Eloise's Swim Lessons

This year was our first year of swim lessons. We took them through McKinney ISD. Eloise had a total of 3 weeks of one 1 on 1 instruction. She gained confidence in the water and will now put her face in, blow bubbles, kick with a kick board, jump off the wall of the pool into someones arms and pushes off of the side with her feet to glide to someone.

We still aren't "swimming" yet!

In my dreams I had envisioned her doing freestyle laps in the pool.... keeping up with Micheal Phelps. Olympic qualifying swimming.... graceful strokes, strong kicks, swim caps, speedos, bull horns.... OK, ok, maybe not that serious.

Baby Steps, Mommy... she's making baby steps

All in all, I am satisfied with the improvements. My little gal is NOT a risk taker, so these small steps are leaps for her! We will continue to practice and before long, I know my hesitant little girl will turn into a confident fish!

Stay cool, y'all! It's hot out there!

I'm baaaaack....

After an oh-so-long hiatus, I am making my blogger return. With a whole new look!

(it was about time to get rid of the Christmas theme!)

Honestly, blogging was too hard to continue after my Dad passed away. My heart continues to mend. The truth is, he loved my blog. Loved. It. He would also tell me that when life gets messy, you can't just give up.

Therefore, before you and all of my followers

(crickets chirping...)

I solemnly swear to snap more photos, post more often, and keep on truckin' whatever path God sends me down. If not for all of you, for my dad, who wouldn't want me to stop.

Keep posted....

Disney On Ice: Princess Wishes

When the rest of the world was hunting for a bargain on Black Friday Coco treated our little princess to Disney on Ice! Eloise LOVES everything that is pink, glittery or princess, so this was heaven to her. Coco, Eloise and I all enjoyed the show!
Lots of the little girls were wearing their princess gowns!Coco and EloiseWhen I asked Eloise what her favorite part of the show was, she informed me that this was the moment... When the prince gave Sleeping Beauty a kiss! Such a romantic!Eloise also told her teacher that she wanted to be a figure skater when she grew up... I think we need to move to Canada for that to happen!Belle and BeastTechnically Tink is NOT a princess, but I'll let it slide! Cinderella's carriage and fireworks at the grand finale!

Eloise's reaction to the finale!

Holiday Greetings Coming to A Mailbox Near You!

Christmas is such a festive time of year! As soon as I have turkey in my tummy I am decorating for Christmas. The sights smells, tastes and sounds of the season overwhelm me! It truly is magical.

One of my favorite holiday traditions is sending and receiving Christmas cards! I love seeing how family and friends change throughout the years. Each trip to the mailbox is filled with anticipation... Who will be behind that little black door? When Patrick and I were first married we saw a lot of newly wed cards and now we are seeing everyones expanding families!

We got to talking about this years card and decided on a photo card! You can see how challenging our photo shoot was in my previous post, but I know I will cherish these shots in the future! Patrick and I started shopping around online and found really cute cards on Shutterfly! They have awesome designs offering both flat stationary and folded cards- something for everyones taste! One year I used Shutterfly to make a "Grandma Calendar" for my mom. It was a wall calendar customized with photos of the grandkids. It was such a hit we started doing it annually!

My next challenge: Narrowing down my options... here are a few.

Vintage Inspired Traditional
Fun!

Which one is your favorite?

A Family of 5 Photo Shoot

Remember me telling you about all of the pretty decor at the Gaylord Texan? While we were at the Gaylord Texan we attempted to take our own family photos for this years Christmas card...

WHEW! EXHAUSTING! It is an almost impossible task to get 3 kids (all under 4) to LOOK at you and SMILE without doing other (unflattering) things....

We had...a crier...

a slider..

a grump...a lip biter...a thumb sucker...and an escape artist...

DID WE GET ONE, YOU ASK?

Guess you will have to wait and see!

Thanksgiving Alternative

We wanted a Thanksgiving alternative this year. The day was going to be hard for us (in my dads absence) so we opted out of the traditional turkey-dinner-around-the-dining-room-table.

In stead, we went to Great Wolf Lodge for their Thanksgiving Feast! We had a good time, and especially enjoyed skipping the cooking and cleaning part of the day!

The Loose Moose Cottage, where we enjoyed out mealCoco and Eloise in front of the lobby's fireplaceThe Lobby of Great Wolf Lodge

~~~

Quickly after dinner we went to the Gaylord Texan. It is always decorated so nicely for the holidays! We really enjoyed walking around looking at the train exhibit, visiting Santa, and enjoying a glass of wince while listening to their live music! The Lights in the main atrium!

Such a poser!

Lucie and mommy!

Happy First Brithday, Sweet Caroline!

A few weekends ago we went to celebrate my niece, Caroline's, first birthday! We had such fun! The decor of the party was red, turquoise and pink. My sister-in-law pulled out all the stops with all of the small details. There was a candy bar with matching lollipop decor! And the sweet birthday banner was adorable, too! But, my favorite part of a first birthday is watching the little ones DIG into their first bite of cake! Nom Nom Nom....

Happy Birthday Sweet Caroline! We love you!