The last Monday of 2008

Here's what the last Monday of the year was like for us...

I guess I should have put slippers on my Christmas wish list this year. I put on a pair of Michael's black socks so I could go outside to make pancakes on the bbq. It was nice out, but the concrete was cold! I didn't match socks very well, one is faded and looks more gray than black, while the other one looks like a new black sock. I haven't a clue as to why his socks fit me; they were actually kind of tight. hmmm... Oh dear, I'm known as the abominable snowman and now bigfoot. Talk about scary...



Good ol' Bisquick pancakes...

Caitie played in her sandbox while I played on the grill.



Holly-Hoo tried to get out several times...

As did Molly-Mae. She's lookin' a little wild-eyed and crazed here... I think she misses the Christmas tree water. Both cats lapped up a lot of the tree water. It must have been tasty.



Here is our tree... waiting for bulk trash pick-up, which is next week. I felt sad seeing it lying on the ground, all dried out. :(



Michael is packing up dino number two to take back to Wal-Mart. Caitie misses it, and so do I. *sniff*

You can see the 'Hawk' side of Caitie in this pic. She looks a lot like her dad, his mother(her grandmother), and his brother(her uncle). Not sure what it is, maybe it's the way her full cheeks and mouth area look in her expression.

Enjoying the pancakes she requested.

Caitie and her dad enjoying a jam session after breakfast.

Later in the day we headed out to some stores to take some things back, one of them being the dinosaur.

We checked out the sale on Christmas decor while at Wal-Mart. On our way over to that department we noticed this tractor sitting out. Caitie decided to take it for a test drive.

We didn't get out of Wal-Mart until dusk. I noticed this beautiful sunset on the way out and decided to get a pic of it.

Our next stop was Target. We stopped to get a snack, which was popcorn, soda, and chocolate milk for Caitie. After we left Target, we headed to Fry's Electronics. Then we were done. We got dinner at Sonic, took it home and watched a movie in bed.

Big kiss, small kiss, playin' with the tree...

We took the tree down this last weekend.

Caitie was more into the candy she got... weighing the difference between a big and small candy kiss...



then she played around the Christmas tree...



before helping take the tree down.

Tattoos and YMCA

Remind me to rethink markers as a stocking stuffer and letting Caitie have free access to them.

Our rough and tough tattoo girl. It took several diaper wipes and a soak in the tub to get the marker stains off her skin.



Does this pic take you back to the Village People days? Tattoos, hard hat, tool belt, and a really cool dance move, almost looks like she's starting to make a "Y"... Yep, it definitely takes me back to the 'YMCA' song from the 70's.

Books and Hula Hoopin'

We went to the bookstore and Wal-Mart the other night...

Enjoying a Thomas the Train book at Barnes and Noble Bookstore. This is one of our favorite bookstores. It has a nice children's area, and a nice café as well. Michael and I usually get a caramel mocha latte, milk for Caitie, and something sweet to munch on.



Hula Hoopin' at Wal-Mart. This Wal-Mart is in the same parking lot as the Barnes and Noble Bookstore. It's a really nice store; it's fairly new. The one problem with this particular area is that it's near a garbage dump.

Little Model... ummm, I mean Baker

Caitie got this adorable apron for Christmas; an aunt made it for her. She wasn't too happy about having to pose for a pic; she was wanting to bake some cookies. :)

A Tail of Two Dinosaurs

You knew that title was comin', right? ha Caitie thought it was fun having two dinosaurs, but the fun didn't last long... as you'll see in a post above.

It happened one night...

and another night, and so on... The following pics were taken on different nights right before Christmas.

I took this pic of an ornament on a decorated Christmas tree at Macy's. I like the old-timey look of the pocket watch ornament.



Caitie loves to ride up and down on the escalator. This was at Penney's.

We got a gift card for someone at the Old Country Buffet Restaurant, and while we were there, we decided to try the place out for ourselves. I'm not usually impressed with buffet style restaurants, but I must admit that this particular restaurant had very tasty food, especially the steak. I give it 5 stars! Absolutely delish! I've been trying to find a restaurant that can make a med-rare, tender, tasty, juicy steak, and I found it at this restaurant. Great prices too! I highly recommend this restaurant. It's located at the Arrowhead Towne Center. We made Caitie a healthy plate, but she didn't eat much of the food, she picked off mine and Michael's plates.

She goes back and forth between me and her dad when eating at restaurants; she'll sit on one side for a while then go to the other side. When she came over to my side, I decided to put her hair up into a ponytail; I didn't want her hair getting into her food. I made a simple ponytail, which held a lot longer than I thought it would.

Giving daddy a kiss. She doesn't kiss him on the lips anymore, not sure why; she insists on kissing him on the cheek.

Trying to make a quick getaway. ha We were at Fry's Electronics. She found this camera bag and carried it around with her while we shopped; she didn't want to let it go.

One thing I took notice of while out Christmas shopping during the two weeks before Christmas was how there were Valentine items on the aisle next to Christmas decorations, and seeing bikinis in the women's clothes section... Wow! ummm... yeah, uh... wow! I bet I'll be seein' egg dye kits, Easter baskets, bunnies, Peeps, and the like, in the stores in the next week or two; Easter is just around the corner, right? Right? uh, hmmm... wow! Crazy...

Almost a white Christmas

It snowed in some parts of North Phoenix today. If only it had come a day early and a little closer to home; we could have said we had a white Christmas. The weather the last couple of weeks has been wonderful; it's been so Christmasy.

Here are some pics from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day...

Our daughter, the pool hustler. Who knew?

Caitie wanted to get presents for the cats, and wanted to help wrap them as well. Holly got a sneak peek.

She's 'writing' the cats names on their gifts. I love her hair in this pic.

Santa came around 4:30am.



Opening one of her many gifts on Christmas morning.

Getting a little freaked out by the installation of her new dinosaur's plastic tail.

I love this dress on her. It looks old-timey to me, which I love.

Getting a pic before heading out for the day.

Double the fun. Yes, you're seeing double here. Caitie got two "Kota the Triceratops" dinosaurs for Christmas. Cute, aren't they?



Later that night Michael put Caitie's drum set together. Caitie couldn't wait.

She's jammin'.

Playing with her new potty chair baby doll. I'm hoping it will encourage Caitie to use her potty chair. I also like this doll because she looks like a little Caitie. ha :)

Sent with love

This pic was taken last week at a nearby post office. I meant to post it on the blog before now, but just now thought of it. Some of our family members live many miles away, so we sent their Christmas packages via the postal service. We also sent out this year's Christmas cards while we were there.

Reason for the Season

Am I really up right now? ummm... *pinching myself*... yep, I'm up all right. Michael and I are just now getting around to putting Caitie's gifts from 'santa' under the tree. We got home late from Christmas Eve festivities and put Caitie to bed, but she didn't end up going to sleep until around 2am. Michael and I thought we would rest for a few minutes while Caitie was watching one more Christmas show for the season, and before we knew it, we were in dreamland. We both woke up at the same time, don't know why, and realized we hadn't done our part to help ol' saint nick out, so at around 4am we got out of the warm bed and came downstairs to lavish the Christmas tree with lots, and lots, and I mean LOTS of gifts for Caitie. I then took pics, of course, and am now writing this quick post. It's nice to share gifts with the ones you love, especially if they're our kiddos, but the real reason for the season is Jesus Christ. He was born on this day over 2000 years ago. Let's all remember and give thanks to The Man Above for giving us such a wonderful gift, the best gift of all! Happy Birthday, Jesus! :)

Merry Christmas!

I did a Christmas photo shoot of Caitie in order to get a pic or two to put on the Christmas card we sent out this year. Below is the card I made and some other pics I took of Caitie during the Christmas photo shoot.

Caitie decided to take a pic of the Christmas tree with my small camera.

We got Caitie this small white bear at Wal-Mart. It made a nice photo prop.

Pretty Piano Player.

This is what the dress looks like without the jacket.

Relaxing after the photo shoot; she couldn't wait to get out of her dress. The little red bow stands out. :)