Christmas Decorating!

JP and I got all of our decorations out of the shed this weekend. When Merit saw the box with the Polar Express train his face lit up. He could not wait for us to get the train set up! The excitement was adorable. He kept saying, "Mommy, I want to see train." over and over again. When we finally had it assembled be sat completely still watching it go around and around. I then had the idea of using the race track set I bought for his 1st birthday party as part of my snow village. So, once again he could not wait to get this out of the box and see it put together. What fun!

Play Time at the Galleria

Early morning power walk + play time at the Gallerial play land = happy Mommy and happy Merit!

Thanksgiving 2011!

Ready to hit the road with toys and books galore!

Being goofy in the car!

Going down the slide with Daddy

...and Mommy too!

Eating Thanksgiving dinner with the cousins...they had their own little table. So cute!

Merit tried every dog bed in Papa D and Grammy's bedroom. It's safe to say he liked them all!

We loved spending time with Aunt Joni and Uncle Randy!

Daddy even sat at the cute little kid table. :)

Dinner with the whole gang the night before we left.

We had a wonderful time staying with Papa D and Grammy in San Antonio. It was so neat to have the whole family gathered to share this holiday. Aunt Joni, Uncle Randy, Pimpa and Grandma all came in town from Colorado. What a treat! Merit loved spending time with his cousins and we enjoyed spending time with all of the family members. What a memorable Thanksgiving!

Cars and Bath Time

Merit plays cars constantly! It is quite an obsession! Now, he even wants to bathe with his cars. It is really pretty funny. :)

He also now likes to bring his animals and blankets with him to the den, our bedroom and sometimes even the car. Stuffed animals currently popular: Kermit the frog, Scout, Turtle, Monkey, and of course, the Snuggies!

5 Year Wedding Anniversary!

It's hard to believe that we have been married for 5 years already. We have had quite an adventure over the past few years. God has most certainly been with us every step of the way. We are blessed beyond measure. It's interesting to reflect back to the day and year we were married and then think about all of the events that have taken place. Nothing could have prepared us for the storms that were to come but God enabled us to make it through the storms. He is good and He never gives us more then we can handle. I'm so thankful that J.P. has been by my side the past 5 years. And, I'm looking forward to many more years with him!

J.P. surprised me with a beautiful arrangement of roses!

Mimi kept little Merit while we went out to dinner. Merit was not very cooperative for our picture. :(

Poor thing even shed some tears because he wanted to play not pose for pictures. However, we made him do it anyway. :)

III Forks was the restuarant J.P. picked! He never tells me where we are going. I love surprises!

One of the beautiful dining rooms.

We ate in this room. So exquisite!

Pretty courtyard where you can eat. It is completely glassed in by bulletproof glass! Neat!

Rain or Shine We Exercise!

Tuesday morning it was yucky outside; definitely not great power walking weather. So, we headed to the Galleria early, around 8. Have you ever been to the mall early before it opens? It's wonderful; very peaceful and quiet. We got to see our first lit Christmas tree! And, it was beautiful! Merit was in awe and every time we went by he wanted to stare at it some more. After our walk, we enjoyed some playtime at the indoor play area. Merit loves this play spot! It was great because there were no crowds. :) What a fun way to start the day!

And, the Galleria has some great events coming up for the Christmas season. Check out their website for dates and times! http://www.galleriadallas.com/#

Haircut Day

Merit sat very patiently and still as the nice lady cut his hair.

What a sweet customer. :)

Mommy packed yummy Cheerios to keep him occupied. :)

I think he liked the way he looked. What do you think???

On Monday, we took my car to Acura to be repaired. I had a minor mishap that I'm too embarrassed to talk about. :( Anyway, thank goodness for insurance! So, after we left Acura we went to get Merit's haircut. It was way out of shape. He had fun and looked quite handsome in the end!

DIY - Glitter Shoes!

My weekend DIY project was to take a pair of boring black ballet flats and turn them into beautiful red glitter ballet flats. Sparkly red shoes remind me of the Christmas and I can't wait to wear these during the holidays! However, they might make some want to say, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home." This was an easy and inexpensive project. You could do this with many different styles of shoes and use any color glitter you like!

You will need:

one bottle of glitter

Elmer's Glue All - it is stronger and much thicker then regular school glue

Clear Acrylic Gloss Coating spray

See, kind of boring to me. I like black but I have another pair of black.

Lookin' good! This is how they looked after I glued on the glitter.

This is my shoes after I sprayed them with two coats of clear sealant. I bought the clear acrylic gloss coating from Hobby Lobby for around $3. I put two good coats on them because I don't want the glitter to fall off. I can safely say they seem to be very durable because my son proceeded to try to put them on tonight when I wasn't looking. He stood on them and I didn't see any glitter remains on the floor. :) Total project cost, $9!

The World's Best Banana Bread!

World’s Best Whole Wheat Banana Bread

1 1/4 cups banana, mashed
1/4 cup buttermilk (I use vinegar and skim milk to make fat free buttermilk)
3/4 cup brown sugar (You can use ½ cup if you’re trying to cut back on sugars)
1/4 cup light butter softened
1 egg
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur's White Wheat)
1t baking soda
1t salt

Combine banana and buttermilk. Cream together brown sugar and light butter, then mix in egg. Combine dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients and banana-buttermilk mixture to the creamed sugar and butter. Bake in greased 9×5 loaf pan about 60 minutes at 350. Test for doneness with long toothpick, which should emerge clean. May slice while still warm if you just can’t wait!

Recipe adapted from Blueberry Hill