Survival Kit

Don't you just love the people at M&M? Not just like, but really LOVE them?

I do.

First of all, they change the colors of their M&M's seasonally. I think this is just fun. Remember when we got to vote for the new color, and I think it was purple? And when blue came back? That was a big deal.

But thankfully their product doesn't stop with pretty colors. Inside each bag is chock full of little chocolates.

The sickies are running through our house. Kevin was down and out for 7 days straight, and it was not just a little runny nose. Adison woke up with some serious yuck this morning, and I'm getting a little something myself. Thankfully, I don't feel bad, just a bit tired. But between all that and the cool weather (i.e. Cole has LOTS of pent up energy), some days are longer than others.

So I'm finding ways to get his energy out and keep busy at home. Yesterday we put on the Cars Soundtrack full blast, and around in circles until Cole pointed at one of us and we would then "crash" -- fall down on the floor. Adison in particular loved this part.

But I'm not always chock full of energy, especially when the body is busy fighting off sickness, so I got these little gem's to help give me a pick me up when I'm lacking some spunk. I know there are probaly better ways to induce energy than a sugar-high, but right now, it's working pretty well for me.

Best $2.00 Spent Part 2

So the wooden clothes pin's I bought at Target last week come in a pack of 30 or something, and I have plenty left over from my sewing room boxes to use elsewhere. Where? Not EXACTLY sure yet. I think we'll put some on the wall in Cole's room to hang some of his pictures he draws. I thought it might be fun to paint them, and he was certainly fine with that.

And while he busied himself with that, I decided to paint some myself. I used orange and grey and where I'll put them, I have sort of an idea. I explained it to Kevin last night and his response was "I'd have to see it." Which usually means, 'I don't really get it, but by the sound of it I'm not sure I'm going to like it.'

Of course, that's waht he said about my kitchen towel and he loved it. :)

Kitchen Towel

I've been stock piling fabrics that would match my orange kitchen and trying to find a way of incorporating them into the kitchen somehow. Last week I found a blog online that had some pretty kind of modern patchwork pillows and I decided to swipe her idea and try it out on a kitchen towel I'd been meaning to embellish for a long time.

My favorite part of this towel is the elephant fabric on the end. It's a japanese fabric that I got months and months ago and have been wanting to use it for a long time, but at the same time not wanting to use it because once I did then it would be gone. This little towel seemed the like the perfect spot for it, and maybe it will help me to let go and use the rest (because I also have a yard of it in green....)

Little by Little....

I'm really attempting to get more organized. And instead of spending an entire day doing a project, I'm trying to cut it down into small 40 minute size projects.

My sewing room is out of control....you can get a sense of it in the picture. Last night I made a new curtain for my room, using my sister-in-law's idea for curtains using cheap tension rods. Then this morning while Adison was napping and Cole was at preschool, I attacked the storage boxes (i.e. empty espresso pod containers)I use for little sewing supplies. I had picked up a pack of wooden clothes pin's at Target last week. Best $2.00 I ever spent. I have a hundred ideas for them. Anyway, a little hot glue, some pretty colored labels and I now don't have to open every single box when I am looking for my ribbon, or buttons, etc....

Fun with Weezy

We had our niece Eloise with us last week all morning and it was so much fun. I think only Kevin and I think it's hilarious to call her Weezy (which we never do when addressing her, because she certainly doesn't think it's funny).

Cole had preschool the morning she was here, and Adison was napping so I'm fairly certain she was somewhat bored for the first portion of her visit, but she was happy and chatty just the same. When it was time to pick up Cole, that's when it got exciting.

Eloise and Cole are great friends and it's a treat to watch them play. You can always count on one thing, they will laugh together. They talked all the way to the park from preschool and they were off and running the second we got there.

First order of business, going down the big slide. And here's how it played out: one of them would go up the mountain of stairs, the other would wait at the bottom of the slide in suspense. Then, the sliding person would go down the tube slide shouting all the way while the waiting person watched at the bottom. The slider would pop out, and they would laugh and then switch.

We had a picnic lunch there and played for another hour. Next up: walking the beams outlining the playground.

Adison is walking all the time now and so happy she can. She thinks she can go everywhere Cole goes, so I get a fairly good work out following her around.

It was a great afternoon, I'm glad these two live close enough together to enjoy each other's company so much.

If You Make Jokes About Someone's Blog...

.....you might end up on it. :)

A New Dress

This fabric, ooooh, I just LOVE it.

I saw it on a dress on the website of a kid's store in town. When I called to ask about it, it had sold. Then I saw someone who had made a tote out of it and was selling it on ebay, and I realized if I could find the fabric, I could make my own dress.

Weeks (and I am serious) of internet searching later, I tracked down a fabric shop in Texas who happend to have some of this fabric, which was actually several years old. I originally wanted it in the orange/red/pink color scheme but if purple was all they had, I'll take it.

It's been sitting in my closet for months, waiting for all the other holiday projects to subside, so last night at 9:00 I decided Adison would have a new dress to wear the next day. When I was finished, I realized I had no matching buttons so Adison will have a new dress to wear when she wakes up tomorrow. (and I can't wait!)

Bed-Head

Adison looked more like a peacock than a little girl this morning.

Although she still can't quite compare to Cate.

One Very Special Friend

Diane is just one of my very special friends. One of those friends where you smile whenever you talk about them. We met at a function at church when we were both single, where we happened to arrive at the same time, and ended up talking about the Apple Betty I brought for dessert. Fast Forward through years of laughter (LOTS), and weddings and moving to new places and now Diane is about to have a sweet baby boy whom is due, very soon, I think maybe even today!

I went to a baby shower for her last weekend and it was the most fun catching up and hanging out, seeing her lovely home and enjoying her company for about 24 hours. My battery died 2 pictures in, so I have an action shot of the ladies hitting the buffet of scrumptious food. (Diane is in the dotted shirt on the right).

It was a fun road trip for me (6 hours of singing along with the radio as loud as I wanted), and it was really special for me to be able to spend time with sweet Diane.

P.s. I'm Thirty-three now

My Birthday was last month, and Kevin threw me a wonderful family party.

And I accidentally deleted the pictures. (AND all the thanksgiving pictures).

But it was a wonderful day. Every year I get a cake from a fantastic bakery in town, and this year I had it decorated like a wrapped present. It was delicious, as usual. I spent the day after eating TINY little pieces of cake until it was all gone.

I received all sorts of wonderful gifts that I'm loving still, and on the very day of my birthday my sister-in-law took the kids for hours and hours, that was a treat.

A few weeks later I cashed in on Kevin's gift, a massage and facial at the spa. It was a wonderful afternoon, completed by a sassy new hair cut. If there were pictures here, it would be of me smiling and grateful for loved ones showering me with such love and attention.

Finally Feels like Winter

This shot is of my car dashboard this morning driving to High Point to pick up Cole. I drove through snow flurries in Greensboro, and that was exciting.

If you can't read it, it says 26. Frigid!

Christmas Dinner at Grammy's

We had Christmas dinner at Mom & Dad's and the kids (and adults!) were given their stockings, chock full of all the goodies you can imagine. Having a stocking full at Christmas will never lose its fun for me, and in fact, if I had to give up either the gifts or the stockings, I would give up the gifts.

Mom had a delicious meal planned: Dad grilled steaks, mom cooked chicken cordon bleu, we had salad, pies a la Micah, scalloped potatos...it was delicious. It was fun to celebrate Christmas with them for the first time in their new home.

Sitting Comfortably

Several posts ago, I mentioned Adison sitting in the "Irbe Chair" or the "Bou Chair" where she will walk up to the dogs, sit down, and back herself into them and then lean back on them like a little seat. She loves to do this and does it all the time. Finally captured it on film. Irbe is such a good doggie....

Christmas Morning 2007

The kids gave us a special Christmas gift this year: neither of them woke up until after 7:00. Cole doesn't yet equate christmas with a ton of gifts (which I'm actually a bit grateful for) so we eased downstairs and gathered around the tree.

They both enjoyed ripping open boxes and Adison particularly enjoyed ripping it into tiny little shreds.

The big event of the day was Cole's train table, which he has been fascinated with for years. Kevin spent Christmas Eve night putting it together and we had it set up in the family room. Cole was so happy when he saw it, and literally played with it for 5 hours that morning. We went back to bed. :)









Cole listening to his new book on CD that is playing on his new (blue!) CD player in his room. He is so excited that he is allowed to use this all by himself.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve morning all the cousins met at Micah and Carine's house to make gingerbread houses and exchange the gifts they had made for each other.

I was at the Cole / Eloise station, and enjoyed watching those two do their best to throw away all the gingerbread house rules. Case in point, they put a little ginger-lady on the roof with a pretzel on her head. They found this HILARIOUS.

After everyone was done, they gathered to open gifts. They had each drawn a name to make a gift for, and it was very special to see the time and effort each child put into the gifts. Of course, except for my kids....I attempted to have Cole sit down and craft a headband for Margot, but instead he cut my pattern into tiny little conffeti like shreds. Maybe he was excited about New Years....And I didn't think Anna would really appreciate an Adison scribble as a gift, so she received a dog pillow. Adison got the cutest little ball, made with lots of love by Elloit. And Cole received an amazing garage and streets / town on a paper and hand made paper trucks to drive around it all. Truly special, and he plays with it often.



The face of Christmas Spirit & Joy





We also snapped a picture of Grammy & Grandpa with their grandkids.

Christmas with the Spillmans

I drove to High Point after the Ladies tea to meet up with Kevin and the kids who had left that morning to be at The Spillman's house. We had such a nice time catching up, it's always fun to have the whole family together. I wasn't there more than 20 minutes before Nancy suggested we open presents -- she is my kind of lady.

First Fletcher read the Christmas story out of the Bible, and then the opening begain, youngest to oldest. Kiddies and adults alike had a good time opening up the gifts. Afterwards, it was time for a Spillman tradition -- and as I write this I cannot remember what it is called. But it's sprite and Lime sherbet in a glass, it's pretty delicious.

The kids spent the rest of the day trying out their new goodies, and we enjoyed a great evening together.

Sunday we went to Kevin's Aunt Suzy's house, who always hosts an extended famiy gathering each year. She had a feast of food for us, and the kids played hide and seek inside until it cleared up outside for a little walk.


The gifts and goodies are fun at Christmas but these gatherings are what make them so memorable.

Family Hockey Night

Right before Christmas, someone offered us 4 tickets to the game that night. We decided to make it a family affair and just enjoy it as long as the kids were doing well. Dad was able to come along too, and he was great lending an extra hand.

Cole got to see the warm up, and he was beside himself when Erik Cole stopped right in front of him. Kevin said he kept spelling his name "C-O-L-E!!!".

Adison really was not that interested, and so we took turns walking around with her. We made it to the end of the 2nd period, where we were down 2-0. Turns out we would win in overtime after scoring twice in the last few minutes of the 3rd period.


It was a silent ride home.