Painting Galore!

I took this past Friday off from work and Malek & I spent the weekend painting 3 bedrooms, cleaning house, grocery shopping and overall preparing our home for our holiday guests.  :)

I've very proud of our painting job!  Like packing, when it comes to painting, I usually prefer help. We were going to wait until my parents arrived to help us, but we decided to give them a break and do it ourselves. 

Evan's room - light gray with red stripe



Emma's room - light aqua





Guestroom / Future nursery - beige





Cookie Exchange

Posting this one a bit late.  On Monday 12/6 the girls decided to partake in a cookie exchange.  I spent Sunday making 5 dozen snicker doodles (for the 1st time!) and chocolate crunchola (bite-sized balls of peanut butter, choc chips, raisins, coconut - childhood fav!) for the exchange.  I was very happy with how they turned out.  We all met at Mimi's Cafe for dinner and passed out our cookies.  It was pretty cool receiving 4 dozen different cookies to enjoy.  They didn't last long at our house.  :)

Santa!

This past Saturday our HOA had a holiday party with arts & crafts, food and free pictures with Santa!  I decided to take advantage of the free photographer and 'strongly encouraged' a family photo.  :)  Evan was a good sport, he stayed all of 5 minutes for the photo before walking back home.  The rest of us stayed for about 30 mins so that Emma could make some neat ornaments.

Malek family with Santa - 12/11/2010

Tasty Tuesday!

Awesome cupcakes at Red Robin!  Yummmm!

I really liked the freckled lemonade cupcake.

Christmas Cards!

Christmas cards have been mailed!  I think they turned out beautifully.

I also included a picture of the xmas cards we sent out last year.  :)  Happy Holidays!



2010 Christmas Card



2009 Christmas Card



Ready for the Holidays!

We are ready for the holidays!  Thanksgiving day Emma helped me decorate the Christmas tree, I set up all the indoor decor and Malek & Evan hung the lights up on the house.  I'm super excited to have my family in town, especially since my brother and his wife will be able to join us this year.  We'll have a full house, including 3 dogs!  I'm also thrilled that my parents are willing to help us paint the kids rooms and the nursery.  :)  Bring on the holidays!

We're having a....

BOY! 

4D image - Baby Boy Malek!  11/24/2010

We had our 20 week ultrasound this morning and to our surprise and delight we are having a boy! :)  Baby Boy Malek looked great and is tracking right on schedule.  It was amazing watching him move on the screen and stretching those long legs!  Now we can focus on decorating the nursery and finding a name!  I think picking out the name is going to be the toughest part.  We just can't seem to agree on anything!  We are super excited and extra thankful this year, perfect timing as Thanksgiving is tomorrow.  :)

Precious little foot - 11/24/2010

TX Renaissance Festival Fun

This past Saturday we took the kids to the TX Renaissance Festival.  This was a first time experience for Malek and the kids....I on the other hand am a veteran to the Ren Faire scene as I attended all though HS in MI and even dressed up!  We arrived around 11am and started our adventure.  We walked around the grounds first, checking everything out and where certain games/food/shows were located.  Then we tried out the Royal Archery.  I've never shot an arrow before, and the kids enjoyed trying to hit the dragon targets.  I did manage to hit the wall and have the arrow stick...after it bounced off the ceiling.  :D  Then we sat down to watch the last part of the Mud Pit show.  Evan and Emma were enthralled by the guys eating mud.  ~gag~  Then it was off to the Ded Bob Sho...this is a MUST for new and returning Ren Faire folk.  This show is the BOMB!  I think I watched Malek and the kids reactions more than the show, they had a great time and it was HILARIOUS!  Emma even went up afterwards to have her picture taken with Ded Bob.  Next we grabbed some food in the Greek section and were entertained by gypsy belly dancers.  Following that the kids played some games and we explored more of the shops.  We also found a free sword fighting shop that the kids and Malek took advantage of, I of course snapped photos.  Finally 3pm arrived and it was time to head to the jousting arena.  We sat in the English section and cheered for our knight....unfortunately the French knight cheated his way to the win, so we booed him.  We wandered around for another hour before we decided to head out at 4:30pm.  It was a great day and the weather was perfect.  The kids had a wonderful time and even Malek said he'd be willing to come back in a couple years.  ;-)



archery



mud pit show

The Ded Bob Sho

free sword fights

Race for the Cure 2010

Sunday morning was a chilly 41 degrees at 6am when we headed out to the Domain for the Race for the Cure. By the time the race started, at 7:30am, it should have been about 45 degrees.  My average pace was 9:16 and I finished in 29:24. Apparently the course was a bit longer than it should have been, 3.17 miles instead of 3.1 miles.  Amanda came in at 23:45 mins, Malek at 26:18 and Jenn at 27:32. Great job everyone!

My breakout is a bit inaccurate since the miles were slightly off and I wasn't able to use the Garmin runner (Malek had it, technically it is his :P), I used a simple manual watch timer.
Mile 1 - 9:14, Mile 2 - 9:20, Mile 3 - 10 (ugh), last 0.17 - 49.84
I definitely could feel myself slowing down on mile 3...it was slightly uphill.

I think everyone had a great race day and Renee's Rack Pack had a nice turnout.
Overall a good pace for me and I enjoyed the course, plus I ran it 17 weeks pregnant!!!

8th Annual Halloween Spooktacular!

 This past Saturday, Oct 30th, was our 8th Annual Halloween Spook-tacular!  Since we are in a new house this year it took some time figuring out where to place everything.  After a couple weekends of decorating and rearrange it turned out perfectly, everyone loved it.  Malek and I dressed up as a Mummy and Deady (zombie) since we are expecting.  ;-)  The busy bee definitely enjoyed the nectar, the pretty peacock was strutting her stuff, Flo from Progressive had some great rates and Bret Michaels even made an appearance!  I think my favorite was Bob the Smurf.  :D

Check out the link below for many more great costumes and fun pictures.

by cfreund

  

Crafty

We had tons of fun last night making arts and crafts at Renee's.  :)
Like my Halloween pajama pants?  ~giggle~

Fall Harvest at Sweet Berry Farm

Two Sunday's ago we took the kids to Sweet Berry Farm for the Fall Harvest. They had quite a few activities for the kids...and each one had a long line to buy tickets to participate.  Needless to say we only did a couple items on the list as it was crazy busy.  We arrived 30 mins after it opened and it was already hopping.  We started off with the Texas Corn Maze, which was actually a lot of fun.  Throughout the maze they had marked city signs with a different hole puncher for each one.  If you found all 12 cities you received a free soda.  I think it took us about 25 mins to complete our mission, but it was well worth it as it was HOT that day and a beverage was necessary.  Then we headed over to the main area to see the animals and enjoy some home-made ice cream.  I love their ice cream and it was the main reason I wanted to go.  :)  The kids also each picked out a small pumpkin to take home.  Overall I thought the experience was just OK...I do not have any intentions of going back anytime soon for the harvest.  The hay rides, face painting, pumpkin painting and making a scare crow were pretty expensive...more than I thought it would be.  But I am looking forward to strawberry or blackberry picking next year!

10/10/10!

I had a wonderful birthday this year thanks to family and great friends.

On Thursday, Malek and the kids gave me a bike for my gift.  I absolutely LOVE it!  It's a gorgeous deep red color and now I can ride around the neighborhood with the family.  :)  Malek and I took it out for a nice 45min test drive around the neighborhood on Saturday.

On Friday Malek took me out to Tree House Grill (our fav) for my bday dinner.  We just love hanging out on the patio at that restaurant, under the huge live oak tree with lights strung up everywhere.  It's very romantic and quaint.

Saturday we relaxed and watched MSU absolutely destroy UofM.  :)  GO GREEN!

Finally Sunday arrived 10/10/10! - My birthday!!!

I ran the Pflugerville Pfamily 5K Pfun Run that morning at 10:10am with Amanda and Jenn around lake Pflugerville.  I've never run around the lake before, and it was more difficult than I realized.  It was really windy, the trail was loose gravel and narrow, and by 10am the sun was out and beating down on us, making it feel warmer than 68 degrees.  I managed to finish within a decent time:  28:59, a 9:18 average pace.  I'm guessing I came in 4th place in my age group.  Amanda took 1st and Jenn nabbed 3rd.  Congrats Girls!
Later that evening A&J picked me up for my girls only dinner at Maggiano's.  Dinner was fabulous!  We decided to try the classic family style dinner:  2 apps, 2 salads, 4 entrees and 2 desserts.  We ate so much food it was disgusting...disgustingly good!  Thanks so much to my close girlfriends (Amanda, Jenn, Renee, Tammy) for a wonderful evening.

Overall it was a perfect birthday weekend.  :)

Hello Baby Malek!

Friday I had my 13 week appointment and 1st trimester screening.  This was a very exciting visit because we were able to spend over an hour viewing our baby on the monitor.  There really is a baby in there!  It's hard to believe you're really growing a little person inside you until you see actually see it.  The first sonogram I received looked like a chicken nugget...this time it actually looked like a baby!  It was amazing seeing our baby move around and turn over as the doctor took all the pictures and measurements they needed.  Both the Dr and assistant said it was a good baby.  :D  I can't wait for the 20 week appointment so we can find out the sex of our baby. 

Face shot - perfect for Halloween ;-)

Hi baby Malek! - profile

Finally I have a bike!

Malek and the kids surprised me with an early birthday gift when I arrived home from work today.  A new bike!  I've been wanting one for years!  The last time I had a bike was in college.  It really didn't survive the harsh MI winters, I rode it all over campus and even though the snow.  The poor thing was rusted out and was never the same, even after trying to fix it up.  So I donated it to Goodwill.  Now I can finally go for relaxing weekend rides and biking with the family around the neighborhood.  Granted I'll probably only be able to ride for a month or so since I'm pregnant and balance will become an issue.  ;-)  I can't wait to put a baby seat on it and go for a ride just like my mom used to do with me.

This also happens to complete #27 (buy a bike) on my slightly expired 101 list.  :D

Here are some stats on my new bike:

• Schwinn Suburban Sport 26" Men's comfort bike in RED - cruiser
• Perfect for riding around town or light trail usage, this bicycle is for all-around transportation
• Aluminum comfort frame with SR M2000 suspension fork
• Adjustable comfort stem and suspension seat post
• Comfort-tuned saddle
• Shimano rear derailleur with 21-speed SRAM grip shift
• Alloy linear pull brakes
• Rustproof 36-hole alloy rims 
• The 68° seat angle combines with the 80mm-rise handlebars to take the strain off of your lower back

The next chapter

My picture project is complete.  My 101 ended a couple months ago.  I have yet to come up with a new 101 list or project....but I definitely think I have something else to keep me busy. 

I'm pregnant!  :D

As of today I'm 12 weeks along - 1st trimester done!  We are super excited to add to our family and my parents are thrilled to be grandparents for the very first time.  It's still hard to believe I'm actually pregnant and that we'll have a baby mid-April next year.  2010 has been a wonderful year for us, bringing one excellent adventure after another.  I can't wait to start this next chapter in our lives and meet our new little one!

Here is our baby blog.  Enjoy!

Hot Air Balloon

#30 - I saw a hot air balloon on the way to work this morning.  I've always wanted to go for a hot air balloon ride.  I bet it was a bit chilly up there since it was only 65 degrees.  Also as I was pulling into the parking lot at work I noticed a SWAT car behind me with fully decked out SWAT guys.  Yikes!

Red-headed Mexican drink

#29 - At happy hour today I saw someone with this drink.  It's called a red-headed Mexican.  I can't remember all the different alcohols in this drink...beer, sangria...and something else.  Either way I think it would make anyone throw up.  Thanks, but I'll pass.

Neighbors

#28 - These are our neighbors to the left of us and across the street (we are located on a corner lot).  It's going to be a HUGE house.  So far the construction hasn't bothered us...but the workers have.  They seem to think it's OK to lounge on our grass during the day and play soccer on our side walk versus walking across the street to the park. 

And this is the area to the right of our house.  A nice open field with trees and a small pond area (pond kinda hard to see right now).  I'll be sad when they actually develop this side of the street/neighborhood.  However I do think it will be at least 2 years before they touch it.  Gotta enjoy it while we can!

Look! Open windows in TX!

#27 - That's right, that window is open!  It's finally cool enough that we can turn off the A/C and open the windows for a nice breeze.  The temp was down to 57 degrees last night and is supposed to do the same thing tonight!  I love Fall!

The Pluck Wagon!

# 26 - The Pluck Wagon!  We went to our fav hangout today to watch the Cowboys and the Pluck Wagon was actually on site.  I just had to get a picture, isn't it hilarious!?  I love the feet sticking out the backside of the van.

Tailgating!

#25 - I've perfected taking pictures of myself ;-). 

All these pictures have been taken with my phone camera..not bad eh!?

Lazy Friday night at home

#24 - Lazy Friday night at home...I'm running out of ideas for pictures...

Finished stone walls

#23 - The finished stone walls...still missing mulch.  I think they turned out pretty good once the guy redid the first one so it matched the other two.  The circles are big enough for us to even plant some flowers around the trees.

Out for a walk

#22 - Took the doggies for a walk around the hood.  It was a nice 30 min walk or so.  In that time frame we saw a rainbow, the sun, and then huge storm clouds move in on top of us.  Crazy.

Rainbow and full moon

#21 - Rainbow and full moon