Birthday GIVEAWAY!

How about a giveaway in honor of my birthday this week?!?!

My sister, Carrye, has a very successful online business, The Invitation Monkey, and she has agreed to do a giveaway for my blog this week! She has some really neat products so please go check out her website by clicking on the monkey below.

All of the designs are painted by her and she has numerous products including note cards, birth announcements, invitations, address labels, names cards, sticky tags, posters, and even Monkeyroo tees!

These are just a few things that she has made for us that we love:

From the Mommy of Cards...I love having these to send notes to Addie's teachers at her preschool:

Notecards:

Birthday Invitations:

Name Cards for all occasions:

Some of my other favorite products are the laminated bag tags and the waterproof vinyl labels that we use on everything. She also turns her designs into repositionable wall murals that are wonderful. We just ordered some for the education wing at our church and everyone loves them!

She is giving away a $10 gift certificate to one lucky blog reader this week!

You may enter the giveaway by:

1. Go to the website and look around. Then, leave me a comment letting me know what you like. You may enter one comment per day until 12:00 p.m CDT this Friday. (Up to 4 entries!)

2. Also, get an extra entry by becoming a follower of my blog by clicking the follow button the right sidebar and then leaving me a comment letting me know that you are now a follower. If you are already a follower, just leave me a comment letting me know that. You must leave a comment because the winner will be chosen randomly from the comments. (1 entry)

3. You may also get another entry by becoming a fan of the Invitation Monkey on Facebook by clicking here and then leaving me a comment letting me know that you have become a fan. Again, please remember to leave a comment because the winner will be chosen randomly from the comments.

*Please make sure that your e-mail address is included in your comment so that I can send you the code if you win!

Again, go check out her website and let me know what you would like to win. You will love her products! I will be announcing the winner on Friday!

Flashback Friday: Before & After (& Now)

I thought a Before & After theme would be fun for Flashback Friday this week. It's a broad topic and could include just about anything. So, join me in posting about something before & after and post your link at the bottom of this post to share with others.

This week, I'm posting some before & after pictures of our house. We live in an old house that is nearly 100 years old. It belonged to Brian's maternal grandparent's and is where his mom and aunt grew up. We have enjoyed turning this old house into our home. We had it completely remodeled while we were engaged in 2003 and it took about 7 months to complete. These before pictures were actually taken after we had started working on the house, but you will still be able to see how much work was put into the house. We had dry wall hung, new floor covering put down through the entire house, new cabinets, central heating & cooling installed, and had a bathroom and laundry room built on. We loved turning this old house into our home and we are very happy and content with it. I'm not sure if we will ever move from here.

As I was going through our before & after pictures, I realized that so much more has changed in the five years since the after pictures were taken. I took some updated pictures this week so these will include before, after & now pictures. These are just the main rooms in our house. I didn't have any good before/after pictures of our bedrooms & bathrooms, but you can click here to see where we turned our guest bedroom into Addie's big girl room.

The Kitchen

Before:

After:

Now:

The Dining Room

Before:

After:

Now:

The Family Room

Before:

After:

And Now:

The Hall

Before:

After:

Now:

My birthday is next week so next week's theme will be birthdays! I also have a giveaway planned for next week. Hint: It has to do with that little monkey over there on my sidebar!

Use this form below to enter the name and link directly to your post:

Blogger Award!

Yay... I received a Kreativ Blogger award from Short Southern Momma! She has a great blog so go check it out!

I don't really think of myself as a creative blogger but I do appreciate her sending this to me. Most of my posts are about our everyday life which is the reason I started this blog in the first place. Like I said in my very first blog post ever, I started this blog as a memory keeper of sorts. I love to scrapbook, but it doesn't really capture everyday life for us. Most of my scrapbooks are of big events in our life, like traveling, holidays, birthdays, our wedding, and baby's first year. My plan for this blog, is to post updates from our everyday life to keep friends and family updated, while also creating a keepsake for myself.

I've been blogging for over a year now and I have enjoyed it. I've meet some new friends through the blog world just like the one who nominated me for this, and I have found lots of blogs that I enjoy reading. I've been trying to get a little more creative recently with Flashback Friday and some other ideas and I also have my very first giveaway next week so stay tuned!

Anyway, here are the Rules for this award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.

5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they've been nominated.

Okay, here goes...

7 things about me that you may or may not know:

1. I worked at Disney World during summer 2001.

2. I have naturally curly hair and I straighten it everyday.

3. I love Chocolate! Love it! Love it! Love it!

4. I love photography and wish I was better at it.

5. I have a red sink in my kitchen. I love the color red.

6. I knew I was going to marry my husband on our first date.

7. Our house is almost 100 years old!

Finally, I would like to pass this award on to these bloggers. I love reading these blogs and they are each creative in their own way. Since Short Southern Momma awarded me with this, I've decided to pass this on to some Southern Momma's that I love reading about! Click on the links below to read more:

Kelly's Korner

The Other Mama

West Side Stories

Sprinkles of Scarlett

Addie Marie

The Kilpatricks

Baby V. Makes Three

Time Change

I don't know about you, but I'm not crazy about this time change. Like many of you, it will now be dark when we get home from work everyday. For us, that means that we won't be able to go outside and play with Addie in the evenings and I won't be able to run like I usually do. I don't like to run after dark, so I guess I'm going to have to get up and go early in the mornings.

This time change also has Addie a little off her schedule, and she has been getting up about an hour early the past few mornings. Yesterday, she woke up early and came and got in the bed with me which was a first. She laid there as quiet as can be while Daddy finished his shower and just looked around the room. After a few minutes, I heard her say in a sweet, but kind of sad voice "Momma, Where's Addie?" I had my eyes closed but for some reason, I knew exactly what she meant. I asked anyway "What are you talking about sweetie?" She pointed to our wedding portrait which hangs above the fireplace in our bedroom and asked again "Where's Addie?"

I tried to explain the best I could to my 2 year old that the picture was when Mommy & Daddy got married and it was before she was born and before she was a baby. All she said was "Oh." I'm not really sure what was going through her little mind, but I just thought it was so sweet that she wondered why she wasn't in the picture with Mommy & Daddy. She doesn't understand yet that there was life before she was born, and honestly, it is hard to remember what life was like before her. Her question helped remind me that Brian & I were husband and wife before we were Mommy & Daddy. It is so important to not lose sight of that fact and not let time change our relationship with each other.

Halloween

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween. I cannot believe that it is already November. Time seems to fly by faster and faster with each passing month. I try my best to enjoy each moment I have with friends, family, my husband and my daughter and this is where I like to share some of those moments.

We had a great October and a Happy Halloween. We went trick or treating with some friends in their neighborhood on Friday night. It was Addie's first time going trick or treating and she loved getting candy. Yesterday, we went to the Annual Peanut Butter Festival here in Brundidge. We had fun and enjoyed walking around and shopping at the arts and crafts booths. Troy had a home football game last night, but Addie & I didn't go since it was cold and rainy. Brian and his dad went to the game while Addie & I went down to Nammie's house to carve a pumpkin and toast pumpkin seeds.

At the bank this year, we each decorated a pumpkin and it was a lot of fun. Most everyone participated and some got really creative with theirs. We displayed them out front on bales of hay and got lots compliments on them.

The First National Bank Pumpkin Patch:

This is mine & Brian's:

Addie also decorated a pumpkin at school and she was so proud of it. Here she is standing with her pumpkin and Mr. Pumpkin Man:



We also dress up at the bank each year and we always have fun with it.

Addie couldn't wear her costume to school but we dressed her up in a cute Halloween dress and some ghost tights for her Fall Festival. I love this picture of her:

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds:

Here is the recipe I used for the toasted pumpkins seeds in case any of you have some pumpkins that you need to do something with before they rot. We had one more pumpkin that we were using for decoration on our front porch so I toasted some more seeds today. They are so good! They almost rank up there with candy corn and Reese's pumpkins. Almost.

Ingredients:
*Pumpkin
*Salt
*Olive Oil

1. Remove seeds from pumpkin and rinse well
2. Boil seeds for about 10 minutes (add salt to water) and drain.
3. Spread a tablespoon of olive oil on bottom of roasting pan. Spread the seeds out over the pan, in one layer and sprinkle with salt. Bake on 350 until seeds begin to brown (15-20 minutes).

Eat whole or crack to remove the inner seed. It's more work , but I prefer to eat the inner seed only. Enjoy!

I had a great response from the Flashback Friday post from last Friday. I got several comments and e-mails from several of you who want to participate so I'm going to create a widget where you can link your post to mine to share with others. This week's theme is going to be Before & After so join me this Friday for Flashback Friday!

Flashback Friday :: Pumpkins and Costumes!

Welcome to my very first installment of Flashback Friday! I've had this idea for a while and thought it would be a fun thing to do on some Fridays and also a great way to document some memories from my pre-blog life. Brian just got me a photo scanner so now I can post things from our pre-digital camera life too! I'm super excited about my scanner. I've been wanting one so I can "digitalize" our old pictures. Since it's the week of Halloween, the theme for this Friday is pumpkins and costumes. We have gone to a pumpkin patch each year since Addie has been born and we also enjoy dressing up each year.

Pumpkins

Addie in 2007(almost 9 months old):

Did she really used to be this little?

I miss these days...

2008 (21 months old):

Not a baby anymore:

2009 - growing up way too fast:

Costumes

2002 - A farmer and a cow:

2003 - Raggedy Anne & Andy:

Farmers in 2007:

2008 - Pirates!

We are flirting with the 50's this year!

Addie as a pumpkin in 2007:

A ballerina in 2008:

And, Dorothy this year:

I hope you enjoyed this week's Flashback Friday. Let me know if any of you (my few readers out there) would be interested in participating in Flashback Friday. I could think of a fun theme each week and create a link where you can link your post to mine to share with others.

Happy Friday!

Tiny Tumbler

Addie started gymnastics last week and she is loving it. It is so much fun to watch her and the other little girls bouncing around and learning how to tumble. We started out in the parents and tots class last week and she did really good so they moved her up to the 3 year old class this week. These are some pictures of her first two classes.

1st gymnastics class:

2nd week of gymnastics:

Addie's 1st cartwheel:

Fall Fun

The Sunday before last, on our way home from Tuscaloosa, we stopped in Clanton, AL to go to a pumpkin patch that I heard about. I wanted to take some pictures of Addie and let her pick out a pumpkin. I was expecting a little pumpkin patch with a few pumpkins and maybe a little hayride for the kids, but it was much more than that... I guess the name should have gave it away:

The Grand Ole Pumpkin Patch and let me tell you, it was grand, as in HUGE! We arrived at a place that one might think was the county fair. There was someone directing parking and people were everywhere. It definitely was not what we were expecting, but we decided to stay and check it out. There was a petting zoo, pony ride, inflatable park, funnel cakes and even a helicopter ride. There were so many people there and the lines to everything were so long. The line to go on the hayride down to the pumpkin patch was at least 2 hours. We weren't waiting for that, so I snapped a few pictures of Addie with the big pumpkins that were sitting around. We walked around for a little while and let Addie ride a pony and that was all we did. It was a really neat place and probably would have been more fun if it wouldn't have been so crowded.

Some pictures of my little pumpkin:

Addie loved this pig mascot that was walking around. She kept running up to him and would give him a high five and a hug:

Addie's favorite part, by far, was riding the pony. This was her first pony ride. She loved it and just giggled the whole time:

Mommy & Addie:

My favorite part was the field of sunflowers that was there. I love sunflowers and they were beautiful.

Addie in the sunflower field:

This past Sunday, we had a fall festival and trunk-or-treat at our church. All the children had fun and Addie got more candy than we will ever be able to eat. She had fun walking around to each booth and racking up on candy and prizes. She wanted to eat all the candy that she got immediately. I finally had to tell her to stop and save some for later.

Addie as Dorothy and Jace as Dr. Q.T. Patootie:

Nammie & Addie:

I hope everyone is enjoying fall and having as much fun as we are this fall!

Yea, Alabama!

We spent the weekend in Tuscaloosa visiting with Robbie & Krista and going to Alabama's Homecoming. We all had a great time cheering on the Crimson Tide.

Krista, Addie & Robbie waiting for the parade Saturday morning:

Mommy, Daddy & Addie:

Matching brothers (they didn't plan it):

Me & Krista before the game. It was very cold so we went shopping for thermals, hot hands, and warm boots before the game:

We all had on several layers. Addie was so bundled up that she had a hard time moving around. It also made it hard to carry her. We each took turns carrying her to and from the stadium.

Go Bama!

Roll Tide!

Addie held out until after halftime:

Then, she slept the 2nd half of the game:

Bama didn't play the best and it wasn't the most exciting game, but we won and we are having a great season! Bama is now ranked #1 in the AP Poll. Roll Tide! I can't believe that football season is more than halfway over! We will be busy with football next weekend too; we will be at home in Troy pulling for the Trojans at Troy's homecoming.

Mother-Daughter

Brian took some photos of me & Addie last week so we could enter a Mother-Daughter contest with a local photographer. We're not sure yet if we won, but Brian did a great job taking pictures. I'm usually the one behind the camera so there aren't nearly as many pictures of me with Addie as there are of her and her daddy. Regardless if we won or not, I'm proud to have these pictures of me with my little girl:

And, of course, I had to get behind the camera and take a few of just Addie:

Making a silly face:

Pretending to pout (she knows how to get her way):

Could you ever say no to this little face?

Playing in the yard:

And, these are our fall decorations on our front porch. This really doesn't have anything to do with this post except that that Addie & I were sitting in front of these mums in the pictures above. Addie loves our scarecrows and has named them Eeny, Meeny, Miny & Moesey.