Snow Day(s)

I think our child is a little unhappy about Mother Nature's gift.  Kidding.  Well, partially!  She definitely does not like to be in it nor does she like to confined to the house for days on end, otherwise the "NO", as Cilla calls it, is an okay thing.

She was unhappy about daddy making her bundle up to go out.  As for wearing her hat, she would just rather you take away her "Gigi" the giraffe or suspend her from eating cookies!!!   

Fun on the deck.

Sledding gone bad!

At least Katie Bug likes the snow!

Raw footage. And I mean raw.  No make-up and all!!!!

What is a snow day without venturing out on icy roads?!?!

We met the Allen's at Louie's for dinner.

We have made Banana Pancakes.

The BEST.

Taken "snow" wagon rides.

Gotten more snow.  Ugggghhhh.

Ummmm...

and made homemade Sprinkles Red Velvet cupcakes.  Guilty!

Snow days are fun, but we are ready for the roads to clear up!

Happy Snowy Birthday

Yesterday was Flintastic's birthday.  His 31st to be exact.

There is so much I could say about Flint.  He is everything to me. 

He is a wonderful husband.  God gave me just what I needed in Flint.  Flint is smart.  He is hard working and driven.  He is fun and I used to think he was funny ;)  Funny how his jokes are less humorous to me after almost 10 years together!  Nonetheless, he is still fun!  He loves God and loves others.  Flint is handsome, he is thoughtful and he might be the most loyal person I have ever known.  All of these wonderful qualities wrapped up in one package.  Talk about a package deal!

Then our little Cilla came along.  There is no greater feeling than to watch the one you are in love with love your children.  I love how he loves on Cilla and I love love love how he makes her laugh.  It probably will not be until she is grown, married and has a baby of her own that she realizes how wonderful her daddy is!

The last few years have been some trying ones for my hubbie, but he is amazing.  Amazing!  He has handled everything with such grace.  

It is honor to have Flint lead our family.

Flint, I hope your birthday was wonderful and I hope you are as happy as you make me!  I also hope that you enjoyed the snow that we ordered JUST FOR YOU!

I love you, Flint Harris!

...may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love really is.

Ephesians 3:18

pLaY DaTe

Before the snow storms and before baby Hollis arrives, we wanted to get together to play with our friends.  My friends Laurie, Kelly, and Jennifer came over with an all girls day!  Cilla loved playing with Sarah Kate ("Kate" as she calls her) and Harper and I loved some mommy time with some old, dear friends.

Here was our attempt at trying to get the three big girls together for a picture.  Impossible!!!

This is one sweet angel!  Sweet Jillian is one of the most chill babies I have ever been around.    Isn't she precious?!?!

Thanks girls for coming to hang out with us!  We love you and are so thankful for your friendships!  Cilla has seriously been talking about you since you left!

"Noooooooooo"

Snow has formally been renamed "NOOOOOO!" at our house.

You are looking at it.  

Our first snow of 2011.

  Cilla wanted to go outside to check it out and she immediately asked for "baby", which is her blanket.  I told her to take her happy little self back in the house.  So, we got her picture from inside the house, obviously saying "noooooo"!

Razorback Basketball

Although there is not a lot to support this season, the three of us took in a Razorback basketball game this past Saturday.  Flint took Cilla back in December and she loved it.  Of course, this momma wanted to share in the fun, too.

Show'in her sassy side.

Taking the court.

It took Cilla a little while to warm up to everything.  It is a lot to take in for a twenty-one month old.  All in all, the day was a success.

The Hogs are 2 for 2 when Cilla is in attendance.  She sure makes a cute little good luck charm.

Sweet Like Sugar

What a week it has been!

Tuesday was a BIG day at our house.  I was born a Razorback fan, and I am pretty sure that aside from the basketball team winning the Nation Championship in 1994, our 2010 football season is about the next biggest thing in my lifetime!  My husband might argue with me on that.  He might say playing in the SEC Championship Game is just as big of a deal, but I beg to differ.  Nevertheless, Tuesday our beloved Hogs tried to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Sugar Bowl and we couldn't have been more thrilled.

Cilla all ready for gameday!

A bunch of our daddy friends were in New Orleans to help cheer on the Hogs, so us Mommas and kiddos had our own little watch party...as much as you can watch with toddlers running in circles around you!  The Yazwinski's and the Trumbo's came over and we had a blast!

Stella and Cilla enjoying their cupcakes and watching the pregame!

Gotta have some Hog decor....

and cupcakes?!?!

The outcome was not as we had hoped.  In fact, it was heart breaking.  But, we still love our Hogs!

Thursday, still heart broken, we headed out to have lunch with our friends Sarah and Manny.
  He is such a handsome little guy and oh so sweet!  I could have loved on him all day!

Manny was fascinated by Cilla's crazy hair and surprisingly, she was a pretty good sport.

Lastly, we celebrated a birthday at our house.  Our little Katie Bug turned 12!  Yes 12!  She acts about 5, but I love that about her!  Such a sweet little four-legged love.  We are so thankful that Katie is part of our family!  

Once daddy got home from his trip to New Orleans, we had a small little celebration.

In honor of our football season ending I just had to include this ESPN commercial.  It is not about the Hogs, in fact, it is about the "Tide".  But it is hilarious and sums up football in the south.  If I remember correctly, I am pretty sure the Hogs were called at our wedding reception.  EMBARRASSING!!!!  Only in the south!

What Happened In Vegas

Just before Christmas, Flint and I were blessed to get some time away with our friends!  Vegas seemed like the perfect child-less getaway!  I LOVE Las Vegas!!!!  There are so many wonderful places to eat, the shopping is fantastic and, oh yes, the people watching is the best in the world!

We stayed at this little shanty!  I could sit and watch the fountains all day long, but don't worry, I didn't!  There were too many other fun things to do.

Our first night in town was spent walking the strip, enjoying the warmer weather and laughing A LOT.  

I am thankful for the Cramers.  Seriously, I can't remember laughing as hard as I did with them!  Such fun friends!

We went to see Frank Caliendo one night.  He is a comedian and completely clean.  I highly recommend him!  He is known for his "dead on" impressions of several famous people and they are HILARIOUS!  His cast of characters includes George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, John Madden, Charles Barkley, Jay Leno, Dr. Phil and many more!  

This was the Christmas display in the Botanical Garden in our hotel.  Simply beautiful! 

How cute is this little guy!

And this.....

A little piece of heaven.

This is the largest chocolate fountain in the world.  

Right next to the sweet shop.  

Yes, the Santa is a cake and I would bet money that he tasted as good as he was handsome because everything I had there was delish!

Our last night out

The view from our room!  

Until next time, Vegas!

We sure did have a wonderful trip with our friends, but nothing made my heart happier than to get back home to this little love!  Oh how I missed her smile, her laugh and her hugs!

Thanks Mom and Dad for the greatest gift.....time away with Flint.  It was much needed and very appreciated!  We love you and are so thankful for your willingness to keep Cilla.  I know she makes lots of memories that she will always have when she is with you!  Thanks for loving on her!

1.1.11

Happy New Year!!! 

 I am turning a new leaf and making the resolution to do a better job at keeping up with this silly blog so I have some sort of documentation of our crazy lives!

We spent the day with some of our dearest friends- The Allens!  Here are our three girls jumping in Cilla's bed!  Oh yes, mine is the crazy one squealing at the top of her lungs!

  Nothing screams Happy New Year like a fall on the head.  Cilla has a nice bruise right smack dab in the middle of her forehead after falling off of one her toys!  NO worries.  She has had Tylenol, ice packs and lots of T.L.C!  

Happy 2011!

It's Cookie Time!

We have been trying to find a time to decorate cookies with our friends Stella and Sydney all month!  Everyone was finally healthy and schedules finally permitted so we squeezed it in before ringing in the new year!

Stella, Cilla and Amelia had a fun time together.  All three girls are within 6 months of age, so they were a silly little group!

Stella. 

Cilla, apparently spitting something out of her mouth.  Real nice!  She loved putting sprinkles on the cookies....a little too much!

Amelia and Sarah.

Our smorgasbord of cookies!!!

I have to share this recipe because it is literally the best sugar cookie recipe I have ever tasted!

 Sugar Cookies
1 cup Shortening
2 cup Sugar
3 Eggs
Cream these ingredients together.

1/4 cup Milk
1/2 tsp white Vinegar
2 Tbsp Vanilla
2 Tbsp maple syrup
Mix these ingredients together and add this to mixture.

4 cup Flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Combine these ingredients and add to wet ingredient mixture above.

Chill dough. I usually make the dough at night and chill it over night. Roll out and flatten dough on a floured surface.  Bake at 375 degrees until brown.  About 8-10 minutes.

Thanks for having us Syd!  We enjoyed cookies for several days!  It was kind of you to open up your home to icing covered little fingers and to sprinkle shake'in crazies!  It was a blast! 

Donuts with Dad

Many friends and HolyTurf followers have already heard the fun "news".

But, for those of you who haven't....

Flint is planning to run in the Krispy Kreme Challenge in North Carolina at the beginning of February.

Basically, my friends, you run two miles, eat a dozen donuts and run back two miles all while trying not freeze and, oh yes, while you try not to throw up!!!

Sound grown up?!?!

So, today Cilla and I took one for the team and went to "training" with daddy at Krispy Kreme!  A daddy needs support, right?

I would say training was a success. 

Flint didn't eat all dozen donuts today.  But he put a real nice dent in them.  Real.  Nice.

First Razorback Basketball Game

While mom is away, Dada and Cilla like to play!!!  

Flint took Cilla to her first Razorback basketball game last night.  I had some girl time to tend to, so daddy treated his girlie to a fun night out.  Cilla loved it.  LOVED IT.  Can you believe that this was actually Cilla's first Razorback sporting event in a Razorback facility.  Hard to believe she has been so deprived, huh?!?  Her first Razorback sporting event was in Norman when she was three months old.  The Diamond Hogs were playing in their Regional and we went to see them.  So, it was a little treat for her daddy to take her Bud Walton.  

Cilla is turning into quite a little sports fan.  Surprise, surprise!  She loves to watch PTI (Pardon the Interruption) with her dada, she loves football and we have recently discovered her love for basketball too!  Sweet girl!

Daddy said Cilla was a champ.  They braved the cold Fayetteville elements and had a fun night together!  Oh, and Cilla helped cheer the Hogs on to a victory over Boomer Sooner!  Go Hogs!