finding happy in the small stuff

Just a few highlights from today (in no particular order)...

Got to sleep until 6:40!

The sun was shining BRIGHT and almost hurt my eyes coming in through the front door :-)

Cleaned both toilets.

Fixed my vacuum...on my own...all by myself...works good as new!

Ate homemade fudge.

Got a call from Mexico...from Gretchen! :-)

Got a box of books I ordered from Amazon. Yay!

Had fun laughing at choir dress rehearsal where I sat by a "new" friend.

Got a diet from McDonald's.

...it has been a good day.

laid back and lovin' it!

While **somebody** is in Mexico soaking up the sun, drinking fruity drinks with umbrellas, and learning Spanish from Carlos, I am trying to keep my promise of blogging a lot, so that she can keep up with everything! ;) So, you guys will have to endure my random, boring posts, too!!

Okay, I was feeling super nice this morning and after Levi got on the bus, I fixed breakfast for Eric!
And it wasn't just handing him some granola bars as he walked out, either!!!

I fixed him some good ol' egg sandwiches!

And, yes, I took a picture of them, because that's how boring I am! ;) He felt my forehead to make sure I was okay. Ha!

It has been pretty low key around here and I love it! The kids and I have been getting in some Christmas flicks in the evenings and just doing lots of snuggling. Last night, Eric got out of class early and called to tell me to let the kids stay up. Their faces were priceless when he walked in the door!! They all wrestled for a few minutes and then mean old mom announced it was bed time. BOO! It was so nice to have him here for an evening!!

Frank has been getting into lots of stuff around the house! He has been taking baths in marshmallows...

Making his name with the fridge magnets...

And this morning, he had a marker in his hands...

and we found out he drew funny faces on the kids pictures!! Uh oh...

Silly Frank!!! :-)

sugar, chocolate and sore feet

Yesterday was the 2nd Annual Cookie & Candy Makin' Day with my family!! We had a new addition this year...
Yes, my sister bought a new candy thermometer. Some of you may remember my post last year where we used my Mom's thermometer and it was from 1717. There were all these "rules" with it...don't let it touch the bottom or side of the pan, don't cool it too quickly, hang it just right on the side...too much pressure!! This new and improved thermometer was simple. Hang it on the pot. Awesome! ;)

We got started right at 9am. Maggie was in charge of unwrapping the Hershey's kisses! Too cute. She loved her job {and my sister was very patient with her!}.

Someone found Aunt Jenny's rain boots! And, she loved them!!!

My Aunt Gail drove in for the day - yay!! - she and Mom got started on the candied pecans!

And Gail was also in charge of decorating the tops of the cookies with chocolate.

I'm sure this pic is because Jenny thinks I am incredibly funny!!! {Or full of it...not sure which!}

Jenny & me

The finished product!

The whole gang! Mom, me, Jenny, Tricia & Gail

We finished cleaning everything up right at 6pm. Not too bad!! 9 hours of baking is rough on the feet though! I was wiped out last night. I'm glad this is just once a year!! So, we ended up making peanut butter cookies with a Hershey's kiss, peanut butter cookies with Milky Way in the middle, peanut butter and chocolate fudge, cinnamon candy, candied pecans, chocolate wreath cookies, peppermint bark, Heath bark, chocolate covered pretzels, pretzels with Hershey's Hugs and M&M's, buckeyes, and some other kind of chocolate toffee candy. Wait....I thought we were supposed to scale back this year!!!! Geesh! ;)

baby aiden

As we headed to Indy yesterday, we got a text that our friend, Melanie was on her way to the hospital to have her baby!! It seems like just a couple hours after the text, she had the baby. It went SOOO fast! Yay for her! :-) Aiden Wesley is precious. Just precious. I got to hold him and snuggle for a while tonight.


Proud "Uncle" Eric

Beautiful Momma Melanie and little Aiden

Love this girl to pieces!!!

Melanie did a lot of her laboring at home. She said she woke up at 5am, called her Mom to watch her kids and then called her nurse friend to come over. They stayed home as long as possible, but around 10am, she said it was time. She literally BARELY made it to the hospital. Matt dropped her off in the ER area and he parked the truck, ran up to labor and delivery and Aiden was born one minute after he walked into the room. Don't you wish all deliveries were that easy??!! ;) Congrats, guys!! We love you. Aiden is beautiful!

the first christmas shindig of the year!

Christmas in Indy!! On Saturday, we headed up for our annual Schaefer-Miller Christmas. It was such a good day!! Honestly, one of the best days I've had in a long time. :-) I thoroughly enjoyed being with my family and not being on a schedule. My aunt Gail is seriously the best and most gracious hostess!! When we walked in, though, I thought she had lost her ever-loving mind!!! I saw this...
and this!..

As the mother of an 18 month old, I didn't think red wine+white carpet=such a great idea! So, I went to move them to higher ground and realized they were fake! Hilarious!!

I love how my aunt decorates! This is her newest little addition. They finished a screened in porch and it is now an adorable office and reading area. Heaven!

And her tree always looks so beautiful!

She fixed lasagna for lunch! YUMMY!! We had so much food...and check out these precious cup cakes! The little Christmas trees were Hershey's kisses decorated. How creative!

And, the kids had really cute little party favors. ;)

So did the adults!! Chocolate. Nuff said. Oh, the little cups holding the candies were chocolate, too. Genius!!

After we got our bellies all full, we headed out to this mack daddy bowling alley! Wanna know how to steal a kid's heart?? Take them to this place! They loved it! Levi held his own! He was cracking me up!! I loved watching him get so excited about knocking down pins!

Bailey and her Mommy :-) Love this picture!!

And, here were the old men... ;) Dad and Uncle Kevin didn't bowl with us. I'm not sure what they were talking about here, but I'm sure it was something like this, "Tracey is an awesome bowler! She's doing fantastic!..."

Levi and Mommy. Love this picture...we have the exact same eyes. I've never noticed it before!!!

Uncle Travis helping Maggie bowl. Cute!!

My Aunt Gail and Maggie. Gail was soaking up the attention from her! :)

Best buddies (Love!)

My Momma and Aunt Gail....pretty ladies!

Oh, and don't be all jealous!!! I forgot socks, so bought some at the bowling alley. Yes, they have a bowling picture on them. I may just wear these everyday for the rest of my life.

Mom and Gail watching the grandkids bowl. Oy.

Back at the pad, Maggie chilling again with Uncle Travis. I don't really know why she likes him. He is a mean old man.

Love :-)

Little turds. ;)

Oh, and one of the best things about the day? Skyping with our cousins in Texas!!! Miss them a ton!

Thanks to my aunt and uncle for making our visit such a special day!! We love you guys!

its my moms fault

Jami invited us over for dinner on Wednesday. Thank you, sweet girl!! :) She made yummy turkey burgers and home fries! I brought some green beans and, yes, decided to bake again! I'm telling ya people, I'm on a roll! I've cooked and baked more this year than in my whole life {which doesn't really say a lot!}. Anyways, the point of this post is to blame my aversion to cooking on my Mom. As I was going through my phone to post some pictures, I found these two that I took at my Mom's house. We got together to bake the chocolate pies for Thanksgiving, as we do every year. She went to get the cocoa out of the cabinet and just giggled. When I asked why she was laughing, she said that each year, she buys new cocoa, not remembering if she had some from the year before. So, she has 4 unopened containers of cocoa. But, the one she used looks like this:

Look how old that container is! It is tin, different from the plastic containers they use now. Also, check out this expiration date!!! YES, it says September of 2006!!!
So, as you clearly see, when I go through my cabinets and find something expired, it is not my fault. I will forever blame my abnormalities on my mother! ;)

But, if I do say so myself, my cupcakes turned out perfectly!! Decorations by Levi!!!

Check out this little cutie patootie! Maggie was in love with Cooper's little race track.

And, Cameron smiled at me SEVERAL times tonight!! He even brought me a toy and laughed when we were playing downstairs. Baby steps, people! He will learn to love me.

Thanks, James!!! We had a fun night.