Chalkboard Vinyl

For Christmas, we gave AJ this chalkboard vinyl decal for her room. BEST GIFT EVAH! She loves it, and spend lots of time in her room "practicing her sentences". I love the delightful little artwork she creates when she thinks no one will see it. Like this:

Did you know...

...you can have happiness delivered right to your front door?

It comes in a box that looks like this:

It's wrapped in heart tissue paper:

My heart is pounding:

{{is it just me, or do you also hear a chorus of heavenly angels?}}

Back view - yum! {Plus, it draws attention away from the rest of my backside ;)}

Even the bottoms exude joy:


Happiness, in fresh supply here.

Problem Child

AJ got in trouble at school today. She came home from school with a note from her gym teacher, Coach Barber. The note included - and I quote - "lack of self-control" and "excessive talking".

As part of her standard punishment, (yes this has happened before) I make her write an apology letter. Check out the awesomeness:



Try to enforce consequences after a sweet apology like that! Sometimes being a parent is hard.

Too Cute To Eat (almost)

Do you like those little Baybel cheeses? They are a favorite snack around our house, but I never thought to cut the wax into little hairstyles. I thought these were too cute!

Found here.

It's a Book

This is funny. In a world where technology has completely taken over, I am glad my daughter still likes to read.


Craig - This does NOT mean I don't still want a Kindle for our anniversary. I love real books most, but I wouldn't mind a book I have to "charge-up". :)

Hell Has Frozen Over

This is the post I never thought I'd write. We got a dog. Me. A dog owner. I swore it would never happen. I am not an animal person. I am definitely not an animal-owning kind of person. I think the best pet is a neighbor pet. And even then it's iffy because they can still bark and crap on your lawn.

But AJ begged - for years. She and Craig would take trips to the local shelter to visit. And on one particular visit in September, we found a great dog and I relented {gasp!} And now I have to admit, she has even charmed me. The non-animal-loving-semi-germaphobe-I-am-not-picking-THAT-up me. And I love her.

Her name is Dixie. She's a long-haired Chihuahua. She is just over a year old. She fits in my purse. (Although I'm not the crazy carry-your-dog-in-your-purse-lady...yet)

The first night we brought her home, she snuggled up with AJ and slept with her all night. AWWWWWW...


In the morning AJ was anxious to give her a mini-makeover. Baths are easy since she fits so nicely in the kitchen sink:



And of course, what makeover is complete without a manicure?



Notice the matching polish...


I really can't complain. She's not a yapper, as most little dogs are. She just wants to sleep on your lap all the time. And she lets AJ drag her around like a stuffed animal - poor thing. But I have to say, I'm glad the newness hasn't worn off for AJ as it often tends to do. She still can't wait to get home from school and see her and wants to play with her all the time. I think that little dog was just the extra dose of love we needed around here.

Costume Caper

Dressing up is AJ's number one favorite thing to do. We don't buy her toys, we buy costumes. But what I find so funny is that she will put on a costume, and then go about her day as if nothing's out of the ordinary. Here are a few things I've caught her doing:

Dusting as Batman (I think?):

Working on the Computer as "Spiderman":


Crocodile browning hamburger for dinner:


And just so CPS doesn't come a knockin', she LIKES to do all those things. I am not a child slave driver. Maybe if I could figure out a way to have her take a bath with a costume on, it wouldn't be such a chore!

Happy Tunesday: Hereafter

I thought the movie was OK, but the soundtrack is beautiful. Very relaxing and great background music. The acoustic guitar is fab.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend; we sure did. Rochelle fed us dinner (athankya) and on Friday, we avoided the shopping crowds and took AJ to see Tangled.

She has been watching the trailer everyday for almost 6 months (note the barely-containable excitement on her face)


and I must say, it did not disappoint. It was sweet and funny and Craig and I may or may not have cried at the end.
We enjoyed some yumminess at j.raes bakery. Cupcake frosting is INSANE...

We also just happened to be downtown for the Parade of Lights.

We took in the festivities for a while and then spent the night at the Omni Hotel.

We got the hookup with a corner room which had floor to ceiling windows on two walls which gave us an amazing view of downtown. We didn't take any pics, but we also stayed there last year at Christmas time and I don't think I ever posted those pics, so now seems like a good time.

Nice hotels are most famous for:

super-bouncy beds, right? (Hey AJ - crack kills!)


Pristine game-playing surfaces:


Wrestling matches:


And spa robes. AJ made herself comfortable for her favorite part - milk and warm cookies sent up at turndown.



Thanksgiving was great - Bring on Christmas!!!

Nice.

Just what every parent hopes their daughter will wear to her 18th birthday party.

It's time

I have missed you blog. It will take me a while to catch you up. It's been a busy 7 months. Let's just start from here on out, with the occasional backdated post.

Halloween Recap

Decorating Cookies:
A.J. swears she wasn't snitching the icing. I guess those black teeth are from all the tobacco she's been chewing.


Fun at the school carnival:


We attacked her with silly string. We thought it was much funnier than she did.


Dressed up as "Pinkalicious" for school Storybook Character Day:



Trick-or-Treating with best friend Kenzi:



Craig and I went to our friends' annual Halloween Party. It gets a little crazy trying to come up with funny adult costumes each year. This year, we went as the Geico Caveman and Flo from Progressive.

My costume was pretty easy, but for Craig we ordered a facial prosthetic online. It was quite the experience, both the application and the removal. But it was a hit - we even won the costume contest!