The Gibson Family

The find

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:43:00 +0000

One of Maggie's new 'tricks' is opening doors. It's kind of nice when she wants to get her broom from the broom closet, or if I need her to put something in the trash can. But today this new trick has come to a new level. She found one of her gifts. Yep. I got her a tricycle and it was in the extra bedroom closet. Not at eye level, but on top of a bunch of luggage and in a corner. I heard her saying "help? help?" and then whining for something. I turn around and I see the closet door open and immediately I think, there's no way she can see it. But as I get closer, she's pointing towards it and saying "bike?"!! GREAT. Just great. So I immediately close the door thinking if I can divert her attention, maybe she will forget about it. Nope. So we pulled it out, and she got to ride it around. Before she sat on it, she was saying things like "wow" and "ahhh" and "cool".... It really was cute.

So, we hid it again, and we'll see if maybe she won't remember til Christmas what she found. But I have a feeling she will remember. She's a smart little boogar.

Here's a picture of her funny little shenanigans...

Holiday shopping!

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:31:00 +0000

It's super fun, right?

Who knew?

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:29:00 +0000

That Christmas tree boxes came with little Maggies?

My husband

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:14:00 +0000

is a closet vampire.
Yep, I recently found out he owns the New Moon soundtrack. Pretty soon I'll find him curled up with the books.

This is a pony tail

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:42:00 +0000

See?

This is the first pony tail she has ever let me put in her hair. We have record of it.

what to make,

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:24:00 +0000

what to make, what to make...

That's how I feel right now about dinner. Some days I'm really pumped to make dinner, and some, well, not so pumped. Plus grocery shopping is in my horizon tonight. YAY!

Needing inspiration.....

Thankful

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:11:00 +0000

Since Halloween is over and the holiday season has moved on to one of my favorites... Thanksgiving... it has gotten me thinking about things I'm thankful for. Today I am thankful for health, strength and families. Seeing all the families who were affected in the Fort Hood tragedy makes me realize so many things don't matter. Just who we are and who we love.

Triplet Boys!

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:36:00 +0000

My dear friend Bonnie had triplet boys on Labor Day, and recently had some photos taken of them. I just had to share them. You'll have to go to this site to check them out. As of today, I believe that 2 will be able to come home tonight! Yay!!! I'm just so excited for her and the boys!!

Well, it's done

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:22:00 +0000

I did it! I actually had my eyes lasered!

Well I guess it's lasik, but same way. I opted for a addition to the surgery... I now have xray vision. And can see thru walls. Now Maggie has no chance to get away with anything.

Recovery is good. The nap after the surgery was great. It's a weird feeling to open you eyes and actually see something. And yes, things are still a bit blurry, but the doctor says it will get better every day.

So to celebrate, I've started a list of things I am excited to do without glasses:
- taking a shower and actually seeing the bottles
- reading a book while laying down
- riding roller coasters and not worrying if they will fly off
- going swimming, or to any sort of water park
- putting on makeup without getting super close to the mirror
- washing my glasses EVERY DAY
- super glueing my glasses when the frame breaks
- getting a haircut and actually SEEing what they are doing while it's getting done.

There are many more reasons... but I am just super excited to be without them! I'll post a picture in a week or so. There are some broken blood vessels in my eyes that make me look a little possessed, and I need to work on my tan around my eyes. And I can wear eye makeup in 5 days.... So... keep posted!

Nerves??

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:15:00 +0000

Yep, my nerves are a little on end. WHY? Maybe because in two days I'll be lasered in my eyeballs!! I'm soo excited, but am a roller coaster with nerves. Some days I'm super freaked, and some days I try to stay calm and remind myself millions of people have done this procedure so I have no need to worry.

So, unless I see you before Thursday, you will never see me in glasses again. Unless it's sunglasses! I've never had sunglasses before (prescription ones are SO expensive) so I might go crazy with them. Anyone got some good suggestions on places to get sunglasses or a certain style I should get? I'm open!

More fun times

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Trick or treat!

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:03:00 +0000

Halloween was a blast this year! Considering last year we had closed on our house and were packing and moving... So this was super fun to be out with Maggie. She was Nemo and had the outfit to go with it.

That morning I had found a pair of pumpkin pj's and knew Maggie would die if she didn't have them. I'm hoping her pumpkin obsession will turn into something else... if not, how will I explain where all the pumpkins went in another month or so! These are the pumpkins she toted around the house all... day... long...

We had a couple friends come over with their kiddos to hit up the neighborhood. We had Nemo, a piggy, a plane and a football player. Picture to come later. I kinda had the idea that Maggie would only last for like 5 houses or something, but NOPE, she kept going and going. She LOVED knocking on the doors and getting free candy! One festive house had a Mickey Mouse outside their house. She couldn't believe that Mickey lived in the same neighborhood as her.

Here's one for the books! We were actually all looking at the camera. That's a first!

And here's the loot to prove we actually went. See the big pile? Yep, that's me and Dave's. See the small itty bitty pile with raisins and a pencil? That's Maggies. Poor thing. That's the kind of treats you get when you're allergic to milk. BOOO!!!

Now off to the next holiday- THANKSGIVING!! Weeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Butternut & Acorn Squash soup

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:11:00 +0000

So today I decided to be a little chef in the kitchen. I merged two recipes to create one yummy concoction. The Southern Living August magazine had a pumpkin acorn squash soup recipe and I found a Martha Stewart Pumpkin Apple with Wild Rice soup recipe... that's where it started.

The SL recipe is basically the one I did, but added a couple twists. It can be found here. The recipe calls for pumpkins, but I had a butternut squash I've been wanting to use so I switched the pumpkin for the butternut squash. From that point the recipe is followed just like it says, but then I top it with a scoop of wild rice pilaf. That was the inspiration from the Martha Stewart recipe.

Wish I would have take a picture when I ate it for lunch- sorry! But trust me, it's delish!!

Punkins

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:30:00 +0000

In our quest to find crafty fun things to do, Maggie and I made Pumpkins this week. I drew the circles, and she colored and put faces on them. Then we taped them to the wall... that was the most popular part of this craft. Taping something to the wall.

And in her words "Puh Puh!" (pumpkin!)

Halloween Teaser

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:26:00 +0000

Nemo wanted to say "HI" to all those other fishies out there.

Look for some trick or treating pictures in the near future!

Seriously?

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:23:00 +0000

Who wouldn't love this little girl?!

A journey into the world of Art

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:36:00 +0000

As much as I love to be artistic and creative, I'm hoping to inspire Maggie to do the same.

Step 1: Buy washable watercolors, set up paper outside, show her how to paint

Step 2: Continue painting on paper

Step 3: Discover your nails need a touch up

Step 4: Feet also need touch up

Step 5: Get washed off, forgot about painting, resume with painting on paper

Step 6: Who cares about painting on paper, when you can paint on yourself!!!

Hopefully she won't come home when she's 18 with full body tatoos....

Poor scoobies

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:29:00 +0000

On monday Maggie had her 18 month check up (yep, she's 19 months tomorrow...) but that's neither here nor there. She's a rock star on all her stats- especially height! We're so proud of her for growing so much! After getting 2 shots (boo!!!) we came home and took a nap. Afterwards she picked out this outfit to put on. Yep. A onesie that is too small (but had Minnie Mouse on it!), her swimming shorts, and her new black patent leather mary janes. As a side note, she always wants to take pictures with the camera, so all my photos lately are of her reaching to the camera.

This is one fashion diva... Watch out Vogue!

Today is a good day

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:22:00 +0000

Today I was reminded of why I love being a momma.

Maggie did all this by herself (except for the pearl necklace turned bracelet).

I love it!!!

Yeah Yeah, I know...

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:28:00 +0000

It's been soooo long since I've posted anything. I've heard enough of the whining, ahem, Dave...

So, let's bring everyone up to speed. It has been hot hot hot (!!!) so we've been trying to stay cool cool cool. Cue the pool shots:

Thank goodness Maggie loves playing in the water. It's pretty amazing how she can play and run around so much and then jump into that freezing cold water! Needless to say, it's been lots and lots of sunscreen. (also, RIP the cutest sunglasses ever... They broke and were not fixable. But hooray for new ones!)

With things being warmer, our kitties sleep ALL day long and then get so frisky at the end of the day. Cue frisky kitty shots:

When you hear a THUD THUD THUD landing, that would be Dude jumping onto the Fridge, then the counter, then the floor. Also, our kitchen is now green, but es no bueno. Thinking yellow is more of our color in this house.

This past week, the library had a petting zoo come with lots of animals for the kids to see. If I recall, at the Rodeo Maggie was not the most excited about petting animals that were her size (unless they are cats or dogs). So we knew going into the cage was a no go. Here's a shot of Maggie with the Turtle. Love the look; "Mommy, is that boy going to get his hand eaten off?" Cue the petting zoo photo:

Many times I plug in my camera and find goodies like this:

Makes me smile! And on a side note, we painted our toenails today (sorry no picture yet).

Father's Day was so much fun. It's always fun to have a reason to celebrate the one you love the most. This is to the man who I think is caring, loving, honest, hardworking, hilarious, smelly, handsome, and many more fun things. Dave got to pick dinner and Collinas and Ruggles Bakery were calling our names. Thank goodness Dave has good taste in food :) And it was safe for Maggie too (well, not the bakery, but the pastas!!) Here are the two goobers I love the most!

And of course, there is always time to spend with your boyfriend, Max. Maggie has truly come to be SO excited to see him. Lately when she gets SO excited, she dances really fast with her feet in one spot. The phrase "she's a maniac, maa-ni-ac" pops into my head when she does that.

I really like this last shot. Maggie's really picked up how to throw gang signs in the last week or so. Holla!

Enjoy our little update!

Driving already??

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:31:00 +0000

This week we went to the Children's Museum with a play group. Kaylene and I went with Max and Maggie. They are best friends for ever!! I got some super cute shots with them playing in the cars together.

"Hi!"

"AHHH! No Seatbelts!!"

"Seriously, Max, this music is AWFUL!"

SMILE

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:16:00 +0000

Here's at least one family shot!

New place I want to retire

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:06:00 +0000

We went on a vacation to Duck, North Carolina with my family, and it was one of the best vacations ever! So many fun memories of the beach house, pools, beaches, family, and food.

I'm trying to put a video or at least a collage together of all the fun times...

Just chillin at the casa

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:57:00 +0000

Hi 'Daddy'!!

Been getting a lot of this lately...

serenagibson50@gmail.com (Serena) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:34:00 +0000

Pookie is now into showing her belly button... to everyone and every thing. It's the funniest thing ever! And everything is a 'dooooooo' sound, hence the lips.

We get to go to the doctor today for her 15 month check up. Yay. Can you feel the excitement?