Marker Magic

THIS is why the markers now live on a high, high shelf in our house.

Snuggles

This cold weather lately has all of us snuggling...even Lola.

Sara got to snuggle her two favorite girls - Carly and Alexis. These girls ADORE her!

And this picture isn't so mich "snuggles", but rather hugs from Brittany and Hag.

We FINALLY got out to Rockwall to see their beautiful  new house.

North Pole Express

Other than teaching, not many jobs give you two weeks off at Christmas. With pay. without having to use your PTO days. I am blessed to have a job that does just that. And I wanted to make the most of those two weeks!

One really cool thing that Carly and I did was go on the North Pole Express with our new friends Laine and (her mom) Erin. We met them in gymnastics (more on that soon) and we really enjoy spending time with them. Carly and Laine are only 2 days apart in in age!

Anyway... We went on the North Pole Express. It's a real train that drives through Grapevine.

Since we were there pretty early, there was enough time for the girls to decorate an ornament. 

After watching a short (and somewhat cheesy) stage show, we boarded the train - which was decorate for Christmas complete with tree and singing elves. 



Carly and Laine

Don't they look adorable in their holiday pajamas?!

Laine and her mommy, Erin



Finally a picture without her eyes closed!



Laine cracks me up! She is such a funny kid with THE BEST expressions. She was singing along to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, one of the elves sang "like a light bulb!" or another one of those interjected lines. I guess Laine hadn't heard that before because as soon as she heard that, she shot the elf a disapproving look and I don't think she trusted her the entire rest of the ride.

Santa Claus himself made and appearance and handed out bells to each of the kids.

It took Carly three.long.days to loose interest in that bell.

Carly and I had a great time on the train ride. Thanks, Erin and Laine, for inviting us!

December To-Do's

I know it's December 26th, but I wrote this earlier this month and forgot to post!

Holy cow! I have been doing monthly to-do's for over a year now. It sure doesn't feel like it. There are months that I ROCKED my to-do list and other months that it rocked me.

This month, there was very little rocking.

 I did take a sewing class, and while I haven' sewn something yet, I already have a few projects in my head and can't wait to get started.

Carly and I didn't do a craft together, but I do have one in mind for this month, so stay tuned. We did do quite a bit of cooking and baking. And even that that has become a regular occurrence in the Clark house, I still think it's cute when she slides the chair all the way across the kitchen to help me.

But the November To-Do List was not a total bust. I did go through Carly's clothes. See?

We started with this hot mess:

And ended with this more organized hot mess that can now be stored (mostly) under our guest bed and out of sight. Not that it was in sight in our office considering the door to the office is always shut - for this reason exactly!

And this month? This month I will be busy. I plan to transform Carly's room in to a Big Girl Room! Despite that great undertaking, I still plan to make a December To-Do List.

1. Try a Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks

2. Clean up the songs on my i-pod

3. Organize my digital pictures and update the digital picture frame

Wish me luck!

The cutest little Christmas Angel

Carly starred in her very first program earlier this month. I know that staying "starred" may be taking away from the other kids in the program, but if you saw how she was working it, you would call it "starring", too.

Her preschool put on a program called "The Greatest Story Ever Told" - which we all know is the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. The songs were your typical Christmas carols like Jingle Bells and Joy to the World, but then there were some really, really cool ones like Three Wise Men set to the tune of Three Blind Mice and Nine Little Angels (sounds like 10 Little Indians).

Carly's class got to be the angels - not a big stretch for these cuties. See her in the pink pants?

We had some wardrobe malfunctions with the headband halo, but she persevered and managed to be the cutest angel on the makeshift cloud.

Can you tell how hard she was trying to do all of the hand movements?!

After the show, it wasn't "no autographs, please" but rather "no photos with mom and dad, please". These were the best that we got. 

Merry Christmas from our little angel, Carly!

Carly's fifth hair cut

I think that one of Carly's best physical features is her hair. And her eyes and her eyelashes and her cute little nose...I could go on and on. But I won't.

Carly is constantly getting comments on her long, thick, gorgeous hair. Moms of babies with little hair are constantly giving me dirty looks. I am constantly asked if I curl her hair. No, I do not.

Carly is no stranger to haircuts.

Remember when we cut her  Baby Mullet?

And let's not forget her First official hair cut. After this particular hair cut I started taking her to my hair dresser, Carry. The first go-round was a bit of a mess. Lot's of tears and Carry having to chase Carly's hair with the scissors.

The second hair cut with Carry was when we discovered the secret to a happy haircut - a Dum-Dum! It keeps her happy and preoccupied enough that Carry can cut her hair without having to duck, swivel and turn while she tosses her head around. The only downside is hair on the sucker, but if she can deal with that, so can I.

And now her haircuts are fun.

We even discovered the trick to getting her to keep her head down so that Carry can cut the back of her hair - Mickey Mouse playing on my phone - at her feet. My husband is a baby genius!

Even though her hair is still really long, I think it looks short now. I'll get over it, though, because I know we have many, many haircuts ahead. Bring on the Dum-Dums!

Eww at the Zoo...and Happy Birthday Emily!

Have you ever been to a birthday party at the zoo? We hadn't until this past weekend. In fact, Carly had never been to the zoo at all before this past weekend. I know, I know. A nearly three year old that has never been to the zoo. It's an epic fail in parenting. My fellow-blogger Amie would be so disappointed in me.

Last Saturday the Clark family headed to the zoo to celebrate Emily's third birthday. Birthday parties there are great. Each party gets their own room where you can have cake, open presents, etc. The staff actually bring four different animals in to the room.

We all know that I am not a fan of bird's. So what do you think the first animal was? A macaw, of course. Seeing as how I was already seated front-row Joe on the floor with all the other mommies and their kiddos, I decided to tough it out and not look like a total wimp.

Of course this particular bird was skittish. It didn't like noise or streamers. Why, you ask, would they choose this bird to attend kiddie birthday parties? I have not a clue. I got a little anxious each time it spread it's wings, but I made it through the bird exhibition.

I cannot say the same, however, for this next beast. When the zoo girl took this possum - yes, possum! - out of the mini trash can, I did what every good mother would do. I abandoned my child on the floor and ran to the back of the room, exclaiming that "I am out" and that Freddy "was up". Not only is the rodent DISGUSTING, but it was cross-eyed. Out. Out, out, out. No thank you!

Is a possum even a zoo animal? Where were the penguins? the mini monkeys like the one on Friends? Would it have killed them to bring in a koala bear instead?

I can't even bring myself to look at that picture. I covered my eyes and quickly scrolled down. Yuck!

Next came a mini owl. Cool. I can handle that. Even the wing flapping didn't freak me out.

Then there was the baby alligator. I could have done without that, but I preferred that more than a snake, I guess.

Happy third birthday to sweet, sweet Emily. 

And then we were off to the zoo to enjoy the elephants,

 and tigers...

...and lots of other cool animals.

We did not, however, partake in the Parrot Paradise. Nope. We sure didn't.

We also rode the train - which Carly really liked. Too bad it was such a short ride. 

 And at the end, we commemorated the occasion with a new stuffed animal. Freddy got a little upset with me when I tried to push the stuffed elephant (or panda or penguin) onto Carly. But she held her ground and left the zoo with...Monkey.



Carly really enjoyed herself, so I think that we will definitely be making more trips to the zoo. We will, however, be skipping the possum exhibit. And Parrot Paradise.

Carly Flashback

Carly used to sleep like this:

Remember? She was breach, so this was comfortable for her.

So when she was sitting like this the other night, we weren't the slightest bit surprised.

I'm kinda liking this "Carly flashback" post, so  maybe I will have to dig up a few more.

Jingle all the way

Freddy and I have "participated in" the Jingle Bell Run for the past two years. I say "participated in" because what I did behind that jogging stroller last year could hardly be called running. Or jogging. It was an ugly first-time-out for Carly and the jogging stroller.

While in Minnesota with the family in October, I invited my sister Cathy to join us. The things is, I never actually signed up for this year's run. So when her and Charlie came to stay the night with us a few Friday nights ago, I had no idea that they had been running and secretly signed up for the run to surprise us.

I figured since I was the one that talked them in to it, I needed to run it with them. So we all got up early the next morning, I donned my Christmas present shirt and off we went. Carly and Freddy stayed home, though. It was a cold, wet morning.

I didn't exactly rock that 5K, but I had fun doing it. I think that Cathy and Charlie did, too. Hopefully this is the beginning of a new tradition and many more 5K's together.

I enjoyed spending the day with Cathy, Charlie and Christy.

And of course Carly soaked up all the love and affection that her aunts and uncles were showering her with.

Happy Birthday, Lola!

Our sweet Diva Dog, Lola turned SIX on December 2nd. Like every year before, she got a doggy birthday cake. She LOVES these things. So much so that she can't even take the time to pose for a picture before trying her best to wiggle away from me and dig in.

Not only did she get a cake, but she also got some cookies, too. Gotta love Three Dog Bakery in Southlake!

This is the best picture I could get of Carly and Lola. Lately it has been next to impossible to get a picture of Carly with her eyes open.



Happy birthday to Lola. I never thought I needed a dog, but now I don't know what we would do without her. She's Carly's bestie and my first baby. She is the most awesome dog I have ever known!

Thankful

We had another wonderful Thanksgiving!

This year we had a few special people over to our house for a Turkey Feast.

There was Aunt Christy

Nana and Papa

and Grandma and Grandpa

We are so thankful for all of the blessings in our lives. Our family, friends, jobs, etc. But most importantly we are thankful that our love for God and our faith in Him are what guide us, shelter us from evil and lift us up. God is good.



Hello, Brooks!

Earlier this month Carly and I brought dinner to our friends - The Blackmons: Chelsea, Ross and Cambree. I mean, if someone is going to let you hug on their newborn baby boy for an hour or two, the decent thing to do is bring them food, right? And hug and love on him I did. I only let that sweet baby boy out of my hands when Carly had to go to the bathroom - which was about 4 times in the hour and a half we were there. Why are "new" bathrooms so exciting to little kids?

These two friends need to have more play dates. They really like each other whenever we do get together.

Welcome to the world, James Brooks Blackmon!

Carly would have loved to have gotten her hands on Baby Brooks. She LOVES babies and can spot a baby carrier from a mile away. But since he was so new (just a few days old), I only let her touch his socks. But since I really talked up baby feet and baby socks on our ride over there, she was happy enough to just touch the socks. One day she will catch on to me and my games.

The Blackmons - a sweet, sweet Family of Four now.

Of course my baby fever is even worse now!