Easter 2015

We like to have Easter at our house that way we can have an egg hunt!

 

My mother in law came and spent the night Saturday night and Ava, her and Brody decorated 36 cupcakes.  And decorate they did.  Blue icing was EVERY WHERE!!  I had little blue smurfs by the time they were done!  Thankfully, they didn't consume that much sugar (only because I hovered in the kitchen and watched them!)

 

Ava and my MIL had a "sleepover" in the bonus room, which Ava loved!

 

We got up and went to find what the Easter bunny brought.  Going to brag on Clint.  He is a man who can and loves to shop for the kids.  He went and got all of the stuff (and it was cool) and the eggs for the hunt, while I was working Friday!  Good good man!

 

I made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and then darted to get ready for church!

 

While the kids took a bath, I made sure that they were reminded why we have Easter.  Teaching the kids about Jesus is so amazing as a parent.  You tell the important things to them and don't touch the details.  I feel like that is how we all should live.  Love each other, do what is right, love God.  Keep it simple!

 

Church service was just what I needed to recharge for the week and then it was off to finish lunch before family arrived at our house!

 

On the menu:

Green Egg smoked ham and turkey

salad

green beans

hashbrown casserole

Cajun rice

rolls

cupcakes by the pros

crumb cake.

oh yea it was yummy!!

 

Then it was time to egg hunt!!

 

They had so much fun!  All 4 kids had to "glittery" eggs with money in them!

Picture time!!!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day!  We took a lot!

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Easter!!!

Last day of 2012

Have big plans??  We are going to my aunt and uncle's house to have game night and finger foods. 

Ava and I made sausage balls(a Southern staple) this morning after watching the Lion King cuddled on the couch! 

I ran 1 mile this morning to finish off 1,075 miles for the YEAR! And 132 miles for the MONTH. That is the most miles I have ran in a month all year!  So proud of meeting my 1,000 goal for 2012 and exceeding it!

This weekend, I got up an ran 7 miles and then we got ready to go on a family grocery trip to Kroger. Since Ava and I go either on Tuesday or Thursday, Clint isn't able to go with us.  I usually have to reign him in when we go shopping, but the money spent was pretty much what I had figured and under budget!

We came home and put up the groceries and had a quick lunch and then got busy taking both Christmas trees down and putting up all of the knick knacks in totes to put away until next year.  Our house feels empty!

Ava using the dust buster to clean up Pine needles.

I REALLY wanted lasagna for supper, so while we were at the grocery I made sure to get the ingredients I needed to make this masterpiece for supper!  It was all I was thinking it would be.  Hot and cheesy!!

After supper, Clint and Ava put together the Dora play mat she got from my parents.

Playing with shapes on the play mat is something we do multiple times a day now!!

After shape learning, the teat party was in full swing!!  Daddy got roped into participating!  Love this kid!

Sunday I got up and ran 6 miles and then we got ready for church.  Lunch at Logan's(yum) for lunch with my family.  Yesterday afternoon, while Ava napped, so did I.  It was marvelous!!   We lounged and lounged and ate leftovers for supper. 
Have a Happy New Year!!!  See ya next year!!!!

Christmas in pictures

Hi! I have took some time off from Blog world.  Four days of Christmas food and presents and I wanted to relax and enjoy!  Here are a few pictures of the days of the holiday.  There are WAY too many that didn't make it.

One of the many dishes I made for all four Christmas shindigs.  Cheese ball

Family sugar cookies

Our neighbor got Ava some baking equipment!  So cute!

Sugar cookie success!

Ava's great gramma got her a horse!

Snow the day after Christmas

A snow dusting!

Xmas schedule & Thursday recap

FOUR MORE DAYS KIDS!!!  Yep, Christmas is almost here!  Our festivities start Sunday.

-Sunday after church-Clint's dad's house and then straight to his aunt's for food and gift exchange
-Christmas Eve-Clint's gramma's house for his mom's side of the family food and gift giving
-Christmas morning-home for our family gift opening and homemade cinnamon rolls.  We started this tradition 2 years ago.
-Christmas day afternoon-my side of the family for food and gifts
-Day after Christmas morning-back to my parent's house for breakfast and gifts. My dad, brother and sister in law are working Christmas day, so we wanted to wait and open presents with them.

Whew!!!  That is a hectic Christmas schedule!  I am so excited!!  Especially to see Ava open presents!!

Well, on to the recap of our Thursday...
I got up and ran 7 miles in 62:30minutes.  I finished mere seconds after Ava woke up! Perfect timing. 
I got her breakfast and went to shower and get ready for the day.

We had to go to the office to clean and my trusty helper did not disappoint!

Sweeping her little heart out!

After we cleaned, we went to pick up my mom and then to get my sister at work. 

Charming Charlie's was again on the to do for the day.  We had a coupon that we got last week that expired in the next few days, so we HAD to go use it!

Singing in to the belts.

She picked up this sparkly green CONTACT CASE and loved it!  WE couldn't deny her.  I just gave the little contact holder from inside to my sis and we put change in it for her.  She loved it!

We headed to Home Depot to pick up a present for Clint and Ava decided to start "hiding" from KeeKee(my sis). 

I love that they think they can't be seen!  So fun!

We were all starving by then, so we decided on Chik Fil A! Yum!!  Love that place. 

Instead of eating her grilled chicken nuggets, she shared my grilled chicken sandwich.  Well, of course!

I had to make a quick stop in to Kroger for some vitamin C filled produce. 

Clint started feeling puny yesterday morning, so what did I do?

Juiced!!  I juiced him 3 oranges, 2 carrots, a few bunches of broccoli and 1/4 a grapefruit!  Vitamin C overload!!

Supper last night was chicken sausages from Trader Joe's, salad and Red Beans and rice. 

We lounged on the couch the rest of the night watching

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation! 

It is not Christmas unless I get to watch that movie! 

Well, of to get some work done!  Have a great day and I'll see ya soon!

Christmas get together

Hi!  Middle of the week y'all!  Yay!  How was y'all's Tuesday?!  Ours was busy but great!!

I got up and started laundry and got my grocery list together.  I started cleaning the house a little and then decided to start my run.  Ava woke up about a mile in, so I got off and went and got her and fixed her breakfast.  I turned on Cinderella in the bonus room while I jumped back on the treadmill.
Total of 8.37miles!  Oh yeah! Good stuff!

I finished cleaning the house from top to bottom.....we were having guests later!

Time to get cleaned up for the day!  Ava is the only one I know who wants to eat an apple in the bathtub.  Who can deny that kid?!!

We headed to Kroger and got some produce and a few groceries for the rest of the week.  No grocery shopping next week! Because of all the shin-diggin!

After Kroger, we headed to Walmart to pick up one of my dear friends and her daughter.  They were going to our house to hang out for a while and then 2 more of our friends and another daughter were coming over for supper!

Waiting for Leigh and Zoey to get there!

We got home and had some lunch and put the groceries away.  I put the chili together and let it marry together for a good 2.5 hours.

We went up to the bonus room and played!

Not sure what is happening here!

Mary and Kate arrived and Rachel shortly after.  We fed the girls organic chicken nuggets and mac n cheese and then sent them off to play while we bowled up some chili and cornbread and caught up with each other!

After supper, we had Clint take our pictures and then we all played and laughed at the girls in the living room.

Perk of being home is getting in your jammies early!

Hugs all around!

Zoey LOVES to hug....anyone!

We had such a good time together!  Love these girls!!

Hope you have a great day! See ya soon!

Glorious weekend

Good morning!  I hope your weekend was fantastic!  Our's was and the weather was crazy warm for the first weekend of December!
I got up Saturday morning and ran a wonderful 7 miles.  We got ready and went to the town Christmas parade.

 

We staked our claim at the head of the parade and waited on it to start!  Anticipation, baby!

Firetrucks!  We have a special place in our hearts, my dad and brother are Nashville Firemen.

The Dwarf horses seemed to be Ava's favorite.  She was so excited she jumped up and down when she saw them!

Of course, there were tractors.

Watching and waving.

Look at all of this candy they threw at us!!  More than what she got at Halloween!!

We came home and played outside for a bit.

Then it was time to go inside and watch Alabama beat Georgia in th BCS game!  And that they did!!

Finally naptime conquered!

Supper for white chicken chili for Clint and I had some leftover "regular" chili that needed to be eaten.  I made some skillet cornbread, almost burned down the house and relaxed the rest of the night!

Sunday I got up before the other two and ran another 7 miles before getting ready for church!  Whew, I am getting great runs in lately!  30 miles last week!

Church was as always a breath of fresh air for the week!

Then we headed to Olive Garden with my family for lunch! 

YUM!  Breadsticks, salad and Ava and I shared a Kid's cheese pizza! Love that I can share food with my toddler!!

The rest of the afternoon was lazy town!  Ava napped for 2 hours, I put bread together in the bread machine and laid on the couch and read.  Clint watched football!  Wonderful afternoon!

Supper was Y.O.Y.O(you're own your own) since lunch was heavier than usual. 

We finished the night with The WALKING DEAD mid-season finale. Oh man that was a good one!!  Some things totally threw me for a loop!!  Guess we have to wait until February!

Well, work needs to be done!  Have a great day and see ya soon!



After Thanksgiving weekend

Hey y'all!  I hope your long weekends were full of lots of good food, family and fun!  Ours was!
Saturday, we all got up after sleeping in and I did a quick 5 miles on the treadmill.  We got dressed and went and did some more shopping. (Clint and I did Black Friday...10:30pm-3am) We headed to Kohl's and I got some Christmas presents for me from my parents.  I know I should be surprised but they really can't buy me new running shoes without me trying them on and they were too good of a deal to pass up!

We headed to TJMAXX after getting some good deals at Kohl's.  We found our 2 gifts for my family draw names and I turn around to find Ava with this hat on! Too funny!

We came home and got out fake tree out and started decorating it for the downstairs living room.  Christmas with a 2 year old is already SO MUCH FUN!!

She said, "the lights are beau-ti-ful"

We came home and watched Alabama football and snacked the rest of the day on leftovers.

mmm...leftovers

Sunday, I got up and ran a little over 6 miles and we got ready for church.  We took our Christmas card picture in front of the tree since we were all "church outfit" ready! It makes me one proud parent to have Ava so excited about church and Sunday school.  Makes me more excited to go to!
We came home and finished off the leftovers.  I love leftovers, but I am so glad they are gone!!!
After lunch and Ava's nap we headed to a local nursery and got a reall Fraser fur tree for our upstairs bonus room.

Scoping out "the" tree.

Not real sure of the Grinch.

Whew, that sun was bright!

We came home and while the sun was out Clint put lights on the bushes outside, lined the sidewalk with candy canes, put lights on the porch and MADE this cross with lights on it!

We got to decorating the tree and miss Diva was such a ham in decorating it.  Lord, I love this kid!!

How many Christmas trees do y'all have or will have in your house??
Do you do fake or real!!

Have a great Monday and see ya soon!!

Errands to prepare

                                                     Happy Friday! Wednesday I mean! 

It feels like Friday for sure to me!  Last day of work before a 4 day weekend.

Yes, Please! 

Yesterday, Ava and I slept in until about 6:45am.  I know, how lazy!  I got my grocery list and coupons together and did a few house chores.  All that was marked off my list, so I could get my workout on!

10 minute Bodyrock workout.  The portion between my arm and my boobs is super duper sore today! It was a good workout, so I glad take the soreness!

I hopped on the treadmill and did 5 easy peasy miles. 

I am pretty sure I am fully recovered from my Achilles injury, yay! I really missed running!

We got ready and headed out for our Target/Kroger run.

I timed our errands just right.

Nap on the way.

It is TOTALLY ok to take a nap with your sunglasses on upside down!!

At Target we needed dog food and Vue cups.  Lifting a 42lb bag of dogfood into the buggy and then in to your car is NO EASY FEAT!!

I'm sure I looked not so fantastic hefting that bad boy either!

Kroger was next on the list! This visit we did get a buggy car for Ava to ride in.  Although she teeters between riding in the car, walking, me holding her and if she is eating a snack, riding in the real seat of the buggy.  She is a blast!  Truly!

After saving about $40 at Kroger. woot woot!

We stopped at the Dollar tree to get a couple of things I knew would be there and of course be a dollar.

She wanted to carry the basket and "no help, mama".

Okie doke, sister!

I was putting the groceries away and Ava got really quiet.  I went into the living room and caught her in the act.

I made these for my brother's wedding and the other night Clint showed me that she had stuck her hand in and mixed all of the layers up.

I caught her this time and just laughed at her.  What can ya do?!  It's still pretty, plus she was having fun.

We played on the back porch with Pekka and read some books until Clint got home and did a little more playing. 

The rest of the afternoon was relaxing.  We went on a family walk around the neighborhood and carried glowsticks!  That was fun for Ava!

Supper was leftovers and nothing real exciting happened the rest of the night.  We watched a DVR'ed Scandal and The Voice. 

I got up this morning and had planned to run 3 miles.  Well, I got on the treadmill a little earlier this morning and had a little extra time to do 4 miles.  4 miles before 5am?!  Don't mind if I do!!!

Tomorrow will be full of cooking getting ready for Clint's family to come over.

We are making:

a smoked ham

turkey

sweet potatoes with marshmallows

mac n cheese

homemade rolls

Reeses cake

Peanut butter kiss cookies

sweet tea.

Whew we will be busy!!

Have a great day tomorrow! See y'all soon!!

Tea parties and balloons

Hey there! Yep, it is Monday!

It is raining and the temperature is going to drop throughout the day.  Cold and rainy...yuck!

I hope you had a great weekend. We sure did.  Let me back up to Friday though first before I go into what we did Saturday and Sunday.

Clint has been making breakfast smoothies for us about 4 days a week.  He does NOT disappoint!

I'm never REALLY sure what is in these, but they are tasty and I know he uses healthy stuff, because Ava and I do the grocery shopping. ;-)

Ava stays at my parent's house on days I work, but I get a 2 hour lunch.  We live 5 minutes from my work and they live 5 minutes past my work, so I get lunch with her EVERY day I work!  Such a perk!

Tea party at lunch on Friday!

Saturday, we got up and I did a 2 mile walk on the treadmill at a 6.5% incline and 4.3 mph.  I worked up a good sweat!  I "tried" to run for a minute, but I could feel my Achilles pulling, so I slowed back down.  I will just walk for the next few days and continue to let it rest. (ugh)

Publix has turkeys for $.69/lb so I told Clint we needed to go for

1. we are hosting Thanksgiving for his family

2. the turkeys don't get ANY cheaper than that!

I deemed Saturday "No makeup" day!  Some days it is good to have a clean face and "no eyes on".

At Publix, an employee was handing out flowers and then Ava got a balloon!  She was tickled pink!

Clint suggested we stop at the little antique place!

It was AMAZING!  I could have stayed in there a while, well we did, but I could have stayed longer and spent lots of money!

We went home and watched Alabama, sadly get beat.  It was a somber house for about 45 min.

Clint turned on the grill and grilled hormone free steak for him and me a black bean burger.  I sauteed some asparagus and made a salad. 

GOOD STUFF!

Sunday morning I got up and did a bodyrock workout and then walked 1.5 miles at the same speed and incline as Saturday.

We got ready and headed to church. 

Ava was so excited to go. We let her wear her flower girl dress from my brother's wedding about a month ago. 

(wedding day picture)

She kept running around the house saying, "I'm a princess. "I'm a princess." And "we're going to church, we're going to church." 

Too funny!

After church, we went to my aunt and uncle's house for lunch. She had make your own sub sandwiches, chips, dip and meatballs.

YUM!

As soon as we got home, I put the ingredients in the bread machine for our weekly loaf of sandwhich bread. Hands down the best recipe!

Isn't that beautiful?!.

We lounged around until supper.  It was glorious! 

Supper was biscuits (gravy for Clint), eggs, and turkey bacon (and a banana for Ava).  LOVE breakfast ANY time of the day.

Have a great Monday and I'll see ya soon!!