A Little Roadtrip

I packed up my little crew for an overnight adventure to where it all started.

How many people can say they met at The Opryland Hotel in Nashville?

Well, we did.

I met Sweet Trinity there on December 8, 2007. 

We were engaged there in 2010, and so we took our darling girl there to see the lights last week.  

We fueled up on hot chocolate and took off!   

G was impressed with all of the waterfalls and the river.

We spent a lot of time on our balcony, watching people and coloring!  

We rode on the little train, and I fixed G's hair for the umpteenth time.  Her hair is so fine and silky that it just slips out of rubber bands.  

I cannot relate to that.  

We froze our tails off in the ICE exhibit of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  It was so cool.  

That was a pun.

G saw the play and so she loved it.  

We had an early night in after eating at the hotel.

In the morning, she was back out on the balcony, spying on people.  

She packed up her suitcase to roll out the next morning.

We finished up our quick Nashville trip with breakfast at The Loveless Cafe.

They had the best biscuits I've ever tasted.

We drove home after our quick adventure to pack up for 4 days of Christmas with both sides of the family.

December Fun

 We brunched one Sunday with YaYa.

G had the biscuit monster and made faces to match.

Mother was not to be outdone.  

G is getting good at photogging.  

We also visited The Cake Bakeshop for some sweets.  

We also tooled around Carmel one weekend with YaYa and Bob.

This might be my new favorite picture.  

G and C had cousin time!

YaYa and Bob took them to see Trolls and they got some headpieces.  

We spent time with Li'l Bunches of Robby.

He is precious.

The girls crafted with Nana and YaYa.  

I enjoyed my school babies, as usual.  

I was opening my Christmas presents from them, while wearing a Christmas fascinator.  

We started a new tradition that G called "The Family Snuggle."  All   3 of us got into our bed and read 3 Christmas books each night.  

One night I read "Gingerbread Friends."  

G said the chicken in the story looked like YaYa.

I agree.

More Christmas fun to come.  

Matilda Jane Pretty Party

Hello!

I'm back in action, thanks to the new computer I received for Christmas.  My old Mac was kaput, so Trinity surprised me with a new one.  I have a lot of catching up to do.

Let's start with a funny story.

The results of Genevieve's Pretty Party experience.

Quick recap:

My baby girl is exactly like me.

Awkward as hell.

Now if you recall,  the whole experience was painful, and I knew that the pictures that  would result from that photo session would be memorable.  I knew that there would not be any Christmas cards made from that afternoon.

When I received the pictures, I grabbed a glass of wine and laughed until there were tears streaming down my face.

They were amazing.

G was not around.

I don't openly laugh at my child, and one day, I know she will forgive me for this blog.

That being said, here are the results.

Go to the restroom first.

Otherwise, you may have an accident whilst laughing.  

I have captioned them, for your viewing pleasure.

These were screenshot on my phone, since I did not even download them due to the complete ridiculousness of them.  

"I know what you did last summer."

"I just kicked you, and I'll do it again."

"Here's Johnny!!!!!"

"Oops, I think I just pooped on this dress that my mother hasn't yet paid for."  

"Look away, look away, look away, Dixieland."  

"I see dead people."

or

"I may be Rosemary's Baby."  

So there you have it, folks.

I now regret not making these into Christmas cards.

So Robby had a Baby

I slept like a log at my parents' house while those fools were camping.  The next morning my mother ran in to wake me up by screaming, "they're at the hospital!  Meghan is in labor!"

Well, hot dog!

Katie dashed back from the campsite and we all packed up and headed back to Indy.

Meg delivered at the same hospital where G was born.  It was odd to be back!

We waited in the lobby for about an hour before we received a text that Robert Matthew had arrived!

He had some hair!

 Things moved quickly, so Meghan just barely made the window for an epidural.  I was biting my nails out in the lobby thinking about having a baby au natural.  Plus, I like to bite my nails!

All went beautifully and mother and baby did well.

Robby came a week early!

Big Robby was quite pleased with Baby Robby.

Mom and Dad were thrilled!

We then went back on Monday evening to visit them with Trinity.

I know you are thinking, "is she seriously wearing a zebra sweater?"

Why, yes, yes, I am.

I may need another one of these!

Since I'm so behind, Little Robby is now 3 weeks old.  He has yet to wake up:)

Really, he sleeps a ton, so that is a blessing!

Just not at night!

November Catch Up

 My beloved MacBook that I got like 8 years ago is really on its last leg.  It is very finicky when it comes to allowing me to upload and post pictures.  Now to catch up!

Mother and I went to Mack's Merry Market in TH on November 12th.  It was held at The Red Barn, not the Red Bar, as pictured.

Although we were into the sauce.

They had some festive cocktails and we were sure to enjoy some!

It was so cute and reminded me of how much I do love to go home to good old Terre Haute.

I picked up a few Christmas surprises, and also a pair of twin beds for G's room.  More on that to come.

When mother and I arrived home, we were treated to some spa treatments by G and C.

The Good Doctor (Allison) joined us for the fun.  

On Saturday Allison, Katie, and I met up with our menfolk at Shakamak State Park to camp.

The boys had stayed on Friday night, but we decided one night of camping was enough for us.

It was crazy cold.  

When we drove to the campsite on Saturday afternoon, my younger hanger-on self was relegated to the backseat.  I told the two "cool" older girls that I loved to hang out with Elmo and The Hamburglar.  I mean, really!

Proof that I was there.

Katie and Chipper have that lovely camper, and Allison and Steve have a darling retro camper that they brought.  My husband slept in a one man tent.  Because he's cool like that.  

I planned to stay, but even with my multiple layers of full-on Luon, I was cold as ever.

Ken and Teri had dinner with us by the fire and they were kind enough to take me home to my parents' house to sleep.

It was all too reminiscent of my early attempts at sleep over days.

Camping isn't my thing! 

Halloween and Festivities

An amazing unicorn was ready to hunt for treats on Halloween.  I scored this number for $4 at Sister Katie's neighborhood garage sale.  She looked a bit like Rainbow Brite.  

Trinity took her around the neighborhood while I held down the fort.  I graded papers while waiting for children to arrive.  They were gone for a little over an hour, and in that time I graded 4 class sets of 25 tests, greeted 3 rounds of Trick or Treaters, and consumed no less than 17 mini "fun size" Hershey and/or Reese's candy bars.  

She had a great time until she returned home to discover that I was giving candy to other children.  She then lost her mind and threw herself on the kitchen floor for a 10 minute tantrum that resulted in   "going to her room" time.  Good times!  

On Friday of that week, Trinity and I had our first parent-teacher conference with Genevieve's preschool teacher.  I was nervous that she was going to tell me my kid was the annoying one who never stops talking.  Thankfully, she did not.  G has made a lot of progress with her self control since school started in July.  She received a glowing report and I was quite proud.

We celebrated by taking her (us) out for margaritas and milk.  

It was a gorgeous day in Indy so we went to Bakersfield and gorged on chips and queso.  

They have the best margaritas.  

We toasted our 4 year old's academic achievements with milk and tequila.  

We spent all day Saturday and that night at Abby and Papi's.  G hung with the boys and Caroline while Pat and I went to all of the Christmas open houses with my sister.  

We were too busy shopping to get pictures.

Caroline and G caught fish in Abby's pond.

Caroline caught them.

G clapped.

On Sunday we headed home for a Matilda Jane event.

Go ahead and laugh.

I have lost my mind.  

My MJ lady hosted an event at a local salon.  She had the clothes there, and the girls could pick out an outfit, have their hair and nails done, and get pictures with a photographer.

I was hoping for a cute shot for my Christmas card, and one that did not include my face.

After being bibbidi bobbidi booed, my kid was a pro.

She sat perfectly still while I called local pageant officials and the John Casablancas modeling agency.

I cooed and practiced her routine with her.

Then this happened...

she proved once and for all that my hopes of being a child model's mother were all for nothing.

She had the photogenic prowess of a frightening Old Navy mannequin.

It was bad.

Like, I was embarrassed.

Her face morphed continuously from a fake cheerleader grin to a laxative commercial grimace.

Somewhere in between those two she often settled on a Betty Boop style lip pursing pout.

It was bizarre.

I had to look away. 

We wrapped up the event by eating some seriously darling cookies.

While she ate her cookie she magically transformed her attitude/face back to her usual cute self.  

I cannot wait to see the pictures.