here kitty kitty

As promised in the last post - meet Rieux (pronounced "Roo", my brothers new kitty. This little guy is super sweet and has just the right amount of kitten left in him to keep you entertained for hours. He was fun to photograph!






(this was a yawn!)

A Very Merry Christmas

I spent Christmas Eve with family at my Grammie's house in the mountains of North Carolina. We ate dinner, sang Christmas Carols around the Christmas tree, and played bingo for great gift cards - a new event for this year. I think it is safe to say that everyone loves gift cards because there was quite a bit of excitement over the bingo games! I have spent all but one Christmas Eve at my Grammie's house for my entire life. Two years ago I stayed in Virginia with Matt because I had just started a new job and couldn't get off to travel.

The photos below were not taken by me. They were taken by various people on other cameras and cellphones.


(l to r) Aunt Teresa "Tee" (my dad's youngest sister), Grandpa John (not a relative but has always been a Grandpa figure for us),  Lelia "Lee" (my cousin), Baby Elizabeth (on Lee's lap), Mike (Lee's significant other), Grammie, Rebekah Ann (Lee's daughter), Aunt Delayne "Dee" (my dad's oldest sister)


(l to r) yours truly, Gabriel (Lee's son and my new buddy!)


(l to r) Tyler (my brother), Carol (my momma), Uncle Quentin (my great uncle), Steve (my daddy), yours truly, Uncle Greg (my dad's brother), Gabriel (with new cars slippers), Uncle Neal (Tee's husband), Aunt Tee


me and Gabriel again!


(l to r) John, Lee (notice her awesome BCBG heels), Mike, Grammie, Rebekah Ann


(l to r) Mike, Grammie, Aunt Tee, Aunt Dee, Uncle Jack (Aunt Dee's husband), Rebekah Ann, Aunt Margaret (my great aunt)

It was a fun time had by all!

Matt spent his holiday in Virginia with his parents again and took Skye-boy with him. Mason went on an adventure (his first road trip) to go back home with me. Let's just say it was an adventure for both of us! I spent the rest of my trip at my parents house keeping Mason out of trouble, spending time with my parents and brother, eating wonderful home cooked meals, and spending time with their pets and my brother's new kitty (photos to come of the kitty later).

Hope everyone else enjoyed their Christmas!

holiday treats

This year, I made Pretzel Turtles.  My recipe was loosely based on a recipe I saw in Rachel Ray's magazine a few years ago.  It is super easy, but very time consuming!  I cranked them out like I was in Santa's workshop. I made over 300, but to make a batch of 50, you will need...

1 bag of Snyder's Sourdough Pretzel Nuggets
1 bag of Kraft Caramel squares (50-51 per pkg)
1 12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup of peanuts, chopped



First, melt the caramel squares for approximately 20 seconds in the microwave.  For best results, do 10 in each batch.



Then push down on the caramel squares.



Then wrap each caramel suqare around a single pretzel nugget.  Place them on wax paper to harden.



Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or in a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water.  Dip the caramel pretzels  in the chocolate to fully coat.  Place the nuggets back on the wax paper and sprinkle with the chopped peanuts.  I suggest sprinkling the peanuts once you have 10 placed so that the chocolate is still wet when you sprinkle the peanuts.





For gift giving, I placed them in these red bowls, wrapped them with cellophane, tied a gold bow around them and added a gift tag.  Sorry, no photos of the finished product - I was in a hurry to get them out the door to hand them out!

Lazy Day

Because of the snow, Matt and I couldn't make it in to work today. We are taking it easy at home, preparing for a crazy day at work tomorrow.

Snow Day

A snow system rolled through leaving us 18 inches of fluffy white snow. Needless to say, the boys love it and and I had fun photographing their enjoyment! There may be enough left on Christmas Day for it to qualify as a White Christmas (one inch of snow on the ground).

lights + a movie

We finally got around to finishing our lights on the side porch. I find it amazing that we didn't do anything more than last year, but to cover the same amount of railing and house, we had to purchase 8 additional strands of lights. I am not sure how that worked out! Next year, we have plans for the cherry tree and the planters. We would love to have our eaves and top roof lined with the icicle lights, but we would probably have to hire a bucket truck to make it possible... not sure how we would even go about that!

We drove around for a while tonight looking at all the other ligths in our neighborhood. I think christmas lights are magical!

On another note, we went to see The Blindside last night. It was exactly what I expected! It was the perfect combination of funny and emotional. Not emotional enough to make me cry, just enough to tug at your heartstrings, but then turn around and put a huge smile on your face. Most importantly, it was a movie Matt and I enjoyed together. I am always a sucker for movies based on true stories. I highly recommend this movie!