploring.  You could spend days there and still not see everything!  The first thing we did was find the Charlie Brown ICE exhibit. Before entering the exhibit we watch a short film about how the artisans created the exhibit.  We learned that it took nearly 2 million pounds of ice and over a month to do it.  Once the film was over we headed to the parka counter and then we braced ourselves for the next part...a room set at 17 degrees to be exact.  We literally froze..and I lost feeling in my chin towards the end which was a weird sensation.

It was really neat.  They had a slide made of ICE for kids and adults.  YES, we all went down it.  We ended the tour with a family photo in front of Charlie Brown's tree.  I think you can see just how cold Cade is in this picture.  Next we warmed up a bit with some hot coco and then made our way into the Gaylord's atrium. Let's just say everything is bigger in TEXAS.  We spotted the 52 foot rotating Christmas tree... honestly not a very hard thing to do.  We found the life sized gingerbread house which is also a sweet shope with old fashion candy!  Then we just spent a little time wondering around finding out where everything was.  Around 5 o'clock we headed over to the Rain Forest Cafe.  I thought that would be a fun place to take Cade since we never go out to the one in Houston. It was OK.  We probably won't ever go back but it was fun for Cade to see rain fall from the ceiling and all the animals come to life.  After dinner we headed to Main Street and found our seats on the street to watch the 2nd Largest Parade in the state.  We also had the chance to meet some locals who told us the best places to eat! After the parade we headed back to the room and got some rest!  The next morning we had an amazing breakfast which included Texas shaped waffles... Cade asked if California had California shaped waffles... one can only hope, right?!  That morning we did a stroll down main street and enjoyed all the little holiday displays.  We made it to our 10 o'clock appointment to Vetro Glass Blowers.  We saw them do a quick demo and then we made our own glass ornament.  It was very cool... or should I say hot.  Those furnaces were 1/8 the temperature of the sun.  Afterwards we went on a mission to find a snack at the bakery on Main and then off to Talberts for lunch.  They are known for their chili and their burgers.  It was very tasty!  We headed over to the Bass Pro shop.  We got Cade one of those mini fold up chairs.  He seems to like toting it around better than actually sitting in it.   That evening we dressed our holiday PJs and went on the North Pole Express.  It was such a fun train ride!  Then we jetted over to the Gaylord, grabbed dinner at the "river walk" and then had Milk & Cookies with Mrs Claus.  Cade was loving that!  Although at one point he asked, "why does Santa need a wife?!"  Haha.  Afterwards we headed back to our hotel and called it a day!  Saturday we woke up had breakfast and went to pick up our ornament.  It was very pretty!  Blues and reds and few speckles of yellow!  Then on our way out of town we stopped at the Breadhaus and bought a loaf of honey wheat and sweet treat for the road!  Then it was bye, bye Grapevine!  I definitely want to go back and spend more time on Main Street.   It reminded me a lot of Fredericksburg (althougth not so German) but what I really loved was that just a few blocks past Main Street you run into Target, Marshalls, Starbucks, etc.... all the conveniences of a big town. 

Sorry for the out of order photos...blogger is a pain about that.

we're going on vacation

Thanks to Travis' mom, the 3 of us are packing our bags and heading North to the Christmas Capitol of Texas- better known as Grapevine, Texas.

We'll be visiting the Gaylord Texan Resort for two days. This place looks amazing. 

Here are the stats on how BIG Christmas is at the Gaylord.

52 foot rotating Christmas tree
12,000 ornaments
1.5 million LED lights
5,600 feet of garland
a life-sized gingerbread house

While we're there will be having milk and cookies with Mrs. Clause, taking a ride on the Polar Express, touring a life size gingerbread house and blowing our own glass Christmas tree ornament.

Sounds like fun to me!

Thanksgiving

So I realize that I should have posted this before my Black Friday post but who really reads this blog anyway... I think I know of 3 people... maybe 4.

Wow. 4 People in the whole world stop to read "MY" blog.  That's pretty cool.

Anyway,  I wish I could say that I took tons of photos but I didn't.  I can tell you that I made an awesome turkey.  I highly recommend it and I'm even thinking about roasting a chicken the same way next week. 

My cranberries were awesome! However they didn't gel up as much as I had hoped but they were still yummy.  The sweet potatoes were good... I like Travis' and my Mom's recipe better.   Stuffing and green bean casserole were great as usual.  

Dessert looked amazing.  Kind of heavy on the pumpkin cake part... would have liked less cake.

For my table scape I used my "good" silverware, silver napkin rings/place card holders, silk fall leaves and candles.  It was simple yet stylish. 

On every one's place card I had there name on one side and then a funny Thanksgiving quote.... "did you know that it takes 18 hours to prepare Thanksgiving dinner and only 12 minutes to eat"  and then another one said, "I had the hardest time stuffing the turkey, I went through the beak."

We then spent the afternoon decorating my tree and watching the Cowboys almost win.  Saying almost win sounds better than watching the team lose.  Ya'know?!

My tree looks great....still have a few ornaments to set out and then I'll be done for the season.

This week we're heading to the Gaylord Texan, Lone Star Texan Christmas in Dallas.  Should be fun.fun.fun!

black friday fun

Mission Accomplished!

Julie and I did it again but this time our mission was much more successful with the addition of 2 newbies, 2 mapped out store floor plans and super fast grocery cart navigation skills.

I decided to try something new and map out Toys R Us and Kohls to get a general idea on where everything was going to be.  I definitely recommend doing that for any and all stores you plan on shopping at.  Target had a cool feature online where you could download a Black Friday floor plan of your particular store.

Our night began at 7:30 pm at Toys R Us.

Susan, Julie, Dawn and I all had our lists in our hands as we made our way up to the entrance.  We were the 3rd group of 50 people allowed in the store. It's a really great system so everyone isn't rushing the door. Once in we grabbed our buggies and took off! I think everyone got what was on their lists.  You have to be quick at TRU or else you'll get caught up in the check out line.  Once you're stuck in a line you can't get out of it, which is kind of frustrating. 

Tip:  Always bring the TRU BF ad and wish booklet to compare prices.   Keep these ads with you at all stores you visit because those stores might make a price adjustment.

Once we were done there Julie and I headed to Wal-Mart.....never again will I go to Wal-Mart on BF. They are completely unorganized and no one of any status knows where anything is, or even what they have on the shelf. The check out system consisted of 8 cashiers.... ok that's an exaggeration but it was really bad.  At one point, Julie and I looked at each other and questioned if we really wanted to buy what was in our hands.  I think right after that we saw an open lane and made a dash for it.

We finally made it out alive and headed back to meet the others at Target.

We made it back to them around 1 o'clock or so.  They were practically frozen. They had heard that Chic Fil A was open so they went to get something warm to eat and drink.  Once they got back we worked out our plan of attack. 

We decided to split up the list and all go separate ways.  It was awesome! Susan got her vacuum, Julie got her scooter, Dawn got her keyboard and I got my things.  Divide and Conquer.

Black Friday was a success!

Susan checked out after Target.  Dawn headed to Academy.  Julie and I went to Kohls. 

I was home by 7:30 a.m.  I would love to say that I slept all day but I really didn't get to sleep until later that evening but somehow I managed to get through the day with a 30minute catnap! Cade and I went to the movies to see Tangled and then to lunch at Berry Hill.  We spent some time playing at Market Street and then made our way home to rest for a little bit.  Travis finally came home from his mom's house around 5 that evening.  He was helping install hardwoods (originally I was going to go up there for brunch and to sleep but something came up and the plans changed).  Needless to say I fell asleep by 8 pm and slept soundly until the next morning. 

Thanks girls for a fun evening of shopping and staying up talking! All that was missing was the wine!

Anniversary Party

You might have read in an earlier post that over the weekend my parents celebrated 40 years of marriage! My sister and I hosted a surprise dessert and cocktail party for them at their house after a celebration dinner at Landry's.  We have been planning this since their 39th wedding anniversary.... of course we only started talking details a month ago or so but it's the thought that counts....right?  RIGHT.   

It was really hard to not say anything....especially when your mother is constantly bringing up her anniversary.   BUT the look on her face when she walked into the room filled with friends and family was priceless.  I wish I could show you how she reacted but the pictures will have to do.  

We actually told my Dad about the party because two weeks before the party his back went out on him.  I didn't want him to be in any kind of pain that would cause him not to enjoy the occasion so I made the decision to tell him.   I think that him knowing that this was going to happen made his road to recovery a little quicker! 

 Cindy, Judy, and Tyra helped us set the whole thing up.  Friday I delivered everything that was going to be used at the party to Cindy's house. Saturday the cake was delivered to Judy's house. At 6 o'clock the 3 of them worked their magic and got the house ready for a celebration!

A few weeks before the party I went to a craft show and sampled a mini cupcake from A Piece of Cake bakery in Montgomery, Texas. With just one bite I knew that this was "the cake".  It was amazing!  I can't even tell you how many people were loving this cake...it was moist, flavorful and decorated so perfectly.  We went with a white butter cream cake with raspberry filling.  The doves are from my mom's wedding cake.   

My aunt did a little research on my parent's wedding. She found out that my dad never had a groom's cake.  We did the right thing and ordered him a chocolate on chocolate cake from RJ Goodies. 

 My aunt also learned that my parent's song was, "We've Only Just Begun" by the Carpenters.   It is actually a catchy song... I love the tambourine and horn combo.

There was a toast, gift opening, and lots of laughing, talking and reminiscing.

My favorite moment (besides Cade asking my mom to hurry up and cut the cake) was when grandma gave my mom the 40th anniversary plate that my mom gave to her on her 40th anniversary.   I thought that was really neat! I hope I get it one day!  Only 35 more years!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Daddy!  I love you both!

          

Turkey Dinner

This year will be my first time - EVER - to host Thanksgiving dinner.  This morning Travis and I planned out our menu together.   My mom is bringing stuffing and green bean casserole and we're doing the rest.  

I knew I was going to be making the Pioneer Woman's Cranberry Pomegranate sauce. 

Cranberries are my personal favorite.  

I remember spending Thanksgiving at Travis' family's house one year while we were dating and I went in the back bedroom and called my mom crying over the cranberry dish, prepared out of a can.  Looking back, that was a waste of tears but there is something about fresh cranberries that I just LOVE. I'm sure it has to do with the many meals before shared with my parents, grandparents, and aunt and uncle.... cousins too!   

For the bird, we are going to attempt to make Sandra Lee's Roasted Buttered Herb Turkey.

I've never roasted anything besides a beer-butt chicken. So I'm going with this one because of the "simply homemade" approach that comes with the recipe.

For sweet potatoes we are going with a recipe I found in Southern Living Magazine.  It calls for cornflakes, mini marshmallows, butter and brown sugar... sounds like a wining combo to me!

And then for desert we are going with Texas Table's, Pumpkin Praline cake.  The picture in the cookbook looks amazing! 

Travis is making his Great-Grandma Aggie's Yeast Rolls and a delicious spinach, pear, pecan salad.

I usually do something special for tablescapes at my mom's house.  Last year it was a special note telling each one how "thankful" I am for them.  This year I'm going to make something special for my guests at their place setting... it should strike up a conversation for sure!

Time to head to the store.... hopefully beat the rush!

gobble. gobble!

Happy 40th Anniversary Mom & Daddy!

Married November 21, 1970
Trinity Lutheran Church
Stonewall, Tx

Conversations with Cade:

Cade make sure you don't throw sand on Angie and don't get it in your hair or eyes.  Ok? 

Ok.

Mama,  I won't eat the sand like ____ does at school either.

(((silent)))

___________________
Me:  When we get to Nana's house do you want something to drink? 

Cade:  Don't call it that. She's not there.  It's Granddad's house.

____________________
Mama, I'll make sure to be very careful so that no one steals me.

(walking across the hall to his classrooom).

_____________________


Oh my little Cade!  Where has the time gone?  Each day you are inching closer to being 4!  Say it isn't so!
One day you're going to stop growing up, right?!

Just Dance

Caution:  Don't ever leave your iPhone or iTouch abandoned in our house.  Cade is likely to find it and find the most energetic, loud, obnoxious song you have downloaded and blast it on repeat just so he can dance. 

On my iPhone play list that song happens to be Lady Gaga's, Just Dance.  

So to make this habit of his a tad less annoying I started having a "dance break" during activities.  For example, today we made banana bread for my dad and the recipe called for the eggs and sugar to beat for 10 minutes.... seriously, 10 minutes.... I don't have time for that... but I set the mixer to medium speed, asked him if he wanted to have a "dance break" and then started the music!

We hold hands, kick our legs, spin on the floor, wiggle around, shake it... we do it all!  

He loves it! 

Just Dance.

Halloween

I'm so glad that Halloween is over with! We were going on day 4 of celebrating as of Sunday.  Thursday night was a costume party.  Friday night was trunk or treat. Saturday was a neighborhood party and then Sunday was a chili cook off with trick or treating.  We had enough fun to last us until next year!

This year Cade dressed as a mailman and a magician.  Travis dressed as Brad Paisley and I went as myself but with long purple eye lashes.  Cade even asked me, "where did your black ones go?"

This year I took advantage of the after Halloween sales.  I bought Cade 4 costumes for $20 at Wal-Mart.  So now he has a little more variety and has enough to share when his buddies come around. They can pick from a race car driver, a SWAT team, Spiderman and an army guy.  

back porch

It always feels good to throw out things that are old and broken.  The feeling of clean is one of my favorite feelings.... UNTIL.

My 3 year old realized that all of the things I just tossed into a big, black bucket are his things.  In his eyes the book that is hanging by a lone fiber is still worth keeping and "heeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyy" the broken shovel with a crack in it, still has to be good for something.  

After a little convincing we were able to actually throw the book and the shovel away.  Along with the other junky, worn out sandbox toys and dried up sidewalk chalk.

We can finally see our back patio (not as well as I had hoped- our power washer died today) but we can now see the concrete and that is what the goal was!

Next step is to power wash, put crushed granite down for our *new* gas grill that is waiting for at Lowes, install a new back door light and a storm door.  Maybe we will even luck out and get a great deal on end of season patio furniture!!

We shall see...but for now I'm going enjoy the back porch and the "not" mess.

(cade has a habit of saying "not" in front of words...for example I'll take him to the bakery and he will want a pink donut with "not" sprinkles).      

Hocus Pocus

We'll be hearing Hocus Pocus more and more these days since Cade decided he wanted to dress up as a magician for Halloween!   The costume is rather simple but absolutely precious on him.  It comes complete with shirt/vest combo, mustache, wand, and a black top hat with rabbit.  

Last night was his first time wearing it.  We attended Hocus Pocus Pops at The Woodlands Pavilion with our neighbors.  Cade loved listening to the Houston Symphony... he gets that from his dad!  Travis loves classical.  It was a fun, spoooooooky night and I'm glad we went!

Everything is a blur

This week is flying by and it's only Tuesday!

It's seems like the past few days we have been on the go!  It started on Saturday with a garage sale, followed by a baby shower, a bonfire, church services, pumpkin patch, and small group...then rise 'n shine it's Monday...that's the blurry part. Where did Monday go??

Tuesday wake up and get out the door by 8 be home by 3:45 before a major meltdown... then it's time to make cookies for the VIP snack for school and then attend a Junior League meeting that evening.  Open House is Wednesday and then finally....Thursday we can relax after we drop off a meal for a friend who just had a baby.

Ahhh!  Where did my days go where I could take naps and relax? Oh yeah... that was WAY before motherhood.  I love my crazy, simple life.

This past week Cade has had a special visitor with him.  It was Ruby Robin.  She is the class "pet" and goes home with each child for a whole week.  I loved having Ruby here.  She was such a good little bird!!

here we are at Gringo's Tex Mex

 Sitting in Mr. Charlie's jeep.

Taking a break at the pumpkin patch.

See... she is just so happy to be with Cade.  Cade even asked me she was going to come back to our house.  I told her probably in a few months.... I then said that I think I saw "Ruby" type birds at Cabela's and he was not having that... there is only ONE Ruby in his eyes!

A No Title Kind of Post

I can't believe it's October?! In two months we will have a house full of Christmas decorations!  That part I'm excited about but seriously, where does the time go?

Trick or Treat is just around the corner.  Cade wants to be a scarecrowspidermanpirate.  I'm about to dress him in all 3 if he doesn't decide!  I'm not sure where the spider man came from...since we... or I am anti-super hero.  I dread the day of little Lego men and star wars figurines that will one day take over my floors.  So, I'm leaning towards the pirate this year. 

This past month I started a running program called Couch to 5k.  I was doing really well with running every other day until last week when I rubbed a huge blister on my heel and then happened to get shin splints in both legs.  They are finally feeling better and my blister is almost healed completely. I'm looking forward to Thursday when I can get to Luke's Locker to get fitted for new running shoes.  Apparently they do a whole work up on your foot and find the best shoe for your foot.  So no more picking out a pair of shoes because they are pretty.   I can't wait to get them on my feet and get back on the track/concrete (ugh).

Cade is doing great these days.  He loves his teachers at school!  He especially loves that he gets to have a "job" in the class room.  This week he is the line leader. I asked him where he lead the line and he said to door and out to the playground. He then told me that next he wants to be the counter....  ohh to be 3 again!

Here are 3 things that Cade has said recently that is either cute/funny or both.

1.  Mama, God made him and told his mama to name him Jack (said about a friend at school).
2.  You have stairs. We don't. You have two couches. We don't. We should switch keys.  (telling my mom about how our houses are different...apparently stairs are WAY cool to have).
3.  When is the school going to bring the friendly lions to the petting zoo?

It was THIS big

This weekend we went to the farm and took Cade fishing for the first time.  It was so cute watching Travis and Cade put bait on the hook and cast out the line.  We were pretty sure we were fishing on the wrong side of the pond since it seemed like we barely got any bites from where we were at.  Until.... I decided to hold Cade's rod while he wondered around the pond.  I had a feeling that something BIG was nibbling on my poor little worm.... and I was right! With a flick of the rod and a turn of the crank I had myself a BIG ol' perch on my line.   He was a BIG as my hand. 

And since no fisherman's tale is good with out a little exaggerating here is what really happened when I noticed that I was getting a bite on my line....So I'm standing on the soft mud (or what I'm hoping was mud) watching the bobber go a little this way and a little that way...and I mention to my family..."uhhh, I think I'm getting a bite."  All of a sudden it goes down and I crank it once and then yanked the rod so hard that fish came flying out of the pond, detaching from the hook and landing just inches away from my shoes.... I yelled like a girl (of course)!  My father in-law came to the rescue and picked up the fish and showed Cade and then tossed him back into the pond.  That was the funniest moment..... I loved it!  Can't wait to go fishing again!

I was the only one who caught one....and on a child's pole nonetheless.

I will post pictures when I get my camera back.... I left it at the farm.  argh!

I guess I'm over my baby fever... for now at least! I'm just going to let my friends take care of that department for me until I'm good and ready for another one!

Summer is wrapping up.  Tuesday is first day of school.  My litle boy will be a "robin" this year!  yay!  It's going to be a great year for Cade! His teachers (once again) are 2 of the nicest people! 

---on a side note--- I'm completely covered in sparkely embossing powder.... it's a nice touch but I hope it's not a pain to get off!  whooopsy!  guess I got carried away when I was making a few handmade cards---

Anyway, so this past week I thought I might start keeping a little journal of all (which means, some of or most of but more likely just a few) quotes from Cade.   He seriously says the cutest things.... oh to be a little kid again. I'm going to start...... tomorrow since today is a goner.   I'll post as soon as I have at least 3 things....

Baby Fever

I think I have a case of baby fever.

It's just not going away.  So far this week I have unintentionally made matters worse. 

I have spent my free time sifting through baby clothes...sorting through them and remembering when Cade was "this little" followed by an "awwww, look at this one, remember when he wore this?" Mostly  Travis just stares at me... but then I see a little gush of fluid fill his eyes as he blinks really fast to make them return to normal. He just might be coming down with case of it too, YIKES!  Two parents in one household with baby fever..... can only mean one thing... separate rooms!  LOL.

Maybe it's a case of everyone else is, why aren't we?

Everyone I know is having babies... some are even having multiple babies!   Some are having boys, some are having girls, some aren't even finding out!

It's also not helping that I've been spending time with my neighbor who has a newborn baby boy who is absolutely precious. Tiny feet. Tiny hands. Tiny everything... so perfect in every way.   This weekend I'm going to be scrapbooking Cade's first year.  FIRST year.  He's already 3.  Actually he's closer to 4 now....which means one more year and he'll be in Kindergarten. WHAT?  Where does the time go? Why so fast? Why? Why? Why?

Is there a cure for my baby fever?  Who knows what is in store for our family...  All I know is that Cade is such a blessing. I know that I love him and he loves me (even if he presses and squeezes his hands together so tight, then shows and tells me that this is all the love he has for me--in which I tell him that amount is still something).

Here are some of my favorite pictures of my once little boy!  Cade Christian.

first bath

Hook 'Em Horns

his onesie was bright blue and his socks were from Baby Gap...I loved those socks!

Kimono from Becky

favorite picture taken at Picture People

Sock Monkey Party