Grateful

This morning I'm feeling grateful for all the great blessings in my life.

The past month has been, to put it mildly, Rough.

Only 3 evenings home together as a family.

Sick kids, sick mom.

Missing Ryan.

But through all of that, I realize how lucky we are.

We have GREAT family and friends that have helped us get through it.

Watching the girls, taking care of the dogs, sending us home with food, etc.

The girls have been amazingly adaptable, considering they've been shuffled like a deck of cards.

My dogs have not chewed any limbs off dolls or destroyed any other toys, regardless of the fact they've

been seriously neglected.

My stomach bug blessedly lasted only a nasty 8 hours.

The girls are now once again healthy.

E loves babies.  (and yes, she's sitting on the kitchen table.  don't judge)

Lila likes to use Rio as a pillow!
(not a great quality picture, but the moment was so cute!)

And, Ryan will put his feet on US soil again tomorrow afternoon!!!

We are SO ready to have him home!

Yesterday, when I was driving in the car with the girls, Lila suddenly said to me,

"Mommy, know what?"

Me: "What's that baby?"

Lila: "Daddy really misses you."

Me:  "He misses you and Ellie too"

Lila: "Yeah, but he REALLY misses you!"

Me:  (tearing up a little) "I really miss him too, honey."

Lila: "I know Mommy, I know.  It'll be ok."

What an intuitive little girl!

So I'm spending my day being grateful!  Even though I have to clean the house, pick up dog poop, change the sheets, and run errands before getting the girls and bringing them to my mom's, then heading to work.

Grateful!

Happy Birthday to my baby sister!

It's a good day!

My baby sister turns 25 today!

Such a cute little girl,

Her first Christmas!

Sweetness!

Such a beautiful woman!

Alex, I love you and wish you a WONDERFUL day!
Sorry we won't see you, but there is lots of loving thoughts coming your way today!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Tree hunting and Cookie baking

Whew!  It's been a wild couple of days!

This past Saturday, Ryan and I were crazy enough to accept the job of photographer at our friends' wedding.

Lets just say I very well may have been just as nervous as the Bride and Groom!  Seriously, I had made myself sick worrying/stressing/over-thinking this for quite awhile.  I think we ended up with something the Bride and Groom will be very happy with...  more on that later.

Sunday, Ryan left the states and flew off to the land of the Orient where he will stay until the 14th of the month.  The girls had spent the night at my mom and Alan's the night before and I was able to visit with them for awhile before bringing the girls home with me.  

Yesterday morning, I again loaded the girls along with the pooches into the truck and drove up to my Dad's in Wisconsin.  Not an awesome drive, but we got there.

After naps (kinda), we made the decision to go and look for a couple of Christmas trees for my Dad and Konny!  Boots, snow bibs, jackets, hats, and mittens....  Elle was pretty good for about 40 minutes, then her and I hung out in the warm truck.  Lila on the other hand, was quite the little tree hunter!  She helped Papa and Konny find just the perfect one!  I think all parties were pretty happy with the outcome!  I can't wait to see the pictures of the trees all decorated to perfection!  It was so fun!
  Pizza for dinner at a cute little small town restaraunt, then home to bed, sorta.
Ellie has something against sleeping at night at Papa's house, bah.

Getting ready to go find that perfect tree!

The nest we found in Konny's tree

This morning, after a cup of coffee and some muffins, it was time for the cookie baking to start!!  Of course my camera battery died before I could snap any of the finished product, but hey, that's what phones are for, right?!  The girls had a BLAST and I think Papa and Konny did too.  Although, they were pretty darn exhausted after experiencing the chaos of two small girls for 2 days! Ha!

The phone camera!

Finished product~!  Don't they look delicious?!

They are now tucked in bed and will head off to daycare tomorrow!  Mommy will have 2 days to herself to tackle the house, and laundry, and the mountains and MOUNTAINS of photo editing to be done... but 2 whole days, this is exciting folks!

I'm now going to take a quick hot shower and tuck my lonesome self into bed.  Missing my hubby tonight.

Night all!

The process

A real Christmas tree.

What is it, that makes a real live tree so special?

I think it's the process...

Going to get it, dragging it in the house and setting it up, the sweeping/vacuuming the ridiculous amount of pine needles off your floor.  Hmmm???

I'm considering switching teams here... an artificial, pre-lit sounds pretty darn good right about now.

Then there's putting on the lights, the garland, and placing each ornament in just the right spot.  See?

A process.

Honestly, I love going to pick out the tree.  It's one of my favorite things to do at Christmas.

The trouble this year, is that we just didn't have time.

So, Ryan picked one out on his own and brought it back from Wisconsin last Sunday.

It was up and in the tree stand when the girls woke up from naps, and then it was time for mom to put

the lights on.

When I was little, putting the lights on the tree was a job for me and my Dad.

He was meticulous.  So I became meticulous.  

Cords must not show.  Hide them well.

However, we also had an artificial tree growing up.

It's funny how THOSE trees are a little more agreeable to do my bidding when it comes to 

looking the way I want.  Real trees have a little more of their own, lets call it "personality"!

They go exactly where they want to go, no matter how much you tinker.

Long story long... our tree has cords showing.

The girls were not super interested in putting on lights.  Ryan read to them on the couch

while I started.  Then, when they got bored and impatient, I quit, handed the reins to Ry and

let him finish.  Our tree is also a little on the chubby side this year, and our current amount of lights

didn't exactly make it all the way around and to the top, so a little improv was needed.

After Elle went to bed, Lila helped me unwrap all of our bulbs and ornaments.

It was so fun watching her face, even as sick as she was, get all excited about the different ornaments!

I realize she doesn't look real excited, but she was.  She was also dealing with a major fever and cough.

Ryan and I put the majority of them on after Lila went to bed, then turned out the lights and enjoyed

our masterpiece.

I think it's just perfect!

Cords showing and all!

It's been a rough couple of days..

Ugh.

(this is long-winded, feel free to skim)

Last Friday Lila was really out of sorts all day. Cranky, crabby, whiney...  you get the idea.

Just before dinner, I realized why.  Fever, yuck.

Not too high, 101.1, just enough to make you feel crummy.

Saturday we spent the day at my mom's house and I ended up running her to a CVS minute clinic for a rapid strep test, because she kept complaining of her throat hurting.  Negative. 

The fever got higher, but nothing a little good ole' Tylenol and Motrin couldn't take care of.  

But then the coughing started.  This awful tight sound from deep in her little chest.

Feeling icky

Saturday night was awful.  Up constantly because every time she coughed, it hurt her, and she cried.

Every remedy I could think of was tried, and finally at 4:10am I fell asleep for almost 2 whole hours!

Sunday was icky too.  Both girls were cranky, and so was I.

Ryan had been gone hunting in Wisconsin all weekend, so needless to say... I was anxious for his return!

He got home while the girls were napping and we got the tree he brought home up in its stand.

I wanted to try and decorate the tree with the girls, but after getting one strand of lights on, I pretty much gave up.  After E finally went to bed, Lila helped me unwrap all the ornaments, then it was her bedtime as well.

Ryan and I finished the tree ourselves.  He even indulged me and cuddled me up on the couch with the lights off, looking at the tree, listening to my favorite Christmas carol (O Holy Night)!  It is a beautiful tree!  More on that process later!...

Another horrible night of constantly waking up ensued, and I woke up feeling like I got hit by a bus.  The girls woke up with low grade temps, but seemed less crabby.  I made a spur of the moment decision to keep our appointment with Santa, and off we went to visit the big guy.  The girls were well behaved and Lila did very well.  Telling Santa her wishes for Christmas and giving him high fives.  Elle on the other hand, was a little unsure about the man in the red suit.  She said "Hello" and gave him high five, but if I was more than 2" from her, she flipped out.  She is actually perched on my leg for the photo!  Let me tell you, Santa and his helpers are very, VERY patient!

Lunch - smooth.  Nap- mediocre.  Wake-up...  temps all around and whining to the point I thought my head might pop!  I called into work "ill child" so I could stay home with the girls today. Ryan and I did literally nothing productive last night.  We sat with the girls in our laps, watching bits and pieces of Happy Feet on TV, then baths and bedtimes all around.

Seriously.

I was in bed before 9pm last night! And blessedly only woke up once when Lila needed to go potty.

This morning Lila is still hacking up her lungs, but fevers are gone and her mood is delightful.

Elle, well 103.1 doesn't bode well with anyone, so Daddy will be staying home with them tomorrow!

Elle is wearing her cranky pants

I love Motrin and Vicks, let me tell ya!

Okay, well.  Both girls are napping, so I'm going to do the same since I have to be back in Babyland tonight!

Thanks

Tonight as I get ready to go to bed,

(yes, it's 9:08pm)

I am feeling fulfilled.

Happy.

Thankful.

To all those that make my life complete,

Thank You!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pintrest

If you don't know what this is,

let me enlighten you!

It's a wonderful website that allows you to catalog a million great ideas to reference back to at your leisure! 
I was the tear-a-page-out-of-a-magazine lady, who would end up with a bazillion scraps of paper
stuck in a pile. Because of the mess, I would never look back at it.

Now, thanks to Pintrest, I have recipes, craft ideas, photo inspiration and home design dreams all
neatly organized onto my "boards"! 

It's Fabulous!  Really!

Because I have some time tonight while at work, I'm going to show you some of my Pintrest-y stuff!

Enjoy!

I have 26 "boards" in my profile.

Lots of ideas, not enough time.  (or money, in some cases)
I just may tackle another handful of them this coming weekend while Ryan's away hunting.

Here are some of my "pins"

Things that make you say "YUM"

Peanut butter stuffed pretzels dipped in chocolate!

Creamy tortelini with white beans and cilantro!  This is delicious!

(I've made both of these, so SO good!)


Hairstyles or fashions I've tried out

I actually managed an outfit similar to this and thought I looked decent!
It's a start I guess?

Cute?  I think so!



OPI - Espresso!!

Random things I love!

Zachary Levi - I love Chuck!

Gorgeous, isn't it?!



Also gorgeous!  And also things I love...  Beer, Lobster, and Rob Pattinson!
(Yes, I'm a dork)

Things that make me laugh

I know you do this.

You do this too.

I have so many ideas I want to try.  So many recipes to make, photos to take,
Clothes to try, hair to do, and crafts to tackle with my munchkins.
Home dreams to keep alive, and some little DIY projects...  it's all great!

I heart Pintrest!