Wednesday, July 31, 2013

1.2.3.4

I woke up this morning to rain (my favorite) but low and behold the clouds parted, the sun came out and the pool welcomed me back with open arms. It was wonderful. A few other things for you today....
The salvia that I planted this spring is huge!! I honestly didn't think it could get this big. This big bunch here is the result of a tiny little 6 pack of flowers. It's looks like this all the way down my sidewalk and it's so beautiful! I've had so many people compliment it. I stare at it outside of my front door all the time! I'm enjoying it so much!
Here's a random picture of me and my husband on our way to church on Sunday. After church we ate lunch at Crepes Paulette then came home and napped. I love lazy Sundays!
This is my new favorite thing to "cook" for dinner. I've been going to Fresh Market and picking up their ultimate crab cake (Scott and I split it) a jalapeno and crab hush puppy and panko stuffed shrimp. Plus my yummy spinach salad with my homemade dressing. YUM-O it's good folks. If you aren't in the mood to cook you should pick this up for dinner one night. It's delish!
I got my hair cut yesterday! It always feels so good when I get a nice trim. I always cut off about 2 inches and while it looks a lot shorter to me, Scott can't ever tell I did anything. Figures.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Float Trip

I had such a fun weekend. Scott and I, plus some of our neighbor friends, floated the Elk River on Saturday and it was so. much. fun.
We got there around 10:30 and it took us about 5 or 6 hours to get all the way down. We slowly cruised the water and took a few stops along the way to snack on the food we brought in our cooler and people watch. There are all sorts of characters on the Elk let me tell ya.
All of us girls sat at the front and held onto each others canoes so we could all be connected together. I knew we would have a great time but it was even more fun than I imagined and I was really sad when it came to an end. I'm trying to talk everyone into doing it one more time this summer and everyone agreed that we should! I hope we get a chance to!!
I was happy to be in the sun on Saturday because it's rained here basically every day for the last week and a half. I haven't been able to go to the pool in so long and it's really bumming me out! Although I am grateful for the rain because we definitely needed it but I can't let the end of summer get rained out like this! I've totally recruited some of the stay at home moms in the neighborhood to hang with me at the pool through September. The pool is open until the temps outside are freezing but once school starts nobody seems to go anymore. It's so hot in September so it's totally unnecessary for us to bid farewell to the pool until at least October 1st. I'm glad I've got some of the ladies on board with me! Have I mentioned before how much I like my neighborhood pool? And neighbors? I know I say it all the time but we totally hit the jackpot with the best neighborhood ever. I can't imagine not living in Hyde Park!! I love it here so much.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Fayettechill

Yesterday I picked up Jaclyn and we drove to Fayetteville to have lunch and shop around our favorite local boutiques. Fayetteville just got a Taziki's so we went there and it was delish. I love Taziki's and eat there fairly often when I go to Little Rock. They're putting one in Bentonville soon and that makes me very happy. I usually always get a gyro or salad when I eat there but I ventured off and tried the Beef Tenderloin sandwich and it was one of the most delicious sandwiches I've ever had in my life.
I wish I could eat it for lunch again today. Y-U-M.
After lunch Jaclyn and I did a little shopping. I somehow managed to walk away from some amazing pieces that were on sale for an insane price at one of my favorite boutiques. I'm regretting it today. I may have to go back this weekend to get them and I'm crossing my fingers they'll still be there!!
We popped in Mae's and I saw so many unique items and could have bought a dozen things but I settled upon this little beauty because I know I will get so much use out of it.
Yesterday was such a fun day! I love Fayetteville.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Last Weekend...

With all of the royal baby news to report on yesterday I didn't get to blog about my weekend and I want to because it was a good one! On Friday night I went to Emerson's house to play!!! We had a great time and she's still such a good baby. Jaclyn and Brad are so lucky!! I hogged her for most of the evening. What can I say? I'm in love with this little one!!!
On Saturday Scott and I ate lunch at the new Slim Chicken's location in Rogers. I'm so glad they moved because Slim's is one of my favorites but I've probably eaten there 5 times since I've moved to Rogers/Bentonville from Fayetteville. It was in a location that I was never around and it never occurred to me to eat there. It's really good (and probably bad) for me that it's in a spot that I'm around all of the time now!
After my chicks plate, Scott and I put on our swimsuits and met up with our neighbors at the pool. Midway through the day, Nikki and I decided to go to the store and grab some steaks for us to all grill together for dinner. While everyone else stayed at the pool to hang out, I retreated to my house to watch Miss Arkansas online. It's fair to say I was beyond delighted with the results! The new Miss Arkansas is a friend of mine and you know what I do when my friends win Miss Arkansas......I go to Miss America to cheer them on!! Atlantic City here I come!!!
Ivy and Madison got their hair cut today and don't they look so cute!! While they were at the beauty shop I was at home glued to the news watching all things royal baby. I was determined to see them walk out with the new little prince (live) and I sat on the sofa for an entire hour thinking "any minute now!!!" I wouldn't even go to the bathroom because I was afraid I would miss it. They finally emerged and if a camera had been on me it would have showed a huge grin across my face the entire time. I just love the royals. However, I'm glad I can go on with my life now. I've spent the last two days majorly invested in this baby and while I'm glad I got to see history in the making, I'm a little exhausted by it!

Monday, July 22, 2013

Royal Baby Watch

I woke up unusually early this morning and gasped with excitement when I turned on the television and saw that Kate was in labor!! I cannot lie to you, I've stayed home all day on royal baby watch. However, by 1:30 I got tired of being glued to the news so I changed the channel and OF COURSE just 45 minutes later they finally made the announcement that William and Kate had a boy!! I was super surprised. I just knew it was going to be a girl.....I was hoping for a girl. However, if I were Kate I would probably have wanted a boy so my daughter wouldn't have to have that pressure of being the Queen one day.
It's been fun watching Kate these last few months. I'm such a sucker for all things Royal Family. I woke up early to watch the wedding and love reading articles about the royals! This was my favorite maternity outfit Kate wore with the leopard dress coming in at a close second!
Now I'm on pins and needles to see what they've chosen for his name! Everyone kept saying Diana if it was a girl but nobody has mentioned Spencer for a boy to honor Williams mother. I think Spencer would be a great choice! We shall see!!!!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

My Little Ivy

Today's post (my 1,000th to be exact!!) is dedicated to my sweet little Ivy. Ivy is such a different kind of dog. I've never known one like her before. She is such a sweetie but super quirky. If Ivy was a human she would be really outgoing but a little insecure. Ivy is really smart, super sweet and major outdoorsy. She's so brave, yet shy. She wants to love but doesn't know how to. She is so unique and very human like. If she were a human she would totally have her therapist on speed dial!! And I know this is crazy but I feel like if she could read that last sentence she would be totally embarrassed and ask me not to share that kind of information with everyone.
Ivy is so sweet and gentle. She doesn't make a lot of racket. Ivy is perfectly happy laying around and just hanging out. However, Ivy is always getting into everything she's not supposed to and she's a total klepto. She's been known to get into purses and steal gift cards, iPhones, reading glasses, check books.....you name it and she's taken it. But only the expensive things. It's kind of interesting....
What's even more interesting is Ivy takes the stolen items and hides them in her house!!! No lie. This is "Ivy's House." Yes it's a Christmas house but she loves it SO MUCH and I couldn't take it away from her so it stays up year round and will unless she doesn't like to get in it anymore. I don't ever see that happening. She loves to take naps in her house and hide in her house and hang out in her house....and she always looks super cute while doing it!
One of Ivy's quirks is that she brings this bone to bed every night. Every. Single. Night. Yes, it's always this particular bone. I swear she's had it a year and has never chewed it. She just brings it to bed with her and lays on top of it. It cracks me up!
I've always talked about how much Ivy loves her bones. She's such a brat and will take Madison's bone, lay on top of it, then chew hers. Madison just barks and barks at her (of course) but Ivy doesn't care. Sometimes Little Miss Klepto steals Madison's right out from under her and prances around with both bones in her mouth. Don't mess with Ivy and her bones. She's serious about them.
I used to let the girls have free reign of the house but since I can't trust Ivy as far as chewing goes, I've set up a little space in the laundry room/garage entry and prop up a baby gate when I leave. I put their bed in their space when I leave and Ivy ALWAYS claims that spot. ALWAYS. Since I've been putting them up I (obviously) haven't had anymore bad behavior incidents. I honestly think Ivy likes being blocked off. I think it makes her feel secure. She can totally jump the baby gate if she wants to because I've seen her do it but she never does when I leave her home alone. The vet thinks she has separation anxiety but the trainer that I've met with doesn't think she does since she doesn't freak out right away. She said dogs who have true separation anxiety start behaving badly immediately after the owner leaves. I don't know what to think about Ivy now!! All I know is that the baby gate keeps her from doing bad things and since Ivy and Madison don't seem to mind being blocked off, I'm just going to keep doing it.
I have to say, my favorite thing about my sweet little Ivy is that she loves her Momma SO MUCH. She follows me everywhere I go never letting me out of her sight. I call her my little Ivy because she's so thin! She's "that" girl who is tall and skinny and doesn't like how food tastes. I (occasionally) give her table scraps and she won't eat them. It's so crazy to me that a dog won't eat human food but Ivy refuses it. She thinks it's gross and spits it out. (Of course Madison eats it for her)
I love my pretty little Ivy. That's what I call her all the time. Pretty Little Ivy!! She's so funny and quirky and sweet and cuddly. She is so special to me and I love that she's a Momma's girl. I wish all of you who read my blog could meet my sweet Ivy and Madison! You would love them!!! :)

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

My Madison

Today's post is dedicated to my crazy Madison. I'll do one on Ivy tomorrow. I like to look back from time to time and read what they're up to and see how they've changed so this is pretty much for me but hopefully you'll enjoy it as well!
Crazy Madison, where do I begin? Madison is such a sweetheart. Right when we wake up and I flip on the TV, Madison hops on me and lays her neck on my face because she likes for me to kiss it! It's so funny and she does it every morning. It's our little thing. At night Madison is usually cuddled up with Scott. She likes to burrow herself under our comforter when she sleeps but occasionally I'll wake up in the middle of the night and find her on Scott's pillow. In the morning she switches and gets on my pillow.
Madison constantly walks around with a toy in her mouth. It may look cute for a little bit but after a while it gets super annoying!!! She'll will literally hold a toy in her mouth for 45 minutes without putting it down once. She even falls asleep with them in her mouth sometimes. I don't understand why she always has to have one but she does. Madison LOVES toys.

Madison loves to play fetch. She'll walk up to you, set a toy down then bark at you until you throw it. It drives me crazy and she is relentless!!!!!!! I hate to say it but Madison is a barker. She has a voice and loves to use it. Sometimes it's nice when she communicates with it because it helps me know what she wants but for the most part it's super annoying. Usually I can just say "enough!!!!!" and she'll stop. I wish she didn't like to talk so much.
Madison always lets Ivy eat first and I think it's so sweet. She'll just sit there in the morning and patiently wait until Ivy is finished. Watch out if you're giving them a treat though because Madison will literally knock Ivy out of the way to try to get them both! Whenever the food or water bowl is empty Madison will take both paws and claw at it like she's digging to China going ninety to nothing. It's really funny and very nice because sometimes I'm not paying attention to their food/water bowl and I like that she lets me know when she's hungry or thirsty! (For the record I don't let their water bowl get empty very often but sometimes they're playing hard and go through it really fast....I don't let my dogs go thirsty I promise!!)
Madison is such a sweetie! She's so loving and gives away so many kisses. Madison is a really good girl and you can tell she is always happy and loves life! She's such a tough dog but a major scaredy cat. It's weird because it's totally opposite of her outgoing personality but she is such a wimp when it comes to some things!!! She's a mess that's for sure but I love this little munchkin so much!!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

TV Trash Talk

This is what my mornings almost always look like. A warm cappuccino in hand while watching Good Morning America and the host chat of Kelly and Michael. It's one of my favorite parts of my day!
It's been a gloomy day and I'm thankful for it! We needed some rain. I've spent the day running a few errands and now I'm just sitting here waiting for my husband to come home. As you can tell, nothing too exciting going on here.
Except, well....I am ridiculously excited about the Gulianna and Bill premiere tonight. It's kind of stupid how excited I am about it. I'm also obsessed with Big Brother this year. I mean, I always am but this is a good season. My favorites are Elissa, Helen and especially Amanda. Howard is pretty cool too. Aaryn and GinaMarie have got to go. I am truly blown away by those two especially Aaryn. Pretty mean girls are the worst!!! I know this sounds mean but I'm really curious to see what she thinks about life once she gets out of the Big Brother house and what she's going to do to try to save herself. Do you think if she leaves the house before going to jury that the audience will boo her when she walks out of the door? Will Julie tell her she's been fired? Also, I'm SO SO confused that GinaMarie is a (former, unbeknownst to her) pageant coordinator. She's not like anyone I know in the pageant world....quite the opposite really. And she says yous all the time and it drives me cray!!! Ugh. She's gross.
That's about all of the Big Brother trash talk I've got for today. Any of you want to share your Big Brother thoughts with me? No need to worry about spoilers here. I've already looked up who got MVP, who was put up on the block and who won the veto. Normally I don't like to know that in advance but I can't seem to help myself this year!!!!
I got the girls this frisbee when I was in Little Rock and they're obsessed. It's their new favorite toy. Makes me so proud.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Sweet Warm Fuzzies

Life is back to normal for Aunt Kara. Landon went home yesterday. We had a good time! My Mom came up on Thursday night. We spent most of Saturday and Sunday at the pool and Landon played with a lot of the neighborhood kiddos. One little boy his age even came over on Saturday night to play Pokemon. While they were doing that Mom, Scott and I made a shrimp boil.
It was really good! We were a little unconventional and had lots of different vegetables instead of corn and potatoes and I liked it.
I learned one thing about my home last week. It's not kid friendly at all. My new (cream) dining room chairs got chocolate milk spilled all over them one night and my glass coffee table consistently had smudge prints on it. I asked Landon to eat his snack at the bar one night and I turned around to see that he was sitting in the bar stool but had pulled it super far out so he could get a better view of the television.
That's not really eating at the bar buddy!! I'm totally going to struggle with the mess one day. I'm way too OCD. I watched Landon pour his own syrup on his pancakes for breakfast one morning and it wasn't a clean pour. Syrup was all over the cap and a little even slid down Mrs. Butterworths face. I cringe just thinking about it. 
However, my OCD seems to be pushed aside when I look at his sweet little face! Watching him grin really big when Kevin McAlister is reunited with his mother in Home Alone or listening to his cute little laugh when something is funny gives me the biggest warm fuzzies!! Nothing was cuter last week then when Scott said "Oh Kara, FYI the air conditioner people are coming tomorrow" to which Landon replied by proudly saying "I know what FYI means, it means just so you know!" 
He's a mess! I love my little nephew so much and I'm glad we've started the tradition of him staying for a week with me every summer!!
Gracie also went back home yesterday and Ivy and Madison were really bummed about it. They asked me if they could go to Gamma's house with Landon and Grace but I would miss my sweet little babies too much so I had to say no. I love my little girls!!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Red Peppers

Happy Hump Day! I'm pretty sure that today is up there in the "laziest day ever" category. I haven't left the house once today. That doesn't necessarily mean I wasn't busy doing stuff but it was kinda awkward when my parents asked me if it was really hot up here today and I couldn't give them an answer because I literally haven't stepped outside of my house.
Landon LOVES staying home. My family always talks about how hard it is to get him out of the house. He's just a homebody and always has been. We've had a Harry Potter marathon today and I won't try to pretend like I didn't like it. Around 3:00 I decided I should probably hop in the shower and change from my pajamas to my favorite sweat pants and t-shirt and I encouraged Landon to do the same.
Tonight I made a delicious dinner!! Landon is not picky and blows me away with how well he eats but there are a few things that are apparently disgusting and red peppers is one of them. My dish had red peppers in it and that didn't go over too well. He left the table to do this in protest.
Since the beginning days of mine and Scott's relationship we've always said that we won't make different meals for our kids. They'll eat what we eat and if they don't like it....sorry! Tonight totally tested our plan and it was SO HARD to stick to it but we did. I felt really bad that he didn't like dinner and I wanted to make him something that he would think was so yummy but I just couldn't allow myself to cook a different meal for him. Landon loves salad (which we had with our meal) so I gave him extra and that's what his dinner consisted of. He was "so starving" and his "stomach was about to growl" but oh well!! Scott and I will be such mean parents when it comes to food.
I told these two that Grace and Gamma are coming up tomorrow and they won't stop looking at the garage door. I love these little girls SO MUCH!! They've been extra adorable today. :)

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Life With An 8 Year Old

Yesterday Landon and I stayed at home all day and sporadically went to the pool to hang out. It was all good with me but I needed to get out and moving today. I really wanted to take him to Crystal Bridges so we took off in that direction today but apparently they're closed on Tuesday. I decided to entertain him with the downtown Bentonville area instead!
I took him to the Walton five and dime first. I thought he would be bored but he actually really enjoyed it! Not necessarily the museum part but the old toys....Landon thought those were really cool.
After we toured the museum we went to the Walmart Cafe. It's an old diner where you can get malts and watch old movies and feel like you're living in the 50's. It's so super cute! Landon got a "delicious" vanilla milkshake with whipped cream and a cherry on top. It cost $4.95 and he probably had 6 sips of it which is fine but like, what a total waste.
After we explored downtown Bentonville we came home and watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Landon is SOOOOO into Harry Potter. I take all of the credit for that. He LOVES it and I'm always up for watching HP so it works out perfectly. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 came on HBO this morning at 10:00 and we totally laid in my bed (in our PJ's) and watched the whole thing before getting up and moving around. He loved his lazy morning and I did too!!
Life with an 8 year old is easy. Landon stayed with me for a week last summer and it was TOTALLY different. Now he does his own thing and doesn't need me for anything at all. He's been glued to my iPad and downloads free games and plays with it every hour of every minute that we're at home. It's kind of (really) nice but also annoying. How can games be that entertaining? I'm glad he's enjoyed the games and it really has made my life easy breezy but I think it's time for the iPad battery to die. It's getting to be too much!!!
Although it's hard to say no to this little guy!! Landon got on ebay tonight and tried to convince Scott and I to buy these Pokemon things that were "such a good deal it's crazy." Scott took me around the corner and looked like a (whispering) football coach while expressing that we needed to stand our ground and say no, no matter how convincing he is. Not that I would ever even consider spending money on Pokemon anyway because 1.) what is Pokemon? and 2.) Seriously, what's Pokemon?
It's pretty funny because Scott thinks he's going to be the tough parent but our kids are TOTALLY going to have him wrapped around their pinky fingers. WAPAH!! (if you aren't a Friends fan you totally won't get that)

Monday, July 8, 2013

Kyle + Jennifer

As some of you may know, my brother got married on Saturday! The wedding was really, really nice and everyone had a great time!!
Scott and I on our way to the wedding....
Landon was the best man and he loved having that title! He stood up there like such a big boy and gave the sweetest speech at the reception!! He also had SO MUCH FUN dancing. There were many a times where everyone formed a circle around him chanting "Go Landon, Go Landon..." and he loved it.
The venue was so, so pretty. It's a loft in downtown Little Rock and the most amazing background for any type of special event. You walk into a door from the street and up a lot of stairs then come to a small little landing. If you take a left you walk up a couple of steps to find this room which is where the ceremony took place.
If you take a right you walk up a few steps and into this room which is where they had the reception. It's seriously one of the coolest wedding venue's I've ever been in.

Now for a few party pics!




I feel really bad because this post is dedicated to my brothers wedding and I somehow managed to not get a single picture of the bride or groom the whole night!!!!!! I guess I was too busy dancing. Maybe I can post a few photos once they get them back from the photographer!
Speaking of the bride and groom, they're spending the week in Jamaica at the same resort Scott and I went to in January! While they're on their honeymoon, Landon is in NWA with me! We have a lot of fun stuff planned for the week. Landon wants to spend all afternoon at the pool today. Works for me!

Friday, July 5, 2013

2nd Annual Firecracker Fourth

We celebrated Independence Day with my neighbors at our 2nd Annual Firecracker Fourth. I spent all day Wednesday getting prepped for it and even went for a late night swim with some of my favorite neighbors at 2 AM once the decorations were up! Ha!! It was a fun day.
Yesterday was great!!! We had a huge turnout and I think everyone had a great time.
We grilled hotdogs and everyone brought a side to go with them. Yummy!!
Me and Nikki aka Firecracker Fourth Party Planners!!!
 Landon, ScoJo (everyone in HP calls Scott ScoJo) and Levi
 Me and Landry, my favorite 10 year old.
 Showing my American pride by adding flags to my front porch this year!!
Would anybody like a hotdog? We have 100 of them.
Because you can't have a party without a few pretty flowers!!!
The master griller!
Where the big 4th of July party took place! (Stole this photo from Nikki's facebook)

Best. Neighborhood. Ever.
Already looking forward to next year!