Project 52: FIFTY TWO

I have to say I'm a bit surprised to see that I actually made it to week 52. I know I know, how hard can it be to post ONE little weekly picture?? But at times it was hard. It's been a great year but a busy one. Originally, I started with my theme of gratitude but somehow it's evolved or rather un-evolved to just a reflection of me/family. I really liked having a concept to begin but I think the freedom to just post made this a bit more doable.  It's also hard for me to decide exactly what I want to share and what I want to remember. I think it would be neat to do Project 52 in two versions. One version is your public P52 and one version is private for you alone. Do both projects exactly as you see your week. Wonder how those books would turn out... And that's just what I'm planning for my P52- a blurb book. Yup, add it to the to do list.

As for 2013, I'm taking a break with the project. I'm thinking of a whole new concept for myself and blog. I'll share more on that soon. Stay posted. And are you tuning in tonight to watch Bachelor Sean? Of course I am. Thanks for following along this year. 

Project 52: FIFTY ONE

With Christmas just a week away, I can't help but post a little nod to two of my favorites, Neiman's and Target.  Still not sure how I feel about most of their holiday merchandise but this piece is fanflippintastic! Go Neiget! Or maybe Tarman! 

Project 52: FIFTY

$30 bucks for a little red elf and book? For 'ril? But Pinterest made it look oh so fun. So I bought in. And boy am I glad I did. This little elf has been so funny and so wildly entertaining every morning not to mention one extra little incentive for good behavior. So meet the newest Moody member, Miss Darla. 

Project 52: FORTY NINE

Oh my sweet little Rhett is growing a mile a minute.  He hit a new milestone this last week. He has finally learned to open candy all by himself.  In my foolhardy attempt to keep him awake on the way home from the gym, I handed him a little candy cane to play with.  I figured it would keep his attention for a good 5 minutes before he threw it back at me.  Silly me, never cued in to the silence in the back seat and instead discovered one sticky mess of passed out candy drunkeness when I got home. Awesome.

Project 52: FORTY SIX

I'm not one for costumes.  But when my sweet little neighbor, Tuesday, turned 3 her one request was for a costumed princess tea party. Who am I to resist little Miss blue eyes? So there you have it, Snow White and Mommy flashing her faux fur wedding shawl. Shit, when else am I going to get to bust that one out?

Project 52: FORTY EIGHT

Last week I took Ella to New York City with my mom for a little Christmas vacation.  We did all things kid, touristy and Christmas.  It was sooooooo much fun. I was a little nervous that 4 was a little young for this kind of trip but Ella was amazing. Totally pleasant, easy going and hilarious to be around. She said so many funny things, I wish I had written them all down. Here's a list of what Ella told me she loved about NYC:
* Taxis (cause they are yellow)
* No car seats
* Taking showers instead of baths
* Wearing her jewelry every day (I don't let her wear it to school)
* Candy stores (Dylan's Candy Bar)
* Real Mary Poppins
* Snacks after dinner

Ha! Good thing I took a ton of pictures to remind her of ALL the wonderful places we went.  This one is my favorite. She LOVED the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity.  She used all 4 straws at once to drink it and ate the whip cream by the spoonful.  Delicious.

Project 52: FORTY SEVEN

Best part about having two kids? Watching them play together. 

Worst part about having two kids? Watching them play together. 

Project 52: FORTY FIVE

Where the hell have I been? Well... everywhere. From Wichita Falls to New York City. And it's left little time to be at the computer. Life is good. Busy and hectic, but full of fun and merriment.  Despite a flurry of activity I've kept to my saving grace, yoga. I can't explain just how much I love yoga. I'm really not very good. Actually, the more I go, the more I realize just how bad I am. And this is why I love it. It's a challenge just for me and the mat I practice on. It works my mind and my body like no class I have ever done. And for me, it's extremely spiritual.  I have gained more clarity in my little hour classes of yoga than I have doing almost anything else. And really, nothing compares to those 5 little minutes at the end of class for shavasana (relaxation).

Project 52: FORTY FOUR

A belated Happy HALLOWEEN! This is one of my FAVORITE days of the year. I love it because it's just total joy. There's something for everyone: a little spooky or total horror, princess or super hero. And dude, candy!!!! And the best part of all, the kids can do no wrong. It's a whole day where kids can just be free. I let mine eat whatever, wear whatever, play whenever. I mean forget naps and routines and all that mess. It's a day of free passes. It's Halloween for God's sake. Baby wants more candy, then baby gets more candy. Why not? I love it. The only downer of the day... breaking my damn phone with lots of cute pics on it at the end of the day :( So here's some off my big boy.

At a Halloween party as the crew of Little Red Riding Hood (stole this one from my friend Sarah!)

Here's my sweet little bride! I LOVE this picture. Ella loves this little boy in her class and she is nothing short of joyful to take a picture with him. #Lordhelpmenow

Cause I can't resist a second pose

And here's my sweet little Rhett minus his cowboy hat. Someone just couldn't leave it on.... Later he was a dinosaur but sadly those pics are on my phone :(

Project 52: FORTY THREE

We have had so much to celebrate the last few weeks with many birthdays and one very special Baptism. Little Katherine Joan was Christened just a couple weeks ago and Ryan and I were thrilled to be her Godparents. Just look at this little sweet pea and her big ol' cheeks!

Project 52: FORTY TWO

So I keep seeing all these adorable pictures on Facebook of these sweet sweet children at pumpkin patches. How in the hell do you get them to cooperate? Let me show you what goes down with the Moody family. 

Yeah... there's no posing. There's no gentle sitting amongst the field of pumpkins. And there's definitely no sibling shots with both smiling, much less behaving. Rather, we were the family who was purchasing and/or hiding the pumpkins that Ella "accidentally" broke while trying to soothe Rhett who was freaking out every time we set him down on this crazy squash. 

Project 52: FORTY ONE

Ella is currently obsessed with this new Disney channel show, Doc McStuffins. Anyone else watching this regularly? If you haven't heard of it, it's about a little girl who plays doctor to her stuffed animals (Thanks Traci for the tip!). She patches up their rips and such. Well it has Ella on a real medical kick. Kid won't quit asking for her own stethoscope!

http://disney.go.com/disneyjunior/doc-mcstuffins

Project 52: FORTY

When I was a kid, I had two little girls on my street that I just LOVED to death, Kendra and Katie. We did everything together. Tea parties, dress up, play school, watch funerals from the tree house (yeah we lived behind a cemetery). I just really remember those early years so well and fondly largely because of my sweet little friends. So I just couldn't be happier that Ella has found the same thing with our sweet little neighbor, Saray. The two are quite a pair and hilarious to watch together. I took them to a pumpkin patch on Monday and they immediately turned the pumpkin photo op area into a pretend pumpkin store.  They used the cartoon cutout as their cashier stand and were so silly. I think Ella didn't want to pay up so Saray was tickling her.

Project 52: THIRTY NINE

Remember the days when you could sleep this hard? I know. I don't really either. But I wish I could. 

Project 52: THIRTY EIGHT

Somebody had a birthday! My sweet sweet son is one. He's one cool cat. Today he picked up my iPhone and held it up to his ear and said "hello" just like that. Plain as day. That kid cracks me up. I guess I've been on the phone a lot?? Anyways, here's a few photos from the pirate and mermaid party we had on Saturday. Since two of our neighbors had babies the same week as Rhett we did a birthday trifecta. Super fun to see all 3 grow up together and then to celebrate them. (and yes I know how weird that is we all had a baby the same week :)

In a tunnel of balls (aka heaven)

Birthday babies- Rhett, Cora and Brody

Ella having her swing at the pinata. I love Aunt B's face in the background!

First few licks of icing... mmm.

Now this shit is good!

Project 52: THIRTY SEVEN

Pictures, pictures, pictures. I'm in so over my head. I ordered a groupon for 2 canvas wrap prints and never in my life would have imagined just how difficult that is to select two frickin' photos. D.E.L.I.R.I.O.U.S. Anyways, I've picked my two and can't wait to see how they turn out!

So last week I was at my parents' house and they brought down some of my old "collections" from childhood. Yup, even as a kid I was part hoarder. Everything from baseball cards to foam pens to troll dolls (that in itself is another post... not even kidding). They figured Ella might like to play with some of my old dolls and figurines (ie get your crap out of our attic!). It brought back some serious memories. I wonder how many hours I played with these things. Funny to see how much Ella likes them now. Anyhow, any of you remember these things??

And while we're talking all things nostalgic, I figured I share a picture of Ella dressed in my old Annie dress. Remember orphan Annie? I LOVED her. Probably an understatement. I have seen that more times than most of you have seen Titanic combined. Ella seems to have the same affection for it. She's even picked up on some of the little orphans attitudes. Just the other day she said I was just like Miss Hannigan for not giving her a cookie! Ha. Hard knocked life? Pshh.

Project 52: THIRTY SIX

I really don't think I can say this any better than Ella did this morning, "MOMMY HE LOOKS LIKE A WORKIN' MAN!" 

Project 52: THIRTY FIVE

Ella had her first day back at school last Tuesday and let me tell you, there was a boat load of excitement at the Moody house. Homegirl LOVES school- lets hope this lasts! So to celebrate Mr. Ryan brought home flowers to both Ella and yours truly. Ella was thrilled to have her very own flowers for her very own room, BUT what was she more excited about than anything?? To play bride of course! That's my girl. Forget aspirations of medical school or professional gymnast. Precious darlin' wants to be a bride! And of course mommy just had to be the flower girl for Ella's wedding (about 12 times). Here's our wedding photo. 

Project 52: THIRTY FOUR

Thursday night I broke out of my creative comfort zone and signed up for a paint and sip art class with some ladies from my MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) group. It was a blast and a welcomed mommies night out. I invited along one of my old friends from high school, Kelly Clark Black. We never really ran in the same circles but became good friends through soccer where we were Co Captains (which I believe is a title that warrants capital letters being that it is super important and comes with great authority or at least I really believed that at the time- ha!). Anyways, this is what I love about old friends (wait! I mean old friendSHIPS, not friends) is that it's just really super comfortable. There's a little peace in knowing they have known you for so long and get where you are coming from. You don't have to explain you weren't coming from a place of ego because shit they knew you when you wore a tie to school every day and didn't wash hair for days at a time (or maybe you still don't). They knew the awful boyfriend you dated for too long and your freakish obsession with gangsta music (word up Kelly). You saw each other go through some really hard and sad things even if you weren't particularly close at the time and you just don't have to go back through it. It's easy. So here's to my new friends and my old friends AND to drinking while painting!

Kelly with her personal interpretation of poppy fields and my failed attempt to imitate the teacher's work. Should have gone off the beaten path. Next time...

UPDATE on P52: TWENTY ONE

So guess who just got their first pair of Keens?? My big dude, Rhett Jameson!!!!

Now if he could just walk...