No motivation

I can't believe how bad I've been when it comes to my blog. I know it's nothing new, I've disappeared may times before, but this time I just don't have it in me to sit here and type anything (well, other than this). There's been so much going on in my personal life, that only a few know about, that I'm finding it hard to focus on other things. I'm still couponing and finding some great deals, but just don't have the desire to type it up. I've also started exercising. I'm currently doing the 30 Day Shred and it's been kicking my butt for the past week or so.

This past weekend we did manage to get out of the house both days and do fun Easter activities. My mom's group got together on Saturday and did a baby only egg hunt, then on Sunday we went to the egg hunt put on by Jamie's work. Both days were a lot of fun, and were definitely needed to take my mind off of the stress going on.

So that's what I've been up to. I'm still here, just not as active.

Santa Babies

So over the past few weeks (I know, blog slacker) we have done quite a few family Christmas activities. Since I finally got around to editing my pictures I figured I'd show them off.

Our first family fun activity was to attend our town's annual Christmas parade. Since we live in a small town, the kids and I were able to just walk to the parade route. When we left the house it was nice and cool, perfect "fall" weather. However, once the parade started, it became very overcast and got chilly really fast. Thankfully I brought sweaters for the kiddos, but we were all a bit chilled once we got back home.

What small town parade doesn't start with a tractor. Our's sure does!!

Then came J's favorite, the police officers.

Of course I couldn't resist getting a few pictures with my babies.

Then came the entertainment. Our local high school marching band. A really enjoyed listening to them play.

Throughout the parade the kids were given a few gifts. J was very pleased with his police activity book, and A was sporting her goodies from the local bank. However, the best gift was an amazing pop-up book the kids were given. I'm not sure who was handing them out, but it was such an awesome thing, I'd love to send them a thank you. Oh well, in case they happen to stumble upon this blog, I'll just say it here. Thank you for the wonderful book, we have all enjoyed is as a family. Oh, in case you are wondering, it was call Journey to the Moon.

 Another odd, small town thing. Llamas! I snapped this picture then laughed when I finally got a chance to look at it. I think it's funny how they are looking at each other.

Once we got to the end of the parade it was time for Santa. Every year he rides down the parade route on top of the fire truck. Apparently A didn't like the fact that they kept blowing the horn to announce his arrival.

After the parade I was able to take a picture of my loves. Aren't they just the cutest!?

Later that same night it was time for Jamie's company holiday party. Every year they bring in Santa for the kids to sit on his lap and then each child gets a gift. This year we were lucky enough that they decided to feed us too! And it was yummy.

First thing we did once we arrived was stand in line for Santa and it didn't take us long to make it up to the front. While we were waiting we kept pointing to Santa and telling A about him, in hopes that she would sit on his lap and not scream her head off. 

Well we got one thing we hoped for. She didn't scream but she also didn't sit on his lap, not technically. She wouldn't let go of Jamie's jacket for him to back away. So I decided to take advantage of a family photo opportunity and I put down my camera and jumped in behind J (sorry no photo of that yet).

J hasn't ever been the sit on Santa's lap kind of kid. Every year he has stood there and not really known what to do. So here is a funny pic of J trying to talk to Santa but really wanting to get away. *Santa already knew what J wanted because of our magical mailbox, which I hope to talk about more this week*

After our visit with Santa it was time to eat. Once we were finished the crowd was settling down and Santa was free, so we decided to take advantage hoping we could get a cute picture of A. I'd say we succeeded, although it didn't last long.

After our second visit with Santa it was time to play. The big kids were having a lot of fun throwing a football though a hoop, so A thought she would join in. 

And so did J. Who happens to have a pretty good arm for a non-sports lover.

So that concludes our fun for that evening. But the holiday fun wasn't over just yet. This past weekend we went over to my sister's house to have our "annual" hot cocoa and smores party. I don't have any pictures from the evening but we did attempt to take a cousins photo. Oh man, was that entertaining!

Still upcoming for the week ahead is our annual holiday dinner here at our clubhouse and also a last minute trip to SeaWorld to see all of their holiday events. We're so excited to be able to spend some quality family time in such a wonderful place. And of course there will be plenty of photos to share. Until then, have fun and stay safe.

Woohoo!!

So over the weekend I reached a mini milestone here on the blog. I have received 100 page views since starting this thing. That may not sound like much, but it sure does excite me. It's nice to know there are people out there who actually stop by, although I have yet to receive any comments (please feel free to do so at any time if you wish).

I know lately I haven't posted much worth reading, but I assure you that there will be more to come. I actually have so many ideas, I just can't keep them straight long enough to write about them.

So, this post is more of a thank you. Thanks to those who have stopped by to read about my life, family, and everyday happenings. I hope to keep this blog going with plenty more to entertain you all with. Until then, see ya.

Holiday fun!!

So this past weekend was so much fun. Jamie was able to take the whole weekend off so we were set to go visit his dad in Jacksonville. Since we wanted to make the most of our time we decided to head out Friday afternoon, which turn into almost Friday night. Our plans were to leave as soon as J got out of school but due to a family emergency on his dads side, we had to wait until 4 o'clock before we could get on the road. No big deal.

Once we arrived, we quickly got dressed in our bathing suits and headed for a cookout at the pool. No one was more excited to get in the water than Miss A herself. We actually couldn't put her down to a second because she would head straight for the water.

Once she finally got in, she was non stop. She kept wanting to go back and forth between Jamie and me.

She wasn't the only one enjoying the water. J was having himself a great time as well, since he was given his own tube to use.

Not only was he having a great time in the water, but he was having a blast on land as well. There were a few kids visiting for the weekend as well, right around his age. Needless to say, there was never a dull moment the whole weekend.

After spending an hour at the pool, it was getting dark so we went back to the condo. The little kids all went up stairs to play with Lego's while the bigger "kids" played games on the XBox. Then around 11pm it was time for bed. Too bad A didn't think so. For some strange reason she had a very bad night, so poor Jamie went out at 3am to find a CVS to pick up some Colic Calm. I think each of us only got about four hours of sleep the whole night.

But Saturday was a new day. Thankfully Jamie got up with A at 8am and allowed me to sleep in until 9:30. Once I got up it was time to nurse her then shortly after she was ready for her first nap of the day. We put her down thinking she wouldn't sleep very long since she didn't sleep well the night before, but she proved us wrong and napped for over two hours. After she woke up, we met up with our friend R and her new baby E (whom I made this quilt for). It was so weird holding a new baby again. Even though A isn't even a year old yet, I still forgot how little they are to begin with.

Here's a picture of A meeting her future "boyfriend" for the first time.

After leaving R's house, the rest of the day was spent catching up on rest. Then Saturday night was mine and Jamie's first date in over two months. The night started with an awesome dinner at Bonefish, followed by a nice glass of wine.

Then it was time for some fun. First was a very competitive round of mini golf, which I won (of course).

Then it was time for some arcade fun. We first tried to race each other on one game, but for some reason they weren't linked, so that was a bust. Then after that we walked around to see what other games interested us. For some reason there's one particular game that always sucks us in. The one that has all of the coins in it that you have to try to push off and get tickets. I think we spent our whole $20 worth of tokens on this one game, but in all fairness, we're pretty good at it. After all of our tokens were gone, we went up to the counter to see what our total ticket number was.

Not too bad...

So what did we end up with? A triangle game I used to play when I was a kid and a beach mat. All total (if bought in a store) would have been around $5, but I guess the extra money was spent on the fun of the evening.

Sunday turned out to be another lazy day for us. We woke up at our usual 8am with the baby and we're met with Jamie's dad busy making his famous bananas foster pancakes. After a yummy breakfast it was back to the pool. Today the kid count multiplied. There were a total of 6 young kids, a teenager, and 3 adults at the pool. I guess A had all of her splashing fun our previous trip to the pool, because today she was just chill in J's tube.

After a few hours at the pool, it was back to the condo for naps. After everyone woke up, we all got dressed and went out for a nice Mexican dinner. After dinner we had to head back home since we had plans to visit with my dad the next day.

It was such a relief sleeping in our own beds. Not only for us but for the kids too. Both of them slept so sound and woke up late the next morning. But our weekend fun wasn't over with yet. We stilll had to make a trip to see my dad and eat some of his delicious ribs he loves to cook. After lunch it was yet another trip into the pool.

This time I wasn't able to take advantage of the water. Once I got both of the kids dressed and into the water I barely had enough time to get into my suit before the rain came down. Here we are, all huddled under the patio shelter waiting for the rain to stop (which it never really did). Oh and nevermind Jamie's goofy face. I swear, sometimes I think I married a 5 year old, haha.

About 20 minutes after the rain started we lost all power at the house. And since there wasn't much to do, and it was getting late, we decided to head home and offically end out weekend of fun.

Weekend happenings

This weekend was just like any other, nothing out of the ordinary. Except... it was our friend R's baby shower!! Jamie and I were so excited to be able to drive up to see R and celebrate the arrivial of baby E. I (of course) put my crafting skills to use and spent a few days making some special items for the little man (more on that later in this post).

This was supposed to be Jamie's first weekend back to work since he went to training. He's been on weekday shifts for almost a month, and I think we both came to the conclusion that we did not like it. But instead, he took Saturday off so we could drive up to spend the day with R. I was nervous about how A would do being out of the house for the whole day, so we tried to time our trip around her naps. But of course, she decided to wake up an hour early so we had to change our plans. In spite of the early wake up, we were on the road exactly on time (which is rare for us).

Half way there we decided to stop off and fill up the gas tank. I took this time to also feed A so she could last the rest of our trip. Soon after we were ready to get back on the road, but our car had other plans. The battery decided to give us trouble, which ultimately needed to be replaced before we left to head home. After our 20 minute delay we were on the road again. We arrived about a half hour late, but poor Jamie had to rush off to the store to get the new battery (while the car was still running).

We spent the afternoon hanging out and catching up with R and then it came time for the gifts. Holy cow!! I don't think I've ever seen so many gifts for just one little man. She got everything possible for him to last right up through the first year, no kidding. Unfortunately, we had to leave earlier than we wanted because we had plans back home. So we said our goodbyes and grabbed some cake for the road (mmmm strawberry filled).

Once home we ate dinner, crock-pot chicken and mushrooms which had been cooking all day while we were out of the house, then it was time to rest. We all cuddled up on the couch and watched some TV. Then it was off to bed for all of us.

Today, though, was just any other Sunday. It was just A and I here so we hung out and spent the day together. I hate that it's too hot outside to do anything with her. Even going to the pool isn't possible, mainly because there's no shade available, but that a rant for another time.

Now on to the fun stuff... my super cute quilt I made for baby E!!

First I had to figure out which fabric to use. I've had this laying around waiting to make something with it, and I though this quilt would be perfect!

Then I had to cut out 48, 4.5" squares of fabric.

 

After arranging the squares so I knew where I wanted them, I pinned them together in strips.

 

And began sewing. 

This is what it looked like once all rows were sewn together. 

Then I cut out my back piece. I knew I wanted to keep this whole so I wouldn't interrupt the pattern. 

This is the front all sewn together. 

At this time, I began to cut small slits in the seams to create the frayed edge. 

And that's it. All done! 

Only thing left to do is wrap it up and tie a bow :)