Twinkle Toes

'

Someone's Daddy bought her new Twinkle Toes this weekend. 

The ones that light up. 

Her previous {Mommy purchased} Twinkle Toes didn't light up.

Daddy also knows how to tie these new shoes better than I do. 

AND, help her get her socks straightened out the way she likes them.

*Sigh*

Twelveness

Last week we celebrated

 Tyler's 12th Birthday!

Tyler's birthday was on a Monday night and although I'd planned to make him a cheesecake, I was SICK and strore bought had to do.  Aren't our {not so} babies cute?

This weekend was Tyler's party of choice: Laser tag with friend's.  As my luck would have it, our main debit/credit cards wouldn't go through and paying for 10 games, 2 pizzas, 9 drinks and game tokens was a little less *fun* than it should have been.  Knowing there was gobs of money in our account {lol!} Nathan & I both got a little sick worried that we'd been robbed.  We later found out on Facebook {Like your bank!} that we were not alone and the problem was being fixed.  Great reminder of how beholden we really are to banks.

 :0/

Tyler requested a lime jell-o cake!♥

I think it was a good Birthday!



Welcome to the 90's!

My current favorite songs:

Jeremy - Pearl Jam
Black - Pearl Jam
Come As You Are - Nirvana
Plush - Stone Temple Pilots
Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots

Seriously, this is my sound right now. 

Nathan teases me about it saying, "Yeah, I liked that.  17 YEARS AGO!"

I'm glad I'm just now finding these songs.  20 years ago I didn't need these songs. 

Now I do. 

:)

Chipwrecked

Friday night I packed up my babies and took them to see Alvin and The Chipmunk's latest film, Chipwrecked.

My original plan was to see The Muppet's movie, but Tyler is convinced that they're *dumb* and I didn't feel like listening to a bummed out almost 12 year old.... so we went with the Chipmunks and it turned out to be a fine choice. 

{{I will make Tyler see the greatness of The Muppets one day.  I promise!}}

Being an actual Alvin & The Chipmunk's fan, it hurts me to say that Chipwrecked was not my fav.  I actually have The Chipmunk Adventure dvd in a special kid-free drawer just because I like it so much and don't want the kids to ruin it.  I can watch it almost any time.  Chipwrecked was only fun to watch because my kids loved it and it made my heart smile to hear their giggles. 

I'm not a fan of the CGI & the part where the Chippettes are sitting on the beach singing a slowed down and way too *serious* version of Destiny's Child's *Survivor* is probably going to give me nightmares.  Needless to say, I won't be hoarding my own copy in the future. 

I did, however, enjoy the crazy island lady and her ball friends.  And Tyler & I got a good laugh at a few of the references Trab & Keira didn't get. 

By far the best part of the movie was just being with my kids.  Keira sat on my lap a bit, Travis crunched popcorn the whole time & Tyler & I got to make a little fun of the movie.  Good times!!!

*Orange*

It all started when this orangey goodness caught my eye on the shelf of my grocer. 

I hardly ever drink Crystal Light & I've never really been into orange flavored drinks, but just look at the package! It has crisp & refreshing written all over it.  I can taste the orange just looking at it.  So I bought it and on the first drink, I was hooked. 

Soooo delicious!

A week a later, I come home and find Nathan's bought this Orange Sherbet & Vanilla Ice Cream. 

And it is sooooo good!

Then a couple of days later, while browsing the internet {no orange searches involved} I come across a recipe for Orange Cream Cake. 

I didn't make it, yet.

But I feel like the universe has pretty much requested I do!

♥

Speachless

Sometimes, I lose my words.  Well... words I can publicly share anyhow. 

So my blog is a little quiet. {{Hopefully not the year long quiet of 2010!}} 

The good news is, I've found some other words lately that are keeping me busy.

• Words With Friends ~ on my Kindle Fire
• Words in the book I'm reading, "The Pocket Watch" ~ on my Kindle Fire
• Conversations {lots of words} with friends

Travis {of course!}



Joey Cutie-Pie

Keira *Push Me Higher* Renee

On their "mount." {Geeky Family!♥}

Pretty Aaliyah

Our niece and nephew spent a few nights with us this week.  A little too late, I had the brilliant idea of taking the kids to the park to run off some crazy.  We only had about an hour before the sun went down and Auntie got cold, but it was a nice hour.

Did you notice Travis' shirt is on backwards?  Yep, whole star wars print on the front but he was happy with wearing it backwards.  I hope this means he'll always be his own person... in a good way. teehee!

Trabby's Treasures

Didn't mean to leave anyone hanging, but Travis did VERY well with his Christmas shopping at school.  He bought a frisbee for Tyler and a little bouncy ball for Keira. 

Did I also mention he bought his Mommy some bling?...

It matches his eyes!

2012, Let it be.

Another year {2011} has come, been & gone.  Welcome, 2012!

Other than the given fact that any year you're hear is a good year, I just don't have enough faith in my wishes to try speaking them into being.  Years bring 365 days of what they'll bring, regardless.  That said, my hopes and dreams for 2012 are that everyone I love and care about has many, many great life moments.  I want everyone to feel loved, needed and content more times than not.

Most importantly, I pray we're all prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse.  

♥

;0)



Our Merry Christmas

Tuesday Today

Keira & I got to join Tyler at his school for their Holiday Meal.  Tyler ate my ham, I ate Keira's tamale and Keira at every, single pea that was on her tray.  It was fun to see our biggest boy at his school & hearing from one of his teachers AND one of the other moms about what a great kid he is!  I'm so proud of him, I can hardly stand it. ♥ Getting ready really wasn't much fun, because Keira wasn't happy with the way her pants fit her OR how I wanted to do her hair.  And of course, we couldn't find the shoes she wanted to wear so that was pretty traumatic.  I told her that I hated what I was wearing, need my hair cut and new shoes and I think she was happy at least not being alone in having a blah girl day.  But, Lord please help me when this girl is a teen with teen girl emotions, because 5 year old girl emotions are craaaaaazy enough! 

This should be interesting... tomorrow I'm sending Travis to school with a few dollars which he's to use to buy Christmas gifts at the holdiay shop - at his school.  I L-O-V-E-D doing this when I was in school and am really excited for Travis to have this chance.  We talked, at length, about how there's $3 for a small gift for Tyler & $3 for a small gift for Sissy... and no $ for a gift for Travis.  Haha! ;0) I can't wait to see what he comes home with. 

Santa Love

Little Jessica Renee with Santa. 

 See how much I loved him?

Keira loves him too, but only from a distance. 

We peeked on him at the mall this year

{from the second floor}

 and that was close enough for Keira.

Keira & Santa 2011

Three Little Cuties

These two little cuties were given to me by my Momma last Christmas and spent a whole year in a tote in the garage waiting to be set out this year! They're just so stinkin cute with their roundness, smiles and rosy cheeks.  I absolutely love them!  Definitely one of the funnest parts of decorating is getting out the goodies you collected the year before.

This little cutie was sitting next to me on the couch tonight while I was knitting.  He was reading the book of John from his new Bible that his Papa & Gaw bought for him Sunday.  Totally LOVE this guy.

This weekend, Keira & Travis built a fire and summoned Zuul.

Kidding, Kidding!

The truth is that the kids & I enjoyed a fire and Christmas songs in the back yard.  I don't know what the neighbors thought of it, but we had ourselves a jolly ol' time!  Funny thing, both Keira & Travis add "EE-I-EE-I-O" to the end of Jingle Bells?!?... 

This is my new favorite Christmas decoration.  Mr. Travis made it last year, but I had a flash of genius today & put it in the frame.  I really love how it looks on the wall. 

♥

Nothing More Than Feelings

The end of this work day took such a weird turn.  A few relatively minor situations hit me all wrong and made me feel yucky inside.  One, right after another.  I hate when that happens. 

It was just feelings over temporary situations & I told myself that I didn't need to let it eat me.  That helped a bit, but then I came home and found this quote a friend posted on Facebook.  I'd actually seen it earlier, but now it seemed like it was there just for me.  I love when THAT happens! 

Don't bother too much about your feelings. When they are humble, loving, brave, give thanks for them; when they are conceited, selfish, cowardly, ask to have them altered. In neither case are they you, but only a thing that happens to you. What matters is your intentions and your behaviour. 

C. S. Lewis

Not SO Crazy

Team Selph took the win over Wal-Mart & Target this Black Friday!

Emily, Brenda, Dad & I

 Dad made his debut and proved himself a strong asset to our team as, with his help, we made record times on getting in and out with all the goodies we went in for!

Walmart's sale got a little jump start and even though it was supposed to start at 10pm, we were checking out at 9:57pm.  It was almost too easy.

Target went similarly well with their check out process going considerably better/faster than in years past & we were out in a snap. 

Fellow shoppers were {for the most part} kind,  courteous and fun to chat with. 

FUN STUFF!

♥

Pondering Black Friday

I don't know about YOU,

but I need more days between now & Christmas!!

I was able to get a tiny, tiny bit of shopping done this weekend

& I have half a plan for Black Friday. 

About that, I'm not sure I like the *new* starting of BF on Thanksgiving day.  I mean, shopping is generally a good activity any day, but I just don't know if I'll have enough time to lay on my tummy and digest dinner before I have to go out and be ruthless to get my hands on some sales. 

Hmm...



Science Center Fummer

Fummer = Fun + Bummer.

Doesn't my boy look handsome in purple?!

Travis & I went with his school to the Arizona Science Center last week for a very interactive field trip.  I had Travis + 2 girls & 1 other boy in my group of little super stars. 

The boys really, really liked the exhibit where they could connect pvc pipe like they were setting up the plumbing for a bathroom sink, shower & potty.  Travis immediately made his into a gun, which I'm pretty sure wasn't a part of the exercise, but what do I know about plumbing?..

Both genders were able to appreciate the stomach room/slide complete with smells and sounds you might hear if you were able to pass through a stomach & slide through the intestines.  I was glad to not have to participate in this exhibit myself. ;)

We all really liked the Forces of Nature exhibit where you get to *experience* a hurricane, tornado, thunderstorm, earthquake & volcano explosion.  Water sprays down on you, the ground shakes, wind blows on you & you get warmed up under heat lamps.  Very cool!

It was a very great day until I realized my camera was gone.  Gone and no one turned it in so MAJOR bummer. 

Lucky for me I have the bestest sister & brother-in-law EVER who gave me a camera.  They totally saved me on this one... I owe them sooooo much free babysitting!  {{One day, hopefully before I forget how to change a diaper!}}

Pie Day 2011

Some pictures from our 2nd Annual Pie Day

with my Momma & Sisters + a guest baker,

Aunt Connie!



Keira's area of expertice.

Grandma & Keira working on K's pie.

Sisters who bake together, stay together! ♥

Miss K & her finished pie!

Me, Aunt Connie & Keira

Brenda's gigantic cherry crumb pie!



Emily's PERFECT pecan pie.  SOOOO good!!



All so delicious!



Tristan + knives = SHARP!

We had a great day and made pecan, peach, apple,

cherry and pumpkin pies as well as 16 crusts

to freeze and use later in this baking season!

Twinkle Twinkle

It's time!

This lighted garland always goes up on top of the kitchen cabinets in November.  The soft glow warms up the house and tells us all that BIG celebrations are near!   I put it up today, even though my head is stuffy & body achy from a cold.  It just could not wait...  It's TIME!  

{{Tyler let out a little sigh of delight when he saw it all lit up tonight.}}