Long Lost Blogger

We are still here, alive and doing well. You know how you take a break from blogging, then a few days turns into weeks, months and so on.

I'll just skim, Christmas was great. We loved seeing the family. The end of winter and beginning of spring was just filled with school, activities and busy weekends.

Alex is still loving school. I can not believe she has 3 weeks left. Her summer schedule is jam packed with activities to make up for the lack of school.

Josh committed to riding in the MS 150, which he completed a few weeks ago. He rode a bicycle from Houston to Austin. It was such an awesome experience to be able to take Alex to watch him cross the finish line! We are so unbelievably proud of him!

We celebrated my birthday last weekend. We spent the day at josh's company picnic. Alex had a blast! Sunday everyone slept in until 9am, which is totally unheard of in my house. We spent the afternoon in Houston shopping and having dinner.

As we speak, we are on the road to Destin! My little cousin is getting married so the family is making the trek for the event. I am so excited for a little mini vacation. 9 hours in the car (so far) may be the reason I have time to update the blog!

We have super busy weekends coming up. Another wedding mothers day weekend, Alex's dance recital (and 2 birthday parties) the following weekend. June doesn't seem to be slowing down either. Josh has a fun work trip, I'm hosting a baby shower or my best friend (so stinking excited), fathers day and we are having Alex's birthday party early (in June).

Gingerbread Train

Alex and I had big plans to spend an afternoon making gingerbread people cookies...until I realized I didn't have a cookie cutter. We made 2 stops looking for a cookie cutter and had no luck. We did end up finding a gingerbread train set to make instead! Alex was sooo excited about making hers. Since there were 3 parts we each decorated one. I'm pretty sure Alex licked every single piece of candy before it went on her train. She ate just as much as she put on her train. It was such a fun thing to do together!

Dinner/Breakfast with Santa

Yes, I have been totally neglecting the blog. I have good reason. It's this little event called Dinner and Breakfast with Santa. It is the annual fundraiser for Alex's pre school. This is our first year at the school so we have never been to the event...and some how I ended up as the decorations chair. It was fun, stressful and totally worth it! The event happens twice. Once on Friday night at Dinner with Santa and again the next morning as Breakfast with Santa. There are several committees (Decorations, Silent Auction, Food and Arts & Crafts). The past years have had very traditional decor (think red, green, plaid), but this year our Parent Counsel President wanted to change it up to make it more kid friendly and whimsical. We chose the colors red, lime green, hot pink and aqua. Since it was our first year with the theme, we started from scratch with everything! Each event had about 300 people attend so once dinner was over, we had our volunteers clean up and we reset everything for breakfast. Our silent auction had great items, our food was delicious and the kids loved the arts and crafts. We are so lucky to have so many parents who volunteer their time, energy, and resources at Alex's school.

Here are some pics before the event started!

The entrance!

our adorable table settings. I made all of the table numbers and stands, a grandparent that has 5 grandkids at the school made the adorable centerpiece trees that were sold at the end of the event. We sold out of centerpieces!
We also took super cute pictures of each class holding thank you signs we placed on the tables of sponsors.

our stage where the photographer took pics of all the children with Santa. I pretty much created this on the spot with supplies from hobby lobby, trees borrowed from a parent and lots and lots of ribbon, tulle and fabric! It made an adorable back drop for the pictures!

bows and hanging ornaments behind the silent auction tables

the massive kitchen area. we made do with supplies the church had to hide the kitchen equipment!

I am still waiting for the pics with Santa to be posted. Alex did not want to sit with Santa. She opted to pick one of her friend to go with her so they each sat on a knee. It was soo cute! The event took up every spare second I had but it was so worth it to see the finished product and hear all the compliments!

Be on the look out for lots of post now! We have been getting into the Christmas spirit at our house!

Halloween 2011

We had so much fun on Halloween. We spent the evening with the Mikitaroffs again. Their street had a little party. Alex loved seeing Kate and Ella. There was a Disney princess overload, but of course, I thought Alex was the cutest! Once the trick or treating started we had a few issues. Alex feel about 4 times so we had to find safety pins to hem her dress a little, then we were great! She is already looking forward to next year!

Ita and Ito's

We headed to Dallas for the weekend. We drove up Saturday and went straight to my grandparents house. My parents, aunts and uncles were there. Grandma made her yummy enchiladas for lunch and the guys helped work on their storage shed.
Alex was very shy when we first got there. She would barely leave my side.

After she got a little food in her tummy, she opened up a little. It was a beautiful day so we spent most of the afternoon outside. Alex found pecans, watered plants and just played around.

Alex and Popi found a caterpillar. I so proud of my girly girl, she held it!

On our way out, I pointed out a stone to Alex that had Hudson's handprints on it. She put her sweet little hands on his prints, it was soo cute and sweet

Later that night we went to my best friends for a pumpkin carving party. Pumpkins post will come later this week!!

Family Fun Day!

We had such a fun Saturday! Alex has been asking to go bowling so we decided to take her today! She LOVED it! She bowled with bumpers and a ramp...and she beat me...TWICE! Kind of embarrassing, but still fun!




We went to Fudrucker's for lunch and had cookies when we were done. Alex wasn't ready to go home so we went to Toys R Us to look around. I figured it would be a good time to get Christmas ideas! Alex loved trying all the bikes out. She was soo good and never asked for anything until she saw the Calico Critters Manor. She tried picking up the box and said we needed to go pay. I have a feeling this will be on the top of her Christmas list this year! It's perfect because there are soooo many accessories that go with it so we can continue to add to it!



Alex still wasn't ready to go home so we went to Barnes and Noble. We sat and had coffee (and milk) then we played with the train table and read some books!

I love days we get to spend as a family doing fun things!

Round Top

Sorry, I've been in a blah mood about blogging! Last week my mom came for a visit. She came up Wednesday evening. Alex woke up from her nap in a foul mood and didn't even want to know who was here to see her. She buried her head in my shoulder and refused to look up. I turned around so her head was facing my mom. The second she was her, she practically threw herself out of my arms and into my moms. It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen!

Thursday we had a plan. My sweet Josh worked half a day. We all got up and got ready and he was on Alex duty. He took her to school and picked her up while my mom and I went to Round Top. It was very overwhelming because there is sooo much stuff to see. We drove through town taking it all in and making mental notes of placed we wanted to stop. We picked a little outdoor area first. I bought a super cute necklace and adorable hand painted Halloween decor. Mom bought me another piece I absolutely LOVED! Alex loved the witch and named her Blink.

We hopped in the car and drove to another outdoor area where I found a retro looking silver covered cake carrier. I love it, it just needs a little clean up and shine!

We made 2 more stops to eat and shop some more. It was CRAZY hot and we were both getting pretty worn out so we called it a day after a few hours and headed home! It was soo much fun to spend the day shopping with my mom! Josh loved taking Alex to school and has even offered to pick her up from school once a week on his lunch break and bring her home to me. Here are a few pics from our day!

my super cute pumpkin, it is an old heater

Blink the witch, painted on a suitcase

I have no idea why I was soo hot...
maybe it had something to do with the old teddy bear
like coat I insisted on trying on!

crazy stuff...this dragon was about 8 feet tall. I sent Josh a pic and asked if I could get him...
he said no! haha

crazy sequined coronation dress for $3500? I'll pass!