Holiday Gift Gallery

If you live in the Temple/Belton area (or are passing through), consider yourself invited to the

2009 Holiday Gift Gallery

Friday, November 6, 4-9pm

Saturday, November 7, 9am-6pm

116 Eagle Landing

Belton, TX 76513

A friend of mine is opening her home THIS WEEKEND to host her first "show"! I was asked to be one of the vendors (along with many other talented ladies) and I am so stinkin' excited...and nervous! This is what the floor of my bedroom has looked liked for the past few weeks:

Between Brad getting ready to host the Conference Tournament (first time ever in UMHB history!!) this weekend and me trying to make as much stuff as I can, it's been a little hectic around here:)

I'll be selling my Jelby's stuff (shirt dresses, holiday shirts, pillowcase dresses, burpies and anything else I can cram in last minute!). You'll also find children's boutique clothing, hair bows, home decor items, Tyler Candle Co. candles, photo art, custom jewelry, monogrammed (some on site!) items...oh, and FOOD! Homemade gourmet goodies!!!

Please join us as we begin the holiday season. I guarantee it will put you in the Christmas mood! Invite your friends and family. Don't forget to enter to win the amazing door prizes!!!

See you there!

A holiday giveaway!

My super talented friend Kristi is doing a giveaway! She's got some really cute stuff for holiday cards and blog designs. Click on the button and enter to win!!

Pumpkin patches

Every year we head out to a local pumpkin patch. And ever year, I'm on a mission to get an adorable picture of two sisters. Both smiling. Both looking at the camera. The camera that is in their mom's hands. And both sitting still until their mom gets the perfect picture. And every year I am reminded that they are TODDLERS!!!

This year, we hit three pumpkin patches in four days. Yep, you read that right!

Brad was on a long road trip (which the totally whooped up on!!), so we headed to the metroplex for some cousin time. I won't talk about the trip up there, because I want to remember the fun we had, and not the vomit I had to clean out of Morgan's car seat on I-35. The rest of the trip was wonderful and FUN!!

Our first stop was Halls Pumpkin Farm in Colleyville. We went with my parents and my sister's family. It was a super fun place for the kids to run around. We rode on a "hay ride", got to feed donkeys and cows, pedal tractors and there were lots of photo ops. Lots of photo ops unless you don't charge your camera battery:)

Morgan's new smile is killing me! I think it hilarious and she does it every time you ask her to smile.

Morgan learned a new word...donkey! And, it's as hilarious as her smile when she says it:) I can't help but think how Morgan and this donkey resemble each other. Can you see it?? Look how brave Mallory is!!! She only wanted to do it once, and didn't even try feeding the cow. Can't blame her, they stuck their tongue out and literally wrapped it around the bread and slimed you to death...ga-ross!!!!

A decent shot of the sisters. They were so much more into running around and chasing after Tate.

Up next, the Silo Christmas Tree Farm! Brad got home super late (or early) Sunday, so we let him have some down time while we had fun with our neighbors. We get our Christmas tree from this place every year and have been wanting to get to the pumpkin patch for a while. It was a blast and we stayed over 2 hours!

Mallory and Morgan with our neighbors: Brian, Katie, Bailey and Claire

The hay pile was a huge hit!

Morgan didn't really care for the activities. She mainly wanted to be held the whole time. I did manage to get my little pumpkin on a big pumpkin! She is sitting on the biggest pumpkin I've ever seen!!

Buddies, Bailey and Mallory. They are only 2 months apart and have a lot of fun together!

Mallory got to be a big girl and ride the hay ride all by herself! Brian and Katie are twins and are 10 years old. They love the little ones, so Claire and Mallory hopped on and rode with them. Mallory almost chickened out when I said I wasn't going, but then couldn't back out because the tractor started up and off she went!

And, last but not least, our local pumpkin "patch" at a Methodist Church field. Our playgroup (well, all 4 of us) met there this morning. I could barely get the girls to sit still for one picture. I finally said, "Okay, y'all have had fun, now in 5 minutes, Mommy gets to take your picture!"

This pretty much sums up what Morgan thought of sitting still to take a picture...not happening!!

I did get an adorable picture of Mallory! I'm not sure where she has learned this new pose, but it is hilarious! She literally poses like this all the time now. I'll take it!!

So, I guess I'll stick to front door photo ops without any distractions for that card worthy picture...and with a fully charged camera battery!!

Need a new dress?

For your little girl? Go to Jelby's and enter to win this fall dress:

Hurry, the giveaway ends Friday, October 16th!!!!

California trip

A couple of weeks ago, the girls and I braved a 3 1/2 hour airplane ride and headed out to California. My dad's family lives in the bay area. We went out to celebrate my grandfather's 85th birthday and my uncle's 55th. The trip was fast and furious, but a lot of fun!

I was most nervous about the plane ride. Well, actually, I was hoping I wouldn't replay my most embarrassing "California" moment. Luckily, I wasn't pregnant this time and my parents were on the same flight! The flight would not have gone as well if they hadn't been (between potty breaks and boredom, they were a lifesaver!).

This was Mallory's second time to fly on an airplane. We went out two years ago when I was pregnant with Morgan (so, technically it's Morgan's second time too!). The girls did fantastic on the plane! Morgan took a nap and both of them were somewhat entertained with the stuff I brought with us. There were a couple of times I thought all you know what was going to break loose...the DVD player ran out of battery after one video and Mallory freaked out about having to leave her seatbelt on until we landed. But, other than that, it went really, really well!

In the airport about to get our boarding passes. Morgan looks less than thrilled!

Dinner Friday night at...Friday's!

By the time bedtime came, it got a little crazy! The time change + no naps = spazzy girls! While I was running around getting beds ready, this little turkey got into the suitcase. I had no idea she was wearing ALL of Mallory's pull-ups on her legs. It looked like she was running around with Cinderella leg warmers on!


After a VERY early wake-up of 4:45 am (6:45 Texas time, so not too bad actually), we headed to Santa Rosa. My Uncle Mike's girlfriend, Ellen, was throwing him a surprise party. We loaded up and drove the 2 hours there.

A cool front and rain came through Saturday morning and the weather was so great! As we drove into Santa Rosa, the temperature dropped to 70ish degrees! Plus, we got this scenery on the drive in. So beautiful...even if I don't drink wine! Vineyards just lined each side of the highway.

Uncle Mike showing Morgan how to shake a tambourine!

Aunt Barbara, Cousin Amy, Paul and my mom

Ellen has two grandkids that provided some much needed entertainment for my two!

Cousin Butch with the girls

This was at dinner, around 8, which is a lot later than we normally eat. The girls were troopers and instead of being grumpy and throwing fits, they responded with silliness! All weekend they were hilarious! I know this is out of focus, but I thought Morgan's face was so funny! She was having a blast with my dad!

And, the drama queen! She put on quite the show at dinner, too!

Sunday morning we were up at 5:45, not too bad! My grandpa (and everyone on my dad's side of the family) is a HUGE UC Berkeley fan. We dressed the girls in blue and gold for the birthday party. My grandpa loved it!

Not crazy about the midriff, but she can strike a great cheerleader pose!

The birthday boy thanking everyone for being there.

Party guests. Aunt Barbara, grandpa's girlfriend, Pauline, grandpa's friend, Grandpa, Great Uncle John and his wife, Marty.

More party guests. Mom, Corry, Amy, Paul, Becca, Kyle and Sean.

The girls were Grandpa's helpers. They handed him the gifts and made sure he got those candles blown out!

Probably the highlight of the trip for Morgan, Aunt Barbara's new dog, Oski. It might look like she is scared to death here, but this is what she does to show affection for dogs and babies!

Before we headed to the airport on Monday. The girls loved going to "great grandpa's house". The other residents loved them too!

Happy, happy birthday Grandpa! We're so glad we got to celebrate with you!

The greatest show on Earth

My dad is the world's best reminiscer. Is that a word? It seems like, especially more since we've had kids, every event or trip is followed by, "Don't you remember when we went to...." I always respond with an appropriately sarcastic, "How old was I dad?"

Back in August, my parents decided they wanted to take all the grandkids to the Ringling Brothers' circus. Apparently, when I was two, my parents took Kelly and me to the circus in Dallas. So, my dad was really excited to take the grandkids to the circus where their mommies went, 27 years ago!

These three are hilarious together (pretty soon it will the FOUR of them...Kelly's pregnant!). For the first 15 minutes after they see each other, there is non-stop squealing! I don't think there was one quiet moment on the ride to dinner.

On the way into the show!

There were teary eyes when the lights came up and the show started. It's pretty cool to watch the things that you loved as a child, through the eyes of your own for the first time.

Tate was the most funny during the show. He was silent through the whole show. This kid talks non-stop, so we were all laughing about how quiet he was. The car ride home was a different story:)

Mallory was really into the oohing and ahhhing. A little on the dramatic side:)


Morgan spent the night pepped up on cotton candy and popcorn! She was a trooper and stayed up until the last 20 minutes, then crashed.

Way too distracted to look at the camera!

Everyone was exhausted by the end of the night.

Thanks to Mimi and Grandpa for the fun night and lots of memories!! Mallory talked about the circus for about a week after. I know for a fact if you even bring up the circus around Tate, he would still respond with, "I see motorcycles go round and round. Like this!" So much fun. Now I'll be able to say, "Mallory, don't you remember when I brought you to the circus back in 2009. You loved it! You don't remember? I mean, you were three and all!" Love you, dad!

A summer wrap up

I just can't seem to keep up with this blog lately. So, here is a recap of June, July and August. Two more posts to go, and then I'll be caught up!!

The girls coloring a sign for Father's Day. Also the day that I found out Magic Erasers work to remove crayon from painted walls. Thank you, Morgan!

By far, the most requested activity in our house. From the moment Brad walks in the door, Mallory is begging, "Can you tickle me on the couch?" Tickle on the couch = Brad grabbing the girls by their ankles, swinging them like monkeys, plopping them back on the couch and indeed, tickling them on the couch. To say they love it is a gross understatement!

In August, we took a little "vacation" to Dallas before soccer started back up. The girls loved the fountains in the West End area.

Another favorite past time, the tent. It's really sweet how the girls read books together. and the tent has become a little hiding place.

A must have accessory for little girls: princess shoes.

Licking the beaters after making some cupcakes. What a sweet big sister!

The birthday boy with his girls.

Lots of pretend play with the big girl. I asked Mallory who she was. She said, "I'm Dr. Riser! This is how she wears her stethoscope."

In July, we headed west to the Bankhead Reunion. Mallory and Morgan got to spend some quality time with Nanny, Brad's grandmother. She is one of the sweetest ladies I know!

Morgan is slightly obsessed with babies. She will spot them before I do! Our friend Stephanie came over with her little girl, Elise. Morgan was in heaven! She was rolling all around Elise and giving her hugs. Hilarious!

Aunt LaShay (and not pictured, Uncle Steve) was in town for a day. We met up with them at Texas Roadhouse for a quick lunch.

Mallory had her first official sleep over. The Richardsons came to stay with us for a night. We braved it, and all three big girls sleep in the same room.

Morgan loves to rough house and wrestle, but she is also one of the girliest girls! She did not enjoy being sprayed by Nemo. Check out those prissy hands!!

Lots of popsicle eating this summer....and the last time for Morgan to wear those shorts, they were a mess!!

Random, I know. But I feel better now, after documenting our summer memories! I cannot believe it's already the middle of September!!!!