Mary Paul's Snowflake First Birthday-2nd Post of the Night

Mary Paul is 1 year old!!!! We had a Snowflake Winter Wonderland Party!!! Despite the tear in the first picture, Mary Paul was a huge ham and loved every bit of attention she received!!! She also blew out her candle all by herself (we've been practicing and she now tries to blow out all the Christmas lights). You can't tell by the pictures, but we had snowflakes everywhere... hanging above the table, in the breakfast area, on the bookshelves and the curtains. Mary Paul had a special hat made by my sister, Ashley. She loved her cake and 3-D cookies; and we loved having so much of our family around us for this special day!!! As usual I loved being able to plan an event All in all, it was a great success. We are all tired though and ready for a good night's sleep. Can't wait to see what the next year brings!!!

Thanksgiving

Okay...so better late than never...right??? Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving!!! Plus one of Mary Paul with crazy static hair!!! I'll do my best to "caption" each picture. Crazy Static Hair
I'm trying to climb into the fireplace.

Elves all around the North Pole are wondering where I got my tights.

Whoa!! I look good!!!

I can't wait till my real birthday!!! I love cake and cake loves me!!!

All Aboard!!!

Landon cannot believe his luck...a real train!!!

Which picture will be on our Christmas card???

And the winner is....

This one!!!

Why I Love Costco

Thursday night my husband and I ventured out into the cold night with the soul purpose of renewing our membership at Costco. We are not "buy in bulk" people, but we do love a good deal and Costco has them. Great deals on Pelligrino, furniture, shop towels, the occasional pillow and the amazing tunnel world pictured below. How much did this amazing toy of tarp, plastic tubing, nylon, velcro and covered springs cost???? $39.99? $49.99? No, folks, this guaranteed child pleasing toy rang up, with tax, a mere $20. 67 (or close to that...it was under $21.00). Not only did I find this amazing toy (that folds up and fits inside two bags that can easily be stored inside any closet on any shelf) I also found Christmas presents for my youngest niece and nephew. Mary Paul loves "Tunnel Land" and so does Daisy, who runs through the tunnels with great joy and abandon. All in all, a great purchase and a great night of family fun.

Will's Party (Post #2 for the day!!!)

When we got back from Knoxville, Mary Paul and I went to Will's first birthday party!!! Bryan, flying in from Hawaii, met us there after his flight landed. We had a great time. Will and Mary Paul are a month a part to the day, so it is always fun to get them together. Plus, I got to see my in-laws who are Courtney's aunt and uncle!!! The petting zoo was fun depsite the fact that Mary Paul wasn't sure if she liked the turkey. She did love the cow though.

Knoxville and a Red Room

This past weekend I went to Knoxville to see my sisters. I spent the night at Ashley's and Samantha came over Thursday night and stayed as well. On Friday we painted Ashley's sunroom red (a huge improvement) as an anniversary present. It was amazing that we got it all done with three kids under the age of four around us. Needless to say it was chaotic!!! We also went to see my newphew John perform during halftime Friday night. He also recieved his special order guitar that he's been saving a long time for!!! On Thursday we got to play outside and it was beautiful. I took tons of pictures and these are just some of the ones I liked. The picture of "bowling pins" are just some squash I made to look like bowling pins. I got the idea from Martha Stewart and adapted it to fit my skill level. I thought they turned out pretty good. The "bowling balls" are just small pie pumpkins. Landon and Addi loved knocking them down. Mary Paul loved the swing and I loved watching her swing...all in all... a great weekend!!!

Gearing up for Halloween and other things...

Well, of course we are getting ready for Halloween. If you couldn't tell, Mary Paul is a pumpkin. She also has decided that she likes to take the path of greatest resistance, through the table, not around it. She can squeeze through anything!!! She's done great in costume, not pulling it off or anything. I love, love, love the tights. The top picture is Mary Paul with some of our friends at the nursing home. We've been visiting the nursing once a week since Mary Paul was about 3 months old. Mary Paul loves the attention and the residents are so enjoyable. These are two ladies we see pretty much every week. It's neat because they are watching Mary Paul grow up. They were so excited to see her in her Halloween costume!!! It's amazing the people we've met at the nursing home: a former NICU nurse who spent time in Alaska working with the Inuits, a college level voice teacher, a pianist who graduated from Julliard, the man who started AGAPE in Tennessee and so many more!!! If you are a stay at home mom I highly recommend doing something like this once a week, once a month, whenever you can. If you come to my nursing home on Fridays at 2:30...you get ice cream!!!

Well, Fall is here, and for those of you who know me, it's time to decorate!!! I love decorating for all the holidays and/or seasons. This means that come fall my house is full of gourds, mums, decorative pumpkins, indian corn, Halloween ghosts, seasonal dish towels, anything. Anyone who lives near me and wants some beautiful gourds, the kind you see in Martha Stewart magazines, I have the place for you!! Head on down to Maxwell Bros., one on Nolensville across from Lowe's and one on Old Hickory (where it turns into Bell Rd.). They also have fresh produce, beautiful mums and more types of gourds then you can imagine. Plus, they sell most of them by the pound so you get a great deal!!! It's family owned and the orignial Maxwell is who Henry C. Maxwell Elementary school was named for. I was also recently told that he had a big part in the integration of schools here. Here are some pictures of Mary Paul displaying just a few of our precious gourds. Also, we got Daisy a new bed and Mary Paul loves it as much as Daisy does...maybe when the time comes, we won't need a toddler bed...