Thursday, December 31, 2009

Izzy & the Christmas Tree

Every year since Izzy was born I have taken a picture of her in front of the Christmas Tree in her Christmas dress (mind you her first Christmas she had like five dresses!). I thought I would share this year's picture and the progression of the past few years.

Friday, December 25, 2009

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We had a WONDERFUL, AMAZING, GREAT, SUPER, EXCELLENT, AWESOME, BODACIOUS (need I add more adjectives) CHRISTMAS! It took us 2 1/2 hours to open presents this morning (all of course mostly for Izzy), plus the presents she got yesterday from my mom's family, the ones she got last night from Clark's mom's family and those she got from YaYa & Mike, and those from Pap & Nanny this evening (you can see the Dora bike below). After the year our family has had, Christmas was a much needed and very appreciated blessing. I think my Aunt "Stinker" said it best in her prayer yesterday when she thanked the Lord for our family and the closeness we all share. That we don't fight or bicker, we have been there for each other this year and done things we never dreamed we would be doing, but we've done it all together. We got enough money to buy a new dishwasher (a nice one at that) and several wonderful gift cards for some much needed date nights ;) Izzy (major things) got some clothes/pjs, a kitchen set, grocery cart & cash register, pots/pans/appliances, chefs apron/hat/potholders, baking set, five babydolls, baby crib, baby highchair, baby carrier/diaper-bag, Princess Vanity, Dr's Kit, Baby doll Dr bed, crayons, coloring books, tons of books, Art Easel, Dora Bike, DVDs, two games for her Clickstart Computer (and that's just the big stuff or stuff she got a lot of). She is a very blessed little girl to have family and friends that love her so much that want to buy her the moon! I hope everyone else had as wonderful a Christmas as we did!
Merry Christmas!










Saturday, December 19, 2009

Our First Family Craft Day!

Each year at Christmas Izzy's Pre-School organizes a Family Craft Day. The classes gathered together as a group first and sang a cute song about Santa and then they dispersed to their "families". Each child must have someone there to help them with their craft. We decorated super cute Gingerbread Men & Christmas Tree cookies. Then we had punch & snacks and we even got to visit with Santa a while! I really appreciated the opportunity to spend this very special time with Izzy! It was a much needed little break from reality!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Holiday Hoopla!

This weekend certainly started Christmas off with a bang! Friday was the Asheboro Christmas Parade, which the Y always has a float in and you guessed it, I'm in charge of heading that up. It was a total disaster. Not because of anything I had done per say, just the progression of events.
  1. The trailer arrived an hour late, way smaller than expected and no sides.
  2. Robin had to leave to pick-up her grandson, so only Joe and I were left to decorate.
  3. It was freezing outside.
  4. I am sick.
  5. Lori forgot the power source for the lights and we had to go to Wal-Mart and buy a new one.
  6. We arrived 1/2 hour late due to buying the power source.
  7. We left the power source in the van (two blocks up from the trailer)
  8. The garland on the float was broken and half of it missing
  9. Half the lights wouldn't light.
  10. We have three times the number of people the float will hold.
  11. We get the lights to work, they start the truck and they all go out and will not come back on.
  12. The speaker/music player was dead (lost its charge).
  13. The truck started in line with the rest of parade without several of our people on it.
  14. It rained on us a couple of times.
  15. and for the grand finale...the trailer (with all of us on it) got stuck on the railroad tracks!
Yea, so then on Saturday we had Parents Night Out. This is where we provide an evening of childcare for 5-11 year olds with swimming, a pizza supper, games in the gym and a yummy treat at the end of the night and parents can have an evening to themselves. Last month we started providing nursery care for 6weeks to 5 years old. We had 42 children combined on Saturday night! 31 with K and I and 11 in the nursery. We had a really great time and good kids, at least Friday night's bad luck didn't rub off on Sat.

On Sunday I tried out an event I heard about from another YMCA; "Sundaes with Santa". Obviously, Santa came and we had yummy ice cream sundaes for parents and of course children who are members of the Y. We had somewhere around 75 people who attended. It was a HUGE success! Everyone loved it and were very appreciative. We will definitely be doing it again next year!

So, of course Izzy and Clark came. Izzy was very excited to see Santa and she spoke to him as soon as she came in. Granted she was in her Daddy's arms and that's where she was going to stay as long as she was remotely close to Santa. However, as she spent some time with him and Clark, K and I showed her that Santa was a super nice guy, she got a little more comfortable as you can tell by the progression of photos below...



She is such a mess and even bigger cutie!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Yuuuummmmmyyyyy!

We are absolutely SICK of eating the same things alllllll the time! Each month we go to the store and get Chicken Helper Mixes, Spaghetti, Tuna, Macaroni & Cheese, Salad, Frozen Pizzas, etc. (all that cheap, easy, quick stuff) and we are tired of it. Especially now that Izzy is older & eating more with us and we have a little more time to do things while she entertains herself, we went in search of some new things to try. However, we still needed the three main ingredients 1.) Cheap 2.) Easy 3.) Quick. Clark and I both work 10-12 hours a day, 5-6 days a week, we just simply don't have the time or energy to put into cooking a really in depth meal. I went to www.campbellskitchen.com and hit the mother-load. We have made three recipes so far and that have been absolutely wonderful (which is an even bigger plus considering how picky I am). My absolute favorite of these three is one Clark made last night-because, yes, even on a Friday night I was at work until 7:30pm-
Savory Chicken Stew: (which apparently is no longer in the database) so...
Ingredients:
1tbs vegetable oil
1lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1'' pieces
1can of Campbells Condensed Cream of Chicken & Broccoli Soup
1/2 cup of milk
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
4 small red potatoes, cut into quarters
2 medium carrots, sliced (I just used frozed sliced carrots)
1 cup broccoli flowerets

Directions:
HEAT oil in skillet. Add chicken and cook until browned, stirring often. Remove chicken
ADD soup, milk, pepper, potatoes, carrots and broccoli. Heat to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat 15mins, stirring occasionally. Return chicken to pan. Cover.
COOK 5 mins. or until done

Next up...
Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas:
http://www.campbellskitchen.com/recipedetail.aspx?recipeID=50780
and
Skillet Chicken with Garden Broccoli Brown Rice
http://www.campbellskitchen.com/RecipeDetail.aspx?recipeId=50754

We still have several more that I had printed & bought the ingredients for this month and I have others that we want to try next month. I'll share those, if they are worthy, as well. Yet, I don't want to pretend like we don't still need frozen food, b/c we do, only we found some new alternatives; Mrs. Pauls Crunchy Fish Sticks-sweet, Stouffer's 5 Cheese Lasagna is quite heavenly and of course Red Baron 4 Cheese Classic Crust Pizza is my secret boyfriend!
Ohhhh yea!

Monday, November 2, 2009

The Flying Horsey


Izzy is just such a little character lately! I think this video really encompasses her spirit and personality. She is not afraid to do anything at full capacity! Then still ready to ham it up in the end; all while still looking quite stylish in her "Abby Wings" ;)
Note: For those who might not can make out what she's saying-when she goes to get off the horsey she says "I stuck" (one of her new favorite phrases) and then of course "Cheese" when she sees me with the camera. I love everything she says and every way she says it. We are also big fans of "Oh me gosh", "I did it", "Oh no! Watch Out", "I'm gonna git you", and running in circles being chased. She also laid down in the bath tub tonight for the first time and said "Mommy, I swimmin" and was quite proud of herself, as she should be.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

As you can see, Izzy was Abby Cadabby (from Sesame Street) for Halloween this year. She was quite the little character and the best part is...it only cost me $2 :) We had the dress, shoes, wand and the hair/headband. I bought the pink tights and wings at the Dollar Tree. We went to our neighbors, K's, my aunt's, Mee-Maw & Papaw's and Pap & Nanny's. Izzy was on a sugar rush by the end of the night ;)
She also had her preschool party on Wed. I was one of the Mommies in charge of helping-out. I made Halloween sugar cookies, bought Halloween cups & plates and orange Hawaiin punch. Lili's mommy made grilled cheese sandwiches in the shape of pumpkins and bought Halloween pretzels. They were all really cute and seemed to enjoy it and have a really good time.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Just here...

That's us now...just here. I haven't felt like blogging much lately because I don't like to put depressing stuff on my blog and that' s pretty much the state I've been in for the last several weeks. Izzy's had two "mystery" illnesses in three months, gone through all kinds of trauma trying to figure it all and still no answers and I feel simply helpless. Then when it seemed like she was going to be ok, this week she got a nasty cough-out of the blue-no runny nose or evidence of drainage-just a croopy cough. My first thought was I don't know if I can go through this again, but mommy instincts kicked in and I started the cough medicine and the Vicks Vapo Pads (the most wonderful things ever invented) and in three days...NO COUGH (pretty much)! Yeah! I did it-boost to the self-esteem! Plus, I've been juggling her back forth to work with me-as if I'm not stressed-out enough without Karen there-let's try to get some work done with a two-year old running around my office! My next stress-er now is there is something going on with our house; moisture and/or foundation and/or roof issues-we don't really know-we've had one person come out and look at the moisture problem and he gave us some fairly inexpensive fixes. Now, we need someone or two someones to check out the foundation and the roof. The thing is to not have lived in this house even three years-we should not be having these problems! As first time home-buyers we did everything we were advised to do, had a home inspection (which we paid quite a nice chunk of change for-I mean anyone that makes over $700 for three hours of work is my hero) and checked-out the home's history, neighbors, etc. Last summer, we put in a brand spankin' new HVAC, all new duct work, all new electrical panel & wiring in the house, had the electrical box moved outside for maximum efficiency-$8,000 worth of work and still problems. In April the hot water heat-out of nowhere-busts underneath the house-$400. I've been budgeting, researching, scrimping, rearranging and we still don't have two nickels to rub together. Each time Izzy's been sick-credit card, HVAC payment $104 a month, we can not handle another payment or another big thing to go wrong, it is simply not in the cards. What's so frustrating though is that each time we get our taxes back we do something good with it last year I paid off a credit card, this year I paid off our furniture, bought the hot water heater, got Clark new tires for the truck, built the railing on the deck and made a few big payments on the only two credit cards we have left. Yet, we are still barely keeping our heads above water. I'm usually the one remaining level-headed and calming Clark down-now we're both working on ulcers-worrying about everything. Geez! Just as a side-note, I've had about 15 kids out at the Y with the FLU, fun times. Oh and I'm really not trying to be one of those people that are like "what is the world coming to" or "where are the good ol' days" I know times change, inflation happens, etc, but I REFUSE to pay $35 or even $25 for a toddler Halloween costume. It's bad enough to have to pay that for an adult one, but it's a little bit more understandable (considering fabric and materials) but we're talking about a little tiny 2t toddler costume with probably less than a yard of fabric total! NO WAY! NO HOW! Clark and I had figured out a cute and extremely cheap idea, but now I've found something I like better and more fitting I think (and easier to manage a Pre-K) and still cheap. Oh and I'm the Halloween Party Helper Mommy in a couple of weeks too ;) So yea, that's what we've been doing-not a lot of fun or interesting tidbits, we're just here.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Our Masterpieces!

So, if you ever thought your life was crazy before, throw a two year -old going to Pre-K, while the nation's in an economic crisis, where you're the boss faced insurmountable stress and incredibly difficult decisions & situations and losing the only help you could always count on, all the while dealing with sick people & children (including your own) and then you'll have absolute INSANITY! One of the very few things that are making me smile here lately are Izzy's beautiful works of art she has been bringing home from school. We really love (and admire) Ms. Rene (Izzy's teacher) I mean how in the world she gets seven two year-olds to make a picture everyday, alone, is an amazing feat. Here are her accomplishments so far and then Izzy just wanted her picture taken so I have to included those as well.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Izzy's 1st Day of Pre-K!

Today was Izzy's 1st day of preschool! She is attending First United Methodist and is in a class with all 2 year olds-6 girls and only 1 boy, poor thing! It was a great first day, she didn't cry or get upset, but that's also b/c I know how to drop and run. I got some pics and once she realized I was on the other side of the door I could see it coming so I took off like a shot. But she walked right in (didn't even hug me goodbye) and started listening to Ms. Rene. She did a painting of her hands, played on the playground and I was told, showed off her dancing skills to Barney. We'll see how next week goes ;)

Sunday, September 6, 2009

5 Years...

Clark & I had our 5 year anniversary Friday. To make the day truly spectacular...I was off...so nice! Izzy and I spent the first half of the day playing dress-up, reading books, playing outside on the deck and taking a peaceful & snugly nap together. Then Ya-Ya & Mike came to get Izzy so she could spend the night with them and I did a few things around the house (including putting Izzy's basketball goal together) and then got ready. Clark worked at Dave's and rushed home to get ready. Our original plan was to recreate our first date which was Outback and a movie, but we ate soooo very much (I mean literally, I haven't eaten that much in years) that I simply could not go and sit in a movie. So we kept with our "new" anniversary tradition of going to Toys R' Us (we went last year after our anniversary dinner) and getting some Christmas present ideas. We also went to TJ Maxx and got some new toy storage bins, which I loooove, and some PJs for Izzy and an adorable dress which is goes perfect with some new tights that I bought her. Then we came home and rented a movie instead. This Anniversary is represented by "wood" Clark gave me the "Promise" Willow Tree Angel, which also comes with a picture frame...LOVE IT! I however, after about 6 weeks of searching, could not find anything "wood" that I thought Clark would need or care for. So instead I got him a rechargeable LED work light, which he really needed (b/c he's always stealing Marshall's) and he loves. Its not always been an easy 5 years, but we've made it together and I couldn't imagine anything better than that!

Friday, September 4, 2009

I Love Being a Girl...

Izzy LOVES her dress-up trunk & jewelry and so does Mommy!
So much FUN and incredibly cute!