Grocery Extravaganza

Mom and I went on our annual grocery shopping escapade yesterday morning. About five years ago, my mom made a "master" grocery list that has ALL the foods needed to prepare Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, and everything in between that we enjoy eating over the holidays. Every year, she pulls out her two-sided list, marks off all the things she already has in her pantry, and off we go :) We pretty much like to keep up with each other and do all of the shopping together, but that two-sided list makes it nice when we get tired. She takes a side, I take the other, and on our merry way we go finish the shopping. If I have never mentioned how super organized my mom is, this should give you a little taste :) Here is "the list."

After Wal Mart, we head to the car, in which she brings an ice chest so that we can put the cold items in. Then, we take a tour through Sams. We left out of there with quite a FULL buggy too! We were pretty tired when we got home, after being out shopping for 5-6 hours. We didn't let our tiredness keep us from going to Southern's last home game though. Gotta love those cold, wet, windy games :) Thank goodness we won! Kenadie did not attend the game, but had a far greater time with Aaron's parents. I asked her if she wanted to take anything to Papaw and D's house...her response, "I take Lily." :) Ha, she settled for her purple purse, stuffed turkey and of course, Dora :)

Let's Eat! Apple Dip

Apple Dip
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 box Confectioners sugar
1 container caramel apple dip
Heath Bar Bit of Brickle
6-8 apples

Cream Confectioners sugar and cream cheese. Spread into bottom of dish. Top with caramel apple dip. Sprinkle with bit of brickle. Serve with sliced apples. Enjoy!

This dip is sure to get you lots of compliments :) It was a hit at the two functions I sent it to!!!

Apples, apples, apples... Oh my goodness!!! Kenadie LOVES apples. The blades on my apple slicer are sure to dull soon :) If you remember in a previous post, Golden Oreos were a staple to get us through our Wal Mart adventures. Well, we have now traded those Oreos in for APPLES! Apples and milk are a must in our bag wherever we go :) Most children have a blankie or favorite animal that goes everywhere with them, nope, not my child. We MUST have milk! As per pediatrician, I have to cut her off at 24oz. of milk a day. That's good though, at least we know she has strong bones :)

Saving $60.00

So, I can't believe I have never blogged about my 2 four-legged friends, Molly and Lily. They both just celebrated their birthdays last month. Molly turned 11, while Lily is now 5. They are very special to me and I would like to say Aaron, but we'll just keep it that they are special to me :) I will admit, prior to Kenadie, they got much more special treatment and attention :( Everyone was right... They all told me "You won't have time for your dogs once Kenadie gets here." I REFUSED to let that be true, but, needless to say, it really is. I love them dearly and hate the thought of anything happening to either one of them. For now though, Kenadie gets pretty much ALL of my attention :)

One of their special treatments pre-Kenadie days was that I had them groomed once a month. How pretty and flowing their hair would be when I picked them up. Absolutely NO tangles :) Well... Kenadie comes along and I start seeing that $60.00 as perhaps something for her, instead of Molly and Lily. So, I decided to give a try at shaving them. I thought I did a pretty good job, so I've been doing it ever since. Another benefit is that my haircuts don't appear to stress them out like they would get when I took them to the groomer. So, maybe I am still "thinking" of them and doing what's best for them after all. :) In the pics below, Molly is on the right and Lily on left.

Before

After

Birthday Party Fun

Kenadie is officially two :) We've had the party to prove it. Between Halloween festivities and dodging football games, Saturday, Nov. 7th was the perfect day for her party :) We had family over for dinner, cake and ice cream, and as I mentioned in an earlier post, I purchased a Little Tikes jumper and the kids had a great time jumping.








I CANNOT believe I have a two year old! When Kenadie was an infant, I thought that two year olds were "big" kids, and now I have one :) Now that we are two, 8 year olds seem like big kids :) So, I guess that still keeps Kenadie little. Time sure does fly!!! For at least the first 18 months of her life, EVERY night when I layed my head on my pillow I would think to myself, "aww... another day is over that I have with Kenadie." I could quite possibly be the most sentimental person you could ever meet! I still have that same thought. I may not think it every night, but I do most nights.

We have had 2 wonderful years with our precious little girl, looking forward to another great year! Happy Birthday Kenadie!!!

10 Things About Me

Thank you, Heather for the nomination to share 10 facts about me :) I like doing things like this, so I will try to give you some facts about me that you may not know.

1. I love, love, love freshly washed sheets! If I had enough time in the day, I would change my sheets EVERY single day.

2. I am VERY much a rule follower!!! You won't catch me cutting any corners or doing ANYTHING I am not supposed to do.

3. When I graduated from college, I thought it might be fun to learn how to sew. So, I took a sewing class and strongly disliked EVERY minute of it. I stuck out the 6 weeks, because I am a rule follower :) and actually felt like I was back in school taking a college course. Not fun and all I have to show for it is an ugly skirt.

4. I was a cheerleader for six years and did not understand the sport until... well, ?!?!?! :)

5. I worked at McRaes (Belk) for one month at Christmas my senior year of high school. Football season had just ended, and I thought I would now have time for a part-time job :) HA!!! I quickly learned retail was NOT for me. I was the youngest worker, so I was fortunate enough to get the pits of a schedule because all of the older ladies would switch their bad work days with me :( Again, being the rule follower that I am, I would never "tattle" on them :) I also got to dust and do such things like that in "better sports ware". I was able to stick out the Christmas season, but thank goodness I picked up on something. I discovered that other workers wanted more hours... so what did I do? I gave them mine and worked less :) That might have possibly been breaking a rule, but sometimes there are emergencies :)

6. I worked at Pep's Point as a slide "conductor" for 4 summers. I told kids when to "go" or "wait". I did not love this job either... Every day when I got to work, I would ask the owner "If you need for someone to go home, I will?" I would get there at 9 a.m. and was usually leaving by lunch--ha. So, I did technically have a summer job, as requested by my parents, I just figured out ways to get off early :)--notice a trend with me and jobs?

7. I wish I had time to work out 3-4 hours a day like I did in high school. Not sure I would do it, but at least the thought is there :)

8. I knicked Kenadie's finger once at a dr. appointment in Jackson. I then attempt to calmly move us to the bathroom, where I proceeded to pass out :( Thank goodnes for the "undercover" nurse that happened to be in there with her child.

9. I was given a "good citizen" award from a police officer in D.C. while touring the Capitol :)

10. I was an avid TY beanie baby collector in high school. Aaron and I would seek out various beanie baby conventions to attend ,haha. If a store just got new ones, I was there, in line to get mine :)

Hopefully you learned something about me that you didn't know :) I am nominating Emily, Presley, and Erin.

Here are the rules:

1. Say thanks and give a link to the one who gave you the award.
2. Share 10 honest things about yourself.
3. Present this award to 3 other fantastically brilliant blogs of content or design, or peeps that have encouraged you.
4. Tell those 3 people they've been awarded and make sure they're informed of these guidelines.

Too Cute To Spook

Halloween was so much fun! Prior to, I had been talking it up with Kenadie about dressing up as a bumble bee and the words "trick-or-treat". I am learning that she does best if she is forewarned about something new, rather than just springing it on her. So, we played some in our bumble bee costume at home to warm her up to it :) At first, she didn't like it, but in no time, she LOVED wearing it and "flew" around the house saying "buzz buzz." Come Halloween, it was no problem to get her to wear her costume and she kept her antennae on really good too! Those little things just make the costume :)

This was our second year to go trick or treating, and our second year to go with Hayden in their subdivision. So sad to say, but this was our last year to go with them, for a few years anyway :( They will be moving at the end of the month to North Carolina. I am happy for the promotion for my brother, but SO not happy with where it takes them :( Until then, we will enjoy them as much as we possibly can :)

Kenadie called her pumpkin her "pumpkin purse."


Kenadie was a ladybug last year, and now a bumble bee. I thought it was funny when Uncle Wes asked what kind of bug she was going to be next year :)

We also celebrated "Kay Kay's" birthday, which is actually today, so Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Halloween was great! Now, if I can just get Kenadie's mind off of going trick or treating. She has asked at least 15 times today to go :) The funny thing... she doens't know that she was collecting candy as she trick or treated :) At the moment, the only candy she knows is a sucker--wonder how long that will last? :)