Happy Halloween!!

From all of your favorite Nintendo characters!  And just in case you need a primer - -

• Lindsey = Pikachu
• Ryan = Luigi
• Alli = Toad
• Diddy = Donkey Kong
• Riley = Mario
• Tata = Video game nerd 
• Buddy = Video game nerd
• Me = Princess Peach (of course)

I hope you had a wonderful Halloween and got lots of candy.  

Mama's Day 2014

I've been a mama for nine Mother's Days now, and I've had some good ones.  But let me tell you - this year is shaping up to be one of the best yet.  Riley let me sleep in until 8:30am (she's had a fever all weekend, so we didn't go to church this morning).  Then Ryan and Alli went to go get me donuts and Starbucks, the breakfast of champions!  And since Riley seemed to be feeling all right, we decided to go on our first family bike ride.  Ryan and I got bikes last weekend, and we've been antsy to try them out all together.

We did a 45 minute, 5 mile bike ride on the Mud Creek and Scull Creek trails.  Riley adored her trailer, and Ryan and I enjoyed our bikes.  Alli, however, did not enjoy much of anything.  Her tires were almost flat, and the bike is way too small for her.  Plus, she only has one gear.  Her new bike with seven gears was ready later the same day, thank goodness.  So this little trek represented the last hurrah for Alli's old bike.

After a good ride and throwing some rocks into the creek, we came home to drop Ryan & Riley off and Alli & I headed to the barn.  I got to sit in the sun and watch Miss Thang ride Tater Tot.  She even cantered over a jump!

Then we came home and left again to pick up Alli's bike.  Afterwards we went for "lupper" - lunch/supper at my favorite Mexican place on the planet La Hacienda.  Mama even had a marg.

Now Ryan is doing the grocery shopping while I lounge around the house.  We're planning another bike ride later this evening so Alli can test our her new wheels.  Then I was promised cookies and wine for dinner followed by watching the new episode of Game of Thrones when the kids are snoozing.  I'm serious, this might be my perfect non-beach non-Thanksgiving day.  Happy Mothers Day to all of the mamas out there.  I hope your days are as wonderful as mine!

Hoppy Easter!

I've made it no secret that Easter is not one of my favorite holidays - one of the major reasons being that it's on a Sunday, so I always have to travel!  This year my family did me the honor of letting me hostess Easter at my own house, so it made it just a little bit sweeter.

We spent Saturday at Alli's first ever softball practice where she demonstrated her mad (inherited) softball skills.  Seriously, this kid is a natural.  After practice, we went to Academy Sports where the men determined she needed a pitch back and some practice balls to work on hitting.  We spent the entire beautiful afternoon on the patio playing ball.  Alli couldn't get enough.

That evening we grilled burgers and dyed Easter eggs.  Riley observed and Ryan did most of the work. And I made sure Alli didn't color every single egg like a Ninja Turtle.

Alli left carrots and Reese's eggs for the Easter Bunny.  I have it on good authority that he enjoyed the eggs more than the carrots.  And he wishes she'd leave wine instead of water, but it's totally fine either way.

The next morning, Alli awoke to 23 eggs hidden around the house and a basket full of goodies.

Because she wasn't familiar with all of the good hiding spots in this house, she needed all of the egg hunting help she could get.

I know you're not going to believe me, but after egg hunting and breakfast, we got this house full of people up and to church at 9:45AM!  We even got there early, so we got good parking and good seats.  The service was beautiful and we sang some of my favorite hymns.  Riley made it to the sermon when Ryan took her in the narthex with the other daddy-baby combos to play until it was time to sing again.  We had beautiful weather to come home and take pictures as well to document that we all got prettied up and went to church together.

After lunch of fried chicken and chocolate layer dessert, we kept softballin'.  It was really a fantastic Easter.  Maybe I'm starting to come around on this holiday...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Apparently Alli wasn't aware of the tradition of pinching someone who isn't wearing green on this holiday, so when I told her last night as we laid out her green pants and green shirt, she got a gleam in her eye.

Last night before I went to bed, I made sure to put on a green shirt so that when I got up in the morning, she wouldn't be able to get me.  Ryan, however, wasn't so lucky.  He got a pinch on the arm this morning for forgetting his green!

When I walked in to put her green bow in her hair, Alli pinched my leg.

"Hey!!  I'm wearing green!  Look at my shirt!"

"Well that's why I pinched your leg, your pants aren't green."

"You don't have to be wearing green everywhere, just somewhere."

"Oh.  Well I am wearing it everywhere, so I must be really lucky."

Around then, Ryan walked in wearing a green shirt.  Lesson learned.

Wishing each of you a very happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Valentine's Day 2014

So I haven't had a chance yet to update on our Valentine's Day this year.  I don't keep much of a secret of the fact that I love Valentine's Day - candy?  Good.  Hearts?  Good.  Pink and red?  GOOOOD.

We made and decorated some delicious heart-shaped cookies the week before.

We stuffed goodie bags for Alli's class with 3D Ninja Turtle valentines, erasers, candy, and pens.  It wasn't Pinterest-mom worthy, but maybe it was a little above and beyond.  The, Thursday before Valentine's, Ryan surprised me with a new Calphalon sauce pot with a strainer lid.  With all of the baby food and home cooking we've been doing, it was a much-appreciated gesture.

In use making pears for Riley Roo

I got up on Friday morning and made pink heart shaped pancakes for Alli.  She still can't figure out how I got them to be pink.  Mom magic.

The girls each got candy and stuffed bears.  Riley got a Fisher Price doctors kit and Alli got a Rainbow Loom.  Ryan got new Razorback sweats and a running shirt.  And I got a dozen roses, gum and Reese's - lucky me!!

Plus Alli made me this super sweet ring on her Rainbow Loom.

Later that day, we had Alli's class Valentine's party.  We decorated cookies, played bingo, and the kids passed out Valentines.  Much lower key than the Minute to Win It Christmas party, but fun nonetheless.

That night, we had a romantic evening in a low-lit restaurant.  And by that I mean we went to Alli's dance in the cafeteria.  It was a wonderful day filled with pink and hearts and love shared with my favorite people.

I'm Big on Little Rock: Wrapping up Christmas Break

I just realized that I didn't put the finishing touches on our extra long Christmas break in the Rock Town!  Let's go back to where we left it.  On New Years Eve my mom, Alli, and I went to Pinnacle Mountain to get Alli out of the house.  It was actually a warm day (and by warm I mean not freezing) so we had a great time playing on the new playground equipment and even taking a walk.  I can't tell you how many times I went to that park as a child, so it's always so much fun to take Alli on the same nature trail and visitors center.

Alli was pretty excited to actually hike the mountain, so we promised her we'd come back the next day.  That evening, Ryan and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary at the Packet House, which is a really old house that overlooks the river.  We had a four course meal, and I got the wine pairings too.  Fabulous!  

The next day I was anxious to get the New Years resolutions off right, so I went on a three mile walk with Dad followed by hiking Pinnacle with Ryan and Alli.  The views were amazing, and spending day one of 2014 conquering a mountain?  I can't think of anything more symbolic than that!

That evening, Mom made an awesome roast with mashed potatoes and of course black eyed peas.  Even Alli ate some, so good luck is sure to be ours this year.  And Riley got to be held by her Nini.  Sometimes I wish I were still small enough for Nini to hold me.

We spent the next several days working and working out, and then Saturday we took Alli to Altitude, which is a new trampoline park in Little Rock.  It was awesome.  There was a foam pit that we could jump into, a dodgeball court, and trampolines on every available surface.  We could hardly keep up with Alli - she was literally bouncing off the walls.

Sunday morning, Ryan drove back to Fayetteville in the snow, but we Lowe girls stayed on in Little Rock due to some unforeseen circumstances.  We made the best of it and spent lots of time with my parents.  Alli and Riley are nuts about their Diddy and Tata.

We had to get back to reality last Tuesday night, and I finally got my Christmas stuff down Saturday (horror of horrors) so that I could go back to judging people who hadn't done it yet.  I'm really terribly sad that the holidays are over because we had such a wonderful time with our family.  Blessed, blessed, blessed.  I can't say it enough.

Sickmas 2013

I hereby designate Christmas 2013 "Sickmas 2013" - so far, four of the eight members of our family have contracted some form of the stomach bug.  Riley's had it twice now.  Christmas morning, though, we were all feeling well and got up at 7AM for our Christmas morning traditions.

Santa took care of the girls - Riley got a Baby Einstein activity table and Alli got an easel with paints and a chalkboard and the rest of the stuffed Ninja Turtles (she already had Mikey).

Santa was also good to me - I got a new lens for my camera, one with a better zoom so that I can take closer pictures at the soccer games and the horse shows.  Then we gathered around the tree and opened presents.  We always go one at a time, and this year we opened from youngest to oldest.  Poor Nini.  Everyone had a wonderful Christmas - from John Patrick's new camera to Dad's Nest thermostat.  But no one had a bigger surprise than Mom, who was completely shocked by her new diamond solitaire ring!  I didn't get a super picture, but here she is showing it off.  She talks with her hands a whole lot more now, I'm just sayin'.

Not too long after that picture was taken, Mom went down with the stomach bug.  And she was down for the day.  Dad and I had to carry meal prep, which was made a little easier with one of my Christmas gifts...

You can't quite tell there, but it's a pale pink KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer.  Don't mind Leo ogling it.  It's purty.

Lindsey went down shortly after Mom, so Christmas Day was spent laying low.  Alli taught a little school, Ryan whooped up on everyone on the Wii and built Legos, and I blogged and took pictures of my pretties.

I had a wonderful Christmas - in addition to the stand mixer and the camera lens, I got a new Patagonia pullover, some socks and tights, a bracelet, a scarf, reindeer dish towels, money, giftcards, and a beautiful fish vase.

My aunt Karen gave Riley some handmade cross stitched bibs.  I am too afraid to even use them they're so pretty!!

The evening was about the same as the day - low key and spent recovering.  It certainly wasn't the Christmas we planned, but we were together, even if it was Sickmas.  Maybe this will be funny one day, right?

Hope you and yours had a very merry Christmas!!