A Grateful Heart

Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Millie, 1945...New York, New York

What am I thankful for...

Though my life's not exactly where I had it all planned out in my head(is it ever?), I still have SO much to be thankful for. Sometimes it's easy to be frustrated with a few of life's circumstances(which are temporary)and loose site of just how much we have to be grateful for. With that said, here are a few of the MANY things I am thankful for.

A daughter who makes me smile, constantly...I'm pretty sure there isn't anything she does that doesn't make my heart smile. A husband who can make me laugh, usually at myself and often times when I'm angry with him...I firmly believe that this is a gift. I'm thankful I was given permission to give Ruby the middle name Lemon... against Daniel's better judgement. I don't know why but it was REALLY important to me and it makes me happy every time I say it. I'm thankful for our dog Broccoli. For Ruby's room and that it turned out even better than I imagined, it's my little piece of perfect. For a mom who's patient with my grumblings, a dad who lovingly grumbles while putting his blood, sweat and tears into all my many projects and in-laws that are like a second set of parents. I'm thankful that God has a plan for my life and that even when I don't understand it, I know that His way is always for a reason and He gives me everything that that I need.

Momma's Broke, Back to Work!

wearing her mary poppin's scarf, as i like to refer to it!

Today was my last of six glorious days off, and i enjoyed every single one of them. We didn't go anywhere, just stayed home and hung out, got caught up and did more shopping than i probably should of! I find it to be a sick irony that when you are at home (not making money) you have all this extra time to go shopping and SPEND money! I did some damage at Baby Gap, Meggie Lou's, Old Navy and Anthropologie. I swore it would never happen, but i definately shop for Ru way more than i shop for myself. I guess it's just easier when you're one, EVERYTHING looks cute on you...you don't have to worry about finding clothes that are "flattering". I mean it's the only time in your life when chunky thighs is cute right, so who cares if your pants are a little snug?

Anyway, i got some great deals at Old Navy, among them was an adorable green,wool coat for the wee one. I've had my eye on this coat for sometime now, but it was $36.50 and i just wasn't wanting to shell that out. On sale it was half off, and because i used my Gap card to pay for it, it was another thirty percent off...bottom line, i only payed $12.77 for it! Now if it would only get cold enough for my kid to wear a wool coat!

Ruby's loot, Isn't her Christmas Moose adorable!

Side note: if you shop at Old Navy, Gap or Banana Republic with any regularity, i would highly recommend opening a Gap card. They only advertise to card members and they offer special promotions for members only. Example, you get 10%off every Tuesday at Gap Kids when you use your card. If they are having a promotion you might get double points on your purchase instead of the regular one point per dollar spent. As mentioned earlier i got 30% off of my entire purchase at Old Navy's Grand Reopening. Also, when you reach a thousand points you get a $10 gift card in the mail. I do NOT have a credit card for every store i shop at, in fact we only have ONE credit card and i only opened this one to get a discount on my purchase. I had every intention of cutting this card up after i payed the first bill, until i realized how great it was! Okay, enough of the sales pitch, what else did i accomplish while on vacay?

One thing i was so happy to finally have the time to do....wait for it...CLEAN MY FRIDGE! It's just one of those things that every time you look at it you say, i wish i had the time, or a maid... whichever! So i finally had the time and yes i am posting a picture! i just feel better knowing that if someone opened my fridge i wouldn't be mortified when they found a dead fly in the produce drawer...not that that actually happened or anything!

Labels out Ladies!

We also went to daddy's softball game, played at the park and enjoyed some wonderfully yummy, peanut butter frozen yogurt at Golden Spoon...where we modeled the newly purchased scarf (see first picture), which is her new fave! She likes to sleep with it and i love it, it's like my very own Linus! She has an affinity for blankey's or anything blankey like which proves though she may not look like me, she is indeed my child. For those of you who don't know, i still have a blankey and i can NOT sleep without it! Go ahead, judge me, i'm okay with it!

In our Sunday Best...Grammy got her a new dress.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

a farmin familia

what did the chicken say to the football?

love this face!

So as i mentioned before this was my first homemade costume for the Ru. I found the idea several months back on MarthaStewart.com and immediately fell in love with it. It just fit, seeing as how i collectively refer to Ruby and the dogs as "my chickens". After thinking about it for a while i chickened out (pun intended) and thought perhaps i was being overzealous and should just buy her a costume. My mother-in-law Sandy had other ideas and encouraged me to give it a try and was kind enough to to assist me in the process. I'm so glad she did! Not only was the finished product absolutely adorable (strangers asked to take her picture), i really enjoyed the process and had fun working with Sandy and my mom. Both grandmas were a huge help! So here's to homemade costumes to come, i can't wait to do it again next year with the same afore mentioned grandmas! ;) Ruby really loved the trick or treat experience, she held onto her hello kitty bucket for dear life and when people put the candy bowl out for her to choose her own treat, she dove right in. I hate to say it but my little pollo really enjoyed the paparazzi experience. She was quite happy to oblige people when they stopped to check out her costume or take a quick picture, perhaps i should have dressed her as a ham...hmmm, maybe next year!

me and my california grown chicken...

pushin her wagon along...

surprise!

check out those toofers!

our partners in trick or treating crime!

apparently the chicken crossed the road one too many times...so tired!