Father/Daughter Dance

The preschool Sheridan goes to had a Father/Daughter dance on Friday night. I must say this dance is a very big deal for these girls. Most of them make a date night out of it and go out to dinner with their dad before the dance and some even get to go out for ice cream afterwards. My friend Sara's little girl, Natalie is very much into princesses these days and her dad, Kenny, took her to the dance. Only Natalie thought she was Cinderella and was going to the ball. Cameron wishes Sheridan had shared the same perspective on the dance as Natalie. Unfortunately, Sheridan thought she was going to the playground and could have cared less about the dancing and well, the fact that other people were even there. She spent her evening climbing on the stage and Cameron spent about 30 minutes chasing her around before he brought her home. Needless to say, Sheridan did NOT get ice cream on the way home. They also didn't get any professional photos taken at the dance so fortunately I took a few before they left the house. At least they looked good!



Here's to hoping that next year will be better.......

Girls Christmas Party

Tara and I started our annual girls Christmas party when we lived together and it was so great to be able to host it together again this past year! We had a short hiatus from hosting our party (although the tradition carried on thanks to Jennifer, Jill, Courtney and Shaunna) because I was having a baby in December of 2005 and Tara lived in DC for two years.

The hostesses with the mostess

Tara, Annemarie, and me

me and Courtney Mimi and Taylor (Tara's sister)And thanks to Allison who came over the night before the party and helped me decorate the tables with her "box of crap" (her words, not mine). Tara and I have decided that this coming year for Christmas we are going to put together a starter box of crap for each other. CAN. NOT. WAIT!

The dessert table

The appetizer table

Me and Sara Danton

Sara, me, and Jamie

Wonder when Mimi will have us over for dinner to tryout a new recipe?

Jennifer hit the jackpot with make-up brushes

Sara had her presents stolen many times...she was always opening up new ones

Tara just had a baby Nov 21st...not that you can tell!!!

The girls!

After the party was over it was time for presents!!! I gave pretty much everyone I buy presents for a towel wrap this year. Peggy, Tara's super talented mother-in-law, made them and they were a HUGE hit! They were all white towels with zebra trim and I did different colored monograms. Except for Shaunna and Courtney. Their towels were pink...because it's their favorite color and anything else for them simply would not do (my thought not theirs)!

Sara models her towel wrap

Mimi and I hinted....who am I kidding?? We pretty much TOLD Tara we wanted towel wraps for Christmas this year and she delivered! :) This is the first and only thing I have that's monogrammed with my new (even though it's not so new anymore) last name! I'm so excited!

Mimi: "Ladies, we're gonna be green this year!"

Tara and I have this thing....or rather I have this thing of wanting pretty much all of the cute shirts Tara buys. So Tara has gotten into the habit of buying the same thing she buys for herself for me (usually in a different color though so we're not total twins) for my birthday or Christmas so she can avoid hearing me say things like "I want one of those" or "ugh, why didn't you get me one of those" or "next time buy me one too and I'll pay you back." This Christmas I decided to get Tara and Mimi a sweater from Old Navy that I recently bought and loved. And Tara bought me a really cute shirt (although I don't have a picture of it for some reason) from Antropologie that she had bought for herself and knew I would want. I love our little system! :)

Sheridan's first day of preschool

Last week Sheridan started preschool at Council Oak on Wednesdays and Fridays thus officially beginning my career as taxi driver. She goes to preschool from 9-2 and then I pick her up and take her to daycare and head back to work. The good news is that on those days I actually make it into the office before ten o'clock. I'm very excited that she'll be in a learning environment with some structure but I was concerned/skeptical about a few things:

1. Is she going to scream bloody murder on the first day when I drop her off at her new surroundings? She didn't even notice I was there once she walked into the room full of toys.

2. Will she really sit down at the little table and eat her lunch? They are very smart at this preschool and have seat belts on the chairs to keep them in their place.

3. Is my child, who is NEVER still for more than one second, really going to lay down on a mat, in the middle of the floor, unconfined and take a nap (also something that Sheridan rarely does)?She was asleep on the mat when I picked her up! Can I bring these teachers home with me???

Here are a few pictures from the morning as I was trying to get everything all packed up with Sheridan's help :\

I promise her lunchbox doesn't weigh 100 pounds...although she makes it look like it does

Demonstrating that it's much easier to pretend it's a drumAnd she carried her backpack just long enough for me to get this shot
Guess I'll be carrying the lunchbox, backpack, sleep mat and teddy into school. Anything else?

When I picked her up in the afternoon the teachers said she had a great day! I was very impressed to find a daily report in her diaper bag that told me everything she did that day. Very official. Her teacher (Miss April) said she was very busy! No kidding. I'm glad to know she doesn't reserve that just for us! On the "diaper section" next to the times and what lovely surprises they get to change it said 'sat on potty'. What? They're going to potty train my kid too! I heart this school!

My friend Sara's little girl, Natalie also goes to Council Oak on the same days Sheridan does but she's in the 2 year old class. Sara called me while we were making the trek to daycare and shared with me her conversation with Natalie:

Sara: "Did you see Sheridan today at preschool?"

Natalie: "Yes. She was running all around."

Sara: "Where was she running around?"

Natalie: "On the playground. Miss Tonia was trying to take her picture but she wouldn't be still long enough."

Now THAT sounds like my child.

HH Monthly dinner

So it all started at our former employer Harte-Hanks (hence where the HH comes from). A group of us started scrapping once a week and would rotate houses. The hostess would provide dinner and we would scrap/gossip. Many great stories came from these evenings and my favorite are both from Meredith with the Wendy's story behind her signature phrase "this simply will not do" and why she boycotted HEB due to a mishap with the photo lab. Our group started making yearly trips to Laredo in the fall for Christmas shopping or for Heidi and I to buy every piece of pewter we saw. Sadly we have not been to Laredo in many years due to the less than desirable shootings and Buddy's (Meredith's husband) disapproval. (Note: We value Buddy's opinion because he does/did something with the state government and border control...I think. I definitely know he works for the state.) Anyway...we also started our annual girls lake weekend (which we call GLW..turns out Dell is not the only one that can have acronyms!) at Heidi's in-law's house on Lake LBJ. At GLW 2006 we decided that getting together just once a year for our weekend of fun at the lake just wasn't enough. We don't scrap anymore during the week because of our busy lives/schedules. So we decided to start a monthly dinner and the hostess of the month picks which restaurant we eat at or they can host at their house...but that's never happened.

Monday night at our January dinner I got in trouble for not posting the pictures from our December dinner on my blog yet. Sorry Kate. Maybe I need to get a family assistant like Meredith once had and then I would be able to stay current with my blog. But that's neither here nor there. Back to our fabulously fun December dinner at Chuy's. Here's my list (thanks to Kate's help) with a little recap of what each person brought to the conversation:

Shelly B: Shelly had her insurance card on her but quickly reminded us that it's been a LONG time since she's been in an accident. But I'm sure everyone's definition of "long" is different.

Michele: We were glad Michele was able to take time out of bar-hopping to join us for dinner.

Heidi: Heidi has a very creative theory on how she saved money from two fender benders. Jeff (her husband) is NOT buying it. Although she did learn that if you're in a hit and run accident that is your fault as long as you stop to make sure the people are alright before you take off, then technically it's not considered a "hit n' run". Good to know and ladies watch out if you see Heidi driving because she might be out to make some money.

Debbie: She had a super cute necklace on that I must immediate have! What was that website again? Plum something....

Liane: Also the expert when it comes to fender benders and found her maid Brenda to be very resourceful as a translator for her most recent accident.

Kate: Poor Kate realized that everyone...even Michele....has a maid. Maybe she can buy the Louis Vuitton carryon with all the money she'll save by not having one.

Meredith: Wisely decided against a homemade banana bread baking marathon for Christmas gifts for Buddy's co-workers.

Me: I was very excited about my new maid that cleaned our house that day and even more excited that Cameron was impressed with her work. Hopefully, I'll be just as impressed with his work on the bronco!

And now for the pictures......

Shelly B, Kate, Michele

Heidi and Debbie

Liane, me and Meredith

I smell a rat...

Not just one. Not two. Or even three rats. But FOUR! Yes, that's right people the death count is up to four. I asked Cameron the other day how many he thinks there are and he said "One. That's how many I thought we had." Not sure why I expected him to know the answer to that question. He doesn't have a crystal ball to look into. I realize it's impossible to guesstimate when we only see one at a time. It would be much more convenient if they traveled in groups or even used the buddy system. But I'm telling you, if it gets to be more than six, we are moving!

UPDATE: Number 5 bit the dust last night. Cameron thinks he missed his calling and should go into the rat killing business. I think he only missed his calling if he can get rid of them once and for all! ;) We are a lot closer to the lucky number six and moving day than I thought/hoped we would be. Since the baseboards from Cameron's tile project still aren't completey finished I've decided I'm not going to let them run me out of my house. I don't want someone else to enjoy what I've waited six months for. Instead, maybe we need a cat.

Working on my fitness

No, not me (although I should be). Or Fergie. But Sheridan is up in the gym working on her fitness. I'll be her witness...

How does this thing work
I think I'll just smile and look cute
This looks interesting....

Just my size

Sheridan found my shoes the other night and walked into the kitchen like everything was totally normal. Cameron and I immediately scrambled for the camera and video camera. She loved the noise the heels made and would walk around in circles laughing. It was priceless.

Everybody loves Santa

Or not.....

My Christmas Break in a Nutshell

On December 21st, my last day of work for the year I had high hopes of what I would do on my Christmas vacation....sleep in, scrap, go see a movie or two, and RELAX! Surely I could squeeze that into eleven days off work. Turns out this is what I did instead:

1. Told Sheridan 'no' forty-seven times a day NOT to touch the Christmas tree and ornaments.

2. Spent two afternoons with Cameron and Sheridan (probably the reason why it took two afternoons) finishing our Christmas shopping.

3. Watched Dora the Explorer eighty times. Ok, maybe it wasn't really eighty times but it certainly feels like it because the theme song is permanently stuck in my head.

4. Killed a rat in our backyard who had been driving our dogs crazy for weeks...which in turn was driving us crazy. Actually Cameron did this. I did not participate.

5. Listened...well sort of listened....to Cameron explain in detail all of the things he was going to fix on the Bronco and the complete process for each part being replaced. Wonder if he would be interested in hearing about the layout for my next scrapbook page and every embellishment I plan to use?

6. Chased Sheridan around the house, around my parent's house, and pretty much anywhere we went. I have discovered that this activity actually makes for a great weight loss program so this I did not mind.

7. Discovered that aforementioned rat has friends. Lovely. Cameron (using his top notch detective skills) concluded from the shredded pieces of paper (from a manual that was stored under the grill) that the new rat must be a pregnant female that was trying to make a nest to have her babies. Even better.

8. Celebrated Sheridan birthday twice therefore baking cupcakes twice. (Will post more pictures on this later.)

9. Ate about a pound of white trash. Thanks a lot Meredith for giving Tara that recipe. It's become the death of me. Readers - if you would like to gain 10 pounds in a week, let me know and I'll be happy to send you the recipe!

10. Cleaned/picked up the house every time I turned around...or so it seemed. When does that new maid come back?

So am I glad to be back at work??? Yes. I need the break!

The infamous Bronco

There truly are no words. Actually, yes. There are. I think it would look better inside the garage! ;)

The "better" angle

Cameron says it will look better once it's washed....verdict is still out on that.
A little rough
You might be thinking "wow, that glass is really clean!" But no, no. There is NO glass in that window! Hopefully we won't find some random person sleeping in the Bronco one morning. :\
Oh, and one more thing I learned last night. Apparently we do not have any keys to this Bronco. Something about recalls on the ignition for certain year models and blah, blah, blah. I'm not really sure. Bottom line is: once the ignition is replaced then we (and by we I mean Cameron) can replace all of the locks and then we'll have keys to the Brown Beast. I think I'm starting to understand why this was only $400!

You have a baby....in a bar!!!!

I never thought my favorite line from one of my favorite movies (Sweet Home Alabama) would apply to me but turns out...never say never! On Tuesday night Cameron's group at work had their quarterly soiree at the Broken Spoke and it was open to the whole family. I thought there was surely some miscommunication but went along with it because Allison said she and Blake were taking Abbie. Great! At least we wouldn't be the only ones. Once we got there I was pleased to see there were several other kids running around and didn't quite feel like a crazy parent for bringing my child to a bar....apparently it's a family bar??? Really I'm just upset that I didn't think of this concept first!

Should we be concerned that Sheridan seemed right at home in a bar????

Like mother like daughter....that's a little scary actually!Again, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree....
Abbie and Allison