Santa came a little early.....

If you're thinking what I'm thinking, then you would be thinking that I should be doing laundry and packing for our trip right now! And you'd be right!

But I had to post this cute picture from our church Christmas party this morning. Brady has in his hands a large red jingle bell and had to bring it with him this morning to show Santa. After he had gotten off Santa's lap and we went into the gym to get some breakfast, he tells me in line that "I forgot to sing Jingle Bells to Santa!". So we had to go back in the other room and he got to sing Jingle Bells to Santa as he rung his bell!

Now if Santa could only give me what I want for Christmas...........to be turning 29 again this year instead of the word that starts with "Thir" and ends with "ty". Oh well, too late now. Most know it's not nice to discuss a woman's age, but Aaron must not have gotten the memo. He announced to our table this morning that today was my birthday and how old I was. I guess that's OK because that's the reality!
Well, now I can start doing the laundry and packing and try not to think how old I am! But I can't wait until tomorrow when we will be back in IL in the land of the snow and cold. Not so much looking forward to the cold and snow part, but mostly to seeing our families and having a nice Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Christmas projects

When we were shopping at JoAnn's the other day (like the 3rd time in 5 days or something like that!), Brady found a little wooden train ornament. It's the kind you can paint and put your picture in. So I broke the bank and paid 50 cents for it!

I decided that every year we would get one of these little ornaments and let Brady paint it and put his picture and the year on it. Who doesn't love looking at things we made as little kids and our parents saved, right? So that will be our new little Christmas tradition with Brady and any other children we may have. To do a little Christmas project together.

Concentrating very hard! (Don't you love the very non-Christmas vinyl table cloth?)

Like the paint shirt he's wearing?

Finished product on the tree!

I've also been working on some projects of my own. For some reason, I've had a sewing bug lately and have wanted to make some projects. So I saw this idea on someones blog and decided to make stockings for our family. We didn't have any and these were too cute. Plus, there was a direct link to a website with print-out patterns and step by step instructions and pictures. For a non-sewer like me, it seemed do-able.

I think they came out really cute! I have them hanging over our back sliding doors since we don't have a fireplace!

I also made a couple cute things that 2 cute little 2-year olds are going to open for Christmas so I can't post pictures of those yet. But I'm sure my Mom will take loads of pictures of Brady and Ava together after they open them!

I'm not trying to get compliments here and say that I am the best sewer around, because if you look close enough at any of them you'll see that I'm not! But I am kind of proud of myself for figuring some of these things out on my own and actually completing a project on my own of something that I am not very knowledgeable about. Aaron was teasing me about being so domestic and told me I should get working on making our own soap now!

Actually, the next domestic task I should learn is to make a good pie crust! The last time I tried from scratch, I ended up balling up the falling apart and sticky dough (don't ask me how it was both of those at the same time!) and throwing it in the garbage. I buy frozen now! :)

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a great Thanksgiving!

For the first time ever since we've been married, we've had family come to our house for Thanksgiving-or any holiday for that matter! I got to cook everything and get everything all ready for the big meal. My mother-in-law helped me with my first turkey! And Mom Mom made Eastern shore dumplin's - those were yummy!

Aaron's Mom, Dad and Grandma came on Wednesday, and we had our Thanksgiving meal that day. They had to leave the next day to bring our old car to Aaron's sister Erica in Utah that she bought from us - she was supposed to come too but she had to work :( We missed you!

But we had a fun day with them! Here's some pictures:

Brady helping me mash the sweet potatoes for the candied sweet potato casserole

Brady with Grandma

Brady with his Pop Pop

Brady and his "Mom Mom Joyce"

Aaron with his Grandma

And since we were done with "Thanksgiving" on Wednesday, my MIL Teresa helped me get my Christmas tree up. We got it up and lights on before she left. And then since we had nothing to do on Thanksgiving I got to finish the tree and decorations. It was actually really nice to just sit at home all day and relax. Aaron hasn't had any time to do that since he got back from Arkansas.
So back to the story.......I was saying how I needed a new tree topper because the old one I had didn't really match my new ornaments and I gave it to my friend. So I need a new one. I was finishing putting on the ornaments when Aaron had a GREAT idea for a tree topper (being sarcastic here!). This is what he came in the room with:

Yeah, it's a St Louis Cardinals hat on the top of my tree. NOT happening buddy! He said "but it matches the colors!"

Ha ha, thanks but NO THANKS! I'm still looking for a topper...........

Bored on a Friday night

Well, we were sitting around last night after dinner. Brady and I decided to read some books and listen to some kids CDs. Aaron was on the computer catching up on some things he needed to get done.
So after that, we went out to the living room and were going to play the Wii. Both controllers had dead batteries so we put them on the charger and waited.
So Aaron had the great idea to put on some Wiggles music from the Ipod (yes I have wiggles on my ipod for Brady). And this is what happened for the next 1/2 hour!

Then it was bedtime! Let's just say he slept well last night! :)

Last day in Little Rock

I know you are all just dying to see how our trip ended right?
We had been wanting to ride the down town trolley ever since we got here, but the weather and Aaron's schedule kind of kept us from doing it all together. So we finally did it on the last day we were there. Cheap, fun entertainment!

They're replicas of the old street cars that used to go downtown and now they only have like 3 or something and they do a pretty small route but it was fun to ride it across the bridge over the river and through the downtown. The inside is all wooden and so it was very fun to feel like we were in the old trolley cars.

Our little driver man was cute and was telling us some facts as we went by some things downtown. He even told us about how when Mike Huckabee was the governor of Arkansas that the governor's mansion was being renovated and he had to live in a double-wide for a while! :) Then the driver said "Only in Arkansas right?" It was funny.

Another thing he told us was about Bill Clinton. He has a penthouse suite on the top floor of his presidential library (he was telling us this when we were right by the library). When the curtains are open he's there. If the curtains are closed, he is not there. The curtains were closed that day so he wasn't in Little Rock. Supposedly he does stay there every time he comes back to Little Rock. The interesting thing is that Hillary has never stayed there ever!

Here's some pics:

See how cool the insides are?

Going over the river

This was right after we left the Clinton Presidential Library. I love this picture because Brady wanted to be a big boy and hold on to the pole all by himself. I also love it because you can see the beautiful fall trees outside. That is one thing I really enjoyed about Arkansas-the fall trees and colors.

Exciting Evening

So we are getting sick of eating out all the time, so I have bought some meals that are easy to make without too much trouble. The kitchen here has a simple collection of pots and pans, measuring cups, salt and pepper, a cutting board, knives, and plates, cups, bowls, silverware. There is no cooking spray or oil or butter or anything like that to put in the pan to keep the food from sticking to the anti non-stick pans. I've tried cooking chicken and pork chops and I end up having to peel/scrape them off the bottom of the pan.

So here's an example of the meals I've been making: a bag of the frozen vegetables you can either steam in the bag in the microwave or heat in the pan, instant mashed potatoes in the pouch, gravy from a can, heat and serve rolls and rotisserie chicken. That was our dinner last night. I had just started heating the broccoli and cheese in the pan, boiling water for the potatoes and preheating the oven for the rolls.

Then the fire alarm started going off...............flashing lights and a very loud screeching sound. We looked in the hall and this was the case all down the hallway. I turned off the burners and oven and we got our shoes on and went outside.

It's such an emergency as you can see here! These guys are hard at work! :)

They finally gave us the all clear to go back in once they had checked out all 50 rooms and cleared them.

This guy was right across from our room in the panel trying to shut off the alarms and lights. Brady wanted me to take his picture and he is laughing as I am doing it! Sorry, it's kind of blurry, it was already kind of embarrassing so I just snapped it really quick and didn't realize it was blurry.

Anyway, I was telling him as we were coming back in that I had just started dinner and I was afraid it was my cooking that had set off the alarm.

He laughed at me then and said "Nope, someone else's cooking."

Phew!

A joke from my dad: How do you know when dinner's done? The smoke alarm is going off!

Pumpkins

So before we left Arizona I promised Brady that we would go to a pumpkin patch once we got to Arkansas with Daddy. But since it had been raining every day since we got there, we had to put that on hold. So finally we had a break in the weather last week and went. We went to this little farm stand with a pumpkin patch right by the side of the highway here. Their big crop is strawberries but they do pumpkins this time of year.

The fields were too muddy to go out and pick one for ourselves but Brady had just as fun staying at the stand and playing with the goats and on the old farm truck.

So since we are staying in these apartments on base we didn't really have the tools to carve the pumpkins, so instead we just drew on them with a marker. I gave him choices for shapes for the eyes, nose and mouth and he chose which one for each and I drew it. He asked me to draw the hair and cheeks. Funny kid!

Halloween pictures will be following soon as soon as get them downloaded!

Peabody Ducks

The Peabody Hotel is the nicest hotel in Little Rock. And just like in Memphis at the Peabody, they have the marching ducks. It is quite the southern tradition apparently. Every day at 11am they march in to John Phillips Sousa and stay in the fountain all day. And every day at 5pm they march back out lead by the "Duckmaster" (I think that's what he's called anyway)

Here's the Duckmaster - he came out and told us the story of how it all began.

Then we went back into the elevator to go up to the next level to bring them back down in the elevator. It was cute, because it is a glass elevator you can see their little heads as they're coming down to the lobby. (It's hard to see their little heads in this picture but they're there!)

Now the music starts and they come in on their little red carpet.

Up the stairs

And into the fountain

Brady LOVED the ducks and cried when we told him it was time to leave.

But we gave him a ride in the elevator and that cheered him up a bit!

So if you're ever in Little Rock or Memphis (and I think Orlando now too) you have to go to the Peabody and see the ducks! :) But don't blink or you might miss it. I think the little story the Duckmaster told was actually about 5 times longer than the marching of the ducks! Oh well, it was still fun to see.

"On a roll here in Little Rock"

It's been fun getting to see Aaron and spend time with him after him being away from us for almost a month. So here we are in Arkansas.

Well, there is not a whole lot to do here in Little Rock - especially since it has been raining buckets since we got here. I don't mind a little rain but this has been ridiculous!
Anyway, we are staying in the temporary family housing which is like a small little furnished apartment and it has been great. We have room to spread out and it is a way better experience than the last time we were here with Brady as a baby and they put us in these dumpy little dorm-type rooms.
So tonight we went bowling because we didn't have much else to do and we thought it would be fun since Brady had never been before. :)
Brady did pretty good. In fact, the minute we got to our lane, Brady grabbed a ball and threw it down the wrong lane while Aaron and I were trying to get our shoes on. He was so excited.
Aaron and I did not get that great of scores. Even though Brady threw a couple balls on our turns, we still did not do well at all. Wii bowling is a lot easier!!! :) I used to be pretty good but not this time. Oh well!

Brady took these next 2 pictures of me and Aaron. Pretty good!

(The title for this post is from a country song and I thought it was appropriate since this post is about bowling! I just can't help being cheesy!)

Love him to pieces

This morning when Brady got up, he was in a good mood. And I am also happy to report that for the last 2 nights he has slept all night in his bed without getting up and crying for me!
So I was hugging on him and snuggling him and just goofing around.

So I told him "Brady, I just love you to pieces!"

He promptly told me "No Mommy! Just ONE piece!"

He also did this with his finger as he told me:

I have to tell him every day that he can only have "just one" of something so this came back at me for a change. I guess he doesn't want me to love him to pieces-just all in one piece! :)

On a side note, I took this picture a couple minutes after the actual conversation as a re-enactment photo. After he informed me of how I should love him in one piece, he told me he wanted to eat breakfast. You can see his breakfast here in the picture. Am I a bad Mom for feeding my child Goldfish for breakfast? That's all he wanted to eat!

(Please don't look at my messy house! I am cleaning it today!)

Fun Friday

Yesterday Brady was being so good all day for me. He has had some trouble sleeping at night while Aaron has been gone-that is my conclusion anyway. He wakes up at like 3 or 4 am and wants to sleep in my bed with me. He has never done that-even as a baby. So I guess he might just be missing Daddy in another way. I eventually convince him to sleep in his bed and go back to my bed.
So I told him on Thursday night if he went to bed and didn't wake up in the night that he could sleep with me on the air mattress on Friday night (the kid loves the air mattress-what kid doesn't?). Which he did! Yay! Then I sweetened the deal by telling him if he was good all day Friday we could watch a movie and eat popcorn on the air mattress before bed. I knew we would be running all around town, well not running-driving, to get some things for Super Saturday next week and it's so much easier when he is cooperating.

So he was good and we had a little pajama/popcorn/movie/sleepover last night. Just the 2 of us! It was fun. (But I did not sleep that well since we were on an air mattress and Brady rolls around a lot! Oh well!)
I remember back a couple years ago before Brady was born, Aaron and I used to do the same thing. Blow up the air mattress and lay on it for many hours into the early mornings watching episode after episode of all of the seasons of "24" on DVD. Sorry Aaron! I have a new little man to watch TV with on the air mattress with while you are away. You can join us when you get back! We'll make it a new family tradition with Brady now too! :)

Here's Brady watching the movie. He has his little pillow and blanket and everything!

Fun times!

Everyone needs to talk to Daddy

So while Aaron is in Little Rock for some training, Brady and I are here by ourselves. We'll be joining him for 2 weeks later this month but until then we are on our own!
Brady just learned how to do a really good pouty face to get me to give him whatever it is he is pouting for. He also knows this time Daddy is gone, that he is GONE and not just at work.

The other day we were in Michael's and he got really quiet and put his head down on his hands in the cart. I asked him what was wrong. He said in the saddest little pathetic voice (with a pouty face) "I miss Daddy a little."
So when we were done there and got home we called him to talk. It made him happy again. Apparently his dog friend missed Daddy too-that's what he told me and handed the phone to him to talk. Luckily, my camera was right on the counter and I grabbed it before the conversation was over.

What a little ham!

Anyway, I have also had to use the same technique I'm sure most Moms have had to use. The "You better behave or I'm calling your Dad!"

Yep.........I'm in THAT club now. How did I get there? It just came out of my mouth. Fortunately, it works!

Luckily, Aaron is only in Arkansas and I can call him on his cell phone. I've had to use it several times before he left while he was at work too. At least he is not in Afghanistan (yet).

So we will carry on here. Brady (and his dog) can call and talk to Daddy whenever he is sad. I guess I can for that matter too! We'll be seeing you soon Daddy! (And if I need to, I'll be calling you to give our adorable and sometimes defiant child a good talking to!)

Name 3 Expressions with "Ball" in it!

Sounds like a category on Family Feud doesn't it?
Well that is what our Saturday involved! I couldn't just name it "Balls"!

(Sorry, I cheated and back dated it! I started this post almost 2 weeks ago!)

1) "Havin' a ball!"

This would be one of my Mom's favorite expressions (she uses it to mean "having fun" in case you aren't aware).
It would also be what Brady was doing that morning.
We had one of Brady's friends over sharing a babysitter so he went to sleep in the pack 'n play the night before until his parents came to get him. Brady loves when that thing is out. He literally packs it full of stuff and plays in it! He's all into collecting all the pillows in the house now and that is what he has done here along with toys, books, etc.

2) "Watching a ball game"

Aaron did what he always does on Saturdays during college football season. Watch the BYU football game on TV. Sorry, don't have any pictures of this one! So instead here is one of the Cougar mascot!
Note to BJ & Alli: You don't have to look at the picture if you don't want to! You can skip this one! ;)

3) "Going to a ball"

There was a ball celebrating the anniversary of the Air Force. So Aaron and I got to get all dressed up. I had to find a dress that I could actually fit in that was formal. So I found one from a lady a church that rents formals. She ended up selling it to me because she was wanting to get rid of it. But not only did she sell it to me, she also altered it for me first so it would fit me. I still had to kind of "stuff" myself in the dress because I am not the size I used to be! That is why I have a funny look on my face.

Aaron got to wear his "mess dress" which is the uniform equivalent to a tuxedo. Why it's called mess dress is beyond me. Why wouldn't they just call it formal wear. Mess implies it's not for something nice.......anyway, there are a lot of things in the AF I don't understand. This will be added to that list! :)

So as you can see, we "had a ball" on Saturday! Thanks mom for letting me borrow your precious expression. I will give it back now and not use it again because my cheesiness meter just shot through the roof writing this!

This one's for you Mona!

So here is my little tribute to the late Patrick Swayze. My Aunt Mona, affectionately known to me as my "Mona Mom" (my mom's sister-she had 4 boys and so I was her stand-in daughter!), is somewhat of a celebrity stalker. Not in the creepy "gotta dig through his garbage" sense but in the fun kind of "gotta meet him" kind of way.

Through the years it has cycled through many celebrities which she has actually met. One such meeting was in Vegas in the middle of the night. Her boys are awesome poker players and stayed up all night playing poker. She was already back in the hotel room sleeping. They found out that Ben Affleck (her current interest then) was in the high stakes room playing. She jumped up out of bed and ran (I'm pretty sure literally) to get there and met him as he left to go (or maybe came back from) the bathroom. Mona-if you read this you'll have to straighten out my facts if I messed them up! :)

Anyway, the first celebrity that I remember being "her boyfriend" was Patrick Swayze. And that, like many women in the 80's, lasted a long time! She even met him when she and my other Aunt Nina were extras on a movie they were filming in Chicago.

So here's a very LONG video clip of the final dance scene in Dirty Dancing. I couldn't find a shorter one that would let me embed it on my blog so you don't have to watch all 7 minutes of it. But anyway, this is the best scene in the movie and who wouldn't want to be Jennifer Grey?

Dirty dancing final Patrick Swayze
Uploaded by laetitoumi. - Explore more music videos.

I don't have any pictures with Mona and Patrick Swayze (not sure if those even exist). But here is one with her and "Ben Affleck". For her birthday a couple years ago, my other Aunt (Nina?Kathleen?not sure) made this cut out of his head on Dean Martin's (?not sure on this one either) body and lugged it around town with all 6 sisters for her birthday weekend. Hilarious! Anyway, they also took it to his movie premier and got interviewed by the news and I think she met him again and he signed it for her! I love my crazy Mom, Mona Mom and the rest of her crazy sisters! If you ever wonder why I am the way I am, I am blaming it all on those crazy Tice sisters! :) Love you all!

Anyway, Patrick Swayze will be missed by many and I'm sure by my Mona Mom. Love ya Mona!

New Moon Preview

OK, so I have to admit it.......... I love the Twilight books and now movies! My friend posted this link on her Facebook and it was a way better preview than I have seen so far. So now I'll just be counting down the days until November!

I really do have a life outside of Twilight so I will be busy with other things until then of course. But until then, enjoy the video!

PS It looks like Jacob has bulked up quite a bit! I have to admit also that I am a Jacob fan and so this movie will be good! :)

I had to take the other You Tube one down because they took it off, but I got this one from the MTV video awards preview they did tonight! I think it's the exact same thing.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

What Mommy does while Brady sleeps

I put Brady down for his nap on Friday. Aaron was home from work watching TV in the family room. I thought this was the perfect time to get out my craft stuff and get 2 projects done that I needed to have done by Sunday to display (for Super Saturday sign ups). I spread my stuff out on the dining room table and was getting everything all ready to get started. One project I was doing required Modge Podge (basically like a water sealing glue) so I got it out of my craft box and started to shake it. Next thing I know, the lid popped off (and Aaron even heard it from the other room). I scream when 1/2 the bottle of Modge Podge ends up on me, the wall, half the dining room table, 2 chairs and the carpet around 3 sides of my dining room table. There were big puddles, little splatters and just a huge mess everywhere and not even a 2 year old in sight to blame!!!! What happened you ask? I'm really not sure. The lid seemed secure before I started shaking. But maybe I can blame a 2 year old after all. He was seen getting stuff out of my craft box the day before and the lid did seem like it was on a little crooked. Somehow Brady must have put some pressure in the bottle when he was screwing the lid back on and it popped off then. The lid didn't pop off until I was DONE shaking it!!! It all happened so fast so I'm still not sure. So after the scream, Aaron runs in, sees the mess and the first thing he does is GRAB THE CAMERA and starts taking pictures. I yell at him that we better get this cleaned up before it dries because it is permanent! So I only let him get 2 pictures (down below) which does not really show the full mess but just multiply it by like a million! I am happy to report that with Aaron's help and the help of the Rug Doctor he ran to Fry's to get, we got everything up out of the carpet and even off my dining room furniture which is a miracle! The only casualty in all of this is my shirt. It never came out. I was sad about that because I liked that shirt. Aaron told me that I should be wearing an old shirt while I craft. Good advice AFTER the incident! I did get it out of my hair though, after 45 minutes in the shower pulling it out under the water after it dried to my hair like a nice little glue shower cap. Anyway, so that took all after noon to clean so I did not get my projects done that day. Instead, I took them OUTSIDE to paint and modge podge the next morning and now they are done!

Apparently I'm doing the Modge Podge Robot dance. (I had already wiped off one arm when he took this)

One side of the table of the carpet that was splattered.

Right under where Aaron was standing to take this was the biggest spot and the other side of the table too.

Feeling better

So, I am getting some energy back now and have actually been out and about today after being a total shut-in hermit all last week.
BUT......due to the events of last week, Brady has taken all the potty progress and flushed it down the toilet.....pun intended. I know, it's cheesy!
Anyway, I have been trying to get him back on track and make up for the neglect of a very worn out and (unintentionally) neglectful Mommy from last week. We spent some good time today shopping at Michael's and JoAnn's for some craft stuff.
I am happy to report that Brady wore big boy underwear out in public and did not have any accidents while we were shopping. (I had back-up underwear and shorts in the car just in case)
He even told me he had to go to the bathroom and so I took him and he went.
Why is it that he always has to try to figure out what the "little garbage can" in the stalls of women's bathrooms are? I've tried to tell him a million times not to to touch or look in but he does anyway!
All in all, it was a pretty good day for us. We even shared a chocolate milk shake from McDonalds when we were done shopping because he was so good. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell he had to go to the bathroom while we were riding in the car and he did have a little accident then but we had been out for over 2 hrs by then. Oh well!
I love my little sweetheart. He really has helped me get through this last week and he's my favorite little buddy! I think I will definitely keep him!
And maybe this potty thing will work out for us after all...........hopefully!

Thanks friends!

Well, life's thrown us another crappy curve ball. Doing OK now but I really don't want to say much more about that.
I do want to say that we have the best friends here in AZ to stand in as our family while we are so far away from ours. You guys are the best and I just wanted to state it publicly for the record (I'm not sure which record but somewhere there is a record right?). I am glad to have friends like you-you know who you are! And I love you all!

Best Buds and Chocolate

So what do you do when 2 best friend 2 year olds love playing with each other but also love stealing toys from each other ending in one or both crying? The answer is give them a little project to do! And since it involves chocolate-it's always better!
Tolson was here playing with us this morning and that was the exact scenario. They really do love each other but sometimes........well, they're 2!
So I've been wanting to make these cupcakes and I thought getting them to help would be the best way to get them back to being best friends again.

They were so excited to help. It was SO cute!

Tolson helping make some yummy cupcakes.

They're chocolate cupcakes with junior mints in the middle!

Brady helping mix in the ingredients.

(Yes, he's in his underwear!)

The best part about baking-licking the batter and spoons!

Messy faces!

Here's Brady with the finished cupcake. I think he is sick of the photos and he just wants to eat it!

If you want the recipe to these cupcakes go to the Picky Palate website. I really like her recipes and have made a lot of them. They are always so tasty!

Tucson Children's Museum

On Monday night we went with the Kemptons to the Children's Museum in downtown Tucson. The boys had so much fun playing together and here's some pictures. (I put these on here mostly for Grandmas and Grandpas to see so I won't be offended if you are bored having to look at pictures of my child!)

Police Motorcycle (it was kind of weird lighting in this room so it's kind of dark)

Fireman Brady!

The jacket was really heavy and when I put it on him he just stood there and couldn't move!

Brady driving his buddy Tolson in the firetruck

Cooking some random fruits and veggies in a muffin pan in the play kitchen

In a submarine