Ho Ho NO!

This past Saturday, our little town of Leesburg had a Holiday Festival! I got a flyer in the mail about it 2 weeks ago and I was looking forward to it ever since. The weather cooperated - and by cooperated I mean it wasn't like we were living in Chicago as the day before felt when the freezing winds came whipping through.

We all bundled up that morning and headed downtown to see what this festival was all about. After a brief walk through town (and finding all of the restaurants that I've been reading about online and wanting to try) we ran into Frosty! Taylor was not nearly as excited as I was but she let me hold her next to him to get a quick pic.

A short time later we saw Santa from a far as he was getting ready to go set up shop on his chair to meet all the kids and listen to their wishes. Now - knowing that Taylor wouldn't go for standing in a long line, I took a shot and asked Santa for a picture right there. He agreed and I asked Taylor if she wanted to meet Santa? She said "NO"! Santa kinda laughed it off and we got a quick shot.....

From there we saw Rudolf and she wanted nothing to do with him either! He tried waving and she stared him down. We tried to approach him and Taylor grabbed onto Ben's jacket, buried her face in his chest while saying "no no no". Oh well.....next year.

Her mood instantly changed when continued our journey, turned the corner and saw the little train making it's way around a parking lot. She took one look, pointed and yelled "CHOO CHOO!!" Needless to say - she got to take a ride on the choo choo.......

Last but not least, the Fun Bus was there. She is a bit too young to go in by herself and adults don't fit in but the guy was nice enough to let us put her at the top of the slide so she could take part in some of the fun.

That's where our festival experience ended. I'm already looking forward to next year when Taylor might have more of an interest in Santa, Frosty, Rudolf etc.

Later that evening, I went over to Seca's with the rest of the bridesmaids for a little wedding planning fun! Seca had gone to look at dresses that afternoon so we got to see the pictures and give her our opinions on what we liked. I can't wait to see what she picks and how amazing she is going to look on her special day (Sept 17th 2010).

That's about it from our end. I gotta put the computer away and start working on our Christmas Cards! One year I will work on them toward the beginning of the month.....one year! HA! Dear Crazy....

The Holidays are in full swing....

It's been a few weeks since the last post and the holidays are now upon us! We had a fantastic Thanksgiving - 2 day celebration. Turkey Day started out EARLY with Amanda and our Landsdowne Firehouse Run 5K. It was cold & foggy but I gotta say it made for a beautiful run. Obviously I didn't have my camera so you're just gonna have to believe me on this one! After our run, we hit up Starbucks for a quick coffee & snack. Then it was off to Sissy's house for dinner with the rents and Todd's parents who were in town from Michigan. A great time was had by all.
The next morning was another early one with meeting up with Jac & Mom at the Leesburg Outlets for our yearly Black Friday Shopping. We didn't buy too much but it's always a nice time to get together just us girls. I look forward to when Taylor will join us but that's a few (many) years away still.
We celebrated our second Thanksgiving with Ben's family that evening and it was tons-o-fun as well.

This past weekend started out with family photos! We got some good ones but I just put my favorite one below. The rest will be in my December pics on Snapfish later on this month.

Taylor LOVES her "Melmo"

Then it was off for "Christmas in the Burg" down at Nanny's. This is always one of my most favorite weekends. This year was no different! Tons of food, laughs and ELMO!! Doesn't get much better. Here are a few pics......

Best. PJs. EVER!! Thanks Aunt Jack!

All the other day to day stuff is pretty same old. Taylor is getting bigger by the day - both her actual self and her attitude! Wonder where she gets that from?? HA! Dear Crazy......

Runnin' just as fast as we can......

So not too much has been going on since my last post. Everything has been pretty same old. Same old except for the fact that I have finally gotten off my lazy a$$ and started running again. Yes, you read correctly - I am running. Amanda and Jacqueline (and we can't leave out Todd) inspired me to get started. Amanda told me about a race that was in Leesburg and Jac pointed me in the direction of the Couch to 5K program. The program is great! It starts off slow and works you up week by week. So I completed the first 3 weeks just in time to take part in the 7th Annual Freeze Your Gizzard 5K here in the Burg yesterday with Amanda. I knew that we would be run/walking and was perfectly content with that. What I didn't know was what a "cross country" race was. Do you? Well - let me tell you.....it was running in mud, dodging tree limbs, jumping over creeks, avoiding tree roots sticking up out of the ground and trying to get through long wet grass. Awful!! Other than that - it was tons of fun! I had set a personal goal of finishing in 45 minutes and we crossed the finish line at 41:20! Wooohooo! Go us! The last and final push was made easier with my dad trotting beside of us clapping and then looking up to see my mom, Ben and Taylor at the finish line! It meant alot that they came out to cheer us on although I'm sure they are looking forward to coming out again when the weather is warmer! HA! Dear Crazy!

Almost Done!

Me and Amanda post race!

Taylor wanted to cross the finish line too!

No rest for the weary though - we are signed up for the Landsdowne Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning! Woot!

Quick trip to Nanny's

This past weekend we (Me, Ben, Taylor and Mom) took a quick trip down to Williamsburg to see the Nanny!! I haven't seen her in quite a long time and although we are headed back in early December, I wanted her to have some alone time with Taylor. She was thrilled to spend the time with her! I'm not sure how thrilled she was watching Elmo over and over again but she didn't complain! HA! Dear Crazy!!

Speaking of Elmo - I'm not exactly sure how/when it started but Taylor has a borderline OBSESSION with him. I kid you not - she will bring a remote over to me while saying "Melmo" with her puppy dog blue eyes. It's hard to say no - especially when you get to see her reaction the first time "melmo" comes on to the TV screen. Just precious! So it looks like we've moved on from Dora and the Wonder Pets......for the moment anyway!

Back to the weekend..... we came home from the burg Saturday night after dinner so we could have Sunday to do things around the house and get ready for the work week. So the trip was short but well worth it!

Last night after dropping off the truck in Tyson's for routine maintenance - we went to Jac & Todd's for dinner. Jac made pulled pork (pulled by yours truly) and she bought Taylor organic Elmo mac n cheese with veggies. She was pretty proud of herself and couldn't wait to show TP when we walked in the door. It was a fun night for all!

That's about all that's going on with us. Hope all is well with everyone!

Halloween 09

Here are some pics of Taylor, Kiara, Amiayah and Baby Jordan!

Mike & Mike In MY Morning

I'm going to start with saying - 4 AM is not an hour I don't want to see again for a very long time! But man was it worth the early rise! I stayed at Jac & Todd's last night so I could guarantee that I wouldn't oversleep and miss my big morning at ESPN Zone! We had a nice but short visit before it was time to hit the bed so we could attempt to get a decent amount of sleep before the alarms started going off. Then there it was - 4 AM but I couldn't be more excited! Mom met us at their house around 4:30 and we headed out to the Metro a few minutes later. We were down there quickly and in line by 5:35. Luckily it wasn't too cold and the doors opened shortly after we claimed our spot. Once we got in, we signed up for a raffle to win tickets for tonight's MNF game (I'd already turned down a few sets of tickets - I mean really? Who wants to see that debacle!?) I digress..... for signing up we received a Mike & Mike In The Morning Tshirt and then were escorted to our table. We were in the corner but we could still see the guys so no complaints. We were all told as soon as we sat down that they would be signing autographs and taking pictures throughout the morning. It was at this point that I was cursing the fact that I hadn't totally put myself together as I normally would! LBH - we all know I'm a pretty vein person but I was in no mood to do my hair and I had convinced myself that I would never get the photo op that I was hoping for! Apparently I was wrong and there I was - ponytail and all. HA! Dear Crazy! I'd like to let you all know that this ponytail made it on TV just before 7am when mom and I were in line for our pics. ;0)

I'm not going to lie - I'm a little tired now but I would do it again and I plan on it once the Skins are good enough to have another home MNF game so M&M come back! Wishful thinking huh?

Here are a few of my pics.......

Pumpkinville

This morning, Heather and I decided to get out of the house before the rain came around and took Taylor to Pumpkinville at the Leesburg Animal Park. Once we got through admissions and turned the corner, Taylor saw all of the animals and her face lit up like a Christmas tree!! Cows and sheep and roosters - Oh My!! We walked around and she laughed and pointed and made noises for each individual animal that she recognized. Then we got to a part of the park that we were able to enter an area with animals that we could pet and get face to face with. The pic below is far from flattering but it was the funniest part of the day. Taylor made a beeline for the sheep that was minding his own business - she got as close as she could comfortably get and just stared at him. Then out of nowhere - she (not quietly mind you) screamed" BAAAAAAAA" in the poor things face. I cracked up so she did it a few more times before I felt bad for him. I know what he was thinking.....who is this little girl?? DEAR CRAZY!!

She's a pretty brave little one....she let the goat get right up in her face and giggled. Personally - I was the one a little intimidated until Heather reminded me that they wouldn't have this "contact area" if it wasn't safe. Ok- True Story.

We spent a little over an hour with the animals and sliding down slides. Taylor picked out her own little mini pumpkin at the end. All in all - it was a perfect morning!