merry christmas and happy new year

a wonderful merry merry christmas was had 

although you'd never know it by my pictures. 

since there are 5. 

i'm fired. for reals.

BUT, i guess i'd rather have had a great christmas with a family i love

 and no pictures to show for it,

 than a no good family or holiday with lots of pictures! -- right?

 (just trying to make myself feel better.)

and no pic from our fancy new years dinner with g+p.

and that's a shame cuz we were looking good... 

happy 2013 to you and yours! 

ketchup

 

trip home to texas. john newton's wedding in san antonio. great weekend at the ranch with my family and uncle craig. ivy and gus re-unite. eli hopped on too. staples rode big red, who isn't red. estie cheered them on. tiny cowboy boots. it was freezing.  homemade pizzas. random princess dresses.  sweet playing. kevin flew back to california, we went to houston. LOTS of great gramma, papa, and cousin time. chick fil a. kacki. children's museum. dora. aunt gen's house. rattling bones. mama's boy. huge swing. night lights. pink play dough. pappasitas. baby truett. funny staples. sweet ollie. happy 2nd birthday esther! sprinkle party. cutest birthday girl. lacy and mrs. mason. bye ivy. flight back to CA with eli. tired. hello husband. really nice night at half moon bay. room service. thanks palantir. hi ivy + nana! back to CA routine. fall back + time change -- what time is it?! preschool. ballet. park. suzie cakes. library. date night. turkey placemats and crazy headbands. bye nana. weekend! pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies. naps. already monday. and that brings us to today. time for preschool pick up.

and that was leaving out a LOT. :)

baking with gramma

christmas with the mcconnells

a sleeping car...

equals a happy mama!!

(note: kevin is not sleeping, i just didn't want him to feel left out :)

it was only an hour and a half drive (that's nothin for us).... but still!

gotta count yo blessings.

we drove back today from visiting the mcconnells in beaumont.

we were there celebrating christmas

before they leave for charleston for a few weeks.

i didn't take ANY pictures so i snapped a few in the car.

hardly makes up for our time there. but we had a wonderful visit.

nancy had her new little house all decorated with stockings for ivy and eli,

lots of gifts under the tree,

christmas tree sheets on ivy's bed,

snowmen, wisemen,

christmas towels, etc.

such a fun time of year.

it was fun watching ivy open her presents this year

since she understands what's going on and gets really excited.

she got a new play kitchen (that she loooooves - the girl can multi task)

a tutu and ballet leotard from craig to encourage her amazing dance skills,

new books, bubbles, a stuffed puppy.

eli got new clothes that will solve our everything's-too-tight problem.

the boy is huge.

but i have to say i think i won in gifts this time.

i got some really thoughtful, nice things.

including the miette pastry book with a set of little 6 inch cake pans...

perfect for baking with ives!

craig was crazy as usual......

atleast he:

A) made fun of my husband for being out of shape

B) got us a date night to a concert in boston

C) didn't terrify ivy with his spontaneous yelling

D) didn't cause our son to throw up multiple times.

E) effectively communicated 15% of the time.

so we're making progress.

juuuust kidding. he's awesome and he knows it.

thank you mcconnells for being so wonderful to me.

and ivy.

and eli.

and of course kevin :)

we love you!

happy birthday

dear nana & craig!!

we love y'all!!!

gma & friends

i took the kiddos to houston last week for a visit and we had the best time. bummer i forgot my camera - i NEVER take pics when i'm home! why??? my nieces were darling as ever, estie had a big fun elephant party, we made our favorite pumpkin dessert, saw gen's big preggo belly, played with khaki (ivy's highlight for sure), saw nana & craig, etc. anyway, here's a few prav took out at lunch one day so just thought i'd share!

uh oh we're losing stapes...

where'd she go?

why do we even try to get all 3 of them?! impossible

i WILL take pictures at christmas.

i will i will i will!

29 & verde valley pie

we had a fun celebratory dinner for trev a few nights ago for his 29th.

{MENU}

root beer

chicken parmigiana

angel hair pasta
salad & bread
verde valley pie

VERDE VALLEY PIE
this is a pie grammie used to make often for all of us at our old ranch, verde valley. it's basically a gooey chocolate chip cookie. soooo good.

1 pie crust
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1 stick butter, very soft
tsp pure vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

preheat oven to 350.
press crust into pie pan.
mix all ingredients together.
pour into pie crust.
bake 40 minutes.
let cool for at least 1 hour.
serve with whipped cream.

enjoy!

ps. what in the world is going on with this font?

happy memorial day

from our watermelon lovers to yours.

A humble thank you to all the men and women who fought for our USA!

pics from texas

we went home sweet home to texas for the second half of kevin's spring break. as always, we had a wonderful time... plenty of mexican food, blue bell, warm days and playing in the yard. lots of little girl time with the nieces too... so sweet. as usual, i wish i'd taken more pics of everything - pretty staples, our visit to nana and pop's, gen's beautiful birthday dinner, etc. i just go in shut-down mode as soon as the wheels hit the houston runway, but i think that's kinda normal (right??)