NYS Fair and Awesome Weekend Recap

Remember how I promised you two posts in a 7 day period? Yeah, I thought it was a long shot too. But how about 2 posts in a 2 week period? Better than nothing right?

So yeah, my weekend with my girls was LEGEND…wait for it…DARY!!!!!!!!!! Having my friends visit was just what my soul needed! I can’t even recount all the fun stuff that happened because it’s the stupid little stuff that made the whole weekend what it was. However, some things were documented photographically so I am able to recount those. (Lucky you!)

There was that time that Smidge brought a suitcase big enough for her to climb into and get lost…

And there was that time that I wanted Smidge to braid my hair so Jamalee helped me get my hair wet…

And that time we ALL braided our hair and took the wackest coolest selfie of all time…

And the time we took a picture to make my cousin who flaked on us jealous…

As you can see from those documented times, we had ourselves a very good weekend! We spent Saturday at the New York State Fair having a GREAT time!! As you may remember, I received free tickets to the Fair in return for my blogging about it. Honestly, I would be blogging about it even if I didn’t get free tickets so really that’s just a super fun bonus!!

We got there about lunch time and headed straight for the butter sculpture…you HAVE to see the butter sculpture!

While we were gazing upon all the wonderful butteryness we had the wonderful surprise of being ambushed by my kids!! I knew they were planning on being there that day but with the crowds I never expected to actually run into them! 

From the butter sculpture we headed over to my most favorite exhibit every single year. It's the same exact routine but I still love it every time! What am I talking about you ask? The New York State Trooper exhibit of course!!!

They always start with the roll-over simulation, then do the K-9 unit demonstration, then comes the repelling demonstration. Based on the pictures I took of the event you can guess which is my favorite!

For the life of me I cannot get Blogger to post my videos using photobucket so if you'd like to experience the awesomeness of this demo please click the following two links: Bad Boys and Repel. 

I really do love that part of the fair! But that wasn't all we did! No sir! We also walked past one of those photo boards and initially we kept going but all of us agreed we had to turn back and kick the little kids out of it snag some unsuspecting individual to take our picture!

All of us agreed that it was fitting that Smidge was the nut. :-)

Ok, but this year, I have a new favorite part of the fair. For any of you who have been reading me for a long time may remember my love of trampolines and how I've never forgiven my parents for trying to pass off an exercise trampoline as a real trampoline one Christmas I jump on them any chance I get! In the past I've always walked past the trampolines at the fair, nearly salivating at them but my cheap side holding me back. But not this year! This year FUN prevailed! And I jumped! Oh boy did I jump!!! And swung a little too but that part wasn't great. (Watch the video and you'll see what I mean.) 

Once again the whole I can't upload videos...so click the link to see me in full swing action!!

Thank God for the bungee cords!

In my defense, I believe I started to swing like that because I somehow eventually managed to get my fat ass to do a flip!!

In all my flipping glory!

Oh yes, my friends! This was a fabulous Fair experience this year! If you are ever in the Syracuse area at the end of August you MUST make plans to go! You won't be sorry!!

A very bad picture of the giant sand sculpture...also not to be missed!

Lily

Great Friends and a Great Fair

So my Great Friends Smidge and Jamalee are coming up to visit this weekend and I can’t wait! These two wacky girls are exactly what I need right now!

See! Can't you just tell they are a good time waiting to happen? 

And the best part is it coincides perfectly with The Great New York State fair! They came with me to the Fair a few years ago and we had a GREAT time and I’m expecting this time to be just as great!

As part of promoting the Fair I was provided two free tickets and will be writing a recap of my experience after the weekend. (Two blog posts in less than 7 days! CRAZY!) I have failed miserably at give-away's on this blog so I'm not doing that this year but free tickets for my obligatory trip the the New York State Fair is just too good an offer to pass up!

So if you are in the Syracuse, NY area in the next couple of weeks be sure to stop by the Fair. It runs August 22 - September 2 so there is plenty of time for you to make plans! Just sayin!


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In other news...

If you follow me on Instagram you know I moved into an apartment this past weekend. Thank goodness for friends with pickups, trailers, and large muscles willing to help! We were able to get everything in one trip and had it all in the apartment by 2pm! That left plenty of time for me to start organizing and unpacking! It's rough going from a 5 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment but so far it's all working. The kids like their new room and the apartment is light and airy and I think it's a good space for us! I'm going to have to acclimate to going to a laundry mat (UGH!) and figure out how to bathe the kids with no tub (thank goodness they are little!) but those are things I can work around. At least I don't have to drag my laundry down to the river and beat it against a rock! It could always be worse! :-)


So more to come in another few days after I do stuff worth talking about!!

Lily

Dirty Girl 2013

Before this weekend I'd never imagined it was possible to get mud in the places I had mud. Let's just say I'm no longer going to complain when I go to the beach and get sand in my bathing suit. But dear lord it was worth it!! 

My friends and I participated in the Dirty Girl Mud Run in Scranton, PA this weekend. If you ever get the chance...DO IT!!! You will not be sorry. 

Words don't really do the experience justice, so I'll leave it to the pictures.

We started out looking like this...

and this

So clean!

 (Smidge)        (Jamalee)

                                                               

But we quickly got to the mud!

Dance party in the woods!! Because...why not?

Jamalee's face (the one in the back) capture's her feeling about the net climb absolutely perfectly!

Made it!

Preparing for the slide

It's at this moment that I realize...Oh CRAP!

But it was WORTH it!!

Her expressions are priceless!

Not sure who did it wrong, me and Jamalee, or Smidge and her sisters. 

(I think me and J got it right)

Almost to the end

One more mud pit before the finish line...and a little extra mud for Smidge's face

I love these ladies!

Babe thought she wanted a kiss

Bud was too smart for that!

They had no idea how close they were to being DIRTY! :-)

Fun!

Still fun

Awww yeeeeaaaahhhhhh!!!!

I tried getting video to embed but it doesn't seem to be working so I'm going to ask you to click these link (GASP! I know it's difficult but it's fun, I promise)

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Video 4

So as you can see it was an AMAZING experience and one that I can't wait to do again! Once we were done they had a tent with garden hoses (freezing cold garden hoses) to wash off. It was like a locker room on steroids. (I've seen things I can't unsee. **Shudder**) So we all did the best we could to get as much mud off as possible and change into clothes that didn't have 3 inches of mud on them. However, I still had to contend with actually cleaning all of my stuff once I got home.

My bathtub took a beating!

I can't believe how "clean" I was able to get them!

My shirt is now a nice gray color (sorry, I didn't get a post-wash picture) but it was ALL worth it!! 

And while I was busy rinsing out my clothes someone found my iPod and had a little fun

Lily

Make it good? I'll settle for "eh, it's ok"

On February 9, 2011 I sat in front of my computer, nervously emailing back and forth with Smidge, trying to decide if I should start a blog. Could I do it? Would anyone even care about what I have to say? Failure is hard for me to handle, did I really want to put myself out there for all the world to see? With some pats on the back from Smidge, and lots of back and forth on my blog title, I dove in and clicked Publish.

I can’t fully describe what writing on this blog means to me but those of you with your own blogs probably understand anyway. My readers, you guys, have been awesome. I couldn’t have asked for a better reception and I’m truly grateful for the friendships I’ve developed. I’ve gotten away from writing for many reasons, most of them not particularly good, but I still like knowing that you guys are out there and always willing to welcome me back when I see fit.

Last year I set a calendar reminder so that I wouldn’t forget my blogerversary. I had to put it on the day before so I had time to write something. When I saw the entry there the other day it made me realize how much I’ve missed writing. I’m hoping to start up again. I’m not sure what tone it will take or how well I’ll stick to the plan, but thank you for being you and putting up with me.

Hap, hap, happy blogerversary to me!

Lily

Reason #52 why Smidge is my great friend - A guest post

(Update: I'm stupid and can't successfully schedule a post. So this was supposed to be posted on Sunday...but you'll have to settle for it now)

Hello everyone! I’m still in sunny Seattle (I feel it’s important to note that this is me being optimistic. I am writing this intro on Thursday morning at my desk in New York, and from what I’ve heard, Seattle doesn’t do “sunny” very often. Here’s hoping!) [I think I should quit my job and become a psychic...it was totally sunny the entire time I was there. Winning!] Anyway, I’m still in Seattle where I ran away from all responsibility with my mom visiting my aunt. I imagine I am having a great time. As I said in Friday’s post, I’m sure you can expect a big photo dump when I return on Tuesday or Wednesday when I actually get around to downloading all the pictures. In the meantime, please enjoy this word from our resident Smidge…

Reason #52 Why Small Towns Can Be Great

I was born in a small town, and I live in a small town  (and from that start you might be able to figure out where that small town is) [comment from Lily: Bruuuuuuuce] and I’ve always thought that although it comes with some disadvantages (like EVERYONE knowing your business before it even happens), the good out weights the bad.

After college Lily did something crazy! She moved to the smallest of small towns 4 and half hours away in the middle of nowhere! For those of you who think I’m over exaggerating, directions to her house included “turn left at the only stop light in the county” and “right at the red barn”.  I’ve spent a lot of time making fun of her for this move. [comment from Lily: She really has] Now thanks to modern technology I’m still able to e-mail her every day, which is wonderful, but sometimes that’s just not enough and I need to take that extra step and send her something thru regular old US snail mail.

For example, this year was her big b-day!!! You know the one no girl wants to think about too much…30!!! (pssst…LILY you can totally make that number lower before you post this if you want, I won’t tell anyone) I couldn’t be there for it but I knew that I had to send her a fun care package with as many goodies as I could think of that she could eat, and lots of notes so she knew that even though I’m over 4 hours away, and we are both older then we’d like to admit, I’m still me and she’s still her. 

SO after a good hour in the store reading labels, another hour writing fun notes (without the help of spell check which always makes things interesting) and an e-mail to one of our other friends to confirm the address, my b-day surprise was packed and ready to ship. I sent it out so that it would deliver on her B-day and then waited for the fun phone call I would get when she got her surprise.

Four days later I was sitting in my house going through old mail when I found a letter from Lily with a return address that was NOT the one that I just sent her package to. After a text to her to confirm, I discovered I had sent the gift to an old address [comment from Lily: we've lived waaay too many places in the last 8 years]. I was devastated, not only did she know it was coming now but because of my mistake it would take weeks to get to her, if she got it at all. 

Lily suggested that I call the post office to see if they could do anything, I didn’t think they would be able to help but I figured why not, I had nothing to lose. So the next morning I called the Post office and told my story to the nice lady who worked there. She asked what the name was on the package, and after I told her she said “oh I have that right here”.  As you can imagine my jaw dropped “WHAT” I said “REALLY!! That’s AMAZING…oh my gosh you just totally made my week!!!” [comment from Lily: those of you that know Smidge in person, I'm betting you can totally hear her saying exactly that in her excited voice.] she giggled at that and asked for the real address. There was no checking the computer, or asking for tracking numbers I didn’t have, she just had it on her desk. Seems it came in a few days ago and since no one knew the person on the address she was waiting for more information.  Only in a small town would something like this happen, anywhere else a package comes in with the wrong address it gets lost in the back somewhere, or returned to sender, not many people would have “waiting for more information”.

So thanks to this small town post office Lily got her package just a few days later!! And I got one more reason to love small towns. It might even make up for that time in 5^th grade when I got in trouble for cutting across the railroad tracks on my way home from a friend’s house after a “concerned residence” (the stoolpigeon’s name remains a mystery to this day) called my mom to tattle on me…well then again maybe not, I did, after all, get grounded for 3 days for that!

~Smidge

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If you follow me on Instagram (@momnextdoorblog) you may remember this picture from a few weeks ago.

I can’t even begin to tell you how excited getting this box o’ stuff made me! When my husband came home and saw it he said to me “You giggled the entire time reading all these notes, didn’t you?” Yes, yes I did! And then I called Smidge and we had an ear splitting conversation that went something like this…”OMG SMIDGE! THIS IS AWESOME!” “I KNOW RIGHT! I KNEW YOU’D LOVE IT!!!” “OMG IT”S THE BEST!!!!” “DID YOU LIKE THE TOY?” (because, according to Smidge, every birthday gift must contain a toy!) “OMG I LOVED THE TOY!!!” (the toy was an ity bity yellow ninja that was AWESOME and as soon as I said the word “toy” Bud’s ears perked up, he ran over to me, plucked the yellow ninja out of my hand and went off to play with it. I swear I didn’t call after him and say “Hey, that’s my toy!”)

So my birthday gift was a few days late but honestly, it was worth the wait! Smidge, as always, proved once again she is the best!

Lily

Smidge Post - The One With The Old Person

Cuz I'm a bad blogger and a good "delegator" (that's a word, no matter what spell check says) and because Smidge is awesome, here is another Smidge post. Happy Friday peeps!

ER’s and why one old person can make it better

Recently I hurt my knee.  At 1^st it was just annoying so I did what every good athlete does, pretended it would go away on its own and kept playing on it. But then I was running down the 1^st base line during a softball game and felt the dreaded “pop” every athlete fears. It then became clear that it was time for me to get a professional opinion. 

It’s important that I tell you that I don’t like Doctors. Because 90% of the time you wait in their offices for hours telling the same thing to 3 different nurses and then get 30 seconds to actually talk with the Doc, who spends most of that time looking at the computer screen and not really listening to what you’re saying. Then they say they aren’t really sure what’s wrong but they can give you something they think will help, hands you a piece of paper and says “you can pay the nurse up front” and off they go. (At least that’s what I think, maybe I need to find better doctors?) 

Anyway I was told by my friend “the nurse” that Monday mornings are the best time to go to the ER because it’s empty. So the next morning I had my younger sister Belle drop me off and I limped inside to wait my turn to talk with a Doctor. As I sat in the corner of the waiting room hoping the triage nurse would call me already so I could get away from the crying baby and other sickly looking people, an old man in a wheel chair came in with his son.  

Another important piece of information about me is that I’m really nosey! I love knowing everyone else’s business. 

So I listened in as the son spoke to the check-in desk. Winds up they are just looking for his mom who was brought in earlier, the Clerk looked up and pointed the two in the direction of his mom’s room. Just as they were about to turn away the Old Man says “wait I want to check in.” The son tries to explain that they don’t need to check in, they are just going to see mom but the old man is insistent, he wants to see a doctor as well. 

At this point I’m FINALLY called back to start my first of many conversations about “why I’m here today” and I leave giving the old man and his son one last look and feeling very bad the poor guy has to go thru this with his mom already sick somewhere.

45 min later I’m waiting alone in my 3^rd waiting room for someone to “come get me” when the old man is brought in with his son, who leaves almost right away to check on mom. The old man took one look at me and said “semper fi”. Articulate as I am I said “huh” and that was enough to get him rolling. 

It seems he saw my shirt in the 1^st waiting room and wanted to know if I was in the Marines. I’m not, but I was sporting one of my many college t-shirts with the schools initials which happens to be just one letter off of USMC. I explained this to him (it’s not the 1^st time someone has asked) and he said that he always asks because he was in the service for like 30 years, did 2 tours in Vietnam. I thanked him for that and so started a wonderful conversation that would tell me more about his life then you’d think possible in 20 minutes. 

I found out that his anniversary was the next day, along with his birthday, and that he and his wife were supposed to go to Mount Airy Lodge to celebrate but she was brought in with chest pains the night before, so he wasn’t sure what they would do now. I learned about his years in the military, and how proud he was of that time. And how he was having problems with his hips the last few days which is why he wanted to see the Doctor. 

When the nurse FINALLY showed up to take me to the next room (which wound up being a hallway I sat in for 3 more hours before finally being released with a knee brace and a “follow up with an orthopedic doctor cause I don’t see anything wrong” that 2 weeks later I found out was really a tear in my cartilage)  I was upset with having to leave my new friend. 

The good news was that he was put in a room next to my hallway and I was able to overhear him talking to the hospital staff that came in and out of his room, which made my wait time go just a little faster. 

So what’s my point you ask? Well I guess it’s that sometimes it’s those unexpected meetings with random people that can really make your day just a little better. Oh and Doctor’s still totally suck! Take that and do with it what you will.

~Smidge

Lily

Conversations with Smidge

Smidge hurt her knee and has been limping walking around with an immobilizer for a few weeks now. I asked how it was going and what follows is our conversation...

Smidge: It still hurts and now like my shin is hurting from the brace I think and my upper thigh from the weight of the brace so that’s not fun. BUT I could bend it more so that’s very good. And I think I figured out a way to help with the slipping (cause the dumb thing starts off at the right spot but then after you walk like 10 steps it slowly slides down your leg a little) I put an ace bandage under it right by the bottom to help it (and hopefully take some of the strain off my shin too) so far it is helping but ask again later please.

Me: How annoying! Good thinking about the ace bandage though. But just think, you’re thigh will be ripped by the time you are done wearing the brace. Then of course your other leg won’t be so you’ll be all lopsided but hey, one strong leg is better than no strong legs, am I right?

Smidge: I’m not sure you are….I mean sure it will be kinda cool to have one side all hulk like but how will I find  pants that fit right?

Me: Excellent point. But! If you are ripped that much you could probably just wear shorts all the time. Problem solved!

Smidge: You my dear are a problem solver if I ever did see one… well done

That conversation was followed by this conversation just minutes later…

Smidge: What are you doing for child care during the summer?

Me: We have to find someone for July and August. I have no idea who that is going to be! (And yes, I’m fully aware that time is a’tickin.)

Smidge: Whatever you totally have lots of time to find someone. Like a Whole month…well ok not a whole month but like 2 weeks (Ok, so this conversation is a few weeks old, you caught me. Writers block is a bitch.) and that’s lots of time to find a care giver for your kids…worse comes to worse you just set up like a play area in the backyard and leave some toys and food in a box for them, you know like you do with a dog.

Me: My kids are terrified of bugs so I’d just leave them locked in the house. That way they have access to the pantry and stove. Bud is totally old enough to make grilled cheese or macaroni!

Smidge: Even better! Plus then you could just put on a movie for them or nick jr and that should keep them out of trouble. My mom used to use the TV as a babysitter ALL the time…and I turned out just fine ;-)

Me: I use Nick Jr as a babysitter all the time so they would totally be fine. Plus Bud knows how to work the TV so if they got bored of that he could just change it. As long as I left drinks out for them they would totally be ok.

Smidge: Then there you have it a perfectly good plan…problem solved once again, we are on a roll today

Me: Man, at this rate we should really try to tackle more serious world issues. I mean, we might be able to achieve world peace at the rate we are going.

Smidge: Or hunger! That would be a big one

Me: Oooh! See! Man, we are just SHARP this morning! I think that deserves some chocolate! 3 Musketeers bar it is!

Smidge: I have peanut butter cups! But I’m saving it for later…right now I got myself some tea

Me: Tea does fit in well with the whole world peace thing. Good choice.

Smidge: It’s very adult of me right…and I’m sure you agree that the 6 sugars I put in there doesn’t make it any less adult like

Me: No, not at all! When life gives you tea, make sweet tea. Isn’t that the saying?

Smidge: Yeah I think that’s it

Happy Tuesday Peeps.

Lily

Smidge: Sliced Bread or Smelly Fish

I’ve mentioned Smidge several times now (if you don’t believe me see here - #75 - and here, and here, and here, oh and here too) but some of you are still like “Who’s Smidge?” I thought it best that she introduce herself so you can truly understand why this girl is my best friend. Also, she’s a fabulous story teller as long as no shiny objects get in her way so it seems a shame to deprive the world of her awesomeness. I mean, it would just be selfish of me to keep her all to myself. SO! I finally convinced her that she should guest post for me while I basically ignore my own blog and continue to try to convince her to start her own so without further ado….ladies and gentlemen, I give you SMIDGE!!!

Growing up I always thought sleep overs were a ton of fun. Spending the night away from home, staying up late playing games and eating whatever junk food you could get away with. But eventually the night would turn to day and my mom or dad would call to tell me they would be over soon to pick me up. Wanting the fun to last a little while longer I would ask to stay and hang out, but my parents would always say "you know what they say about guests and fish". For those of you who don't know this little gem from the great Mr. Franklin they say that both start to stink after 3 days. So when Lily suggested that I write a guest post on her wonderful blog my first thought was “dude that would be awesome!” I'd get all the joy of writing a post without all the work and worry of having to keep a blog updated. For me this is the best of both worlds. But then I heard my mom's voice reminding me that guests aren't always welcome and I began to have doubts. Would people who have come to read the latest escapade in the life of the mom next door really want to read about little old me instead? Would anyone out there really care about the thoughts bouncing around my head? But Lily is a very convincing person (if you don't know this already) and she insists her readers are going to think I'm a hoot. And being the push over that I am I agreed to write a few guest posts for her just to see how it goes. So here you are readers, my first guest post, with the possibility of more to come. I don’t really expect to produce the greatest thing since sliced bread but I hope I can at least put a smile on someone’s face. And you guys will just need to let me know if you start to smell something fishy. Here goes...

Even Tom Boys like to feel pretty

My poor mother, she had 4 daughters and we’re all Tom Boys. Growing up I always had scabby knees and dirty feet (shoes in my option are over rated). She tried so hard to get us to appreciate the joys of shopping and putting on makeup, but it just never quite stuck. For me having to go shopping for new clothes is right up there with root canals and jury duty (something that you should ALWAYS try and get out of). But you see I’m an Amazing big sister so last week when my sister was complaining about having to go shopping for a new dress (she has a wedding to go to) I told her I would brave the outlet mall with her, and hoped that would make the whole thing go faster. When shopping it’s important to have a battle plan, in my family it’s divide and conquer. This means once in the store we split up and pull cloths we think will work for both of us and meet back at the dressing room to try them all on. Clothes are passed back and forth until the floor is littered with the fallen, and we want nothing more than to punch whoever designed this seasons latest fashions, cause they NEVER fit normal looking girls!! (I’m sure a lot of you out there know how this goes). On this trip only one of us needed a dress so I thought I’d get out of the horror of looking at myself in the mirror in ill-fitting clothes but my sister had other ideas. After several failed attempts to find something, she handed me one of the discarded dresses and told me to try it on. I reminded my dear sister that I didn’t need a dress but she didn’t seem to care. So I put on the cursed thing just to get her moving again. When I came out for inspection my sister took one look at me and said “oh you look like a princess” I, of course, laughed in her face, cause really a princess, come on! But then I looked in the mirror (I even did one of those girly spin things) and by George I did look like a princess!! Despite the fact that I have nothing yet to wear it to I brought that pretty party dress (which was on clearance by the way making it even better). And as they rung me up all I could think about was how proud my mom was going to be.

Lily

Conversations with Smidge

Smidge and I just had this conversation.

Smidge: I saw a clown this morning in the subway…like Fully Dressed Clown. Just walking around like he wasn’t dressed like a clown

Me: Like, red nose and all?

Smidge: YUP!!! Red nose, big shoes and just so you get the full picture polka dots on his jacket and pants

Me: Did he have a flower that squirted water? Because really, that makes the clown (in my opinion).

Smidge: No I don’t think he did…MAN does that mean I didn’t see a clown today in the subway, cause that kinda made my whole work day worth it

Me: No, you are entitled to still say you saw a clown. But I feel you’d be at fault if you didn’t at least add that he was a “poor excuse” for one.

Smidge: You know what when I passed him he wasn’t smiling either now that I think of it…ok agreed let’s start over…

I saw a poor excuse for a clown this morning in the subway…like Fully Dressed Clown but without a flower and not smiling. Just walking around like he wasn’t dressed like a clown.

Me: I miss the city.

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I’ve decided that “Conversations with Smidge,” just like “Conversations with Bud,” must become a reoccurring event. You’re welcome.

Lily

YAY SMIDGE!

Please help me congratulate Smidge on a job well done! She completed the ½ marathon (13.1 miles) in 3 hours and 6 minutes! So awesome!! Because she finished in under 3 ½ hours she was presented with the Donald Duck Award! YAY SMIDGE! I’m very, very proud of you! Enjoy Disney for the rest of the week! You deserve it! (If you can actually move your legs enough to get around. Maybe you can rent one of the motorized scooters? Just a thought.)

CONGRATULATIONS SMIDGE!!

Lily

Thought Vomit Thursday

So you might not know this about me but I think about some really random crap. (I know! Hard to believe, right!) Most of the time I spare you guys the details but I have come across the perfect platform to spew my mind vomit all across the Internet. 

Thought Vomit Thursdays was brought to my attention by Josey over at “My Cheap Version of therapy”

 (Go ahead and click the link. She’s fun and has an adorable new baby.)

Here goes…

So Christmas really did go smoothly. We all had a good time and PLENTY to eat! Here are some of the highlights from Christmas morning…

Showing off our designer Christmas headbands
(My dad knows the designer! We are so posh!)

Best. Present. Ever.

He got a calendar. He's obsessed with calendars!

Babe hugging her new favorite baby doll

I don't think I need to explain why I posted this picture. Awesome.

If you look at Babe's feet, they are resting on one of her favorite Christmas toys. A real metal shopping cart! Totally awesome!

Later, after everyone left, I was walking around the house and realized just how great a Christmas it was. Nothing says AWESOME CHRISTMAS PARTY like the wreckage left behind.

The remainder of the nativity scene. I'm not sure when the rest of it was moved.

Gingerbread house...or what was left of it anyway.

So desolate! 

Partied out

A good Christmas was had by all! 

So my friend Smidge, you remember Smidge, right? She is my idol (well, I don’t actually want to do what she’s doing but I’m really, extremely, super-duper proud of her for doing it). She is going to run a ½ marathon at Disney on Saturday! She’s been training for a long time now and she’s run more in one stint then I have ever run in my life and she’s a tad nervous but I know she is going to do so awesome and earn her Donald Duck Award for finishing the run. I don’t know about you, but to get a Donald Duck award for anything is pretty freaking awesome! She has to run 13.1 miles in under 3.5 hours and just thinking about that makes me want to crawl in bed and cover my head with the sheets! So please join me in saying “GO SMIDGE GO!” and “YOU CAN DO IT!” and “Don’t get on the wrong bus and end up at the finish line instead of the start line!” YAY SMIDGE!”

As always, thinking about exercise immediately makes me think about food. Which leads me to my next thought vomit…they are now making Gluten Free Marshmallow Pebbles and can I just say THANK YOU POST CEREAL for bringing joy back to my life! (I may or may not have been caught in the pantry eating the marshmallows from the box by my children.)

Via

And since I mentioned exercise I should also mention that I got Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred for Christmas. She is kicking my ass! I’ve stuck with it for a week now and I’m ready to move onto level two. I haven’t lost any weight (muscle weighs more than fat, right?) and my stomach isn’t any smaller (I don’t think that it has anything to do with the entire tray of Rice Krispie treats I ate in a day and a half.) but I can now do 15 real pushups. In a row. Without stopping. Honestly, the only way to celebrate that achievement is with an entire tray of Rice Krispie Treats! Yay me!

But again, please send good vibes to Smidge and if she does as awesome as I’m expecting maybe I’ll post a picture of her Donald Duck award and make you all jealous!! (You know, if she ACTUALLY SENDS ME A PICTURE. Or, if she posts it on Facebook because otherwise, I doubt I’ll ever get a picture. SMIDGE, ARE YOU LISTENING?)

Yes, this is Smidge, and I love her! (In all her pink ruffled glory!)

Lily