To Summer, From Santa

Santa's Elves gave Summer a wonderful Christmas!  Mr. & Mrs. Claus was in charge of transforming the masculine guest bedroom into Summer's Big Girl Room.  She created handmade tissue flowers to brighten up the walls and spray painted the lamp bases along with new bedding and drapes to complete the girlie transformation. 

Summer's reaction was WOW!

Christmas Decorations, Santa's helper and workshop

Christmas is five days away and we are in the spirit!  Summer fully understands that Santa Claus is going to fill her stocking...and she knows which one is hers.  She wants hot dog buns and lollipops!

She made this Santa Claus at the library Christmas party.  We have it on the tree along with her letter to Santa and any Christmas cards that have Santa's picture on them.  All things Santa belong in the tree. 

This year I am highlighting my crafty skills.  At the front door I have made hanging ornaments as well as signs that were inspired from the Pottery Barn Kids magazine.   

Summer has been quite the little helper!  She is on the NICE list.  In this photo, she was helping me do laundry, putting each piece one-by-one in the washing machine. 

She even helped me grate cheese for taco night. Advanced for a two year old, I know:) 

She is happy to teach her baby how to stir. 

Santa Claus is decorating Summer's Big Girl Room for Christmas.  Who knew Santa was so crafty!  What IS he planning to do with all of these flower pom poms? 



We've Got Tubes

After a year and a half of ear infections, Summer is getting TUBES.  We are thrilled.  She is such an excellent patient.  Look at this happy smile.  We were in the waiting room at the outpatient surgery center at 6:30am

Arg! I can't seem to get these to upload correctly and I hate that.  Sorry you have to turn your head. 

Anyways, here Summer is in the pre-op room and she changed into the cute hospital fish pajamas.  At this point she had received 5 stickers from the nurse and that was pretty cool. 

This picture is after she had her "giggly juice."  The doctor said this would be a good indicator of how her first year of college would go.  I am proud to say, Summer was a mellow drunk.  The doctor said that some kids get wild and even take their clothes off (those kids have to live at home during college).  I was asking her to point to different body parts and she was getting them a little off...her "nose" was between her eyes.  Funny!

The surgery went great and it was over faster than I could have a cup of coffee and text everybody.  At this point Summer was a little camera shy.  We came home and watched Toy Story 3, ate alot and drank alot and she has been enjoying a long nap (3 hr 45 min so far).   

Doctor says she should be ready to do normal activities tomorrow. 

Thanksgiving and more

This year we had a great Thanksgiving at the Martin's new home here in Asheville.  It was great to have them so close.  Chad's uncle and cousins came up and there was a house full of fun! 

Summer loved playing with Brooke and getting to be the BIG cousin to Kate.

She got some love from Jonas, who is just a few months younger than her. 

But nothing was more satisfying than loving, helping, talking gently to baby Kate. 

Great memories and we look forward to seeing everyone again next year, if not sooner! 

Today we went to a playdate with our MOPS group to see a police officer and a K-9 officer.  Summer didn't see what the big fuss was about...we have one of these at home (minus the training).

What was more fun was to hold Madelyn while her big sister pet the dog and her mom took pics.  Little brother better get used to being "handled" quickly because she is ready for one of these "babies" to have all to herself. 

I am totally jumping around here topic-wise...but here is my first wrapped gift.  I have always wanted to wrap in brown craft paper and go simple.  This is the year!

2 year old logic: if your chicken and rice soup is hot put some frozen strawberries in it! 

Summer showing off her Cheerios tower...she can build them high!

Measuring and stirring Cheerios, while wearing her apron, is her new kitchen task.  It really helps me cook dinner to have her hard at work.

Pregancy Update_22 weeks

Time is flying by with pregnancy #2.  Possibly because I am very busy with #1 and don't have the luxury of sitting around daydreaming about what he will be like.  I have been feeling pretty well.  I have back pain if I stand too long and need a nap every couple of days, otherwise I am normal.  My only cravings have been for fruit, mainly oranges (just like with Summer).  In the mirror I feel huge but people keep saying I am not showing that much.  Here is a recent picture I took to show baby's growth.

We still don't have a name yet for this little boy.  Feel free to make a suggestion in the comments.

Cookie Decorating, Giving Thanks and Birthdays

Are these the cutest Gingerbread girls (and boy) ever!

Mid-November, Summer and I hosted a Cookie Decorating Party for her group of friends.  We gave each of the girls these cute gingerbread aprons (thanks Mimi) and they loved them.  They all took turns adding ingredients to the bowl, stirring and passing it to the next person.  They rolled out the cookies and cut them with gingerbread men, Christmas tree and gingerbread house shaped cookie cutters.  Then they iced them and decorated with M&Ms.

These are Summer's cookies...you can tell whose mother was taking pictures and not "providing guidance" in the decorating process.  They were still yummy!  By the way, they are sugar cookies as I couldn't find an easy box of gingerbread mix (maybe they come out closer to Christmas).

 Before Thanksgiving we got this yummy recipe for pumpkin muffins (a can of pumpkin and spice cake mix-powder only).  We baked them and sprinkled with powdered sugar and delivered with a cute "hand"made note of appreciation to our neighbors.

Also before Thanksgiving were a couple of birthdays (I am still behind on-woops)!  Happy Birthday to Aunt Bebe and to Nana.  We went with Granddad and Nana to dinner to celebrate.  I'm not quite sure if Summer thought the dessert and singing was for her or Nana?   

Christmas Tree, Parade and Race

This past week I put up our Christmas decorations, tree and all!  I do love Thanksgiving but I just couldn't wait until the following weekend to decorate.  In addition, Summer and I went out and about in town to see the Christmas tree lighting at Biltmore Park and to the Holiday Parade in downtown (busy busy while daddy was out of town). 

It was a really cold night so Mama opted for dinner for two at a restaurant nearby instead of standing and waiting for the tree to turn on. Never fear, we saw it!

Since Summer behaved so well on our dinner date I treated her to Pink Icecream! 

While we waited for the parade to begin, Summer danced in the street with her baby. 

Waiving with both hands!

Yall, I had NO IDEA how much my little girl liked to DANCE! Hope to get some video uploaded soon. 

The next day my brother ran his first HALF MARATHON in Birmingham.  I am SO proud of him for setting this goal and training to meet it.  Here he is at the 8 mile mark giving Mimi and Brody a high five as he passes by. 

ALL THE WAY! ALL THE WAY! I can hear my mom chanting that from the sidelines.  So happy for you Bud!  I hope to run it with you next year.

I'm on a roll...

So far I am having a great week getting back in the swing of updating this blog!
Although my camera is off for repairs (actually they are replacing it for free) I have managed to take some pictures on my phone. 
Today was our MOPS meeting which is always fun and encouraging and I get tons of creative ideas from the other moms.  I came home inspired and went to town on some potatoes!  I tackled 15 pounds of potatoes which at the time felt like overkill but they were on sale for 2.99 for 10# (plus I already had some) and I know that down the road, when I don't have to bake a potato, I will be a happy girl.

Per,http://www.momonamission.me/, I washed them, pierced them once, rubbed them with vegetable oil and sprinkled with salt then baked them for 1 hr at 400.

The smaller potatoes I sliced into rounds and will use those for scalloped potatoes or french fries in the future.  I made twice baked potatoes with one tray and with the third tray I sliced and left in halves to later top with cheese, bacon and chives.  I flash froze them for 2 hours by laying them flat in the freezer.  Then I bagged them.

While the potatoes were cooking, and after Summer woke up from naptime, we made dinner-Spinach and Cheese Manicotti (another momonamission recipe).  We doubled the recipe so that we could eat some tonight (and lunch tomorrow) as well as have another meal in the freezer.  She was very meticulous about getting the cheese into the plastic bag (which we used to pipe the filling into the shells).  Oh and by the way, smiling AND keeping your eyes open at 2.5 yrs old is practically impossible.

Summer is becoming quite the little kitchen helper.  Just last week we got together for a baking playdate with her friends and made some delicious Fleischman's bread. Pictured (Addyson, Addie, Levi and Summer)

I thought I would share with you what a sweet little girl Summer is.  Every night we give her a breathing treatment as an asthma prevention method.  At first the mask was not fun but now she can hold it by herself like a big girl.  It helps that she gets to watch cartoons at the same time!

Cooking and Playing

The past few months I have been so inspired by a friend of mine who is a cooking queen! She has four kids and manages to cook smart, frugal and healthy. Not to mention she feeds the women and children in our community at the homeless shelter weekly. Anytime I need a recipe I go to her blog to see what she is up to.
This week potatoes are on a big discount at the local grocery and I am going to take advantage by making some of her twice baked potatoes as well as freezing some for grilled cheesy potato skins later. Check out the link below and explore her blog to find more great recipes and cooking ideas.
I have made her Chicken Parmesan and froze it for later and it came out great! I also love the breakfast burritos.
Grilled Cheesy Potato Skins

Yesterday Summer and I went to the Mountain Playlodge with our neighbors for the first time. I had heard rave reviews but didn't know what to expect. Summer went crazy! She got in there and just started running. She couldn't climb on each dog, turtle, boat, car fast enough. It was so much fun to watch her. They had inflatables and to my surprise she got in the BIG ones and actually climbed to the top and slid down (with me encouraging her to be like Dora)!
Sorry no pictures...as you remember Summer dropped my camera and I have sent it off for warranty repair.

PS - This year I am going to be one of those people who put up their Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. I hope to get them up this week!

Crafty

When looking through the Pottery Barn Kids Holiday Magazine I thought that I could recreate some of the cute Christmas decorations that they had.  Here are some stake signs that they have listed for $44 each (ridiculous).

 Here is my version for no out of pocket costs...had everything under my roof.  I plan on attaching them to paint sticks and sticking them in my metal planters that are on both sides of the front door...then tying a red bow around each of the metal planters.

 Here is another cute Pottery Barn Christmas decoration, oversized ball ornaments hung at your entryway.

My version, still under construction (many more coats of white paint).  Mine will actually end up cuter because they are made of red burlap and I will glue or stitch two pieces together, and stuff them, to make them 3-D.  The Christmas trees were a cookie cutter I had that I used as a stencil.

This was the last photo taken on this camera, by Summer, before she dropped it face down on the lens.  Since then I have spent my evening googling "lens error."  After no solutions, I finally called customer service and it appears that if I ship it to them then they will repair it under warranty (of course not mentioning the 2 year old dropping it with the lens extended). 

Miss Mischief herself outside church today.  I told her she could go touch the bus, as you know BUSES are her favorite...and since this one does have a yellow top she might as well consider it a yellow bus.

Bright Eyes

My bright eyed girl painting again...
She woke up at 5am and repelled out of her crib (a trend the past 2 days).  I woke up seeing that the kitchen light was on and went to see what she was up to.  She didn't see me, but I saw that she was playing at her table and chairs...so I went back to bed.  Chad and I just laid there listening and guessing "what that noise was?"  Amazingly she never came to get me.  After 1 hour and 20 minutes I got up and peeked in the kitchen to find her picking up crackers she had spilled on the floor.  She had opened the pantry and climbed up the shelves to get what she wanted!  Oh, for the record, Summer can open any child-proof door knob and she is an excellent problem solver...so nothing is out of her reach.  There weren't any major messes and she had removed her diaper and placed it in the trash just like Mama does.
This is the begininning of her not needing us!

Painting and Halloween

This week, once I received the Pottery Barn Kids holiday magazine in the mail, I got a creative itch.  I saw some cute Christmas signs and decided that I could paint something similar.  Well, as you can imagine, when I paint my mini-me wants to paint also.  And so we did!

This Halloween Summer dressed up as a fairy.  It was cold so this fairy had to keep warm under her tutu.  Thanks to Mimi for making her tutu, magic wand and hair bow.  She got the hang of knocking on doors and saying "Please" and "Thank You."  The phrase, "trick or treat" was a stretch for her vocabulary.   

I guess it was the costumes that threw them off.  But here is Summer with her buddy, Nicholas aka Superman.

Thanks to Nana for staying at our house to pass out candy so that Mama, Daddy and Granddad could walk the neighborhood. 

Baby Update: I am 18 weeks pregnant now and feeling well.  This past week I haven't had much of an appetite for dinner (and my family has suffered) but otherwise I crave citrus and typically eat an orange every night.  Chad and I haven't yet agreed on a name...sigh.  However, we were able to name Summer so I have faith that we can do it again.  Talk to you soon.