sprinkles of scarlett

bedtime.

2011-03-31T01:00:00.001-05:00

Scarlett and I have the sweetest bedtime routine in the whole world. Its evolved quite a bit over her sweet almost 4 years of life into something I cherish very much. She was never the type of baby you could just put to sleep easily. I swaddled her for EIGHT months. Call me crazy but it was the only way to keep her asleep. To this very day she still flails and flip flops all night long. Her bed rail will probably be installed until middle school. If she wasn't swaddled snug as a bug she would literally wake herself up every 30 minutes and of course I was a paranoid new mom so I wanted to punch any one who suggested I "just lay her on her stomach." Much to those people's dismay, all those months of swaddling (no clue if I'm spelling that right. Or if its even a word) did not give my baby girl a complex about sleeping in some sort of cacoon. Although, now that I think about it she NEVER sleeps on her stomach. Anyway, thats not the point of this post at all....

When she finally started sleeping with out the baby straight jacket, our bedtime routine turned into a fairly lengthy process. I struggled with this because everything I read about baby bedtime said to leave them in the crib and basically figure out how to go to sleep by themselves. Although i did use the cry it out method to get rid of her binky (which worked like a charm by the way) i wasnt down with just making her cry herself to sleep because mommy needed to go have a glass of wine on the couch. So we started a little routine. I didnt have a rocker in her room, so I held her in my arms and we would just sway and sway and sing and sing until her eyes got sleepy. Right before she fell asleep I would put her in her crib on her side and rub her back till she fell asleep. If I tried to creep out before she was totally asleep we had to start all over. I admit, some nights I was not a fan, but looking back its just the sweetest memory I have of her as a teeny tiny thing.

When it was finally time to transition to a big girl bed, our routine stayed pretty much the same except it lasted much much longer. Putting her to bed became so impossible that she started staying up way too late and there was even a brief stint where I threw my hands in the air and let her sleep with me. Well, remember before -- about her flailing and flip flopping? Yeah, all up in my face. Somehow my tiny two foot nothing two year old took over my entire queen size bed. She also fell out of the bed on regular occasion and I literally slept with one eye open fearing she was going to concuss herself. Even with 90 pillows (or so) surrounding the floor below just in case, I couldn't handle it. So began the much extended version of what we do now...

Scarlett moved back into her room and I waited until she was delirious with tiredness to put her down. I read her a very quick and much abbreviated version of a book, turned off the lights and laid with her. With out fail, EVERY night, this is when the giggles would start! As soon as the lights were off and i thought she was well on her way to la-la land...giggles! No, I didnt have a child who was afraid of the dark, monsters, or even just a straight up defiant one who refused to sleep. I had one who wanted me to lay with her, sing to her, scratch her back, take pictures with my phone of her and her stuffed animals and just be silly with her. I could have been tough and said no, but with out a doubt I would cave to this goofy child every night. I am so thankful for that time of her babyhood because I know one day she's going to lock herself in her room for hours and cringe when I try to kiss her goodnight. But i will always keep these ridiculous, fun, sleep deprived memories close to my heart forever.

Now with school and dance 3 out of 5 mornings, her late bed times are few and far between. (8 o'clock hallelujah!) She still procrastinates like you wouldn't believe, but for the most part its easy breezy. We still read a book, I lay with her for a few minutes, ALWAYS have to scratch her back (literally she asks me to do it like clock work) and then she tries to get me to stay and just have a little chit chat with her by telling me "the funniest thing ever" that happened to her that day or asking me a million questions about what we're doing tomorrow...like, so mom, what should I wear to school tomorrow? Do I go to dance tomorrow? Can we go to the pool tomorrow? (No child its still March!) Do I see Carson tomorrow? And on and on till finally we do our "secret kiss" goodnight and that's when I leave. When she's feeling extra pushy she will wait until I shut the door to tell me she has to either one go potty, two needs some water, or three wants another stuffed animal. I've learned to just go with it. This is how she rolls, I've let her be this way for so long that there's no breaking this habit now. Yes, some nights I think man I wish this was a quicker process, but honestly I would be so sad if she ever just said "k, night mom" and went to bed like no big deal.

This whole post, which was definitely not supposed to be so very long winded!, was inspired by me looking through my phone pictures and all the silly ones of her and I at bedtime. I never posted them because with out this very grand explanation of our nightly rituals people might think Im crazy. Ha, might... enjoy that one with me and the zit cream, its a personal fave ;)

can we eat them?

2011-03-29T12:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning I woke up with the strangest urge for a snow cone. Sure, it was cold and windy with a chance of rain but who cares, when I get a craving like that in my head there is usually no stopping me. Woman of instant gratification - right here. Of course, as cool moms do these days, I tweeted about it and I'll give you one guess who volunteered to go with me on my quest for a delicious treat!

So I told S we were meeting Mer, Carson, and Slade for snow cones and instead of jumping for joy like she usually does at the mere mention of their names, she looked at me like I was crazy. Apparently I have failed somewhere as a mother because Scarlett had no clue what a snow cone was? After asking me if she could get chocolate sprinkles on it and me trying to explain to her "umm, it's not really like that?" we got in the car and headed to meet our BFFE's. On the way there, we passed a huge field of buttercups and when I pointed them out to Scarlett (again, my poor confused child) she goes, "wait mom, so can we eat them?" It was so funny and reminded me of when she was little(er) and all the crazy, hilarious things that would come out of her mouth.

There were over 60 flavors to choose from, but they had her at bubblegum. Blue bubblegum on one side, pink bubblegum on the other -- girlfriend knows what she likes.

Our weekend was full of fun, treat-filled activities as well.
Friday Scarlett and I met up with a bunch of friends for lunch at Lopez.

See that pretty mama, Stefanie, in the pink right by me? Well, she's the sweetest thing EVER and brought me a little surprise to lunch. I could have cried it was so thoughtful! Thank you again, Stef, so thankful to have a friend like you!

After lunch we hit up Garden Ridge for some ~~moomoos~~ festive party-wear for Campell's 2nd birthday FIESTA! I already had my outfit planned, but Mer got herself a sassy little number... ;)

Britt threw baby Belle the cutest Dora fiesta. Margaritas, cupcakes, and a bounce house -my favorite kind of party. :) Great job mama, we all had so much fun!!

Everyone looked so cute in their Puebla dresses (including baby Gracie! omg) - made me wish I would have gotten one! Perhaps for Cinco de Mayo...

Saturday night we went over to the Tichenor's. The kids played in the baby pools and the mama's chatted while the boys watched basketball. Perfect evening.

Scarlett is wearing Carson's pajamas, FYI. Just thought I'd throw that out there - this is not a Shiloh Jolie-Pitt situation.

Precious friends!

Sunday we laid low. Scarlett and I went shopping, Stella and Devin went to the dog park. Usually we go to my parents for dinner on Sunday nights, but since my mom was out of town just RUNNING A HALF MARATHON FOR HER 50TH BIRTHDAY, we went out for Mexican and fro-yo instead. Indeed, this means we ate Mexican food 3 days in a row. Is it possible to get sick of cheesy, cheesy quesadillas? Scarlett thinks not.

After dinner we ran around Town Center for a bit. Pretty sure S suckered Poppy out of a pocket full of change to make wishes in the fountain. We'd have a back yard full of pretty pink ponies if all her wishes really did come true :)

marathon blog post #5 - Houston Cook Off!

2011-03-24T12:30:00.000-05:00

Last post of the day I promise! I'm sure all this Rodeo talk sounds so strange to non-Texans but I'm just going to go ahead and write this post as if you all understand.

This year Devin was invited to be on a Cook Off team. I basically didn't see him for an entire week and he smelled like brisket for days but I'm pretty sure it was totally worth it to him. Most of our friends and fam got to come out, the food was amazing, and it's just a fun time in general. Devin's team was "Fire in the Hole Cookers" and some of what went down in that tent has been burned into my brain forever. Just imagine well over middle-aged women having wayyy too much to drink, getting up on the bar and shaking it like their still 18... It is something everyone should witness at least once in their lives.

The whole Hotzel fam made it out on Saturday night.

Future sister-in-laws, Katie and Morgan! hallelujah!

Devin was an actual cooker so he was basically up for 72 hours straight cooking BBQ for the team. Not sure how he survived it but he lives for stuff like this.

Notice the water in my hand, not alcohol. I had the bright idea to sign up for the Rodeo 10k the next morning, not realizing what all Cook Off entailed as far as time commitment and the abundance of free alcohol. (Y'all, I am so not a drinker in any way shape or form but I also have the tolerance of a two year old so no matter what I'm always in bad shape the next morning) Alas, I ran the next morning on about 4 hours of sleep and an ever-so-slight hangover, and basically wanted to die the whole time. I finished in something like 1:04:12 which is a good 8 minutes off my pace! haha, ooooh well! That was my first and last Rodeo 10k, that is for sure.

Chris, one of Dev's good friends was also on the cooking team with him. And it should be apparent by now that we basically don't go anywhere with out Ashley and Eddie.

When you're on the team you get tons of free wrist bands into the tent so mostly everyone got to take a turn coming. My pretty mom and I.

Even though committing to Cook Off is a long, time consuming, tiring ordeal, if I know Devin at all he will be doing this year after year and that's fine with me because it's an absolute blast.

Yeehaw! Marathon blog posting complete!

marathon blog post #4

2011-03-24T12:04:00.000-05:00

So now we are at the present.

We met up with The Sweet T Fam, Haley & Owen, and Stefanie & Liam for a little St. Patrick's Day lunch! I don't know why we didn't get a pic of all the kids together, but they were all decked out and so were us mama's.

beautiful angel in green!

That night Dev and I went to the Rodeo to see Zac Brown Band with Ashley and Eddie.

Family pic before we go!

Top of the Ferris Wheel.

We might have tried a fried Twinkie...and a fried Snickers. I'm being honest, they were both disgusting. I chugged a bottle of water just to get the taste out of my mouth. I'm glad we did it though because I have been curious about this carny food for a long time. I'm also glad it was gross so I never have the desire to do it again.

ZBB definitely made it into my top 3 Rodeo concerts of all time. (No one can top Brooks and Dunn!) They were so good live, the whole show was patriotic and their rendition of Devil Went Down to Georgia was absolutely amazing. Loved it!

And now that I'm blogging about the Rodeo I remembered that I totally forgot about Cook-Off. Last marathon post coming up...

marathon blog post #3 - Orlando.

2011-03-24T11:42:00.000-05:00

Whew. Are you getting sick of us yet?

A few weeks ago Devin and I got the rare opportunity to go on a little vacay...by ourselves. He had a work conference in Orlando so I tagged along, sat by the pool in the glorious Florida weather (and hence got burned in about 2 minutes) and went theme-parking with my childhood BFFE. I might have done a little damage at the outlets as well. It was too short of a trip to take Scarlett which really bummed me out since our hotel was literally 2 minutes from Disney World! No worries though, this child's first trip to Disney is in the not so distant future!

One of the best dinners I have ever had, hands down. Emeril's restaraunt at Universal City Walk does not disappoint my friends. It was packed so we sat at the bar...Truffle flatbread pizza for me, some amazing scallop dish for Dev, and crawfish mac and cheese to share. Healthy right? ha. We also ate at Cat Cora's restaurant in Downtown Disney, but honestly it didn't even compare to the food at Emeril's.

We were sending all kinds of pics to Scarlett from Downtown Disney while we were there. 3 days with out my baby is too long! I had no idea this area of the park was absolutely free (you don't even have to pay for parking) and you can take the Disney bus to the Boardwalk which is where we ate at Cat's restaurant.

What a creep. hahahaha

Ohhh my. This would be Annia and I circa 1994 I believe. We lived down the street from each other in the Valley and we both moved in the middle of 5th grade. Me to Houston, her to Palm Beach. We kept in touch through middle school and then found each other on facebook again in college.

16 years later?! Yes we sure are holding Harry Potter wands. We spent a whole day at Universal, caught up, drank butter beer in Harry Potter World and went on all the non-scary rides :) It was so fun and I'm so glad it worked out!

Poor Devin, his schedule was pretty unpredictable so really his vacation wasn't much of a vacation at all. I was really bummed he didn't get to go to Harry Potter World with us because I have officially turned him into a huge Harry geek. (disclaimer so he doesn't kill me: he has not/will not read the books. just the movies. lame.) He did get to meet up with us at City Walk afterwards and we ate at a really good latin restaurant. Next year the conference is in VEGAS!

Look who was on the plane ride home with us! Haley and her sweet fam were in Orlando the same time we were, taking Owen on his very first Disney trip. Look at that sweet precious baby boy!!

Almost done. One more post and I think we should be all caught up!

marathon blog post #2 -- German Day.

2011-03-24T11:12:00.000-05:00

Tradition is big in the Hotzel fam. Two Christmases ago Devin's mom initiated what we like to call "Hotzel German Day." Obviously the last name Hotzel is about as German as you get and these boys are big on their heritage. Nancy orders imported meats, sausages, saurkraut, red cabbage...(you name it... if it's German, we eat it) for Christmas and then it's up to the three boys to pick which day to celebrate. They also pass this crock of mustard (don't ask) down each year to the new "host" and this year it was Devin and I's turn. So, with out further ado, feast your eyes on many piles of man-meat, mustard, and all of our friends and fam enjoying it all. Oh, and beer, did I mention that? Lots of German beer.

Of course our BFFE's stopped by for a bit. Pretty sure no one can wear that Alpine hat like Slade! So stinkin' cute that little chunkamunk.

Nancy, my mom, and sweet baby Jake/my parents/Nancy and Blake/Tyler and John (John is an honorary Hotzel and therefor the only other one allowed to don the German hat)/Nancy and her boys/passing of the crock - I know it, they're strange.

Katie and Lauren with their babes/Stegs and Eddie/Molly and Chris/sweet nephew Jakers!/my BFFE Rox was in town! so glad she got to come/boys playing washers outside.

Poor S had a stomach bug and was laid up on the couch most of the day. She fell asleep at FIVE PM and didn't wake up until the next morning! She also slept through all the late-night German madness which means you KNOW she was not feeling good. Apparently she had a great time while she was awake though because even now, a month later, she always asks me "remember when everyone came over for German day?! That was like SO.FUN.MOM!" (she absolutely talks like she's 13 and its scary)

Okay so I didn't take good pictures of the food. Just imagine every type of sausage there is, various fermented vegetables and the most glorious german apple cake ever made. And beer. Lots.

Next year it's Katie and Tyler's turn to host at their house. Thank goodness because once every 3 years is about all I can take I think.

On to the next...our trip to Orlando...

marathon blog post #1

2011-03-24T10:29:00.000-05:00

So many updates to be made -- why do I do this to myself?!

Okay...starting from right after the engagement.

VALENTINES DAY! That was only a month and a half ago, no big deal.

These were the Valentine's Scarlett passed out to her preschool class and friends. They came out pretty cute I think for last minute, day of! Thank goodness kinkos is right around the corner, they know me and Scarlett on a first name basis!

After school we got together with our fave friends for a little Valentine's treat exchange at Chick-fil-A. Again, no decent pictures, just what I managed to get on the camera phone.

Precious little love birds ;)

And, needless to say I got a pretty fab early Valentines day present in the form of an engagement ring so our dinner was pretty low-key - which is how I prefer it anyway! I surprised Dev with his favorite homemade pot stickers (notice my sweet little sriracha sauce heart! haha) and he surprised me by walking in the door with a bag of chips and queso from my fave mexican restaurant! It was an eclectic dinner to say the least when you add in the avacado strawberry salad and random left over mashed potatoes.

Just call me slacker mom of the year, I have no pictures of Scarlett's Valentine's presents, her by herself in her cute little dress, or anything else V-day related. Oopsie!

Next up...The Second Annual Hotzel German Day...

Well hello

2011-03-23T15:21:00.001-05:00

I just downloaded the Blogger app on my phone and I think it might finally cure me of my lack of motivation to update on a regular basis.

I have tons to update about and most of the pictures I've been taking lately have been on my phone. (love my NIKON but that thing is a pain to run around with) I don't know why it put NIKON in all caps either? This new phone is too smart for me.

Anyway...
Let's play catch up shall we?!

A few weeks ago Scarlett and I started about 99 painting projects at once. You name it, we probably painted it. I say "we" loosely, by the way. Bookshelves, dressers, night stands, chairs, the list goes on but among my favorites was the old coffee table I painted with chalkboard paint for Scarlett's room. She is loving it, and even I catch myself doodeling away for a while! It was super easy to do and took about 30 minutes minus the drying time.

Alright well I can't figure out how to put these pictures where I want them so this post is getting cut short. Apparently I still need some major phone tutorials!

goin' to the chapel...

2011-02-16T23:00:00.000-06:00

Y'all...I haven't been able to wipe this smile off of my face for 4 days.

Devin and I are getting MARRIED! :)

Saturday night was the best night of my life, hands down, the end. I have never, ever been so surprised. Try to stay with me as I explain how it all happened, I'll try to make it as coherent as possible...

D and I were at a couple's wedding shower for our good friend's Kyle and Lindsey. At some point during the shower he told me that he forgot his chap stick in the truck and he was going to get it. Sounded legit, the man likes his chap stick. When he came back in from outside he had a weird look on his face and I asked him what was wrong. He said he didn't have his wallet and he could've sworn it was in his back pocket. It was super weird, I thought, because I had seen it in his back pocket when we were walking in. All I can say is it's a good thing I had a couple glasses off wine in me at this point because I just shrugged it off and thought maybe I just saw the outline where he usually has it? Whatever. We concluded he must have left it at the house and we'd go check after the shower was over. Good acting skills babe, who knew...

Mostly all of our friends were at the shower so Devin and I kind of split up at times so we could talk to everyone. I didn't notice this while it was happening, but every time one of Devin's friends needed another drink, Devin would always go outside with them to get it. Apparently he was also informing them all that he was going to be proposing that night! Thinking back, I can't believe any of these people could keep a straight face around me after he told them. Nope, everyone kept their cool, and if not, then they just must have been totally avoiding me and I didn't notice?

So at the end of the shower everyone starts talking about going out to Houston together. I had been texting back and forth with my friend Ashley all night because the plan was to meet up with her and her boyfriend, Eddie, who weren't at the shower, wherever we ended up going. We decided they would meet us at my house so Devin could get his wallet and we would all go together in the same car.

Oh such a perfect little plan.

So we get to the house and I make a bee line for the bathroom and expect Devin to turn off the alarm. Well he grabs my hand and asks me to come outside. At that point I see through the window flickering candles, and I'm just processing what's going on, when the alarm system starts WAILING! Haha, I was too distracted by the fact that I had to pee, and Devin was too distracted trying to get me to come outside with him that neither of us had pressed in the code! Just a small glitch ;) So after a brief run back into the hallway to turn off the alarm, Devin lead me outside...

There were candles lining the patio, followed by rose petals forming a pathway to the gazebo, which was wrapped in beautiful sparkly lights and more candles. I was shocked, overwhelmed, in complete disbelief, and about to start bawling. He lead me out to the middle of the lights and dropped to one knee. After saying the sweetest, most perfect words I had ever heard, he asked me to be his wife. After I said YES! it started to hit me that, wait a second?! I've been with you the entire night?! How did this happen?! Who did all this?!

{this pic was taken before we got there so the lights weren't lit up}

Backtrack juuuust a bit...the whole time Devin and I were at the shower, Ashley and Eddie, along with the entire Sweet T Fam had been decorating my backyard with candles, roses, and Christmas lights. Devin had apparently called Meredith earlier in the day and said, "I want to propose tonight," to which Meredith replied something like, "Hooray! HERE'S WHAT ~~YOU'RE~~ I'M GONNA DO!" Haha, the fact that Meredith took over my engagement does not surprise me in the least! I am so thankful for her, and this is just ONE of many, many reasons why. She is an incredible best friend, and her plan was absolute perfection. Thank you, Meredith, from the bottom of my heart for being my BFFE. And Ashley, who has been like a sister to Devin since they were little kids, and who I love very, very much, was just the sneakiest little decoy and I will forever be so happy and thankful for her, and that her and Eddie were with us that night. Complete and utter perfection!

When they all came out of the darkness to show themselves, I still just couldn't believe it was them. It meant SO MUCH TO ME, that Devin knew how important it would be to me to have them all there. Meredith and I just hugged and cried. Ashley had a big box of Sprinkles Cupcakes, which HELLO, what engagement is legitimate with out them?! Not mine, that is for sure. It was just so sweet, overwhelming, and words could not explain how happy I was and still am.

I am so incredibly blessed by Devin. When I think back to being at the shower, I am seriously dumbfounded at how he behaved that night. Not that I have no faith in him, HA!, but I always thought that he would totally give it away if he ever tried to pull off something like this. I knew that the engagement was "coming" at some point in our nearish future, but I guess I had just convinced myself that it would still be a while. Maybe it was just that I was totally not expecting it, or maybe he's just awesome. ;) Either way, I could not have asked for anything more "me" or more perfect. (have I said already that it was perfect? It was perfect) AND, it was an absolute stroke of luck that I, the Queen of Chipped Nail Polish, decided to do my nails earlier in the day AND go shopping for a "I shouldn't buy this but I'm going to anyway" new shirt!

Best friends. Look at POOR Slade! Sooo past this little man's bed time!

I wouldn't change one single thing about that night, but I do wish that sweet Scarlett could have been there. I left out all the candles and roses and she was SO excited when she got home the next day and ran outside.

Ha, my little munchkin, or as she now likes me to refer to her as - my little flower girl ;)

My favorite thing she said when I was explaining everything that happened to her was "Ooh Mom, your ring is so sparkling!" ANGEL!

Perfect night. Perfect past 4 days. I feel so very blessed and loved. The response Devin and I have gotten from our families, friends, and even people coming out of the wood works on facebook has just been completely overwhelming. It is an amazing feeling to know that so many people are so genuinely happy for us. If you are one of those people who have congratulated us, THANK YOU, again. It means so much.

Life is good. Being *this* happy once seemed so impossible to me and now I am the happiest I have ever been.

To my sweet FIANCE - Scarlett and I are so lucky to have you, so thankful for you, and so EXCITED to be a little family. I am proud of you, constantly awed by you, and love you with my whole heart!

xoxo.

what up?

2011-01-23T12:35:00.000-06:00

A lot's been going on and I haven't been keeping up -- shocker.

Last Sunday I ran my third half-marathon. It was lovely running weather...humid and rainy, with bursts of 25 mph winds. Awesome. We made it though. My mom ran too, it was her first half and I couldn't be more proud of how in shape my beautiful mama is.

Crossing the finish line, 2:17:19. Mom was only a few minutes behind.

Mom & I with our medals.

The best part about burning 1300 calories in one morning? Getting to eat whaaaatever you want for the rest of the day! Lucky for us, the race fell on my Dad's birthday so after we got cleaned up we went out for an amazing lunch at Churrasco's.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Scarlett was in heaven with the mini dessert bar -- bite-size yummies just for her!

Even though this was my third half, I was definitely less prepared than I had been for the previous two. Getting sick a few weeks before put running on hold and I wasn't able to train as hard as I would have liked. But, I was happy with my time considering the crazy weather -- running against constant wind the last 2 miles slowed everyone down big time. This will be my last half for a while. Training for long races is time consuming and exhausting -- something that doesn't go well while trying to keep up with a busy 3 year old! My next race will be the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run 10K at the end of February. Less pressure, more fun. If you're in the Houston area and want to run with, let me know!

Moving on...

It seems like forever ago that these sweet girls and I met up for burritos and cupcakes, but I just wanted to document that it happened. {stealing pics from Mer}

My BFFE!

I am so thankful for these mamas and the new friendships we have developed over the past few months. We have created a constant virtual line of communication via twitter -- and yes, I realize that might sound silly to some people -- but when you're a stay at home/work from home mom, having a little "group" like this kind of takes the edge off the loneliness that can come with raising small children all day long and needing ADULT conversation! The fact that we all live close and can get together every couple weeks is a double blessing.

And if you do follow us on twitter, than you know all about THE Caramel Cake that Stefanie ordered last week. Oh my sweet goodness, it was to die for. I don't know how I lived 25 years of Southern existence without the knowledge of this cake!

Hello lova.

Scarlett was at school while all this cake business went down, but I was sure to give her a bite or two when she got home. She thought very highly of the cake as well ;)

Thank you again, Stef, for being so sweet and having us over for this scrumptiousness! You are precious.

And last but not least, Dev and I got to babysit our favorite kiddos on Friday night. Scarlett was beside herself when I told her Carson and Slade were coming over to hang out all night!

Devin helped C&S make S'mores in the fireplace, we played with every toy in the house, and they finally crashed around 11 watching Toy Story 3 on the couch. It was a fun night and having 3 kids running around made it go by super fast. I could totally handle it everyday ;) ha.

I guess that sums up the past couple weeks. I'll try not to get that behind again. Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

xoxo

before it's too late.

2011-01-06T18:06:00.000-06:00

It's pretty sad that I haven't posted about Christmas or New Year's yet, buuuut...better late than never, right?

No pics of me because, well, some things are better left private. I'm one of those lucky people who look as sick as they are, and was in no picture taking mood. Besides that, we had a wonderful Christmas. Scarlett was beyond spoiled, of course, and Dev and I didn't fair too badly ourselves. Even Stella had a stocking stuffed to the brim! It was truly a blessed Christmas.

Can't forget about our gift exchange with our BFFEs.

Precious Avery and the whole Bradford fam squeezed us in one evening over the break. We were SO happy too, as they are very high in demand when they come in town! Wish these girls had more time to play together, I know they would be the bestest of friends, just like their mama's :)

New Years Eve was a little different for me this year -- as in I actually went out and did something for the first time in I don't know long! Nothing big, we just hung out with old high school friends, but it was so fun!

Me & Devin

Mike & Drew, the gracious hosts! Dev will be Mike's best man in their wedding in October.

Andy & Carly -- they came solo, therefore making them the "default" couple.

Kyle & Lindsey, Daniel & Brett. Party People.

And because it's just cute...a picture of Scarlett giving Stella her first Sprinkles "cupcake." They really know how to steal all of our money! ;) I realize Scarlett is sporting quite the outfit -- she is a budding fashionista I tell you.

2010 was a great year, but I am welcoming 2011 with wide open arms. I just *know* it is going to be one of the best.

I wish you all the happiest New Year, with all the peace, love, and JOY it can possibly hold!

Oh, and don't forget to read along with us at the Blush and Bashful Book Club. The January book is The Help and I promise you will adore it. Meredith will be posting the commentary for chapters 1-3 tonight so check back often!

I'm off to cook dinner, fold laundry, pick up toys, blah, blah, blah....

2010-12-31T14:39:00.000-06:00

I have some vague, distant memory of being a very good blogger back in the day. Back when my child was a teeny baby, napped often, and didn't wreak havoc on my clean home in a matter of minutes. Back when there weren't Barbie dolls to assist in wardrobe changes, tea parties to have, and Scarlett couldn't tell I wasn't giving her my undivided attention when I had my phone in my hand.

It was the beginning of this year I began to ~~realize~~ admit how much the internet was distracting me from my motherly duties. {As in, I could longer ignore and deny it} It's a charming place the world wide web. I could so easily get lost for hours reading pretty blogs, saving inspiring pictures for my next baby's nursery, catching up on the latest celebrity gossip, filling up my Etsy basket, and creeping on Facebook. The time had come, however, to prioritize. Dang that concept! I wistfully deleted blogs from my Google Reader that weren't friends and family. Waking up to hundreds of new blog entries each morning can take a serious dent out of precious play time. I backed off from social media and unsubscribed my email address from many a online retailer. It was actually freeing. I went days with out so much as flipping my laptop open. I got stuff done.

Indeed, my internet withdrawal (and extreme will power) was giving me more time to tackle my daily chores, dote on my baby, and go to bed at a decent hour. And my resolution was not short lived -- I kept my browsing at bay for the better part of 2010. Yet in all my so-very-unselfish efforts to be more present, as Scarlett transitioned out of toddlerhood, I found her wanting more "alone time" to play. How this could be? I just don't know. You mean you don't want mommy to play princesses with you? How does one play Candy Land all by themselves? What are you doing with out me for two hours? And not so much as made a peep? It was a sad acquiescence that my imagination was not up to par with my 3 year old's. Re-enacting Cinderella in it's entirety with miniature figurines is not for the faint of heart. My impersonation of the evil stepmother apparently just doesn't cut it, and I'm okay with that.

Yes, I would be kidding you all if I said I wasn't enjoying her independence. Gone is the guilt of popping in a movie (or three) as a distraction and forcing naps on a child who clearly does not think they are necessary. And getting used to these small bouts of free time? Not difficult. Getting used to a self-sufficient child? It's odd.

I have to say though, I still cannot seem to stay on the computer the way I used to. I check facebook on my phone, rarely. I have slowly added to my Reader, but still it is mostly reserved for only my closest of peeps. Most days, I wake up early or wait until after my angel is in bed to pull the laptop out from under the couch. I come running when my angel girl wants to give me the time of day.

All that said, (did your really read all that? you didn't have to) I knew it was going to take me a while to get back into good blogging habits! Two or three times a week is probably the best I will ever do. If you really want to know what we're up to at any given moment of the day {insert need for sarcastic font}, you can follow me on Twitter. Oh yes, I am a twittering machine. I've found it's a really good way to stay in-the-know with my friends, and I only use it on my phone so {I let myself believe} it's less distracting. I think everyone should have an account! ;)

And just to totally make this blog post the biggest contradiction ever -- Have you heard about our new virtual book club? Ha, I know!
An idea concocted by Britt, and 2 seconds later made a reality by Meredith, with myself and Haley as additional commentators, the Blush and Bashful Book Club has been formed. Hop on over, and if you're interested, please read along with us! I think it's going to be really fun...and what else do I have to do, right? {virtual wink}

I still have to blog about Christmas. I was sick and hardly took any pictures, as I looked like I had been run over by an eighteen wheeler. It's coming. For now, I am off to play blocks!

CHRISTMAS CARD OUTTAKES

2010-12-29T13:44:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to show off how photogenic Scarlett and I can be sometimes...ha!

These, my friends, are only a sampling...for your viewing pleasure. Oh yes. We took hundreeeeds of pictures over several days trying to get something -- ANYTHING! -- decent to send to 60 people. Ultimately this is what we went with...

My actual Christmas cards are a disaster I just don't even want to talk about. I ended buying DIY kits at Paper Source while on an impromptu trip to Sprinkles. {okay, I'm lying...my trips to Sprinkles are never impromptu but because of how often we frequent it I have to pretend that sometimes they are} Anyway, they looked so super cute put together in the store, and I was running out of time to order something and our pictures were not going exactly as planned. So 70 something dollars and a few days later, I'm sitting at my parents dining room table freaking out...they weren't as cute as I thought they were. Paper Source must have done some major embellishing on their samples. I sat there bewildered at all the assembling I was about to do, and for a few minutes I considered scratching the cards all together. But, I just went with it, sent them, and it was a lesson very learned. I know if you weren't lucky enough to get one in your mail box that you're just dying to see them, but it's so very sad - I didn't keep an extra for myself. Sorry I'm not sorry.

More Christmas to come!

xoxo

2010-12-14T00:15:00.001-06:00

This weekend was all about Scarlett. Well, so is every other weekend, but this one was extra fun!

Friday night we put on our jammies, hit up Starbucks for some hot chocolate, and Dev drove us all around town to look at Christmas lights.

Sweet girl, happy as can be!

Saturday afternoon we finally saw Tangled, and oh my goodness gracious -- SO stinking CUTE! Talk about instant obsession, Scarlett has not stopped talking about it for 2 days.

Gigi&Scarlett.

Yup. Needed all those napkins for my ginormous bag of popcorn, extra butter. Thanks!

And just when Scarlett was thinking her weekend couldn't get any better, we headed to the Tichenor's for dinner and a fun little impromptu board game session. The kids wore matching pajamas (holy cuteness), ate snow ball cookies, "hunted" for witches in the backyard with a flashlight, played with play-do, and tried to "help" us play Scrabble. It was a super fun night with our BFFE's!

Sunday afternoon we took Scarlett to see Santa. The picture was "free" and was supposed to be available online....yyeah, it was, but it looked like THIS. Um, seriously? K...well I managed to crop it like this...

BUT, compared to the CUTENESS of last years pictures, this one's not gonna cut it.

Thinkin' we need a Santa re-do!

Bitty girl last year.

And finally, I must document Scarlett's first set of school pictures. I almost died when I saw these. Sometimes when Scarlett smiles, especially if she's trying really hard, it looks like she's in intense pain more than happy (examples above). I just knew these were going to look forced and cheesy. Oh, was I wrong, I adore these precious pics!

Not quite sure how its possible my sweet baby angel girl is a 3 and a half year old little kid. Her being in school has really made the past 5 months fly way faster than they should. This is her last week of the whole semester. Again, how is that possible?

This week, my to-do list is about 3 miles long. If I can get it all done though, I will be 100% stress free until the new year and that is motivation enough. Pictures of her ballet Christmas party, preschool performance, and class party to come!

Have a happy week!

take that and rewind it back.

2010-12-10T17:14:00.000-06:00

I feel kind of weird starting this up again so out of the blue. Since I didn't blog for an entire year, I guess I feel like I need to get one major update out of the way...

Now that I'm looking back at all these pictures, I could seriously kick myself for not keeping a better record of this year. So, in an effort to backtrack and remember it for all the greatness that it was, here we go -- our year in a pictorial collage nutshell.

Winter

My beautiful mama and I on Christmas morning 2009, celebrating the arrival of another precious baby boy in the Tichenor family, my first and second half-marathons, both in the incomparable AUSTIN, TX, celebrating a very welcomed Happy New Year, the 1st annual Hotzel German Day, the two sweetest bffe's you ever did see, and the arrival of Stella the Boston Terrier.

Spring

Scarlett's first trip to the Houston Rodeo, to ride a pony, and to get her face painted, Easter, a DeGroot family road trip to New Orleans and Georgia for my Uncle Marc's wedding, my dad, the official Grill Master, and a shower for Meredith and baby Slade.

Summer

My baby girl had the cutest 3rd birthday donut party that you ever did see, all her friends came over that morning in their jammies, ate donuts and played. Scarlett started ballet and tap, I saw Jimmy Buffet in concert for the first time, and Scarlett had her first memorable experience with watching fireworks in downtown Houston.

I didn't realize until I started putting these all together how busy our summer was. Full of play dates and birthday parties with sweet friends and family -- the time fuh-lew by. Scarlett switched to big girl ballet, Devin's brother Blake got married in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, we showered Roxanne and baby Cameron, and Scarlett had her very first preschool orientation!

Fall

Oh fall. Fall indeed brought changes. Scarlett started two days a week at a private Christian preschool. I could not be more thankful to be able to send her there. She has made precious new friends and is learning about letters and numbers and Jesus. Melts my mommy heart. October brought "birthday season" as we like to call it in our little playgroup...count 'em SIX kiddos turned one year older that month. Scarlett went to her first, real, no-boys-allowed, tea party, and her f~~uture husband~~ very best friend Carson T turned the big 3. The newest addition to the Hotzel family, Jake Wyatt, was born at the end of October as well, and we could not have been more thrilled to add another reason to celebrate in this most popular month to be born!

Scarlett was Dorothy for Halloween. We went to her school's trunk-or-treat, trick-or-treated with friends, and she even had her first big neighborhood excursion. As is Hotzel tradition, Devin, Blake, Morgan and I went to Wurstfest in New Braunfels for Devin's 26th birthday. Scarlett's class had a precious Thanksgiving party, and as for actual Thanksgiving Day, Scarlett had a 103 fever and an attitude to match, so there are no pictures of that.

*******

WHEW!

So now we're all caught up, correct? I think so. Even though this year deserves so much more of an explanation, I think I can sum it up in about 3 words...so.very.awesome. :)

Thank all of you for your sweet comments "welcoming us back" to bloggy-land. It makes me so happy to know you're as excited as I am!

Scarlett is in for lots of surprises the next few days...a night of hot chocolate and looking at Christmas lights tonight, going to see Tangled in the morning, and taking pictures with Santa on Sunday afternoon!

Have a terrific weekend loves!

the difference a year can make.

2010-12-08T16:44:00.002-06:00

Well, I guess I made a big fat liar out of myself 6 months ago when I announced my official return to blogging.

It wasn't that I didn't want to --I had every single intention, but if you only knew what's been up around here, you would agree that maybe my comeback was just a little premature.

Because this blog is public, and I have no intention of ever making it private just so I don't have to hide things from a few select people, I've decided after a lot of thought and deliberation that I need to make a few things "known".

I've gone through a lot the past two years. My life did a complete 180 mid 2009 as I ended my three year marriage, moved back to the place I grew up, and tried to figure out what to do from there. I was embarrassed, sad, overwhelmed, and pretty resentful. But, and this is a BIG but, life did not stop. If there is one thing I can say I did very well throughout the divorce, it's I kept my spirits high. And most of the time, that wasn't hard. I had my beautiful, precious baby girl to keep it together for. I had family who supported me to the nth degree, I had an un.be.lievable best friend and her precious baby boy who occupied all of mine and Scarlett's time and countless other people in my life who were just there when I needed. I forgave the unforgivable, learned how to just.let.go of what is beyond my control, and realized an independence I never knew I had. I can truly say that it was the best and the worst of times.

And so basically, I didn't want to sit here and write about all that while it was happening, and I didn't want to pretend our life was perfect when it absolutely wasn't. It took me a while to even start reading blogs again...I had no desire to look at pictures and read all about all the happy little families out there, making babies and taking vacations, living their "normal" lives...

But as the old cliche goes...the one I heard from probably every person I knew over and over and over again through out all this...things got better with time. And in my case, way --I mean way, way BETTER...

I guess you could say my life has done another complete 180 in 2010. I mean, seriously, GOOD stuff has happened, and I now believe with my whole heart that in this life, you get what you give.

All that good stuff, I will catch you up on as I begin to post regularly. Cross my heart and hope to die, I am done worrying about who my happiness is going to anger or upset...and I'll just leave it at that.

Scarlett and I have a pretty fun and fantastic life goin' on for ourselves if I do say so myself, and I plan to not let a day of it go by with out telling y'all aaaaall about it. ;)

Meredith...was that *THUD* I just heard your cup of Dr. Pepper hitting the floor as you dropped it in disbelief?

Thought so... ;)

We're Baaa-aaack!

hey kid.

2010-06-08T21:45:00.000-05:00

this afternoon scarlett looked out the car window, sighed, and told me that the sky was such a beautiful blue today. she held hands with her cousin and walked around downtown fredericksburg; sang, giggled, and kept telling me how she couldn't wait to go home to finish watching toy story 2. she told me i was her favorite mommy at least once every hour. she told everyone how she was going to start her ballerina lessons on thursday and she was going to wear a big pink tutu. i told her that she was the funniest kid i've ever known. i told her not to jump off the couch about 10 times. i told her to put on her shoes before she went outside. because now she can do stuff like that by herself. i told her to give me a little kiss and she licked my cheek and thought it was the most clever thing she had ever done. i told her i would be ok if she didn't grow up even one more minute. i don't have a baby anymore, i have a little kid. she's about to take dance class and go to preschool and i'm about to freak out. i know it only gets more fun the older they get, and don't misunderstand me, i LOVE the sweet angel child that scarlett is turning into. its just days like today, when she runs off with her cousin to play for hours and basically forgets i'm alive, that i start to miss my baby girl.

anyway....

**************************

scarlett, my mom, and i took a little impromptu trip out of town this week, so i'm going to extend the giveaway until thursday. seriously y'all? 8 entries? keep entering!

little one had her first run-in of the summer with the ice cream truck last night. nothing better than a push pop on a ridiculously hot texas night.

we'll be home tomorrow...scarlett's third birthday party post to come!

get ready blog world...

2010-05-27T17:57:00.000-05:00

SPRINKLES OF SCARLETT IS BACK! :)

After countless emails and facebook messages asking where we had gone, I finally feel like it's time to come back to blogging. I've missed it, I've missed you, and I've also missed almost 6 months of blogging about mine and Scarlett's life.

A lot has happened in these past 6 months. Big changes, little changes, some were unexpected, some were a long time coming. Some were sad, and some were super amazing and exciting. I tend to be a private person, and with everything going on, I decided to take a little hiatus, but I never thought it would be for this long.

That said, I am VERY happy to be typing these words, uploading pictures of my precious angel, and reading all your posts again! We are just shy of Scarlett's 3rd birthday; I can't believe how fast these baby days are flying by and I can't miss documenting another second of it.

And to celebrate our "return", I've teamed up with CSN Stores yet again, the awesome online mega-store that brought you the diaper bag giveaway last year, and we're doing it again! This time the prize is a $40.00 gift certificate to ANY of there 200+ online stores.

I'm going to do a separate post for the giveaway tomorrow, so make sure to check back for that.

Last but not least I'm so excited to be participating in Meredith's {embrace the camera} blog-along. The whole point is for mom's to get IN FRONT of the camera instead of behind it, which we all know happens not nearly enough! So here is me and my almost 3 year old at the park a few weeks ago...

have a wonderful rest of your thursday...

you'll be hearing from me again very soon :)

xoxo

sweet girl

2009-12-05T22:37:00.000-06:00

keep calm and blog

2009-12-03T10:03:00.002-06:00

I came across an awesome shop this morning on etsy. It's called The Lobster Pot and they have a super fun take on the Keep Calm and Carry On posters that have become so popular. They're also some of the most affordable on etsy, at just $11.99 for an 8x10 print!

Here are a few of my favorites.

I NEED this one.

You can convo him for different sizes and colors!

Just thought I would share! Hope you're all having an awesome Thursday so far.

meatless moday: best chex mix!

2009-11-30T15:10:00.000-06:00

So once the holidays roll around, I have an obsession for basically only two things.

Gingerbread Lattes (which I am drinking right now)

and CHEX MIX (which I would be eating right now but my first batch is already gone)

The past few years I've made the traditional recipe, sometimes adding some hot sauce or extra seasoned salt to make it spicier, but this year I have a new recipe and I just have to share.

For the mix you need:

3 generous cups of the following

Wheat Chex

Corn Chex

Rice Chex

Captain Crunch (yes you read that right)

3 large handfulls of Cheddar Jalapeno Crunchy Cheetos

a few handfulls of pretzels, whatever kind you like

For the sauce:

6 Tbsp Butter

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1tsp Onion Powder

Preheat the oven to 250.

Microwave butter until melted, add the Worcestershire and spices. Mix well.

Place dry ingredients in large roasting pan. (I cook mine in 2 13 x 9 glass pyrex - works just as well)

Pour sauce over dry ingredients and mix well, making sure sauce coats all the cereal.

Cook in oven for about an hour.

Dry on paper towels for 15 minutes.

Just between you and me, I double the sauce recipe. Yep, that's 12 tablespoons of butter. You don't have to, but I definitely think it's more flavorful when you do!! :)

Think your recipe trumps mine? Leave it in the comment section so I can try!!

Funny story from this morning...

I was ordering Scarlett some clothes on Gymboree (all their stuff is 20% off today PLUS free shipping!) when I heard her rummaging around in the fridge. I couldn't see her, but I kept asking her what she was doing and she wouldn't respond. Then I heard her little feet pitter-pattering behind the couch and into her room. She was too quiet so I decided to go in and see what in the world she was up to.

I found THIS!...

My little Paula Deen. At 9:15 am she decided to have a stick of butter for a snack. I do not know why she thought this would be a good idea, and after taking a bite she gladly handed it back to me and said "that's uuuucky mommy!"

I laughed soo hard. Had to take a picture of my little butter thief.

Hope you all are having a fabulous monday and finding some great online deals. Personally, I haven't been able to peel my little eyes away from Etsy all afternoon. Type in "etsyHolidaySale" or "etsyfreeshipping" -- there are tons of awesome prices today!

Don't forget to leave your Chex Mix recipes in the comment section!!

xoxo

MIA

2009-11-25T08:38:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to check in and say we're alive! Life gets crazy and blogging has definitely been put on the back burner. I'm sorry I haven't been reading or commenting! I promise soon that I'll be back!! I miss y'all!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends.

LOVE!

meatless monday: thanksgiving edition

2009-11-16T15:39:00.000-06:00

Even before I was a vegetarian, Thanksgiving was definitely not one of my favorite holidays. Not only is there a ridiculously large amount of meat involved, but I hate getting so full I can hardly breathe. (Um, don't worry, I still do it - every year. without fail.)

And don't get me wrong, I do love some things about the holiday, and I am definitely NOT judging you turkey lovers out there. And I'm definitely not reserving my Tofurkey at Whole Foods either, because that sicks me out even more than real meat. I am, however, ready to stuff my face with mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie! So, over the next few days I'll be posting some easy vegetarian and vegan Thanksgiving side dishes, most of them with a delicious twist, and hopefully you'll find a few new things to try this year...

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 whole garlic bulbs

1 tbsp olive oil

2lbs mealy potatoes, peeled

1/2 cup milk*

4 tbsp butter*

salt and pepper

Separate the garlic cloves, place on a large piece of foil and drizzle with the oil. Wrap the garlic in the foil and roast in a preheated oven, 350 degrees for about 1 hour, or until very tender. Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into chunks, then cook in a pan of lightly salted boiling water for 15 minutes, or until tender.

Squeeze the cooled garlic cloves out of their skins and push through a strainer into a pan. Add the milk and butter and season with salt and pepper. Heat gently until the butter has melted.

Drain the cooked potatoes, then mash in the pan until smooth. Pour in the garlic mixture and heat gently, stirring until the ingredients are combined. Serve hot.

**I substitute the milk with soy milk and the butter with vegan butter, like Smart Balance.)

Pictures from our weekend to come!! I officially became that mom - and took Scarlett to see Barney live. Ugghhh....

you're far too kind...

2009-11-13T00:25:00.000-06:00

Raise your hand if you wish there were more hours in the day!

Sorry I have been pretty much MIA this week. I feel like it's been pretty much non-stop around here. But I wanted to make sure and thank all the sweet bloggers who have given me awards lately...

Thank you to Katie for tagging me with the Honest Scrap award. (I'm not sure if this is technically an award but still...)

Read the July version HERE.

Katie is such a sweet, genuine, down-to-earth, CUTE girl, so go check out her blog. Her letters to her future husband will absolutely make your day!

Thank you to Jennifer for the Kreativ Blogger award. You MUST follow her blog so you can read about PRECIOUS baby Addie.

So for this award I'm supposed to tell you all 7 things you may not know about me...

1. I am 5 feet tall. When I was pregnant with Scarlett, my doctor measured my height and said I was 4'11". I told her that was incorrect and made her measure again.

2. The one and only thing stopping me from being completely Vegan is my love of Parmesan cheese.

3. I have two tattoos. One huge-mistake-of-a-fairy on my lower back, and the word LOVE on my wrist in pink in honor of my sweet Val. She's serving in the Peace Corps. The "O" in love has a peace sign in the middle. Why don't I just show you...mine is on the left. Five of my best friends and I got these right before Val left in April.

4. I drive a yellow car.

5. I am extremely talented in imitating foreign accents.

6. I am a very un-jealous person. It takes a lot.

7. I'm working on a little "business" and I'll reveal it soon :)

Thank you to Kerbi for the Over the Top Award!

The little survery...

1. Where is your cell phone: Always somewhere close by.
2. Your hair: is depressing me at the moment.
3. Your mother: is the absolute healthiest person I know and it shows.
4. Your father: is the absolute hardest worker I know.
5. Your favorite food: chips and salsa. I literally eat it every day. I don't know what to do with out salsa in the house.
6. Your dream from last night: So random...Target got a fabric/sewing section and carried Amy Butler fabric.
7. Your favorite drink: Tazo Passion Iced Tea
8. Your dream/goal: To be an a good mom, always. And to finish my half marathons!
9. What room are you in: On the couch in the living room.
10. What is your hobby: Running
11. What is your fear: I'm a little neurotic about carbon monoxide poisoning
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years: Living in Austin, TX
13. Where were you last night: Running @ the Clements track
14. Something you are not: tall
15. Muffins: Not really a fan
16. Wish List items.: a camera so nice that I have no idea how to even use it, and a juicer :)
17. Where did you grow up: all over the great state of TEXAS
18. Last thing you did: watched Real Housewives of OC
19. What are you wearing: Yoga pants and a t-shirt
20. Your TV: is always on Nick Jr.
21. Your pets: none and I intend to keep it that way for at least a little while longer...
22. Your friends: are the most encouraging and supportive people in the world
23. Your life: busy and blessed
24. Your mood: kind of annoyed because I'm watching the new Girls Next Door and it just isn't the same...
25. Missing someone: Val in Bulgaria!!
26. Vehicle: Ford Escape
27. Something your not wearing: make-up
28. Your favorite store: Target, Anthropologie, Tory Burch, Forever 21 and ETSY!!!
29. Your favorite color: Coral and Turquoise
30. When's the last time you laughed: Watching Scarlett attempt to "spit" while brushing her teeth.
31. When's the last time you cried: ~~Might have teared up when Taylor Swift accepted her Entertainer of the Year award.~~
32. Your best friend: Ohhh so many. I am blessed with amazing, amazing friends.
33. One place you go over and over: Target and my parent's
34. One person who emails me regularly: MEREDITH
35. Favorite place to eat?: Chuy's -- IN AUSTIN -- has to be in Austin.

And finally, thank you to Mackenzie, Leigh, and Kate for the Fabulous Sugar Doll Award!

I'm supposed to tell you all ten interesting things about me but REALLY I think I've said enough.

If you actually read this, you're the bomb.

Thanks again ladies!!!

meatless monday

2009-11-09T16:32:00.000-06:00

Whit's Easy Veggie Chili

1 15-oz can each: dark kidney beans, white kidney beans, garbanzo beans

1 16-oz bag frozen mixed veggies

3 cloves garlic

1 small chopped onion

1 package chili powder mix

1 16-oz can crushed tomatoes

1 cup spicy V-8 juice

1/4 cup pineapple juice

Hot sauce, to taste

Directions:

Toss all ingredients in large pot and heat for 20 minutes or till hot. Stir as needed.

Recipe from MeatlessMonday.com

I haven't personally made this, but it just looks too easy not to try. Not really sure about the pineapple juice? If someone makes this let me know how it comes out!

I wish I had more time to write, but I have a to-do list the length of my arm. Hope you're all having a great Monday!

my awesome morning in pictures

2009-11-06T10:55:00.000-06:00

I decided to bust out the Christmas mugs in celebration of my new Gingerbread coffee creamer. Not quite as good as my favorite Starbucks drink ever, the Gingerbread Latte - yes, even more favorite than the PSL. But it's still pretty good.

Then I turned on the TV -- to Zack and Kelly getting married! How could I not watch?? Takes me right back to 4th grade. (Can you believe they got married 15 years ago?)

Scarlett got a surprise package in the mail from her great-grandma Jo, the self proclaimed "specialist in sending stupid souvenirs and junk no one needs." I have to say, this is almost always true, but in this case, she actually sent something pretty good. Much better than the creepy life-size stuffed ballerina Scarlett got as an infant.

And I got a surprise package too! My shirts for the Austin Half came in - SO EXCITED! I think I need this as motivation for my 7 mile run tomorrow....

Then Scarlett and I played around on Photo Booth for a good 15 minutes. I cannot get her to look at the actual "camera" for the life of me.

Close enough.

I was supposed to watch Rileybug today, but her poor mama is sick, so she's staying home with her. I'm thinking we'll go kill some time at Target, stop by my parent's for lunch, and then wander the aisles of Whole Foods with my mom.

Hope you all have an awesome Friday! Yay for the weekend!!!

best of intentions

2009-11-03T11:06:00.000-06:00

So yesterday was definitely one of those days that I had about a million things to do and only got about 3 of them accomplished. I totally intended to do a meatless monday post and when I woke up this morning I had 84 entries in Reader. I think that gets me a big fat FAIL in the bloggy world.

But, I have a valid excuse. I kept sweet baby Riley for a friend from church most of the afternoon. She was pretty much the easiest baby ever, but keeping 2 kids entertained all day was not as easy as I thought it was going to be. I'm sure all you moms of multiple children are rolling your eyes at me, and that's okay. I completely own the fact that I am nowhere near ready for another child.

It was good practice for Carson though, who's getting a baby sister sibling @ the end of June.

Sweet girl. Not even three months old.

Scarlett loved having Riley over for most of the day, but towards the end I think she was ready to get her mommy back. She kept asking "When is Riley's mommy coming?"

Hopefully keeping Riley will become a permanent thing for us, and if so, I'll be super excited!

Now we're off to play @ the park on this GORGEOUS beautiful amazing day.

xoxo

halloween oh nine

2009-11-01T20:51:00.000-06:00

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

fun day.

2009-10-30T22:20:00.000-05:00

Today my sweet mama took Scarlett for the day so I could FINALLY organize her new room - which was COMPLETELY out.of.control.

My child has more toys than any kid should ever have, so I needed to do a little consolidation, especially since Christmas is just around the corner.

Mom took Scarlett to the store to pick out her very own pumpkin to carve...

Apparently this is the one she wanted, so bad that she was trying to pick it up herself...

When I came to pick her up she couldn't wait to show it to me!

Then we went to Target to get some cookies to bake. (and by bake I mean open package and place pre-cut, pre-decorated cookies on baking sheet)

Pretty sure this is the first time we have ever "cooked" together. She was super cute and super excited.

Then she decided we needed to share...so we made Carson a little Halloween gift package and left it outside the door as a surprise!!

Doesn't she look so BIG?!

It seems like yesterday that I was writing this post about Scarlett's first Halloween.

Such a little munchkin she was.

And the cutest little monkey you ever did see.

Hope you all have a very HAPPY and safe HALLOWEEN!

xoxo.

giveaway winner!!

2009-10-29T17:07:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to announce that

from Weathering the Storms

is the winner of the JJ Cole Diaper Bag from AllModern.com !!!

(Scarlett picked the name out of her Halloween witch hat)

DeDe (it's her pen name) is like Super Woman - she's an awesome wife, she's preggers, an English teacher, AND going to grad school.

TOTALLY deserving of this win if I do say so myself!

Congratulations, DeDe!

This giveaway was so much fun. Thank you to all 36 of you who entered!

Can't wait for Halloween. Scarlett is going to be the most beautiful little BELLE you ever did see!

meatless monday & little c's party

2009-10-26T13:14:00.000-05:00

Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto and Feta Cheese

Ingredients

10 ounces whole wheat linguine or whatever pasta you prefer
3/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomato halves, drained
1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves
2 tablespoons slivered almonds
2 tablespoons pre-shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

Preparation

Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain through a sieve over a bowl, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Return pasta to pan.
While pasta cooks, place tomatoes and next 6 ingredients (through black pepper) in a food processor; process until finely chopped.
Combine tomato mixture and the reserved 1 cup cooking liquid, stirring with a whisk. Add to pasta; toss well to coat. Sprinkle with feta.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 300 (30% from fat)
Fat: 9.9g (sat 3.3g,mono 3.9g,poly 1.6g)
Protein: 12.3g
Carbohydrate: 42g

Saturday we celebrated Carson T's 2nd birthday out at Dewberry Farms. It seriously could not have been more amazing weather for his party. Of course, little miss Scarlett had to rock the cowgirl boots she got from Uncle Mike last Christmas!
{mer, I'm stealing pics!}



These two are pretty much inseparable...

Carson's beautiful mommy and me :)

The fabulous party favors. Yep, those sure are the candy corn rice crispy treats. :) We spent practically aaaall day Friday on these. I did the "cookin'" and Mer did the pretty packaging.

And if you haven't already heard the wonderful news -- MER IS PREGNANT! We are so beyond thrilled for the expanding Tichenor fam!!!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway if you haven't already and have a great Monday!!

my first giveaway!

2009-10-24T10:03:00.000-05:00

Okay ladies, I am BEYOND excited about this giveaway!

AllModern.com is an AMAZING website. Seriously, I could spend a fortune. They have the BEST modern bedding selection ever, the cutest baby & kids stuff, and I'm kind of dying over these ADORABLE kid's chairs.

So imagine how thrilled I was when their promotions team contacted little ole me to do a giveaway for them!

*THRILLED*
{and kinda jealous that I don't get to enter myself!}

Up for grabs is this sweet diaper bag by JJ Cole.

Made of Polyester, Durable Nylon Lining , Polyester Fill

Includes Changing Pad

3 Compartments, Zip Closure

Exterior Features 3 Accessory Pockets

Detachable Shoulder Strap

Stroller Clips

Ideal For Hanging on the Stroller or Around Your Waist

Wipe Clean

Phthalate Free

The bag is so super cute and perfect for a boy OR girl mom! Win it for yourself - or give it as a gift to your fave mommy or mommy-to-be!

Here's how you enter...

1. Become a follower of Sprinkles of Scarlett & leave a comment. {1 entry}

2. If you're already a follower - just leave me a comment saying so! {1 entry}

3. Click on over to AllModern.com and tell me your FAVORITE thing on the site. Who knows...it just might be another giveaway one day! {1 entry}

4. Blog about the giveaway on your blog and leave a comment linking to your site. {2 extra entries!}

The giveaway will end WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28TH @ 12 a.m. central standard time.

Can't wait to find a winner! and thank you SO MUCH to AllModern.com for this fun opportunity!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!!

our sweet little visitor...

2009-10-22T14:00:00.000-05:00

Look who came to play yesterday!

One of my very best friends, Roxanne, and sweet baby Aves came for a short but oh-so-sweet little visit yesterday.

Aren't they just the CUTEST?! I was so proud of Scarlett; she was an awesome sharer and didn't mind one bit that baby Aves was drooling all over her toys. :) She's going to be the best big sis someday.

This picture shows how totally pictured out they were, but I needed some documentation! Poor Avery was not happy and Scarlett could have cared less.

Rox - I hope you got better pictures than I did! Thank you so much for taking the time to come over and play for a little while. I would give ANYTHING for us to live in the same city! I treasure every moment we get to spend together and I love you and your beautiful angel baby.

In other news, I am SUPER excited because I'm about to host my very first giveaway ever! An awesome online retailer reached out to me earlier in the week and just as soon as I get all the details ironed out I'll be telling you all about it!

Stay tuned and have a wonderful Thursday!

almost

2009-10-20T09:25:00.000-05:00

Oh. My. Goodness.

I almost just went crazy.

I haven't had internet since Friday morning.

That's probably all I need to say about that, because I know you all understand.

(OK, really I had my BlackBerry but it's just not the same.)

We did have a productive weekend though. We unpacked, unpacked, and unpacked some more.

I like our new little "home".....but I miss The Estate so very much.

So now we're just settling in.

Eating some of this.

Yes, that's two cartons in there.

Don't judge.

It's like heaven on a spoon.

I'm off to read as many of the 124 posts in Reader as I can before Scarlett wakes up! I'll be back with a more structured post later...I've missed like 3 Meatless Mondays in a row...sorry about that.

Oh! And I have to give a shout out to to Scarlett's BFF for her...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CT!

You are the studliest little 2 year old there ever was!

Hope you all have a great Tuesday! Biggest Loser tonight! yay!!!

oh how fast things change...

2009-10-14T17:30:00.000-05:00

A little trip down memory lane...

Meredith and I, October 2003. Best little ACU roommates and friends.

We used to stay up till 3 in the morning scouring theknot.com, planning our future weddings. (Mers was closer than we thought...mine was a couple years later...) I don't think we ever once discussed babies...

Who knew that 4 short years later, we would both be new mommies to these two precious kiddos...

The Tichenor family in Austin, The Grannis fam in Ft. Worth, with play dates few and far between...

Scarlett and Carson's first car ride together was an absolute disaster... they SCREAMED the entire time.

And now those rides are a weekly occurrence...and we can keep them happy with lolli-pops... :)

This is how our day went yesterday....

I brought over these because it was an awful, rainy, humid Houston day.

Carson and Scarlett played with their new "baby sister"...

Fed her a nutritious lunch of Cap'N Crunch...

Doesn't this just melt your heart?

They ate BabyBear pancakes for dinner just like Mer did when she was little...

While Mommies ate this...a lot of it...yikes.....

First bath together...look at those precious baby rolls!

Now those baths are a pretty regular occurrence as well...

Watching 101 Dalmations and having a little bed time snack...

We did actually venture OUT of the house yesterday and took a little trip to the bookstore. And yes, eventually Scarlett and I went home...but they were just being so precious to each other yesterday we couldn't ~~not take advantage of the fact that they were sitting there quietly~~ pull those sweet babies apart.

It is such a huge blessing to me that Meredith and I live so close now. I hope all you mamas out there have a BFFE or 10 to spend your days with like we do.

xoxo.

Update: Mer sent me this from her iphone last night. The title of her email was...

"so sad"

Guess that means I need to make another batch... :)

i need your help!

2009-10-12T15:17:00.000-05:00

I'm SO excited! Just registered for The 3M Austin Half Marathon on January 24th AND the Austin Half Marathon on Valentines Day! I now have TWO excuses to go to my most favorite city in the world - duh, AUSTIN, TEXAS.

The 3M is supposedly really easy. Mostly downhill and straightaways - can't think of a better half marathon to run.

The Austin Marathon is going to be a little different. Lots of uphill, but I think I'll be OK, especially coming off of the 3M three weeks earlier. I've heard the atmosphere at this race is amazing and apparently so are the swag bags. Has anyone ever run it before? I can't wait!

photo: roguerunning.com

In a few weeks I'm gonna have to buckle down and officially be in "training" mode. I think I'll probably need about 9 weeks to feel confident I won't die during mile 10. This means lots and lots of long runs, and lots of quality time with my iPod. But I desperately need some new running music...

I'm about to reveal the slightly thug, slightly teeny bopper sides of me, don't judge. Here are the first 12 songs on my running playlist right now...

Papparazzi - Lady Gaga

3 - Britney Spears

Say Hey (I Love You) - Michael Franti & Spearhead

Party in the U.S.A. - Miley Cyrus (remember the not judging...)

You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

Whatcha Say - Jason DeRulo

Run This Town - Jay Z, Rihanna, Kanye

Hot Revolver - Lil Wayne

Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill) - Wycleaf Jean

Waking Up in Vegas - Katy Perry

Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon

Dirty Diana - Michael Jackson

That lasts me about 4.5 miles, so I listen to those 12 songs the most lately. I need song suggestions PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE! I'm going to be so sick of all these songs in no time.

Leave your fave workout music in the comments! I will love you all forever!

xoxo.

conversations with a toddler

2009-10-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

This little munchkin CRACKS me up ...
Here are some snip-its of our daily conversations...

We were watching the Wizard of Oz and Scarlett saw some chickens running around...
Scarlett: Look at those birdies, Mommy!
Me: Those are chickens silly, they lay eggs for you to eat. (She was eating a hardboiled egg at the particular moment)
Scarlett: Uh HUH!! And yolks too!!

and...
Scarlett: Mommy? That the bad witch?
Me: Uh huh, but she's just pretend.
Scarlett: I don't wanna big green nose. (I've been joking with her that I'm going to make her be the Wicked Witch of the East for Halloween if she's not a good girl -- is that awful?)

examining a quarter, holding it up for me to see
Scarlett: Wow! Look at dat big boy! dat JESUS?"
Me: OK, I had no words but it CRACKED. ME. UP.

about 5 minutes after she woke up from her nap yesterday...
Me: What should we do now, babyface?
Scarlett: ummm, snack? Go see CarMer!

playing with her pretend food
Me: Look Scarlett! An egg!
Scarlett: OOOH!! Gimme a sip of dat!

Bored at my parents house...
Me: You wanna watch Cinderella?
Scarlett: "Uh huh! It in?" (asking if its in the VCR)
Me: Yup, you just need to push it in
Scarlett: Ohhh, with my toes?!

Laying in bed with her, trying to get her to sleep. It's completely dark...
Scarlett: Mooommy, look what I got...
(she has something pinched in between her thumb and index finger)
Me: What is that babe?
Scarlett: Umm, a booger.
Me: (silence)
Scarlett: I found it in my nose....

Dressed up as Cinderella...
Scarlett: I want my glass slippers.
Me: Well, they're kinda small. (really I just didn't want to go get them out of the car in my pajamas...) Maybe we can go find you some other ones today...(trying to get her to forget about it)
Scarlett: Uh huhuhuh. At Targerrr, you buy me new ones. You buy dem for me!!?
Awesome. My child is just as much a Target-holic as I am.

Ohhh, anyways. Some pictures from the weekend...

Cheering on cousin Kelsey at her vball game.

Keeping my sleepy baby happy with a lolli-pop.

Giving Kelsey kissies! She was talking about seeing her for 2 days straight.

I gotta go. Scarlett won't let up on the Target trip. Really, she needs new glass slippers anyways, because she is going to be Cinderella for Halloween. I (usually) don't just give her whatever she wants like this, but I think in this case it's justified :)

quick, cheap, and easy

2009-10-06T16:08:00.000-05:00

photo: eastvillage kitchen

I've made this recipe twice now and it's been a hit each time. So simple, cheap ingredients, and healthy too. I promise that if you like edamame (soy beans) you'll love edamame hummus! (found in Incredibly Easy Vegetarian Cookbook)

1 package (16 oz) frozen ORGANIC shelled edemame
2 green onions, coarsely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro
3 to 4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon honey
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Cook or steam edamame until it is about HALF WAY cooked. Not totally frozen, but not hot.

Combine edamame, green onions, cilantro, 3 tablespoons water, oil, lime juice, honey, garlic, salt and pepper in food processor**; process until smooth. Add additional water to thin dip, if necessary.

You can also add more water and less oil to cut fat, and I used about half a tablespoon honey, and a lot more salt, but that's just me ;)

Serve with rice crackers and vegetables for dipping.
I also added 1 chopped tomato and mixed it in by hand. This is completely optional but yummy.

**If you use an actual food processor, you may have trouble getting the right consistency, at least I did. It just didn't puree the ingredients enough. The Magic Bullet worked AMAZINGLY well though so I recommend using something like that. And seriously, if you don't have a Magic Bullet you NEED to get one.

OH! And last thing...the hummus is MUCH better after its been refrigerated for a few hours. It's still good warm, but the flavors really soak in if you let it sit a while :)

And here's a pic of the cutest, happiest kids you ever did see, just because.

happy tuesday!

hello

2009-10-05T10:52:00.000-05:00

I just turned on my computer after being out of town since Friday morning and had over 100 new posts in my google reader. Wow, I either read way too many blogs or you all posted like crazy over the past couple days.

I am clearly slacking.

So today I get to play catch up, run a bunch of errands, help out 3 bloggy friends with their signatures (I promise I'm getting to it guys!) and find some time to play with our BFFs AND run 5 miles. OH! And a meatless monday post!

So, I'm gonna go get to all that...but before I go, I'll leave you with a precious picture of my angel baby having a smoothie and a snack at LifeTime last week.

*sigh*...she might as well be 10.

Have a great Monday, be back later!

meatless tuesday

2009-09-25T09:49:00.000-05:00

I'm about to show you something really awesome.
Well, at least I think it's awesome.

Ready?.........

OK, you're probably confused.
Maybe even grossed out, but just wait.
My mom found this "pasta" a few weeks ago @ the new HEB/Central Market in Missouri City.
It's really tofu, but tastes NOTHING like what you're thinking.
It's REALLY, REALLY good.
No joke, people are calling it "The Miracle Noodle"
There are only 20 CALORIES per serving!
Where THE HECK were these when I was trying to lose baby weight?

Do I seem overly excited?
Fine, maybe I am, but as a vegetarian & a runner...I eat A TON of carbs.
And while I feel no guilt whatsoever eating a huge bowl of whole wheat pasta after a really good workout, it's also nice to have a "guilt-free" option on the days I have no desire to step foot in the gym.
Like earlier this month when I thought my head was going to explode from allergies for a week straight.
The way I see it, is there is something seriously wrong with you if you're not excited about the concept of a 20 calorie per serving pasta alternative.
I mean, really.

I should tell you something, though.
They smell AWFUL. But only at first.
You have to make sure you rinse them in a colander, and pat them dry.
Then throw them in a pan with some soy sauce, broccoli, stir-fry veggies, whatever you want.
You use them exactly like you would regular pasta.
There's spaghetti, fettuccine, and angel hair and you can find them in the refrigerated section @ HEB, Whole Foods, and Central Market.

I know the whole concept of tofu pasta might sound weird to a lot of you, but trust me, don't knock them till you try them.
I'm going to do a little experimenting this week and hopefully post some recipes next Monday.
Hopefully not all of you are rolling your eyes at me and some of you are actually sharing in my excitement.
Let me know what you think, are you going to try them??

soup.

2009-09-14T20:29:00.000-05:00

Scarlett and I have been a little under the weather lately. The combination of that, and fall being just around the corner, has had me craving soup big time. We just met our BFFE's @ Cafe Express and I demolished a bowl of their black bean - why does soup taste so good when you're sick? Anyway, I couldn't pick just one recipe, so here's a link to a few soups that sound dee-licious, all meat free :)

Nacho Soup

Avacado Lime Soup

Pumpkin Soup

Refreshing Spicy Tomato Soup

What's your favorite "sick" food?

baby names

2009-09-13T11:36:00.000-05:00

We've been out of town and crazy busy since Wednesday. I came home to over 100 new entries in my google reader. Geez! So, I'm a little behind on this game but wanted to play along anyway. Here are my top baby names...I'm definitely partial to nick-name "proof" names.

Girls:
1. Scarlett
2. Harlow
3. Lyla
4. Kinsley
5. Chloe
6. Caroline
7. Penelope

Boys:
1. Jet
2. Jackson
3. Presley

Yeah, I'm stumped on the boy names. I think it is one million times harder to name boys than girls. Play along if you haven't already!!

bye bye house

2009-09-09T13:37:00.000-05:00

Tonight Robert and I are driving to Fort Worth to officially close on our house. After 8 months on the market we are relieved it's sold, but so sad to be leaving at the same time.

We named the house "The Estate at Riverside" - jokingly, of course, because it's all of 1350 square feet.

It was the first time I ever put any real effort into decorating.

The built-ins were my absolute favorite part.

There were three ways to get into the dining room. Scarlett had so much fun running in circles through the doors.
My beautiful kitchen. OK, THIS was my favorite part of the whole house.

Bye bye granite. Bye bye amazing dishwasher. Bye bye fabulous cabinets and deep drawers.

Bye bye breakfast nook that I never once at breakfast at.

Bye bye pretty lime green bedroom.

There is one amazingly, awesome thing about leaving this house. We will officially be residents of Sugar Land. I just wish I could scoop our little house up and bring it with us. :)

scarlett and i's meatless monday

2009-09-07T18:05:00.000-05:00

8 oz. whole wheat penne pasta
1 chopped tomato
organic baby peas
steamed cauliflower
salad olives
1/4 avacado
organic dark red kidney beans
Newman's Own Lighten Up! Balasamic Vinaigrette salad dressing
lots of Parmesan cheese

Basically, I put whatever left over veggies we had hanging out in the fridge in my pasta and drizzled it with some salad dressing. This was one of my favorite things to do when I was pregnant because it takes all of 10 minutes. Scarlett is not a fan of the "mixing" technique, so I separated everything out for her. She eats all the pasta before she touches anything else :)

precious girl

2009-09-02T21:42:00.000-05:00

I wish everyone could know my sweet Scarlett Olivia. She is the biggest joy of my life and there is not a moment of time that I ever ~~want to bang my head up against the wall~~ tire of her precious, silly, rambunctious, crazy, loud, rebellious self.

She is my beautiful...

cupcake lovin...

mommy adoring...

GIRLIEST girl...

My little comedian...

ever inappropriate at restaurants eating...cutest little thing you ever did see.

And even though she can be a handful sometimes, she makes up for it when she looks at me and asks if she can braid my hair and make me look "sooo pretty mama!" And even though she then proceeds to "braid" my hair so hard that she's really just ripping it out, when she's done it makes it all worth the little tiny bald spot when she asks me "do you like it?!" so extremely proud of the rats nest she just created. She is a joyful, sincere, diva-in-the-making with a zest for life that is so refreshing. She squeals with excitement every time Cinderella's fairy godmother comes to "make her so happy go to ball!", loves to go to her "BIG GYM!" and play, has developed an expectation to see her BFFs every single day (and rightfully so), and knows no greater joy than to buy a new lip-gloss at Target. Did I mention she is girly?? :)

It is the greatest blessing I will ever know to be her mommy. I am so thankful for her everyday.
What are you thankful for today?

its back.

2009-09-02T19:17:00.000-05:00

the pumpkin spice latte is back at starbucks.

is it low calorie?
no.
low in sugar?
uh-uh.
good for you?
um, not so much.

BUT...

it is delicious, sweet, pumpkin goodness and something i only indulge in a handful of times during the fall. it's calling my name friends, and i did run five miles today...so...
what do you think? should i go get one?
i think yes.
what's your favorite indulgence?

beach babies

2009-08-31T20:36:00.000-05:00

took a little trip to galveston saturday with the Tichenor fam.

mommies laid out, daddies built sand castles, and kiddos had a blast.
a perfect end-of-summer kind of day.

my favorite meatless meals

2009-08-31T14:43:00.000-05:00

Pei Wei's Pad Thai.
Spicy linguine-like noodles with little bites of tofu (tastes just like meat, or maybe mushrooms) and veggies.

P.F. Chang's Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps.
Exactly the same as the regular ones, except tofu replaces the meat. I promise you will not tell the difference.

Lupe Tortilla's Nachos Matamoros
Chips, cheese, jalepenos, beans, and peppers. Pretty much nothing better.

Vegetarian California Burger at Cafe Express with a side of sweet potato fries :)
You can order any of the burgers at Cafe Express with either a turkey patty or a vegetarian patty. This one comes with avacado, monterey jack cheese, artichoke hearts, and sun-dried tomatoes. To die for.

Poblano Fresco sandwich at Corner Bakery
Roasted red peppers, avocado, white cheddar cheese, crisp jicama slaw, lettuce, and spicy chipotle lime mayo.

Evelyn's Favorite Pasta at Cheesecake Factory.
Penne pasta with broccoli, oven-dried tomato, roasted eggplant, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, garlic, pine nuts and parmesan.
so delicious.

It is so incredibly easy to eat vegetarian while you're out.
Now, who wants to go get some dinner? :)

cute mom tees

2009-08-30T17:03:00.001-05:00

nothing could be more true. Nina and Tom.

for the cupcake lovers, from sprinkles.com

found at palmercash. I really want this one.

all three found at boymom.

etsy.

for the momma's-to-be. etsy.

and one for the second (or third of fourth) time around.

so cute. found at Pickles and Ice Cream.

Aren't these all so adorable? I want them all! Which one is your fave?

meatless stirfry

2009-08-24T14:16:00.000-05:00

2 packs Uncle Ben's Microwavable Jasmine Rice
1 pack frozen stir-fry vegetables
Soy Sauce - or whatever Asian flavorings you like.

Cook the rice.
Steam the veggies.
Add some sauce.
Mix it all together.
Done.

Meredith made this for dinner last night. It took all of 5 minutes, was delicious, and low-fat!
Ummm, but then...
We ate yellow cake with milk chocolate icing.
Straight out of the pan.
And let the kids dig in with nothing but their sweet little fingers.
It was all Carson's idea.
And it was the best idea ever! :)

donuts and ice cream

2009-08-19T15:31:00.000-05:00

the dirty dozen

2009-08-18T14:05:00.000-05:00

I'm a big believer in buying organic, especially when it comes to produce, and especially because Scarlett eats whatever I buy. Sometimes when I'm at the store, though, I totally blank on which fruits and veggies are the best and worst. The "Dirty Dozen" is a pretty universal term used for the most pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables. Print this out and stick it in your purse, wallet, whatever, so next time you're at the store, you'll know how to buy!

click the image, or right click and select "view image" - you should be able to print it right out!

and here's a resized image if you want it smaller.

layered taco salad

2009-08-17T21:41:00.000-05:00

so i know monday is almost over, but we've had a crazy day. our house is FINALLY under contract (yay!), so we've been pretty busy with all that. better late than never though, maybe you can do meatless tuesday :)

1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 head leaf lettuce, washed and sliced into thin strips
1 2.25 oz can sliced black olives, drained
1 16 oz can vegetarian refried beans
1 cup light sour cream
1/3-1/2 package taco seasoning
1/2 lime
3 avocados
1 cup cheddar cheese
add or subtract whatever other vegetables you want.

Directions:

Mash avocados and set aside.
Combine sour cream with 1/3 to 1/2 packet of taco seasoning (to taste) and juice from ½ lime.
Using a spatula, spread the can of refried beans inside the bottom of a glass baking dish.
Layer the mashed avocados in the baking dish.

Follow avocados with a layer of the sour cream mixture.
Spread all the diced peppers, tomatoes, and sliced black olives on top of the sour cream. Reserve a few tablespoons lettuce to garnish each plate. Layer the rest of the lettuce on top of the vegetables and olives so the lettuce covers the whole dish.
Sprinkle shredded Mexican cheese on top to complete the dish.
Place a handful of lettuce on each plate, and then scoop out the salad like you would a dip.

Nutrition Information

Servings per Recipe: 8
Amount per Serving
Calories: 302
Calories from Fat: 185
Total Fat: 20.6g
Saturated Fat: 6.9g
Cholesterol: 29mg
Sodium: 587mg
Potassium: 850mg
Total Carbohydrates: 23.1g
Dietary Fiber: 10.1g
Protein: 10.5g
Sugars: 3.4g

life with scarlett

2009-08-13T15:43:00.000-05:00

is so much fun.

we act goofy all day long.

we get hot, sweaty, and messy.

we meet clowns who make us sub par balloon animals!

we eat noodles together a lot.

and sometimes with our bff's...we walk our puppy at saks, in our new shoes...and crack up while doing it.

we ride in style...we play, rest, play, rest, and play til we can't play anymore.

we make big pallets on the floor and have disney movie marathons.

we do everything together. and we love every second of it.

shopping in your kid's closet

2009-08-11T10:21:00.000-05:00

hosted by Meredith @ The Tichenor Family Blog

scarlett's first birthday party was all about cupcakes. her birthday outfit is by far the cutest thing her precious little booty has ever worn. the tutu was incredibly heavy for her just-getting-the-hang-of-walking body. the inside of the cupcake shirt was absolutely itchy. she detested the headband and bow on her head and tried to take it off the entire day.

but look how cute!

i guess there's just something about seeing your baby girl looking so much like a princess that makes you feel justified in torturing them at such a young age.

The tutu is from a cute little boutique in Ft. Worth called Babies on the Boulevard. I can't remember who the actual maker is. It was a last minute gift from Scarlett's MiMi. It was incredibly - scratch that - RIDICULOUSLY expensive. Scarlett will be playing dress up in this baby for years to come.

And because I can't pick just one thing. My other favorite is this Juicy Couture Kids sweater she wore for her 18 month pics. I found it at Marshalls for literally a fraction of what it would have cost at Nordstroms. It's size 2T so she will definitely be wearing it again this fall.

And what do I wish was hanging in Scarlett's closet right now?

This adorableness -- Matching dresses for her and her baby. I found these on etsy...there are SO many cute ones from Lady Out Of Carolina's shop. Having a little girl is too much fun sometimes.

easiest meatless monday ever

2009-08-10T12:06:00.000-05:00

What's for dinner tonight?

PIZZA!

Pizza can be surprisingly healthy, as long as you keep your portions in check. I even had a nutrition teacher in college call it one of the most nutritionally balanced "junk foods" you can eat as long as you don't add fatty sausage or pepperoni and go light on the cheese.

Plus, I'm trying to keep these first few Meatless Monday's simple so you can all realize how easy it is.

All you need are the normal pizza ingredients and your favorite toppings, sans meat. Pile on the mushrooms, olives, pineapple, peppers, artichokes...whatever! You can even just order one or pick up any of the MANY vegetarian-friendly frozen pizzas and pop it in the oven. Amy's Organics has tons of nutritious options, and are available in every store, from Walmart to Kroger. Trust me, no one in your family is going to complain.

Another fun thing to do is to grill your pizza. Here's a yummy recipe link if you want to do that. If you're lucky enough to live next to a Central Market or Whole Foods, you can even go pick up FRESH whole wheat dough, all you have to do is roll it out and put it right on the grill.

Don't forget about dessert either. Try topping your pizza with cinnamon and apples, or fresh strawberries and cool whip! YUM.

OK, I'm getting hungry. Let me know if you make your own pizza tonight!

best drinks for kids

2009-08-09T20:57:00.000-05:00

It's amazing how often I see kids - young kids - running around with a 20 oz. bottle of Coke in their hands. It makes me cringe. Sugary drinks are one of, if not THE, largest contributor to the obesity epidemic in America. Just one of those bottles has 17 TEASPOONS of sugar - and not even real sugar - high fructose corn syrup. Gee, I wonder why more and more kids are diagnosed with diabetes at such a young age? It makes me SO MAD.

It is a rare and desperate occasion that Scarlett is allowed to drink Sprite or Hi-C (usually the only two non-caffeinated options) at a restaurant. She has to be acting terribly and I have to be O-U-T, OUT, of all other options to make it through the meal to concede to her having something like that. Most of the time she's perfectly happy with water, or extremely watered down lemonade, or I pack a juice box (one for her, and usually one for "Car" too).

And yes. I realize she's only 2. Older kids see other kids drinking soft drinks and throw a fit until they get one too, but honestly moms, and you know this, there is absolutely no reason they should get one, they are nothing but crap. If you are going to give them crap, at least give it to them in food form. OK, sorry, stepping off my soap box now...

So I say all this to say, that being a mom, I have tried a lot, if not every, kids drink option out there. Here's a quick run down of mine, and Scarlett's, faves.

Besides water, these are the best.

Minute Maid Fruit Falls Water Beverages. Only 5 calories, a full day's worth of Vitamin C, 10% DV of Calcium and NOTHING ARTIFICIAL.

There is a similar product on the market made by Capri Sun called Roarin' Waters. These are OK, but still have 9 grams of sugar and the second ingredient is high fructose corn syrup, which is definitely artificial. So if you have an option to pick between the two, opt for the Minute Maid.

Wateroos. Same idea as the Minute Maid, just in a box, not a bag. For some reason Scarlett thinks juice bags are way cooler than juice boxes.

Mott's for Tots. Pre-diluted juice boxes with 40% less sugar than regular juice boxes. Plus, they're tiny boxes so I believe there are only 50 calories in each one. No artificial sugar, either.

Honest Kid's organic juice pouches. These are some of the only organic AND diluted juice beverages out there. The only negative is that they only average about 5% juice and do contain some sugar, albeit organic cane juice sugar. BUT - they're good. I would even drink them. Our fave is the Berry Berry Good Lemonade, which contains 100% of your vitamin C for the day.

And no, I'm not forgetting about milk. PLEASE, if you can at all help it, make sure you are buying your kids, and yourself, organic milk. It is one of the simplest ways to cut some nastiness out of their diet. Yes, it's more expensive, but skimp out on something else to make up for it, your kids are totally worth it, aren't they? Good, that's what I thought.

My fave for on-the-go, now that Scarlett LOVES to drink anything out of a straw, are the Horizon milk boxes. You can find them at the grocery store, Starbucks, Wal-greens, anywhere. They have regular low-fat, vanilla, and chocolate.

Wanna see how much she loves 'em?
that's my sweet girl at Starbucks the other day. Her and Carson were each having their individual meltdowns and this was the bribery, er...solution.

Of course, any organic, 100% juice, diluted with water, is great for a kid, but I'm just talking convenience here.

Did I leave out your fave? Let me know!

2009-08-06T17:14:00.000-05:00

print available here.

pretty much sums up my afternoon. actually, pretty much sums up most of my afternoons.

at about 3 o'clock every afternoon, while scarletts taking her nap, i fill this (re-usable) cup up with starbucks, sit on the couch, and catch up on blogs. and yes, i just posted that horrible picture of myself taken about 2 minutes ago from my blackberry.

Meredith and I were talking about it today at lunch. She NEEDED a diet coke and I was chugging some awful all-natural sparkling water energy drink. There is NO way we will ever get through another pregnancy caffeine free.

dinner deliciousness

2009-08-03T16:00:00.000-05:00

OK, I'm hesitant to even post this recipe, because it's kind of my "signature" that I take to family functions and showers and stuff like that. BUT it's SO FREAKING GOOD, that I must. It's not originally a meatless recipe, but I'm going to modify it just for today.

The most delicious pasta salad EVER. PERIOD.

Red Wine Vinaigrette:

1 or 2 bunches fresh basil, stems removed. (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Pasta Salad:

1 pound fusilli pasta. (I use a mix of spiral and bowtie)
1/4 cup provolone cheese, cut into strips or cubes
1/4 cup grated Asiago cheese

You can also add green olives, kalamata olives, toasted pine nuts, and sun dried tomatoes. Those are things I've added in some recipes and it makes it all the more yummy :) I've omitted the hard salami and smoked turkey for the sake of Meatless Monday, but I always add at least the salami when making it for a function.

Anyway, here's what you do:

In a blender, add the basil, vinegar, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper. Blend until the herbs are finely chopped. With the machine running, drizzle in the olive oil until the dressing is smooth.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

In a large bowl, toss together the cooked pasta with the remaining salad ingredients. Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat. Serve.

This salad is perfect for lunch or dinner, and it definitely doesn't last long. I prefer it cold, but it's still delicious before chilling. It took a couple tries to really perfect the dressing for me, I usually add a little more basil and garlic, but that's just my preference.

Enjoy and let me know if you try it out! TRUST ME, you will not be disappointed.

it's going to be OK

2009-07-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Mornings are my favorite.
I drink my coffee, check blogs, email, and whatever else the time allows.
Scarlett eats a bowl of cheerios, watches the Wonder Pets, and is completely content doing so.

Anyway.

This morning I was browsing Etsy. I've come across Dazeychic's shop a few times, and always thought her art was adorable. She's added a few prints since I last checked, and I think I want them all!

The best part is she's affordable, most of her prints are only about $20. So take a look around her shop and find something cute!

car & gary

2009-07-22T09:43:00.000-05:00

When Robert and I picked the name Scarlett Olivia the thought never crossed our minds that "hey, that might be kinda hard for her to say when she's little." Not that it would have changed our minds, but now I'm wondering what to do?

She's 2 years old now and STILL will not say her name. She can say "Car" for Carson...but anytime I ask her to say "Scarlett" she clams up and gets shy. It's actually pretty adorable. Carson calls her "Gary" (hey, it's close!) and we've heard other kids pronounce it as everything from "Carlo" to "Carrot".

One time in the bath my mom made up a song that goes "Swimmin', Swimmin', Scarlett is Swimmin'" and swears she was singing along. I have tried a million times to get her to sing it with me, but she omits the "scarlett" every single time.

The other thing? There is no good nickname for Scarlett, and it was one of the very reasons I chose it. My mom named me Jacqueline (pronounced Jack-leen) and when I was in 3rd grade I decided I wanted to be called Jackie. Then in 6th grade I changed the spelling to Jacci because I thought it seemed more feminine. Sometimes I wish I had never shortened it though, so now I'm making sure my kid's won't by picking names they pretty much have to stick with. Ha.

So, have any of you mom's out there had the same problem? Or have any advice on how I can get her to at least try to say it? I know it's not a huge deal and she will eventually learn to say it, but people ask her her name ALL THE TIME and I wish she could answer them. I know it would be the cutest thing on earth!

I'll leave you with an adorable picture of the little BFFE's...

Car & Gary :)
They just looked destined for each other, don't they?

introducing...

2009-07-20T01:32:00.001-05:00

When I became a vegetarian, I promised my family I wouldn't "pressure" them, share my knowledge, or stare at them in disgust while they ate their meals. I think I've done a pretty good job so far; and there is not a man in my entire extended family who I could convince to give meat up completely. (I do think I'll eventually convince my mom though) :)

Don't worry, I'm not going to start using this blog as a vegan platform. The main reason I even became a vegetarian was the simple fact that I just simply don't like meat. But there's a lot more to the vegetarian movement than just animal rights. Most animal products are high in cholesterol and saturated fat...2 things American's could definitely use to cut out of their diets. Farming animals also contributes to about 18% of green house gas emissions world wide...that's a lot.

Here's what I'm getting at...try going meatless just one day a week. Not only will you be helping put an end to world hunger (seriously), but you'll cut your consumption of saturated fat by 15% AND reduce your risk for high cholesterol and heart disease all at the same time.

The best part? Cooking meatless is SO easy...and quick. Do you know what's wrong with that? absolutely nothing! So every Monday I'll post a new vegetarian/vegan recipe your whole family will love, and I'll also break down the nutrition content so you KNOW you're feeding them a wholesome, healthy meal.

Doesn't get much easier than this...

Breakfast: Basically anything but sausage and bacon! Pancakes, cereal, muffins, fruit, yogurt, granola bars, even eggs. Skip the fattening and heavy pork and feel light and energized 'til lunch.

Lunch: Salad! I know it sounds boring, but if you want to be healthy, you have to get back to the basics. Plus, it's only one day a week! Get your protein from grains or nuts, or even whole wheat bread, they all provide just as much protein as any chicken sandwich or cheeseburger and are packed with vitamins and the ever important Omega 3's. If you don't feel like leafy greens, try sushi, black bean soup, or even a cheese pizza. Your options are pretty endless.

And dinner...yum!

Tomato and Herbed Feta Pasta

Serve this pasta dish with crusty bread and a green salad for a meal that’s sure to become a family favorite!

8oz whole grain or whole wheat linguine
1 T olive oil
1 ½ tsp minced garlic
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
12 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts
¼ c water
4 oz crumbled herbed feta cheese

Cook linguine according to package directions. Drain.

Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Drain artichokes and reserve ¼ c marinade. Optionally, cut artichoke hearts in half. Add artichokes to skillet and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in water and reserved marinade. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Stir in drained pasta and feta crumbles. Stir to combine and serve.

recipe courtesy of meatless monday

Servings per Recipe: 4
Amount per Serving
Calories: 391
Calories from Fat: 98
Total Fat: 10.9g
Saturated Fat: 5.2g
Cholesterol: 26mg
Sodium: 643mg
Potassium: 676mg
Total Carbohydrates: 60.2g
Dietary Fiber: 7.9g
Protein: 15.6g
Sugars: 6.9g

basically just a bunch of self-taken pictures

2009-07-16T09:16:00.000-05:00

Last blog about the trip! Monday was our last day, and it was also my mom's birthday. We woke up and went to the aquarium in Baltimore, it's such a neat place. We went in 2001, so I think it's going to have to become a tradition. The only problem...YOU CHECK YOUR STROLLER...so Scarlett basically got to run wild all over the place. I'm going to have to wait until all my babies are at least 5 to ever attempt that again.

Watching the dolphin show. Last time we were there, they had a killer whale, and I got picked out of the crowd to feed it and do all the tricks. I really wanted to do that again, but they had already decided on someone before we got in there! Bummer.

Jellyfish exhibit, it was truly beautiful.Mid-way through lolli-pop = happy girl the rest of the day.

Mom and Aunt Julie watching them feed the turtles.

Giant pre-historic shark mouth.

Downtown Baltimore is SO pretty.

I wanted tons of pictures of this trip, but hated to keep asking people to take them. So we resorted to self-portraits. Some worked out better than others! Ha.

I have a picture in front of this boat from 8 years ago, so I thought we needed another one.

On the plane...this child was JACKED UP on chocolate milk and other sugary, just-to-keep-her-happy, type snacks. The plane ride home was something special.

I hate flying. A glass of wine helps. Two glasses really help.

They did not have regular milk on this airplane, which really baffled me, so Scarlett got apple juice...on top of her already out of control sugar high. She was delirious by the end and completely CRASHED the last 30 minutes of the flight. Sweet girl.

All in all, Scarlett traveled amazingly well and I was so proud of her. She was so happy to go mostly everywhere we went and was super sweet to all her cousins and family. We were so thankful to be able to see everyone, enjoy the AWESOME North East weather, and to take our 5 generation picture, which was the point of the entire trip. I'll post a picture of that as soon as we get them from the photographer.

side note: most of the trip Scarlett got little "surprises" or "treats" everywhere we went to keep her happy and basically so I could keep my sanity. She's playing with her baby in the stroller right now and I just heard her say "no no baby, don't cry. be a good girl and get a prize!" funny how that works, huh?

National Zoo and sweet family

2009-07-15T07:26:00.000-05:00

My Uncle Jack and Aunt Shelley live about 2 seconds from the DC Zoo, so we couldn't pass up the chance to take Scarlett to see some "naminals" and the famous panda bears!

Scarlett and her cousin Calder. My aunt and uncle adopted him from Taiwan about 2 years ago and he is the sweetest, cutest little boy you'll ever know. I think they're trying to see a fishing cat here.

We went at 8:30 in the morning so we could be sure to see the pandas awake. They were so beautiful...just hanging out on the rocks. Everyone was really excited that they were out in the open and you could see them so well. Scarlett kept calling them teddy bears.

Scarlett was so pictured out by the end of the trip.

Gigi and Scarlett looking at the lion. Scarlett is being held in all these pictures because her and Calder both decided they didn't need their strollers. That lasted about two seconds because most of the zoo is uphill...so guess who got carried almost the whole way!Playing with Calders "cool toys".

This is Saturday morning before out 8 hour ride to Baltimore. We stayed at my Uncle Leo and Aunt Joans house which Scarlett LOVED because they had a huge playroom and long hallways to run up and down.
Leo, Joan, and my grandpa

Scarlett and her 5th cousin, who knows how many times removed. Katie is 3 and was so sweet to Scarlett, they had so much fun playing outside together.

silly girls. wish we lived closer!

We're home safe and sound and had a wonderful trip. I still have pics of the aquarium in Baltimore to post, but that's coming another day! Now I'm off to do 100 pounds of laundry!

more from the trip

2009-07-09T23:37:00.000-05:00

It's been a long day! We left Burlington this afternoon around 2 and had about a 4 hour drive to my mom's Godfather's house in Connecticut. Scarlett was a trooper and slept most of the way. We had so much fun tonight catching up with family. Here are some pics of Scarlett playing with her 4th or 5th cousins...we can't quite figure out how it works but they all had fun together!

Katie, 3, and Scarlett.

Playing on the slide. Scarlett thought Katie was so cool and followed her around everywhere.

I'm going backwards because blogger never uploads pictures the way I want them. This is on Lake Champlain this morning. We took a 5 generation picture with Scarlett, my mom, grandma, and Nana, and I. It was a beautiful day and even though Scarlett was slightly uncooperative I'm sure we'll end up with a few good pictures. The photographer was really nice but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get miss priss to smile.

Mom, Grandma, and Nana.

Takin' a swig of the milk of magnesia. I could explain this but I really just don't want to.

Out to dinner. Scarlett won't sit still in a booth for one second and even though I look happy in this picture I was about ready to duct tape her sweet little bottom to the seat.

Two very silly girls.

Scarlett's first Dunkin' Donut.

Vermont Teddy Bear Company tour.

The house my mom grew up in in Burlington. It's beautiful, right on Lake Champlain, and is wayyyy way bigger than it looks in the front. The back goes on forever.

Happy Birthday to "Uncle" Leo and Mom!

We're waking up in the morning and heading to Baltimore to spend some time with my Aunt Julie. EIGHT hours in the car is going to be a new record for Scarlett. Then Saturday we're off to D.C. for 2 days, then back to Baltimore on Monday and we're flying home that night. More updates to come!

honest scrap and pics of the trip

2009-07-08T10:13:00.000-05:00

I was tagged by Meredith, and I've done this once before, so hopefully I don't repeat something I said last time...

1. I am SO sad that Michael Jackson is dead. I understand that most people in my generation think he's a freak of nature child molester, but I love him. My mom listened to his music CONSTANTLY when I was little and I knew every word to the Thriller album at the age of 3. I was allowed to stay up on nights he released new music videos on MTV and will never forget getting to stay up late in 4th grade for the premier of "Scream" with Janet. Looking back, that video was slightly inappropriate for a 9 year old, but I thought it was SO FREAKING COOL. We're in Vermont right now, and had to travel all day yesterday and I was literally on my Blackberry every time we weren't in the air watching the memorial service. I also asked Meredith to TiVo it for me so I can watch the whole thing when we get home :) Now THAT is a good friend :)

2. I think, in my mid-twenties, I have finally found "my style." Not that I've ever been a bad dresser, but I just never really accessorized or put much effort into putting looks together. If I had the budget I would have a closet full of Ralph Lauren, Anthropologie, and Diane Von Furstenberg. I LOVE EVERYTHING Jillian wears on the Bachelorette and definitely go for more "classic", I could still wear this 5 years from now, type clothes. I came to the sad realization at the Galleria the other day that I am definitely too old for Juicy Couture, unless its a sweat suit, and the smell walking by Abercrombie made me gag. It's like they soak their clothes in cologne before they put them on the racks and it can seriously knock you over.

3. I am LOVING Scarlett's age right now. She says the cutest thing you've ever heard, is SUCH a girly-girl, and is so, so very sweet. I am so thankful I get to share my days with my little BFF.

4. I ran a 5k in 26:52 the other day, a personal best. My goal is to be able to run it in 24, but I just don't know if my little legs can do it...at 5'0", I can only take so long of strides, but it's definitely something I want to accomplish and think I can do eventually. It's just a matter of being able to run a lot faster to make up for my short legs :)

5. I will NOT drink tap water. It's not a snobby thing, it's like a mental block I have about it. The taste, the germs, I just think its nasty. I've paid ungodly amounts of money for bottled water in desperate situations, including $18 for room service to get a bottle of Evian at a hotel in New York City.

6. I am the ultimate drug-store junkie. I can't go into Walgreens without buying some sort of makeup I don't need, hair accessory, or nail polish. I have probably tried every Revlon/Maybellene/Loreal powder that exists. The funny thing is, I hardly use any of it, but at least I know what will work if I'm in a pinch.

7. I frequent Target so often that when I tell Scarlett we are going to the store, no matter what store it is, she thinks that is where we are going.

8. I have an obsession with Passion Iced Tea from Starbucks. Its so good with out any type of sweetener, and I would drink it all day long if I could. I recently found the actual tea-bags at the store, Target no less, and make my own now instead of spending $2 everyday.

9. I snack more than I eat regular meals. I never eat breakfast, usually order an appetizer if out to lunch, and by dinner time I'm never hungry because I've been eating handfulls of this or that all day long.

10. I'm sitting in a hotel room with Scarlett as I type this and I've been so distracted by what I'm doing that she pulled almost half the wipes out of the brand new bag my mom just bought and proceeded to tell me "Noooo Mommy! It's OK. I'm changing Puppy's diaperrrr!" Don't worry mom, I salvaged them all and you will probably never know until we get home next week and you read this!

Yesterday was the longest travel day ever, lots of delays and lay overs, but I'm not going to complain because we're here safe and sound! The carseat and my mom's luggage didn't make it last night though, and it's kinda putting a wrench in our plans for the day. My mom and grandma are at the airport right now hoping the luggage has shown up so we can go to the Teddy Bear Factory! I toured this when I was a little girl, and am so excited to take Scarlett so she can make her very own Vermont Teddy Bear!

More to come...

one word wednesday

2009-07-01T15:23:00.000-05:00

this little angel

2009-06-29T13:30:00.001-05:00

gives me so. much. JOY.
is the love of my life.
has the most beautiful laugh.
loves to take care of me.
loves me to take care of her.
cracks me up.
can sing her ABC's and count to 10.
picks at her toe nails CONSTANTLY.
can work a VCR like a pro.
would watch Lady and the Tramp over and over and over if i let her.
hates chicken unless its SMOTHERED in sauce.

this little angel...
NEEDS her 3 hour nap.
wants to swim on her own so badly.
is scared of bugs.
fights getting her hair done every single day.
feels pretty in dresses.
wears pull-ups, but calls them panties.
takes to boys better than girls, uh oh.

this sweet little precious amazing angel...
has to be sung to for at least 10 minutes before bed.
thanks Jesus for things like cupcakes and firemen during her prayers.
LOVES to eat snacks.
never wants to ride in a shopping cart.
must bring a sippy cup everywhere.
is almost ready for a big girl bed.
makes my heart smile a million times a day.

have a great monday, and go give your babies some lovin' :)

scarletts dream come true

2009-06-25T23:10:00.000-05:00

My sweet, precious, GIRLY, child is obsessed with firetrucks. I don't know what the fascination is or how it even started, but she is completely intrigued. I had been thinking about taking her up to the fire station to see if the guys would let her see one of the trucks but was kind of nervous they would look at me like I was crazy. Luckily, today was safety day at Life Time Fitness and she FINALLY got to see the real thing up close. There was a helicopter too and since Scarlett had no clue helicopters even existed she was SUPER excited about that too. It flew in and circled the parking lot, then landed right in front of us. She didn't know whether to hide her eyes because of the wind or stare in awe. She kind of did both. Now she knows all about "choppers" and that they go "round and round!"

Big Truck!

My mom and Scarlett

Staring at the big wheel.

Baby C, Mer, Scarlett, and Me

The chopper!

Best little friends "driving" the firetruck.

Such a fun morning!

testing, testing

2009-06-23T21:10:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Sprinkles of Scarlett! I've been itching for a change for a while, but could not think of ANYTHING clever. Thank goodness for sweet Mer, she thought of the new name and a design for the header. Do you like it?

If you're here, you know I've been on a pretty lengthy blogging hiatus. Life just gets crazy sometimes, ya know? I'm so excited to get into it again though; my sweet baby girl is growing up so fast and I have to start documenting all the hilarious and crazy things she does on a daily basis.

I promise a longer post is coming soon, just wanted to start getting the word out. Lots of birthday pictures to post!

Have a blessed week.