What beautiful weather we had this past weekend for the Arkansas game!
And we won, so that made it even better! After the game, James and I went to eat with some of my family at Copeland's in Rogers. If you go, you must try the spinach dip. It's so yummy and it is served with fried bowtie pasta. After dinner, we headed to the Promenade for a quick shopping trip.



We later joined some friends at Wasabi in Fayetteville (Yes, we ate again). The Sam's roll is amazing. They wrap the roll in foil and set it on fire. So delicious that we ordered another. Sushi isn't all that filling anyway IMO. After dinner was Willie D's and Fix. Such a good time!


I ordered this Christmas dress and spearmint ruffle pants for Ava today. Another from MomiBoutique. Love it! I am already in the Christmas spirit. Ready for Christmas music and decorations. In fact, I'm thinking of getting the tree out over the upcoming weekend!


Finally, thanks April for sharing this quick and tasty recipe with me! I made it for dinner yesterday. I will pass it on.

Salsa Chicken

(4) Boneless Chicken Breasts
(1) Jar of Salsa (I used On the Border-Hot)

Place frozen chicken breasts into slow cooker and dump in salsa. Cook on low for 8 hours.

The chicken was super tender and basically fell apart. I made chicken tacos and served with shredded cheese, black beans, and spanish rice. We will definitely have this one again! James loved it so much that he had like 5 tacos and then made chicken nachos after that. He's super picky so that is saying Alot!

Happy Tuesday!

A few posts back, I had mentioned ordering Ava's fall dress for our family photo shoot from etsy seller, Momi Boutique. I sent her a few pictures from our session and they were featured on her blog. Again, she has super cute handmade dresses for girls. Her Christmas collection is out and I just love her candy striped ruffle pants! Check her out @ www.momiboutique.blogspot.com or www.etsy.com/momiboutique.

Jessica finished our photos and the gallery is up! If you would like to look at all of our pictures, head over to www.meinardusphotography.com (click on enter site, not blog) and select galleries. Our password is gfam09. Thanks Jessica for doing such an awesome job!

On another note, I'm in desperate need of a blog makeover. I really don't have the time or the skills to do it myself. Does anyone have suggestions of someone who does impressive blog makeovers that is reasonable?

My 100th Post!

Halloween

We had a fun-filled Halloween with the kids. We first went to the trunk-or-treat at Goddard. Aden got lots of candy, went on a hayride, and played games. We stopped my mimi's (my mom's) and then went onto the Fall Festival at Grand Avenue Baptist. They had a Wizard of Oz theme with Horse of a Different Color pony rides, more games, candy, and cotton candy/caramel apple treats. They even had the Wizard of Oz movie projected onto the side of the building.

Here are the kid's costumes:

Aden the Pirate... I loved this costume. I procrastinated and ended up ordering it online from Costume Supercenter and had to have it overnighted. Of course, upon receiving it Friday, the hat that was suppose to come with the costume was left out! I'm actually glad that it was left out because we found this hat at the Halloween Boutique (next to Kohl's) and I think that it really made the outfit!


Ava Elizabeth - our little ladybug... I found this costume at TJ Maxx. It's a size 2T, but we just secured it in the back and the wings covered that up. I had planned on making something with a tutu, but I didn't really have the time.



Our Trip to NYC

We had a good trip to NYC, but were happy to get back home. We left FSM on Thursday the 22nd and ended up returning on the 27th (instead of the 26th due to a cancelled flight). Nothing seemed to be going our way the day of arrival. We woke up at 4am in Van Buren to get ready and head to the airport. It was pouring down rain, so that in itself wasn't a great start. When we landed in NYC, we hailed a driver. Note driver: not a taxi with credientials, just some random guy in a suit with an SUV. I wasn't thinking well with such little sleep the night before. Well, I preceeded to tell him to take us to our hotel - the Crowne Plaza in Times Square - or so I thought. We arrived at the Crowne Plaza and went to check-in. Conveniently, their computers were down so we had to wait in the lobby to check-in. The best part is we found out we did not have reservations there. Oh Yeah, I forgot that is where I wanted to stay, but we were actually staying at the Candlewood Suites Times Square 12 blocks away. Since we had already paid a guy $45 to drop us there, I suggested to James that we just walk it. That was one way for him to see Times Square I guess! You should of seen us walking 12 blocks through Times Square with all of this luggage and 20,000 people. I'm sure it was quite a sight!

Anyway, here are a few pictures from our trip:

Mime


Little Italy - this cart was outside of Ferrara's. We had an amazing coffee and dessert in the actual Ferrara's.


James' dinner in Little Italy at Caffe' Napoli.


Models posing outside of an agency near Herald Square







James and I @ John's Pizzeria in Greenwich Village. Highly Recommended!


James outside of a comedy club that we went to near times Square. It was pretty funny and we got the tickets for a meager $10/each, so it was well worth it.


Guys breakdancing to MJ


We found this little Theater District bar called "Don't Tell Mama". Some of the workers there were broadway singers and they actually sang there. It was really cool.


We stood in the cancellation line for almost 3 hours to get tickets to Wicked. We ended up with orchestra section seats and I thought that it was a great production. The costumes and special effects were outstanding!

Fall 2009

Pre-warning: This is a long post!

A few things to share...

Things are still pretty busy around here. James is well into his last semester (cross your fingers) with a full load of 18 hours and an internship. I don't know how he does it! Graduation is fast approaching! James wants to go to Aruba in December to celebrate before he starts a job, but I'm still working on scheduling that in with Aden's birthday, Christmas, and graduation.

James and I are going to leave for NYC on Thursday and have 4 whole nights to ourselves! We'll have lots to see and do, although I haven't come up with official *plans* yet. It's been almost 5 years since my last visit to the city, so I'm slightly rusty on where to go. Whatever we do, I'm sure we'll have a great time.

We met with Jessica Meinardus Sunday to do our fall family pictures and I think she did a fabulous job! We first went to her new property in Alma to do some field/barn shots and then on to downtown Alma. She already had our preview up yesterday (see below). I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures! Check out her work over @ www.meinardusphotography.blogspot.com.






I'm completely obsessed with ETSY! I bought this dress for A from momi boutique. It is a reverse knot dress and ties in the back. She has the cutest handmade dresses and outfits! Check out her etsy store at www.momiboutique.etsy.com.






I also LOVE the new Matilda Jane line. This is one of the dresses we ordered at the trunk show.






We went to *Touch-A-Truck* at Chick-fil-A on Saturday. The kids were able to see all kinds of trucks, sound the horns and siren, and get inside of the vehicles. It was a pretty cool little event, especially considering that it was free. Aden was a little scared by all of the noise and poor Ava was terrified at times, but a good time all in all.

James and baby Ava


Family pic in front of the Jody's Wrecker Truck


A dump truck


And cement truck


And a school bus. I actually convinced Aden to go inside of the bus. We sat on a bench and the bus driver sang *Wheels on the Bus* with him. He also got a *good rider* sticker with a bus on it.



Getting ready for Halloween? I found this super cute lady bug costume at TJ Maxx for Ava. It is a size 2T, but it will work fine when secured in the back (which will be covered by the wings). I have yet to get Aden a costume... Aden and I went to Target on Saturday, but they were wiped out. Looks like we'll be ordering something online. Oh well, it's a lot more convenient anyway.


Aden's been doing well so far with full-time preschool. He's learning so much! He knows the alphabet; has been working on letters, sounds, and words; can say the pledge of allegiance; and can sing "My Country Tis of Thee". I cannot believe he will be 3 in a few months! Every month, Montessori posts a monthly photo album for his class. Here he is doing some of his *works* at school:



Supporting our Hogs!
(Although I must say that I'm still pretty upset over the game this past weekend)

Aden giving his usual cheesy smile!


I'm loving the enormus bows and flowers. Can you tell?


And we went to the Wild Things Farm Fall Festival... We visited the animals, had Bedford's take a fall family picture, and we each picked out a little mini pumpkin to take home with us.

It has been awhile...

but we have been crazy busy lately! I'm so excited that Aden has started his first year of *real* preschool @ Montessori last week. The kids have their curriculum Monday to Thursday and then Friday is more of a fun day with art, music, Spanish, and catered lunch. James has also started back to school(his last semester - yea!) It is going to be tough for him though as he's taking 18 hours and doing an internship of 10 hours per week, while juggling a family with 2 kiddos.

Here are a few highlights since my last post:

*James 10 Year SHS Reunion - Adelaide Hall @ Varsity Grill*

James with his buddies Ely and Ryan (They were both the best men in our wedding)


After the reunion @ Papa's


*Linsey's Birthday*
We had dinner @ Emmy's and drinks @ Rib Room.

Ashley and Linsey


Me, Jennifer, Robin, and Linsey


*Branson Trip*
We spent an extended weekend in Branson with the fam, my mom, and Brenda, a family friend who has extensively helped us out with the kiddos over the summer. I hadn't been to Branson in years. We're not really big on the whole country theme, but it was nice to get away and I know that Aden had a blast. I found a condo that was located on Thousand Hills Golf Course and it was just perfect. We went to Silver Dollar City for 2 days, White Water, Dixie Stampede, and Branson Landing. Everyone was exhausted Sunday night when we finally got home @ 10:30 pm.

Brenda and my mom at SDC


Ava is 3 months old now! Such a smiley baby. Sara @ Oleo's in Van Buren made the bow. She does an amazing job. If you haven't checked out her store, you definitely should. She has upscale consignment (baby nay, baby lulu, etc.), carries new clothing lines, custom outfits available, as well as paintings, bow boards, etc.




Aden having breakfast at our condo.


Aden @ White Water


And again... Poor kid got stuck on a big curvy slide all alone. James sent him down it and there wasn't much water pressure. Now he's terrified for life.


Aden @ SDC. He was such a big boy and did really well on all of the rides (pre-white water). James and I even rode some big rides with him (Fire in the Hole, Lost River of the Ozarks)



Well, that is it for now. Hopefully, it won't be another 2 months before my next post! =)