A Southern Accent

While we were at the beach last week for Thanksgiving, I decided I wanted to try to capture a picture of Walker for this year's Christmas card. I still don't know exactly what I'm doing as far as photography, but I figured as long as I took a couple hundred pics, I may get something I liked. So that's pretty much what I did. I love the current trend of balloons in photo sessions, so I stopped by the local Harris Teeter (on Thanksgiving no less) and got them to blow up some balloons for me.And I knew I wanted to Walker to be pretty casual as far as his dress because that fits his personality much more than a dressy outfit. Sometimes you can just tell children are miserable in their Christmas photos because of what they are wearing. Here are a couple of the outtakes that I've placed in some of my favorite Christmas card designs from the 2010 Shutterfly collection . They have wonderful Christmas and holiday cards, as well as photo calendars that make great Christm...

But she still poops in the house at least once a week.

Like last year , we stopped by the Neuse Sport Shop on the way home from our Thanksgiving at the beach. I took pics of all of the beautiful trees and decorations and put together a slide show for you guys this year. Hope you get some Christmas decoration inspiration! I know I did!   And this little guy was so cute riding around in the store,  I just had to take his picture. His name was Dunkin.

I really don't care for your Louis Vuitton purse. Believe me, I think there's nothing worse Than hearing about your brand new diamond ring When I really don't want to care about those things. Your huge home is something I really don't like For I like to see my family when we're home at night. Don't tell me that $500k is middle class I think that is crazy, it's actually crass. Your new Tory burch shoes are adorable, I agree, But because you have five pair, you aren't better than me. I'd rather shop on eBay so I can roll the dice, And get a good deal while you paid full price. I want to be happy with who and what I am, I don't need you to judge me or try to slam On my Target purse or my Payless shoes Really, who cares and in the end, it's what you do For others and with others, how you care, how you treat The people around you and new ones that you meet. I want to live a life where I don't try to keep Up with the Jones's and worry ...

W alker has recently been drawing some adorable little characters and bringing them home from school. I loved them so much I wanted to make something special for the new playroom I'm working on based on his little people.  I decided to take an old canvas I had in a closet and cover the old painting with Gesso. Then I gave Walker a permanent Sharpie and asked him to draw me one of his little guys. He decided he wanted to draw a picture of himself playing basketball in the back yard. He asked me what kind of mouth I wanted him to have and I said "happy". After he was done, I pulled out my paints and we started filling in with color. Mike got brave with the camera and started taking pics of us (Oh, did I tell you guys I cut off all of my hair?). I obviously need to take another trip to the salon and get some color on those roots. About an hour later, we had our finished product and hung it up in the playroom! I'm going to add some other pieces around it to fill up ...

Our upcoming trip to NYC is less than a month away and I'm getting so excited, I can't stand it. I purchased our train tickets yesterday and although it's going to be a 10-hour ride, I'm kinda looking forward to the experience. I've never been anywhere in the US on a train. Walker is refusing to fly and Mike gets nauseous just thinking about flying, so I thought we'd try the train this time. I will certainly be investing in a portable DVD player for the trip. I squealed when I saw them bringing in the tree in Time's Square last week! I can't believe we are actually going to get to see it in person this year! It's totally one of my life-long dreams to be in NYC around Christmas! Since our trip is a kid-friendly one vs. just adults, I've been planning out the spots we should hit and things to do. Central Park Ice Skating at Rockefeller Center I was hoping we could go see the new Spiderman Broadway show with music from Bono, but they...

Last week was a bit crazy for me. I was out of town the entire week, running around helping to plan a big event for our company. It went well. I don't really like to talk too much about my company on my blog, but suffice it to say it was successful, inspiring and helped us all understand why we come into the office each and every day. That meant Mike was home along with Walker. Nana swept in for a couple of days to lend some support, but the two of them stuck it out and took care of each other fairly well while I was gone. I called Mike Tuesday morning to remind him to pack lunch and he said, "It's already done." I called Mike Thursday morning to remind him it was uniform day and he responded, "Already dressed." I've trained him well. Friday morning they called to tell me Walker lost a tooth the day before. They forgot to call me the evening before and tell me. I was squealing on the phone while Mike was murmuring, "I didn't realize it...

Sorry I've been so quiet this week! Traveling with work and busy, busy busy! Yesterday, put together a fabulous party. These were our cute little accents for the bistro tables (our theme was power). Today, held a press conference here. It was so inspiring and fun. And we have two more days of exciting events to go! By the time I get back to my hotel room, I'm too tired to type. But I am fighting to stay up for Grey's Anatomy tonight. Wish me luck. Until next week...

My little guy's  flag football team the Rockets placed second in the flag football championship playoffs yesterday. It was a heated game, but we were unable to beat the Ravens, who ended the season undefeated. Final score was 12-14, so we gave them a pretty good run for their money. Walker led the entire league of 104 players in number of pulls by 12, number of rushing attempts and came in second on overall points, only passed by a player in the 8-9 year old division.  I screamed my head off yesterday, became "one of those" parents that gets upset with the officials and Mike followed Walker up and down the field wherever he was. He was too nervous to sit down. I stayed in my chair with my mom and dad and watched from the sidelines. My tummy was in knots the whole time.  We are proud.

They hate each other. I always thought they would eventually work things out, but it's been almost three years and no progress. He 's losing his hair and weight. All of his belongings have been moved upstairs as to avoid any run-ins with her . She runs around in circles, causing madness and chaos wherever she roams. She is no longer allowed upstairs because she can't keep her paws off the original ruler of our home. Whenever they do get together, it happens by accident, and never ends pretty. There are loud noises, hair everywhere and we race madly to separate the two. In his 13 years, he's been known for his grumpy side, which can be quite devilish at times. And she looks like an angel, but is really a wild child under that demur facade. I once imagined the day when they would cuddle together, side by side on the sofa. Days of romping in the grass and sharing spaghetti noodles. But alas, as the years go by and these two grow further apart and harde...

Halloween rocked this year. The spooky spirits were flying high on our street and we had a great time. My sis, nephew, mom and dad came over to hang out and help create my haunted front porch. My sis and I rocked out our witch hats. We are both pretty much Halloween freaks. I served vampire cupcakes to the neighborhood kids and they were a hit! Then I invited them to reach in and feel our brain and eyeball specimens.   I set the mood with cobwebs that wrapped the porch, candles and a thunder and lightening strobe-light and noise machine. One of the fun parts to having a boy at Halloween is they love gross stuff, so Walker thought it was cool and so did all of the boys in our neighborhood! I'd say the whole evening was a success. Walker's candy bag was so full after about an hour of trick-or-treating that he handed it to me and asked me if I would carry it because it was so heavy! Oh, and Mike and my dad were happy campers because they got t...