A True Bromance!

So, I was totally tuned into MTV late last night (as usual), and I must admit that I did watch a little bit of Brody Jenner's new series Bromance. Jeremy was beside me, dead asleep (of course)! But, I woke him up with my hysterical laughter when I heard Brody give the definition of "Bromance:"

Bromance:
-noun 1. A non-sexual relationship between two men that are unusually close.

When I saw Jeremy's eyes peal open as he was awakened by my shrieking, I said, "Oh my gosh Oz! You and Todd have a bromance!!!!" He wasn't too amused at my little late night laugh fest, but he definitely did not try to deny the truth!

My Man and his man
My man as his "Best Man"
Jeremy NEVER cries--ever. But, the flood gates sure did open when he toasted Todd at his rehearsal dinner! It was sweet--really!Can you feel the love?

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Twas the night before Christmas, and Papa couldn't wait...

to give his grandkids their presents on this special date.

The time had come--no more secrets to keep...

To Karson he gave a brand new Barbie jeep!

He was certainly in the giving mode...

For he gave Cavin a 4-wheeler he can ride off-road!

As he presented the last gift, I think he shed a tear.....

Cause Papa gave Brady his own John Deere!

Thanks Papa!

These are for you Santa!

I thought it would be fun to let the twins make cookies for Santa. Before we started, I claimed to be a cookie cutting/decorating professional because I did make many a columbia blue & red star cookie for the South football team in high school. But, either I am just outta practice, or I was just really never actually as great as I thought I was! The cookies came out looking like big blobs. But, they tasted good!

Aprons on and ready to start!

My sweet little helpers were more interested in smashing the dough instead of shaping it.

Poor Jeremy would make a perfect star and a little hand would sweep in to destroy it!

But, they really did enjoy icing their cookies!

In fact, they had a little too much fun!

Here you go Santa! Eat up!As he crammed the final crumbs of his cookie into his mouth, Brady said, " Mommy, Santa won't like these cookies." I asked him why not and he said, "He just won't Mommy!" What a sneaky way to try and keep all the cookies for yourself Braids!
I'll send you a stale, toddler-made, left-over cookie if you can guess what shape all of these are supposed to be!

It's Party Time!

My nephew, Noah, just celebrated his 5th birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's. His real birthday is on New Year's Day. But, since his little brother (my brother's first baby) is due to come in the first part of January, his mommy and my brother Dave decided to do the party a little early!

We were all a little nervous that Karson would scream in horror at the first sight of Chuck (cause that's what she did with the Shoney's bear), but she played it pretty cool. She didn't want hugs from the "live" Chuck but riding with the plastic version was okay.

Brady, on the other hand, was all about Mr. Cheese! He got hugs and a high five!

We had a great time eating cake!

....and riding the rides!

Daddy had some fun too! I literally had to drag him away from Deer Hunter.

Thanks cousin Noah! We had lots of fun!

Look Who's Famous!

Okay, so not really. But, if you can't sleep or are just putting off cleaning your messy kitchen (like I am ) you can make your kid a cover model too! Click here!

U Don't Wanna Miss This!

If you've got toddlers or a strange obsession with Elmo, you don't wanna miss this!

Seasame Street Live is coming to Freedom Hall in Johnson City --Jan. 13th and 14th!I still remember going to this show was when I was little!

So, get your tickets and we'll see you there!

Oh....Gasp!

While arranging my picture files, I just realized that I never posted the pics of my Bunco group's Halloween Party! I know it is totally Christmas now, but these are too funny not to be shared! I told these ladies that I was gonna post these pictures--I hope it doesn't knock anyone out of a future Presidential nomination or a PTA membership :)

For our October Bunco, we were supposed to come in costume. Some gals were more excited than others, but everyone ended up participating to some degree.

A trio from the cast of Gilligan's Island made an appearance. (a.k.a. Lauren, Michelle and Marcia)

And another star from TV land--Ellie Mae Clampett (a.k.a. Kaley) came by.

We were also joined by a piece of candy corn and Miss Britney Spears (and Sean Preston) (a.k.a Michelle and Becky)

Vivian from Pretty Woman showed up too! (a.k.a Audrea)

And our host for the evening, in all her true pregnant glory.....Miss Angelina Jolie (a.k.a .Autumn). Paris had to come straight from work, but still joined in the fun. (a.k.a Melissa)

Now, I have to explain my costume. And, no, I am not a member of the La Leche League (though I believe my mom may have attended some meetings in the very late 70's-early 80's). I know you are gonna gasp, but I am still trying to fully wean my 2-year-old. No, I did not plan this. No, I am not really enjoying this anymore. And, no, she will not be doing this in kindergarten! Even Brady is screaming, "You're too old Sissy!" (He gave it up at 8 months.) Bedtime boobie time is what she just can't give up. Yes, I said BOOBIE on my blog! Naturally, my friends give me a VERY hard time about not being able to get her of my chest......literally :) Thus, the idea for my costume--The Boobie Fairy.

The Boobie Fairy is 99% Bovine and 1% Vixen, and she only works at night. She gets very little sleep and spends a lot of time in her bathrobe snacking (to make up for the calories she burns working the night shift.) She is planning on retiring VERY, VERY soon. But, her Vixen percentage will probably stay the same :)

But, before you judge her (a.k.a. me), :

The World Health Organization and UNICEF strongly encourage breastfeeding through toddlerhood: "Breastmilk is an important source of energy and protein, and helps to protect against disease during the child's second year of life." And, a breastfeeding mommy can burn 200-500 calories a day!

However, I have promised my little diva a big girl award for soon letting the Boobie Fairy pass her wings on to someone else :

More Bling-Bling for the Tree....

Every Christmas, my mom would let me and my brother pick out a new ornament for our tree. The ornaments we chose were suppose to represent something we had been involved in that year. Over the years, we collected things like a Santa swinging a baseball bat, a reindeer doing layups, a water-skiing elf, toe-touching cheerleaders, presents coming out of a locker (for when I started middle school--pretty cool), a girl scout (with the troop # 157), Santa lifting weights...........you get the picture.

I'm sure a lot of folks carry out this same tradition. And now, as a mommy, I do too! Last year, I picked out ornaments for the twins---a Noah's ark ornament (because they came 2 by 2 and that was their birthday party theme) and an a See'n Say animal noises ornament (because they had learned their animal sounds). But this year, they got to help choose their own ornament! Karson LOVES the movie Cinderella! We have watched it one million times. Which is fine with me because I LOVE it too--especially Prince Charming (who Karson truly believes is Jeremy).
And of course, Brady wanted a TRAC-TOR! Now our tree has a little more bling-bling and a few more memories!

A Good Question.....

Tonight, as I was putting tissue paper in some new presents under the tree, my sweet little Karson asked a good question. She said, "Mommy whose presents?" "Are they for Jesus?" I told her, "No, they are for our family." And then she asked the famous toddler question, "Why?" And, all I could think to say was, "That's a good question honey."

We have been telling the twins for weeks that Jesus's birthday is very soon. Today, they even had a birthday party for him in Sunday school. So, naturally she would assume the presents are for Jesus....right?

Her question really made me think. It made me think about what we, as a family, and I, as an individual, can give to Jesus this year. It is His birthday after all.......not yours.......not mine........not my kids........His.

A New Calico Giveaway!

Click here to enter to win an awesome bag from the o-so-talented Mrs. Conan Cruze! All of these awesomely talented blogger mommies, who I blog-stalk on a regular basis, have inspired me to ask Santa for my very own sewing machine!

My CNC Roomies

A couple of weeks ago, two of my college roommates came to visit! For a few years after college, we were able to at least have yearly visits because we were always going to (or in) someone's wedding. But, having children has changed our lives, and I think everyone we know from CNC is married already! So, until their recent visit, it had been at least two years since we'd gotten together. They had a good reason for visiting--Katie is pregnant with baby number one!

Me, Kelly, Katie, Cara at Katie's shower

(Dara couldn't make it at the last minute due to a death in the family, and we really missed her!)

Kelly and I roomed together for half of our junior year in the big, 2nd floor corner room in Sarah Swann. Cara and I shared an apartment (with Dara too) for our remaining semesters at CNC. And, Katie was our fun across the street apartment neighbor. We've all grown up a lot and have all changed tremendously, but we still seem to have "THE MOST FUN" when we're together!

Here sits the glowing pregnant Katie who is NOT finding out the sex of her child!

(Not being able to buy pink or blue in advance is something I could never, ever do....but I'm sure it will be worth it!)

O' Christmas Tree

We are ready for Christmas here at the Land of Oz. I have some great pictures of our outdoor decorations adorned with beautiful Tennessee snow. But, rather than worrying about giving some crazy person an photo invitation to find us, I'll just post some of the inside ;)

This is our real tree in the living room. I am so sad we only have 8 ft ceilings because I really want a very,very tall tree. So, I always try to find the fattest 7.5 ft one on the lot. This one turned out to be so round that I need to buy a lot more ornaments and more toile ribbon!Here is our fun puppy dog tree. Before I had kids, I had puppies. And the puppies couldn't be in the same room as the big tree or it would have definitely fallen on one of them during their rough-housing antics. So, I made them their own little tree. They are big, big dogs now and mostly hang out together in the backyard where they can really be rowdy and play. But, we still put up the puppy tree just for them.I (heart) toile . Really, I do! Really, really really I do! Fabric, dishes, hat boxes--if it's toile I like it! This is a tiny little tea cup tree on my dining room table.
I also love dishes--especially the Johnson Brothers' British Castles. My mom got me some Christmas pieces to go with my Johnson Brothers dishes last year. The dessert bowls were my great-grandmothers. I told my grandmother that I had been looking for a set of them at antique stores and she said, "I've got some of those at home." Sometimes you don't have to look very far for a great find!
And last, but not least, is our eclectic "Happy Birthday Jesus Tree." I wanted a tree for the den that could be admired by toddlers without giving me heart-palpitations every time they touched one of my special ornaments. But really, I so want them to know that Christmas is all about Jesus's birthday. This tree has no design theme. It is just a hodge-podge of happy birthday cupcake sticks, cheap present ornaments, manger scenes and a Walmart star. But, the twins refer to it as the "Happy Birthday Jesus Tree" and that is all that matters :)