Day 78: Yum!

We LOVE Firehouse Subs.

Day 77: Photo Book

I finally made the Disney photo book I've been wanting to make. I wrote it kind of in the fashion of "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" and the other books in the series.

Day 76: Christmas Is Officially Over

It's time to start taking down the decorations. We take our time, but I like to have it done before New Year's Eve. I bought new bins because we are slowly starting to replace all our cardboard boxes with our decorations and whatnot with plastic bins. We started in October when we bought ones for our Halloween decorations. It's neater and it makes it easier to find what you need because we got red and green for Christmas and black and orange for Halloween. I need to figure out what to do for other holidays, too. Anyway, Aaron and I pretended to pack Ashlyn away until next Christmas. I told him it was going to be one of those pictures that started out innocent enough but makes its way around the internet with people saying we're the worst parents ever. So... disclaimer: Ashlyn was having fun and we didn't actually close the box. lol

Day 75: 2011 Is Almost Over!

I love getting our new calendar in from Shutterfly each year. :)

Day 74: Christmas Morning

Christmas morning isn't complete without a cat rolling around on catnip-laced toys.

Day 73: Christmas Eve Crafts

Ashlyn was super excited for Christmas so to make the waiting to open presents a little easier, we made gingerbread garlands. Aaron's mom brought cut out gingerbread men to color with her a week or so before this and we just made some more and I punched holes and strung them up. There was a big garland, but we also made our family. I drew Ashlyn, but she did the rest of us. :)

Day 72: Pine Cone Christmas Trees

Ashlyn and I did a few little Christmas crafts this year and this was one of them. It was quick and simple but lots of fun. She just put pom poms all over the pine cones. :)

Day 71: St. Augustine

We went to St. Augustine, which is called one of the most festive cities in Florida. It is also home to the oldest wooden schoolhouse in the USA. I thought that was pretty cool.

Day 70: So Much Fun

See, I'm on today's picture. So far, so good on keeping up on the pictures. A couple days is good to me. :) Anyway, I got a gingerbread tree kit from Michaels a couple of weeks ago. I gave Ashlyn the choice between those and a house and she picked the trees. I had white and green frosting and different sprinkles and we decorated them together. Ashlyn's favorite part was putting on the "snow."

Day 69: Silly Hugo

Every morning when Ashlyn finds Hugo, our Elf on the Shelf, she says "Silly Hugo!" Yesterday, Hugo was trying on some of Ashlyn's bows.

Day 68: Spoiled Cat

Ever wonder how spoiled our cat really is? Okay, probably not, but this kinda shows it. Ashlyn has a doll bed that stays next to her own bed (and about 5 stuffed animals share that bed at the moment... don't get me started) but the top always got in the way for her, so we took it off (this was quite awhile ago maybe around Ashlyn's 2nd birthday?). One day Ali just started sleeping under it so it became hers. And she has a stocking, so of course it went right above her "bed." And Santa is bringing her new toys and a can of tuna to put in it. Yeah, I know, I would totally be the crazy cat lady if I wasn't married, but in my defense, it was just as much Aaron's idea to keep the bed thing and get her a stocking and whatnot as mine. ;)

Day 67: Early Christmas Presents

I already knew that Aaron had gotten me a prepaid credit card for Christmas because I was really wanting some new clothes. Well, we were at the mall because Aaron's parents wanted our help on what to get Ashlyn for Christmas (with help from my dad, we got her the set of all 10 Disney princess dolls so Aaron's parents got her a few princes! She is NOT going to know what to do with all her new toys! I am so excited for her to open everything!). My favorite clothing store (New York & Co.) was having a sale and it was the last day. So I went ahead and got some clothes I LOVE. I felt bad because of all the money being spent, but Aaron said it added up to about half of the prepaid card so we will just use that amount to put gas in the car and stuff and I'll still have more to buy stuff. So that made me feel better. :) I am super excited to wear my new clothes and I think Stacy and Clinton (What Not To Wear) would approve. ;) That vest and button down shirt are two different items so they can be mixed and matched, too.


And... I am officially caught up besides today's picture. Things are calming down around here so I am going to make it my goal to post more often. Maybe not every day, but close. ;)

Day 66: It's Santa!!!

We were driving from Bubba Burger Grill Saturday night after having dinner with Aaron's parents and at the library I saw three fire trucks all lit up with Christmas lights. I asked Aaron to pull into the parking lot and we all went in. What we didn't see was that Santa was there, too! I knew Ashlyn would love the fire trucks, which is why we pulled over, but Santa was just an added bonus. I knew she would love waving to him, because that's all she wants to do at the mall, but wasn't sure she'd want to go talk to him. She watched a few other kids sit on his knee and she said she wanted to, too. I'm thinking maybe it just felt less intimidating to her than at the mall with all the people and the big production. She sat on his knee and told him what she wanted for Christmas. :) The whole experience just made our night. Santa was awesome, too. When he asked Ashlyn what she wanted for Christmas, she said a kitty cat. Santa said "That's a very special gift. I'm not sure if I can bring a kitty cat, but would you like a kitty cat like the dog you have?" She was holding a Webkinz puppy that Aaron's boss gave her while we were at Bubba Burger (Aaron's boss and Ashlyn are like the best of friends lol). And she said yes, so I think Santa will be putting one in her stocking. Because, you know, Santa needed to get MORE things for her. lol But I think it will be awesome for her to see that Santa brought her what she asked for. :)

Day 65: Please Have Snow and Mistletoe and Presents Under the Tree

We are very blessed this Christmas! We have lots of presents under the tree, including some from Grandpa Blake (my dad), Granny and Granddaddy (Aaron's parents), and Meme and Dadaw (Aaron's grandparents). Actually, there are one or two from Granny and Granddaddy that aren't under the tree yet. I need to wrap those today. And you can't see all of the presents in the picture. We're all very spoiled this year. Especially Ashlyn!!

Day 64: Craft Fair #2

There was another event at O2B Kids and I had a table again! This one was a lot slower but I'm still looking forward to the next event (not sure when that will be... Valentine's maybe?).

Day 63: What Happens When You Don't Know What To Take A Picture Of

This doesn't really have anything to do with anything, but I love being able to see the little man-made lake from our house and every time we walk out to the car we get to see the fountain and little hammock and everything.

Day 62: Randomness I Want To Remember

So this is pretty random for December, but awhile back I noticed one of the people in the building across from us had a bird feeder in the bushes outside their window. I thought it was a great idea and want to remember to get one next spring so I took a picture.

Day 61: Surprise!

I've been wanting this ornament since I first saw it when Christmas stuff started coming out. It is a scene from one of my favorite Disney shorts, Pluto's Christmas Tree. (I am so psyched that they are coming out with more and more merchandise for the older short cartoons.) Apparently, Aaron went to the mall a couple of days after we had gone together and bought it for me. He put it on the tree and the next day Ashlyn was looking at the tree and said, "Chip and Dale!" So I went over and, lo and behold, there was the ornament! :) So sweet.

Day 60: Risotto

We made risotto for the first time and it turned out SO good! We tried a simple recipe since we hadn't made it before but we can't wait to try different variations.

Day 59: My First Craft Fair

The place where Ashlyn takes all her classes (O2B Kids) sometimes has special events and they invite local crafters or businesses to have a table there to sell their crafts or advertise their business or whatnot. It doesn't cost anything to have a table at these events so I thought it would be fun to sell hair bows and cake pops. There were two events this month and this is the first one! It was fairly busy because it was sign up day for the new class session.

Day 58: Cookie Cutter Wreath

I had some cookie cutters my mother-in-law gave me last time we visited and I thought it would be cute to have a wreath in the kitchen (since there were doubles and I already had the same shapes in my collection). So I just put the cutters on a wreath. :) I like it for an added touch of Christmas in the kitchen.

Day 57: Ali's Just A Love Bug

Ali loves to cuddle up on a soft blanket. One of Ashlyn's reindeers happened to be by Aaron so he put it on her, just being silly. Ali didn't care and ended up falling asleep with the reindeer on her. haha She's loves to cuddle with anything, really. :)

Day 56: Ornament Wreaths

Woo hoo! Back to today! I've been wanting to put wreaths above our couch for a couple of years now but never wanted to spend the money on it. Michaels had a Daily Deal today, though, with 18 and 24" wreaths for $2 each. Perfect! I went and bought 3 and each one has a theme. Now, as of this picture, they weren't done yet. But I was too excited that I actually went through with my idea that I couldn't wait to take a picture. :) From left to right they are: ornaments Ashlyn made (there are more, just not up yet and some are going to be made later), ornaments that are about Aaron and me (from our honeymoon, 1st Christmas, anniversaries), and then our Disney wreath. I still want to play with it a little, because I'm not sure I like it (it looked so much better in my head), but I'll see how I feel about it in the morning. I kinda liked it a lot better before the ornaments were on them... we'll see. And yes, it would look much better without the annoying red thing in the middle of the wall, but that's what goes off if someone pulls the fire alarm in our building, so it can't exactly go anywhere. It's loud as anything, so it totally could have gone somewhere a little less, you know, in the middle of everything, but whatever. Rant over.

Day 55: Ack! There's a Mouse Outside!

It was nice outside yesterday so I kept the back door open (to our screened in porch) so the girls could go in and out as they pleased (they love when I let them do that). At one point I saw Ali sitting just inside the door, staring at one of her toy mice... that was outside. Now, I'm not sure if Ashlyn threw it out there for her or if Ali took it out there. Either way, it was pretty cute. :)

Day 54: Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

This was December 5th... Walt Disney's birthday. We put our Disney train (that Aaron got me for our anniversary ♥) around the tree in honor of Walt's love of trains. And how classic Christmas is it to have a train around your tree (if you don't have a tree skirt, that is)? I'm loving it. :)

Day 53: Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!

Hugo is at it again! (I love these reindeer by the way... I love anything with reindeer, to be honest.)

Day 52: Christmas Cards

This night we went to the mall to see all the decorations, visit Santa, and buy Ashlyn's Christmas dress. She didn't want to go see Santa this time (we're going to try again soon), but we did get a cute dress. We took a picture in front of the Christmas tree for our Christmas card. It turned out so cute! This isn't it, but it's still of my little goofball.

Day 51: Rudolph Fizzies

I've posted this on my other blogs, but I really only took pictures of our movie night this day (the 2nd... yes, I'm playing catch up again... hey, it's the holidays and everyone's busy! lol). This had to be my favorite part. It was a quick, last minute idea, but I thought it was cute.


It says "Rudolph Fizzies... to keep your nose looking its reddest." It's Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash.

Day 50: December Is Here!

Today is December 1st! I can't believe it, either. I'm planning activities to do with Ashlyn each day counting down to Christmas. Today was decorating her room! She picked a few things herself at the dollar store and I added in some things we already had. She chose where everything went (obviously this picture is just the top of her dresser... she also had window clings on her window and a sign on her door) and put the Dora and princess ornaments I printed out for her on the little tree.


I also took a picture of another decoration I have up on our dining room table because I forgot I took the other pictures earlier. :) I'm still working on the dining room table, but I'm not sure I can find exactly what I need considering I had some of these ornaments for a few years. Anyway, I took a vase and some ornaments from the dollar store, added a few small ornaments I had, and put them all together. I am hoping I can find the same color small ornaments to make a matching one.

Day 49: Draw, Draw, Draw

Hugo again. (I haven't been feeling well so haven't been up to taking many pictures.) This time he drew a reindeer and Christmas tree for Ashlyn.

Day 48: Drum Solo!

Another Hugo shot. Ashlyn loves pretending to play the drums that go with our Wii Rockband games. So before we threw out a big box that my anniversary present came in (Aaron got me a Disney train to go around our tree! Yay!), Hugo used it as a seat.

Day 47: Christmas Decorations

This is yesterday's picture, so I'm finally caught up! Well, until tonight when I need to post today's picture. :) I love how this turned out.

Day 46: Comfy Cozy

Hugo has already made himself at home. When Ashlyn woke up this day, she found him cuddled up reading one of her books!

Day 45: Welcome, Hugo!

Our Elf on the Shelf, Hugo, came to our house this day! He also brought Ashlyn her new ornament (I've always put a tag on her ornament that said "To Ashlyn From the Christmas Tree" like my parents did, but Hugo wanted to bring it this year).

Day 44: TTFN

Right before we left, we helped tie on some yellow ribbons on my in-law's fence. My brother-in-law is coming home from Afghanistan soon and these are in honor of those we have lost.

Day 43: Happy Thanksgiving!

We honestly didn't take a whole lot of pictures on Thanksgiving. But here is one of Aaron's Aunt Tammie and her new little grandbaby, Alanna (they totally stole our name... Ashlyn was almost Alanna and then we said that if we had a second kid and it was a girl, we'd name her Alanna... guess not now! lol).

Day 42: The Drop-Off? They're Taking Them To The DROP-OFF?!

This view is across the street from the little Country Store in Callaway Gardens, which happens to be where we chose to have breakfast (technically the Country Kitchen, but it's inside the Country Store). After breakfast we walked across the street to take pictures. We called it the drop-off, like in Finding Nemo.


And hey, Nemo had been there!

Day 41: Happy Anniversary, My Love

This day was Aaron's and my 5th wedding anniversary. ♥ We left Ashlyn with his parents and drove to Pine Mountain, GA. There were so many cool things I wanted to take pictures of on our way up there, but we didn't want to stop since it was already a 3 to 3 1/2 hour drive. But I did see this awesome bell next to a gas station we stopped at.


And here are a couple of pictures from the Christmas lights at Callaway Gardens.

Day 40: Granny and Granddaddy's House

This is pretty much what Ashlyn did at Granny and Grandaddy's. She's seriously my little bookworm.

Day 39: BOWS!

Well, I guess it's time to play catch up! I was running around like crazy so I'm just glad I ended up taking a picture this day. lol I took pictures of 3 of the bows this day, but only the reindeer one is the one I'm including in this bunch. :) I definitely need to get better pictures of them all, though.

38: More Baked Goods

I am always forgetting to take a picture until it's too dark outside and Ashlyn's asleep so I can't go find something. I really want to take some cool pictures and maybe play around with editing them so I need to plan ahead. :) But thankfully yesterday I made some chocolate chip/butterscotch chip cookies that I could take a picture of. They aren't my favorite (I'd prefer just chocolate chips) but Aaron and Ashlyn LOVE them!

Day 37: Jingle Bells

Here is one of my new Christmas bows. Ashlyn loved it and would keep shaking her head to hear the jingle bells. lol