Christmas: The Post Without Photos

I will post some Christmas photos soon. Posting them now would require me to get up from this chair, and I'm really, really comfortable.

All in all, we had a very good Christmas season. Amelia was more aware of everything this year, so that made it much more fun. However, the big bummer was that Darryl was gone for most of the month because he was working in various places out of town and out of country; the week before Christmas I was actually starting to worry that he might not make it home in time for Christmas because he was stuck in snowy London. He was supposed to fly out on the Sunday before Christmas, but instead was delayed until Wednesday...and that plan was a little dicey at best. Everything worked out, though, and he made it home Wednesday evening, and Amelia and I were SO glad to have him home.

I have to give a big shout-out to my mom, who pretty much dropped everything to stay with me the last week of school so she could just help out. That week is typically hectic, but because she was here, I was able to concentrate on stuff that needed to get done for school (making out three exams=not fun), and she took care of Amelia. I was very glad to have her here!

On to Christmas activities...
Christmas Eve afternoon, we had my cousin Vicky and her husband, Robert, over for dessert. We had peanut butter cake (delicious!) and opened presents. After they left, we went to a Christmas Eve service at Buckhead Church. The service opened with this:



After the service, we ate at Carabba's and then came home to get ready for Santa. We left out reindeer food, and then Amelia picked two of the cookies she had "decorated" to leave for Santa. I think he enjoyed them!

It was just the three of us for Christmas morning, and that was nice because it hasn't really been "just the three of us" much at all lately. Amelia loved her new toys, especially the dollhouse Santa left her. (Seriously, she played with it ALL day...so maybe it was a present for Darryl and me as well, haha.) I also made this recipe for Christmas breakfast along with sausage balls. Let me tell you, that coffee cake is GOOD, but the baking time is NOT correct; as a result, we were all starving by the time it was done.

Not long after breakfast, we had a white Christmas!! It was such a nice day...warm and cozy inside while the snow fell gently outside. However, Darryl thought that if we didn't go ahead and leave for Florida (we were originally going to go the day after Christmas), we would be stuck here and wouldn't get to go at all. (I think the London experience has scarred Darryl for life.) So after lunch (also delicious...Honeybaked Ham, sweet potato casserole, and roasted asparagus), we scrambled around and packed up everything and headed out for Florida around 4:00.

It was snowing so heavily around Columbus--and by then it was dark--that we came "this close" to getting a hotel for the evening, but it eventually lightened up and we were fine. We got to Florida around 11:30 and were so ready for bed.

The next morning, we did Christmas with my parents and hung around the house most of the day. We went over to Darryl's sister's house at one point for a while and then opened gifts there, too. That night, my mom fixed a big dinner, and everything was delicious. (Apparently I cannot come up with a different adjective to describe good food.)

Fast forward to Monday afternoon...Darryl and I went out for the afternoon. We hadn't had a date in I don't know when. We shopped around some and took advantage of some after-Christmas sales. Then we spontaneously decided to see the movie Life as We Know It at the dollar theater (cute movie but very predictable...as we expected), and then we had seafood for dinner...yum. (Wow...I branched out with a different adjective.) Then we picked up Amelia from my parents' house and went to Darryl's sister's house, where we enjoyed a family tournament of "Just Dance 2" for the Wii. I chose to be a spectator because several people had their Flip video cameras out, and I for one did not want to see my dance video posted to Facebook.

And Tuesday, yesterday, we came back home. While I really enjoyed being with our family, we all know there is no place like home. Amelia and I are enjoying an easygoing morning in our pjs, but we're meeting my cousin for lunch soon...so we better get going.

I'll have some photos soon!

P.S. Two days later, I realized I didn't link to the recipe I made Christmas morning. I've added it now. :-)

Making Up for Lost Time: Thankgiving--A Photo Essay

This year, our friends Damian and Rebecca from Baton Rouge came to visit us for Thanksgiving. We had celebrated Thanksgiving together for several years before we had Amelia, but this was our first time to get together for this holiday in four years! The holiday is best explained by the photos below:

Two days before, a 5:45 a.m. trip to Wal-Mart, Starbucks in hand

A fried bird, 'cause that's the way we roll

My dressing, which was perhaps the best it's ever been

Two kinds of cranberry sauce, both canned and high-brow

The iPad, a tool used to babysit my child so I could cook stimulate my child's brain and motor skills

A good post-meal nap, complete with a blankie

A good Black Friday shopping experience

A sign, in case you ever need to know how to get to Snow-ville or Chilly Town

Lights!!

Busting out the onion dip because we hadn't had enough to eat at this point

Girls hanging out at Buffalo Wild Wings while the boys watched the game

Making Up for Lost Time: Amelia's Birthday

So yes, it was a month ago.

We celebrated Amelia's birthday at the same place we had her birthday last year. It's one of Amelia's favorite places, and having it there means I don't have to clean my house only to have it demolished by three year olds.

This year we went with a Tinkerbell theme. Amelia was totally into it this year and enjoyed seeing all her friends. Here are just a few photos:

Amelia and her friend Sophia:

Most of the crew:
Amelia dancing like a crazy woman with her friends:

The Birthday Girl with her cake. Unfortunately, she tripped and fell right before so her face was still streaked with tears...so I didn't get a great "cake shot."
Seriously...three years???

Amelia and the Train

Darryl, who somehow turned into a Christmas elf this year, bought a train that goes around the Christmas tree. In the first video, Amelia is dying to open the train. She was on the floor, just staring at it, for about 20 minutes before the first video was taken.

Enjoy!

Train Anticipation

The Train's First Run

37

And continuing my retrospective of the past month (see Halloween post below!)...I turned 37 on November 3rd without much fanfare, but I enjoyed a nice dinner with Darryl and Amelia.

And just before Thanksgiving...Allow Me to Present Halloween!

I know, I know. Halloween was, like, several weeks ago.

Ahem.

Anyway...

Last year, we didn't get to do many Halloween festivities because Amelia was sick. We made up for it this year!

Halloween weekend kicked off with Amelia's daycare party. Here's the class, all dressed up:


As several of us were leaving the party, a couple of kids decided to sit in the "cubbies." Pretty soon, we ended up with this:

Saturday, we went to Amelia's friend Sophia's birthday party. Because it was princess-themed and costumes were encouraged, Amelia was able to don her Tinkerbell outfit once again.


That afternoon, we did the Trick or Treat thing at the mall. It wasn't very good...it was crowded, and many of the stores didn't participate.


Sunday morning, the preschool department did a "heroes and princess" theme to close out their month's series of lessons. Darryl works in the K-5 area, and they had a hoedown theme going on, and he was expected to dress accordingly. Allow me to present my cowboy and Tinkerbell:

See my fancy carving work on that jack-o-lantern?

And FINALLY, that night, we went to Sophia's house to Trick or Treat. The two girls were so cute together, running from house to house, saying, "More candy! More candy!" They had so much fun, and it was probably my favorite part of the weekend.

Disney World--in Pictures

Almost three weeks ago (I know--I'm a horrible blogger), we met my parents at Disney World for the weekend. We drove down on Friday after a half-day at school and returned on Monday. We spent Saturday and Sunday having all kinds of Disney fun. I started out writing a post that probably would have been of no interest to anyone but us, so I thought a photo approach might be best. Granted, I have about 200 photos of the weekend, but here are some of my faves.

On Dumbo, our first ride


With Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from The Princess and the Frog--she was so in awe of all the characters she met that she didn't give much of a smile, but she is still talking about it several weeks later.

I'm not going to post a photo of Amelia with every character we met, but since she is currently obsessed with Tinkerbell, I just had to post this one.


This is at a character breakfast we went to (the food was SO good), where we got to meet Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. You can't tell it in this photo, but Amelia was so excited when each character came to our table!


I love this photo, mainly because you can see the fall decorations, "Main Street USA," and Cinderella's castle in the background.


This photo makes me LAUGH. Darryl took it (he was sitting in front of me and Amelia) on Mickey's Barnstormer kiddie roller coaster. Amelia laughed the whole time, and my mother (in the back) was trying to hold on to her glasses. This is actually only one photo in a series of about 10, but this is one of the few where I don't have a massive double chin. :-)


I know the color is wonky in this photo, but I like it anyway. We went to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, and Amelia was dressed as Tinkerbell. Her personality completely changed when she put on this dress. Suddenly she was Miss Priss, twirling, singing, and acting prissy. It was quite comical.


Also quite comical was the fact I decided to don some Minnie Mouse ears for the party. Amelia got a kick out of it (anything for my kid, right?). Here we are, enjoying some Sugar Babies (remember them?) before the parade.

We really did have a wonderful time. I do have more photos I will probably show, but it takes a while for them to load. I might do a Part 2 soon...

I also have some super-cute Halloween pics to post, and I am really going to do my best to put them up in the next few days.

The Pumpkin Patch

Saturday we went to Burt's Pumpkin Farm. I was all set to get some great photos, but the sun wasn't "just right," and Amelia was too busy trying to pick up 50 pound pumpkins anyway.

It was really more fun this time around, though. She was really excited about all the pumpkins, and she picked out her own special "baby pumpkin." Here are a few of the better photos.






Yep. We went on a hayride, too. Amelia really enjoyed it and kept saying, "Hold on!" the whole time.

Afterward, we went to an apple house and had stocked up on some apples and...a few fried pies. Oh my word at the goodness.

It was one of those weekends that you don't want to end. Sigh.

What we've been up to lately, in bullets

• We took Amelia to a sing-along version of Beauty and the Beast at a movie theater the other night. We all enjoyed it. Amelia was antsy for about 30 minutes in the middle of the movie, but there weren't many people there, so it was okay for her to walk around in our row a little bit. We made it to the end!
• School has been hectic. It is obviously approaching time for a Fall Break; I'm at that point where I could choke some of my students (and they probably feel the same about me) if we don't spend a little time apart soon. :-)
• I'm happy for the return of Fall TV. I got sucked into Dancing with the Stars again, but I've also been watching Glee, Modern Family, and Grey's. (For the record, the Britney episode of Glee was terrible in my opinion.)
• While school has gotten me down a bit lately, I have enjoyed writing a few recommendation letters for some students from "my favorite class ever" from last year. It is exciting to watch (and help) them get to the next step of their education.
• Amelia is taking swimming lessons. Our goal is to have her swimming by next summer. She's doing pretty well, but we still have a ways to go. :-)
• We are looking forward to an exciting trip coming up soon, but I'll give you details "after the fact." Just know we can't wait!
• My Keurig bit the dust a couple of weeks ago. Something was wrong with the water pump in it. Costco took it back (without a receipt!), no questions asked. I ordered a new one straight from Keurig, but it is significantly louder than my old one. Hmmm.
• I have returned to carrying a purse full time for the first time since we had Amelia and I had to switch to a diaper bag. After leaving my clutch wallet behind at several places and going through the panic of "what if my wallet is gone?" I decided I needed to buy a bigger purse. I found one that rocks my world. Darryl mocks it because it is big, but I love it. Yea for fun purses!!
• Amelia is going to the potty more, and apparently everyone has seen her "pee-pee" in the potty except me. What's up with that?
• I'm enjoying the cooler weather. Fall is most definitely my favorite time of year. Time to pull out the pumpkins and the delicious soup recipes!!
  

Fairy Princess

While Amelia can still have some "terrible twos" moments from time to time, I am loving this age right now. Of course I have loved Amelia immensely ever since I knew of her existence, but she is really melting my heart these days.

When I pick her up at daycare, she drops whatever she is doing and squeals, "Mommy!!!" and runs to me with her arms wide open for me to pick her up. Then she turns to her friends and says, "MY momma!" Of course, I interpret that as, "This is my mommy and she is so awesome!" Ha!

And she is into Tinkerbell and fairy princesses big time. Really there is nothing cuter than a little girl with wings and a wand, is there?

The other day Amelia put on her wings and her wand, and we played outside while Darryl grilled some steaks. I super-love these pictures. Her wings are upside down, but I think that just makes the pics even cuter. :-)




She is going to be Tinkerbell for Halloween, and oh. my. word. Her costume is too cute. I've had to hide it in the back of Darryl's closet because she wants to put it on all the time.

These are fun times!

My dad's birthday weekend--almost three weeks late

Two weekends ago (the 10th-12th), Amelia and I made a quick trip to Florida for my dad's birthday and to go to fish fry that my parents were hosting. I did much better with taking photos this time around. In fact, between me, my cousin Tina, and my Aunt Azalea...well, we were almost as bad as the paparazzi.

Amelia and I got there Friday evening--we left straight from school--and we were both pretty tired. Saturday was a full day, though. Here are some pics:

Here's my mom, cooking up a storm and ready to host.


Here's my dad, also hard at work with food preparation:

Here's my Uncle Joe, wearing an ugly shirt in front of a hideous jeep. :-)

Ah...that's more like it. At least someone in this family has good taste.
Here's my dad and his brothers and sister:

We all had a wonderful time visiting, and the food was great, too! After everyone left, we had some fun outside with some kind of bubble toy that my parents had gotten Amelia. She loved it.


I think Nana enjoyed it, too.

The next morning, we enjoyed some pancakes and sausage and hit the road, but not before I snapped this photo of Amelia and the birthday boy:
His cap was his "less serious" gift. It reads, "RETIRED: Someone tell my wife." Ever since he retired a couple of years ago, he has had a lot of items on his "honey do" list...but I think he fits in plenty of fun, too.

It was a quick trip and I was exhausted when I returned, but it was worth it. We had a great time!

(I started this post almost a week ago, but I had some photo issues with Blogger when I first tried to put this up. Boo.)