catching up...

good morning. it's a cool and kind of gray day here--perfectly fine with me! mckinlee and i walked to school today and neither of us knew it would be so cool. we both had on capri yoga type pants and mckinlee said she sure wished she had on jeans. i told her i was sorry i didn't realize it was so cool and she said, "yeah--sticking your hand outside is not real accurate." (that just cracked me up, because everyday i open the back door and kind of stick my arm out to see what the weather's like!)
anyway, i started walking home and thought since i was already dressed and all, i should just keep walking. so i walked for about 30 minutes. it's my goal to do this at least 3 times a week. then i went to the cleaners to drop off chris' shirts and headed to chick-fil-a. during the month of november, every wednesday morning from 6-9 you can get a free chicken burrito. so i got a burrito and a cup of coffee. now, i've got to get busy cleaning and putting up all the laundry i've been doing.
i meant to post this picture of mckinlee the other day. it was the 50th day of school last week, so they dressed up in 50's clothes. she looked so cute, but by the time i picked her up she looked nothing like that picture!
last weekend was so fun (except for chris' mom being in the e.r. due to her blood pressure--hopefully her new medication will correct that :(
we first went to kali and tim's housewarming party (it's wednesday, so i know you're reading this, kali. hi!) where i did not get a single picture. i was so upset, but if you read danielle's blog, you've seen the pictures. their house is SO cute! i just wanted to curl up on the couch and not leave. some houses just have such a wonderful, homey feeling~~and theirs' is definitely one of them!
then on to danielle and mike's anniversary dinner. after our wonderful meal, we went back to mom's house and had cake. danielle and mike surprised mckinlee with a snuggie! she was beyond excited. you would have to know that mckinlee is the infomercial queen. she is constantly calling me into the living room and announcing that we need one of the "fabulous" products being advertised. she has been wanting a snuggie for so long and now she finally has one.
here are some of danielle and mike's presents:
and here's the happy couple:
mom had the table set so pretty and that chocolate cake was yum-mo!
my mom and aunts. isn't that a beautiful picture of all of them?
mckinlee posing while danielle slices cake in the background
now, danielle's turn
after the yummy refreshments, we went over to danielle's to see sadie belle's room. i won't post any pictures until she does, but mckinlee got some good ones, including this cool shot of the chandelier from below.
and then, before we knew it, we were driving home. no matter how many times i see it, i always get a little thrill when i catch a glimpse of the skyline driving into downtown.
as soon as we got home, we finished mckinlee's invent america project that was due the next day. i really can't stand projects. even though they say parents are only supposed to provide encouragement, there is no way kids can do these things completely on their own. (although i did very little, except constantly harping on her to get it done!) so basically it means homework for parents and i just think people have enough going on in their lives, that they don't need countless projects to supervise. (getting off my soapbox now...)
these are the beautiful flowers my mom brought me when i had pink eye and the sinus infection. she stayed with me a couple of days after the retreat and went to the store for me, got me flowers and made me homemade chicken soup. it was so wonderful--and every once in a while, it's nice to have your mom take care of you no matter how old you are! (thanks mom!)
finally, evidence of how cosmo amuses himself when we are out of town.
not only do we have to make sure he's not locked in a room before we leave to go somewhere, now we also have to closed all the bathroom doors so he doesn't have a party with the toilet paper!
better get to work--have a good day!

i'm back

my sinus infection and pinky eyes are better~~yay! i've been such a bad blogger, but i finally feel like posting pictures of our retreat weekend. so here goes...
13 of us stayed at the creative cottage in mckinney scrapbooking and eating all weekend--what could be better?
this is the cute little house. inside it is much bigger than it looks!
here is our section of the craft room. this is where mom, danielle, jennifer and i created our masterpieces!
this is the other part of the room where you could use all sorts of machines, computer, etc.
this is the living room, dining and kitchen. i thought they decorated it really cute!
our room was upstairs and slept 7. it was so dark, cool and very comfy!
a few of us made little treats for everyone. mindy made the cutest mini calendars and michele made these beautiful gold and pearl earrings for everyone. valarie also made a darling bracelet that i didn't get a picture of and i made cute little candy pouches that i also didn't get a picture of!
this is what my desk looked like all weekend. i was working on my first art journal documenting our anniversary trip to mexico. it turned out really cute!
danielle taking a picture of me.
we had some wonderul meals. this was dinner friday night and it was delish. our chef was a girl named afton (isn't that wonderful?) who looked like neve campbell and ashley de la grossa (from the early dancing with the stars).
after dinner afton took our group picture. would you say purple is "the" color this season?
a cute one of mom, danielle, jennifer and me~~wearing our earrings michele made us.
our lunch saturday was the best tomato bisque, apple-walnut salad and smoked turkey-gouda panini. yum! my mouth is watering just looking at this :)
jennifer cracked me up--she brought her own bottle of ranch which she diligently carried around with her for each meal. she was so adventurous in the cuisine department and ate stuff she never would normally. (so proud of you jen!)
saturday mom, danielle and i went to downtown mckinney--possibly the cutest place i've ever been! how have i lived here 2.5 years and never knew about this place?
look how much mom and i look alike!
a cute one of mom and danielle. the store behind them~~smitten~~was the coolest, vintage-y store!
isn't danielle the cutest pregnant girl ever?
beautiful fall displays and plants everywhere you looked!
120~~the cutest store ever. i wanted to sit down and just stay there all day! cute vintage items, baby stuff, books, etc. i kept thinking, "this is what i love--why doesn't my house reflect that at all?" i think it scares me because i don't know quite how to achieve what i want. that's where danielle comes in. maybe she can help me "vintage" out at least one room in my house!
a darling globe hanging outside 120.
and here's the inside of that fabulous place!
i love this old gas pump. isn't that red and white crackling paint wonderful?
here's mom and i with my newly pink eyes on sunday morning just before we left.
i'm so glad no one else got it from me--i felt so bad thinking i might have infected someone else.
we had a fabulous time~~it's so nice to get away and not think about cooking, cleaning, etc. just for a couple days!
i have a busy day today getting everything done and ready to leave for waco tomorrow. can't wait to see tim and kali's new house and have danielle and mike's anniversary dinner. will have lots of pictures next week...

bummer...

will be back sometime to post pictures of our fabulous girls scrapbooking retreat weekend...
for now i've got a sinus infection and pink eye in both eyes :(
what a bummer of a monday.

hello monday!

not much going on here. another day like i like~dark, gray, rainy. except that i have to get out in it today :( on my way to the chiropractor and to pick up a few groceries. not feeling too great--sore throat, lingering headache...i'm hoping it's just the change in weather. i do not want to be sick!
i'm on a real reading kick right now. that stack of books is some of the ones i've bought recently that are just begging to be read. we have a great half-price book store that has a great clearance section. i got most of those for $1 (and they're the big, soft-cover ones that i love!)
here is what i am reading right at this moment (well, obviously not right at this moment, but you know what i mean!) i am trying to be more diligent about reading the bible daily, even just 1 page every day. i just love the new book on acts~can't wait until we study that one! and that is the first anna quindlen book i've read. it's kind of slow so far, but i'm staying with it!
we've had the perfect weather to snuggle under a blanket and read.
just a few random things from around my house.

a few weeks ago, i got the most beautiful pitcher from crate and barrel. i don't shop there very often, but every once in a while, i'll go there and wander around forever looking at all the beautiful things and decide on a few. well this particular day, i decided on a glass pitcher. it wasn't terribly expensive but i liked it and seeing as how we drink so much tea, i thought how much i would enjoy pouring my tea from this particular pitcher. i placed the bag with my beloved pitcher, carefully wrapped, in my car and so began my much-anticipated-enjoying-many-years-pouring-tea-from-my-beautiful-pitcher journey.
or not.
a few days later my pitcher sat on my counter, looking so pretty filled with tea. as i was cooking, i took my big bottle of olive oil out of the basket, poured it in the pan, started to put it back, when it barely hit the pitcher. i looked down and the entire top of the glass had broken off in one ginormous piece! tea slowly went everywhere. i was so sad and mad! the only things i ever break are ones in which i've spent more than i normally would.
so the other day when mom was here, we found ourselves in ross~where we both bought a cute little pitcher with a red top...for $3.99.
i will probably have it for years. if you have not been to bath and body works lately, get yourself over there before these candles aren't on sale anymore! all of their small candles are $5! what a deal! since i'm still on a pumpkin kick, i got sweet cinnamon pumpkin--it smells just like fall!
and here is my little ikea plant that sits peacefully in the window at my sink. apparently, when we're out of town, cosmo lounges there and eats the tops off all the leaves.
aside from the obvious fact that the leaves are half the length they were, i won't go into how we know he does that.
let's just say that story would involve the words "tons of paper towels", "disinfecting spray" and "glad i was wearing shoes." :)

fun with mom

mom came up on tuesday to stay a couple of days with us while chris was in delaware and les was working on repairs to his house in grapevine. we got the invitations to danielle's shower done and decided on everything for the shower. i can't wait~it's going to be so cute!
unfortunately, i did not get one picture of anything related to the shower. i know, shame on me.

after my stamp class on wednesday, we went to pei wei for lunch. this is what i get every time i go there--the spicy korean. yum!
mom got lemon pepper chicken, i think. i didn't have a bite, but it looked good too.

julie, natalie and mindy are also in the class. we usually go to lunch afterwards. stamping makes you hungry, you know?
me and mom
here are the cute projects we did. this was a neat technique using a brayer and an embossing folder. very easy. well, i say that...but i managed to mess it up. this was my second attempt!
this was adorable. it's the size of a card...
but it opens up
and is a cute accordian-style mini album. wouldn't this be cute filled with fall pictures?
here we are with our masterpieces =)
then it was time for mckinlee's gymnastics. that's her on the trampoline doing a back handspring by herself!
then it was on to dinner at macaroni grill. mom and i split the chicken marsala. delish! look at those big pieces of artichoke...makes my mouth water even now! i wish i had gotten a picture of our fabulous desserts--but i forgot.
isn't this the cutest picture of mom and les?
mckinlee hated this one. probably because her teeth show. she's all about closed-mouth pictures. i told her i would crop her out (and i will...right after this posts!)
she was playing around with the camera and took this shot of her sprite. pretty cool!
another cute one of mom and les.
we had fun~it just went by too fast!
have a fun weekend ;)