Can you tell me how to get...

How to get to Sesame Street?

This past weekend we went to see Elmo Live! The traffic was horrible because our show began at same time church services were getting out, the Livestrong Marathon was coming to an end, and the UT baseball team was about to begin the final game of their Opening 3-game series. But it was so worth it when I found a free parking spot directly across from the arena!

Of course our first stop was the souvenir stand. I was warned by my friend Jen that this part would be pricey... it was. I then warned my hubby who said he would be strong... Let me tell you that Merritt has her Daddy wrapped around her finger! She wanted a Zoe doll and I wanted her to have a t-shirt. When we got to our seats, she told us that Zoe needed a friend because she was lonely... Big Bird made an appearance shortly after. When the show started, Merritt was so entertained and got so excited each time a character came out on stage. She almost made it through the whole show, but without a nap she fell asleep about 15 minutes before the show ended. Both Zoe and Big Bird are permanent guests in Merritt's bed - so she won't be lonely when she drifts off to sleep.

Happy Birthday Mom!

My Mom's birthday is on February 12th and she came to visit us after a meeting she had in town. Merritt loves it when her GG comes to visit {can you see why?}! I always kid my mom because up until Merritt joined our family, I received a care package for EVERY holiday. And then notice who gets the gifts now... At a Super Bowl Party we went to, Merritt played with little animals from the Littlest Pet Shop collection. We couldn't get her out of the room, she played with them for hours! So when Merritt's GG and GPop heard this, they went to find some of these toys. When Merritt opened the gift she squealed with joy and yelled "Animals!" They are now a permanent fixture on our coffee table despite my efforts to move the 'Animals' to Merritt's playroom.

{Notice how the 'Animals' are lined up? More about my concerns about Merritt's OCD issues later.} We took my mom to dinner and we discovered Merritt's love for spaghetti and sliced oranges! {Notice the look on my face, I am thinking "How in the world am I going to get spaghetti sauce and orange juice out of this white shirt and her purple blanket, which substituted as a bid."}

ISO a Valentine...

This year Merritt was 'In Search of a Valentine...' She is hoping you 'Will be her Wild Animal!' In made her Valentine binoculars out of items I had around the house, toilet paper rolls, pink and red cardstock, ribbon, and a hot glue gun. I also added some fun stickers for Merritt's friends to enjoy.

Cupid and Crafts

The weekend before Valentine's Day, Merritt and I went to the Cedar Park Library for Cupid Crafts, Storytime, Music, and Snacks. We started morning with sitting down to read a couple of books {and Jen I got a picture of her reading a bilingual book}. During craft time, Merritt and her friends made bookmarks, used stamps to decorate hearts, and heart crowns {Merritt refused to make hers or wear the one I made for her so we went to eat some yummy treats instead}. After storytime, Merritt and her friends enjoyed popping the bubbles!

Merritt took advantage of Leah's distracting treats to play a little guitar while the teacher wasn't looking. Merritt's favorite Valentine - her Daddy - even stopped by to join in on the fun!! Merritt had a wonderful time and didn't want to leave the library!

Valentine's Day Countdown

I saw this cute little idea on Tip Junkie and added in to my 'I want to try this next year' file but when I ran into a friend at Micheal's, she was getting some supplies to make a Valentine Heart Countdown, so I went ahead bought the supplies and made the hearts in about 30 minutes.

The kit I bought had white foam hearts {which I used for the background} and red foam doily hearts {that I used to make a pocket to put little gifts in}. I also bought a package of white glittery stickers to add the numbers to the front of the hearts.

Merritt has been counting everything lately and I am very proud to say she says and reads her numbers 1-20. She really enjoyed coming home each day and counting the numbers up to the one with her gift in it.

I chose to fill each heart with little things that I know she loves. Her favorite by far was from Day 7 - Bubbles. When she pulled them out she screeched with joy and we had immediately go outside so she could pop the bubbles! I also purchased a 3 pack of washable paint sets {one price - 3 days worth of gifts!}. She has become such an artist! Although her mountains, animals, hearts, and mommy all look very similar to big blobs of paint! She had so much fun with the Valentine countdown {she goes up to the hearts each afternoon wondering where the net number is - 'Mommy number 16 is hiding - we need to go find it!} that I already purchased a St. Patrick's Day set to make a new countdown. I already painted some little shoes with green glitter paint so that we can find the Lucky Leprechaun each day!

'Snow' Much Fun!

Last week it snowed here and so we had the day off from school!

I dressed Merritt in her winter gear as soon as she got up and we rushed outside to see the cold, strange, white stuff that covered our yard, streets, and cars. At first, like most things, Merritt was cautious of the snow but once we began to walk on it and play with it, the smile never left her face.

After exploring the backyard, we took a walk down the street, stopping every few houses to visit with neighbors.

We followed our footsteps back home, took off all the wet clothes, boots, jackets, and gloves and snuggled up to enjoy a nice, warm breakfast in bed.

Later that afternoon, when Beau got home, we walked to the park to play with the last of the snow that was still on the ground where we had our first ever Edge Snowball Fight!

It's been too long...

So apparently I cannot do it all and I fell SO far behind, every time I thought about doing a new post.... I remembered all the other posts I hadn't done and then the blog would be out of order.... and then that is where my OCD kicked in and it turned into a horrible cycle.

So I decided, nothing really important happened in the months of October, November, December and January and I would start all over in February and none of my readers {Hi Mom!} would care how many events I didn't write about.

So here we go, New Year's Resolution {don't judge on how long it takes me to decide upon a New Year's Resolution either - I don't need that guilt}, going to try to post at least once a week.