dollywood days

Sometimes I wonder if the saying "a rolling stone gathers no moss" was written in reference to us and our inability to stay home and not live out of suitcases. Our most recent trip found us visiting Dollywood in our former home state of Tennessee. Christopher's parents were so kind to plan a family trip there for a few days last week. We did so many things that it would take several thousand words and 148 pictures to recap so I'll stick to some highlights. 

Except for the occasion fussing Annabelle is almost always a good flyer. She did even better than normal this trip. She did all four flights without watching any shows on the ipad. She colored, looked at books and took naps. She read the plane safety manual on each flight. It's important to be prepared in the event of an emergency water landing. 

On Thanksgiving morning we went to an exotic bird sanctuary. I've never seen so many beautiful birds in one place. We got to hold and feed several of them. Once AB got over her fear of holding them she loved it. I saw a sign that said some of their birds are for sale. I would have taken one in a heartbeat but I knew that at $2,995 Christopher would say it was too expensive of a souvenir. 

Annabelle was a little hesitant about the rides at first but how quickly that changed when she got on the Lucky Ducky ride with the fearless Sadie and Emory. She wore the Lucky Ducky, Piggy Parade and Busy Bees rides over and over. She wasn't a fan of the elephant ride that went in the air but there's always next year. She was perfectly happy with all the kiddie rides. 

 Look who we happened upon! Normally AB is shy around characters but she was still riding the high from the Piggy Parade. She marched right up to him and gave a huge smile. (I'm sorry this is turning into the Annabelle show. I don't see that changing anytime soon since I do nothing but hang out with her.)

I've never visited Dollywood at any other time but I'm here to say Christmas is The Time to go. The lights and decorations were beautiful. It was so festive.

We went to two lovely Christmas shows. They were a combination of fun and Christmas spirit and we all loved them. 

Santa appeared the day after Thanksgiving. I've never seen a better Santa. He looked the part, had a beautiful suit and was so kind. He asked all the children if they knew about Baby Jesus and made sure they all knew the holiday isn't only about Santa. We saw him again the next night and since there were no other children in line Sesame got to talk to him as much as she wanted. They talked about her friends, how reindeer fly (he said God makes them fly) and her nativity toy. She talked and talked. He asked her about the smocked nativity on her dress and she chose that moment to clam up. Everything in me was hoping (and audibly hinting) she'd give an eloquent answer and make him think I'm a good mom. All she did was stick her fingers in her mouth and mumble something about Paw Patrol. It was a humbling moment for me.

Annabelle loves all her cousins but she especially enjoyed spending time with Emmy. They're so close in age and I love that they're becoming little buddies.

Since we were there at Thanksgiving it's only right to mention a few things we're thankful for. Christopher is thankful for his health, I'm thankful for a good nights rest and good cheddar cheese and AB is thankful for her light up shoes. Judging by what she told Santa I'd say she's also thankful for Paw Patrol. 

first world thankfulness

In this season of thankfulness I bring you a list of my top 15 first-world gratitude list. Of course I'm thankful for my family, friends and baseball, but I wanted to go a little more shallow.  

1. The free vacuum at the gas station. I love few things things more than a clean car. Sometimes if I'm having a bad day I use the free vacuum to clean the car and it makes me feel like things are a little better.

2. The Dunkin Donuts app. Call me clueless but I had no idea it was a thing until a few weeks ago when Laura mentioned it. I can now earn points for free products using the money I'd be spending there anyway. The downside is I now know exactly how much I spend at DD and I'd rather be in the dark about that. 

3.  Group texts. Some people hate being stuck in group messages but with the right people it can be a party. A party where you can wear your comfy clothes and high bun and never have to leave your house. Michelle, Laura and blogless Toi are my very favorite group chat people. If I ever need advice on what to get at Trader Joes or a dispute solved between Christopher and I, they're my go tos. 

4. The dishwasher. It's a miracle machine. You put dirty dishes in and take out clean ones a few hours later. God bless the dishwasher and the repairman who frequently fixes ours.

5. The washing machine and dryer for the same reasons as listed above.

6. Cute phone covers. When I got my new phone I was torn between the flowered case and the glittery one. The only reason I didn't get the glittery one was I didn't like that the glitter wasn't covering the entire case. Someone in the world is probably still using smoke signals and carrier pigeons so even if I had ended up with the glitter NO BIG DEAL. 

7. Having so many scented candles I don't know which one to light first. 

8. My overflowing makeup bag. 

9. Leftover pizza. No explanation needed.

10. Having extra episodes of This Is Us.

11. Receiving an unexpected order of French fries.

12. Unsubscribing from emails.

13. A pull through parking spot.

14. Napkin dispensers at coffee shops. I always take more than I know I'll need to keep my glove compartment well stocked. The same goes for straws and sugar packets. Minus the cream I have a small coffee station in my car. 

15. Walgreens extra care bucks.

Sesame's Suite, 2.0

Almost 4 years ago I posted about our elephant/rabbit nursery. I thought it was time to do an updated tour of Sesame's room. It's generally not as clean as shown here. On any given day there are stuffed animals covering the chair and bed, lonely socks being used as bandaids for said animals and several books strewn about.  

When we moved in the walls were a gross green. It had previously been pink but Mr. Jim thought prospective tenants wouldn't want a pink room so he painted over it. He had no idea I was coming his way with everything pink and girly. 

We still sit in the same rocking chair each night. It's getting creaky and the cushions are getting flat but we've had some good cuddles in it.

I haven't changed out the elephant and bunny watercolor prints she had in her first nursery. I'm planning a bird theme room for her next room and will leave the elephants up until then. I'll never get rid of them. They'll probably go to college with us when we share a dorm. 

This is one of my favorite views in the house. This picture doesn't do it justice but it makes me so happy. I love all the necklaces, bows and seeing the tiny dress she wore home from the hospital through the closet door. 

Mr. Lion's cardboard box and fabric scrap bed was not in the original design plan. He migrated there after being evicted from the crib. Also on the shelf are the turtle bank we painted when I was pregnant, a silver cup Christopher's unit gave as a baby gift and our four tiaras and crowns.

I painted this bench on our last summer in Clarksville. It took several months longer than it should have but I'm pleased with the outcome. 

Sesame has recently started adding her own decor to the room. We got these three candles in Massachusetts and she said they were "perfect" for her shelf. A is for Annabelle was a gift from Aunt Stephanie and it's so sweet.

The green drawers house diapers (I don't want to talk about that), books, books and more books. 

We're going through a bow drought. Any help in the form of new designs and/or colors would be greatly appreciated.

Aunt Michelle made this sign for us. I told AB that her friend Gracie's mom gave it to her and she said, "Do I like her?" I don't know if she was talking about Michelle or Gracie but either way that question means we definitely need to visit them again!

to grandmothers house we go

Last week AB and I took a last minute trip down to my hometown.

We had somewhat of a rocky start. I went out to the car to turn it around to make packing the trunk easier. Sesame saw me pulling into the road, thought I was leaving her behind and came charging out of the house wearing only a shirt and diaper. She was dragging her blanket and crying hysterically. I had no idea she was there until I almost backed into her. My car was half in the driveway and half in our very busy road while I tried to explain I wasn't leaving and she needed to go back in the house. She was so upset. When we got on the road the GPS told me to take exit 31. I'm bad at directions but I knew that wasn't right. I knew we should go straight. I wondered if maybe the GPS knew there was traffic on our route so I followed it. It brought me to Trader Joes. I like TJ's but not when I'm wrongly sent there while still recovering from nearly running over my baby. 

The day after we arrived Annabelle started getting sick. Christopher and I both had the flu so it was only a matter of time before she bit the dust. She was coughing and had a fever of 103. We made trip to urgent care to rule out her yearly bronchitis. The doctor wanted her to have an xray done to see if she had pneumonia. The nurse handed me the lead vest to put on and something that looked like a bandanna to put over my thyroid. I confused my thyroid with my ovaries and tried to wrap the thing around my waist. Apparently the thyroid resides in ones throat. Obviously I did not go to school for anatomy.2

 

The poor girl woke up every single night from coughing spells. She'd ask to come in my bed and when I brought her over she'd put her knees under my chin or her legs on my neck. I didn't sleep through the night for days on end. Elizabeth kindly offered to sleep in the guest room with her so I could sleep upstairs and get a full night rest. I slept in that room for 21 years but haven't since I got married. It felt a little sentimental. I did a celebratory dance at the thought of sleeping all night.

As these things go, I woke up twice because I was cold but AB didn't wake up once. Of course.

Elizabeth is preparing for her licence test so I took her out on the road to pass on my road skilz. It was terrifying. She drives slower than any little old lady I have ever seen. I constantly had to tell her speed up. She has issues with being on the wrong side of the road. She may look happy and confident...

 but this is how I felt driving with her. I feared for my life.

One afternoon we went to Target to see Joanna Gaines new line. I didn't want to go and be the stereotypical white lady walking around Target in leggings, but my desire to see the new items was overpowering. I loved it all. I loved seeing all the Christmas things too. Annabelle was as enthralled as I was and she told me "we should buy dis one and dis one AND DIS ONE IS THE BEST OF ALL!" She is her mother's daughter.

It's always tricky trying to visit Aaron when we're in town. He has a very busy work/social schedule and the only time he could fit me for the 9:45pm-12:15am viewing of Thor. I seldom leave the house after 8, let alone arrive at the theater at 9:30, but I'll do anything for my favorite little brother! I forgot to bring a real snack to share with him and Elizabeth but I handed out what I had- sticks of gum. You can always count on me to bring a real party.

We spent our last night at Daniel and Erika's. The girls adore each other. Baby Ivy is growing so fast and they can really play together now. Ivy is a genius child who can already spell her name. She's not even 2 yet. The minute I found that out I really buckled down on Annabelle learning to spell her name. Ivy does have a significant leg up by having such a short name.

We drove home yesterday and I can say without one bit of exaggeration that it was the longest drive in the history of drives. We're going away for Thanksgiving next week but we're flying so I won't have the weight of getting there solely on myself.  With me in charge we'd end up at Trader Joes instead of Tennessee. 

you can't live at my house and not have a birthday party

Of the three people who live in this home, one plays birthday every day, one loves a good party and one couldn't care less about his birthday. This weekend was the birthday of Mr. No Party. He doesn't have much of a chance of not having a celebration living with two party girls.

Annabelle has had her 4th birthday party theme of dragonflies planned for months. She assumed Christopher had also been thinking of his party theme for months but he had not (how shocking). He said she could pick for him. We went to Walmart and she picked blue plates, Harry Potter cups and Harry Potter eye glasses. I put the eye glasses back and we lost the cups somewhere between the store and home but it's the thought that counts. It was sweet to see her so excited about Daddy's big day.

I asked my friend to babysit Sesame on Saturday night so we could go out on a rare date. We decided to go to the movie to see the new Thor. We had to reserve seats online and the only available were two in the front row. A family was already spread out in the front row and we didn't want to bother them so we sat directly behind them. A couple came up to us, said we were in their seats and wouldn't listen to our polite explanation. We moved down the row and immediately before the movie started another couple came and said we were in their seats. We looked like idiots teenagers who were trying to sneak into a movie without paying. Finally we sat down in the seats the family who took our seats should have been sitting in. I'm going to start campaigning for assigned movie theater seating to be ended. It makes me look bad. (Or people could just sit where they're supposed to.) (I'm done.)

Christopher's birthday dessert of choice was key lime pie. I had never made it before and was pleasantly surprised with how well it appeared to have turned out. It wasn't until we started eating it that I realized the crust was raw. I used a premade crust and assumed it was ready to go. It was not. I'm going to believe Julia Child made the same mistake. Other than the crust it was very tasty.

Green sprinkles and random candle placement courtesy of my party planning protege in training.

Annabelle gave Christopher the sweetest book called Tell Me a Tattoo Story. She's very interested in his tattoos or, as she calls them, "Daddy's coloring book." 

This morning Annabelle asked when our next family birthday is. She needs enough time to start thinking of the next theme.

trunk or treat

Our jungle trunk or treat was a success. We had a discussion about whether is was jungle or safari themed, but either way it was full of animals and plants.  

I went with the lion onesie which turned out to be a solid choice. There were so many people there someone would have punctured my inflatable elephant back. We could have also done The Wizard of Oz but I didn't think of that in time. 

Annabelle could not have had a better night. She loved handing out the candy and said "Hi! Happy hawoween! Here ya go!" all night. Multiple people thought she was a cat but she corrected every single one. "No! I'm a tiger. A TIGER." She was the cutest tiger I ever did see.