Training her early!

Charlotte has the right idea!

Look alikes

Last week at church Charlotte wore this beautiful dress we borrowed from her friend, Mallory. On the same day, her friend Ty wore his borrowed outfit from Jake. Jake and Mallory are twins, so these two blonde buddies were matching for the day.

P. S. It is hard to get two kids under 2 to stand still side-by-side!

New Car

Charlotte got her first car today. They grow up so fast! She was given this wonderful, gently-used car from her cousins, Anna and Ben, She tested it out in the driveway after school today. What a great way to spend a lovely afternoon! Char loved getting in and out and closing the door. She is a little too short to be able to push it with her feet very much, but she was getting the idea. She loved it so much she cried when she had to come in!

Indoor Picnic

On Saturday night we had an indoor picnic and watched the Longhorns play football! Go Horns!

A PW kind of day

A few years ago my mother-in-law got me hooked on the blog "The Pioneer Woman". If you have never been to it, you should check it out. She has sections on her family's life on a ranch, cooking, photography, home & garden, and entertainment. I have tried a few of her recipes here and there and they have always been wonderful. Her lasagna recipe makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Recently, she has been on the Food Network doing a 6 series Saturday morning cooking show. This past Saturday I was inspired. Since that happens so rarely with me when it comes to cooking, and since I even more rarely getting the "cooking bug" I decided to spend Labor Day making the three recipes she did on the show.

We started Monday morning with Lemon Blueberry Pancakes. Yummo. I froze the extras and had them this morning, and they were just as amazing.

Then, for dinner that night we had sliders and homemade mac 'n cheese. Mark and I decided we would serve sliders at any cookouts we host from now on because then people can graze the other food as well and not feel guilty. The mac n cheese was good but I think I overcooked the macaroni and it got too mushy. My fault, not PW's.

Overall, it was a great day full of yummy food and relaxation!

Time at the park

It was such a beautiful morning! We could not be happier about the "cold" front blowing through. Anything to not have 100 degree temperatures! This morning we walked to the park that is about a mile from our house. Since the weather was so nice, I pushed Charlotte in her stroller so that I could get in my exercise for the day. She is a very proficient walker and getting quite good at running as well. She can also walk up the ramp, climb the stairs, and slide on her own. All of that add up to much less work for Mama at the park!

Charlotte sliding by herself. She also learned to slide in the tube slide to her left. I didn't get any pictures of that, but I got a great video.

Swinging is so much fun!

Then we fed the ducks. Normally you can't get this close to the water, but the water level is so low you can walk right out there.

Then, it was snack time, of course!

It is so sad to see how low the pond is. Normally the water comes all that way up to the tree roots. We desperately need some rain.

Here are some cute videos of our playtime at the park.

Mission: Impossible

It is absolutely impossible to get a good picture of Charlotte at this age. There are two stumbling blocks in my way:

1) She won't stay in one place for longer than a half a second.

2) If she does sit still for 3+ seconds, she refuses to smile upon command.

This morning I was trying to get a picture of her in her cute Longhorn outfit to commemorate the first game day of the season. The pictures are below. I will let you be the judge of how well our photo session went. (P.S. It probably doesn't help that she was hopped up on sugar from the donuts she had just consumed.)

"What, Mama? You want me to be still for a picture? I thought you said to run around."

You can't catch me.

This was my attempt to get a picture of her sitting in the chair.

The mischievous look on the her face says it all, little rascal. And, why yes, that is a Longhorn cheerleader doll she is carrying around. We took a trip to the Dallas co-op for a burnt orange bow and somehow Char ended up with a doll!

Then we tried to get Daddy involved - nothing but stone face.

Oh, well. I hope those Longhorns are running as fast as this little Longhorn was today! Hook 'em!

What we've been doing lately

We have been very busy lately trying to adjust to our school schedule once again. No more hanging out in our pajamas and lazying around until 9:30 or so. We are up and out the door by 6:40 now. However, Charlotte has been her same cute self.

This girl loves to read! She likes to sit and look at books by herself and she loves to sit in our laps while we read to her.

She is also quite the little climber. Yesterday she climbed her way onto her music table. The view is always better from higher up!

We also tried out a yogurt shop by us called "Yogurtville". I had seen it but wasn't really interested. Once one of my students informed me it was soft-serve yogurt with your choice of toppings I realized I needed to check it out. It did not disappoint! Please note, Charlotte and I shared this cup of yogurt. It was not all for her!

She has also been practicing her plank movement lately! :)

Finally, a few weeks ago we got Charlotte a tunnel and she loves it! She begs for us to pull it out every day.

A Day of Firsts

Today, Mark and I started back to work, which means Charlotte went back to her sitter. We are so blessed to have the same sitter as last year. The transition back was so much easier because she is familiar. Also, our sitter is such an amazingly kind, patient, sweet, loving, and caring Christian woman. God really worked some miracles to lead us to her! Here is Charlotte in her first day of school 2011:
When we got to the sitter's house, Charlotte knocked on the door. She was so excited to be there she practically fell through the door when it opened. Then, she went right to the sitter and started hugging her and waving good-bye to me. When I asked for a good-bye hug she wouldn't do it. I could feel my mommy heart breaking! At least she obliged with a good-bye kiss. Truly, though, we are just happy that she loves being there so much.
Another first today was Char's first taste of spaghetti at dinner tonight! She loved it and kept asking for more. Yum-yum!

Sweet Dreams

I have to blog about this before I forget! About two weeks ago Charlotte started doing something so cute when we would put her in bed for nap or bedtime. When we put her in her crib she immediately stands up, looks up, and reaches her little head towards you with her lips all puckered because she wants a night-night kiss! She has known how to "kiss" for months, but she started wanting a night-night kiss all on her own. So sweet. The other thing that she started doing is waving at you the whole time you walk out of the room until the door is closed. I wish we had a video monitor so I could see what she does after that! It is so wonderful to have her be happy to go to bed and not fighting it. Life is so much sweeter that way!

Rewind, please.

The title of this post is what I would like to do with my whole summer. Why is it already over? We had such an amazing summer. One of the best summers of my life! Between all of the trips, family, friends, play dates, and chillin' at home, we could not have asked for a better time. There was, however, one event I didn't post about and that we visiting with Mark's family. His brother and family came in town stay with her parents and so we went over there each day for about 4 days in July. We always have a great time visiting together and this time was no exception! It went far to fast.

Here we all are at church on Sunday morning.

Charlotte really had a great time playing with her cousins, who are 10 and 7. They had just as good of time playing with her! It was great for Mark and me because it was like having two little babysitters! She would run off and play with them. Every time we would go check on her, she couldn't have been happier. We love you guys and wish you lived closer so we could see you more often!

I sure do love this girl!

Here are some great videos of play time!

Summer Savories: New Recipes Edition

I tried this recipe this week. I had cilantro in the house, so I added that to the mix and thought it was great. I served it with Lipton's Spanish Rice. I love that stuff! So easy and delicious. I like the Spanish Rice better than the Mexican Rice in this brand.

Baked Burritos

8-10 flour tortillas
1 lb. lean ground beef
4 oz part skim american cheese ( put one american cheese slice into each burrito

Tomato Sauce:
8 oz. tom sauce
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 TB lemon juice
1 TB sugar

Brown meat. Mix sauce and add to cooked meat. Fold 1/2 c beef in each tortilla, fold and place seam side down on baking sheet. Top with cheese. Bake 15 min at 350. (I only baked them for about 12 minutes and they were nice and crisp). Makes 8 burritos.

My rating: I give this recipe a 4 out of 5. It was quick and easy and hit the spot for my Tex-Mex craving!

Finally Moved In

Yes, after 3 years we are finally moved in! Well, actually I had all my boxes unpacked about 2 weeks after we moved in, but we have had very little hanging on our walls. I just couldn't commit to anything. My biggest hang up (no pun intended) was that our living room has wood paneling on the walls. I couldn't bare the thought of putting holes in the walls. And I knew that if I ever did put holes in the wood walls, that it would be permanent and I would never be able to move anything again. Luckily, I finally found some command strips that were made for hanging pictures. They are velcro-like and don't leave marks. So, once that was established, I was off and running in frame shopping. The three on the right here we bought a few years ago. The 3 on the left ones we took on our recent trip to New York City.

These two I bought in Ukraine when I went there on a mission trip in 2005.

Once I had stuff on my living room walls, I couldn't stop. This is the family collage I now have hanging as you walk down the hallways to the bedrooms. We finally had enough pictures to start the collage and not look awkward. The frames don't match, but are all the same dark wood, so we can add to them in the future.

Lastly, we finally hung some wedding photos in our master bedroom.

Charlotte also got a mini-room makeover. Her books were getting out of control and were spilling out of the baskets they were in all over the house. Today I went to Ikea for something else and found this little jewel. It is perfect for holding books and toys and actually gives us shelves to put things on. We finally got to pull our her piggy bank (the ABC bank) that she got for Christmas.

I love easy projects around the house and am glad that our house now feels more like a home!

Happy Anniversary to My Love

Happy 10-year anniversary to the most amazing man I know! I can't believe we are at this milestone that we have talked about for so long. Where did the time go? Mark, you fill my life with love, laughter, and friendship.

August 4, 2001

July 2011

10 things that have changed in our 10 years together:

1. I graduated from college

2. Mark graduate from college

3. We have lived in 4 different places, the last one being our house that we bought 3 years ago

4. We have lived in three cities

5. We have owned 7 different vehicles: Ford F-150, Beretta, Blazer, Sunfire, Malibu, Impala, Elantra Touring

6. I began teaching and have been at 2 different schools

7. Mark began teaching

8. My cooking skills have improved considerably!

9. We are on our 3rd computer and we both have cell phones

10. We are parents!!!!

10 things I love about my amazing husband of 10 years:

(in no particular order!)

1. You make me laugh on a daily basis.

2. Whenever I have a question about anything, I mean anything, I can come to you and you know the answer 98 % of the time.

3. I love watching you play with Charlotte. She loves her Daddy so much.

4. You are fully committed to your family and would do anything for us.

5. I have never had to mow the grass. I don't even know how to get the mower started!

6. You are an amazing Christian man and spiritual leader.

7. You are my voice of reason, even when I don't want to hear it!

8. You are the one person I never get tired of being around.

9. You support me and encourage me.

10. My life is so much brighter and happier with you in it.

Mark, here's to the next 10 years! May they be filled with even more love than the first 10.

A moment in our day

Oh what fun a diaper box, water cup, and your favorite stuffed animal can be. She seriously did this for about 10 minutes!