Dan and I are home alone tonight. We were talking and I told him I sort of missed living in my trailer. I said, "There was nowhere to go but here" as I stood right under him, all in his personal space. He said "Yeh, and people bucking me out of the shower and stuff." OMG!!! I forgot all about that. I DIED laughing.

Dan and I both graduated college making decent money, but like most newlyweds, we had humble beginnings. We spent our money on a big piece of land, but we lived in a trailer. An old trailer. A fixer-upper trailer. It was cozy. We were happy.

We both had to be at work at the crack-of-dawn. Neither of us wanted to get up earlier than the other. Neither of us wanted a cold shower either. Our water heater was small. So we woke up together and showered together every morning. It's not personal information. It was life, the best we could do. One morning, as we were changing spots (only one of us got the hot water at a time, the other one stood in trembles), I said to myself "I wonder just how much extra room we have. He's making me smoosh all up in this wall to get by." So as Dan passed by, I gave him a little buck. It was just a little buck.

OUT of the shower he tumbled. Upside down, on his back, screaming holy terror. He tore down the shower curtain. Ripped the rod right off the wall. And he grabbed the towel bar to save himself...and tore a gaping hole in the bathroom wall. When he landed in the floor he was wrapped like a present in the shower curtain. I stood there in shock, not believing what I had just done. I had to try REAL REAL hard not to die laughing and act all concerned. "Oh Honey are you okay??" Those were the good 'ol days. :-)

It's the end of another wonderful weekend. We attended my cousin Payton's birthday party with the girls and a nephew. They rode bikes and played on the playground (it was at a park) and had a really great time. We attempted to meet up with Bentley but she was MIA again. (Brooke, one day I will find out where you are hiding.) Saturday night we started our Pinterest Party group. I am REALLY excited about this. Once a month a group of ladies will be meeting to do a Pinterest craft. It's much like Bunco, except no Bunco....craft instead. Sunday morning I woke up praising God for all my blessings, one of the most important laying right up under my arm. My sweet little family went to church this morning (sermon take away: You make time for what you value!) and went for a bike ride this afternoon (me and Daniley ride, Dan and Lil' Darlin' stroll). Now it's bedtime. Have a great week everyone!!
Here is my Pinterest Pal group and the cute wreaths we made:

WARNING: THIS POST MAY BE DELETED BY MONDAY. lol
Just got back from Habenero's. Not much I can remember except being asked "Small or Medium?" and replying "How big is LARGE? YEH, I'LL TAKE IT." LOL.
That's right. Mom has checked out.
Good... night. Man. As usual, trying to save a dollar.... "is a large cheaper than two smalls?" I should have known better when they served it with two straws!
I better not write any more for now...but I will say....I ran into two VERY special ladies on my way home this evening.

So thankful for a great husband. He may as well had 3 children for the last couple hours. Daniley and I got to playing at the dinner table, trying to stuff sweet-n-low packets in each others' mouths. We both were laughing so hard we could barely breath. I remember hearing Daniley's DVD on the way home..it's a learn-to-read DVD and apparently they were making the IG sound and I told Dan something about those lifting rigs you designed at work.....and he reminded me they were lifting LUGS so i better just sit down and shut up....Had a great night with the fam. bye bye til tomorrow.....LOL......

This afternoon, Daniley and her Dad built a new strawberry patch. Daniley loves picking and eating strawberries. I vaguely recall my Mawmaw Nina having a strawberry patch when I was a very young girl. I couldn't WAIT to get out there and get those strawberries. Now Daniley will have the same opportunity. :-)

Today after a sewing project, Rachel, Everett and my gang went to ChickfilA. Rachel is a much more "proper" parent than me (she does everything right, I do everything in some kind of survival mode, LOL) and one of our conversations was "Do you think a lot of kids throw up in there? I mean they eat...and then go jump around in there." I said "Well, I've never heard of that but you did read my blog post the other day, right?" Laughter followed, but she let Everett go in anyway. LOL. Little Darlin' was ready to go up and play she just couldn't get there. (Click the collage to blow up, but don't skip ahead before reading.)
This was, however, Everett's first trip in the play area. First Rach let me take him down. I bumped his head and he cried just a tad; I wasn't sure if it was the head bump or the slide. So after some contemplation, Rach took him down again. This was his expression: I HATE THIS. I MIGHT LIKE THIS. I LOVE THIS. LOL.
They left for a nap, but we stayed and played. A little boy with a crush on me came in. I took his picture. :-) He asked me if I drove a racecar, like an Indy car. I said no, but I'm cool anyway!!

Sunday the Daniley, Danslen, and I had a Girls Day Out. We snuck down to Pawpaw's and while he was asleep on the couch we took off with his saddle and horse! (Click each collage to blow it up.) I was cool as a cucumber until I came up on the scene and Danson had the horse running. I didn't completely freak out but I was a little uneasy...it would definitely be a long fall.
Then Daniley decided that she wanted to lead the horse so Lil' Darlin' and I bravely got on. (Danson was just outside the camera frame--no worries.)
That was all well so we went back to Pawpaw's house and took a little rest. Daniley decided she wanted to walk the horse and Pawpaw encouraged me to let her do it by herself (GASP!) but it turned out to be just fine. Unc, Pawpaw, and I got to chatting and thank goodness still Pawpaw had his eye on her because I didn't see her try to lead the horse into the gazebo, and honestly I'm not sure if I would have immediately recognized the danger in that. But we stopped the horse just short of entry. Hahaha.
Then Daniley decided she would rather just catch a chicken so that took us all in a different direction....

Who's Who in 2012?
The girls are about 1 month apart in these pictures. It's really no trouble for me telling who is who. At times I think they look a lot alike but in these pictures I don't really think so at all. Anyway, it was fun going through the old yearbook tonight and playing dress up and taking photos! Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

In creating my Connell Yearbook, I look back through old photographs and blog posts. They bring back beautiful memories of my children and family. We really are blessed!!! My kids are precious jewels and I am so thankful we have done so many fun things together and look forward to many more!!! Every day is adventure. I don't want to miss a minute.
With that said, I am making a commitment to press on with the blog. In going back and reviewing, there are stories on there that I haven't really forgotten, but I would have not remembered them for the yearbook. A wise lady (Mrs. Jackie) told me to document the stories, and oh so quickly I see why! I was cracking up when I went back to read some of the things that happened just a year ago! I would never have been able to tell the story as accurately today as I did then. Thanks for stopping by the blog, and caring enough about us to see what we're up to. Love to you all!!

When the Tide is Rolling, this is how WE'RE rolling....
(This is Bentley, always recognized by the awesome hair!!)

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This is a leash. Daniley likes to wear it. She likes to tell us to hold her tight while she tries to get away. It wasn't long before we were at this:

For Christmas Daniley got a Barbie bike. She tells EVERYONE she meets, "My name is Daniley. I'm 3 years old. Santa brought me a new Barbie bike." We rode her bike to Honey's house today and she stepped over to talk to the neighbor and I heard it again. She is doing REALLY well with her bike. She thinks it is so cool because it has brakes. Of course it still has training wheels, but she's fell off several times and she always shakes it off and gets right back on.
I'm not going to put Daniley's entire Christmas spread on here, but she got a lot of presents. I anticipated her being much more excited so I wrapped lots of gifts. After about 3 presents, she was just ready to play. By the time we were nearly done we were BEGGING her to open her gifts. Note to self: a one year old needs one present. A two year old needs two. A three year old needs 3. We'll see how it goes next year. :-)

Daniley started school Friday so she could mind someone besides family members, wait she doesn't mind family members, ok, so she could learn to mind. ;-) And Mommy would like some time alone with Little Darlin' because I really haven't had any time to focus on just her. Here is our "First Day" adventure.

Before school, Daniley decided what she needed most for that day was Fluffy Tinkerbell, a sippy cup of water, and Polynesian sauce (from Chick-fil-A). I couldn't stand the thought of Dan dropping her off for her first day without me, so I took her myself. We arrived and she was the first one in her class. She will always have about 45 minutes one-on-one with her teacher because she gets there so early. (I like that!) Anyway, her teacher told her that her outfit was cute and she put her hands out to the side like a model and smiled and delicately said "I know." Of course I'm used to such responses but her teacher just cracked up. Her teacher said, "I can tell already, we're going to get along GREAT! She's my kind of girl!" Daniley then began to play. I stayed with her about 45 minutes. A couple more kids came in and they were making wooden circles. Daniley told a little boy she'd help him and he said "No, I'll do it." She said, "I'll help you. I'm great!!"
Daniley isn't shy and she's not lacking any self confidence either. LOL. Mollye Gray is in her class (there are a few we remember from the infant room). She is so stinkin' cute and when I picked Daniley up the teacher told me she and Daniley have very similar personalities. She said, "One minute they are hugging, and the next they are fighting." I stayed with Daniley about an hour when I picked her up. I read the little girls a story and participated in group time. I love her class and we are both really excited about this new adventure.

So last night while cleaning I got a question from Dan the Man while he was teaching Daniley how to play checkers. "Can you only move diagonally, or can you go over too?" GASP!! My Pawpaw would roll over in his grave if he found out I married someone that couldn't play checkers. So I answered the question and waited a moment before going in to find that Dan had their men (in this particular case Doras and Swipers, since it is Dora Checkers) on BOTH colors of squares. That's right, BOTH colors of squares, he just used the board however he wanted, I guess making it up as he went along and telling Daniley to whom it was as good as gold. So I think to myself, "Easy Win. Sit Down. Play the game." Victories over Dan don't come along that often. We clear the board, and Daniley and I play on one team, against Dan. I manage to swipe a couple of his men, get crowned, and rule the board. Then suddenly, I put my KING Dora right in the way of his Swiper. You should have seen the grin on his face when he jumped my beloved King. It was short lived, though....you should have SEEN his face when I fell on the couch laughing after jumping ALL his remaining pieces in one big swipe, claiming victory as my own!

Happy New Year! Bring on 2012!!
I am going to publicize my near year's resolutions. I tend to be a person of my word, so if I tell you what my resolutions are, I'm more likely to keep them.
1. Get affairs in order. We have two precious children, and in our absense they will need care and financial support. We will have a plan, trust, and will by the end of 2012.
2. Date nights. Dan and I need a Saturday night date now and then. We love spending the weekends with our girls but our marriage would benefit from dinner and a movie every now and then.
3. Healthier eating. I said healthiER not healthy. I am not promising to eat organic and not have junk. I am resolving to replace a bad choice with a better choice when it's possible. Dan's dad having a heart attack was a real reminder we'd better all take care of ourselves.
I hope everyone has a blessed and happy year!

If Erin was checking this blog already, she'd be giving me far too much credit. But just in case, here it is: ;-)

HO HO HO!!! Christmas party gone personal this year. I decided not to have a big to-do. I'm spread a little more thin this year, and here lately it seems so is everyone else. So I invited three of Daniley's friends for a Christmas spend-the-night. Sarah Katherine was first on the scene.
After a snack and some laughs, the girls were in party mode!
Shortly after, Anna, Bray, and Ryan arrived. Anna LOVES playing with Little Darlin'. We watched The Polar Express to get ready for our ride on it tomorrow!! Both Daniley and Sarah Katherine have tickets, but not together. After the movie, the girls found Santa outside peeking at them behind a tree. He gave them a very personal visit. When Sarah Katherine saw him, she had a small, very miniature meltdown. No one said anything about her seeing Santa, but she just got a tad bit upset. Now Erin had ASSURED me SK would be primed for Santa this year. LOL. Well....by the time Santa made it inside, Sarah Katherine was his best friend!!
Daniley is always first in Santa's lap and I guess when you are the party host, that's your reward!
Here are Anna, Ryan, and Bray with Santa!
Little Darlin' liked Santa too! She asked for her Big Sister to always be nice to her. I'm not sure if Santa can really pull that out of his bag. Santa, please, Show me what you've got!! Here is everyone telling Santa goodbye. I love the expressions on everyone's faces.
Now I have two tired little girls all ready for bed! It's 10:45pm, and they're still in there giggling! :-) Goodnight everyone!! :-)

Brooke, (sis-in-law, mom to my new niece, bride to my brother) and I had a girls day out Saturday and decided to write posts about it without looking at the others' first, just to see how our perspectives differed. So here's my story: (You can view Brookie's by clicking her link on my sidebar, when it's updated.)

Saturday--we decided to get the girls together and do some shopping. My mom warned me we were crazy. I packed one of everything, so hopefully no matter what went "wrong" that day, I'd have a solution in the bag. (Everyone does know that with 3 kids the day isn't going to be like a walk in the park, right?) After some amount of chaos, and a trip back for what we forgot, only later to think of more stuff we forgot, we were on our way. Stop #1: Chick-fil-A. It was a mad house; we had to park at NTB and walk to CFA (with 3 kids and 80 lb. of luggage). Daniley ran into the play area (which was great for me) so Little Darlin and I got the food and sat down. I went to retrieve Daniley and I saw her before I got there. "OH MY GOSH!" I exclaimed! I heard some other parents say "Yeh we were wondering who she belonged to." Her pants were sopping wet. I was praying someone spilled a drink, but oh no. Daniley has never flat out peed in her pants, and she's been potty trained since well before she turned 2. I really couldn't understand what I was seeing but it was what it was so all I could do was deal with the mess. I just really wanted to get out of there without being seen and run away as quickly as possible. So I got the spare set of clothes and went to the bathroom (no spare panties, Commando). I was telling Daniley how upset I was with her and asking her why she did that (we had peed just half an hour prior). I said "Where did you pee pee at?" Reply: "In the car seat. In that hole." OMG. Well THAT situation just went from bad to worse. .... We sat down to eat finally and Daniley kept trying to drink my tea. I politely moved it to my other side and helped Daniley eat. I looked back over suddenly to find Little Darlin had swiped it off the table...it was upside down in her lap. At that point I just started giggling because Brooke is there and I'm supposed to look "experienced." LOL. Yeh she was getting the "experience" alright. So the lid was on and the spill wasn't too bad. I wiped her up, asked CFA for a couple plastic bags (because we were NOT going home!) and Daniley was just gonna have to sit on the pee in the car seat. So we get out to the car....and I'm ready.....but the car seat is dry. So I started perusing the carpet for pee. NONE. Everything was dry. I was perplexed. So again, I questioned Daniley. "Daniley, I thought you said you peed in your car seat. This car seat is dry. Tell me where you peed." Reply: "Mom, I peed in that car in Chick-fil-A, in the square hole." Well...it hit me like a ton of bricks. There's a car up in the play area. And by the way, she AIMED for that hole. That wasn't an accident. It was all coming together. I am so sorry world. Only a few times have I been more embarrassed. After we found out what really happened me and Brooke just died in laughter (even though it's not "funny"), and once again, we were on our way. It was off to get gas, then Hobby Lobby. Then JoAnn's. Then Costco. The rest of the day was pretty alright. (Really fun, actually.) It just takes a long time and a lot of effort to run around with a lot of kids. I wouldn't trade a minute of it.
After we got home I was holding Bentley and feeding her and Little Darlin' decided she would help: And then she started drooling: And then she decided she'd try to get her a bite.
Can't wait til our next outing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To all who came to the pottery party, thank you so much. I had a lot of fun and hope you did as well. Pottery is guaranteed by Dec. 18, but I hope it will be a few days sooner. To those of you who had to wait a little while, I thank you all for your patience. Hopefully you will find your little angel's prints worth your wait. :-)

Bama vs. LSU. Cold fall night. Wiener roast. Time with family (4 grandparents, 3 neices and nehpews, 2 brothers and sisters, 1 guest.....and a partridge in a pear tree.) What more could you dream for?
We ate around 30 hot dogs. (like one for every field goal we missed, haha!!) This was a lot of fun and I look forward to doing it more often. Check out my dad gettin' riled up during the game. That's just exactly why I love watching football with him. :-)

The other morning before work I took Daniley over to Sarah Katherine's for a play date. She had had some minor surgery so we thought she might be happy to see a friendly face, especially since she'd been booted from daycare (only by the Dr, of course!). And yes, we are in our morning robes. Don't worry about it.


I just sent Erin these pictures, and she was quick to remind be about "yesterday."

Now matter how big they get, they'll always be my baby girls!!

Last night was Parent's Night at the dance studio. We missed week before last due to sickness, and last week due to vacation, so I was caught off guard by the whole thing (meaning I didn't even have a camera or even my phone). Someone was nice enough to capture this on their phone and email it to me. The girls and music were so sweet. I just started crying. I hope no one noticed. I love my little Sugar Booger so much and sometimes I just get all choked up. She is so precious!!