Kendall and I have a standing weekly date. Even though she and I get to spend lots of one on one time together, our weekly lunch at Subway is a highlight of our week. The boys don't care for Subway but Kendall and I love it. We share a turkey sandwich, Sun Chips and a vanilla coke. They know us there. They know our sandwich and what we want on it. We love our Subway.

Today, we had our weekly Subway date even though someone else had to join us.


Cason was home from school today because he was sick. And to make matters worse, he couldn't eat. So he had to sit and watch Kendall and I enjoy our Subway. I'm sure you can tell by his face how much he loved that. But it didn't stop Kendall and I from enjoying ourselves.

Should I have been at home holding my sick little boy and making sure all of his needs were met? Maybe. But then they would have missed Kendall at Subway. And we can't disappoint our friends there.

And I don't really feel very guilty about that.

Cason had to dress up as Teddy Roosevelt for a President's Day parade. Let me tell you something about my boy. He hates to do something that other people aren't doing (that trait should make high school fun!). It was very difficult to convince him to dress up when he wasn't sure if other friends were going to dress up. But once he got to school and saw Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, John Adams and the rest of the presidential crew, he felt better.

So here is Ruff Ryder Theodore Roosevelt in all his glory, minus the mustache because Cason said, "it makes me look too weird."

Hat and Bandana are from the party supply store.

Khakis we already had.

Boots borrowed from a friend.

Glasses are Harry Potter costume glasses from Amazon.

Shirt is a gift from Papa Chuck. Cason asked why cowboys wear such stiff shirts.

Sometimes, you just want to put on your flower girl dress from a year and a half ago, your tights that have a hole in the knee, and crash on the couch.

Ladies, am I right?

Setting:Kendall and Emily are in the car, at a very busy intersection, during the lunch rush and the roads are cut to one lane for construction.

Kendall: Mom, is this traffic?

Emily: Yes.

K (speaking slowly): Mom...is...this...traffic?

E: Yes.

K (loudly): MOM, I SAID IS THIS TRAFFIC?

E: Yes! I said yes!

K: You should say, "Yes. This is traffic."'

E: Fine. Yes. This is traffic.

K: No it isn't.

Emily bangs her head against steering wheel.

-End Scene-

We've been watching a lot of Lion King lately, hence the title. We've also been in the throws of a bathroom remodel for a while. I can see it coming together now and I'm getting excited. It's ...interesting....doing home renovation projects when one spouse is a perfectionist and one is a "get-it-done"-ist. I'll let you guess which one is which in our house. To add to the fun, we like to do these projects when up against a hard deadline of having big events at our house. It's an awesome way to live.

A few days ago, as I was texturing the bathroom walls, I was silently cursing the previous owners. Why in the world did they think paneling was a good idea? (Tangent: I'm reading a lot about people putting up bead board, board and batten, and whatnot in their homes right now. I know it can look really good but I'm here begging you NOT to do that unless you're planning to live in your house forever. Because I can guarantee that look is going out of style at some point and the future owners will hate you when they are ripping it down.) I was feeling pretty irritated at the entire situation that I found myself in (the "situation" being covered in joint compound and making a huge mess because someone in the 60's thought paneling was awesome) when I read this post by a dear friend.

Our home had one owner before we moved in. Which might not sound like much till you consider that our house was over 40 years old when we bought it. People don't do that anymore. The average person my age, lives in a house for no more than five years. Why is that? Maybe the internet has made it so much more easy to look. Maybe we're just that much less satisfied and content as a society (I'm NOT saying it's bad to move! I want to move one day! I'm just thinking! If you have/will/are wanting to move I have no beef with it!) Mr. and Mrs. C bought this house (maybe built it) in 1963 and raised their family in it. Mrs. C lived in it for three years after Mr. C passed away. She finally had to move in with her daughter and that's when we bought the house after it had been on the market for two days (and we were the FIFTH offer in two days; true story). We didn't know it at the time, but I was pregnant with Cason when we signed all the paperwork. And now we've brought two babies home to this house and started raising our family in it.

After I read that post by Jess, I started thinking about all our house has given us. Of course shelter and memories but also connections. Connections with a family I'll never meet but feel a kinship toward. I often think, "Oh, what would Mrs. C think about the way that the carpet has been accidentally ripped up in Cason's room?" or "Mrs. C would die if she knew I threw away all of her custom made curtains!" Right after we moved in, I found a jar left in the pantry labeled "Dirt from the Sahara Dessert." How cool is that? This house has, in many ways, become the sixth member of our family (don't forget the dog...). It lives and breathes and has character and little oddities that we're still discovering. Did I hate the floor to ceiling mauve? Yes. Do I hate the back splash in the kitchen? You know it. But even for all that, this house has been very good to us. So I thank the C family for entrusting to us, for picking us out of six offers on the house, to own it.

Will we buy a house again that needs this much updating? NO. But for now, I wouldn't trade it.

We had a great Christmas. Seriously.

If you're ever having a bah humbug moment, I ask you to share Christmas with a young child and your mind will completely change. I know these years of magic and wonder won't last forever. In fact, I can feel them slipping away from me rather quickly. But for now, we will enjoy every minute of it. We have lots of pictures and I would love to share them with you but I can't because that would require me 1) going out to my car to get my camera and 2) actually bothering to upload the pictures.

For me personally, I made out pretty well. I got a TV for my kitchen, a Keurig, some shoes and cash. I can't complain.

So New Years.

I'm so glad I'm at the age where I don't feel like I have to front about wanting to go out and do something fun on New Year's Eve. Because I don't. We took the kids to a nice (for them) restaurant. If you're friends with Colin on facebook I'm sure you saw his rant about the kid's milk costing $5. After dinner, we came home and put on our jammies and played Monopoly Jr. I lost. Typical.

Some people aren't into New Year's Resolutions and that's ok. I'm not into making a big long list of things I want to accomplish over the year. I just like to have an idea of where I'm going. I decluttered 90% of the house in the past week and that felt amazing. We're in the middle of a bathroom remodel and I'm going to attempt to do some painting techniques that I've never done before so I'm excited about that. But as far as New Year's resolutions go, I'm going to resolve to do the following:

1) Blog more: I'm going to try to blog one or two times a week. I know. You are all dying of anticipation.

2) Drink more water: Sounds simple enough but I have the hardest time staying hydrated. I downloaded an app (yes, I apparently need an electronic device to monitor my water intake) and yesterday, it sent me a notification that I forgot to fill in my water intake for the day. I hadn't forgot. I just hadn't had any water. True story.

3) Get back into a regular exercise routine: Two years ago, I weighed 30 pounds more than I do now. I really haven't blogged much (if at all) about my weight loss. Not because I'm shy but just because it's the same story as everyone else. I was fat. I started exercising regularly and eating healthier and I lost weight. The end. It wasn't a New Year's resolution two years ago. In February of 2010, I went to the doctor for a sinus infection and they weighed me and I about choked to death when I saw what the scale said. I went ahead and gained a few more pounds before I had enough and started exercising. Now that I'm back into single digit clothing sizes, I'd like to stay there. When Cason started school, I envisioned me having so much more time to do things but it hasn't worked out that way. I've really struggled to stay in a consistent exercise routine. But it's just an excuse and I'm dedicated to working five times a week again. Maybe there's an app that can help me.

There you have it. It's nothing earth shattering but it's a few things I want to do to better myself in 2012. What about you? What are you hoping to accomplish this year?

As far as I'm concerned there are two types of women in the world: American Girl women and every one else. I don't mean "American" as in "from America." I mean, "American."

If you grew up an American Girl, you:
1) wanted to name your future daughter Samantha, Addy, Felicity, or Molly.

2) love(d) reading.

3) poured over every catalog even though you knew it was the same as the last.

4) knew your Christmas and birthday list would consist of some sort of American Girl loot. And your relatives knew it too.

5) felt sorry for your friends that weren't American Girls. But of course, you were kind enough to share (but never Samantha...she's mine).

Yes, I was an American Girl. I was spoiled. I had Samantha, Molly, Kirsten, Addy, and Felicity. I had every book. I had accessories. Each doll had multiple outfits and beds. I actually was subscribed to the American Girl Magazine for a long time.

Like I said, I was spoiled.

Without being too sappy or dramatic, I have to say, I love what the American Girl company gives young girls. The characters are respectable, believable, and identifiable. It's a cure for the Bratz and other ridiculous toys for little girls.

Kendall got a bitty baby for her first birthday. She still loves it. The last time we were at my parents' house, she got out my old dolls and had a ball. And then she rented the Kit Kittredge movie from the library. She was in love and I was fanning the flames.

So Wednesday, we did something awesome for me for Kendall. We stopped by the American Girl store in Dallas, birthday money in hand from grandparents.

Kendall and I could have stayed all day but Colin and Cason were with us. Next year, sister. Next year.

Happy 4th birthday to my smart, sweet and beautiful Kendall.

Kendall, you are more "yourself" than anyone I know. You are incredibly girly but not afraid to get dirty outside with your big brother I love you more than you know, Miss Sassy Pants.

Have you ever told someone they could borrow something of yours and then you kept forgetting to bring it to them? Like, to the point of awkwardness. Examples being: You tell a friend she can have your maternity clothes and you forget to bring them to her every time you see her. And then she has the baby. OR: You tell a friend they can borrow the book and you forget to loan it to that friend. And then when you DO remember, they say, "Oh, I got tired of waiting so I bought it and read it and then read the other four books in the series." Awkward. Not that that has EVER happened to me. Ahem.

That's what I feel has happened to my blog. It's been so long that it's awkward.

So quick recap:

1) We had a thanksgiving with approximately 340 people (not really but almost). Kendall was sick. Take those two facts for what you will.

2) Kendall's birthday party was last weekend. And so goes my yearly rant about having a kid with a Christmas birthday. We had her party much earlier than her actual birthday this year. It was great in one sense because it's out of the way now. But it's made Kendall very confused about when her actual birthday is. She knows it's December 20th but she thinks that's already happened. Oh, and don't ask to see pictures of the party. They aren't uploaded yet.

3) We are done with Christmas shopping and have everything wrapped. This is the first year my kids will have presents under the tree for more than 5 minutes. They've done great so far.

4) Cason got to shop for us at the Santa shop at school. He got something for Colin, Kendall and me. All I know is what he got for Colin (a coffee cup (Colin doesn't drink coffee)). Colin knows Cason got him a coffee cup so he's really laying it on thick and saying things like, "I really wish I had a nice cup to drink hot chocolate out of." Cason lights up and gets the biggest grim on his face too. Love.

5) I plan to use said coffee cup when I get a Keurig for Christmas. I actually don't know if I'm getting a Keuring for Christmas. I'm trying to drop small hints like, "If I don't get a Keurig for Christmas, I'm quitting this family."

6) Kendall got her ears pierced. It's pretty adorbs if I do say so myself.


Other than that, we're hanging out getting ready for "the most wonderful time of the year!" Or something like that.

New Year's resolution: Post more on my blog, making less awkward for everyone.

This Thanksgiving holiday, be thankful you aren't in Marney's family.