wordless wednesday

the mabster's room

so since the mabster finally got her very own "BIG GIRL" bed, we've decided to have the girls switch rooms. there's really no point in toshy having the bigger room when in a couple of years, the girls will be sharing that same bedroom anyway and they will BOTH be in big girl beds. so we bit the bullet and did some rearranging...

notice how pink the mabster's room was. i mean, it was capital PINK. she was our first baby, and we were beyond excited to decorate her nursery. once daddy found out that we were having a girl, he wanted nothing but the pretty pastel. so pink this and pink that...i swear it looked like strawberry shortcake had thrown up in her room. i let jay pick out the majority of everything. i learned my lesson because when the toshy came, it was the color that i wanted to incorporate in the least. nonetheless, i still thought her room was eh, okay. take a look, por favor...

THE MABSTER'S ROOM BEFORE:

THE MABSTER'S ROOM AFTER:
*swoon* i LUBS her new room. i actually want it for myself. the bedding is called "crazy patch" from pbteen, and i think it accents the green walls nicely. also, did you notice how more than half of that endless clutter of toys in the corners are now gone? yup. adios, useless knickknacks. if my kid hasn't cared for you in the past year, into the trash you go. (sigh) just in time for christmas since i'm really not looking forward to drowning in more toys that she doesn't need. with that said, i love walking into her new room. it's like a breath of fresh air.

the toshy's room

so nothing has really changed with the way toshy's room was set up (furniture wise), but the size and color of the walls are what played a big part. here they are. i'm obsessed with chocolate (the color). can you tell?


THE TOSHY'S ROOM BEFORE:



THE TOSHY'S ROOM AFTER:

supper club

saturday night while the girls were at the uab basketball game with family, jay and i had a lovely time out for supper club. shannon and steve hosted this month's meet up and chose a "thanksgiving dinner" theme. it was great. a hint of thanksgiving festivities a week before the real deal was here and with friends instead of family. what's not to be thankful for?

shannon cooked her first turkey ever, and we were all impressed. it was delicious. we joked about the bag of "insides" that they leave in the turkey for you if you chose to cook those parts as well, or even mix it with the gravy. luckily, shannon threw the guts and goo in the trash, thus rendering us even more thankful. because in the words of mag, "i really don't want any jiblets in my mouth." hehehe.

we laugh and talk while making our favorite glass of wine, and then the girls all gave each other a toast. later, we all sit down and start to eat dinner. the menu consisted of turkey, green bean and corn casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, squash casserole, salad and dressing, and pecan pie for dessert. all of it was pleasing to the taste to say the least. here are some pics...after dinner, we all make ourselves another glass of wine and head outside to the infamous fire pit in the back patio. the night's climate condition was perfect. not too cold to bust out a snuggie, but perfect. so we all sat around and shared stories the whole night. the conversations just flowed and flowed. once one person shared an embarrasing gym locker moment, another person had something to add on. steve was a hoot that night and very much in rare form. he talked about "gravity gone wild" and even mimicked the locker strut of "this old man...he played six..." oh so very comical and entertaining.so it started sprinkling for a little bit which forced us inside for awhile. what did we do? we played "guesstures." this game is like charades on speed. we played women versus boys and about nearly pissed ourselves while laughing so hard at each other. at first the game was fairly easy. we laughed as we thought it was for little kids or the special olympics. all i remember was someone was trying to make hand motions of turning the dials on a "radio" when jon screams out, "tuning tokyo...titties!!" good grief. i died right there. here are some pics.surprisingly, the guys were spanking us. we made the game more fun by only selecting from the hard cards. next thing i know, the guys are celebrating after every win by chest bumping each other. which only lead to the girls winning, making fun of them, and chest bumping too. hehehe. i love this group. another successful supper club down and many more to come! jay and i had a great time, and it felt even better coming home to kidless house for some mommy and daddy time. brown chicken, brown cow...(ahem) here's a quick group picture minus a few. you supper clubbers ROCK!

uab basketball

saturday night, lola and tita karmie took the girls to the UAB vs. Georgia basketball game while we went to supper club for the night. they met up with tita karla, uncle tre, and cousin carson at the game as well. tip off started at 7:00pm at bartow arena. it was the blazers first real home game, and everyone was excited to be there.

i was given reports that the mabster and toshy ate popcorn the whole time, and cousin carson kept cheering, "go, go, go!!" i'm sure he was just following lola's lead. after halftime, they said that little toshy was fading fast and super tired so lola and tita karmie left to take them home for bedtime. lola said that no sooner than putting the girls in the car, they both passed out. they spent the night at lola and pawpaw's house and loved eating breakfast with bushels of fruit to take home. here are some pictures while they were at the game.overall, UAB beat georgia with a score of 72 to 56. GOOO Blazers!! i'm so glad the mabster and toshy got to experience the basketball game with family even though we could not be there. thank you so much, lola and tita karmie. oh, and thank you, karla maria for taking some pics for me. you guys are the best!

new moon

last night, i met up with the girls for dinner at california pizza kitchen around 6:30pm. we all sat down and began babbling about the twilight marathon that was about to take place. everyone was excited to be sharing the experience with good close company. it was great. YB and i were all about being on "team edward" that we even rocked our t-shirts. we knew the ridiculously cheesy twilight flair was going to be in full effect so we wanted to make sure we were there to represent. holla!while at dinner, we all announced which "team" we were on. karla maria and keri were all about being on "team jacob" because they thought that edward was far too skinny for their taste. admittedly, i have to agree. the dude needs to eat a hamburger and pump some iron. BM and L never really claimed a team because they were pretty much there to enjoy the night. they liked both, so they were completely torn. actually, i don't think BM even really cared. she just made fun of us the whole night. here is a picture of some of us while at dinner. the picture speaks for itself. too funny.so we were told to get there an hour early by the ticket lady just to make sure we got good seats. that we did. we hopped, skipped, and jumped right over to the summit movie theater and were one of the first ones there. we chose the best seats in the house, used the bathroom, and ordered some drinks at the concession stand. we had enough time to kill so YB, lynda, and keri quickly left for a beer run. thanks to BM's diaper bag, sneaking it into the theater was no problem at all. we got settled and waited till twilight began at 9:00pm. here are some pre-movie pictures. can you tell we are excited?...so twilight begins. i almost forgot how painfully bad that movie was compared to the book. the scenes were choppy, the acting was horrendous, and the effects and make-up were laughable. did i mention that the ridiculously corny one-liners (such as "spider monkey" and "my monkey man") were just as funny the second go round? yup. they were. don't get me wrong, it's an awesome storyline that produced an okay movie, BUT i could have done without those said little failures. overall, the first movie ended at 11:00pm so we had another hour to socialize, drain our bladders, and refill our drinks. here's a picture of YB and KM with a lady who draped herself in a huge edward blanket. we thought it was awesome. she was so proud of the wanna-be movie snuggie. in fact, i believe she stood up the whole time in attempts of fishing for compliments. we bite. hook, line, and sinker...picture is taken.so it's about 12:30am, and finally new moon begins to play. we are stoked. everything i just complained about in twilight had disappeared. bella's acting was believable minus the tourette-like facial and eye spasms that were overplayed, and i don't even remember hearing a single cheesy one liner. thank you. they finally got this one right. good job. the matrix-like fight scene was my favorite, and the movie seemed to fly by. also, when jacob threw off his shirt before wiping bella's bloody forehead, the whole crowd squealed in delight. it was salvitatingly delicious. it was hysterical.

before i go any further, would you like to know what the highlight of my night was? i'll tell ya. two words: first word starts with the letter B. second word rhymes with llama. that's correct. it was blue momma. so during the movie, she starts falling asleep. she's old. we understand. she looked peaceful. we were just glad that she was finally quiet. fast forward about 10 minutes to the quietest scene in the whole movie. insert the loudest thunderous snore you've ever heard, and that would be blue momma's. the snore lasted about 5 seconds long. no exaggeration. no ma'am, not this time. it was gut-busting and priceless.

i'm sure the whole theater heard it because our whole row along with the row behind us just died laughing. KM starts poking her. YB sat on the other side of me and asked, "what the hell was that!?" then she starts throwing a twizzler at her in hopes of waking her up. the woman didn't budge. she was O-U-T. the opportunity was all mine. i wasn't going to lose it. not this time. picture.taken...ahhh, every time i think about that snore, i still laugh uncontrollably. good times, great movie, awesome company. i got home around 3:30 in the morning after dropping everyone off and was exhausted. new moon was awesome and totally worth staying up WAY past my bedtime. now we're all ready for eclipse to come out. i'll have to purchase a muzzle for BM come this time next year, i'm sure. love you, bitches!!

thursday's thirteen

1.) now that the toshy is walking, i know she misses me holding her as much as i use to. what makes me think this? oh, i don't know...maybe the death grip pinches on my kneecaps are a small way of letting me know that she still cares. i love her.

2.) after jay came home from jiu jitsu the other night, he showed me a fresh bruise on the back of his forearm. i said, "well that sucks." he said, "you should have seen the other guy." if you know my jay, this will make you laugh. uncontrollably. i did.

3.) i love listening to the mabster sing "the blessing" before she eats her food. with thanksgiving being upon us next week, it is what it is. be blessed and give thanks. it is comforting knowing that she feels the same.

4.) tonight is going to be the most ultimate utmost girl's night ever. we are all meeting for dinner and drinks (most likely shots of coffee) at 6:30pm and then watching twilight at 9:00pm followed by new moon at midnight. it's opening night. i'm going with the same group of close friends that saw the first one together so i know it will be great! i am so fakkin' excited!!

5.) tickling the toshy's tummy is one of my most favoritest things to do. what's even cuter is when she tries to tickle me back and says, "ickle, ickle!" her cheeks explode on her face and her eyes turn squinty. just like her mother.

6.) our monthly supper club is this saturday, and it's a thanksgiving dinner theme. we are bringing squash casserole, and the babysitters are lined up. yay for the supper clubbers!

7.) so the christmas decorations are out and in full force. i see my neighbors have followed suit so it made me even happier. i also busted out the ole "elf on a shelf" in hopes of giving my girls more motivation to behave themselves. elvis is doing a fairly decent job. every time the mabster passes him, she looks at him and says, "i'm a good girl!" convincing, no? season's greetings!

8.) the one-year-old is cutting her back molars along with 50 other teeth. the mabster was the same way at this age. they were both late teethers, but when they came in, it was like 6 at one time. ack! must.buy.more.teething.tablets

9.) being indecisive is going to be the death of me. that i'm sure. maybe. possibly. hmmm...

10.) that last statement was in relation to me trying to figure out which bedding i wanted to incorporate in the mabster's new big girl room. i was torn between 3 options, but i believe i have made the right choice. stay tuned for pics later...

11.) the youngest has a new found excitement for the toilet. not using it, mind you...but *playing* in it. augh, not good.

12.) here is an example of one of my tweets: Just overheard 1 old lady tell another to "brush her hair" when hers is a hot steamy mess. My advice: start with the man in the mirror. Thx.

and lastly,

13.) so you know how one usually has to pay in some way or another to lose weight? whether it be by a gym membership, weight loss program, protein bars and shakes, diet pills, etc. etc? well, the hubster has started a new deal with me. it's enticing. it's motivating. he now pays me $10 for every pound i lose in a week. last week, i lost 5. that's 50 bucks, people! a chunk of change that will most likely burn a hole in my pocket. nonetheless, it's a reward. almost like a paycheck in a way. who knew money would be the motivation i needed? LOL

happy birthday, pawpaw!!

yesterday was my dad's birthday (aka pawpaw) so we all met up at the o'charley's in center point to celebrate with a birthday dinner. the whole family was there, and it was comforting actually being back at that restaurant considering karla and i use to work there for years during our high school days. we sat there and reminisced while eating and having the whole glass house section to ourselves. as soon as we got there, lola had the mabster's favorite (chicken quesadilla) waiting for her. she inhaled it. we ate, chatted, and listened to the kids babble up a storm. here are some pics.after we were all finished eating, the waitress brings out a caramel pie and we all sing, "happy birthday." the mabster couldn't resist taking a seat on pawpaw's lap to get the most she could out of the sugary goodness. also, everyone got a kick out of when pawpaw asked the mabster how old she was...she showed 3 fingers. then he'd ask how old is pawpaw?...she would raise 4 fingers. then he'd ask how old is lola?...the mabster started repeatedly throwing up all her fingers...and kept going. it was hilarious. (side note: i think that is pawpaw's most favorite thing he has ever taught the mabster.)overall, it was a great dinner with the ones i love. i love my family, and i absolutely love this time of year. happy birthday, pawpaw. we love you!!

and oh, i just had to post this pic...as we were walking out the door and saying our goodbyes, i turn around and catch tita karmie doing the "bum-bum" dance while the mabster spanked her. dear lord. i hope i never live to see them two hit up home field together....

wordless wednesday

"pink is my favorite color...."

so daddy couldn't wait on santa to surprise the mabster with her very own set of pink golf clubs. this was no surprise to me. if the man gets an itch, he scratches it fast. plus, i believed the faster he got them for her, the quicker another golf game would be etched upon his calendar of weekend activities.

furthermore, he set out during his lunch break to find pink golf clubs, pink balls, and her very own pink and white golf shoes. if there was a pink visor in her size, i'm sure she'd be donning that as well. anywayz. so daddy gets home and surprises the mabster with her gift. they head out to the back yard to practice some swings and putts. the mabster knocks some balls around, and then runs to trampoline with an even better swing. ay yi yi! focus, sweet child. focus.

so they play around a bit and then proceed to come back inside. the mabster said she had fun and then laid her clubs down. suddenly, toshy quickly picked one up and hit the ball better than both daddy and the mabster. with that said, i believe toshy will be our little athlete. i saw the fire in her eyes. a burning passion and determination to "get it right." (sigh) i can't wait to watch some organized sports...

dinner with friends

tonight BM invited us over to her lovely home for a delicious dinner around 6:00pm. she served an outstandingly scrumptious pasta dish, cheese bread, and a salad. YB requested for some brownies so we brought some, and the menu was complete. the night was unseasonably warm and perfect to eat outside on her back patio. BD was there as well, and he set up the fire pit and his telescope in preparation of the meteor shower that is suppose to happen later in the night. we let the kids play outside on the trampoline and playground while we all chattered and watched. here are some pics. BM's "that boy" actually took the first picture...and of course, BM is hiding behind "that girl." never fails.BM made the brownies and let YB lick the spoon clean. with the help of baby CJ, there was nothing left. later while inside we let the kids play "hide and go seek." we'd tell them to go hide, but unfortunately, we forgot to go seek. i think they hid for about 30 minutes before they came back and told mr. J that he couldn't find them. it was the.best.game.ever. the toshy and TG gave each other some sweet hugs and kisses, and the "big kids" preformed stairs races on their bum-bums. well, at least the mabster tried to.overall, it was a great time with great friends. thank you so much for having us all over, BM. you're such a gracious hostess, and we love you! with that said, we'll be over again tomorrow night. hehehe.

daddy/daughter golf

after a busy morning, the toshy passed out as soon as we got in our car. i knew her afternoon nap was upon us so it was no surprise. here she is throwing in the towel. surrendering to thy faithful nap. so.stinkin.sweet.okay so rewind. while jay was tweaking the fine details with the saleslady, the said lady noticed that the mabster was wearing a pink masters golf shirt. she asked the mabster if she likes playing golf. daddy interrupts and says, "she's never been, but maybe daddy can take her today," as he glances and smiles at me. my inside voice is thinking, "well by golly, that's a grand idea!" and just like that, daddy drops toshy and i off at home while the mabster and him enjoy a daddy/daughter day over a game of golf. we sleep. they play. totally what everyone wanted. three hours later, they arrive home to a clean house and a hot pot of chili. daddy reported that they played 18 holes and that the mabster helped drive the golf cart. then he turned and asked the mabster, "what was your favorite thing about playing golf?" her response: "popcorn." that's one easy pleaser, i tell ya.daddy took this picture of the mabster on his phone. it makes me laugh because the club is almost bigger than her. and i love the fact that he put his golf glove on her hand. looks like santa may be bringing a pair of her very own PINK golf clubs. ya know, because she loves popcorn, err i mean, golf so much. hehe.

sweet dreams

today (as a family) we had one goal to accomplish. that goal? find the mabster her perfect "big girl bed." i don't really feel the need to justify on here why she needs one because i could rant all day about it. i could even provide a picture of her legs hanging off of her toddler bed for further proof, but please, i won't bore you.

so after breakfast, we all preceded to look a rooms to go kids. this place is a bedroom paradise for kids. i was slight envious as i looked around at all of the options. i mean seriously, where was all of this kind of stuff when i was a kid?! there were princess and bunk beds galore. castle, canopies, tents, slides, pirate ships, and race cars...who knew sleeping could be so.much.fun? the mabster and toshy were loving every second of being in that store. not to mention, jay and i were feeding off of each other's excitement too as we screamed across the room, "hey sweetie, come look at this one!" i'd have to say that the girls really liked this particular bed. i mean REALLY. take a look...they played on it the whole time. toshy would climb halfway up the slide before falling on her belly and gliding back down. the mabster giggled from the top bunk as she screamed down to baby sister to "watch out" because she was going down the slide next. they were having a blast. it was like an indoor park with a mattress.

so i know you're wondering..."did ya'll buy it?" my reply: not no. but hell no. sure it's all fun and games...until no one's watching and the oldest pushes the youngest backwards off the top and on to the slide all while landing straight on her delicate little head. don't get me wrong, i wanted it for myself. i did. but having a past history of being a nurse and watching far too many "rescue 911" episodes when i was younger, i knew this bed meant trouble. and i am definitely not one to flirt with the idea of bad news. instead, this is what we picked...*swoon* isn't she beautiful? she's an ivy league cherry sleigh bed. she's simple. classy. durable. functional. and SAFE. all around, pretty damn comforting. i mean, my kids are going to be using this bed until they leave for college so it's got to be "the one." a timeless piece shall we say. so we made the purchase of two twin beds. (i'll explain that later this week as well. with pics to document of course. i would not want to disappoint.) think future guys, future. and NO i am not pregger. (knock on wood) hopefully not for awhile.

also, toshy had a field day with a massive red and white polka dot bean bag that was there. watching her pounce on it, was like watching a wild beast mount his prey. it was laughable and adorable. what was even funnier was watching her try to roll and wiggle herself out of it. big sister thought it was hysterical too. i love those damn juveniles.in conclusion, we left feeling good about our decision. they will be delivered on friday, and good god almighty, i can't wait to redecorate and move around some furniture in both of the girls rooms. out with the old, and in with the new!

"it's beginning to look a lot like christmas..."

yup. i'm "that" fanatic who decorates before thanksgiving. key word: BEFORE. the way i see it is why bother with all the trouble of getting it out for it only to *stay up* for a month? why not at least two months? and no, i wasn't including january (even though i still count that month as well. hmmm. at least mid-january. not gonna lie.)

the mabster helped me decorate the christmas tree while toshy just sat there staring and poking at the lights on the lower level. notice if you will, no ornaments on the bottom...this ain't my first rodeo. momma's no fool. i even bargained with daddy to climb up on the kitchen counters and place all of my christmas houses up there. i've done it every year, but this year, i felt compelled to bargain with the man. and bless his heart, he may never collect on what i bribed him with. hehehe. nevertheless, all christmas decorations are out and displayed minus the outside lights. surely, we don't want to be "that" neighbor just yet...

happy birthday, mary grace!!

saturday morning, we headed over to chelsea park in honor of mary grace's 3rd birthday party. the theme was a "wow wow wubzy" one, and the handmade decorations were super cute. the mabster and toshy enjoyed playing in the playground and swinging side by side together. they also colored on the pavement with some sidewalk chalk, and it was so sweet watching toshy try and color with "the big kids." she was actually doing a fairly decent job. here are some pics...after all the kids ran around and played, we all sang happy birthday to mary grace as she blew out the candle on her wubzy cake. which by the way, the mabster LOVES her some "wow wow wubzy" so she thought it was the coolest thing. the kids even chased after a wubzy "kickity kickball." also, kim made cupcakes inside of an ice cream cone for everyone, and i thought that was a darling little idea. of course the mabster just licks off the icing. go figure. overall, it was a great fall day to be outside and celebrating. happy birthday, mary grace!