Carly laughs

And it's contagious.

I called that one

Okay. Maybe I didn't actually "call that one", but I should have been able to.

I wasn't surprised when it happened.

Carly bit the inflatable pool/makeshift ball pit and deflated the upper ring.

Good thing I only spent $3 on that pool.

Now...where can I find another $3 inflatable pool in December?

December To-Do's

To do or not to do...How about half-do?

My November to-do list is half done. Actually, more than half. A few things on my list were WAY more time-consuming than I expected.

1. Organize my digital photos, including updating my digital picture frame.

Photos have been organized in to folders by year and sub-categories and saved to cds AND an external hard drive. I have not, however, updated my digital picture frame. But I will!

2. Clean out master bedroom, bathroom and closet from top to bottom.
I'm not talking about making my bed and putting away the laundry here, folks. I was moving furniture and vacuuming underneath, I dusted places that my eyes have never seen, I scrubbed everything by hand with a lot of elbow grease and I even broke out the Mr. Clean Magic eraser on the doors. Bedroom - Check. Bathroom - Check. Closet - no check. Okay, half a check, but it's Freddy half.

3. Fix/Replace the broken blinds in our bedroom and the ones in the kitchen that Lola chewed and ripped apart.

Thank you, honey!

4. Do something new, cool and fun with Miss Carly D.

We built a fort in the living room.

And now for December...

1. Finish my November to-do list

2. Make a homemade Christmas decoration

3. Organize recipes on my Demy (digital recipe organizer available on amazon.com)

4. Try a new recipe

There you have it, friends. Please hold me accountable and tell me what is on YOUR to-do list this month.

Do something Fun, new and exciting with Carly

One of the items on my November To-Do list was to do something new, fun and exciting with Carly.

As the clocked ticked down to December, I struggled to come up with something.

Originally, I had something GRAND in mind. Then I got to thinking- GRAND would likely not fly with my never-sits-still 20 month old. GRAND would go un-noticed by little eyes that are drawn to Christmas Trees in Wal-Mart rather than scenery.

So I came up with this: build a fort in the living room. Fill it with her favorite toys, give her popcorn, brownies and milk and Vwa-La!

Freddy built the fort. I made the brownies and popcorn.

Carly really liked it. Notice I didn't say that she loved it, but she really liked it.

She played and even kicked back in the fort.

But when the fort came crashing down, the flashlight stole the show.

Too bad I didn't get any pictures of daddy's shadow puppets.

Lola is FIVE!

Our first baby, Lola, turned FIVE on December 2nd.

Lola is sweet and has more personality than any dog I have ever known.

She is Carly's best friend and my running companion.

Best of all, she is going to live FOREVER. Yup, forever.

Of course I got her a cake! I get her one every year.

This year I accidentally ordered her a Large cake. Oops!

I cut it up, froze most of it and have been giving some to Lola every couple of days (she's had three "servings" so far).

This morning's conversation with Freddy:

(note: Lola sleeps in our bed, above my head, on my extra pillow - she's a Diva Dog).

Freddy: Lola doesn't need any more cake.

Me: Why not?

Freddy: I could smell peanut butter coming out of her pores all night last night.

Me: But I have half of it cut up in the freezer.

Freddy: Chunk it.

Personally, I don' t think that it was coming out of her pores. I bet he was just smelling her breath, but I didn't argue that point because I didn't think that it was a good one.

Happy Birthday, Lola!

I hope you enjoyed your cake, complete with a Carly hand print.

Puppy Love

Despite the emotion displayed in this first picture, Carly LOVES Lola.

Lola LOVES to give Carly kisses and Carly LOVES to receive them.

What can you do?

Carly's new favorite pastime

Reading to Lola.

On this particular night Carly was reading to Lola about manners.

Carly and Jonah

I know that not everyone thinks that pictures of Carly are as fun as I do, so I have decided to add a fake script of what Carly might have been saying when we met up with the Conoly's for lunch last weekend. Don't expect anything witty. I'm not witty.

Carly: Why are you grabbing my shirt, Jonah?

Carly: Mom, why is he grabbing my shirt?

Carly: Hi, Baby Jonah. You're so cute. I love babies. You know, since I'm not a baby anymore. Babies don't look sassy with their hands on their hip like I do.

Carly: Come on, Jonah. You can come home with me.

On another note: Carly is not a fan of ice cream.

Halloween Fun

Halloween - Short, sweet and to the point.

Pumpkin patch in Lantana was AWESOME.

Great scenery to take pictures (can't tell by my pictures, though)

$5 for each adult got you admission and a train ride.

Surprise! Carly LOVED the train ride.

I carved a pumpkin. It's an owl that later fell IN to the pumpkin.

Surprise! Carly didn't like getting her hands dirty.

We tried to take a family picture - this was the best. Boo for me not opening my eyes.

Carly was a peacock. I made the costume.

I wish I had used a blue shirt instead.

The feathers in the skirt got tucked under and you can't see them very well.

Carly cried in all the pictures she took with me.

Surprise! Daddy got big smiles.

and so did Sara.

Did I mention she cried in the pictures with me?

We had some cute neighbor friends stop by.

And these are just some cute pictures I took of Carly that night.

Surprise! She opened her mouth for Lola's kisses.

I actually got cute pig tails in her hair!

Yes, her hair is long and there is a lot of it, but the hair on the top of her head is shorter and hard to pull back.

She uses her tippy-toes a LOT.

November To-Do's

Check. Check. Check.

That's the sound of me checking off my October to-do list.

You saw the post about me trying the Pumpkin Spice Late and making my wreath. Soon you will see the pictures of the new weather stripping my husband installed on the door to the garage - yes, I am still counting that one!

I didn't make a new blog header (obviously), but I have researched some digital scrapbooking software and I plan to order some this month. Let's make that task my "if I get to it task" for November as well.

I like this monthly to-do list. I have even started making to-do lists for my weekends (though I am not as good about completing those).

Here is my November To-Do List.

You may find some of the tasks to be a little more time-consuming...Yup, go me!

1. Organize my digital photos, including updating my digital picture frame.

2. Clean out master bedroom, bathroom and closet from top to bottom.

And if I get a little redecorating done while I'm at it, so be it. Anyone know where I can find some modern-looking quilts (Freddy is opposed to comforters)?

3. Fix/Replace the broken blinds in our bedroom and the ones in the kitchen that Lola chewed and ripped apart.

4. Do something new, cool and fun with Miss Carly D.

So, there you have it. Hold me accountable, friends.

The Mo-Hell

Freddy and I had just made our way in to the small, West Texas town of Munday. Never heard of it? Neither had I until Freddy was asked to be a groomsman in his friend Finch Matt's wedding that would take place in Rhineland, a smaller, t-tiny community 10 minutes outside of Munday. It's somewhere near Haskell and Seymour. A little over an hour north of Abilene.

Anyway...we had just driven in to Munday when our friend Andrew, who was also in the wedding, called. His voice came across the speakers in Freddy's truck. There was no hello. No what's up buddy. Just "Your wife is going to *insert expletive here* when she sees this place". He was referring to the Motel, or as I came to call it...the Mo-hell.

I consider myself middle-maintenance. Not too high, not too low. I like nice things, but I don't demand the latest and greatest.

I've stayed in shady hotels before. There was the motel in Nacogdoches that -I kid you not- was the location of a drug bust or prostitution sting in the wee hours of the morning. Then there was the motel in Davis, California. I can't recall specifics (am I choosing to block them out?), but I remember it being shady and cheap. VERY CHEAP. Tarleton grads - As a point of reference, this was also the motel of choice for traveling Plowboys.

Yes, I have stayed in establishments with a no-star rating. But none gave me the physical reaction that I experienced when first I saw the Mo-hell, and every time I was in it. All weekend long. For two nights. I literally felt my stomach turn and it took several hours and a few adult beverages before it finally settled down. I'm not lying. I'm not exaggerating.

Let me give you a guided tour. Here are some pics from the outside.

When we arrived Andrew was installing his own smoke detector. Apparently, there was no maintenance man and Larry the Cable Guy's toothless cousin (again - not kidding) could not be torn away from the busy check-in desk to take care of this.

The inside of the room doesn't look as bad as you thought it would, does it? Wait until I show you some close-ups and some of the details. I will spare you the pictures of the hairs- plural - on the bathroom towels (of both the long and short nature - again, not kidding). I forgot to take pictures of the random signs in the room - like the one that asked that you not remove makeup, wash your boots or your truck with any of the towels or washcloths.

See those blue sheets and tan blanket? I purchased those at the Dollar General along with flip flops to wear in the shower- the shower that never dried, was always wet. Ew.

Can you see the many layers of wall paper under the poorly-textured and peeling walls?

We didn't spend much time in our rooms. Can you blame us?! The first day we braved the hornets and mosquitoes and sat on coolers next to the cotton field. We would be on lawn chairs, but there were none to be purchased. On Saturday the girls headed to Abilene. Our mission: Avoid spending time in the mo-hell rooms.

The hornets made their way in to our room. When Freddy opened the blinds to kill them, they all came crashing down.

And now for the details...Hold on to your stomachs...

- the flyswatter wall art

- the picture framed that was most likely hung BEHIND the door to cover the patched hole in the wall, but it didn't actually cover it.

- the gorgeous bird art work framed with - you guessed it - a TOILET SEAT!

And finally, the holes in the ceiling plugged with toilet paper.

FYI - The shower head also had toilet paper stuffed behind it.

Why didn't I run from there screaming? The only other lodging option was 30 miles away. You're right. We should have made the drive.

There. I blogged about it. I got it out of my system. And now I will never think of this place again.

Disclaimer: This hotel is not a reflection of the wedding we attended. The ceremony was beautiful and the entire evening was FULL of nice, personal touches. I would add a picture of the bride and groom, but I am sure that they rather I didn't.