My favorite things....

I have a couple right now...
1. I don't have to buy "pull-ups" any more... Lily's potty trained! Yay!
2. Little, cute & soft camisoles for the girls.

Back to the potty training... Lily has been #2 potty trained for months now... I can't remember the last time she pooed in her pull-ups or panties. But #1 was a different story, until, Jan 1st... That morning I told her "mommy didn't buy any more pull-ups so you have to wear big girls panties" and Lily said, "okay, mommy"
Alright, no big deal! That was that and she now wears big girl panties & a bra shirt! (that's what she calls her soft camisole!)
I will have to say I was kinda worried about this whole potty training thing... We live about 20 minutes from town and I didn't want to be stuck on the road with one of the girls about to pee in their panties because I forgot to make them "go potty" before we left the house, but so far so good. We have not had this situation, yet!
I am worried, however, about our upcoming 16 hr long road trip so I think a child size "port-a-potty" is in the works!

Now back to the camisoles... I bought these sweet little shirts for extra warmth on cold days, plus, they are so soft, cute & sweet I couldn't pass them up :)
They, also, serve another purpose.... And only our playdate friends will appreciate...but as I've mentioned before, Lily likes to get strip down to, well,,,, nothing, at our playdates. So I was HOPING that instead of being "neckid" at these events she would strip down to her "bra shirt & panties"!
Did it work?
NO!
I guess my hopes for her were too high!!!! Lol!

And for now I loooove my sweet baby girls wearing their sweet camisoles :)))

The everlasting pumpkins!!!

Okay, seriously what's up with my pumpkins???? Why won't they rot?
Back in October I got tired of looking at my plain orange pumpkins so I painted them. The top one is, of course, "leopard print" & the bottom one is painted of our Triple I Ranch brand.
So I like them and don't want to toss out my paintings, but enough is enough... Why won't these things rot? I'd feel much better about tossing them outside if they stunk a little & pumpkin seeds were falling out of it's bottom!!!
Oh well, I think it's time they hit the creek bottom.
I'm helping host a bridal shower at my house in a couple of weeks... I don't think the pumpkins will fit in with our spring bridal shower decor!

What my dinner does.... It patiently waits....
How is it my sweet baby girls know when it's time for me to sit down & eat... As soon as I'm about ready to dig in one of them wants more chocolate milk or one of them wants a cookie. It never fails.
And tonight it happened again, the girls had already eaten their dinner so they were watching TV while Frank & I started to eat... Well, Frank was able to eat. My dinner, however, patiently waited for another 5 minutes or so before I devoured it. 
Tomato basil soup & Texas size garlic bruschetta with fresh Mozzarella (one of my favorite snacks at the moment!)
Finally..... It's all gone!
And yes it was yummy!!!!

Patiently waiting....

Yea!!! It works!!! But it left off part of my message, so here is the rest of the story....
And you will get to see my new pair of shoes!!!! I'm in love... They're so impractical for a mommy of two baby girls, but, oh well, I'm sure daddy Frank and I will have a date soon! I think Grandma Suzy is coming in town & of course she will be on babysitting duty for a night!

This fabulous and most informative email was sent from Natalie's iPhone :)

Text blogging.... Does it really work????
I will know here shortly... If it works you will be reading this and I will be thrilled... Then I won't have to get my laptop out of it's bag, turn it on, wait for it to do it's magic (it's soooo slow), log in to my blog, upload my pics and type all of my important info (lol!)... I can just do it from my phone... Oh my life will be so much easier!! And you my readers will have more fun stuff to read!

almost caught up!!!

Okay my precious followers... a few blog post readings for your pleasure. Granted I'm still a couple of holidays behind (ex. Christmas & New Year), but for now I'm caught up from this past fall.
I did the same thing in '09 I did in '10 and I'm not happy about it. In '09 I told myself "do not get behing again", but unfortunately I did it again.
In my mind I'm going through all the fun times we've experienced since October 2010 and by not keeping my blog updated I haven't filled y'all in on it, so the next few posts you read are just pieces of it all.
Hopefully, in the next couple of days I will post more reading and viewing pleasure.

Lily's 3rd Birthday Party

Lily's Birthday party was a blast! We had a few friends over for jingle-bell necklaces, making reindeer headbands, snacks, juice boxes, Grimaldi's pizza, Birthday cake, and...... here it goes..... SANTA!!!!
Yes, this year Santa was a hit! Last year Lily wanted no part in Santa, but this year she was excited to see him. She even held him by the hand and walked him inside after he arrived on the mule. Everyone took turns sitting on Santa's lap and telling him what they want for Christmas. And, in return, Santa handed out party favors from his big, red, Santa toy bag.
After Santa's visit we feasted on our FAVORITE cake from Panini's bakery in Dallas. Oh my gosh, the "white chocolate, raspberry filled" cake that we always order from Panini's is soooooo yummy!!!! They decorated the cake exactly like the napkins & plates we used for Lily's party. It was decorated so cute, too!
After cake, Lily opened her Birthday gifts. She received some really great presents and the kids had fun playing with them.
I'm always so thankful our friends & family take a few hours out of their Saturday, in December, right before Christmas, to celebrate Lily's birthday.
I'm, also, thankful we are able to give to the "Marine Corps Toys for Tots".
I always want my girls to know it's fun to receive, but it's awesome to give.
Thank you to our friends & family for such a FUN, SPECIAL, CRAZY, LOUD, MEMORABLE
3rd Birthday party for Lily.

Feeding donkeys!

The day after Thanksgiving we met some friends out at their ranch to eat leftovers, let the kids play, have a little adult conversation, and feed donkeys!!!
It was a very cold day so we layered up, rode out to the pasture on the Kawasaki Mule, with a bucket of apples in the back, and treated the donkeys to an after-Thanksgiving Day treat.
I've fed our longhorn out of my hand, but this was my first experience feeding a donkey out of my hand and I have to say I was a little weirded out by it. The donkeys literally grab the whole apple out of your hand by their teeth and in one CHOMP the apple is in pieces. I was totally afraid the donkey would miss the apple and go for a hand, but the donkeys had good aim and everyone came home with all their fingers and hands.
Thank goodness :)

Morgan's walking!.....

And has been for several months, but I never posted her milestone.
This is what happened...The husband went out of town for a long weekend so the girls & I had our friends Ashley & Kendall over for a couple of nights. Lily & Kendall, at the time, played, ran, colored, and climbed all over the place, where as, Morgan was only able to crawl or walk by holding on to something near by. Well, needless to say, I guess Morgan was tired of watching Lily & Kendall have all the fun so the very next day she let go of everything & began walking!
It seems she turned into a toddler overnight. No more "baby" stuff like riding on my hip all day long or whining until I figure out what she wants. Now she lets me know exactly what she wants! If she wants her shoes she says, "shoes!" and brings them to me so I can help her put them on, if she wants a cheese stick or fruit snacks she opens up the fridge or walks into the pantry, grabs her snack of choice, brings it to me so I can open it up for her, if she wants her "bebe" (pacifier) she says "bebe", and if she wants her sippy cup she says, "memma" (lemonade). She follows one step directions like throwing away trash, picking up toys, or handing me something I need.
She, also, has suprised me and is putting two words together.. Like "night, night daddy", "bye-bye daddy", "where's sissy?", "no momma", "you okay?", and "bye-bye ken-kal, (our friend Kendall)"
Morgan is such a sweetie and growing up so fast!

One day of Thanks

Thanksgiving dinner was held at our house this year. Our family came over in the late afternoon and we ate about 6pm. We had a very good time. Lots of yummy food, wine & desserts. Lily & Morgan's cousin Chace was in town so they had a blast before and after dinner running around the house and playing in the playroom.
Frank & I are very thankful everyday for our many blessings, but this "special" day of thanks is very important and so memorable for us.
Some pics of the day...

Happy Halloween!

Because we live out in the country and have only a couple of neighbors, every Halloween we go to our friends house in town to "trick or treat" in their neighborhood. This year Lily very much understood "trick or treating". Last year she new to walk up to houses, ring the door bell and greet the homeowner, but this year she new she was to receive candy at each house. She was very proud of all the candy she had accumulated in her "Shrek head" Halloween container. Sweet Miss Morgan, on the other hand, had no worries at all. She just cruised around in a wagon pulled by daddy Frank, picking up and eating random pieces of candy that landed on the bottom of the wagon.
Morgan was dressed up as "Puss in Boots"
Lily was dressed up as "Dronkey" both from "Shrek 4"
They were cute little characters, if I do say so myself :)