A little of this, a little of that...

Can you believe I am posting again and it's only been a week?  Well, it's true.  I am taking more time to do the things that really make ME happy: blogging, couponing, I even got on Pinterest!  But back to our jog down memory lane, here's a peek at our Fall 2011.

I have already posted about my 10 year high school reunion, but just because my friends are so good looking, here's another look :)

And I had to fly directly from NOLA to visit a client, so Claire got to spend the week at Honey and Pop's house.

Lots of swimming in Honey's pool (Claire calls it Honey's poo)

Fish at the Audubon Aquarium

This face made me never want to travel for work again!

She is such a ham!

Riding on Daddy's shoulders at the State Fair

Claire really liked the petting zoo, but wasn't keen on actually petting this massive turtle

Remodeling our guest bathroom (and relieving some stress!)

 

But it was very rewarding

 

And it turned out pretty good for DIY under $1000

 But the McGlothins will not be doing any major home renovations themselves for the sake of preserving the marriage.  I hear that if a couple can survive a layoff and a home remodel, they can survive anything.  We've already done the layoff, so let's not push it.

More to come from Claire's 2nd birthday, Halloween and the rest of 2011. We hope you and your families have a wonderful Easter weekend and celebrate the risen King.

My last post was about Spring Break 2011

And it is now Spring Break 2012.  Wow.  I'm consistently drawn back to the blog, the desire to document life and share it with others.  And then I get busy living life.  I feel silly even posting a picture montage of the past year because our girls have grown so much, but just to reflect...

Father's Day 2011... Bella is just the spitting image of her father, is she not?

Taylor Swift's Speak Now Concert (I had more fun then Bella did :)

July 4th in the Smokies, as usual.

Lots of "beach" trips (aka: the sand and lake at the state park near our house)

Bella got baptized!!!  (She gave her heart to the Lord the summer before when Grammie died)

Tackling the Birmingham Zoo in 104 degree heat.

 

 We welcomed a new niece/ cousin, Lily Marie Wyatt

Claire's first day of school after Jessica left us as our nanny to stay home with baby Lily

And that pretty much sums last Summer.  Next I'll move into Fall, hopefully before next Fall...

I used to spend my Spring Breaks on the beach with wine coolers and a crop top...

I now prefer the stay-cation with my girls!  Yes, it's September and I'm just now posting about Spring Break, but bear with us.  I will get there. 


We had a great Spring Break Visit with Bella!  She was able to meet her new cousin Asher (although I can't seem to find any pictures of that?) and spend a lot of time outside since it hadn't yet reached the inferno that is Summer in the South.

But we did have to take this picture in front of our neighbor's house because we didn't have any pretty flowers.  Oh well, we do the best we can!

 

We'll keep trucking along until we get back up to the present day.  Right now we are gutting the guest bathroom and trying to get it finished before Claire's second birthday party (which is in less than a month! AHHH!).  One day, I'll be sane again.  Hopefully.

Where the heck have we been?

Well, I'm glad you asked.  Although it may not look like it due to my lack of posting, the truth is, we have been very busy here in the McGlothin Family Nest! 

Let's see, since Christmas Bella, Claire and I had dinner with her mom (Julie) and sister (Arabelle).  It was something that I never thought in a million years would ever come to fruition, but before they flew back to Hawaii in early-January, they came to our house and we shared a meal (sans Luke, he was traveling on business).  It turns out that as women and mothers, Julie and I actually have a lot in common.  And I think it was awesome for Bella to see us in the same room having a civil conversation using inside voices that is not taking place in a courtroom.  (Yes, people.  I am human and my emotions have gotten the best of me in the past.  I'm not proud of those moments, but I think we can all agree that they happen to everyone.  Everyone that is human.)

But, I made spaghetti and she brought some blue cake.  We jumped on the trampoline and worked puzzles.  There was a gingerbread house craft planned should things have been so awkward that we needed some activity alternative to speaking, but we never ended up doing it because Bella, Claire and Arabelle were having so much fun together and no police had been called due to neighbor complaints of battery taking place over at the McGlothins.  (I kid, sort of.)

All in all, it was a great way to start out the New Year!  In all the fun, this is the only picture I grabbed.

More to come...  Lots more... I have like eight months to cover before I can get back into the present day.

This is for you Ragdolls!

So I went to my 10 year high school reunion last weekend (which was a blast), and so many old friends came up to me saying how they had loved reading my blog and keeping up to date with our family.  Only I hadn't updated it in, oh just about eight months.

So here I am...  Making an effort to blog again!  I probably won't be back to every day posting any time soon (the reasons I quit blogging- crazy busy job, toddler, life, etc- are still there), but I hope to get back to the place where I love writing and taking pictures and reconnecting with old friends.

And here is a pic of my favorite girls, the Fat Kids, still friends after 14 years! 

Here comes the bride...

Our good friends Robert and Melissa got married a few weekends ago, and in the fun of seeing all my old sorority sisters, I took only two pictures.  Oh well, here they are...

Me, Emily and Laura

And all the Zetas!

Pictures from Claire's first haircut and the 13th Annual Fat Kid Christmas Party are coming soon (hopefully)! 

Thankful (for Fat Kids) on a Thursday

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that my best friends from high school in New Orleans are fondly known as the Fat Kids.  We have been getting together for an annual Christmas party for 13 years now.  (Or maybe it's 14- Casie, I know you read the blog, correct me if I'm wrong).  It usually entails a lot of food, the most wonderful slush drink that Tara makes, a dirty Santa gift exchange and a really good time.

Girls have come and gone from the party, but the seven of us have been there through it all: the trauma that can be an all-girls high school, boyfriends, bad friends, jobs, family mess.  We have stayed together despite moving away to college, getting married, having babies. 

So today, I am thankful for my trip to New Orleans to reconnect with the girls that defined my teenage years, rescued me from depression, supported me through anything, stood in my wedding, celebrated the birth of my daughter and will surely take me to the nursing home in fifty years.

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126.  The Next Generation. We have started the second generation of Fat Kids- Christine's little Laynie, Claire, and Holly's little Savvy- just born this October.  What we will do next year when Christine has a boy, I have no idea.

127. The Ornaments.  We do a dirty Santa gift exchange every year for around $40 with an ornament.  But the ornament has really become the best part.  One year, I got a Lucky Dog stand ornament and my other favorite is two flowers in a flower pot that says Best Buds.  I scored an awesome deal on my gift this year, but the ornament is still the best part. 

128. Good Food.  We bring our A-Game to the party when it comes to food.  Whether it's artichoke balls, crab dip or stuffed mushrooms, the food at these parties is always amazing.  And a tribute to why we started calling ourselves Fat Kids in the first place- we love to eat!

129. Reminiscing.  After a few cocktails, we seem to remember more than we forget.  It's such a good time to sit around the table (or we may brave the fire pit outside if there were more than a few cocktails) and just talk about after-prom parties and ringing the bell at Holy Cross after a Friday night football win.  There's talk about how much has changed, and those things that are still.the.same.  We need to start writing these down before we get old and really do start to forget!

130. My Beautiful Fat Kids.  Here we are at last year's party.  There was an awful flood that night; Claire was only eight weeks old, Holly had water coming into her house from a leak in the roof, I think Preau may have walked to Casie's from a few blocks away.  But despite it all- we were together- and this is what it's all about!

I won't be able to comment much, but you can still linky...