And we're off...

I kissed my babies goodnight last night and won't kiss them again until Monday morning!

My good friend and I are headed to her hometown and to the Big Apple this morning for a fun-filled girl weekend! I have Mom's camera in tow, and I'm pretty sure plenty of stories are on your way...and yeah, I plan on cheating on my diet too! I sure will miss my babies, and Tim too of course, but know they are in good hands. Say a little prayer for us as we head out this AM!

Eczema

.... is a disease in a form of dermatitis,[2] or inflammation of the epidermis.[3] The term eczema is broadly applied to a range of persistent skin conditions. These include dryness and recurring skin rashes that are characterized by one or more of these symptoms: redness, skin edema (swelling), itching and dryness, crusting, flaking, blistering, cracking, oozing, or bleeding (as defined by Wikipedia).

I just like to call it annoying. Go away eczema! Hayes isn't bothered by you, but I am. As always, he is such a good sport!

More Happy Hayes

Food

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to eat. I love food. I love food so much that I have decided that I will never be as skinny as I would like to be because I don't want to give up one of my favorite things. That's alright with me. I'm not obese...I'm not unhealthy...I'm just not a size 6, and I'm okay with that. I am committed, however, to losing this worthless baby weight that was not here before Addie and Hayes made their entrance in the world. Tim and I have decided to do it together, as a team, so that we can both have a little more energy and be that much more healthy for ourselves and our babies. We start today...no more fried food, fast food, or food that comes in bags or boxes. I signed up for Jazzercise classes again and will attend my first class tonight. Tim is on his way to walmart to purchase a digital scale to help us keep track of all the pounds we lose. I have never been very good at "dieting", but I sure like a challenge, so we'll see how this goes...should be fun!

Speaking of food...one of my favorites is my Memaw's chocolate cake! Just last week I was able to make it down to visit with her and have her show me just how she makes this delicous treat. It is absolutely delicious when kept cold and served with a nice tall glass of milk!

This is my Memaw...doing her thing! She is the world's best cook...fried chicken and chocolate cake are her specialties, oh, and grilled cheese too! Noone makes a grilled cheese like she does!

I wonder if I can do it right this time without Memaw? I'm pretty sure chocolate cake is not part of my new diet and exercise plan...(geez...I'm already thinking of cheating!)

Happy Hayes

His happy smile is oh so contagious- even on rainy, gloomy days like today...

Krispy Kreme Rocks!

And so does my Uncle Ed! Doesn't he look like a lot of fun?

Christmas fun continued...

Christmas morning Pop Pop carried Addie down the steps to see what Ho Ho brought to her for being a pretty good girl this year! She was very excited, as were Daddy and I!

Her stocking was filled to the brim with fruit snacks and bubbles and stickers galore. She loved reaching in that thing and pulling out her treats!

Hayes was in a good mood that morning too, which isn't unusual for that sweet little boy. He just sat back and watched Addie get excited about all her goodies.

She loved the dollhouse Ho Ho left her and spent most of that day and the few days following playing with the little family and all the furniture that came with it. I must admit that I had a great time too! They didn't make dollhouses like this when I was her age.

Even now, almost a month later, I am sad that it is over. Christmas, no matter what stress it brings with it when it comes to family drama and money issues.....is such a special time of year, and I am already looking forward to next year when Hayes will be a little more interested in his stocking too!

Not bad for my first time!

I fried some chicken today for the very first time.
I fried some chicken today just like my Memaw.
I fried some chicken today to honor my Papaw... and it sure reminded me of some good ole days!

My Memaw is famous for her fried chicken. So when she told me to soak it in some buttermilk ahead of time, that is exactly what I did. Looks yummy huh? Especially if you love buttermilk (yuck)!

Next, I salt and peppered up the flour and the slimy chicken took a nice bath in it.

Finally, I fried it up "nice and slow" just like Memaw said, and guess what?

It didn't turn out too bad for my first time! Still, nothing tops Memaw's chicken!

"Papaw" Jessee (1926-2010)

And this is all I've ever wanted...

What a sight? How surreal! Aren't I a lucky, lucky girl?

Lazy Weekend

I promise I'll get around to sharing more Christmas photos and stories...just as soon as I finish being lazy with these two!

Dear Santa, Eat Cookies Leave Gifts

Addie and I love our aprons and love to bake together. She gets really excited when she sees me pull out the "cake bowl", even though she can't have any of the batter or cake herself (poor little girl)! Christmas Eve we got busy making Santa his cookies (as if "Mrs. Claus" really needs to eat more cookies since "Santa" doesn't really like sweets-yeah right!) Addie was very excited to prepare these special treats!

Notice the fig cookie in her hands...no eggs in those things and she loves them. Little does she know that Santa's cookies have white chocolate chips in them. I bet she will love those things as much as her mommy does!

We carefully placed the cookies and some milk on the side table in the living room so that Santa could enjoy them after sneaking in our front door. He is much too big to fit in our chimney!

She seems to be really enjoying her fig cookie and doesn't mind leaving the others for "Ho Ho".

This is one of the little traditions that Addie and I have done now for two years straight. I'm not much of a baker, but I can handle some "cake-box" cookies every now and then. We also enjoyed homemade pizzas with all of our favorite toppings, some delicious spiced apple cider, and the classic "Its a Wonderful Life". I love making new traditions with my babies and hope that these will be memories of their childhood that they always cherish!

At our house...

Poker looks like this... Wanna play?

Here you go Ben...would you like to see my tree?

This one is my favorite...as she stands there with hands behind her back admiring the tree...

and slowly she starts to lose Ben's attention....but wait...she gets him interested again...

And that my friends, is how I entertained two 2-year olds for a whole twenty minutes! Can we get a woot woot! Oh, and I just might leave my tree up year-round. No kidding.

Love Mamaw and Grandpa Dave

The first place we celebrated Christmas was at my mom and Dave's house before they headed to West Virginia to see my Papaw. We had a delicious dinner, and Addie and Hayes were spoiled rotten! Hayes pretty much just sat back and watched all the fun take place, but he was happy nonetheless. Next year will be lots of fun with a little boy to spoil too! (Don't mind the grizzly beard on my otherwise handsome husband's face- for some reason, he doesn't seem to care that I HATE it!)

Mamaw and Grandpa Dave got Addie her first car- a Mustang! She better not expect the same from us in 14 years or so...

Dave and Tim did take her outside to try it out for a few, but it was so cold that day that she was just as happy sitting in it in the living room. This spring I see lots of fun times to be had in that car!

Thanks Mamaw and Grandpa Dave....I love it! And so does Addie....