Out of Uniform, Christmas Style

It's always an exciting time when Emma gets to get out of her uniform for the day.  So she took full advantage of the opportunity to wear red & green on the last two days of school before break..............

I love when I find a little surprise & delight from Emma, when looking through the pictures on my phone.
In this photo, she's taking a picture of her pig-tails that I did, complete with jingle bells.  She LOVED it!

It's so fun to play dress up with Emma.  I love how excited the kids get to dress up for the day.....they get so in to it!

I went to check on the kids before heading to bed, as I do every night, where I saw this in Emma's room. She was so excited to wear her Christmas outfit the following day, so much so, that she had it ready to go.
I especially love the head and hands she taped on!

Breakfast With Santa

Earlier this month, we kicked the holiday season off at St. Pius' Breakfast With Santa.  This is a pretty big production that the school puts on every year, to benefit their athletic program.  Pancakes, sausage, fruit & cookies are all served while waiting for Santa to arrive.  They also have dozens of vendors that fill the gym with various items that you can purchase.  There was a huge selection......ranging from puppets to jewelry to furniture to glass bottle art.  So I picked up a Colts necklace for Karen and a beautiful leather-and-silver angel necklace for myself.  

Reason #461 why I love SPX:
Emma received a letter from Santa, thanking her for the letter she wrote him.  It included all the things she asked for, and some info on how hard the Elves are working to get everything completed.  As you can see, it was a pretty long letter, customized for her.  I mean, how cool is that?  And how neat is it that someone took the time to write these letters for all the kids!

A Few of My Favorite Things

So I'm sitting here watching Oprah's Favorite Things and I can't help but wonder....what are some of my favorite things?  Earlier this month, a lot of bloggers also posted their favorite things, in honor of 12/12/12. So why not jump on the bandwagon and list some of mine?

So here goes.

1. Starbucks Skinny Vanilla Latte.  At 130 delicious calories (for a grande), every sip is like a piece of heaven.  That I experience on a daily basis (Sorry Andy, that's the truth. I'm addicted.)

2. Oil of Olay.  Use it daily.  Have since I was 15.  And when I say daily, I mean EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Twice a day.

3. My [new] iPhone5.  Not sure there's anything more to say here, right?

4. Pinterest.  Aside from Starbucks, this has become a true addiction for me this year.  I'm on this site daily, pinning different ideas from craft projects to workout sessions to recipes.  It's unbelievable how much this has changed my life.  Seriously.

5. Spinning.  I cannot operate without spinning AT LEAST 3 times a week.  Don't believe me?  Well, then.  Check out this post.

6. New York & Co. Stretch Skinny Jeans.  Aside from the summer months, I wear these jeans a couple times a week.  They're about 3 years old now, but I don't care.  I dread the day when I can't wear them anymore.

7. Tervis Tumblers.  They keep your drinks cold, they are unbreakable, and they have a lifetime warranty.  Totally worth the investment!  

8. My tri bike.  This isn't just a bike to me; it's soooo much more.  It represents dedication, sweat, time, tears and energy that I put into transforming myself info an athlete.  But above all, it represents friendship.

*not my actual bike; no need to display pure greatness for all to see

9. Michael Kors perfume.  I've never been one to wear a variety of perfumes.  In fact, I think I could probably name all the different perfumes I've worn in my life:

• Debbie Gibson's Electric Youth
• Calvin Klein ck ONE
• Clinque Happy
• Ralph Lauren Romance

So there you have it: about 5 perfumes in my entire life.  I have a feeling that I'll be wearing Mr. Kors for a few more decades.  I consider it my "signature fragrance."

10. Seche Vite.  If you do your nails yourself, and have not heard of Seche Vite, then let me just introduce you to Seche Vite.  It will change your manicured life.

I repeat.

It will change your manicured life.

This stuff is the miracle of manicures.  It dries your nails in a matter of minutes.  Totally and completely dries them.  As in, go-ahead-and-try-to-play-with-your-kids.  -Or- go-ahead-and-do-some-housework.  THEY WON'T SMEAR!

11. Super-Size Fountain Beverages.  I know it's bad.  But I love 'em.  I gotta have 'em.  I only wish that we had a Discount Den here in town......oh how miss the Discount Den at Purdue!

12. Trashy Reality TV.  I don't watch much TV anymore, but when I do, it's complete trash: The Real Housewives (all cities except Miami), Teen Mom, Real World/Road Rules, and Jersey Shore. All horribly  trashy, pathetic shows that do nothing but entertain the HELL out of me!

Dentist Appointment

Today was the first time I was able to take the kids to their dentist appointment.  Previously, their dentist was up in Noblesville because that’s where the kids’ daycare was.  So Andy always took them to their appointment. 

But today was MY turn!

And it was so cute to see them in the dentist chair!  They’re so well-behaved for Dr. Steph…..so why can’t they act that sweet to poor ‘ol Mommy?!?

He's baaaaaaaack

Buddy, our Elf on the Shelf, made his first appearance a couple of weeks ago.

I just love the Elf on the Shelf!  It's the best form of bribery a parent can have.

"Buddy, are you listening to this?......Emma sure is throwing a fit.  I hope you don't have to report this to Santa tonight."

or

"Buddy, do you see how Drew just left his mess of cars & trucks for someone else to pick up?  I know Santa told him to work on this........"

Sleeping Babies

One of my favorite things to do before going to bed each night is to check on my babies while they’re sleeping.  Nothing in the world is more precious than my two beautiful babies.

Ummmmmmmmm, what can I say?!?
Girl gets a little hot while she's sleeping!

Emma's New Haircut

Well, I now know what my mom felt when I told her I wanted to chop off my long, beautiful blonde locks. 

Sad

Shocked

Devastated

Why would my darling little girl want to cut her hair, when we spent so much time growing it out?  I mean, what happened to wanting to grow it out like Rapunzel?!?

Oh, wait.

It’s not “we”………

“It’s my hair, mom!” as Emma so sweetly matter-of-factually told me.

Oh, yes.  I guess it is isn't it?!?...........

Short hair and all, she's still as beautiful as ever!

Fallen of the Wagon

You see this wagon?

I've kinda fallen off of it.  Well, not kinda.

I did.

And actually.  I didn't just fall.  I took a dangerous tumble and crashed flat on my face.  Shortly after finishing my race at the end of August, I've completely let loose.  Turns out, without something to look forward to - a goal of some sort - I had nothing to work towards.

Crazy, right?

What about maintaining a healthy lifestyle?  What about setting a good example for your kids by eating sensibly and working out?  Those aren't enough to keep you going?!?

Of course they are.

But in my mind, I didn't have any races lined up.  Nothing to look forward to.  I used to think Andy was crazy, always signing up for races.  But I completely get it now.  Once you become an athlete; once you've put yourself in the mindset that you've got something to work for, you become addicted.  And you need something to fuel your addiction.

A race.  An event.

And sometimes it takes hitting the bottom again to get yourself back on track.

So here I go again.

Getting myself back on track.

Some Say We Look Alike...

Peewinkles Puppet Show

My first official "field trip" with my Girl Scout troop was to the Peewinkles Puppet Studio downtown.  It's a cute, little studio that puts on - get this - puppet shows.  It was a 2-hour event that consisted of only 20 minutes of actual puppet show time.  The rest of the time was a workshop where the girls got to make their own puppet.

It was a fun, little outing.  Emma's BFF Josie came along in our car, so Emma was all set.  We could have gone to the dumpster.....so long as she's with Josie, all is good in Emma's world!

Here's "Indian Princess" talking to the puppet master.

Emma & Josie having some fun.

All the little Daisy's having fun with their puppets.
Too cute!

Turkey in Disguise: SPX cheerleader

Ahhh, the infamous Turkey in Disguise.  I remember doing these when I was a kid.  So you can imagine that having a fond memory of something that I did in my childhood + something crafty = fun times for momma!

And can you guess what Emma wanted to disguise her turkey as?

A gymnast?
A sheep?
The Easter Bunny?
Santa Claus?

All good guesses.

But if you know Emma (and if you're one of the few reading this blog, then uh, duh....you do!), then you know that she's enthralled with cheerleaders right now.

So....her turkey was: none other than a St. Pius cheerleader!

The finished product.

So proud of her SPX turkey!

I might have just had a little bit of fun helping her with her project!

Happy Halloween!

She was so happy to be going Trick-or-Treating with her BFF, Josie!

Drew the Minion (love his dimple!)
Emma the St. Pius X cheerleader

So excited!
Didn't my mom do a FABULOUS job on Emma's costume?!? That's a handmade outfit, folks.

Our "spooky" house. Looked really cool at night!

Entryway to our house.
This really doesn't do it justice. The walkway was lined w/ Jack-O-Lantern milk jugs; there was a creepy  ghoul that "climbed" in the main window, with a strobe light going on in the background.

Lil' Minion eating some of the loot!

Two of our pumpkins.
So bummed I didn't take a picture of all of them.