C is for Christmas Cookie

Thanks to everyone who participated in the 3rd annual Christmas Cookie Swap Party at our home this past Sunday! We had a fun group of old and new friends... and an incredible amount of delicious (and beautiful) cookies! YUM!
Congratulations to Brittany (a first-time swapper!) for her win for the "most festive Christmas cookie display" ... and to the Alcazars who won a prize for creating a very unique cookie display... a Christmas tree cookie farm!

Christmas is here.... well, almost!

It's official. Well, almost! The Christmas decorations are up, the tree is decorated, and we are ready for the holiday season!

Christmas at CPES

Jaiden's kindergarten class had their Christmas program last night in the cafeteria of their school. Parents and family members were everywhere... there was standing/sitting-on-the-floor room only! Aside from some soreness from the awkward seating, the program was fun -- and funny! Most of the kids didn't really sing as much as they yelled the words! Jaiden and her classmates did a great job! Of course, we couldn't hear her sing from where we were sitting/ standing.... so she could have very well been only mouthing the words to the songs!

Turkey Claus?

Jaiden had a "family holiday homework" project to work on last week -- we were given a paper drawing of turkey parts (head, legs, wings, etc.) and were instructed to "hide" the turkey so he/she wouldn't get eaten for Thanksgiving. Some suggestions to "hide" the turkey were to disguise him/her as another animal, as a cartoon character or even as an inanimate object like a soccer ball, tree, etc.
Jaiden wanted, at first, to create a fairy princess turkey.... but another girl in her class created that one! *whew! So then we got excited about the idea of a snowman turkey. But another kid showed up at school with his turkey disguised that way. So... we convinced Jaiden that it would be cool to go along with Sean's original idea of a turkey disguised as Santa Claus.
(I mean, who in his right mind would eat jolly ole' St. Nick for Thanksgiving, right?!?)

Well, we worked on it all evening.... sewing a Santa costume, cutting out Santa boots and belt and buckles, and even making our turkey a sack of Christmas presents. It turned out pretty darn cute!

Hopefully Jaiden's "Turkey Claus" will be safe this holiday season!

Halloween Tricks and Treats

We live in a neighborhood full of kids. In fact, on one of the streets, every house has kids. So, we expected more than a handful of trick-or-treaters to stop by for candy. Sadly.... our Halloween House spooked very few folks last night. In fact, besides us, probably only 12 other people saw it! The weird thing is, when Jaiden, Sean and I went trick-or-treating, we saw 100's of kids and parents wandering about the streets! I guess our unfinished little cul-de-sac was too dark and sinister to attract much Halloween activity!

At least WE had fun with it! Sean did all the decorations... and I mean all the decorations. I put up the cute little ghosties around the door, and he did all the rest. Jaiden thought it was pretty spooky, and since she was a beautiful princess, she was the only thing that didn't fit in with the ghoolish decor! Me, as a mummy, and Sean as a mummy... or whatever... fit the part, maybe too well!

Birthday trip to New Orleans

So... Sean and I took a short trip to New Orleans for his birthday -- in July (yeah, this post is a bit late!)... and we have come to the unanimous decision that we will never go back. Never. Not even if our room at a really nice hotel is free... like it was this time!

Ok, the food was great. I must admit. We had a blast munching on "French donuts" at Cafe Du Monde and scarfing down BBQ shrimp and key lime pie. Yummy! Some of the shopping was fun, too. But other than that and a few interesting old buildings and architecture, New Orleans is kind of YUCK! Even the aquarium was a bit sad -- and WAY too crowded. It amazes me how many families were there -- in New Orleans! We also spent maybe a grand total of 11 minutes in the casino. That was crowded (and smoky) too.

Oh.... we did also see STYX. How random is that! We stumbled upon their free concert on our way back to the hotel one night! We also stumbled upon many a stumbling person that night. Scary!

First day of BIG SCHOOL!

Jaiden officially became a "big girl" yesterday with the start of Kindergarten (AKA "big school")!
She picked out a new outfit to wear -- green and pink pants and a matching white shirt with green and pink turtles and hearts -- and used her new polka-dot bookbag.... ah, I mean messenger bag. (She's not too keen on how to carry it though, so we'll likely get out the Dora backpack so it's a bit easier for her!)
She loves her classroom and her teacher, and she's met some new friends.. but she says, "I can't remember all my new friends' names."
She's memorizing her car pool number and remembering to check the blue folder with me every night. So.... so far, so good!
The funniest thing is, when we got home yesterday, she asked: "Do I get to go to the big school all the time?"
Ah.... yes.... little does she know that this is just the beginning...

Happy #5, J!

My baby girl just turned 5... and we had a fun-tabulous SpongeBob SquarePants birthday party at Pump It Up this past Saturday with family and friends.

All of us -- adults included -- enjoyed the "big slide"... although many ended up with some nice "burns" on exposed knees and elbows. (I guess the kids know the secret to having fun, unscathed!)

After the party, Sean and I took Jaiden to Build-a-Bear, where she created "Ballerina," her fuzzy pink bear who wears Hello Kitty clothes. We even stopped for ice cream on the way home.... we were worn out from all the fun!

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY, JAIDEN!

Graduation... from pre-school

Is it just me, or are kids graduating way more often than they used to?!? (I remember graduating from high school. But not from junior high, or kindergarten, or pre-school, for that matter!)
At any rate, this Friday is Jaiden's graduation from pre-school.... how cute! They have been practicing the "graduation song," and they will "walk." (I wonder if they'll get diplomas?!)
It is a big milestone, since Jaiden and some of her friends will be starting kingergarten in the fall. She is very excited about "big school."
So, congratulations, daughter, on your pre-school graduation!

Pirates of the... Birmingham area...?

With the much-anticipated third installment of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean slotted to hit movie theaters this month, I thought it would be appropriate to include a photo of Sean and me in the Caribbean, dressed like pirates (well, sort of!) ... at a Pirates IN the Caribbean party (from our honeymoon cruise)! What a blast!

Honeymoon highlights

So... I just realized that I never kept my promise to put up a post with some details and photos from our honeymoon!
Until now!
Sean and I had the most unbelievably AMAZING time! We embarked on a cruise to the Western Caribbean ... on the Disney Magic. And it was magic!

To name just a few of the fun things we did ... we ate delectable food all week, swam with stingrays, rode dune buggies in Cozumel, enjoyed sunsets from the ship, watched fireworks (on the boat), attended magic shows and musicals, had a "Pirates of the Caribbean" party... in the Caribbean, snorkeled at Castaway Cay and got stung by sea urchins! (Ouch! Ok. So that one wasn't particularly fun!)

Sean and I agree that neither of us has ever had such a wonderful vacation... In fact, as soon as we got home, we started planning another Disney Cruise!
Yeah. We're dreaming about it, anyway!
The fact is, crusing becomes addictive. You don't have to think; you don't have to drive anywhere; you don't have to debate about where to eat. It's pure bliss and relaxation! You can do as much or as little as you want to do....
And what FUN!

So cute, I can BEARly stand it!

Once again a post on our blog has been reduced to the utter cuteness of a baby animal. This time it's a baby polar bear... from Germany... named Knut! Oh, he's just waaayyyy too cute!

We did get married... right?

Ok. So, while it's been nearly 3 months since the wedding, Sean and I keep joking about how surreal it was... especially since we have yet to see the wedding video!
Yeah, obviously the wedding pictures are done... (as you can see from this and previous posts) but for some reason, we think that the reality will sink in when we can actually watch the event take place!
Sure, we lived the moments first hand, but the memories are mixed with a haze of emotions, planning and queasiness... ha-ha!
Simply put, the whole ordeal was so magical and so wonderful, that we just can't wait to relive it again!

Welcome, ROWDY!

Sean and I drove to Georgia this weekend to pick up a new member of the family: Rowdy! He is a little 4-year-old Schnauzer-Yorkie mix... with ears that are a major cuteness factor.

So far we are all adjusting to life together, but Rowdy sure is a sweet boy. He is very well mannered and snuggly. He rides well in the car, plays with other family dogs, sleeps all night and draws lots of attention at PetsMart... but he doesn't seem to know much about obedience! We'll have to work on all those basics... like come, sit, lay down, stay, etc. The only thing he does do on command is "sing." Whenever we howl, he howls right along with us!

Battling the Evil Emperor ZURG

Ah, yes. It's amazing how INTENSE Sean and I were as we fearlessly battled ZURG (Buzz Lightyear's arch nemesis) at Disneyland's Astro Blasters....
After last week's Golf Industry Trade Show (GIS) in Anaheim, California, Sean and I hopped over to Disneyland (and California Adventure) -- which were literally across the street -- for some once-in-a-lifetime fun! (We aren't on that side of the country too often, ya know!)
And here we are. Very... VERY focused on shooting those silly "Z" targets (located on the various alien life forms and alien weapons) to get mega points! And, if you look at our scores, this is the ONLY time I have ever ended up with more points!

Tune in for more random posts on our wedding, honeymoon and Disneyland trip!

Just the 3 of us...

This photo speaks for itself... but here is our new happy "family!"

Our Wedding PARTY!

...and so continues the flurry of posts about our wedding! (These will not be in any order... In fact, I'll probably have to go back and put in some details about the planning, the rehearsal, etc., etc.) But for now, we finally have the "official" wedding photos, and here is our wonderful wedding party! We had such a great time -- and I could not have done it without them!

Pictured, left to right: Toni Marie, Kelly, Stacie, Stephanie, Corinne, Fran, Jaiden, ME, Sean, Justin, Mr. Alcazar, Peter, Lucas, Robert.

Look for more photos, details, stories and more!

This takes the cake!

Still no pictures of the wedding yet (can you tell I'm impatient), so I figured I'd just post this photo of our wedding cake. We actually were still munching on the last few slices of this delicious, French-almond cake with buttercream icing a few days ago! (Not the "anniversary" tier, of course!) YUMMY!

I don't even like cake all that much, but Barb's cakes are FANTASTIC! And what a great job she did on the design we came up with! Notice the "A" in the design on the bottom tier, the sugared "ribbons" and the dainty flower box on top -- made completely of sugar!

March of the Penguins... uh, Groomsmen!

Well, we don't have any "official" photos from the wedding just yet, but I thought I'd at least update the blog with this shot of the guys. (Thanks, Justin and Emily for the picture!)

Don't they look great!?!? But don't be fooled: Sean may look a bit height-challenged in this shot, but that's only because the rest of the gang is so dang tall! :)

From left to right: Justin, Peter, SEAN, Robert and Lucas. (The missing link: Sean's dad, who was the best man!)