Carolyn Beth

Glitter Letters {Valentine’s Day}

carolinebeth20 — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:31:59 +0000

I saw these cute letters on Pinterest and wanted to make some for my home.

Source: delish.com via Carolyn on Pinterest

I bought these for around $2.50 each at Hobby Lobby, coated them with Mod Podge, and added lots and lots of pink glitter. They turned out better than I had even hoped.

Christmas Day

carolinebeth20 — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:36:07 +0000

What a wonderful Christmas Day it was. When it was finally time to open all the presents RR got shy and didn’t want anything to do with them. I think it was the fact that Santa brought them that scared him off a little. So Mama and Daddy had to help open most of his. But he loved everything that he got. His new toy kitchen has been his favorite! He loves to put things in the microwave and when he pushes the buttons he says, “bee boop, bee boop”. He whips up some great dishes and makes sure to give me and Daddy lots of tastes.

We ate our huge Christmas breakfast with cinnamon french toast, hash browns, sausage, fruit, and eggs. It was so yummy like always. Then we all got ready and went to church. RR looked so handsome in his new church clothes.

It was a fun, busy Christmas. I can’t wait for next year when we have 2 little guys to celebrate with!

Christmas Day 24

carolinebeth20 — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:25:24 +0000

Christmas Eve was a fun day full of traditions. I love traditions, old and new.

We made an apple pie.

Johnny cooked us his yummy Mexican for dinner. It is always my favorite.

We had treats hanging from the lights again this year. RR thought it was fun.

We read the Christmas story from the Bible, and acted it out with the nativity people. And finally we got to open our new Christmas jammies from Nana and Papa. RR was SO excited to open a present, but after he found out it was only going to be jammies he was mad. He was pretty sure that new jammies didn’t qualify as a an actual present. He lucked out and his Aunt Randa called and Facetimed with us and let him open one of the gifts she sent him, so he perked up a little.

Then it was off to bed to wait for Santa to come.

Christmas Day 23

carolinebeth20 — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 06:00:07 +0000

What a wonderful day we had today. Johnny took the day off of work and we drove to Galveston to see the festival of lights at Moody Gardens. It was such a perfect day with my little family.

We went early so we could walk the beach.

My boy has decided he is a Texan now because it was a little chilly at the beach and he wanted nothing to do with it, and started shivering violently. It’s his new thing to be really dramatic when he does things. He kept begging to go back to the car, so our walk was short, but still fun.

We stopped to walk around The Strand, the historic downtown of Galveston, and it was really fun.

I found a new favorite store while we were there. It was a local soda shop/candy store. They make all the chocolate and ice cream themselves, and it is all vintage. They even have their workers dress the part which I loved!

The lights were fun again this year, and RR had a great time.

RR and his Daddy even got to roast a marshmallow and make a s’more.

Here is what Elfy was doing last night.

Christmas Day 22

carolinebeth20 — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 03:04:05 +0000

I had my Dr. appointment today and I am measuring 2 weeks ahead, so my doctor is pretty sure baby boy is going to be over 10 pounds! It’s always so fun to get to hear his little heart just beating away.

Today was one of my favorite Christmas days, it was our annual Fancy Cheese Party!! I LIVE for Fancy Cheese Party. What makes this so fun is that each year we change it up by trying out new cheeses and recipes. It never gets old, and we eat so much that we can hardly move, but it is so worth it.

We made our own baked Brie this year. We have done Brie in the past and I have never once liked it, but Johnny really likes it, so I try year after year and finally this year, I fell in love with baked Brie. If you aren’t on Pinterest yet you really should be, it is amazing and I have gotten some awesome recipes on there, this included.

Elfy driving RR’s horse truck and trailer around the house.

Christmas Day 21

carolinebeth20 — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 03:23:18 +0000

Today was Ugly Sweater day for Johnny. His firm is large, over 80 attorneys, but they are broken up into smaller teams depending upon the region they work in, so his team was the only one in the firm to host an ugly sweater party. We found this yellow sweater vest at a thrift shop, and then I glued the red reindeer on the front. He had to get a the turtleneck from the women’s department, and when he tried it on RR said, “nice Dadda, nice” ha! The best part is his combed over hair!! They had a competition for the ugliest sweater and Johnny won!

Here are some pictures that I took of RR the other day by the tree. While he is little and will still let me, I am going to attempt these each year. He always looks so cute in his jammies!

Last night Elfy climbed up on the chain of the ceiling fan.

Christmas Day 20

carolinebeth20 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 03:30:59 +0000

Tonight was a fun night because we made treats to take around to our new neighbors. I have 2 really wonderful single ladies that live on each side of us, and they just adore my little RR. Both of them have given him little gifts already and we see them out walking their dogs a lot and they always stop to chat with us. RR had so much fun carrying their presents over and handing them to them. He was also super brave and told them Merry Christmas.

The pretty treat boxes… I picked up at Michaels, they are Martha Stewart.

Last night Elfy was caught shooting some hoops on RR’s basketball stand. Elfy is RR’s favorite thing to get to do in the mornings, he always drags me by the hand saying ”Elfy, Elfy” and he is really good at scanning the room and trying to find him. When he does find him he laughs all crazy and jumps up and down.

Christmas Day 19

carolinebeth20 — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 03:42:43 +0000

I finally got around to wrapping a few gifts today.

I have been sick the past few days and so Johnny came home a little early and took RR with him Christmas shopping so I could rest and have some quiet time. He is such an amazing Dad and husband!

Last night that crazy Elfy ate one of RR’s cookies, but RR wasn’t upset, he was excited to help Elfy eat the rest of it this morning.

Christmas Day 18

carolinebeth20 — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 02:02:53 +0000

I am blown away that Christmas is in 1 week! Where did the time go?

Tonight was our night to make Gingerbread cookies and watch Frosty the Snowman and it was a blast! RR has so much fun helping us cook, it is one of his favorite things, he is just like his Daddy that way.

He is such a good helper too!

Last night Elfy hid out in RR’s Christmas PJ can.

Christmas Day 17

carolinebeth20 — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 03:40:55 +0000

Today was such a fun day for RR because he got to play in the snow! I had read on Facebook that a park in Old Town was having a big festival with Santa, lots of vendors, and best of all, they were trucking in snow.

At first he wasn’t so sure of it and Daddy had to show him how much fun it was.

But once he got down and started playing in it he was hooked! His favorite part was throwing snowballs at Mama over the fence.

On our way home we stopped and got a peppermint shake. I had been hearing rave reviews from different friends so we had to try it for ourselves. RR and I thought it was yummy, Johnny doesn’t care for peppermint so none for him.

Elfy decided to take RR’s airplane out for a spin last night.

We do Advent before bed each night, and before I let RR open his box with his treat inside I always ask him whose birthday we are celebrating, and he is really good at remembering it’s a baby, just not sure on which baby we are talking about. So here is how our discussion went tonight:

Me: RR whose birthday are we celebrating?
RR: Baby
Me: What’s the baby’s name?
RR: Baby Who

Ha! I forget how literal little kids are, and that each night when I say, “Whose birthday” he understood that to mean the baby’s name was “Who”. I love that boy!

Christmas Day 16

carolinebeth20 — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 03:56:18 +0000

Today was a super crazy day full of last-minute shopping. RR was awesome and did great for me at the stores we had to go to.

Here is what Elfy was up to last night.

One thing that I love about Christmas is a Nativity set. I have 4 of them now, and want to keep adding to my collection.

My mom gave me this one a few years ago, and one of these days my goal is to find an amazing artist to paint them for me.

Here is RR’s Little People Nativity. He adores this and plays with it all day long!

I love this set as well. My Joseph is missing his staff and I don’t know where to find a new one, but it is still pretty I think.

And here is my newest set. This is my Christmas gift from my sister Randa and I LOVE it. It looks so much like our Grandma Delsa’s vintage set so it brings back fond memories for me.

Christmas Day 15

carolinebeth20 — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:33:24 +0000

It was toddler time today at the library, which we love. RR has been really bashful since the move and hasn’t been enjoying it so much the last few weeks, but today he was finally back to his old self and really got into the singing and dancing.

After that we stopped by a little bakery here and got a treat. It was great to spend some extra fun time with RR outside of home, just the 2 of us. I cherish our little outings.

His cookie was huge, but he was able to eat 1/2 of it.

I love seasonal holiday treats, and this cupcake was better than I had hoped.

Today was a great day for us, Johnny got some awesome news at work, so we decided to celebrate with takeout from Pei Wei’s. It was a nice quiet evening home, just how we like them!

I have been wanting to make peanut brittle for Christmas, but got too busy, so Johnny surprised me and brought some home from the store.

Last night Elfy climbed into the Christmas tree and got down RR’s new Mickey Mouse ornament.

Christmas Day 14

carolinebeth20 — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:40:20 +0000

Today was all about suckers, homemade-from-scratch suckers, or lollipops if you prefer. Homemade suckers at Christmas are one of those memories that make me really happy. My Aunt Doris would make them every.single.year. and bring them to my Grandma’s house. So after our big Christmas Eve party that we always have at Grandma Delsa’s house, Gram would bring them out and everyone would get to pick one to eat on the way home. Seriously the only time of year I ever had these was on Christmas Eve.

This is something that I would love to keep going no matter where I live, so today I decided to attempt making them for the 1st time ever. My Mom called Aunt Doris and got the recipe for me and I did it, I actually made my very own suckers.

They taste like Rootbeer and they are so yummy. I have already had 2 today.

Don’t believe me that they are the best ever? Well just watch RR in this video, he will tell you how yummy they are.

Last night that crazy Elfy crammed himself into the Advent box.

Christmas Day 13

carolinebeth20 — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 02:22:44 +0000

Today was a relaxed day. We spent the morning playing with homemade play dough. My mom used to make this for us when I was a kid, and now I love to make it for RR. He has so much fun making snakes and using his shape sorter toys as cookie cutters. It stays good and soft for months as long as it is in a bag in the fridge.

Rhonda’s Play Dough

1 C. Flour
1 Tbsp Cream of Tartar
1 C. Water
1/2 C. Salt
1 Tbsp Oil + food coloring

*Put all in a pan and mix. Turn heat on medium. Stir constantly. Cook until dough pulls away from the sides. Dump on wax paper and cool. Store in bags in the fridge.

Elfy attacked the gingerbread house last night.

Today was a dreary day outside so I decided to make soup for dinner. I love when it finally gets cool enough in Texas to really enjoy a bowl of soup. I got this recipe for white chili from my sister-in-law Carissa, and it is the best I have had.

Carissa’s White Chili

1 Lb Chicken Breast cooked and shredded
1 Medium Onion chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Cans Kidney Beans
1 Can Great Northern Beans
14 Oz. Chicken Broth
1-4 oz Can Chopped Green Chilis
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Ground Cumin

**Add for the last 15 minutes of cooking**
1 1/2 C. Sour Cream
1 C. Whipping Cream

Bring everything except for the Sour Cream and Whipping Cream to a boil, simmer for 30 minutes. Last 15 minutes add the Sour Cream and Whipping Cream.

Christmas Day 12

carolinebeth20 — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:04:18 +0000

Elfy climbed into RR’s sippy today, and it was super funny like always!

Tonight we built our gingerbread house. It was so much fun. RR is getting so big and he is really into stuff like this. He is so funny too, his Daddy and I laughed the whole time.

RR ate more than his share of the treats before they could even make it to the house.

Super excited waiting for his turn to help out!

Licking the frosting off the spatula. He kept telling us it was “num num” but I think he was actually trying to convince himself that it was good.

Our masterpiece.