Goodbye 2009...Hello 2010..

New Years Eve....leaving 2009 and entering 2010..WOW, let me start by saying 20 years ago, I would have bet money on the fact that by the year 2010 we would all be living like "The Jetsons" in our super space cars and robot maids! The world has come a long way but not quite that far ;) I would settle for a chauffeur & real life maid though :)~

My hopes for the coming year, I gave up resolutions LONG ago since I never seem to be able to keep them no matter how good my intentions might be!!!! I wish for health and happiness above all else for my loved ones...that my girls will be safe during the whole upcoming year and we will be happy as a family, take more time to just enjoy each other and the little things in life..Like today we went for a ride on the carousel @ the mall and the joy on those little sweet little faces for the 4 minute ride was worth well more than the $2 admission it cost us! I have a sign in our living room that reads "Do one thing everyday that makes you happy" I intend to start enforcing that for everyone in our house!

Happy New Year to everyone out there and may 2010 bring you whatever you hope it will!

A Very Merry Christmas Indeed!!!

Such a FUN Christmas this year! Savannah was over the top excited about it and Emmie is starting to get into the fun of it all now too!!! Seeing their little faces light up Christmas morning when they see all that Santa has brought along with the haul from all their loved ones is priceless!

It was a Zhu Zhu Christmas extravaganza this morning for Savannah, a tower of Zhu Zhu houses and accessories surrounded by stacks of hamsters all wrapped with a big blue bow from Santa!!! A Laugh & Learn kitchen for Emerson with all the music and lights she loves so much from Santa!! Not to mention all the fun toys from mom and dad and all their AZ long distance relatives!

We had the whole day to ourselves the first time ever since Savannah was born, it was SOOOO nice to just let them tear into the wrapping, throw stuff all over, strew toys across the whole house and stay in PJ's till 3 in the afternoon! Truly a fun Christmas filled with laughter and playing and just enjoying our family all day long!! I hope everyone had as wonderful of a Christmas day as we did!

Oh Christmas Tree.....

Every year since Savannah was only 3 months old we have trekked out in the snow to Wheeler's Christmas Tree Farm to find the perfect tree, cut it down (much to Dave's dismay with a bow saw since I don't allow chainsaws in our "perfect Christmas experience"!) drag it thru the woods to the truck and then home to cut it practically in 1/2 since I always seem to pick 20' tall trees, but to my defense its really hard to judge size in the forest.....decorate it and load it with presents!!

This year will be our last year @ Wheelers since he has taken down his sign but still allowed people to come that have always came and didn't know better! :) Have to figure out a nearby place to start with next year, any suggestions let me know! 3 minutes up the road and $15 any tree any size is going to be hard to beat!

Here is our tree for 2009! Emmie's 2nd time and much more fun that last year since she is old enough to go on the sled and have fun with big sister Savannah now!

Elf On The Shelf!

This is the MOST amazing thing for parents of young kids! I learned about it thru Dave's cousins Suzy & Jenn. Our elf came to our house tonight, the doorbell rang and there was a package under the tree on our front porch. What a SURPRISE and very exciting for Savannah to go and grab it...what could it be? Mom & Dad had no idea so she brought it in, we sat down in the living room and opened it up. Inside was a book & a little elf doll. I read the "instruction book" while Savannah's eyes got wider and wider with each turning page....the book was read and she was crazy about "Elfie" already. You have to name your elf and thats the name she picked! So, 1st night with Elfie was a success and a very well behaved little girl who loves to talk to her new friend and give him messages for his boss Santa! Wonder where he will be in the morning????

Cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings..........hopefully this good behavior to score her spot on the "Nice List" will last!

HAPPY Thanksgiving!!!

What a great time of year...the kick-off for the whole holiday season...We had a wonderful thanksgiving with Dave's extended family, not sure the exact number in attendance today but around 70 would be my guess! The girls had a great time making crafts and running around with all the other kiddos!

This year I am thankful for my wonderful family, Dave and our 2 beautiful girls Savannah & Emerson...although at times it feels life is crazy and outta control I remember my motto!!!

"We may not have it all together, but together we have it all!"

Hope all my friends and family had a wonderful day and wish we could spend holidays with everyone so nobody would be missed!

Halloween!

Halloween has come & gone but here is a pic of my 2 cuties...Poor Savannah got sick on Friday night and still had a fever Saturday night...so only trick or treating @ 4 houses then home for jammies & bed by 7! Poor thing kept asking me & dad to go back and get her more candy!!! Emerson did really well in her costume, very little protesting & seemed pretty happy to be Little Bo Peep's sheep :) This was such a CUTE costume pair for the 2 girls, wish we would have been healthier and lasted longer but at least we got a few pictures!!!

BOO!!!!! First Snow!

YIKES, only 10/16 and we have had our first snow.....not just flakes in the air that dont stick...but woke up to a white lawn and snow covered pumpkins!!!!! NOT ready for this quite yet! Savannah was thrilled, until we had to wait @ the bus stop in the CHILLY weather!

Queen Bee!

Scored this Pottery Barn Kids chair for $10!!! Emerson now considers herself Queen of this New Woodstock castle!

I sat her in it for the 1st time yesterday and she got this big grin on her face and looked around the room to make sure everyone was watching her! SO funny!!

HAPPY 5th bday to my sweet sweet Savannah!

Cannot believe 5 years ago today you came into my life!!! What a beautiful little girl you have become so fast!!! We had a tea party last weekend with your friends and now today we celebrate @ Critz on a beautiful Fall day followed by your favorite dinner of "cheese pizza with sauce" @ Caz Pizza!!! Giant chocolate chip cookie for dessert!!! Pretty good day if you ask me! Happy Birthday to my sweet sweet Savannah!

Ahh...FALL!

My most favorite time of year.....have not gotten all our decorations out yet since its been SUPER rainy but here is a start!

Finally earned a fish!!!!

5 days with no crying about going to school!! WOO HOO!!! Took several trys but she made it! Here is Savannah & her new goldfish Dorothy....who can and will go back to the pet store if the crying starts again!!

AMAZING contest!!! The Original Scrapbox!

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My other FAV product is the ribbon box...what a GENIUS idea!!!

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the BEST day EVER!

According to Savannah.....yesterday was her "MOST PERFECT BEST DAY EVER". Considering it was my birthday thats pretty good for her :) We went to Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards in LaFayette which was my choice of how to spend my birthday...A perfect Fall day....cool weather but the sun kept peaking out and there was that little wind which added a fall chill to the air, not to mention sending the smell of fresh hot apple fritters and pies thru the air!

Started off with a pony ride for Savannah...again my bday but she sure did luck out! Then into the store to get my birthday apple pie to take home & a candy apple for Savannah (her first EVER!!)....then we picked almost $20 worth of apples...at only 79cents a pound thats quite alot of apples...We got macoun, honeycrisp(my FAV), macintosh (Savannah's FAV) & cortland (Dave's FAV)..on the wagon ride back to the front after picking Savannah looks up at me and announces that this was the most perfect day ever...that put an instant smile on my face...what is better than seeing your little girl as happy as she can be!!!! Finished off with getting HOT apple fritters to eat on the way home!

Now I have all these plans for french apple pie, apple crisp, crockpot applesauce..YUMMY!!!

It really was the perfect day.....

33 years old?!?!?! How did that happen?

WOW....33 years old today...when the heck did I get old like those people I used to look at and think WOW, they are SOOO old!!! I remember when my oldest sister Paula turned 30 and we gave her a surprise party with a graveyard cake and everything...she was SOOO old I kept thinking......Now I think 30's are not old at all...its those 40+ people who are really old! At least for 7 more years I will think that way!! LOL

33 years old and what has my life brought me? A childhood filled with good and bad memories, none that I would change because everything that happened made me who I am today...A great husband, who yes he can be forgetful, unromantic & a typical guy BUT he is wonderful and I still love him so much!! 2 BEAUTIFUL daughters who I simply cannot imagine my life without....sleep deprived, constantly running, wiping noses, kissing boo-boos...BUT since Savannah is almost 5 its what I have known for the past 5 years of my life...Above all else, I am a mom...sometimes just Savannah's mom or Emerson's mom and no idea on my actual name but I love it and wouldn't trade it for a month of unawakened sleep, although I must admit I would be willing to pay for just 1 night to lay down and sleep till I wake up all on my own, what a treat!!!!

We are off to Beek & Skiff Apple Orchard today for some yummy homemade treats and to pick apples with the family...my perfect day in my favorite season here in CNY.....So, here's to another year filled with joyful memories & whatever life throws at me next! Bring it on!!!

ULTRA fancy tea party in the making!!!

So, Savannah has decided to have a dress-up tea party for her 5th birthday this year! How FUN!?!?! We have invited 10 of her friends (YIKES if they all RSVP with a YES!) Found personalized invites on Ebay that are SOOO cute....I have raided Salvation Army and bought 11 tea cups & saucers for under $20!!!! A whole mix match of kinds to make it an eclectic fun party for lil girls!!! I have ordered 12 feather boas & 12 princess tiaras...the tea sets, boas & tiaras will all double as decorations & favors!!! Now onto the fancy snacks...little cookies on sticks shaped like flowers, pretzel rods dipped in chocolate & sprinkles, cupcakes with polka-dots, chocolate candies in the shapes of teapots & cups, tiny little finger sandwiches...I am getting in over my head here and so much for getting off cheaper than a themed party...BUT this is so much fun and I want to make it a little girls dream tea party so wish me luck & pictures will post after the party on 10/3!

Hurray for a Tear-Free Friday!!!

WAAHOO!!!!! NO tears @ the bus this morning....1st time since the 1st day of school last Tuesday! Lets hope this trend sticks no matter the reason for it! Savannah told me this morning when she was getting out of bed that last night Daddy promised she could get a "real-life fish" if she did not cry about school for 1 full week! See what happens when I leave Dad @ home in charge of the girls so I can go to curriculum night at school! BUT I must say that 1 small goldfish is a price I am willing to pay for painless, guilt-free, no tears mornings! As we were standing at the bus stop waiting this morning she looked up at me and said she is going to try and make it this good everyday! SWEET words from a super sweet girl who despite her protesting for over a week now is beginning to like kindergarten!!!

Ahh...FALL is arriving!

My MOST favorite time of year is arriving....FALL! The temps cool down, leaves change to beautiful colors and fall to the ground..I have learned to LOVE the sound of leaves crunching under your feet when you walk in them, however I have not yet learned to love raking and raking and more raking! I do love to rake them into a pile for Savannah to jump in and bury herself though..Fall brings Savannah's birthday, Fall fun @ Critz farms, Halloween, apple picking - which leads to apple crisp, apple pie, apple cobbler, applesauce - & bigger pants probably! LOL

I am not ready for frigid cold & snow of winter just yet but the smells, sounds & feelings of Fall I just cannot wait! Savannah will have her first kindergarten field trip next week to Johnny Appleseeds so we are sure to bring home some treasures from there!

SCORE!!!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Craigslist!!!! We scored this AMAZING playset FREE last Monday and have been working on it all last week & over the weekend finally finished and brought it out back! We had to replace a few broken pieces of wood & buy some hardware that was missing..I sanded it all and stained it to match..looks AMAZING!!! This is around $1300 from BJ's and part of it was never even assembled...still had plastic on the swings & monkey bars!!! Rockwall, 2 swings, trapeze swing, picnic table, clubhouse, slide....awesome!!!!

On the school front..Savannah still crys every morning and does not want to go..hoping this gets better soon because its hard on her & mommy too!! Took her a couple weeks to like preschool so hoping she starts liking kindergarten soon! She says that she wants to go back to preschool and save kindergarten for later, sorry but we cant do that..so then she says she wishes it was a choice to go to school or not but she knows everyone HAS to do it! Poor girl, hope she does better this week!

We survived....BARELY!

T.G.I.F!!!!! Well the 1st week of school has come to an end......with Savannah waking up 3x last night crying she doesnt want to go to school anymore and then ending with me physically putting her on the bus screaming and crying this morning, it seems to be getting worse instead of better..... I hope this doesn't last much longer because it breaks my heart every day but what can you do? Preschool was really rough the first couple weeks and this is nothing compared to that but I really hope she starts to enjoy it and not dread going! She has a fantastic teacher and lots of friends so hopefully it will start to get easier for her!

Lets hope for a much better time next week!

BIG Smiles & No Tears!!! HOORAY 1st day of kindergarten!

Today is a HUGE day for us...Savannah is off to her 1st day of kindergarten @ Burton Street Elementary..Mrs. Bailey's class, where she already has 5 friends! She did great, got up EARLY @ 6:15 with no complaining...got dressed, had breakfast & was at the bus stop early! She was a champ getting on the bus which was a HUGE relief & surprise for mom & dad! I let the other moms know that this will probably be the one & only time they see me showered & dressed at the bus stop!! LOL :)

We drove up to the school and found her waiting outside her classroom and said she has a great ride on the bus & made a new friend already! She got a little teary and scared while waiting in the hall outside her classroom but no tears fell! Heres to hoping she has a FANTASTIC 1st day and wont dread going back tomorrow!!!

Twas the night before Kindergarten........

and Savannah is sleeping...we have shiny new hi-top sneakers and a tinkerbell backpack full of supplies...her lunch is all chosen for her very first day but Mommy sits up thinking where oh where did the time go??? I cannot believe that my girl will be off to kindergarten on the bus tomorrow morning! WOW, she says that she is excited but scared and I think she will do great..I still thank God for her preschool teachers and that entire year of experience! Wish me luck getting her on that bus so early tomorrow morning since she is as much of a morning HATER as I am!

I will be posting pics tomorrow for sure but had to get some thoughts written down before this moment like the last almost 5 years disappears!!!!!!

My beautiful girls!

We had the girls pictures taken yesterday to celebrate Emerson turning 1 and Savannah soon to turn 5!!! Here are a few shots of my 2 beauties!! Cannot believe how time flies by, Emmie is already 1 and Savannah is almost 5 and off to kindergarten next week!!

Moment to remember.....

Today marks the very first haircut Savannah has ever had!! She is almost 5 and headed to kindergarten in 1 week!!! We took her to Little Miracles in Fayetteville, a place that specializes in kids haircuts...SUCH a cute place and she LOVED it...got to eat lollipops while watching Little Mermaid & get glitter hairspray at the end so whats not to like! The girl who cut her hair, Amanda, was so sweet and impressed by how good she behaved during the whole thing and the fact she was in Savannah's words.."giving it to a kid who was sick and doesnt have their own hair." that she gave her these super sparkly hair pins and an extra large lollipop at the end!

She had CRAZY long hair so we were able to donate 12" to "Locks of Love" & still took a little over 2" off to clean it up...she loves it and I am thrilled with it...she looks like such a big girl now though which I was not ready for I guess! Had to head straight to Target to pick out fancy new hair accessories and some more school goodies!

Here are some before and after pics of my lil beauty queen :)

HAPPY HAPPY 1st Birthday Emerson!!!

Wishing my sweet baby daughter a very happy 1st birthday!! I cannot believe a whole year has passed already!!! What a difference you have made in our lives Emerson...cannot imagine it without you! Looking forward to watching you grow up!

Puppy Chow! YUM-O!

OK, this was a favorite snack back in the high school Grace Community Church days.....Lynn was famous for making it and got everyone hooked...I had not thought about it for years and then Betty Crocker came out with this cookie recipe that is reminiscent of the puppy chow snack so then here I was 15 years later craving that old school snack......thanks to Joy, an old friend from that era of my life I got the recipe and made it today...now Savannah is a puppy chow fanatic too! SO easy and super yummy, if you have never had it you gotta try it!

PUPPY CHOW
6 cups crispix cereal
6 oz chocolate chips
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 stick butter
2 cups powdered sugar

Melt butter, peanut butter & chocolate chips. Pour over cereal & stir until well coated. Pour powdered sugar into large ziploc bag, add cereal mixture and shake. Place on wax paper coated cookie sheet in a single layer until cool. Store in refrigerator!

Daddy is in trouble.........

Here are some pics of my lil gals lounging in the backyard after swimming in the kiddie pool...I call them my swimsuit models!! Told Daddy he is in trouble in about 10 years with all the boys that will be knocking on our door! He is already preparing the attic so he can lock them up till they are 40 (his words not mine!)!!

Camping SUCCESS!

Well the first campout for Savannah was a HUGE success!!! She lasted all night and LOVED it!!! The tinkerbell lantern (a gift from aunt paula for I dont even remember what holiday) was a majorly cool item to be carrying around with all the little girls there!! Here are some pics as promised...1 thing we discovered is that we need a better tent considering this one was used by Dave as a kid so maybe something a little better than a 1970's special would be good...the whole tent was soaking wet by morning, soaked thru the sleeping bags, blankets..everything...camping gear is now on my garage sale watch list =)

Camp Out!!

So.....on this Friday night the house is eerily quiet....Emerson is asleep (who knows for how long but hey I will take the peace for now!?!) Savannah & Dave are down the street at a camp-out for the church's VBS she went to this week..not sure how long she will last but she was SOOOOO over the top excited about it! They got the tent, sleeping bags, blankets, tinkerbell lantern, her fav stuffed puppy and lots of layers...its chilly out tonight!!! I left them @ 8:30 and they were finishing ice cream sundaes, lighting a bonfire & firing up glow-sticks! Here is to hoping she makes it all night and can have a GREAT 1st camp-out experience! I promise to post pictures tomorrow, that is if Dave took them as I made him SWEAR TO ME he would =)

The joys of living in CNY....

ALL the seasons - being an AZ girl most of my life I knew 2 seasons...freakin HOT and not so freakin HOT..4 seasons are amazing and each one has aspects I love!!! spring for all the beautiful flowers blooming back to life....the current season of summer for warm days and cool nights, Emerson's bday and FRESH FRESH FRESH fruits and veggies.......we went blueberry picking @ Critz yesterday and there is nothing like eating fruit right off the bushes or veggies right out of the garden!!! Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries...then comes fall, my absolute FAV season of all.....fall leaves, cooler temps, Savannah's bday, pumpkins..Halloween, Thanksgiving...apple picking which means apple pie,apple crisp, apple cobbler, applesauce, baked apples (YUM-O for all those treats)...then winter......which is admit I somewhat dread but somewhat look foward too...first snow, seeing Savannah play in the snow, make snow-angels & snowmen..white Christmas.....

Here are some pics from Critz yesterday! Savannah is quite the fruit gatherer actually..picked for about 45 minutes and managed to pick only ripe ones this year!

Summer is almost over already?!?!?

This summer has been pretty crappy weather so far but this weekend finally feels like summer...nice warm sunny days with no rain or clouds in sight!!! But its already August 1! YIKES!!!! In CNY it starts to cool down in September and fall starts arriving quickly.....fall is my most favorite time of year but after this not so great summer I am really not ready to be buckling down for another long winter......heres to hoping for a nice August and LOOOOOONG fall to hold winter off as long as we can!

A few pics of my girls cruisin in the jeep around the backyard......Savannah is such an amazing big sister and Emmie thinks the world of her you can tell in her eyes....so much fun to see them playing together now that Emmie is a little bigger, only 19 days and she has her 1st bday! WOW where did that year go? Savannah will be 5 in October and that still amazes me as I type it! My girls are growing so fast...Savannah went down to a neighbors today to go swimming, they are the sweetest 2 young girls with great parents!!! The oldest is almost 15 and the youngest is around 12 I think...I am trying to soak in all these moments when they are young since I know I only get them once but I also yearn for the days when they are bigger and we can just hang out together and do "grown-up" stuff! I am so looking forward to the days when they are older and I can really spend time with them as young ladies and I secretly pray & hope we have the closest mom-daughter relationship possible!!! Only time will tell if they love me and want to include me in all the fun stuff their lives will bring or if they will run for the hills when they see me coming and make me drop them off 2 houses down from their friends!!! HA HA!

o