Long Lost Lynnie

I'm here . . . I swear . . . I didn't abandon my blog.  Since the last post, life happened.  Here's a little synopsis of what we've been up to since Feb 16 (my last post) . . .


We got dressed on a rainy Saturday morning and helped Daddy buy a chainsaw so he can clean up the backyard and start clearing a place for a swing set  =)

Biscuit wore her John Deere outfit and cowboy boots . . . . because its silly to not wear them when helping Daddy buy a chainsaw

Later that same weekend, Ada gave Mommy the stomach bug . . . so Mommy puked and Daddy and Biscuit did Laundry

The following weekend . . . Biscuit went to Nanny and Pa's, Harley went hiking and I went to Amy's Bachelorette Party in Indy.

Here's Katie and Haley . . .

 Kelly, Me and Amy . . .

 Group shot . . . Amy, Haley, Kelly, Randee, Alyssa and Laura

 Cousins!!  Alyssa, me, Amy (the Bride!!!), Laura and Katie



We have been enjoying some family time . . .

And have been enjoying wearing new clothes from Aunt Deez to school . . .

Next up . . . lots and lots of yardwork this weekend and packing for our trip to Toledo to watch Amy and Scott get married . . . which will also be Biscuit's first plane ride.  Stay tuned . . .



Resolution UPDATE

Remember these???

Here's a little update on #3 . . . "Lose 12 pounds . . . preferably by Amy's Wedding  =)"

Does anyone else REALLY WISH that you could lose weight just by tuning into your favorite shows after a busy day at work, eat 14 OREOS [I'm not ashamed . . . I FREAKIN' LOVE Oreos!!] and just watch the weight slide off???  Or, on a Friday night, put on your favorite radio station, grab your honey along with a six pack and a BIG FAT burger and watch the booty shrink???

Yeah . . . this is not reality.  I so wish it was.

Instead, my reality is eating less, dragging my W-I-D-E booty to Golds and eating healthy.  I am proud to report that the diet is going well.  I decided to stop cheating and actually try.  =)

I am OBSESSED with these breakfast bars . . . they had a weird after-taste the firsrt time I tried them [not going to lie], but they grew quickly on me.  I need something in the mornings, but I can't eat too much or it makes me sick so these work great for me . . .

So . . . after spinning, lots 'o' walking, bodypump @ Gold's and eating healthier and MUCH LESS . . . I'm down 5.5 lbs!!!  So 6.5 lbs to go before I party it up with the rest of the fam at Amy's Wedding in March . . . I think I can, I think I can, I think I can . . .

Anyone else having luck with some of their resolutions??

New Years Eve

Still trying to play catch-up . . . so here is a little New Years Eve post . . .

Andy & Allyson had us over for New Years Eve [which is when I fell in love with the princess playroom].  Thanks guys for cooking the most amazing roast beef sandwiches EVER, for hanging with us and for letting us crash!!  =)  We had an awesome time . . . . even though we only made it until 10:00PM.  In our defense, the day started at 5:05AM . . . and we were WHOOPED!!

Here's how things went down for Biscuit on New Years Eve . . .

She played . . .

She made new friends . . .

She posed for pics with the family . . .  

And she enjoyed her stylin' outfit from Aunt Deez . . . (**focus on her outfit and not at how HORRIBLE the mommy looks in this pic**)

 Biscuit's New Years Resolutions:
1)  Get that kitty-cat's tail
2)  Stand up in my crib in the morning waiting on daddy to come get me  Done 1/12/12
3)  Master the fine art of walking
4)  Learn all about yardwork
5)  Figure out what the deal is with this sippy cup


 Happy 2012 to you!!!  =)

New Year's Resolutions

I am feeling ambitious this Year and wanted to make a lot of resolutions . . . so here is my list!  =)  Let's see how I do . . . I'll follow-up with a "How-these-resolutions-turned-out" post at 2012 Year End . . .

1.  Learn how to upload videos to the blog

2.  Continue to update the blog -- shooting for about 10-15 posts/month to keep everyone updated on the chaos that is my house  =)

3.  Lose 12 pounds . . . preferably by Amy's Wedding  =)

4.  Make Ada's 1st year scrapbook

5.  Finish my Ohio scrapbook (from our visit to Ohio in 2009 . . . I'm so behind . . . )

6.  Spruce up my deck -- plant flowers in flower boxes, get a shelf and have potted plants on the deck, keep all of these future plants alive and revitalize my bistro set on the defck with a new paint job and some pretty chair cusions

7.  Take golf lessons with Harley

8.  Convert our kitchen eat-in area into a playroom for Ada:
     -Paint a current piece of furniture white as a tv stand for Ada
     -Hook up our "tailgate tv" (small flat screen) and DVD player so Ada can watch Looney Toons and   
      other kiddie movies  =)
     -Get a rug for the playroom so crawling/toddling isn't so rough on the knees/booty 
     -Get a shelf unit for Biscuit's toys
   
9. Paint kitchen and get new kitchen floor 

10.  Organize my closet (I do this EVERY year and it looks awesome for about 3 months . . . then slowly goes back to total chaos . . . but let me add it to the list again) / Closet makeover - hang up full length mirror, paint inside of closet and put some contact paper or something over the super ugly clothes bars

11.  Take a vacation to the beach with Harley - ALONE (no offense Biscuit, but Mommy and Daddy need time to hang out)    =)

12.  Print out pictures and update the photo albums

13.  Get all Christmas shopping done and gifts wrapped before Thanksgiving

14.  Install a vent/fan in the master bath . . . for some reason we don't have one and the shower makes things STEAMY in there!

15.  Take lots of pictures and videos of Biscuit.  =)

16.  Clean out the attic and re-arrange the guest room furniture.

17.  Ponder baby Campbell #2





. . . I'm sure there may be a couple more that I'm forgetting . . . I can always add to the list . . .

I told you 2012 was going to be an ambitious year . . .   =)

Anybody else have an ambitious year lined up??

Christmas Open-House

I love Christmas and Christmas decorations!!!  =)  I'm still working on accumulating decorations . . . get a few more every year . . . but I wanted to give you a tour of what our casa looks like all decked out for Christmas.

So, come on in . . . just be careful not to step on the baby . . .

Here's our mantle . . . waiting for Santa . . . even got Santa's milk mug and cookie plate ready [just have to keep it out of Biscuit's reach]

And our living room Christmas tree . . . decked out mostly in ornaments from my childhood  =)

I love nativities . . . and so here's a close-up of one of the nativities I have sitting on our mantle.  



And the other nativity on our mantle . . . 

And the nativity on one of the bookshelves . . . [sidenote: post on bookshelves coming soon!!]

The Christmas tree in our dining room . . . "the fancy one" . . . with all purple and gold ornaments [It TOTALLY slipped my mind that these are LSU colors when I was accumulating the ornaments. . . so this is a total FAIL from a Bama fan standpoint.]

Our dining room table . . . 

Our kitchen nook . . . aka: where Ada eats  =)

We did not get around to the outside this year . . . but we have B-I-G plans for next year . . . so stay tuned!!  =)

I'll leave you with one more pic of Biscuit . . . just because she is so dang cute!!!  =)  This was at about 4:00AM on a weekday . . . Mommy and Daddy weren't exactly thrilled to be up, but Biscuit sure was!!  =)



Merry Christmas (a little early) from our home to yours . . .



Celebrating US!! =)

Harley and I just celebrated 4 years as "The Campbells" on December 1st . . . A lot has happened in 4 years . . . Just a random sampling . . .

2 houses                                                         
1 adopted outside kitty
2 new jobs (1 for each of us)                         
1 bathroom remodel
1 new baby                                                    
6 beach trips
1 new car                                                       
4 Cinco de Mayo Parties
6 different paint projects                               
1 bad haircut (Lynn)
8 states visited                                               
1 lawnmower (how is this thing still going?!?)
1 Bama National Championship                   
3 gas grills
5 weddings attended                                   
84 hosta


"What do you want to be married to me for anyhow?"
"So I can kiss you anytime I want."
~Sweet Home Alabama

Happy Anniversary Baby.  I love you. 

Racking up on Wrecks

So, to all of those of you that have attempted to keep score, add another tally mark to the wreck column.  I believe that brings the current tally to:

     Wrecks - 5; Avalon - 0

I'd like to preface all of this by saying, this was, again, not my fault.  Although it wasn't my fault, I'm starting to wonder where I picked up this bad car karma.  Seriously.

Let me fill you in . . .

1.  I am minding my own business, backing out of my driveway and BAM - hello, retaining wall.  Ok, this was definitely my fault, [boo-hiss] but the rest of these weren't . . .

2.  I am enjoying a beautiful Friday afternoon on my way home from work, [and out before 5:00 . . . yeah . . . didn't realize how fast I could go from winning to losing] yielding to on-coming traffic and waiting to turn right when BAM, re-ended.  She had insurance.  Car is repaired.  Life continues.

3.  I am beginning another work week on a dismal and cloudy Monday morning.  I'm stopped at a red light waiting for the signal to change and minding my own beeswax.  I happen to glance up and see major-moron coming at me, not braking at all, yapping on his cell phone and BAM, re-ended.  Again.  Seriously.  Throw in my first ambulance ride and you have wreck ^ 3.  Neck is ok.  He had insurance.  Car is repaired.  Life continues.

4.  Hubby and I have just endured the most boring parenthood-preparedness class from 8:00AM to 5:00PM on a SATURDAY.  Yes.  SATURDAY.  I am 7 months pregnant and starving [of course].  We are on our way to my parents house to chow down and visit with my sis and bro-in-law who are in town.  We slow down, see random-civic who needs a break, let them pass and wait for traffic.  Man-in-expensive-SUV is not paying attention and BAM, we are rear-ended and get pushed forward to hit random-civic.  Bummer.  So hungry and it is just sinking in that food will be delayed when B-A-M, we are hit AGAIN by Man-in-expensive-SUV who was hit by breaking-the-light-ginormous-truck and we are pushed back into random-civic.  Cue the tears.  I'm preggers and it occurs to me that food is even further away now that we are in a 4 car pile up.  Preggers and baby are ok.  Food is given to Preggers.  Car is repaired. Life continues.

5.  And to the present . . . again, minding my own beeswax, headed into the parking lot to pick up Biscuit from school when BAM, I am side-swiped by speeding black chevy truck about 75% of the way through my turn and then am hit on the hood and roof of my car with random flying mailbox.  Yes.  You read that right . . . random flying mailbox. Shoulder and wrist are both x-rayed and ok.  I opted out of the ambulance ride and just let the hubby take me.  Car is being repaired . . . and was surprisingly not totaled. 

Needless to say . . . I'm a little gun-shy about driving.  Let's just say that if you offer to come pick me up, I won't turn you down!   =)

Can anyone beat my # of wrecks??  Surely someone out that plays "bumper cars" as much as me, right?!?  =)

Weekend Outcome

Although not as ambitious as I set out to be, we did have an extremely productive and pleasant weekend.  Here's how we measured up:           

1. Put the baby swing in the attic [Biscuit has figured out how to grab the support sides of the swing and stop the seat from actually swinging, thus making the swing pointless.] UPDATE:  The fussiness that reared its ugly head Sat morning was calmed by a nap in the swing.  Go Figure.  Looks like the trusty and dependable friend I have in the baby swing is sticking around . . . so, baby swing, continue to make yourself at home in my living room.  =)
2. Put loveseat in the kitchen back out onto to deck.
3. Clean kitchen floor/Vacuum rug in kitchen
4. Continue teaching Tom that his food is now in the dining room [out of reach from Biscuit]
5. Fold/Put away laundry
6. Put away fall/Halloween decorations
7. Finish baby-proofing kitchen cabinets/Install cabinet safety hardware Being the de-clutterer that I am, I threw away said instructions . . . so searching for a downloadable version this morning . . .   =)
8. Clean the Master bathroom
9. Watch the AL/Miss State game [and watch Harley grill]

10. Set up food/water/litter box for Lil Debbie in the garage [starting to get cold out - and she sleeps in the garage when its too cold out]

11. Sand the new shelves [more details to come!!]   Apparently there is an adapter that we need to attach the sandpaper.  Said adapter was missing.  Hubby went to Lowe's to buy said adapter and glued it back on . . . must wait for it to cure . . . so, sanding this weekend = FAIL
12. Dye my hair I chose the bubble bath and early bed time . . . so my roots still look scandalous this morning

13.  Took 2.5 hour nap on Saturday

14.  Played dinosaur magnets [Thanks Nanny - they taste good too!!]

15.  Took cute cheerleader pics of Biscuit [Here we go Brownies, Here we go!  Woof Woof!!  Thanks for the adorable outfit Aunt Karen!!]

16.  Introduced Biscuit to Minnie Mouse - instant BFFs

Hope you had a productive and enjoyable weekend too!! Happy Monday Everybody!!  Hope you are having a terrific start to your week!!  =)

Ambitious To-Do List

I've got an ambitious to-do list for this weekend . . . which is funny because on Monday I swore that I was doing nothing this weekend since we actually do not have anything planned.  Funny how the productive/task-oriented side of my brain takes over the couch potato side!!  =)

Here's the list . . . I'll let you know how much of this actually pans out  =)
[Sidenote . . . some items are very little items . . . I like to be able to cross stuff off of the list so building in a couple "little items" makes me feel more productive . . . and Harley is not aware that this list exists .  . yet . . . ]

1. Put the baby swing in the attic [Biscuit has figured out how to grab the support sides of the swing and stop the seat from actually swinging, thus making the swing pointless.]
2. Put loveseat in the kitchen back out onto to deck.
3. Clean kitchen floor/Vacuum rug in kitchen
4. Continue teaching Tom that his food is now in the dining room [out of reach from Biscuit]
5. Fold/Put away laundry
6. Put away fall/Halloween decorations
7. Finish baby-proofing kitchen cabinets/Install cabinet safety hardware
8. Clean the Master bathroom
9. Watch the AL/Miss State game [and watch Harley grill]
10. Set up food/water/litter box for Lil Debbie in the garage [starting to get cold out - and she sleeps in the garage when its too cold out]
11. Sand the new shelves [more details to come!!]
12. Dye my hair

So, like I said, I've got my work cut out for me!!  =)  My personal favorite is #9 . . . I should be able to get this one done!!

How many do you think I can knock out??

Currently Obsessed With . . . .

. . . Anne Hathaway's hair in "Love and Other Drugs" . . . [definitely the best part of the movie]

. . . Coffeemate Peppermint Mocha . . . [I wait all year for it - and its totally worth it!]

. . . Built-In Bookshelves . . . [I've got plans for you, living room!!]

. . . Live garland to decorate my house/porch for Christmas . . . [very Courier & Ives]



Crazy Clocks

I have a clock in every single room of my house.  Seriously.  Even the garage.  I like knowing what time it is. 

Biscuit does not share a love of clocks like me.  In fact, I'm nearly positive that when we got her out of the crib Sunday morning, she looked at the little pink and white stripe clock on her dresser and gave it the raspberries. 

So . . . bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we were up at 4:10AM . . . chewing on keys and chugging coffee as fast as possible. 

But . . . I do need to give credit where credit is due.  She may be catching onto my love of clocks.  She bumped back her morning giggles this morning to 4:50AM.  :) 

Silly mommy . . . you should have known that Biscuits don't do Daylight Savings time.