Groomed and ready

We got our haircut Santa. We're now officially ready for you! The countdown is on.

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Biggest little helper

To keep our minds off of my Jeep's unfortunate transmission trouble, Alex and I decided to make some bread. This is my second attempt at homemade bread.

We won't go into how the first attempt turned out.

With my second attempt though, I had a little helper with me the whole way. His favorite part was kneading the dough... stirring was fun too, but we quickly discovered stirring with a two year-old and trying to keep most ingredients in the bowl is an interesting process.

I was pretty impressed how this attempt turned out. It was actually edible this time! I think it was the help I had in the kitchen this time around.

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Frosty, is that you?

Alex and I transformed our fridge tonight into a snowman. Alex thought it was hilarious! I started to cut out the shapes as he wandered into the kitchen and our conversation went a little like this:

"Mommy, what are you doing in here?"

'I'm building a snowman, Alex."

"REALLY?? YAYYY!"

What's fun about this is I put it all on magnets so we can move all the pieces around. Alex liked to move the snowman's buttons to the top and add to the smile, which turned out to look like he had blue boogies.

For the sake of Frosty's dignity, I fixed the blue boogies for the photo.

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Cameras, lights...

Alex and I were playing with lighting and aperture tonight with our camera. I don't normally let my child play with objects that could potentially harm him, but I wanted to try out a few different effects with lighting.

Unfortunately this is the only photo he allowed me to take of him before he announced he was done. That's ok, it was fun while it lasted.

What I really would like to try is this little lighting technique. But that's for a different day.

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Use the force, Spud

Sorry the quality of this photo isn't the greatest. I would have gotten up and grabbed the camera instead of using my phone but then I would have disturbed the force and I couldn't have caught my little bat eared doggie enjoying the comfort and coziness of our Christmas tree. I don't know what it is about a lit tree in your living room, but it just oozes good happy feelings. I love it.

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Twinkle Twinkle

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star will never be quite the same now without a scratch to the tush at the end. I'm just sayin'.

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O' Christmas Tree

Alex and I tried out our creative side with our rendition of a Christmas tree craft we saw on Pinterest.com. Ok, I saw it, but he agreed it would be cool.

I think it turned out pretty neat, we did it on canvas board so that it would save better. I love crafts that include his hand prints or foot prints. It's so much fun to look back and see how much he's grown.

And he loves anything to do with paint. It's a win-win.

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Dear Santa, I would like...

Dear Santa,

I would like a new camera with a shakeproof setting so that my photos won't cause vertigo, and jewelry is always nice too. For the little man, candy canes, because the large basket filled with the sweet treats Mrs. Claus is protecting is the only reason Alex agreed to be in this picture.

Lots of love,

Stacey

P.S. Thank you for the can opener you so generously addressed to me so many years ago. I appreciated it just as much as the Barbie horse I received the same year.

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Material, material everywhere.

Last night I took my first quilting class and something that was suppose to only take less than an hour has turned into a multiple day project. But isn't that just the way it goes?

What started out as one of these:

Has now become this:

One extremely long skinny piece of fabric. But it is on its way! I'll keep you updated. This spaghetti noodle will either become the jellyroll quilt it is meant to be or it may end up a jelly noodle. We'll see.

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Isn't this the truth?

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Liz Owen's "My (not so) Storybook Life"

Four or five years ago (time really does fly doesn't it?) my mom sent me a link. She said she had found a blog that made her laugh, that had great decorating style and the blogger had a schnauzer. 

My mom, in her infinite wisdom had stumbled across a blog that we both could enjoy and have  followed almost daily. I don't think a week has gone by where one of us hasn't said "Have you read Mabel's blog?"

 

Mabel is actually the name of Liz Owen's schnauzer side kick, who has recently welcomed a sibling into the house. (Spud could definitely relate to that.)

 

Even after Alex was born, and time really sped up in short bursts of busy days, sleepless nights,  feedings and changings, I would log on, at least once a week and catch up on what Mabel, Liz and Matt were up to.

Now, two years later, Liz has written and published her own book! I'm so excited and can not wait to read it!

To read an excerpt of the book, "My (not so) Storybook Life" by Elizabeth Owen, visit her blog at http://mabelshouse.blogspot.com. I'm sure, like my mom and I, you will get hooked too!

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Turning a corner

Alex at the beach July 2010

Alex at the fair August 2011

These past couple of weeks our little muffin has really turned a corner in a little blond-headed blur. The baby I once held close and rocked at night, the very same one I cuddled and babied has grown up before our very eyes.

It's really kind of strange when you stop and realize that your baby isn't a baby anymore. It's kind of a relief and a little sad at the same time. At night I lay him down and he tells me night night and blows kisses. He tells me when he has to potty (usually .2 second before he actually goes) and comes up with the most interesting things to say.
 

He likes baseball and reading books. He loves to dance and sing and he loves his family. He can recognize a bunch of words like Alex, Mommy, Daddy, Papa, Doda and Jo. He has a huge heart and loves to learn.
 

Each day he is learning something new and so are we. I can't wait to find out more about this little person...

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We love the zoo!

It's been almost a year since we've update our blog and we thought it was about time. Saturday we took off toward Royal Oak with lions and elephants on our minds and even though we didn't see either of those, we had a pretty darn good day.

Alex has been talking up a storm about animals. He absolutely LOVES elephants. If you ask him what an elephant says he will hold his nose to simulate his elephant trunk and make the elephant noise, and he can roar like a lion with the best of them. So, we decided to pack him up on one of the hottest days this weekend and head out.

He loved the zebras, the kangaroos, the rhinos but there was one thing he loved more than anything else.

The Meerkats. 

Yep, that's right. He loved those cute little animals that sit on their hind legs straight up and dig their little tunnels. One in particular took a shining to our little man as well and hung out by the glass so they could stare at each other.

Sadly, there aren't any elephants at the zoo and the lions aren't there right now either, but that didn't matter, it was a fantastic day!

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