The big 3-1!

Once again, I am way late on this post. I guess y'all are used to that by now....Anyway, on the 8th, Russell celebrated his 31st birthday!! He is officially in his 30's and O-L-D! HAHA, just kidding:) We didn't really have a lot planned that day...our recent vacation was pretty much our birthday/Christmas/whatever gift to each other for the next few occasions. However, we still had to make sure Russell knew his girls love him!! I didn't have anything special planned so that afternoon I asked him what he wanted for dinner, that I would fix him whatever he wanted! He then said, "Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy." Ummm, seriously, do I have a second option? Now, I have watched my mom cook this exact meal at least a dozen times, but have never attempted it on my own, not to mention, I had not one single item in my kitchen to even begin to make that meal. So, I told him, how about the next time you see my mom, I get her to fix you the chicken fried steak with all the fixin's and you give me your second favorite meal. He then said, "Ok, bisuits and sausage gravy." Alrighty, that I can do. I, of course, called my mom for a quick tutorial, ran to the store and about an hour later, he had a big ol' plate of southern goodness in front of him, plus a big glass of ice cold chocolate milk. (Isn't he just the cutest 31 year old you've ever seen:) by the way, the meal tasted waaaay better than it looks)

Next, and I probably shouldn't mention this...but just in case y'all thought I was perfect, I am about to prove you wrong. Russell's most favorite thing in the world is cookie cake and what is the one thing I forgot to get him? You guessed it, a big, yummy cookie cake that he has had for just about every birthday of his life. I didn't think of it until about 5:30 and the mall closed at 6:00. So, I hop into the car to get the stuff for dinner and pray I can make it to mall in time to pick up a cake. Unfortunately, by the time I get there, they of course have no cakes and only one slice left in the back....OK, I say, I'll take it. All the while thinking that I am just about the worst.wife.ever. But, I get the slice of cake, get it home, and then it gets even better. I am thinking this whole time that I have a "3" candle and a "1" candle to put on the cake, however when I get home and look, all I have is a "3" and a regular candle. So....yep, you got it, that's what I used. I suppose it was a little ghetto, but Russell thought it was funny and well, he really ought to know by now that I don't plan ahead or make lists or have a "3" and a "1" candle, but he does know that his girls love him very, very much and we are so thankful for him and all that he does for our family. Here he is getting a little help from Marissa with those candles.



Well, Russell, I hope that even though your birthday wasn't perfect, that it was special and you enjoyed it! We love you so much!!! Happy Birthday, old man:)

So much to be thankful for...

Thankful for my husband, my daughter and my mom hanging out in the kitchen cooking pancakes...

Thankful for grandparents (all 4 of you) who love their grandbabies so much....

Thankful that there are other people who love to hold sweet Allie and give her bottle to her in the morning....

Thankful for my beautiful mom, my very best friend and the best cook I know....

Thankful for my daughter who has the prettiest blue eyes I have ever seen....

Thankful for messy kitchens which in turn filled our bellies full of wonderful food....

Thankful for NeeNee, who is always willing to color with Miss Marissa....

Thankful for sleepy girls, one with her paci and blanket and one who is finally breathing better thanks to her breathing treatments....

Thankful for Baby Einstein which keeps my babies entertained when they are sleepy and when they have to take breathing treatments....

Thankful for my dad who is always willing to clean up the kitchen....

and the table....

Thankful that we live in a home that is filled with love, laughter, babies, yummy food, toys and so much more...and at the end of the day, thankful that it is clean:)

My heart is overjoyed this thanksgiving as I have been thinking all day about all I have to be thankful for. My sweet and wonderful husband, my beautiful girls and all my family and friends...but mostly today, I have thought about my Savior. My Father in Heaven who called me to be His, who saved me, who set me free, who loves me much more than I deserve, and whose love is unfailing. Psalm 100 says that "it is He who made us, and we are His." I am so thankful today that I am His, that we are in His hands and that He is in control. Psalm 100 also says "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations." Today, above all else, I am thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ.

The reason for my lack of blogging...

*Let me first say...Dad, you will probably want to stop reading now, there will be no pictures, no stories nor a mention of your two favorite little girls...;) Sorry.

....Is that I am a tiny bit obsessed with doing things around the house. (not to mention...cleaning! I must confess, I'm not so good at the "housekeeping" part of my job, but I have come to realize how much easier life is when I pick up after myself and my 3.....uhh, I mean 2 kids. :) But aside from cleaning, I have been decorating!! And having a blast doing it. There are sooooo many crafty, talented women out there in blogland who are gracious enough to post their very inexpensive, super cute ideas, not to mention step-by-step instructions on how to do them!! I'm thinking I will make this a weekly post so it will keep me motivated to continue....so I will just post my very favorite new thing I made! I got the idea from my new favorite blog, Shanty2Chic! They are sisters from Texas and they have tons of fabulous, cheap, crafty ideas on their blog. The first one I attempted was the apothcary jars.

I turned these 3 wooden candlesticks, circles and finials (plus 3 glass jars, black spray paint and natural jute string I forgot to take a "before" picture of) into.....

These 3 beautiful apothecary jars filled with lots and lots of fun fall goodies!!

Aren't they so much fun?!


I spent:
$7.50 on the glass jars
$3.50 on the finials
$.75 on the circles
$1.50 on the candlesticks
Most of the materials inside the jars were FREE from my front yard...I did buy the little pumpkins from the 80% off section at Hobby Lobby. I think they ended up being $.40 each. I then spray painted them brown.
So for about $15, I was able to make a beautiful, unique decor item to go on top of our new Queen Anne tv stand that I love!! I got it off craigslist for $25!!! It is in perfect condition and is a wonderful addition to our living room.
(Russell was not happy with me taking pictures while he was trying to watch football...)


Ok, that's all for now! Stay tuned for more fun, crafty projects....(plus some Marissa and Allie updates:) )

Ahhhhhh....Vacation at last!

This post is about a month overdue...lots going on these days!! Better late than never, so here goes!

On Thursday, Oct 15, Russell and I hopped on a plane and headed south, waaaaayyy south for a sunny, wonderful, baby-free vacation. My best friend from high school had the FANTASTIC idea to have her wedding in the Dominican Republic then an even better idea to make me a bridesmaid, which in turn meant that Russell and I just had to go....not to mention we had not been on a vacation since our honeymoon. We were due. And let me just say, we had an amazing time! I do not have one bad thing to say about the whole trip. The place we stayed was beautiful, the food was great, the drinks were free and the sun shined the entire time! It was so hard to pick out just a few pictures because there were so many good ones, but here are some of my favorites!
Once we landed in the Dominican, we had to ride a bus to the resort, here we are on the bus ride, sooooo close to vacation-time!!

Our beautiful room.

And even more beautiful view.

all dressed up for rehearsal dinner

Wedding Time!!

Father and the bride.

Mr. & Mrs. Perini

The whole group!

me with the beautiful bride

giving my speech:) (talking to a crowd with a microphone=one of my worst nightmares...looks like i was saying something funny though, so that's good.)

i love this picture...Russell and I had so much fun that night...we danced the entire time! It was the most fun we have had in a long time!

Another one of my favorites:)

First dance.

The three girls...Courtney, Krystle and I dancing the night away:)

Our last night there...just hanging out before we had to say our goodbyes.

Can't wait to do it again!:)

Do a little dance....eat a little candy...get down tonight!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our little angels 0:)

A little warning...lots of angel cuteness below:)
This year I dug deep and found my inner-Martha Stewart and made some super cute (not to brag or anything) costumes for the girls. I decided I wanted Marissa to be an angel so I found one on ebay that I loved, however it was a ridiculous $70!!!!! You have got to be kidding me. I kept going back to it and the more I looked at it the more I realized it was just a tutu, wings, and halo. I thought it couldn't be that hard to make. So, I found videos on you tube of how to make a tutu and wings and figured the halo was just tinsel stuck to a headband, so off to Hobby Lobby I went!! I spent about $30 total (including turtlenecks and pink shoes). All this time, I was thinking I would just put Allie in the ladybug costume Marissa wore last year, until my friend Layne talked me into making an angel costume for Allie after I told her I had enough materials left over. Well, that was really a lot of unnecessary information, I was just proud of myself for making the girls' costumes this year:) Ok, on to the good stuff....
One of the fun things about living here and Russell working at the Country Club is that the girls get to have 2 nights of Halloween (which means double the candy!) Thursday night was the Halloween party for the kids. Here is Daddy with his angels:) (we were already bribing Marissa with treats so she would be still long enough to take pictures, please don't judge me...)

Mommy's angels

I absolutely LOVE Allie's face in this picture!

Sweet Allie Joy

The daddies playing with the kiddos (Bryce was a very cute scarecrow!)

Bryce giving Allie a little lovin'

Allie just got a hug, Marissa got the kiss:)

She makes a beautiful angel, don't you think?:)

Another beautiful angel!

Daddy was being a good sport and let Marissa put stickers all over his face.

He got a big hug in return, so that made it ok:)

The end result-sticker-man!

On Saturday, we went to GA to spend Halloween with the Johnson family. Marissa was sooooo excited and talked about Riese, Cooper and 'Cane (McKane) all week long! We had a wonderful time and although it was a cold, drizzly Halloween night, we did get to do a little trick-or-treating.

This was one out of about a hundred attempts at getting a good picture of the two of them...it was impossible. My arm ruins this one, but it was the best we could do.

This one is good, just no smile from Allie.

The whole gang: my angels, Riese the zoo keeper, Cooper the UPS man, McKane the ninja G.I. Joe and Sydney the witch. (look how sweet Marissa and Riese are holding hands...)

The family pic.

Trick-or-treating in style.

Running circles at the house after lots and lots of candy. She kept saying "Meesa likes candy!" (She calls herself Meesa since she can't say Marissa)

All smiles after sampling some candy:)

"Hey big sister, whatcha got there?"

"yummy! this is waaaaayyy better than my bottle!"

Ok, so I saved this picture for last b/c it is probably my favorite all-time picture. I don't know why she is standing like this or making this face, but it looks like she got spooked by a ghost and how appropriate that it was on Halloween night. Absolutely hilarious!!!