our Christmas elf

Our elf came to visit!

She's not the regular Elf on the Shelf,
but an elf my sister got us last year
though a fundraiser.

First Makayla named her Alphabet,
then called her Elfie for a few days,
now she seems to be Alphabet again.

M loves searching for her little elf

and seeing

what she's been

doing...

messing up...

playing with...

around the house.

Here's a look at her first week!

hanging around

Dec 2

drinking water from M's pink cup

Dec 3

cooking

Dec 4

story time

Dec 5

nappy time
Dec 6

putting on her face
Dec 7

climbing in the Christmas tree

Dec 8

snooping in the stocking

Dec 9

 

forever

gracious...

it's been a while

here's a little photo catch up

same little girl, same cuteness

and a few extras

that grin

Nov 19

lil turkey

Nov 17

ohmagoodness

Nov 10

daydreamin'

Nov 9

photo sesh with grandpa

Nov 2

fall fest

"my baby goat"

pumpkin painting

Oct 27

belugas

Oct 31

and the winner is...

Thanks to all of you that entered the giveaway!

I went with the standard draw a winner from a hat method...

...or a watermelon tupperware

and the winner is:

Sorry Jaimie! I gripe about people getting my name

wrong all the time and I go and leave the first "i"

out of yours. I know better! 

Of course I realized after I had taken

these photos.

Will a prize make up for it???

***Jaimie Joy***

Congrats Jaimie!

I'll message you on FB

with details.

Giveaway: Shutterfly Holiday Cards!

It's hard to believe
the cool weather has begun...

it's time for

pumpkins, sweaters and boots...

and the holidays aren't far away!

Crazy, right?!?
Almost time for
fires in the fireplace,
turkey and dressing,
and Christmas plans like

...how to get a cute photo

of the little one and

a great Christmas card to share with

family and friends...

Which leads me to a few little somethings

from Shutterfly's 2012 holiday card line.

How about that B&W cuteness...?

I love it!

It's just so easy, too.

I'm sure you all know the

design online drill.

Upload your photos,

choose your favorite card,

customize to your liking,

and order.

More than likely there are

special offers like these

that are worth checking out...

and you won't even pay full price.

....................................................................

Of course, I've already 

looked through the 

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

 and found at least 10 cards

right off the bat that I

could snap up and make

our family card this year.

Here are just a few:

I know you'd like one, too...
so
on to the
fun part!

Giveaway details:

Prize: $50 off total Shutterfly order

(does not include shipping & cannot be combined with other promos)

Dates: Tues, Oct 16 - Thurs, Oct 18

 You have three entry options...

feel free to use one, two or all three ways!

*Entry #1:

Click the link above that says Shutterfly Christmas Cards, pick your favorite design, then post a comment on this blog telling me which one. Make sure to include a name (first, nick, initials, code) to identify your post(s).

Entry #2:

Join Life and Times as a follower, then post a comment letting me know you did.

Include: "I'm already a follower" or "I'm a new follower" plus your name.

Entry #3:

Sign up to start receiving blog posts via email by entering your email address on the right side of blog.

Then post a comment saying "Email follower"plus your name.

Pretty simple...

do a little something

come back to this original post and leave me a comment

gain a separate entry for each one

Up to three entries per person!

*Must do Entry #1 first...entries #2 and #3 are the extras.

If you chose to do all three, please make sure you comment three separate times.

3 comments = 3 entries

1 comment with all info = 1 entry

 

The winner will be

announced on

Friday, October 19.

...and one more pretty for the road

*This is a Shutterly sponsored post

about their 2012 holiday card collection.

I am being perked for the post,

but the thoughts and ideas are all my own.
All of the holiday card photos in this post
are courtesy of Shutterfly and can be found
by clicking on their link above.

Shutterfly is also responsible for the generous giveaway!

blondie

corn maze with her daddy's hat

oct 6

just a grinnin'

oct 6

sticker show off

a.k.a

why does she look so grown up?

oct 10

owl hat

oct 13



kayla says: oct 2012

Our daughter is saying the most hilarious and off the wall things lately.
The ones I post are just the slim few I can remember to jot down in my phone.
She is such a goof...a mess...a cutie! She keeps both of us laughing ALL THE TIME.

Example #1:
I'm trying to brush her teeth this morning before school and she goes and stands in the corner...bathroom door on one side and linen closet door on the other. She's wedged right in.
Kayla: "I hiding Momma"
Mommy: "Ok, I'll come brush your teeth over there. What are you hiding from?"
Kayla: "I hiding from the bear"
Mommy: "Oh, is Daddy the bear? Are you hiding from him?"
Kayla: "No, I hiding from the bear"
(pause while I brush her teeth)
Kayla: "The tiger is (something or other)"
Mommy: "Oh, are you hiding from the tiger now?"
Kayla: "No Mommy, the tiger is pooping!"
-obviously ends with me laughing and shaking my head and having no idea where that came from!

Example #2:
Trying to get M to go to sleep. She is up in her room talking away to her beloved stuffed animals, then starts to fuss and call for her Daddy.
(Daddy walks upstairs and into her room...and this happens...)
Kayla: "I want to watch George on your phone Daddy"
Daddy: "Daddy's phone is downstairs"
Kayla: "Well, go get it Daddy"
(...and he did, and she watched some Curious George)

Example #3 (saving the best for last, i think):
I feel like I need to preface this story by saying that M has not had any tea or sweet tea that I know of!
Scene: evening church party, BBQ was served for dinner, Bumbee (one of M's grandmothers) told us this as we were leaving...
M took her cup over and handed it to Bumbee and said "I want sweet tea."
Bumbee told her, "Well, we will have to ask your Mom about that."
M responds with, "Ok, I'll have water."

Ha! The child already knows how to work around Mom and Dad :)

September highlight: Precious Pretties

 

If you have a little girl,

or know someone that does,

and like to dress them in/gift them cute things...

you are probably interested in these,

so read on!

Back with another

highlighted Etsy shop:

 Precious Pretties

I did an etsy search for

hair bows

in yellow, white and navy

and landed there...

I ordered this korker hair bow set for M.
We've been excited for the start of

college football and she

needed some white and gold

to represent GT!

go jackets!

credit

I liked:

1. the curly q's

2. football ribbon

3. polka dots

4. small size (they also offer larger ones)

5. alligator clips that stay well in toddler hair

6. set of two, which is perfect for pigtails

7. knowing I was supporting an etsy seller

and...

8. being able to leave a note and sub in navy for black.

...added it to my online cart, typed in my deets, and submitted my order!

Within a few hours I got a

personalized note back from Stephanie.

She thanked me for my order and said

it was no problem to switch the black

ribbon out for navy.

(Seriously, I love the fact

that you can customize).

She told me she would make my bows

over the weekend (ordered on a Friday)

and would mail them out on Monday.

How awesome to get a

note from the seller herself and not just a generic form email?

Kuddos to her fantastic customer service!

And, just as promised, on Monday morning

I received my shipping notification
...and just as quickly
 the bows arrived Wednesday morning
.
That's a quick turnaround!

...and more pretties from her shop:

love the cupcakes

credit

I also "liked" Precious Pretties on

Facebook because Stephanie

mentioned she does flash sales there.

Who doesn't love a good FB flash sale?

pretty hat with removeable flower bow

and sweet sweet baby...sigh

credit

  

tickled pink tutu

credit

cute buggies, ready for 'lil blonde piggies

credit

reasonable prices,

low shipping costs,

great service and

super cute products

.......................................

Here's the real deal:

she's ready for some football!

A quick review of the bows:

Even better than expected.

The clip is wrapped in ribbon

to avoid hair pulling

and has a small piece of foam

on the inside so it won't slide out of her hair.

Small, light and comfy...
perfect for a little toddler 'do.

If your child has a lot
of hair or is used to
wearing big hair bows
I would order the large size,
but the small is perfect for M.
She has wispy thin hair...
perfect to tie with an elastic
and decorate with a cute bow.

And my girl

in all her korker bow

cuteness:

look # 1

my model didn't want to prune for the camera

so I took what I could get...

"girl eating apple"

look # 2

cah-razy hair day, apparently

but still cute with the bows

(also still eating appple)

look # 3

switched it up for some buns

such a cute look...

but my model realized she

wasn't making the big bucks

on this shoot and refused

a smiling face shot

..................................................

click the shop name
to check them out:
Precious Pretties

Stephanie just added lots

of cute

 orange/fall/pumpkin/Halloween

bows.

And, to all my

Furman

Florida

Georgia Southern
Clemson

and Georgia

loving friends...

have no fear.

Your team colors are there, too!

If not, she will customize

one in a flash

so your house

can keep bleeding

those game day colors with pride!



kayla says

#1: after asking for her third piece of turkey
Mommy: (I try to hand her the turkey and she won't take it)
Kayla: "No mommy, throw it at my hand!"
Mommy: (stand there, very confused...)
Kayla: (grabs it out of my hand and runs out of the kitchen)

#2: sitting at the top of the driveway watching cars go by, waiting for Daddy to get home
(jeep wrangler drives by)
Kayla: "Wow!"
Mommy: "That is a big truck, huh? Do you know what it is called?"
Kayla: "A fire truck?"
Mommy: "It's a jeep."
Kayla: "Yep, a jeep!"

#3: during bed time prayers
Mommy: "Who should we pray for...Mommy and Daddy?"
Kayla: "No...Matthew!"
Mommy: "Ok, what should we pray for?"
Kayla: "Matthew a fireman. He rides on the fire truck...fast. He burned his ear on the fire."
Mommy: "That's right. Matthew is a fireman and he burned his ear. That is sweet to pray for him."
Kayla: "Yes, Matthew a fireman...he burn his ear. He burn his ear on the fire truck."
Mommy: "Well, he didn't burn his ear on the truck. He is a fireman and he has to ride on the truck when he goes to fight a fire. Fire trucks are good and take the firemen where they need to go. The fire is what burned his ear."
Kayla: "Oh, ok...Matthew is a fireman. He goes fast on fire truck. He burned his ear."
(repeats last line about 20 more times)

#4: singing a combo of Rock-a-bye Baby and Itsy Bitsy Spider to her doll
Kayla:  "Rock-a-bye baby in da tee-top, down came rain and WASHED da cradle down."
(as she screams the word "washed" in the doll's face. poor doll...it was a little creepy)

#5: watching TV during a sick day
Mommy: "Super Why is starting. Do you remember this show?"
Kayla: "Super Why! I like this show! I missed you Super Why!"
(I think she may have seen it two times...ever)

#6: Q&A
Mommy: "Kayla, who is your favorite person?"
Kayla: "my daddy"
Mommy: "Aw, that is sweet. Do you know who is a part of your family?"
Kayla: "Ummm, Bumbee and Granpa?"
Mommy: "That's right...who else is part of your family?"
Kayla: "Mommy and my Daddy!"
Mommy: "That's right! What would you think if Mommy had another baby one day? Would you like that?"
Kayla: "Yep."
Mommy: "Would you want a baby girl or boy...sister or brother?"
Kayla: "A boy...a brudder"
Mommy: "That sounds fun. What would you name him?"
Kayla: "Gage & Brock"
(ha, she loves her cousins!)

#7: simple conversation
Mommy: "I sure do love you Makayla"
Kayla: "I know, Momma."
Mommy: "Do you love me?"
Kayla: "Yep"

kayla says

Daddy: (jumps up and sits on kitchen counter)
Kayla: "hop down, Daddy, hop down now!"

getting her out of bed one morning:
Kayla: "paci's dirty, momma...wash it"  (hands me her pacifier)
Me: (try and tell her we will wash it when we go downstairs together...doesn't work so I walk to the  upstairs bathroom and rinse her paci off, go back to her room and hand it to her)
Kayla: (examines paci) "no momma, still dirty, go wash it one more time"

while saying bed time prayers:
Me: "who else should we pray for?"
Kayla: "ummm, Gage and Brock...Mommy, Daddy...ummm, boo doll, cookie monster and tyson"
Me: "ok, who else?"
Kayla: "Gage and Brock"

L to R: boo doll, cookie monster, tyson

sept 6

no stroller...good luck

I took M with me to Old Navy on Labor Day.

I saw a cute shirt and some skinny cords online and I wanted to check them out.

Just a quick trip...

Yeah, right!

I never even found the shirt...

because in a flash this happened:

don't mind me, I'll just shop for myself

Within moments of being in the store

she found a hat and threw it on backwards,

then quickly found this backpack

and the "flee-flops" in her hand.

I had her with me one second and

then couldn't find her the next.

I was speed walking through

the store calling her name.

A young woman asked

if I was looking for a

"little blonde baby?"

Yes!

"She's at the front of the store."

I was in the very back

where we had just been together.

I race to the registers

and M is standing there

with all her gear on,

filling a striped purse

with all the check out tchotchkes...

water bottle, football, hair accessories.

Oh, geez.

caught red handed

aka

"I shoppin, momma!"

Notice the addition of a pencil case,

and the navy and green striped bag

full of merchandise.

I am laughing to myself now,

but in the moment it was a

bit embarrasing.

...and then, to top it off, this happened:

"hey doggie! I ridin the dog, momma!"

after the dog riding, we left

nothing was purchased

and no tantrums were had...

(still shocked over that)

...i think I was supposed to

give her a behavior lesson

in there somewhere,

but as you can tell

I used this little "stay with mommy"

teaching moment

as one big photo op.

the end.

...mostly just her

top knot

aug 26

pure joy

aug 23

snug little bug

aug 22

mm "boo doll" c

aug 17

ombre-ish

aug 15

"kaykay hug my pigit"

aug 14

muah!

aug 12

birthday cake with a side of ham

aug 12