Saturday, May 30, 2009

The Week Ahead

Long week ahead of us here. Raia and I will be toughing it out as Nathan heads to St. Paul, MN for training. I am hoping this time away from each other will be good for us. If you could, please keep all 3 of us in your thoughts and prayers this week. I have never been the one here in TX while he is out of town, it is always vice versa when I am visiting in Alabama and he is here.
That's all I have for now, thanks for checking in!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Dinner & A Bow

The chili was really good!! Yay! I actually had two whole platefuls (booo me); Nathan was good and only had one, and he even said it was good, too.



Blogging about what we had for dinner may be silly, but I am really proud of myself for making a meal that was pretty tasty (and easy!!). That doesn't happen very often.

Raia woke up in a fantastic mood and was ready to show off her bow head.





Right now she is watching Blue's Clues; I wish I knew how to post video, because her dancing is SO cute! She sticks out one hip and just goes to town! Blue's Clues is something new for her and a nice change from all the "Mo-Mo" we have endured over the past few months. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE Elmo, but there's only so much little furry red monster one can take!

What's Cookin'?

Tonight I am attempting some homemade chili. Those of you that know me, know that I DO NOT COOK....not very well anyway. I have come close to burning our house down at least twice while making grilled cheese sandwiches if that is any indication of my culinary skills. So far the chili tastes pretty good. It is marinating on the stove top as I type, and will hopefully be unburned and tasty by the time Nathan makes it home from work. I plan to serve it over tortilla chips with cheese melting on top. My friend Kim gave me her recipe, so we will see if mine is as good as hers.



Hopefully it will taste better than it looks. I will report back on that!

As for Miss Raia, her hair is getting pretty long in the back, she has the sweetest, softest baby curls. You can probably see them in one of the pictures I posted where she was watching Elmo on the computer. Bows are a BIG thing here in Kingwood, and the little consignment shop where I work part time has lots to choose from. I have not bought any yet because Raia's hair just isn't long enough, nor did I think she would leave one in her hair. A friend gave me a few to try out that her daughters no longer wear, just to see how Raia will tolerate them. She has kept it in most of the day! She has just woken up in this picture (and is now back asleep as I type) so she was not too happy at all. Sorry for the grumpy face.



I promise to post a better pic once she wakes up and poses for my camera. But isn't it cute?? Maybe I am just not used to seeing her dolled up with bows, and I am so anxious to play with her hair as it grows longer!
On a side note, the shirt she is wearing in the pic came from the little consignment boutique where I work: $2. It had a small hole in the collar which Nathan's mom was able to sew right up (Thanks Mom!). It is super cute on her, too :)
Thanks for checking in, I will be updating on our dinner experience and baby bows ASAP!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Cakes

Just a few cakes I have made in the past few weeks.



This one was for a little girl turning 4, how awesome is it that she wanted DINOSAURS?!



The volcano was just a big cupcake, with red colored rock candy for lava. All the little "rocks" were also candy that look like rocks ~ NEAT! And tasty, too!



Some apple shaped large cupcakes for a teacher appreciation event.



A friend's little girls were turning 2 and 6 ~ they loved it!



This is one of my favorites. My sweet friend Rita needed this for her friend's birthday; chocolate on chocolate on chocolate!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Elmo on the laptop...

This Memorial Day weekend we haven't done much of anything. Just being lazy. After a week of Raia being sick, this long weekend was a much needed "vacation" from the daily grind.
Yesterday, we had the laptop on the kitchen table, and Raia wanted to watch Elmo. for a change of pace, we brought it up on the laptop. Here are a few pictures of her being a big girl at the table enjoying her Elmo!



I was behind the laptop, so it is not visible in these pictures; I wanted to catch facial expressions while watching her beloved Elmo!





We also had a little adventure yesterday. We were going to run some errand, and all the sudden this tiny little Pomeranian puppy came running up to me from the street. She had no collar or tags, nothing...and there was no one outside with her. (All the animals in the neighborhood must KNOW that our house is the one to come to if one becomes homeless!) I knew this puppy belonged to someone, but since we were on the way out, we decided to scoop her up and find her home when we came back, if that was possible. We went to a vet's office that just happened to have 2 ladies out walking the boarded dogs, and they agreed to come out to our vehicle and scan the puppy, even though they were closed. They didn't charge us a dime, either. She was not microchipped. She was such a cutie pie, and Raia loved her to pieces!





Nathan went to Wal Mart after we had had her here at home for about 3 hours, and on his way home, he saw 2 girls down the street, around 10 and 16, crying in their driveway. He came in and got the puppy, and before he could get into the street good, the girls came running; they were so happy to have their puppy back! So, happy ending for the puppy, maybe her owners will put a collar and tags on her or have her microchipped now. The vet told up that since she had no tags and was not microchipped, she was legally ours if we wanted her (and don't think for a second I wouldn't have kept her ~ she was precious!) I am glad the little girls got their puppy back, I would have been really sad, too had it been my puppy!

Happy Memorial Day



Thank you to all the veterans for their service, protecting our country.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

My very first post...

I thought blogging would be a good way to let out of state family into our little bubble here in Texas. We will see how well it goes!

Raia is growing so fast these days, I just can't believe it. Just yesterday she opened the bedroom door by herself. Looks like we will need to start childproofing with the doorknob things (oh what fun! ~ I can barely open doors with those things on!)

She has just gotten over a week of incredibly high fever, higher than I or Nathan were comfortable with. The highest it got was 104.4, which is scary...poor baby. After 2 visits to the Dr. (a NEW one I might add, the last one was not very helpful) and a flu test, having to do a catheter to get urine, and a strep test, all came back negative ~ YAY! So it was determined to just be a "fever virus", which lasts 3-5 days. Our first Dr. would NEVER have even ordered the tests, would have just said everything is normal and then sent us home. I am very pleased with her new pediatrician. The first thing he did upon entering the room was to come over and play with Raia. He let her touch the stethescope before using it (she was still not very happy though) and he let her "help" him examine her, at which point she started crying, but hey, at least he tried! Anyway, I'm just glad she is over all that and feeling better now.

I am ending this post with a few pictures from the past week or so.


This is Raia checking out the Koi in the little pond at the Arboretum on Mother's Day...great diversion from the impending meltdown she was about to have ~ it was HOT!!


This is actually an Elmo puppet, but she LOVES to wear it on her head for some reason, LOL!


Our little Schroder, Nana and Doc will be so proud! Sorry for the poor quality of the photo, we really need a better camera!


Here is Raia playing with the water hose, getting a drink! Daddy teaches her all the fun things in life!

~P.S.
Nathan has started a new job this past week. He is no longer in the restaurant business! He now works for EcoLab, and he will be going into grocery stores and restaurants ensuring that all of their chemicals and cleaning supplies are where they are suppose to be and if they have enough, etc. It isn't any more money, but the job perks alone equate a NICE raise. A cell phone, a brand new computer (and it is really nice, but for company use only - for now), and last but definitely not least, a BRAND NEW CAR that he can use for everyday use, to and from work, and anything else he needs it for, all gas and maintenance paid. He is using a rental now (a PT Cruiser hahahaha), and should get his new mini van (haha!) in September. He also gets a company credit card, big whoop. He seems to be enjoying his new job, and is so HAPPY to be out of the restaurant business!!

xoxox