Ten On Tuesday

A few of my friends have a Ten on Tuesday post.....here's mine.

1. I'm super excited that today is finally here! Keith Urban released his new album. I love LOVE LoVE it! I could listen to him all day. Here is a picture from earlier this month when we went to the rodeo to see him.

2. We have been in our house for two weeks now. We just need to finish a few things: touch up paint, trim around the fireplace, and install our new toilet paper holder! Once those things are taken care of we can conquer the garage and then call it done.

3. I am trying to cook new things for dinner instead of the same ol' same. Last night it was chicken tortilla soup and the night before a honey mustard chicken. I really want to take a cooking light class or buy a book that has recipes that don't require a bunch of speciality spices/ingredients but offers tasty recipes.

4. There are only 6 weeks of school left! I'm happy and sad at the same time. The school I work at is great! I love the staff, the parents and the kids. It's such a great environment.

5. Travis and I are talking babies. Maybe trying this summer. I'm tracking now.

6. We will be out of debt this month! Thank GOD.

7. I am planning something special for our 3rd anniversary. We usually go to Fredericksburg since that is where we were married. I love it there. It's your typical small town, with great shops, great food and lots of history. We are all about small town fun.

8. Cade is talking up a storm. He sings songs, can identify almost all of the letters of the alphabet (in no particular order) and has a severe peanut butter addiction.... the other day we were saying our goodnight prayers and he said, "God Bless, mama, daddy, Lucy, nini, noni, uncle Travis, peanut butter, nana, grandad, amen!

9. I'm the search of a new pair of running shoes- some pink and white ones. Nike's or puma's are my shoes of choice.

10. Here is my sweetie pie at his choo-choo party last weekend.

the hairy guy in the picture is my husband, Travis.

Cade's Party

We are finally back in our house. Everything but a few minor things need to be completed but we're just glad to be back in our own beds. One thing we did before we moved in was hire an awesome maid service to come out and clean the house. It almost sparkled when they left. I told Travis I'm going to have to figure out a way to have them come out at least once a month.....it's so worth it!

Since we knew we would be back in our house by March 21st we decided to celebrate Cade's 2nd birthday on that day. His actual birthday is Feb. 16 but since we had so much going on with the flooding incident we post poned it until we could be back in our house.

On his actual birthday we took him to get his 2nd year pictures and to eat chicken nuggets at the mall- oh and we rode the carousel. We also had a cupcakes sprinkled with Thomas confetti. Here

Cade and Abbey Cade enjoying his chicken nugget

Cade was set on having a choo-choo party so we couldn't let our little guy down! We purchased some cute invitations at Hobby Lobby and ordered our cake to match from RJs. Picked up some balloons and borrowed a train table and wallah- a choo-choo party!

Here some pictures from the bash

The favors were super cute- train hats and whistles from Oriental Trading. The funny thing was after I handed those out, one of the little boys asked me, Miss Tara don't you have any goody bags-- too cute!

we have floors

So since the last time I posted we now how 3 rooms with carpet and most of our wet areas are tiled.... next comes the wood. We should be moved in by next weekend which is fine with me.... The furniture people are coming out this week to repair anything that had water damage and then we can finally get those pieces back in the right places instead of in a huge pile in the middle of our living room. I can't wait for the cleaning crew to get here....this house is so dusty... even the key board has a layer of grit.

It'll all get back in order sooner or later....

water

I have so many people in my life that are pregnant right now. Some with their first, some with no. 2 on the way and some with their 4th and some that are trying! I keep debating when we will have another child. I definitely want Cade to have a partner in crime. Everyone says that their will never be the perfect time..... I just know now is not the time. I can see maybe trying later in the year..... I'd love to have another spring baby!

So our house was flooded about 2 weeks ago from a little plastic tube that connects the fridge ice maker to the water. The tube must have been detached all night with the amount of damage we had. I woke up to the mess and am still living in it.

The good thing is is that we are getting to upgrade our house with new carpet, tile and wood floors. We decided on tile for the bathroom and kitchen. Tomorrow I'm sure we'll decide on the wood. So many choices and putting it all together isn't as easy as I thought it would be.

Cade is good. He turns two next Monday. He's such a smart baby.. I mean toddler.

He can count to 10, and sometimes higher (eleventeen, twelve, thirteen)
He can say his ABCs and even identify some of them (W, E, and O)
He sings pat a cake with hand movements
Stacks blocks like there is no tomorrow
LOVES ice cream
And says, AMEN and Bless You

He's the greatest blessing~ Travis too!

Tubes are in

For the past 23 months Cade has had 12 ear infections. Here lately it seems like he just can't get over them. So we made an appointment last month to get evaluated a second time by the ENT for the possibility of placing tubes in Cade's ears. It was highly recommended to help drain the ear and prevent further infections- while the ear can still become infected it at least can drain and not cause as much pain as a full blown infection. So we schedule the surgery.



Yesterday we woke up a 6 and arrived at the surgery center at 7. He played in the waiting room until it was time to get prepped. That took about 20 minutes and then he headed back to the OR for about 10 minutes. We literally sat down and got back up to go get him. He was the least bit happy to see us. Finally he settled down and we drove home. He slept a good while once we got home....and then all of sudden he shot up and said JUICE. Not sure if he was really awake, I comforted him and carried him to the kitchen, handed him his juice and then all of a sudden he went BLAH all over himself and me.



Poor baby. We cleaned him up and then he did it again.... just a little bit. So we stripped him down and tossed him into the tub. I think that made him feel better. Afterwards he was his normal self.... a little wobbly and bit more cranky than normal but overall he was doing well.



As for sleeping last night- I rocked him and tried to put him down and popped back up. I decided to not let him cry it out since he just had the procedure done-- he did sleep until 7 with me. So that was nice treat. Hopefully he'll wear himself out this afternoon at the park.



We go back in 2 weeks for a follow up. Let's hope for good results.

Snow Fun

At school this week they had a snow day. Cade had "snow" much fun sliding and playing in the snow.



Mrs. Fran and Cade

Even I went down the slide.... so fun!

Cade is really talking a lot these days. He's singing songs and counting to 10...and sometimes higher. He is constantly doing something to amaze us!

We're planning his 2nd birthday party for the 21st of February. I think we are going with a truck theme....however when I asked him if he wanted a choo-choo or a truck party he replied- choo-choo truck.

Should be cute and fun no matter what!

Travis is heading to Buffalo this morning to help his dad build a rail on the back porch. Cade and I are staying home with big plans of cleaning out the closets. We have so much stuff that just sits and takes up space and it's driving me crazy. Our fun will start after we have our playdate at Pump it Up this morning..... hopefully Cade will enjoy that.

I am back into couponing!

CVS-
2/$7 Panteen (-3.50 extra care bucks (previously earned), - $3 off 2 coupon)= 2 bottles of Panteen for .54cents
Oh and I earned an additional $2 in extra care bucks

Walgreens
3.50 Electrasol- (-2.50 coupon, - 1.50 mail in rebate) = .50 overage
2.99 Garnier Shampoo (-$2 easy saver coupon, - $1 coupon) .01 overage


The cashier at CVS said- soooo basically we just paid you to shop here. I said, pretty much you did.

Get inspired~ check out this lady- http://jane4girls800dollarannualbudget.blogspot.com/ she feeds her family of 4 on $800 a year just by couponing..... pretty amazing.

And look at hotcouponworld.com for other couponing deals!

a very, yummy dinner

I made a great dinner tonight.

I had the salad earlier this week at a holiday social and had to make it for myself. It's fresh and delish~ perfect for the season--and super simple to make. In a bowl, toss green salad with pomegranate, feta, nuts, and pears. Serve with Raspberry Pomegranate vinaigrette.

Salmon fillet with a brown sugar glaze--In a saucepan 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1/4 tsp butter, 1 tbsp honey- stir over low heat until melted. Remove from heat. Whisk in a few dashes of s n p, olive oil, and soy sauce. Cool for 5 minutes. You really can't mess up the glaze......

Place fish on a foil lined tray and pour glaze over them. Bake 25 minutes at 350.

Such a yummy dish.

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

Our tree is up and the house is decked out with holiday decor!

I love this time of year. The twinkle of lights, hot coco, all of the Santas at the mall and the magic behind it all. Cade seems to like it too. He is really into the Christmas tree...and the ornaments. I started him a collection of ornaments- I buy one for him that relates to something that happened over the year. Last year it was his Baby's first Christmas and this year it is a glass ornament of an ice cream cone~ since that's his favorite thing to say whenever I open the freezer~ (eye-neem, eye-neem).

Here is a picture of our tree.

sorry for the glare we are in the process of getting shutters!

exactly the same but different....botique?

Tonight was the first pre-shift of the holiday market. I met up with Amanda and we directed traffic in the lot....vendors move in...vendors move out. We did that for an hour together then her shift ended and I was on deck, solo. I did have some company from some other girls- who were super nice!

The market looks like it's going to be a great success this year! My friends are going, and mom and all her friends and even Stephanie is making a special trip down! I hope it meets their expectations!

Tomorrow I have to work the mid-day shift. 11-3:30. I hope I don't pass out from starvation! Note to self: bring a snack. Then I have to come home and bake bread for Friday's shift... The only perk about baking the bread is that it's probably one of the easiest of all the possible recipes out of the JL cookbook to make.....or at least from the ones I picked from.

Friday isn't anything.....that evening, I'll probably head over to mom and Daddy's to visit with Maxie- My toothless niece. She lost her two front teeth and one bottom one this past weekend....and not by choice. A while back someone bumped into her on the playground and caused her tooth(loose tooth) to turn blue...she must have wiggled it for two months straight before the neighbor next to them was able to yank it out! The following day she had a run in with a tennis racket- she busted her lip and swallowed a tooth (we think) and another fell out (it was already loose). Poor girl!

anyway, that's all for now...........i'm in need of a shower and some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's.

So, Becky started posting on her old site and now I am too. I took a few minutes to go back and read some of my old posts and it brought back so many memories! This blog will be more about my life now as a mom-- and a wife and all the adventures in between. So enjoy and I'll try to post a few times a week or as time allows.

I dread time changes....but surprisingly it wasn't so bad this time. Cade went to bed last night at

8:30 and managed to only wake once during the night. I almost didn't get him but I hate hearing him say "mama...mama...mama" over the intercom. I just rocked him for a few and laid him back down. To my surprise I didn't hear those words again until 8:15. Yay for sleep!

I woke Travis up at 9 and told him that today is FAMILY DAY! We decided on visiting the Houston Zoo. We got there a little after 10 and managed to see it all in under 2 hours and learned a few things along the way.

Interesting facts about giraffes:

The gestational pd for a giraffe is 14 months....and I thought 9 months was long.

Giraffes give birth standing up.
A baby giraffe when born can weigh 150 lbs and can be 6 ft tall.

Before we left we had an ice cream treat and purchased a little stuffed giraffe (we named him Barney). I'm pretty sure Cade likes him because he's holding him tight right now as he sleeps.

Wedding plans are coming along nicely! We finished our wedding blog on theknot.com. Our registry is almost complete as well. We still need to register at Foley's and add towels at Linens and Things. We tried to complete the LNT registery yesterday but the scanner kept freezing up on us!

Today Becky and I are going to look at Bridesmaid dresses. The colors for the wedding are soft and romantic pinks and creams. It shouldn't be too hard to find those colors since spring is just around the corner. Actually spring might be here now- yesterday it was 80 degrees! Ohhh you gotta love that Texas weather.

We're engaged!

We're planning to be married in April 2006 in the Texas Hill Country. This week Becky and I are going to Fredericksburg to check out a few venues to host the reception at. We are interested in Kairos Celebration Barn, Trois Estates and the Enchanted Chateau.

Saturday was the first time I took the bridal party out to look at dresses. We went to David's Bridal and Panache. I wasn't expecting to find my dress on the first run but I did! I love it and can't wait to wear it! It's...oh, wait I can't tell you because it's a secret! I hate secrets!

So, I haven't purchased the shoes yet. I am just as disappointed as you. I did look last weekend but the mall was packed with wanna be gangstas. So I'm still surfing the net and sneaking a peek at the feet that pound the gym floor. I've add a pair of pumas to my list of possibilities. There are so many cute color combinations to choose from!

One more day before the weekend is here! I'm thinking about going over to my parent's house and spending some time with my mom. My dad is up in the hill country since deer season is now open. I'll probably head over kind of early on Saturday. I'm wanting to take her to breakfast at Panera Bread and then head to Old Town Springs for an hour or two. We usually hit up Maggies and stroll around that end of town. We avoid the doll shops by all means. Doll shops scare me and a visit to the doll hospital scares me even more!

With that said, I hope to find some cute holiday decorations since Becky and I are hosting a Christmas party Dec. 9th. The following Friday my mom and I are going to the Nutcracker Market at the Reliant Center. The market is amazing. You'll find everything from salsa dip to elaborate holiday decor. We've gone the past 4 years and know the floor plan pretty well! As soon as we make it in the event area, we head straight to the back booth because that's where they have the best things, at reasonable prices!

The one item that I always leave with is a jar of amaretto butter spread. It's made right here in Texas! It's this yummy spread that melts in your mouth when it's warm! You can put it on pancakes, biscuits, toast................a spoon! It's just that good!

Speaking of yummy Texas products! I also love, LoVe, LOVE Fischer Weiser products, especially the Raspberry Chipolte Sauce. You can pour it on top of cream cheese and serve with crackers or use it as a dipping sauce for any kind of meat. There are several flavors to choose from and once you do, ketchup will be a thing of the past.

Also, how yummy does this sound...Hot Chocolate Cake!

I was surfing the net for new gym shoes today and and found the nike shox aprisa that I'm interested in. I've never owed a pair of black shoes but I thought that they would look nice with my black workout pants- which is very important to me! Of course, I'll be able to tell right away if they are a keeper the minute I put them on! Hopefully they'll be a perfect fit. I'm also considering the nike shox go because I love the color red. Tonight I saw a girl at the gym wearing them...I was so jealous!

Something cool on nike.com is that you can get a mini workout while you surf their site. You can break a sweat while doing a warm-up or whittle your waist away with a salsa dancing lessons. The instructor goes step by step and then puts it all together and even throws in a cha-cha-CHA.

These have to be the prettiest matches ever....I love the white box with red dots- it's just my style.

Today I was reading in a magazine about different ways to save money. One way was to clip coupons....imagine that. I'm always a big fan of getting the Sunday paper and scanning the ads for coupons! It's always a good feeling to look at the reciept and see that you actually saved money- even if it's only a couple of bucks. It all adds up in the end. The magazine mentioned a sight called, grocerygame.com. The site finds the "rock bottom" prices on hundreds of products each week and matches them up with manufacturers' coupons for the best possible savings at your local supermarket. How cool is that?! There is a $10 fee every 8 weeks if after your trial period you continue to use the service. Sounds like a good deal to me.

new music to check out-Lori McKenna.

Cupcake anyone?

I just finished baking a dozen and half Strawberry Cupcakes. They turned out so prefect! I served one cupcake on a piece of antique china and dusted it with powered sugar, muy magnificent! There couldn't be anything better than whipped cream and fresh fruit piled between a layer of super moist cupcake!

The recipe is super easy to follow and would be a great date night dessert to make with the one you love! And if you choose to do it alone, you will surely earn a smile or two once the dessert is served!

bon appetite!

I never thought that another ice cream could possibly top Cookies 'n Cream Ice Cream. I'm a huge fan of cookies and cream! I love the creamy texture and hard cookie combination. But the other day on the way to the hair salon we drove past a Ben and Jerry's and I made the comment that I have only had their Ice Cream once in my entire life but that I couldn't remember what kind it was. Well the day went on and I forgot about the ice cream. The next night we met my parents for dinner and on the way there, the Ben and Jerry's sponser car drove beside us. I knew this was a sign from God telling me to venture out into the frozen food section and pick up a carton of Ben and Jerry's. So tonight after my Pilates class I did just that! I know, I know it does defeat the purpose of working out if you're going to splurg on sugary snacks but one bite of Cherry Garcia will knock your socks off. Imagine cherries with chocolate chunks! Pure yummy goodness.

So moooove over Cookies 'n Cream and welcome Cherry Garcia!