Not Me Monday

This past week I did not tackle two things on my list at the same time by letting my sweet baby play in the shower while simultaneously giving herself a much needed cleaning. She spent about 30 minutes on a yucky day happily playing and I was able to get her washed at the same time.





*and yes I blurred her little bits because you just can't ever tell these days*

So Not The Charlie Brown Tree

I am a nerd most of the year, but at Christmastime my nerdom soars off the charts. I ooh and ahh over twinkling lights, gush over Santas of all shapes and sizes, and positively swoon over Christmas trees. This year TG surprised me and took our family to see perhaps the most famous tree in the country.

So NOT a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.


For ten years now I've wanted to see the National Christmas tree and 56 state trees in President's Park. It all started on a training trip far far away as two Christmas nerd friends recovered from a beating by watching an HGTV show about Christmas at the White House. I've been relentless since then, but even after living here for 4 years I still had not been able to convince my husband to make the pilgrimage.

I guess I finally wore him down and to my hearts delight I now have this for the family photo album.



Don't let this face fool you.



Riley loved it too!



We made the most of our short trip because it was cold and posed by not one...



But TWO of the state trees.



Before we left we warmed up by the fire pit.



We had a wonderful time together and I was so thankful to TG, but if he thinks my "To See At Christmas List" ends there...



He would be mistaken, because it's on to the White House!

Silly, Sassy, Sweet, Sleepy Saturday

A High and Low

While we were home with my family my parents got us tickets to go to the Chiefs vs. Steelers game. I am a big football fan, an even bigger Steelers fan and I LOVE TAILGATING. We haven't been able to do that since before Riley was born so of course we jumped on the chance to go enjoy some bbq and cheer for the Steelers. Gammy offered to watch Riley for the day so we headed out early to meet my Dad who left the house at 6 am to secure a primo spot.

Matt manned the grill and cooked up the delicious chicken and steak kabobs that my sister and Tuna made.



Lesley and Tuna were in charge of entertainment. In the form of frozen drinks (that I couldn't have),a football (which lasted three throws before Lesley pegged a car) and ladder golf (to be explained for other old folks like us in a moment).



Matt and I posing by the ladder golf. This is a game apparently played by young college kids these days. It made me feel old that beer pong has been left behind for ladder golf. Basically you toss a rope with a golf ball attached to each end at a 3 rung PVC pipe ladder and try to keep your rope on the rung. The most points wins.



The view from our pretty awesome seats where I totally expected to cheer my Steelers on to an embarassing win over the locals.



Turns out me and seester were the ones who were embarassed when our defending Super Bowl champs lost to the KC Chiefs and we did the walk of shame out of there.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

This Thanksgiving we were able to go visit my family. After making the very long drive over the summer we opted for flying this time. Much to Riley's delight I gave in and let her have the window seat.

Start Spreading the News

And...it's a BOY!

The Leaves Came Down

When I was little I loved jumping in the leaves. My sister and I would scurry around and gather armfuls of leaves in the yard and work as hard as we could to make a huge community pile. Then when we couldn't stand the wait any longer we would launch ourselves into those leaves with the satisfying sound of crunched leaves ringing in our ears.

It's been a long time since I've jumped in a leaf pile. I had grown too old to hear the crunch of leaves calling me. Begging me to jump. Then a few weeks ago it was like I could hear that ringing in my ears again. Faintly, but distinct.











Those leaves were calling my baby. Beckoning her to crunch and laugh. She happily obliged and I was pleased to discover that watching her innocent delight was just as satisfying. Here's to many years of crunching leaves to come.

The Great Pumpkin

The weather this fall was very uncooperative. So much so that I was actually beginning to wonder if we were going to be able to make it to a pumpkin patch this year or not.

I frequently consulted weather.com to figure out what days would be sunny only to wake up and discover that it was pouring outside. Finally with one week left in October, we bit the bullet, did not consult the weather forecast and set a date with some good friends to meet up at our favorite farm and pumpkin patch. It was a bit chilly and it did end up misting towards the end of our visit, but we had a great time together.

We came.


Despite the wind ruffling our hair.


We ran,


jumped,


and even FLEW!


We visited the animals.


And laughed like silly.


And of course we finally picked a pumpkin.


Or two.

Amazing photography courtesy of Appleseed Photography.

Buy One, Get One

Tis the season for freebies and giveaways! My friend just sent me an e-mail with a coupon for buy one, get one free photo calendars (you pay for shipping, but its minimal) from Snapfish as well as a free photo flip book.

I know the people in my family love 12 months of Riley adorning their wall! So maybe someone in your family will too.

Visit Freebies 4 Mom to get your coupon code. It's good until next Wednesday, December 16th. Happy calendar making!

Take Two

OR to double your chances for a TouchSmart under the tree for Christmas you can also swing by MckMama's place!

Yes, I Know

I have tons of photos to share and many Riley stories to catch you up on. But for now, a new FANCY HP Touch computer could be yours. Visit Kelly's Korner Reviews to find out how! Good luck everyone and Merry Christmas!

The Acorn Mile

In laymans terms we refer to this as a hike. If you call crawling at a snails pace down a hill and then carrying a 30 lb toddler back up said hill a hike. But I digress.

One dreary, but warm morning a few months ago we were desperate. Our kid had been locked indoors for the better part of a week and Riley - outdoor time = DRAMA.

We were gearing up to make a trip to Target just to get her out of the house (yes we were that desperate) when I remembered that there is a regional hiking trail on our way to said megamart. I convinced Matt that it would be a great idea to stop and take a quick hike to kill 30-45 minutes and by "kill" I mean prevent myself from spending those same minutes buying things that I don't need at Target. Like another bottle of travel size lotion. There's just something about that travel size toiletry aisle with it's cute miniature bottles and sub dollar prices that gets me excited.

Anyway, we started out on our hike very excited to be trying something new and to finally be outdoors a bit. At first we were moving along at a decent pace and then Riley discovered the acorns.

Not one acorn, or two, but literally hundreds that had fallen off the trees onto the path. After that try as we might she could not be deterred from gasping in surprise when she saw one, exclaiming CORN!, and then throwing it on the path in front of her. Every other step. The. whole. way. down. the. trail.

Eventually we reached the bottom (thankfully the trail was short and downhill) where she discovered that acorns are twice as fun when you can toss them into the Potomac and make a splash. So, we let her splash a hundred -give or take a few- acorns in before we started on our way back to the top.

Now I'm not sure how, but somehow throwing all those acorns directly affected her legs at the precise moment that we started walking back up the hill. She simply could not take another step and sat down in protest. Until she spotted an acorn she had missed on the way down.







It was an acorn miracle! Her little legs worked again and she jumped up and threw that last 'corn with flare. Sadly no sooner than that acorn hit the ground her legs went back to rubber. She could not take one more step. We carried her in shifts up that hill and we haven't walked the acorn mile again since then.

But we have driven past it often, with bags of travel size goodies in the trunk.