GNO Martini Night~ 2012

My calendar had been marked for weeks.  After a crazy snow storm, power outage, rough road trip, and a busy Christmas, it was time for a hard-earned martini!

Our annual Girl's Night Out martini night, 2012 Edition was held on Friday night.  It's not often I get all gussied up and head out for a night with my girls. Add in a well-made martini and the night gets even better!

We told great stories, we laughed a lot, and the best part, tried new martinis! Here's to another martini night that we won't forget!


The must-have, cucumber~

Cheers!

Tiffany Sparkle~

Until next year!

Semi-Wordless Wednesday~ Growing a snowman!

Watching....

Leaning in for a closer look...

 

 

 

*I didn't have the heart to tell her the package said '72 hours to grow.'  She thinks it's getting bigger- that's all that matters.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve~

Preparing cookies for Santa:  We started the day off right by having frosting with a dash of sugar cookie for breakfast along with our milk and coffee.

One last viewing of her favorite, Peter Rabbit's Christmas Tale:

We spent the night at Andy's parent's house, enjoying a delicious feast and playing a round of Mexican Train. We are so thankful they live so close!

The cousins watching The Grinch:

Christmas Day~

Santa came!

We had to take a quick break from gift opening to test out the Dream Lite- she loved it and happily exclaimed, 'Mommy the stars really do look amazing!' 

We spent the afternoon back at Andy's parent's house- visiting with family as I successfully ate my weight in Christmas goodies. 

All tuckered out- peanut fell asleep in front of the fire, watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  Another blessed Christmas season! Much love and many blessings in 2013!

And a special prayer to all of those going through this holiday season without a loved one by their side. I know there is a heavy heart this year and pray for comfort, strength and peace to those who have lost loved ones- locally and across the miles.  We remember the reason for the season, and thank God for always surrounding us with love. God bless everyone and to all a good night. xo

Christmas 2012~ Part One

Thanks to the blizzard, our trip up north this year took a tad bit longer than usual to conquer.  A rest stop, 3 cups of coffee, and almost 4 hours later we arrived at my parent's house to get our Christmas on. It was worth  the risk. It's not Christmas without seeing my family!

Rea was so happy to see her cousins, she loved helping pass out gifts this year and was thrilled to tackle her own presents.  I surprised everyone by bringing an actual kid craft for the kiddos to work on. (Thanks Adrian for the reindeer food idea! I actually remembered from last year.)

We feasted, drank the annual batch of percolator punch, and I got to catch up with everyone.  My step sister took on the project of the day by doing all the girls' nails so I even got some pampering in! Thanks Nina!

I really feel so blessed this year to have been able to see my family and spend time with them for the holidays.  Merry Christmas!

Some pics I snagged:


Elfie stopped by Rea's Christmas tree with a little gift for the road trip and a reminder to keep listening to her parent's!

Gramma lovin:

Roller skates! If she's anything like her mama, she'll need knee pads, elbow pads, a helmet and a mattress to land on.

Her first All American Girl babies- Itty Bitty twins!

 

Group shot:

PJ's and nails done- perfect combo.

The Blizzard of 2012

They were talking about the storm of the year on its way.... I dreamt of a fun-filled snow day, sipping coffee, Rea snuggled in watching cartoons, baking Christmas cookies.

And then I heard the *click* And all was silent with the world.

The power was out.

In my anticipation of the lone snow day, I had forgotten about the possibility of no power. I heard the pitter patter of toddler foot steps into our bedroom at 5:00 a.m. "The snow is mad," Rea said referring to the ice/snow mix hitting our house.

So we huddled together until I couldn't wait any longer and headed downstairs to check out the damage. I saw 10 in. of snow on our deck. Larger drifts over our front yard, the road nowhere in sight.

Despite not having power for almost 24 hours, we made the best of it. 

Early afternoon and still no power, Andy and I made the executive decision to follow fellow neighbors/friends to a nearby hotel for the night.  We told Rea it was an adventure (over and over), complete with swimming and pizza and her favorite, getting to eat chips in bed! I must have been trying to over-sell it because Rea exclaimed, "Mommy you don't need to keep telling me we are on an adventure. You told me 87 times already!"  Oops. I think I was trying to reassure myself that the pipes wouldn't freeze and the house wouldn't flood. (Thank the Lord it didn't!)

So many thanks to all those who will never know how much it means to us to have power restored and roads plowed.  I did hope for a white Christmas but am rethinking my stance on 10 inches of snow.

Some pics from our 'adventure'~

Eating breakfast by candle light:

Rea asking if she could go play outside:

Front view:

Back view:

Watching a movie on my laptop until it died a slow death:

Starting a new tradition! I was impressed with the cookie/frosting quality and yes, we ate this as our lunch. Don't judge, I was minutes away from hysterics, said the girl with no coffee.

If you all know my creative abilities, or lack there-of, you know this concoction deserves to win a prize at the Iowa State Fair. The candy stayed on the roof! I was crafty for all of 30 minutes.

At the pool! She loved it:

Hope everyone stays warm and safe out there! I don't think we'll ever forget the blizzard of 2012.

Wordless Wednesday~ Orange you glad I made you smile!

 

Weekend Festivities

It was a busy but fun weekend!

Saturday:

Birthday parties always lift spirits and we celebrated Rea's best buddy's birthday on Saturday with our first trip to Monkey Joe's! Happy birthday Karly!

Our next mission of the day was to get a successful picture of the three cousins dressed in Christmas PJ's.  We either needed Super Nanny, James Bond or... Papa with a camera yelling, 'Smile!' 'No, look over here!' 'Good smiles!' 

Mission accomplished.

Sunday Funday:

We needed an overdose of Christmas cheer so Rea and I met our dear friends Jen & Jack to check out the dollar movie, Arthur Christmas. Very cute and lots of laughs, popcorn and MnM's later...

We headed home to find an email from Santa waiting just for Reagan!

She was enamored.  He said her name, knew where she lived and even had a picture of her!

http://www.portablenorthpole.com/home

So cute and the best part, it's free! 

Hope everyone had a blessed weekend!