damn it! i suck!

* i just called and got the last one in indy. they ROCK!*

1. back in november i bought this sweater only to return it because mike said it was ugly and i couldn't justify paying full price for what he thought was an "ugly" sweater.

2. this same sweater was in my shopping cart yesterday because it was on sale. [i forgot i got another 25% off!!] i went back to the website this morning only to find they are out of stock! GRRRR!

3. i got to quit being such a tightwad sometimes! did i tell you that i missed out on my christmas stockings too from pottery barn? they sold out a week or two before christmas.

4. we did kaylee's hair in little pigtails yesterday. she looked so cute. i'm getting pictures today.

5. remember when i signed kaylee up to do this? well we got a cute christmas card from a cute girl named lucy who's from south korea!

6. we sent her a christmas package full of favors from kaylee's birthday party. hope she got them ok.

7. i found ham on facebook-we have a mutual friend. he doesn't know it and i like to keep it that way. its a way for me to keep tabs on him. it made me feel super old seeing his friends all grown up and with girlfriends.

8. all of our snow has melted. i wish it would continue this way and just start getting warmer.

9. i've said this before but this might be the year that i quit co-hosting super bowl. mike can still host it while i go to ikea.

10. though starting the new year i plan on quitting doing/buying things to/for the house since there's a slight chance we could be moving. [houston prefered!]

new year, new look

1. every morning kaylee ends up in some sort of tears from me combing her hair so we finally got it cut yesterday. [we've talked about getting it cut for awhile now]

2. we both love it but we also miss her long hair. it does feel and look so much healthier. [the stylist went much shorter than i wanted. i was going for shoulder length]

3. if her hair is anything like ham's, it will be the right length in a month. [he got a haircut too yesterday]

4. winter break has been awesome. its going to be hard going back to school schedule next monday.

5. i had all sorts of things planned but we're just taking it easy and not doing much of anything besides sleeping in.

6. monday night my friend since jr. high + her family came over for pizza + carrot cake. i haven't seen her since hamilton was a baby.

7. 5 more days till my baby turns 18! holy cow batman!

8. he's not looking forward to it so much because he will be considered an adult. he doesn't want that responsibility.

9. hope everyone had a wickedly awesome christmas! [i think santa mom did good this year, kaylee wants it to be christmas + her birthday everyday and i got a few "sweet" from ham when he opened up his gifts]

10. i had two friends text me on the same day, around the same time, that i should host a get together for new years eve so thats what i'm doing. what are you doing?

christmas card for next year

i did beg him NOT to model those! you should be thanking me: )

catching up this week

new birthday outfit for school

1. i can not believe how fast time has flown by. its almost christmas!

2. kaylee + i watched polar express tonight while mike cleaned up the house. [i had laundry going and cleaned 2 bathrooms + swept the floors earlier just for the record]

3. it was so awesome to see the excitement, happiness and innocence on kaylee's face while watching the movie.

4. she asked me if i was a "rah-tah-grapher" yesterday. i told her not really. then she asked my why i told those people at the store that i was. [the people from olan mills] yikes! she's getting too smart!

5. i feel like i haven't seen ham since vacation started. makes me sad because i know whats to come in the near future.

6. each time i passed kaylee on my bed today i would knock her down- all in the name of fun. she kept telling me i was mean. the last time i knocked her down she came crying because she said i hurt her arms. i told her i was sorry but she only cried a little harder so i told her that maybe she should open one of her presents. she stopped crying till i told her i was just kidding. she told me i was really mean and ran off.

7. oh, this is going to be a long winter break! [she's already bored of her birthday toys]

8. went and did a little shopping on monday since mike was out of town. got myself two sweaters and a sweater vest. i want to dress cute again.

9. especially after watching this what not to wear episode last night. while her attitude sucked, her after makeover and clothes are right up my alley.

10. and i'm super tempted to buy a few things from emersonmade. i have a 20% off code good till the end of the year....

his + hers

alli from hooray started a his + hers series. after visiting with the husband while he was taking a shower yesterday [no! it was just for a chat!] thought it would be funny to share. please excuse our very tiny showers.

hers

his

yep, there is a place for him to sit back and drink a few beers. [these photos were not staged, they were taken this morning before doing this post]

i'm a weiner + other misc. stuff

1. look what i got in the mail yesterday! jane porter and hillary quinn had a contest and guess who won! besides all of this, i also got 4 signed jane porter books, a $15.00 gc to starbucks, a dressy black purse, other jane goodies (recipe cards, pens, candle, notepads)and it all came in a reusable tote bag.

2. unfortunately they did not send me tim mcgraw but mike will now be able to smell like him.

3. jane is super fantastic to her readers!

4. went and helped with kaylee's class and their christmas party yesterday. also volunteered to help every friday for a few hours with the class starting after break.

5. might also have a job doing some marketing for my parents restaurants after christmas. [no set hours so i can be home with the kids when they are home]

6. jack stewie ochocinco had his surgery yesterday. they said he's doing well and we get to pick him up today. missed that little booger. though he sure is expensive!

7. i really want to go and see this movie. kaylee went and saw it with nana already but i got a free ticket from her ds game so i might take her to see it again over winter break. [they call it winter break now instead of christmas]

8. had to check out kaylee's christmas gift from us + the in-laws. this sucker is HUGE! its half my height and her doll will be able to sleep and take a shower in it. she's going to LOVE it!

9. i remember getting a barbie dream house when i was close to her age. talk about being in heaven! i even put up "posters" in barbie's bedroom.

10. i still have a few $10 gift cards to little brown pen if anyone is interested. i have their paris in yellow and rose yellow illustrations and they are gorgeous! the cards are good till the end of january 2011. email or comment below and i will give you the code.

good times except for the stinky fart

thanksgiving and yes! i am wearing a dress

1. yesterday kaylee officially turned 6 years old. we celebrated with a night out to her favorite restaurant- olive garden- where she only wants/eats breadsticks with alfredo sauce.

2. i told ham that was his price limit when it comes to his birthday dinner out. [i hope he picks ruth chris's]

3. now i can sit back and rest for a bit before having to go back out and finishing the last of the christmas shopping.

4. thanks for all the nice comments about my new kitty- jack stewie ochocinco. he's usually on my lap or on the desk staring at the computer but i have him on lock down at the moment since i'm eating lunch.

5. and thanks for the nice comments on kaylee's birthday party. she LOVED it and said she can't wait to turn 7. please slow down!

6. and a HUGE THANKS!! to my college buddy, wendy! she sent me an awesome package filled with my favorites from trader joes!! she ROCKS!

7. did i ever mention that i never did go and get my bedroom furniture? i mention it now because guess what my folks got us for christmas? the headboard + footboard!

8. 2 more days and its sleep in time for 3 of us for 16 days! holla!!

9. jack stewie ochocinco just farted and it reeks! someone please send me a gas mask! [we do call him jack ochostinko]

10. got some great news- kaylee's christmas gift from us + the in-laws has been shipped! [they said it would ship in the new year]

celebrating [and kinda mourning] that she's 6 years old

celebrated kaylee's birthday today with a few friends and my family. [mike's grandma is in the hospital at the moment so the in-laws were not able to come. won't know till monday on what's up with nana's mama as kaylee calls her]

i'm super embarrassed but i totally copied the birthday invitations and idea from this blog. though i'm sure mine was more tedious to make. bought tiny letterpress cards from hobby lobby and had to use painters tape to tape them on regular size paper just so they would go through my ancient printer. i mailed them out in regular note card size envelopes so they wouldn't get lost in the mail.

everyone got a personalized party favor bag made from here. on the back i stamped "thanks for coming to my party! love kaylee" on them. i got the stamp made from here when they had their pay only for shipping special. everyone got the same yummy treats- tiny sweet tarts, tiny m +m's and mini kitkats. the girls also got two tiny nail polishes, lip balm, mini notepad + a mini pen while the boys got a small bag of legos found in the stocking stuffer aisle at target.

the kids ate pizza and breadsticks courtesy papa johns while the adults dined on tiny yummies on two relish trays, tiny bacon wrapped smokies and homemade chili with cornbread. got a big fat compliment from my oldest bro on the chili and said i needed to pass the recipe to either his wife or to mom. he even made another comment to mike on how good it was. of course kaylee requested another krispy kreme donut "cake". i got a number 6 sparkler from our local party supply store for her to make a wish on. after some party games [drop the clothes pin into a jar, how many gumballs in a jar, gumball on spoon race, crabwalk race and hot potato] she opened her presents and went and thanked everyone. even gave big brother a hug.

*fyi: those beer bottles are NOT ham's. he just happened to sit in that chair and the bottles were already there. and the gymboree card is just there to compare sizes.

this is our new kitty. his name was going to be ochocinco like this guy. only because i like his name when i saw him on dancing with the stars. but ochocinco is too long when calling for a kitty. then it was going to be stewie like this guy because he says funny stuff like this on tv. [i am a bad role model] but it sounded funny too so we ended up with jack. just jack. i call him ochocinco as a nickname though.
this is what booah thinks of him. and right now jack is sleeping with kaylee. its so cute! and i'm being really smart this time around. got him to see a vet already and have an appointment to get those front claws clipped- to save my furniture though he's been really good about not using them and he will be neutered all next week. no stinky cats this time around.

a happy wednesday already

1. not the best photo but i love it. ham's giving me the "your taking my picture evil eye" smirk. [he's debating on tackling me i just know it]

2. got the tree finally decorated and a few presents wrapped underneath. [none for my naughty children yet]

3. had a post written yesterday but something happened to it. not sure if its my computer or blogger. [this has been happening a lot lately]

4. going to pick up our new kitten today. i already have a name picked out but it could get vetoed by the family. [i'm picking the name because i like the name not because of the football player...thats a hint]

5. though questioning the new kitty thing. my current pesky cat broke my christmas cake stand last night. *grr*

6. kaylee stayed home from school yesterday. she was feeling better and was singing and dancing that she has 7 more days till her birthday.

7. i made her clean her bedroom and toy room. i told her no party if she can't help. she complained the whole time saying "cleaning is no fun!"

8. this morning a moment of sadness came over me, she goes back to school today. WHY?! WHY?! i ask do kids have to grow up SO DAMN FAST!

9. in other news- there could be a future hawaii family trip for us. fingers + toes are crossed. father in law has found a good deal for us here.

10. that gives me 6 months to get into bikini shape!

whew- busy weekend, funny pictures and weird phone calls

1. baby girl not liking her berry flavored aspirin. [she came home early with a fever]

2. getting tons of snow right now. this is the only way i like it- freshly fallen.

3. got a weird phone call a little while ago. expecting a telemarketer instead got someone inquiring if my husband drives a bmw and that he saw it over at his wife's house the other night.

4. i kept my cool and found out that it was one of hamilton's friends dad whose having problems with his wife at the moment. BIG SIGH OF RELIEF! i thought hamilton did something!

5. thursday went christmas stocking hunting but came home empty. still waiting for pottery barn to email me a large discount on theirs.

6. not all was lost thursday. went and found a new to me bakery/cafe/shop. it was LOVE at first sight! [this is the type of place i would love to own]

7. friday went shopping with a girlfriend. shopped tj maxx and marshalls the most. finally budged and bought myself one of those heavy cast iron cookware.

8. friday evening mike, kaylee and i went and tried a new to us restaurant since i had one of those get $25.00 of a $35.00 coupons. it wasn't our favorite.

9. saturday i went kitty shopping at our local humane shelter. my mom wants another cat and since they're buy one get one free... also visited with my little buddies before they headed out to scotland for a month.

10. sunday we went up to visit my in laws and did some christmas shopping at the outlets.

before i forget!

i've bought a few things from little brown pen and i have to say that i LOVE their photos from paris. they were sweet enough to send me a gift card and a few $10.00 gift cards to pass out to my friends. this is not a giveaway. if you want one leave me a comment and if i have any left, i will email you a code. the gift card expires at the end of january, 2011. YIKES! did i just say 2011?!!

glad my blog is called catching up because thats what i'm doing

me: two years ago

1. i think i still look the same. the bad is just that- i look the SAME. [hair, clothes though not as skinny- boo!]

2. hope everyone had an awesome [thanksgiving] weekend!

3. wednesday i had my surgery. the worst part besides waiting an hour or two for the doctor was going without food since 8pm-ish the night before.

4. thursday we headed up to mike's uncle + aunts house for major grubbing. i wish i could say i ate a ton but i didn't. my stomach shrunk so much that my one small plate of food filled me and i missed dessert.

5. friday i babysat while mike + his buddy went out. saturday we met up with some friends and got to dance to a band we haven't seen in about 10 years.

6. yes, that means little nugget stayed the night at nana + poppop's! [and she didn't even cry!]

7. we got our christmas decorations up along with our tree. still need to decorate the tree though.

8. i need to get birthday invitations out but super picky on how they look so i've been working on them all evening.

9. after the 3rd try mike said to go ahead and buy what i needed to get them to look the way i wanted them too. [i wanted to try this letterpress kit]

10. i didn't want to spend any more money nor did i want to be defeated. i'm glad to report that i got them done and i love the way they turned out. I ROCK!

sweet kids + their faces, icing on the cake type weekend

red balloon release for the schools just say no to drugs week

i LOVE the kids faces in this photo

1. one of the boys in kaylee's class rides on the same bus. every morning he waves and blows me kisses. its SO sweet!

2. had a pretty decent weekend. mike and i went christmas shopping on friday, his day off that he actually took. went to best buy and got ham's christmas present.

3. afterwards went to hacienda and i got smart and left mike there to finish his frozen margarita(s) while i went to tjmaxx.

4. he must of had a good buzz going because he agreed to go to sofa select AND was going to buy some bedroom furniture!! [they were having a half off everything sale good till monday]

5. stupid me was the sensible one and said no, we can wait. [should of drank some margaritas too]

6. saturday morning asked mike if we could go back to sofa select and get some of the bedroom pieces and he said no. don't know why but i started crying. so i went and took a shower and had myself a good long cry.

7. him saying no was just the icing on the cake to some other stuff going on in my head. and sometimes i need a good- for- no- reason cry don't you?

8. we met up with his parents for lunch and friends of mine for dinner.

9. sunday mike went over to a friends house to watch some football and later in the afternoon i met up with a friend of mine for some star bucks peppermint hot chocolate and conversation.

10. when mike got home last night he told me he had called sofa select and they are continuing their sale and that we can go and pick up the headboard + footboard later. is he not a good man?!

family portrait

family portrait

1. just finished eating a chicken fajita wrap from our local deli/cafe/herb store. and some mint chocolate chip ice cream. now i need a nap.

2. i plan on making fajitas for dinner. good thing i like fajitas!

3. been eating as a family all week. its been good and fun and i love my family. [even if they are a little weird]

4. went to shipshewana yesterday and did some christmas shopping. they have a fabulous toy store there and wanted to get one of my neice's one of these. [not from this on-line store]

5. i gave how to make slim, soda pop and ice cream as gifts last year. i love them! educational, fun and something to do on a rainy day.

6. bummed that i had to return this dress. didn't look right on me. [might be the extra 15 pounds + the indiana white i'm sporting]

7. though i did have to keep the emersonmade belt even though it currently doesn't fit. [it was an awesome price- how can i return it?]

8. i'm going in for minor surgery next wednesday. it really is minor. in and out and one day to recover.

9. man i love listening to music during the day though not when i'm trying to write or pay bills.

10. watched the pioneer woman do a thanksgiving throw down with bobby flay last night. it was fun to watch. and i can't believe all the news on how brandy got booted off dancing with the stars. i didn't like her- she seemed too "cocky". i want kyle massey to win because he's just fun even though i LOVE derek. [he's got the most talent]

presents, movies and rollergirls

1. remember from last year i wanted these advent pouches from nuvonova but they were out of my budget? well they still are! so i tried to make my own version.

2. they turned out just ok. i want the red gingham ribbon but i bought already made pouches and its hard getting the ribbon to fit through without any cutting or sewing. so i guess i have two choices. take them as is or stop whining and start cutting and sewing.

3. i woke up in a foul, funky mood yesterday so i decided to take a nap. felt better afterwards. naps are good.

4. finally ordered kaylee's what was suppose to have been her birthday present that got switched to christmas present because it was on back order and not able to ship out till her birthday only to find that it is now on back order till december 30th. [now january 6th!]

5. my in-laws are going halfies with us on it or else she would not be getting it. and she will be getting less presents this year. its cost vs quantity ratio.

6. plus we're getting her a dsi-xl for her birthday [found a good deal on-line]

7. wanna know what else is good? peppermint hot chocolate from starbucks which i will be getting here shortly. [this doesn't start till the 18th]

8. i watched revolutionary road and whip it over the weekend. i thought it was a sign because earlier in the day i told mike we should move overseas. anywhere overseas. in revolutionary road they plan on moving to paris.

9. i told mike it was a sign. he said his sign is cash vs bullshit ratio and overseas has too much bullshit. [he did agree that it would be funny to hear kaylee + i speak with an accent] he's a dream stomper.

10. so then i started to fantasize about becoming a rollergirl. [anyone remember the tv show? i miss that show]

bad blogger but happy friday!

ham washing his car

1. sorry for the lack of posts. i tried on tuesday and it failed 3 times so i gave up.

2. there really hasn't been much going on.

3. monday sucked so i quit monday and on-line shopped [looked really]

4. am in the christmas mood to shop. now i'm waiting for the wallet to catch up.

5. decided to throw a last minute hoorah tonight around the fire pit. going to make a LARGE batch of chili and cornbread- YUM! so far 1 couple said yes.

6. kaylee kept saying it was venterans day yesterday. she's also been asking lots of questions like what is venterans day and what do the road signs mean? and how do i know which side of the road to drive on.

7. she also got a written warning from her bus driver for getting out of her seat and mischief. now i have 3 trouble makers in the family. they all blame their friends.

8. lots of geese [like over 40!] have been staying around our pond. they've been dropping it like its hot and it sure does stink!

9. finally got a christmas list from ham. its got one thing on it but its something!

10. hope everyone has a great weekend! going to enjoy the 60 degree weather we've been having.

my very relaxing weekend away

my anthropologie bowls from the weekend.

1. did lots of shopping this weekend. most of the damage was done friday since i had my college buddy encouraging me on.

2. hit stores like crate and barrel, william sonoma, renovation hardware, pottery barn, pottery barn kids and anthropologie of course.

3. bought a fantabulous sweater at anthro and felt like a girl who had some style only to have the husband hate it. [sent him a pic of it] it was both granny + hippy. both styles he hates] if it wasn't so much money i would of kept it anyway. [i also think i needed a smaller size wendy!]

4. went out to a thai place and visited another college friend and his wife for dinner.

5. decided to cut the rest of the evening short since my college buddy was under the weather. saturday went shopping at the other mall and ran into an aunt on mike's side of the family. [her husband is commissioner of indiana state corrections]

6. went to trader joes too and found some yummy things. wish we had one here! might have to have college buddy send me more happy trekking mix and weissella cookies.

7. felt like being a rebel after eating pf changs in my room and went back out to the mall again since it was like 2 minutes away from my hotel. went looking for a big comfy sweatshirt and tennis shoes since my feet were killing me! found both with 10 minutes to spare before the mall closed.

8. happy with my bargain finds that i decided i needed a few drinks at the hotel bar.

9. the 3 hour drive to and from indy wasn't bad at all. super easy with no traffic!

10. definitely had a great time and needed the time away. i called kaylee while walking into the house sunday morning, she was surprised to see me and to be talking to me on the phone at the same time!

random thursday

1. these photos are not the best but i still love them. i was on my way to the car when i saw kaylee skipping back to her classroom.

2. all the kids in the school got to release a biodegradable balloon into the air for their just say no to drugs program.

3. it was really neat seeing all those red balloons in the air and hearing the excitement from all the kids. [too bad the weather wasn't clearer or warmer]

4. i'm working on getting the house all cleaned- not doing a very good job at the moment and food ready for the family since i leave for indy right after kaylee gets on the bus tomorrow. [EXCITED IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT!]

5. i even bought them gross frozen pizzas, cans of ravioli and meat for grilling.

6. while i am not a big fan of food from a can i might be a fan of drinks from a pouch. [going to try the rum punch this weekend]

7. ham ate a whole bag of funyuns the other day. and i mean THE WHOLE BAG! *sigh* i remember those days when i could do that and not gain weight

8. totally loving this song! [i'm in love with rivers cuomo]

9. totally pulled a mike [the husband]. put a full bottle of wine in the freezer to chill it and forgot all about it till today.

10. going to procrastinate some more and get me some starbucks hot chocolate!

november sucks [sort of]

1. hate that its november already. it means 42 days then kaylee turns 6. it also means 62 days till hamilton turns 18. [typing that 18 really punched me in the gut]

2. i remember those days of wanting hamilton to grow just a little bit bigger, a little bit older so that it would be a little bit easier. how i wish i could take back those days!

3. not that ham was difficult because he wasn't. life just seemed so much more intense when you're a single parent making minimum wage.

4. disappointed that my photo of ham can not be made into a large canvas. i'm going to see if someone else can do it with the original film photo.

5. would LOVE to get the photo above of ham + friends done on a large canvas too but that pesky bush is in the way.

6. not only am i a soccer mom but now a PTO mom too. [went to a meeting last night]

7. while running errands yesterday was thinking about going back to school but hate the thought of spending money on classes for a hobby. money for classes to eventually earn money = good plan but its not my plan.

8. so i thought volunteering more for kaylee's school is a better idea.

9. isn't this the cutest halloween photo? makes me want twins- one of each of course.

10. totally bummed i did not win the emersonmade $500 giveaway but fingers crossed for the pioneer woman's weekend away.

halloween

1. my little korean girl dressed up like a japanese girl thinking everyone would call her a chinese girl. [only nana's mama called her chinese girl]

2. totally love all the photos but the last one is my favorite. she really is cute ornery!

3. love picking costumes that others won't have. found this one on-line from a japanese store and got many compliments like every halloween. what can i say- she's cute!

4. little nugget loved trick and treating so much she wanted to go again so we went up to laporte on sunday. [ours was on saturday]

5. though she doesn't eat much of the candy. [a box of glazed donuts is her weakness]

6. after purchasing her japanese outfit thought why didn't i buy her a korean outfit. [didn't think they would be easy to find then i check out ebay and they have quite a few. maybe next year...and i want one too]

7. thanks for letting me know how my header looks on the blog. i'm also on safari/mac

8. trying to get out my comfort zone and bought this dress. thought i could wear it with leggings and one of my "granny" sweaters since its getting colder outside. [mike calls most of my sweaters -granny]

9. only 4 more days and i get my indy weekend- HOLLA!! [pf changs is in trouble and doesn't even know it! semi quote from the wedding singer]

10. i'm hoping to get back into routine of making dinners for my family. starting to feel a little disconnected again.