Giveaways

The Funky Monkey is giving away a nifty Fingerprints kit.

Feels Like Home is giving away two Nintendo DS games - Zenses Ocean & Zenses Rainforest.

Frugal Mommy has a bunch of giveaways going on. They include a Fit Yummy Mummy Giveaway, a Boogie Wipes Giveaway, a giveaway for an awesome AmieJ Designs bag, and a giveaway to try some Funky Monkey Snacks!

Christmas Post Coming Soon...

I will be trying to get up our crazy Christmas(es) (bet you can't guess how many we had!) later this week. The kids are going to be going to spend the weekend with their grandparents (yay!), so I will have some time to blog...once I can see the floor in my house again :)

Conversations with Lily

So, yesterday, Nathan and Lily went Christmas shopping. While they were out Nate called me and told me that while they were at Sam's Lily told him to get me diamonds for Christmas (I have been know to take her cruising past the jewelry counter there)...hehehe...that's my girl. Then, when they got home, she runs over to me and says, "Momma, we got you a present...but, we didn't get you diamonds." She was so disappointed. It was really sweet :)

Wordless Wednesday: Gotta Love that Bath Paint!

It's Been A While...

Well, it has been awhile since I last posted, so this will be kind of a long one...and most likely the last one until after the holidays. Things are so busy right now! And, it doesn't help that Ava seems to have a perpetually runny nose...Anyhow, I've got lots of random pictures and pictures from the girls' birthday party! Their official birthday is not until the 21st, but we went ahead and had the party last Saturday because we were concerned no one would be able to come if we waited much longer (not very many people were able to come anyhow, but everyone had a good time).

Well, to start things off, I have some pics of the mischief the girls have been getting into the past couple of weeks. They are quite a team these days. It is nearly impossible to keep up with them! Ava is in to everything she can get her little hands on! She's walking everywhere now which opens up a whole new world of possible messes for her! She and Lily are so cute when they play together, though. Although, Lily has been having a more difficult time lately being nice to her little sister (mostly because Ava is always into her stuff)...

Lily ate a blue lollipop and then demanded I take a picture of her blue tongue. She's a silly one...

Lily decided to "wash" Ava's hair with the bubbles from their bath. They both had all kinds of bubble bath on top of their heads.

Lily got a calendar in her Highlights magazine that her Great Grandma Ginny sends her. It came with stickers to put on special holidays and Lily promptly put them all over her legs.

Ahhh, bath paints...

Lastly, I'm sure you can' tell from the horrible picture, but here are some plastic bugs that my little angel put in my drink...Niiiice...

Of course, how could I be upset with her when this is the little grin she gives me?

So, on to the main event of last weekend...the birthday party. This is the first birthday party Lily has had and she has been talking about it for months...and I mean months...since like July. She wanted a Butterfly party, but we ended up with more of a bug theme. We put some plastic bugs (the ones that ended up in my drink) on the floor and gave the kids bug catchers for them. We also had a bunch of crafty things for them to do and some balloons to kick around. Lily had a blast, as did Ava, I mean as much as one year old (oh my gosh, she's a one year old!) can have! Well, here are some pics:

Cousin Chloe catching some bugs.

Butterfly cake for Lily, dirt and worm cupcakes for Ava.

And here is a picture of the super cool kitchen the girls got from Grammy and Pa:

And the super fun couch form Mimi and Grandad. The girls are having a tea party :)

Why My Children Have Had 3 Baths Today

#1: They just smelled bad...it was time.
#2: Lily put KY Jelly in her hair...she said she thought it was shampoo...and, she insisted Ava take one with her.
#3: Major diaper blowout by Ava. Get her in the tub look over at Lily who is peeing her pants. When we asked Lily why she was wetting herself she said, "So I can take a bath."

Conversations with Lily

Lily has been asking for everything she sees on TV for Christmas. This morning, a commercial for a kid dinosaur ATV type thing came on and here is the conversation that ensued:

Lily: Daddy, what's that?
Daddy: I don't know, Lil.
Lily: Maybe, I get it for Christmas.

She doesn't even know what it is and she wants it! What a stinker! So, a few minutes later, I decided it was time to remind her what Christmas is really about...

Mommy: Lily, do you know why we celebrate Christmas?
Lily: Because we all poopy! (She is all about the poop humor these days)
Mommy: No, Lily, we celebrate Christmas because that is when Baby Jesus was born. It's not just about presents. It's a special day because it's Baby Jesus' birthday. Did you know that?
Lily (in a very little voice): No, I didn't know that.
She sat and though about that for a minute and then came out with this:
Lily: I not want Baby Jesus to come to my birthday party, just baby Emery (a friend of ours).

Niiiice...what a sweet little girl I have...

Yumminess!

We had this awesome Corn and Crab Chowder last night and I wanted to share the recipe, because, yummy, it was so good! It was a recipe by Rachael Ray that I tweaked a little bit. Definitely worth a try, though!

Corn and Crab Chowder

1 tablespoon vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 all-purpose potatoes, peeled and diced *I used 3, cause we like thicker soups and such*
2 ribs celery, chopped * I used 3 or 4*
1 medium yellow onion, chopped *Again, I used a bit more*
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and diced *I used some sort of Southwester Corn mix that had the peppers already in it, but it would probably be better with an actual pepper or two*
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning blend
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock or broth *I used chicken broth and some shrimp stock that we made, it probably would have been really good with some crab stock, from the crab shells*1 quart whole milk
3 cups corn kernels, scraped fresh from the cob or, frozen kernels *I used frozen, and probably a bit more than that*
8 ounces cooked lump crab meat *We had fresh crabs that Nate caught, cooked, and shelled for me*
*I also added a cup or so of shrimp*

Directions

Heat a deep pot over moderate heat. Add oil and butter. As you chop your veggies, add them to the pot: potatoes, celery, onion, and red bell pepper. Add bay leaf to the pot. Season vegetables with salt and pepper and Old Bay seasoning. Saute veggies 5 minutes, then sprinkle in flour. Cook flour 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in broth and combine. Stir in milk and combine. Bring soup up to a bubble. Add corn and crab meat and simmer soup 5 minutes. Adjust the soup seasonings. Remove bay leaf. Ladle soup into bread bowls or soup bowls and top with oyster crackers, hot sauce and sliced scallions.

Our Thanksgiving and Then Some

Well, I am actually going to start this post like last...hmmm...I guess the weekend before Thanksgiving. Nate took Lily to her first Gator football game. She had some fun, though he said she slept through a lot of it...silly girl. She did have fun donning her Gator shirt and Gator pigtails.

Check out the shades.

I'm not sure what was going on with that pigtail...they kind of had a mind of their own!

Fast forward a bit to the week of Thanksgiving. Before we made the trek to St. Auggie, we got to go and play with my friend Laura and her two sons, Kaden and Asa Jack. Kaden is a little younger than Lily and Asa Jack is only a couple of months old. Lily and Kaden had a blast playing. We took them to Possum Creek Park which is a really awesome little park here in town. They were so cute. Of course, eventually, Lily copped her little girl attitude and didn't want to play with Kaden anymore, so we headed home...

Lily sliding down the tunnel.

Ava had so much fun playing like a big kid! I swear she has the cutest little smile ever!

How cute are they? They ran around holding hands for awhile and it was so cute!

We also got our tree put up before we left town. I know, it's kind of early, bet we are only here for like 2 weeks in December, and I wanted to be sure the kids got to enjoy the tree. Lily had so much fun helping me decorate it. She kept asking if we could do it again!

Lily was a champ decorating the tree! She did a great job.

Ava did her best to help out :)

She really enjoyed hanging out with Hermie.

Lily giving Ava what would be a sweet hug if she weren't strangling her...

The completed tree...our Charlie Brown Christmas tree as we call it, though it does look fuller in pictures than in real life...

Both girls were fascinated by the lights.

Lily kept on tweaking her ornaments.

And our beautiful stockings that my Mom made us last year. When Lily saw these she said that Christmas had come to our house.

Well, once Wednesday rolled around, it was time to head to St. Augustine for the Turkey Day festivities. We had a great time and got to see a lot of family which the girls always love! I also got to do some shopping (yes, I am one of the crazy Black Friday shoppers). I found an awesome deal on diapers, so that was exciting :) Anyhow, back to the St. Augustine trip. On Wednesday, we went to Nathan's parents, Mimi and Granddad to the kids. With in minutes of us walking in the door, both kids had treats...Granddad is exceptionally good at keeping them filled up with goodies :)

Mmmm...animal crackers...

"Tanks, Frandad!"

On Thursday, the girls and I headed over to my Mom's first thing in the morning before all the eating fests began. Lily got to make butter with Pa. She had so much fun and stuck with it for quite a while! Then, she got to help Grammy with some Thanksgiving baking. That kid loves to cook!

Later that day, we headed to Nate's grandparents house, then to see my Dad, Nana, Tara, and Tara's mother and grandmother in Palm Coast. Tara's mother got the kids some really cute gifts that they both really loved!

Lily playing with the cat's toys...I know, but I wanted to show off her super cute outfit!

When we finished at my Nana's we headed to Thanksgiving number 3. Our last one, at Nate's grandmother's house. After that, we headed downtown to see the Christmas lights with my Dad and that group. The kids had a lot of fun even though they were both dead tired! We took a bunch of pictures under the giant Christmas tree in the square. So fun!

Lily with my Dad.

A half way decent family picture, yay!

Lily and Tara, what a goofy face (Lily, not Tara)!

Funky picture with the lights.

In front og Lightener Museum.

Ava loved all the lights.

Awww, sweet baby!

Okay, last thing...this is from this morning. Silly Ava climbed into the toy bucket and was chilling with her head against the coffee table and watching Backyardagains. Gotta love the propped up foot! Oh, and she's walking now! Officially! Yay! She will try to walk and then crawl once she falls, but it is a first step towards not having to carry her around all the time anymore!