We woke up the other morning to find him fixing his toys. I think we need to buy him larger goggles...

NYC to AZ

A trip home is always necessary during winter. However this one was a "spur of the moment, lets leave tomorrow and surprise everyone" type of trip. Danny had been trying to persuade me for weeks to go but I kept telling him no {for good reasons} but on a Tuesday he finally convinced me and we left Wednesday afternoon. We stayed for a long weekend and managed to do alot! Merrick was in heaven, as always, with his cousins and grammy. Papa let him and Jackson and Avery ride horses. He kept saying he was a cowboy....until Brittney pulled out a BB gun and he had to have one of those in order to be a real cowboy! Grandpa R pretty much lets Merrick do whatever he wants while we are there. He spoils him with golfcart rides and racing games all day long. He seriously looks forward to them each time we go. We also spent lots of time with Addie. As you can see, they get along great!

                                                                         {Papa and Grammy's}

 

                                                              {Grandma and Grandpa}

First stop...mexican food!

Just livin' it up at the ballpit.

Past Projects

Whenever I start a new project I have high hopes of posting it on my blog but something always happens and I either dont like the finished product or I completely forget about it. So..here are some of the things that have been occuping my time.

This little man of mine got some new ties and bowties a couple months ago. I went through all of Danny's old ties and picked out some that I liked. I found tuorials online that required no sewing....because I do not have any space for a sewing machine as much as i WANT one!

Ok..these did require sewing. My mom helped me sew the fabric {thanks Wendy!} last time we were in AZ. I love how they turned out and they were perfect for Fall.

My sister and I made matching dresses! My mom used to dress us alike when we were little...why not now?! So we stayed up way too late one night cutting, pinning and sewing in her craft room. I don't have any close up pictures but you can see how it turned out. Its probably the most comfortable dress I own.

This was our first Christmas of staying in New York and our tree was pretty bare of ornaments. So one night on Pinterest I saw these and ended up making them right then. It took me about an hour to make all three and i love them!

Painting this dresser took way longer than I planned. I spent three days working on it. Our bedroom was off limits to Merrick per our last episode with paint...that was fun. Anyways, this project had been on my to-do list since the day we moved in and I am happy that it is finally done!! Now that it is white, it makes the room seem so much bigger.

And last, I caught the coffee filter fever! When I saw a friend had made this wreath I ran to the store to pick up a wreath form and coffee filters. I have to admit it took a lot of filters and I burned my fingers quite a bit with the glue gun but I love how full and big {and cheap} it is! Its survived a lot of smashing from Merrick, coloring from his friends and poking and fixing from me.

Hannah in the City!

Before I blog about Christmas and New Years I need to document Hannah's trip to NYC! As a birthday present to herself, she came out to visit us. This was her second time coming out here so we were able to do a little less touristy stuff and just hang out. We did go to some amazing places though...like Serendipity. I knew we should have shared but who can resist frozen hot chocolate AND an overflowing chocolate cake with ice cream, whipped cream and syrup?! We also went to a "Favorite Things" white elephant party and I have to say it was pretty nice finally going home with something I loved! I really enjoyed Hannah being here and I want her to come back!

{Merrick's favorite place to eat..as you can see we also took Grandma here!}

The First Half of December

Its been a busy month so far! Even though it felt a little crazy at times,there really is nothing better than Christmas in New York City. There are so many amazing window displays, Christmas trees to see, yummy foods to eat and get-togethers to attend. We saw the Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes at the begginging on the month. That is a great show to watch. The ending is the best with its live Nativity Scene!



We went with our friends to see Santa at Macy's. Santa's Village is a sight to see with all the trains and toys and elves :) This was Merrick's first time sitting on his lap and he did great. Merrick's Christmas List is quite long and changes daily so I told him he could only tell him one thing he really really wanted an his reply was " OK I want ALL my cars" Silly Kid!

Danny found this GingerBread display for us. They were pretty large and creative interpretations of different things and places. These were my favorite.

Then we had to go home and make our own! Luckily I took this picture before it was destroyed. I guess I was too impatient and we didnt wait long enough before decorating it. As we were finishing up with the candies on the roof, it crashed...



There are so many lights on this tree. Rockefeller Center is a must see at Christmas Time! There are so many window displays in the area that are above and beyond amazing!

{9/11 Memorial}

The 9/11 Memorial was a humbling experience. Until you actually see the footprints of the old towers, its so hard to grasp how large they were. The grounds are beautiful and the designers of the memorial did a good job creating a quiet place to remember all those who were affected by the event. I love that the new tower {1 WTC} is growing and growing each day. Its progress seemed slow at first but now it rises so high above all the other buildings Downtown. I hope to be able to go inside it one day when its complete.

This flower was left for a woman and her unborn child. It made me tear up when I saw it.