When it's cold outside...

Merry Christmas!

She is Christmas! Happy Birthday, Noelle!

Noelle - Christmas. She was due Dec 23rd, but we had to deliver c/section so she was born 12/16 instead.  

[In case you wanted to know: Colin was due 12/14 and we opted for a c/s to have an earlier date and so their birthdays wouldn't be 2 days apart, LOL! 9 days is close enough!]

We always loved the name Noelle, and thought it was perfect - with the nickname Elle (rhymes with belly).

For her birthday meal, she chose our usual Christmas meal: Ham, gourmet potatoes and corn.

And instead of birthday cake (because she doesn't like icing...which I totally don't get), she chose Christmas cookies - Chocolate Crinkles!  (My favorite Christmas cookies, too!)

She is full of JOY, she is LOVE, she is a GIVER.  She is an example of Christmas.  And we love her to pieces!  She prefers "Elle" 11 months out of the year and likes to be called "Noelle" during December!  She's kind of quirky, like her momma!

We have T's company Christmas banquet tonight, so we celebrated with the grandparents last night.  She and her daddy danced to their favorite songs, "Baby Girl" by Sugarland and "Cowgirls Don't Cry" by Brooks and Dunn.

Wishing...

Happy 7th Birthday, Noelle.

Wordless Wednesday: Silly Elf

My baby girl!

Last week she watched her brother celebrate his 5th birthday.  Which makes them just one year apart for 9 days.  He's 5 and she's 6...until this Friday!  She's anxiously awaiting her big day.

In honor of her upcoming day, I just had to share this picture of her.

Notice she's using a spoon with her "scoops" chips...and she "ith now mithing 4 teeth!"  She lost all 4 within 1 months time.  A foot to the mouth helped knock the first one out in November. The second tooth was lost while Daddy was away a few days deer hunting...she was so excited to show him when he returned home!  The third tooth came out last Friday with a little help from her brother's head!  And on Sunday, she pulled the fourth tooth out.

We believe she's doing it for the money!  Tooth $ combined with birthday $ combined with Christmas $ - a December not to be forgotten!  ;-D

And the winner is...

Buttercream Queen!

Congrats Queen!!  I'll fb message you some details in a bit!

Thank you all for entering. 

Happy Birthday Bubba!

Yesterday was C's 5th birthday.  What a boy!  This child is not influenced by anyone and beats to his own drum.  He has a witty sense of humor.  I wouldn't say he's strong willed, but he just won't do what he doesn't want to do!  He is a snuggler, which we love!

Here are some pictures from his party Tuesday night (the night before his birthday).  Our tradition is to have each of our parents over for cake and ice cream.  But before they came, we had his Birthday dinner of homemade Macaroni & Cheese with ham and a side of pears.

Happy 5th Birthday C!

December GiveAway!

Giveaway is over and comments are now closed. 

Winner will be announced Monday morning.

After sifting through all the fa.cebook legalities of a giveaway, I just decided to host it here at my ol' blog and advertise it on fac.ebook!

December GiveAway at Forget me Knot!! 

This little fleece sleeping bag will delight any doll enthusiast, from 2-92. There are no zippers to snag or buttons to worry about - this adorable bag has an opening just below the pillow for your little one to slide their dolls (fits 15” and 18”) in for a good night’s sleep. The pillows are stuffed with a very soft filling to provide only the best possible sleep. (Bag featured in giveaway is made from same fabric, but pattern placement may vary). 

May earn up to 3 entries by doing the following:
1- Leave a comment on this 12/6 blog post letting me know who you'd give the doll sleeping bag to.

The following have two parts:
2 -  First, find me on fac.ebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/forgetmeknot.la and like my "Forget me Knot" page - and second, come back here leaving a comment letting me know that you did...(If you already "Like" the page, just leave me a comment letting me know).
3 - First, share this giveaway on facebook including a link to the FMK page and second, come back here to leave a comment letting me know you shared it on facebo.ok.

NOTE: For all comments, be sure to include your email if it is not already connected to your blogger profile.  This giveaway will accept anonymous comments, but please let me know who you are! :D

The giveaway will end this Sunday, 12/11 at midnight est. 

Good luck!

Fall Break 2011 - Cast.away Cay

Our Disn.ey cruise earlier this month featured 2 stops at Dis.ney's private island, Ca.staway Cay.  This is the main reason we choose the week we did, because the first time in 2009, we loved Casta.way Cay. 

Our first and last full days of the cruise were spent at this little island paradise.  It is a private island and only ship comes in at a time.

The older 2 both learned how to snorkel, all 3 enjoyed the warm, clear water and this momma also learned to snorkel!  We had a great teacher - T!

Anticipation & an anniversary celebration!

In February 2010, we booked a trip for our family of five to take.  And then we waited.

We waited 500+ days for the day we'd leave on our trip.

11-11-11

Finally, after much anticipation, excitement and planning, we left on 11-11-11 to drive to Baltimore and catch a flight to Orlando.  We stayed in Orlando the first night and upon waking up the next morning, we'd head to Port Canaveral to board the Disney Magic (the sister ship of the Disney Wonder, which we were on in November of 2009).

Some people thought we were crazy to celebrate our 15th anniversary by taking a trip with our kids.  But since we were the ones taking the trip, we really didn't care what anyone else thought! ;-P

It was a truly magical time of adventures and fun!  We cruised to Castaway Cay twice (Disney's private island) and also had stops at Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico.

Despite already being in Florida and having a much shorter trip on Saturday morning - we still look like weary travelers! ;-D

And, excuse me, but when did my 9 year old get so tall?  He's almost to my shoulder!  I cannot even remember the number of people that asked if our youngest were twins!

I'll share some more pictures as I get them organized and off my camera.  But note, the smile on C's face will be a theme for the week.  He kept choosing to smile with his mouth closed and looking at it makes me smile with my mouth open (with an added giggle)!

FINALLY!

She's been waiting for quite some time.  Wiggling.  Wiggling.  Wiggling.

At Q's soccer game last weekend, she was playing with the coach's daughter - who someone kicked her leg up and her shoe caught E's mouth...and Voilà!

Next month is her 7th birthday, and she was beyond thrilled to lose her first tooth before that special day!

Thursday Thoughts...

It is a beautiful, sunshine filled day outside, but we'll be spending most of our day inside.

We've got an order for snuggling on the couch served up with a side of fever and sore throat!

Wordless Wednesday

Taken Saturday, October 29, 2011

Trick or Treat!

While I despise Hal.loween, Trick or Treating has become something our little development does well. I enjoy being able to let the kids dress up in silly, harmless costumes (no gore or scare factor allowed in this house) and travel with them as we visit the neighbors.  T and I both enjoy walking with the kids, so we let a basket of candy on the porch!  After visiting a few houses, we load up the kids and head to the grands!

Riley did not trick or treat with us, but he would have been hurt had we not included him in the dress up! ;-) Actually, I put the antlers on him as a possible companion to Q's costume!

We try to be "A light in a dark world" and let our neighbors know we care about them. Tucked into the candy bags was a paper with a message "We thank God for our blessings every day, and today, we thanked Him for you." This year, we included John 3:16-18 from The Message at Q's request.  

Now, on to the costumes. E wanted to be a baker this year!  I'm so excited about her costume and what it means to me.  I already had the patterns for a chef's hat, apron and oven mitt and I just had to look online for felt cookie inspiration!

As I was sewing the chef's hat this past Friday, it dawned on me how special this costume was.  My daughter was next to me as I made it, just like she's beside me most times when I'm cooking.  My mom instilled in me a love for cooking and sewing.  And my mom inherited her love of sewing and cooking from her mom, my grandma, who we just laid to rest yesterday.  I related my feelings to E as I made the hat, "You know, E. Your great grandma was a very talented seamstress and a chef in a restaurant.  That makes your costume very, very special to me!"  And she couldn't have been more proud to carry her freshly baked "felt" cookies around the neighborhood!  I hope that she develops her love of cooking and sewing and that it will be something we can do together for many years.

C, my baby, is my wild card!  He choose an Indian costume, that Q wore a few years ago.  I'm not sure why he is making a fist like he wanted to punch me, but like I said...wild card! ;-D  He takes his 'job' quite seriously!

Q, my oldest, and truly the one that takes everything the most serious, wanted to follow in his daddy's footsteps and be an archery hunter (hence Riley with the antlers!)  He didn't want to smile for me either, he wanted the tough guy look, but I broke him!

And here they are, the Hunters & the Gatherers!  No, C isn't yawning, he's being an Indian!

How do you like that snow on the ground?  Pretty sure this is the first we've had snow when Trick Or Treating!