Mother's Day 2015

We visited Gammy for a bit on Mother's Day, 2015.

Yes, that's a terrible picture of me. I don't care. My Gammy is in it. That makes it better.
:)

Valentine's Date Night.

So, this year for Valentine's, we did something maybe a little bit cheesy. Oh well. I wanted to try it. So, we did.

We went to one of those organized murder mystery dinners.

We actually went just BEFORE Valentine's Day so that we could be home with the kiddos on actual Valentine's Day. We went with some dear friends who just moved back to Texas (yay!!!) and laughed a ton.

As it turns out, one of my childhood friends was one of the main actors. He's terribly funny as a general rule, so it was just fun to watch him host and orchestrate this whole thing. How did I leave without getting a picture of us together with him!? Grrrr....

Anyway, we had a lot of laughs. Now I can cross that off my bucket list.
:P

VDay Sweet Treat

This mom kept it reeeeeally easy this year. Some assembly was required, but baking? There was none of that.

Ingredients and finished product:

I just took each brownie bite and used icing as the glue to hold the candy heart on top. So easy! I think they look so cute.

The other treat?? Well, that was pinterest inspired. So easy too. Bananas are cheap and healthier than cookies, candies, and cake....so we rolled with it. A sweet treat and a healthier option.

Eliette took these to her little Early-Childhood-PTA event in our area, and Gage took a batch of these same treats for his classroom VDay fun.

Keepin' it easy, yall!

New Year's Eve....

Oh, to go from year to year....
Going from 2012 to 2013, I had a rough time. I wrote about it here.
Going from 2013 to 2014, I was fine and had fun. I wrote about it here. Oh, no, wait. I didn't write about it. I just posted pictures....Well, that was the year that we went out for a nice dinner with friends and I ordered two entrees. That's right.
:)

Well transitioning from 2014 to 2015 was all about the food yet again.... This time it was a bit more low-key and involved a bit more fire...

...and smoke....

 It's a shame that the flames didn't appear in the pictures because from the kitchen it was said, "Ummm, there are flames out there. Like fire."

 ...some of the bacon wrapped asparagus didn't fare too well when pulled off the grill.

 Completely charred! Yikes!

How about some home-made onion rings? This little dipper yummed them up.

Those are onion rings and dipping sauce she's feeding herself.  She loves anything she can dip.

It was a kid filled night with James and Jess at our house. Low key and fun.
The word of the night, "Dominino!"
;)

Christmas Cards....

So, these are by no means all of the holiday cards we've sent in the past. I didn't find all of them at the same time, so there's that....
But oh well. This was fun to look back over some of our holiday cards. I do have to reference "holiday" for the cards because I have been known to send New Year's cards rather than Christmas cards because sometimes---it's just hard to get myself together and get them sent out before Christmas!

So here are a couple from the past.....

(Yes, they are pictures of pictures and you can see the flash....oh well....)

Oh, my sweet boy was so little!

Cards from this year:

So, after I started on the Christmas cards, I realized that I didn't order enough and I realized that I wanted to send some cards but couldn't find or didn't have the addresses....good times.
Ordered more cards. But----ordered a different set because initially when I designed the cards I was torn between two designs. So, when I did my reorder, I just ordered the different design.
2014: the year of two Christmas cards.
:)

...and then----I never got around to getting those missing addresses.

To anyone who didn't get a holiday card from us this year---Ummm.....send me your address!
:p

Christmas Post V

Christmas at Darnin & PawPaw's, 2014

 Eliette was content to sit and watch the fire.

 Chris and Eliette had an impromptu jam session.

Eliette was eager to help Darnin in the kitchen....You know---all that fridge work that needs to be done. (Eliette is a big fan of the fridge.)

There was a lot of hanging out and game playing before the big meal....

Before dinner was ready, Eliette clearly needed to stake claim at the table...

...and try the food...

Before long, it was time to open gifts. Woohooo. The kids thought this time would NEVER come!

Gage got Umi---this cool (but freaky to some) little monkey that lives at Darnin's and he wanted... He was so excited.

It wasn't long before it was time for bed. Gage was tired, but wanted to read some before bed...

 And this is how I found him and Umi when I returned. So sweet.

It was a great day and a great night.
:)