Merry Christmas

So far it's been a great day here at home. The kids are busy playing with their new gifts. I got some great gifts from my husband,kids,parents and my MIL. I loved everything!! :)

Thanksgiving recap

Well, its been quite a week. Mady has been sick since this past weekend :/ Ken and I have to be somewhere really important on Thursday with Matt but now I'm not so sure one of us will make it because of how sick Mady is.
So, Thanksgiving day well...hubby had to work Thanksgiving Day. So, we ate a late Thanksgiving dinner. Everything came out great. Hubby decided he would smoke our turkey. All I did was brine it and then monitor the temp of the smoker. I made our sides the night before so I wouldn't have to worry about cooking during the day while the kids ran wild. I didn't really take pictures that day. I forgot to take a pic of our apple pie. I did go on my first ever Black Friday shopping. I had fun and it was nothing like the youtube videos that I have seen. Noone was rude but at the same time I wasn't running towards electronics nor was I at the front of any lines. As much fun as I had I was so tired that following day. Enjoy the few pictures.

Not much to blog about so...

This will be a whatever post. We've all been busy lately around the house...especially with Matthew. A while back my husband saw one of my screen names and its a name I've had for YEARS and have used and still use for anytime I need a screen name. Of course with this day in age people will probably associate to a popular movie and not my love for a lotion I once had as a teen. It has been years since I have loved any lotion to have to purchase it as soon as I ran out. I now just use whatever and rarely purchase the same lotion twice. I've got hurt in the past with certain companies discontinuing scents. It started out with Enchanted Apple (which I still find time to time at their semi annual sales), then my all time favorite,Pink Twilight. It smelled so fresh like I had just showered. It was pink and sparkly. VS had that one and a blue one,Moonlight Magic,but Pink Twilight has by far been my favorite. I still see it on eBay but it looks stale even through the picture. It isn't that pink color its yellowish looking. After Pink Twilight I started using Sheer Freesia from Bath and Body Works but yet again that one too has been discontinued :/


I found this one on ebay for over $30. I wonder how old it is.



This is a very very old scent that my mom use to love from Victoria's Secret,Her Majesty's Rose. I miss that scent too. It smelled just liked roses. I believe its from the early 90's.

Halloween '11

I am glad the kids enjoyed trick or treating but I am glad that Halloween is over. Here are a few photos and videos of the day. Ken couldn't take any pictures of the kids trick or treating because he was carrying Mady. She was scared of some of the houses and costumes.

Halloween cards

My parents and sister sent the kids Halloween cards. Mady had only been up from her nap for about 30 mins. She was upset that we opened the card and there were no princesses ( a note to myself and Matt we won't ever tell her there might be a princess in ANYTHING we aren't sure of). She now has been playing with her card all evening and is even sleeping with it.

Christmas is just around the corner...AHHH!

I am not ahead on my Christmas shopping as I was last year but close enough. We've gotten my MIL,SIL,BIL,SFIL and sister out the way. I know what we are getting my parents and we have Matt's list coming up next. He has 4 gifts right now and two on the way thru snail mail. His gifts are a little pricier than Mady's. She is so easy to shop for even when she is around us. I do have to admit I had to give her one early because she plays with the shapes and uses them as pastries. I am trying to sell the toys she is too old for or doesn't really use. Those "pastries" belong the a cookie jar that taught her about shapes but she has no need for it. I replaces her shapes with some real plastic sweets. She loved them and forgot all about her other ones. So, this is what we have for her so far. I don't plan on buying too much more. The easel is in our garage closet so I just pulled up a stock photo of it. One side is a dry erase board that comes with magnets and the other is a chalk board. I am so excited for her to use it :)

You da chicken

I started potty training Mady and its been a little under a week. She has been doing well but because of it we are staying in quite a bit. Today we played butterfly and chicken (I have no idea where she came up with it)for hours! I finally spoke up and told her I wanted to be butterfly and she could be chicken and she wasn't too happy about my suggestion. Excuse our bed...I was sorting out laundry when I spoke up.

Oh the little things...

I just started potty training Mady and she really has been doing well. It's just stressful and time consuming on top of that I am purging for a possibly up coming move. Our home is a little chaotic and slightly messy but in the mail today I received a free little make up bag with some samples and coupons from Target. It made my day. I know I know so small but I've been home all day dealing with the potty.

Mady and her pony

Little Mady has been sick for almost week. Earlier this week she was playing with her pony. Mady treats her animals better than her baby dolls.

We're Famous!

So I am from a small border city in TX. I go home every summer for a month. When living there I (as well as plenty of others from my home town) said at one point we hated living there. I no longer feel that way since moving MILES and MILES away from home. Don't get me wrong I don't exactly want to move back there, but would love to move closer. I guess after experiencing so much in larger cities that it's hard to go back to a small city. Well, the other night hubby and I were in bed watching tv when we saw a new season of Bordertown will be starting Oct.13th and guess which city they picked...?? My home town Laredo,TX (HA!).


Not to leave you with a bad impression of Laredo I can tell you that Anthony Bourdain did come to Laredo as well a few years ago and loved the food offered on both sides of the Rio Grade.

The Smiths Please, please, please, let me get what I want

I LOVE LOVE this song. I LOVE LOVE Morrissey's voice. This is one of my few absolute favorite songs. I do have an eclectic list of songs so if I told you another favorite you would probably say "WTF"? So, I'll save that song for another day. Most of my favorite songs stem from childhood. This one is thanks to the movie Pretty in Pink. C'mon we were all Team Duckie whether we want to admit it or not.

Friday thru Monday...

Well, it's been an up and down past few days. I'll make it short and sweet. Friday was a down because Matt broke his retainer and was possibly going to cost us $350 to replace. Saturday and Sunday were up days. Nothing spectacular happened but just an over all good two days. Monday was alright til that evening when the Redskins lost to the Cowboys by two points! I can't discuss the game... Monday did have some good news. Matt's retainer can be fixed. It will take 4 weeks and only cost $85 which is way better than the $350 we were thinking it was going to cost us. I'll update more later on the 5k I ran Sunday morning.

Oh forgot to mention...my parents were so kind to send us a gift from Yankee candles. Well, Yankee messed up the order and sent the same items to us twice. Double checked with dad to make sure they didn't charge twice and they didn't. So, now we are going to forward the box to them.

The cutest little Redskins fan.

Bath & Body Works is taking my money...

So, after many years of ignoring BBW I have finally found my way back again. I am not going to lie I did go in there for the anti bacs but really that was it. Again they had a 2 for $20 special also a free gift with any purchase. The two large candles I bought were Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin and Caramel Pumpkin Latte. My free gift was the bag with three small candles. The scents are from their upcoming winter collection and they are Marshmallow Peppermint, Gingerbread and Candied Sugar Plum. I also had a coupon that gave me a free mini candle with a $10 purchase. So I chose Smores for my son. He loves that scent. I also bought a body scrub in Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin...have you noticed how I am just loving all things pumpkin right now?

Incubus pics

I usually don't forget my camera but I did for the concert :( So, here are the ones from my phone. The first pic is of us while Young the Giant was performing, the second one is of one of the deaf interpreters signing during the concert and the last is of Brandon singing :) We finally had our first chilly day here so I am just going to enjoy the rest of the evening with the family. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Yesterday

So, I said I had just gotten my new phone Friday afternoon. I went from an EVO to a Iphone. I am still playing around with it. I was use to setting my alarm on my Evo and it would set for M-F. Well, with my new phone you have to individually click on the days you want it to go off. Well, dummy me didn't do that so Tuesday instead of waking up at 7 I woke up to my daughter talking at 8...Matt's school starts at 7:45! I run to his room and he is AWAKE in bed playing with his DS. I was MAD! Got us all completely ready and out the door. I told Matt how disappointed I was in him for knowing better and not waking me up. He knows the routine this has happened in the past but not where we are late. It was more like when I would go to his room to wake him at 7 he would already be awake playing his ds. Plus, this hasn't happened in almost a year. He knows that playing video games in the morning is a no no...well school mornings. So, yes I have the DS til...

Besides our frazzled morning (Mady and I had somewhere to be by 9:30) the rest of the day was pretty calm. I did go to Target that evening with the family because I did want to check out the Missoni line. Well, there wasn't much to check out. Seems like everything was almost sold out! They had some bins but I really don't need anymore. I was looking for some flats but all they had were munchkin sizes left.

I really like them and I am on a mission to find them or something like them. I heart flats and these colors would be great for fall. So, they didn't have my size so I walked out with this instead:
I needed a new mascara and right now Maybelline has limited edition tubes of their great lash mascara. I bought the BCBG Max Azria edition.
My favorite purchase of the night was the Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts (sad,I know)but I am a sucker for anything pumpkin right now haha.

Incubus...wish you were here

I was able to upload the tiny snippet of the song that I recorded last night.

9-11-11 (a day late)

I can't believe it has been 10 yrs since the tragic incident of what we all refer to as "9/11". I remember exactly where I was. I was a few weeks pregnant with my son and a college student. That morning I was volunteering at a Head Start for my teca class. We didn't have tv and really it wasn't until the owner came in and let us know what had happened. She had a small radio and a mini black and white tv in her closet of an office. We all listened and tried our best to explain to the kids what was going on while we all tried to understand ourselves what had just happened. I met my dad and mom for lunch but we first met at a tire shop where my dad's truck was being serviced. That is where I actually got to see the horrible videos.

Our church this past weekend had a basket filled with everyones names who sadly lost their life that day. We were asked to pick one and say a special prayer for them. So, Matt chose a name...Sergio Villanueva. He was one of the firefighters that responded that morning. Born 7/4/68 in Argentina and loved soccer.
I chose Meredith Lynn Whalen. She was only 23 years old and was working in one of the twin towers when the plane hit. Her mother's letter made me tear up.
We finally explained to Matt (as little detail as possible) what 9/11 is or means here in the U.S. He asked because of the basket at church. He wanted to know why we were praying for them.

Today also marks the 6 month anniversary of my grandpa's passing. My family back home had a mass for him. I still miss him very much and think often of that last time I was with him...summer '10. I still wish I could go back and change what I said to him. "I love you grandpa, I'll see you next summer". I kinda had a feeling I wouldn't be seeing him the following summer,but the naive part of me didn't want to believe it and thought I was over reacting. So, I kept it positive I suppose.

We also went to concert that evening and saw Incubus. Young the Giant was the opening act. The whole concert was awesome. We sat next to two guys who claimed to be huge Incubus fans. They weren't lying. They sang every song...every word. They were dancing so hard core that I was almost elbowed in the cheek. They were very talkative and friendly. After every song they would hug each other (Ha). There were also two deaf interpreters there. I really enjoyed watching them sign to the songs. Since the concert was pretty long for just one person they took turns. Both did really well. I forgot my camera so no pics...well except for the ones from phone. I am still learning the ends and outs of my new iphone so I'll have to post those later. Since the concert was on 9/11 he did dedicate a song to them...Wish You Were Here. We will definitely make plans to see them again when they come back this way.

One last thing...Redskins won their first game of the season!! Go Redskins!!

Dave Matthews GPS spoof

I love Dave Matthews Band and if this GPS really existed I would so buy it haha.

Labor Day Weekend Recap

Friday Sept. 2nd my husband and I celebrated our 5th yr anniversary. I really can't believe 5 yrs have flown by so quickly. We didn't have much planned for the day because we'll be going to a concert on the 11th (sans kids) and that was more of a gift to ourselves. Matt had a dr. appt. that afternoon. After his appt. it was after 4:30 we decided to go grab dinner with the kids. We enjoyed our meal and that evening on post Blake Shelton was performing a free concert for all military and their families. I am the only one who likes country music but the rest of the family came anyways. I thought he put on a great concert and it was only a little over an hour which was good. The kids were ready to leave. Mady did enjoy herself by dancing around a lot even through the ballads. I got a few pictures but I need a better camera to get a better quality.




On Saturday we went to Columbia and walked around the mall. I did get a few items. We are switching over cell phone providers and I chose an iphone 4 (I still really love my Evo 4g but that's another story behind the switch a roo). So, I picked out a new cell phone cover and since Matt will be having a lot more appts. coming up I decided it was time I buy an actual agenda. I use a small calendar book which has been working fine but when I have more than one thing to do/or a reminder on one day then there really isn't any room to write it.



I had such a hard time choosing between both those patterns (Navy Bloomers and Luscious) so I decided I'd get one of each. We also went by Bath & Body Works because they were having a sale on their large candles which were 2 for $20.



I really love the scent Autumn and my new fave is Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut which makes me crave the ones from Dunkin Donuts when I smell it. I also needed a new car freshner. I was a little disappointed in the one from Yankee (it was more the scent that I chose I suppose). The little purple owl was too cute and he came with a scent pack already inside and that scent was Autumn.



Last stop was the Vera Bradley store. I had been waiting for their Stadium blankets to come out. They aren't as large as I thought they would be but it is just the right size for laying on the couch. I chose the Mocha Rouge pattern. We lucked out and got it on its promotional price plus an additional discount for military (yay for extra savings!). The rest of our weekend was very low key. We enjoyed staying in and relaxing. I am so lucky that Ken got both Friday and Monday off. I've enjoyed his extra long weekend and it couldn't come at a better time for our anniversary. I look forward to many many more years with him.

Earthquakes,Hurricanes & VMA's Oh my!!

So, Aug. 23rd I had a first...my first experience in an earthquake. It was a very light one and only lasted a minute I think. It just really took us all by surprise. We were all upstairs getting ready to head on out to Matt's new school to meet his teacher. He started school on the 24th. My first reaction to the whole house shaking was that our home was just randomly falling apart. We all went downstairs and walked out our back slide door. As soon as we walked outside we saw several people from our neighborhood go out as well. So good, we weren't the only ones that felt the movement. One lady said she was walking right by our house when it happened and she saw our van rocking side to side. There was no damage only some stuff from the top of Matt's closet had fallen over.

Matt's first day back was a good one. It was a short week having started on Wed. He seems to like his teacher and class mates as well as the brand new school. I am hoping for a great school year for him.


Well, on Aug. 27th we had hurricane Irene come thru the east coast. I was a tad bit nervous. I prepared a little for the hurricane. I did buy some jugs of water(not the 3 days worth for each person) but a little as a just in case,extra tp, wipes,diapers and food. None of this was a crazy amount. I bought it because I hate driving in the rain so I figured if we are gonna stay in doors might as well make sure we are stocked up. I am so grateful we didn't loose power through the whole storm and our tv/internet was in and out throughout the evening. Not to make the storm sound like nothing it did knock out power in the surrounding areas and because of that my son has missed Monday & Tuesday of this week so far. I am hoping the kids don't have to miss anymore school its not even winter and we already are using our bad weather days.

I still enjoy watching the VMA's every year even if I don't know some of the artists. Out of all the performances this one by Bruno Mars was my favorite. I thought he did an amazing job.

(Hoping the link still works...it was hard trying to find a good version of this oh well this one will have to do).

On Wednesdays We Wear Pink

New Yummy Faves

I finally bought a bottle of Skinny Girl Margarita and I really liked it. It does have a very light taste to it which I liked because sometimes I can't take that sickening sweet taste of margarita mixes. After two drinks of regular margaritas I can already feel the hangover. I drank almost a whole bottle (and a lot of water) and woke up just fine and dandy the next day. Yes, yes I know almost a whole bottle but I really can't handle my alcohol so that says a lot especially since I had more than one drink.


I had a coupon for these and saw them at my commissary this evening. I thought what the heck and decided to try them. I already eat candy might as well try something w/ less calories. I chose the dark chocolate clusters only because that was all they had :/ As skeptical as I was (I don't care for dark chocolate)I am happy that I got them. They are yummy and I know they will satisfy my sweet tooth :)

Blinged up make up box #2

So, I decided not to go w/ zebra and hot pink on my vanity...I moved that to my computer desk. My vanity table is white and my chair is light pink so I just went with those two colors instead. I didn't want to go and buy another small white storage box from Target and decided to make due with my old purple one. I sprayed white primer first then followed up with a pink paint...I think the color is Sweet Pea. After I glazed it I ended up pretty happy with it. Besides the bottom and the inside you would never guess its original color.

I painted the two grey knobs white and covered those with rhinestones.

I know I said that if I ever rhinestoned knobs again I'd use a bigger size than when I did my zebra one. Well, I was so wrong. Larger rhinestones make it look worse. I really wished I had used smaller ones. It makes the knob look "blingier" and you see less open spots and even if it doesn't follow a pattern you really can't tell. Larger rhinestones show all your mistakes.

Oh well, I use it just to store some of my make up. I'm still really happy with the way it turned out. Oh, and the liner I used in my drawers was just embroidery paper from Hobby Lobby.

Cupcake lattes & cookies

I am so happy that International Delights brought back the Sweet Cream flavor. I make my own iced lattes 6 days out of the week (Sunday is our fun day to buy our morning coffee/latte at DD or SB)so I like to have different flavors at home. I first tried Sweet Cream about 2 yrs ago and it was a special edition so after a few months it was taken off shelves and it never returned. I am so glad hubby found it recently at Wal-Mart. I will go back and stock up soon. Goldfish has so many flavors and when I saw this particular flavor at our commissary I picked it up knowing at least the kids would like it. I was surprised at how much I liked them. They taste just like vanilla wafers but their tiny sprinkles one ups them over the actual wafer brand hehe :)

BBW haul

I went to Bath & Body Works today and picked up a few items. I bought the 5 for $15 anti bac soaps. I just LOVE fall scents so I can't wait to use these. The scents I chose were Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin (orange),Orchard Leaves (green),Cranapple Crisp (red),Oatmeal Raisin Cookie (purple) and Pumpkin Caramel Latte (brown). The three small candles I bought were 3 for $5 and the scents are Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut,Lavender Macaroon and Spiced Madeleine (the one w/o a picture on the front). I love their sweet scents. I bought one lotion which is a new scent Paris Amour. I haven't really cared for any of their scents lately (except Japanese Cherry Blossom) so when I tried this one I knew I had to have it. Today they were giving away a free gift with any purchase. So, I got the make up bag and a full size lotion of Charmed Life which is another new scent. I am glad I actually liked the free lotion but I doubt its one I'd go back and buy. I am happy with the Paris Amour scent and will probably go back and buy a few more items from that line...I was eyeing the glitter lotion. I am also hoping they bring back a few more fall scents in the coming months.

Bling Bling

So, I finished my small make up drawer. I can list what I did wrong. First,I should've "modge podged" it but I had no idea what that was when Barbie mentioned it. Second, I should check more than one store for a zebra stencil. I went to Michael's and all they had was stencil sheets so I made my own stencil only to find SEVERAL stencils at Hobby Lobby. Now last I would have ordered slightly larger crystals from Artbeads.com and have read the one review on the black ones. I didn't care for that weird top it has that it almost looks like they have holes on the top in person but oh well. I am still pleased with the outcome.




So yes all four sides are of zebra print and you can see that I can't draw straight lines but oh well.

The Hello Kitty mug I've had for a while now. I think my parents bought it. I bought the crystals at Michael's and just bejeweled her bow. I use it to store my makeup sponge.



I have a few more craft projects but I am thinking of waiting til both kids are back in school/daycare (crosses fingers Mady gets in).

Make up box make over

The before...technically I am already done with it but I am pending one of the knobs.

Happy Father's Day!

We spent a wonderful day with Ken. He got a smoker for Father's Day and Matt made him a funny card. He BBQed for us as well. It was delicious. I am so grateful that he is the father of my children. He is wonderful with both of them. I love you so much Kenneth Marie :P






I also wish that we were back in TX with my family. The past few years we are usually back home visiting and spending and I usually get to spend this day with my dad. I miss him and everyone else. I did get to speak to him today and look forward to seeing him very soon. I love you dad and thank you for all that you have done not only for me but for Matthew as well.

ULTA hell

Last night the family and I went to Ulta. Well, husband and son went to Best Buy and little M and I went into Ulta. It was next to impossible to look at anything with her. When I finally did get a chance to look at some makeup I felt something furry on my foot when I looked down it was Mady brushing a makeup brush on my foot...luckily it was a tester. I did get what I wanted which was Urban Decay's eyeshadow primer potion.

Since I did just buy it I've only used it today. I did notice that my eyeshadow didn't have a crease in it by the end of the night...so yay for that product so far.
Mady LOVED their marshmallow sparkle powder.
I had to laugh everytime she squealed when I put some powder on her arm. When the boys joined us she had to show her papa how "barkley" (she can't quite say sparkly) her arms were. I think in the future I will go to Ulta alone or make my husband come in with me and not go off to Best Buy haha.

DIY make up brush holder

The day I refurbished my old flip flops I also made this. I bought the glass vase over a year ago at Michael's,ribbons and glass pebbles were purchased there too. I liked how it turned out. I need another for my larger brushes.