San Antonio Stockshow

We headed to the AT&T center this morning for some country fun.  Besides feeling like a city girl, it was a blast. Right off, Kayla got to see cows, but I could tell she didn't quite connect "Cows say 'Moo!'" with what she was seeing.  She sure does like to say "moo", though!

Then, she made friends with a pink pig...Oink!

Kayla LOVED all the animals...this girl is not afraid of anything!  She was touching the pig's snout, ears, back, and basically anywhere it let her.

Daddy met a pig he liked, too.  It's name was "Chicken Fried Bacon."

She also saw some chicks and roosters, one of which proudly cock-a-doodle-do'ed for her several times.  I love that she is seeing the real animals we have been talking about!

Baby chicks!

Another animal that Kayla can mimic is the horse.  She says "heeee" for its whinny.  We saw huge horses, regular sized ones, and ponies.  I was afraid to reach in and pet the giant horse's snout, especially with the sign "Horses May Bite" right above their heads.  But not my girl.  We held her back until it was safe and then she petted away.  

We couldn't afford the pony rides, so she had to settle for this wooden one.  I think she liked it okay.  :)

After all that came the real fun: the Petting Zoo.  This made our whole trip worth-while.  There was a large open area with potbellied pigs, goats, an alpaca and it's baby, and deer(?) just wandering around, waiting to be fed.  It was a petting frenzy and here is how my baby girl liked it:

Do we have a future FFA member on our hands?  A sweet barrel-racing cowgirl?  A horse vet?  Either way, I am so excited to see who my little girl grows to become!

Showing the Love: Day 13

Home-made outfit for the birthday girl, Abigale.  Got the fabric at Memories by the Yard, which is now my new favorite place.  The pattern is by Simplicity.

My First Tutorial...

How to win a cupcake eating contest in 3 easy steps:

1.  Stop only briefly to savor the frosting.

2.  Devour said frosting.

3.  Proceed to fully consume the cake in one bite.

Side-note:  Refusing to stop and make totally adorable faces for the camera will get you automatically disqualified.  Happy Eating!

Road Trip to Houston

Kayla and I just got back from Houston where we visited with our friends Clay and Candice.  Their baby, Abigale, turned 2 and had a very ducky party.  So cute!  Here is the sweet birthday girl still in her jammies.We played at the play place....weeee!

 Our first stop upon arrival was for lunch at Chick-fil-A.  Kayla loves to smell flowers and say "mmmm."

 Birthday breakfast of Fruit Loops at the "girl's table."  Well, Kayla is eating her phone.

 This "little orange dog" came home with Candice after an especially cold night and hasn't found a good home yet.  Or has she??  Veronica carried this poor puppy around like her own living doll and LODie put up with it very well.  Kayla was also pleased that she could pull it's tail and not get snapped at.

 

 Okay, I know I'm a bit partial, but isn't she the cutest!  She even looks like she is posing with the lawn mower.  {Grandma, I think this outfit is already getting too small....}  Kayla climbed into the cradle in the play room, one of many too-small things she tried to fit herself into this weekend.

 Hmmm...what will she do if I put my foot in her face?  Once again, nothing.



An after-party at Casa Ole followed so that Candice wouldn't have to cook anymore (Amen!).  That momma was tired!

 My cheesy little girl inspired squinty eyes and full on smiles for this pic!  I love my baby!

 Our hosts, Candice and Clay.  {Jeremy and Clay have been friends since he was stationed in NC.}

Abigale was looking at the wait-staff as they sang her "Happy Birthday"--none to thrilled to be on the spot.  But she did enjoy that HUGE ice cream sundae.  I'll have to come back for my birthday.

And, if you're wondering how Kayla travels, there was a lot of snacking, "reading" books, playing with toys, and playing games like Peek-a-Boo.  I was paying attention to the road, but when I glanced back I saw this...

 Glad she can entertain herself and me!  Amazingly, she wasn't even afraid of the giant beaver at Buc-ee's.  She gave it a big Kayla-hug.

 All-in-all, we had a great time being with friends and getting out of San Antonio.  Now, I'm just looking forward to seeing my hubby on this Valentine's Day.

Moping

Yes, I am here to mope.  I am pretty sure my potholder didn't win, even though winners won't be announced until tomorrow.  Aparently (according to the terms and conditions of the contest), winners were chosen and notified by email on Feb. 11th....wait, rechecking my email..........................and deleted items..........and junk mail....................crap.  Nothing.  I am further certain of my non-winning due to the fact that I didn't submit contact information with my entry, except for my email address.  This was also set forth by the terms and conditions.

I am not a dramatic person, but I feel like boycotting prudentbaby and posting a picture on my blog of my potholder in the trash can.  I am almost crying.  Seriously. 

I am trying to get myself to type "oh well," but I am too sad.  Maybe by some miracle I'll have an awesome post tomorrow about a new sewing machine and new-found notariety on prudentbaby, but for tonight I will continue to mope.

{If you are asking yourself why I am so upset, I am too.  It's just a dang potholder.  I guess it's just hard to have something you're proud of be bested and I'm pretty competitive.}

Showing the Love: Day 10...ops

I finally got back on the wagon to continue my February Show the Love event.  I only missed 5 days...  Here is what I made for Jeremy, my parents, and Sean.  It took forever because I forgot how long it actually takes to make cake batter from scratch.  These are French Toast and Bacon cupcakes.  The frosting is maple buttercream.  yum.

  This picture, and recipe, is from life is better with cake (ain't it the truth!).  So, what they are supposed to look like....and what mine look like:

  They are still yummy, btw.

Here is my little love, playing in the tupperware cabinet at my parent's house.  This is one of her favorite things to do there. 

Also, on another note, there were 867 entries to prudent baby's potholder contest.  Yikes!  Winners are announced on V-Day...

Potholder

Okay, so prudentbaby.com is hosting a potholder contest which prize is a sewing machine.  a. sewing. machine.  just by making the winning potholder.  After weeks of agonizing over whether I should enter and what I could possibly enter that would impress these ladies, I got an idea.  It came after making some crochet hearts for my mom.  I used to crochet when I was younger, in third grade--nerd!--so I needed some refreshing, but it came back quickly.  I decided to add some crochet squares to my potholder and a little embellishment.  After many nights of sewing (Jeremy can attest) and a morning of snapping just the right photo...

...ta da!  Part of the contest is presentation of said potholder.  What could be better than wine with cooking??  I have high hopes, but either way I am proud that I accomplished my goal of turning it in for a chance.  What do you think?  Runner up also gets a. sewing. machine.....

Sweet 16 {Months}

My sweet girl was 16 months old yesterday!  For some reason, this month is sticking out as a milestone month for me.  It is not a year and a half, or anything extra special, except to make me really think about how old she is getting.  And, how soon she will be 16 years old.  When I was growing up 16 was this magic number when I could finally do things: drive, date, ....well, that's about it, but those are BIG things.  I guess that is why 16 months is making me choke up and pray that time goes by a little more slowly.

Here is my sweetie at 16 days old--I am loving the neck nuzzle!  And, now, at 16 months old.  A little background on the picture...I was going through the clothes that don't fit her anymore (basically everything) and she found her summer hat and her favorite pink shoes, which she wanted on immediately.  The drool down her shirt is partially because she still drools alot and because she had just eaten an apple slice.  (The 16 year old Kayla would be horrified!)

So, here are 16 things I hope she will not grow out of too soon:

1.  Neck nuzzling...she loves to be close

2.  Saying "Oh go!" for "Oh, no!"

3.  Giving the BEST squeezes with her arms around our neck

4.  Squishing up her whole face to "smile" for the camera

5.  Loving to be tickled and held upside down

6.  Waking up with a big smile

7.  Blowing on her food when I tell her it's hot

8.  Sitting in the driver's seat of our car, playing with the steering wheel

9.  Not being afraid of animals, even very large dogs

10.  Saying "Ah-me" (sounds like Amy) for Amen

11.  Being a little mommy with her favorite doll (bottle feeding, wrapping with blankets, and taking off the diaper)
12.  Saying "Ah" and opening her mouth for a bite whenever she sees something good to eat (you know, like key lime pie, cookies, ice cream....)

13.  Grabbing a book and plopping down into my lap to read

14.  Watching her favorite video clips on youtube, baby first tv, wiggle wiggle on yo gabba gabba, and anything Elmo

15.  Throwing her balls around the backyard and then fetching them herself

16.  Running full-speed into my arms for a hug

My cool girl with a few of her most special accessories: bracelet, baby, and paci.  OK, she can keep growing up, but I hope she'll stay as sweet as ever.

Showing the Love: Day 4

Today's love was shown by my hubby as he watched Kayla while I went out with the girls.  It was so nice to relax and visit with the wonderful ladies from our Care Group at Stonewerks.  This was my first visit and it was fabulous!  How thoughtful of all our hubbies to take care of the kids.  Big Bonus: it was their idea in the first place!

This evening I've also been working on another crochet project (I'm hooked!).  This one is for my entry in prudent baby's sewing machine giveaway.  I really want to win, but am up against alot of other crafty people.  I'll post pics later of my finished project--a potholder.

SNOW!

Sometime last night, the kid in Jeremy woke me up to see snow!  I thought it was already morning and he was just getting up for work, but no...he was that excited.  He had me walk outside barefoot in our pjs to see it.  His excitement rubbed off on me as I woke Kayla up to take her outside (much later, when it was actually morning!).    Look how cold it was in SA:
The kitties wanted out...
Isn't my Pumpkin pretty in the snow!  They didn't stay out for long.  The street was covered with snow and everything was quiet with so few people on the road.  Our yard held the snow longer than others around because we had just shoveled dirt onto the grass.

Kayla didn't notice the snow until it was crunching under her shoes.  As she bent down and touched it she discovered it was cold and stuck to her hands.  I wish I had captured her reaction to this on video, waving her hands and scrunching up her face.  Too cute!  I kept repeating "Snow!" and she would say "No!", then "Ca" (car).  She is a bit obsessed with cars. 

Here is my little snow bunny enjoying(?) her first snow.  I think she was just happy to be outside.

Showing the Love: Days 2 & 3

Yesterday did not go as planned.  The rolling power outages that were taking place all over the state, supposing to last about 15 minutes or so, took out our power from 6 am to 6 pm.  Thankfully, my parents were happy to let Kayla and I hang out at their house.  Although we had good cable & internet, great food, and some of Kayla's favorite people to spend time with, I did not do my Day 2 project.  Plus, my Day 3 project was just much harder than I thought it would be.  So, Kayla and I doubled up today to show the love!
Day 2:  Hand Valentine's for Jeremy (these are from Martha's website)

Kayla and I had fun creating them together.  Her favorite part was letting me trace her hands.

  She also enjoyed chewing on the pencil and putting stickers on the hands.

Day 3:  Mini Crocheted Hearts for my Mom (found here)

She likes to stamp and make cards, so I thought these would be a pretty embellishment for her.  

Until tomorrow!

Showing the Love

This year as February was approaching, I had an idea to make Valentine's Day stretch a bit longer than just one day. I did "12 Days of Christmas" gifts for Jeremy a few years ago, and I decided to do something similar with February 1st-14th this year, culminating with Valentine's Day.  Starting today, I will gift some of my favorite people love, in various forms.  Each day will hold a new treat, just to let them know I am thinking about them.  Due to the fact that I am on a budget for this adventure, some "treats" will be as simple as a love note or the gift of time.  (don't mock...)  I've also gotten a lot of crafty ideas from the gals at prudent baby, my favorite blog.  I'll post them as I go.

Day 1: goes to my hunny...a dry erase love note on our bathroom mirror.