Christmas Present

I know some of you may be looking for a gift idea, and I have a great one that I'd love to share. This year, Brad drew my name and luckily for him, I knew exactly what I wanted. A handstamped necklace from Heartstamped.

I ordered it through Bella Bella (a shop in Laurel), but you can get it on Etsy. I think it makes a beautiful gift for Christmas, birthday, or Mother's Day. The chain is a perfect length, and I can't wait to unwrap it on Christmas!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Heartstamped?page=1

Silly

The second rainy day in south Mississippi...

they really wished it would stop so they could go outside and play.

I just found this picture again...sorry it cracks me UP!

Doctor Checkup

Lawson went for his two month checkup today. We got 5 shots; he got four, and I got a flu shot. I know..I know... what a mean mommy; I would have taken them for him. He did good on all of them, but the last one was pretty bad. The nurse said it was the worst. He doubled his birth weight, which was his 4 month goal...he weighed in @ 13.8 lbs., and he is 23 1/4 inches long. I think he's going be a powerful defensive end just like his daddy. We don't call him the milk monster for nothing!!!

Oh, Ivory Bear went for her checkup today too. She weighed in @ 96.8 lbs. I don't know her length, but I'm pretty sure she is in the 100 percentile. :)

Our Tree

I've been working on this project for a while now. It's Lawson's family tree, and I think it's a sweet idea. Basically, I painted the background of this canvas cream, brushed it with silver paint for a little shine, and then placed it on the floor. I stood over it and poured black paint on it to make an organic tree. I felt very much like Jackson Pollack. The next step was to get our families' thumb or index finger print. The last couple of weekends the canvas has attended family get-togethers for it's final touches as our members chose their paint color, stamped their print, and I wrote their name under it. I think it's pretty special. It's hanging in Lawson's bathroom now even though it's missing four prints... I guess the canvas will have to make the trip to Tupelo for Christmas.

I Hear Bells...

Well, every year my mom comes down the weekend before Thanksgiving, and we start on my Christmas decor. And this year was no exception. We got the tree and mantle finished by Saturday night. Everything was a little slower this year... you know when you throw a baby in the mix and a last minute trip to Hattiesburg! Mom really helped a lot with Lawson so I could get creating and complaining that "nothing" looked right. I think my favorite thing this year is my mantle...it looks much better in person. I really need to read the directions about my camera..I can't figure out the lighting.
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I got the front door finished this morning. Last year, I did the front porch windows too. I want to do them again, but last year, I used metal brackets with heavy-duty double sided tape...every few days the left window would fall on one side which would leave me angry. Shad won't let me drill into the brick (I can't blame him) and so I'm waiting on the "engineer" to come home BEFORE I make the window pieces. If you have ANY suggestions let me know on how to hang them without blocking the view from inside the window!!!

I still lack table arrangements, but that's for another day! My little helper and I are tired....

The Fam. i.ly

We've had a couple of Schipke weekends here lately, and it's been fun with all the new babies together.

Shauna and William hosted their annual "Hutton/Schipke BBQ" a few weekends ago. There are three new members added from last year's picture (Miss February, Miss May, and Mr. September.) Last year, while taking the Hutton/Schipke photo, Shauna and William announced that they were pregnant with Miss May...Cait. It was a great way to capture all our faces of excitement. The invitation this year had the announcement group photo on it. It was great to think back to that special day when we all learned about baby Cait. So while taking the big group photo we were all curious what the announcement would be... :)... William informed us that their wasn't announcement.

This past weekend was our first weekend in Tupelo since Lawson's arrival. We had a very special weekend for Miss February...Audrey, and Ava. On Sunday, Audrey was baptized. It was very sweet and she did so well. Check out our little three pounder below... she is so big and we are so glad!

On Sunday, we also celebrated Princess Ava's third birthday with a princess party. She has gotten so big and is so smart. We know she is going to teach her little sister and cousins so many GOOD things.

I had to show her birthday outfit that Shauna and I gave her. She looks so beautiful! We have had such a great time being with our fam.i.ly the past two weekends.

Sloth is done

Finally, D-O-N-E! I like it...it's bold, but that's me.

YAY! CHRISTmas and sparkle is near!

Nine day hunting trip is really close. I know this because...#1 Camo is everywhere, #2 the UPS guy keeps showing up with boxes that I didn't order, #3 I'm getting asked, "Love, what all do you want me to do," and #4 my Christmas deco was brought downstairs. So Friday, while Shad is flying away...everything will turn into a sparkling winter wonderland... the outside, the mantle, table arrangements, and the tree!

A Dog's Life

Warning: Pictures are made with our cellphones...5 mega pixels just doesn't cut it anymore.

Our dogs are privileged...if Blue and Ivory could talk they would tell you this too. Since Lawson's arrival, the only major change is that Blue doesn't sleep with us anymore. Partly because I sleep in the guest room...I'm slowing getting Lawson use to laying FLAT in his crib (he has done great THREE night in a row!) Every night Lawson gets up between 2-3:00 am and this is what I see...

This is their "new" room. Together these little doggies weigh over 200 pounds...I honestly don't think anyone in their right mind would bother baby Lawson, because they would have a HUGE problem on their hands. I just laugh when I think of Lawson toddling around the house and how protective they will be. Blue already HATES when Shad hugs me...and heaven forgive if I scream! Don't tell Blue, but sometimes I scream just to watch him bark with his chest high and butt low and watch him push Shad out of the way...it's really funny, as long as your not Shad; in that case it's more dangerous! So I can only imagine that Lawson will be one protected little boy. A man told us one time at Petsmart that his American Bulldog was so protected of his child that the man couldn't spank or act like he was going to spank his child because the dog would not allow it.

This next picture is at 6:00 am on Friday. The time and day is very important to these two...why you may ask! Because it's their favorite day and time of the week! Garbage day...which mean: fiercely attack the window, barking their heads off, running around the house. The crazy thing is that you can barely see the road from the house- so I can't imagine how bad this would be if they could actually SEE the men and garbage truck. I hate that they pick our garbage up SOOOOO EARLY!

Just a BOOtiful Weekend

Happy Halloween! I love Halloween, and I loved this beautiful weekend! Did you see my sweet little giraffe? He was the cutest thing! Well, Saturday I made cookies for Halloween; it is my favorite cookie recipe...they are WONDERFUL. I made them for our trick-AH-treaties, but sadly, we didn't have any! HA, oh well! If you know where we live, you'd know that it would be amazing to have any Halloween guest. That just means more cookies for us and for Shad's coworkers!

Here is the best recipe EVER!
Sugar Cookies:
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Royal Icing Using Egg Whites:
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups confectioners sugar

For Sugar Cookies: In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside, In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough.Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove one half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch.Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking. Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes (depending on size) or until they are brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Frost with royal icing, if desired. Be sure to let the royal icing dry completely before storing. (This may take several hours.)

For Royal Icing with Egg Whites: In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the egg whites with the lemon juice. Add the powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth. The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use. I used the color gels from Wilton that you can get from Wal-Mart or Hobby Lobby to color the icing. Just a small little dab with a toothpick will color it plenty.