Help?

Natalie got a HUGE beyond HUGE rug burn on her face the other day. Of course she didn't notice it happening, and later that night I saw something funky on her face and touched it and it stung. I didn't really think anything of it and we headed to nap. When we woke up from naps Natalie's whole cheek was red. There was the center that was red and raw, and then the rest of her cheek was just RED. Cue me freaking out because there was something strange and raw and red and sticky seeming on her face! We couldn't figure out what it was, if it was a bite or something got on her skin and was burning her. I kept saying it looks like she got burned, and FINALLY we put together that Keith and the kids had been wrestling and dragging each other all over the house earlier that day. So it was a rug burn! Yikes!

Anywho, it has scabbed now, and she has a scab the size of a wonky quarter on her cheek, and I am so so so scared that it is going to leave a huge scar! How do I keep it from scarring? Any ideas? Will a rug burn even scar? I have never seen one this bad before. If it was her elbow I wouldn't care, but it is her precious little face! So far we are putting neosporin on it, and when it heals if is leaves a mark I will get some mederma for kids, but are there any other good ideas?

Making Handmade

Would anyone care for a (felt) cookie? I am going to be making many more of these, but I will embroider the sprinkles next time, the beads are a choking hazard and are a bit unstable. I am just loving felt food!
Making these really helped me practice my blanket stitch. I like the look of it much better than the simple way I did the eggs. It is much more fancy and appropriate for pretty pink cookies!

Getting Handmade!

When Grandma Lorraine came she brought her handmade gift for Christmas. Last year we thought she had topped all when she made all of us kids game quilts, something like 15 game quilts I think. This year she out shone herself and made 13 of these super fantabulous Puppet Theaters!! I was speechless (but couldn't post about it until all family received theirs!) and in complete awe of her talent when we opened it up. The kids love it, and so do Keith and I!

It has a curtain rod so you can put it up in a doorway. The little blue curtains slide back so you can't see the puppeteer (Nat hasn't mastered that yet) and put on a show!

The Princess puppet.
Handmade just for us with love!
The monkey and the princess...playing with the monkey and the princess!
All the puppets, minus the monkey and the princess. Lorraine made 13 SETS people. That is a whole lot of crazy sewing! And she even included a bunch of plays and jokes to go with.
Thanks again Grandma Lorraine for such a wonderful special gift! It is something our family will cherish forever!

Other catching up

Christmas Eve was a very slow and nice day. The kids and I spent the morning making various Christmas presents for family members. We actually completed a ton of presents, now I just need to mail them out! Keith was able to come home early from work so the afternoon was spent playing Guitar Hero World Tour and lazing about. I had to work at 5, so we planned on having a family dinner in my office, which is also my bedroom! We pulled in the little table, turned on The Santa Clause, and had quite a nice Christmas picnic of sorts.

The day after Christmas Keith had to work so the kids and I ventured out to Target to hit up the Christmas clearance. I actually saved some money aside specifically for this purpose and I am so glad I did! I got a bunch of pretty silver ornaments I had been eyeing, but wasn't going to pay full price for. I also got all of our wrapping paper for next year, and some other cute bits and bobs. I L-O-V-E getting things 50% off! I love 75% off even better, but I have to wait a few days for the prices to go that low!

Then Saturday was our last free Saturday before Keith starts the BAR BRI class (he has class 6 days a week starting the 2nd) so we headed out to Braum's for lunch. We have been wanting to try it for a long time, and it was so good! We went to the new one in Pantego and it was very nice. The burgers are delicious! The ice cream was fantastic too! After that we headed out to our favorite park for some exercise to burn off that lunch!

Now the weekend is over and class and work are looming in the near future. The next 2 months are going to be hard, but SO worth it!

The last of the Pecan Caramel Fudge sundae from Braum's. Soooooo good!Natalie now hates to have her picture taken. I have no idea where she gets it from... Brady on the other hand is always up for a photo shoot!

Potty Training, for realsies

The other half of Christmas day was spent in front of the potty. Brady is really getting the hang of it. Today has been very successful also, lots of M&Ms being consumed in our house! Here is Brady grinning cheesy for us while camping out on his potty seat!

Christmas Day

I've been called out on my blog slacking ways. I never forget all you family that read this, and I am sorry I just haven't been able to force myself to sit here and blog about it all. I will start with Christmas day, but I have many other posts in the works. So if you're interested check back often in the next few days while I get it all down!

I was able to get one picture of the Christmas morning tree before my memory card filled up and I set my camera aside and forgot to unload the card until later in the morning. So no pictures of the unwrapping of the presents, video, but no pictures. Looks like Santa delivered! I see a Cinderella computer and a Thomas train under there!

Yep! Natalie got her Cinderella computer and even the gray pony that she asked Santa for. I don't think I need to tell you how excited she was! And she loves it, it isn't TOO hard or TOO easy, and she picked up how to do all the games on her own. Yay for learning!
You can also see some of Mom and Dads presents. I didn't take a loot shot of the goodies that Keith and I got, darn it! I like to have those for posterity sake, lol! But Keith had a very Cowboys Christmas. He got the History of the Cowboys DVD, Cowboys golf stuff, Cowboys nightlight, Cowboys lunchbox, and some other fun movies and candy and things. Oh! And the paver for the new stadium that says "The Bowers Fans Forever" on it. Coolest. Present. Ever! And a sweet set of 25th anniversary Phase 10 cards in a cool metallic case.

Mom got some movies, gift cards, kitchen things (tiny ramekins to make pot pies or molten lava cake), some great storage containers for my scrapbook stuff, and the best gift? An MP3 player! Yay! We can't afford anything too fancy, but Keith found this great Phillips one that is TINY, it fits in the palm of my hand and I love it! It has video capacity and can store pictures, and is probably the most high tech thing we own, other than the wii! He totally surprised me with that one.

Brady got lots and lots of Cars Megabloks. I like them because they are Cars and he has to create with them! Lots of building going on over here!

I forgot to take a picture of all the paper and fun chaos, but here is our living room for most of Christmas day! Nat loves that fairy woodland house!
Brady's loot. Books, Lego's, school bus from Natalie, Cars stuff, movies, etc. Fun stuff!
Natalie's loot (and Mommies scrap storage, minus the pony and the computer). Groovy girls, books, fairies and house, puzzle, dolly from Brady, coloring calendar, etc. Funny one of the most played with things is probably the little tic tac toe from the dollar section at Target. And one of my favorite things they got was from Aunt Danielle (& Co.), she sent each a nice book with a coordinating pillow case to match. I am totally stealing that idea!
It was a fun day, a little lonely without all the hustle and bustle of extended family, but nice in that it was just us, with no where to go, and nothing to do but play all day. I want to thank all the family that sent gifts, those were some of the best things under the tree because they were surprises to all of us!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

May you all have a wonderful, fun and love filled day tomorrow.

Seven Years

This is one of my favorite pictures. Before kids, before baby weight, before hereditary baldness, before, before, before....


But after all that, even though we look so different, and ARE so different. We love each other still. I am happy to have been through so many fun and trying times with Keith. I couldn't have picked a better partner in crime than Keith. Happy anniversary honey, here's to 70 x 7 more wild and crazy years. I love you!

Giving Handmade

For some reason I really have been on a kick to have more handmade made in America things in the house. One gift I knew I really wanted to get Brady was a bunch of wooden acorns, first seen here, for him to play with. He is in love with squirrels and they are always on the hunt for real acorns, and I really thought some wooden ones would be fun. So today I finally made a drawstring pouch to keep them in, and I am very happy with how it turned out! I did a double drawstring so he can pull both sides, and it is easier for him to close. I can't wait for him to open it on Christmas! At least he will have one handmade gift under the tree! It will balance out all the Cars Mega bloks he is getting.

Letters to Santa

*side note* I had to turn on comment moderation because I am not getting comment notification emails. So, sorry about that!

Here are the kids letters as dictated to Keith. He wrote them down and they illustrated them too. The letters are priceless treasures! Love them!

Dear Santa,
Can you please get me a Cinderella computer? I will like a pony that's grey. I will like a Barbie, please. Will you also bring a car for Brady, and a blue slinky for Brady? That's it. Oh, and a mystery for Mommy.
Love,
Natalie

Dear Santa,
Um, I want a garbage truck. I want a big giant truck. A Thomas train. A Thomas coloring book. A Percy toy.
Love,
Brady

Luckily I am on the ball, and the kids are actually going to get what they asked for (mostly)! I think that is the best, too bad Santa gets all the credit for the really cool gifts! I am most excited for the Cinderella laptop, Natalie has been asking for one for the last 2 years, and this is finally the year. She is going to be THRILLED! Oh, and the grey pony she asked for is a stuffed one we saw at the holiday toy section in Target, I got that too. :D