December Photo-A-Day Challenge

Have you seen I Heart Faces Photo-A-Day Challenge for December? I think I'm going take the plunge and challenge myself this month! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Santa brings me a special gift with a Nikon label, so I better start practicing now!

 

 

 Want to join in the fun? Check out the I HEART FACES page for details. They welcome photographers of all levels and you can even enter photos taken with your phone! Happy Wednesday, everyone and let the holiday photos begin! XOXO

A Wonderful Weekend + A Thankful Heart

Oh, boy...where to begin?!?! This weekend was simply AMAZING! I love having long weekends with family and spending extra time with little buddy. We did a little bit of everything this weekend and even with a couple extra days managed to run out of time!

 

Thanksgiving was extra special this year for us. My parents, brother and Mimi spent the day at Vincent's parents house. It was so much fun having both families together and not having to divide our time between the two. Brock got tons of attention and was tuckered out by mid afternoon!

 

Friday & Saturday included lots of Christmas decorating for me and quality bonding time for Vince & Brock. Our house is starting to look pretty festive and I hope to have some fun pics to post this week of all my handmade goodies!

 

We spent Saturday afternoon at Ford Stadium cheering on the Mustangs. They beat Tulsa and are on their way to the Hawaii Bowl...Pony up!

 

Vince and I have made a pact not to "eat out" for the rest of the year. We're paying cash for Christmas thanks to our AdvoCare business and one of our gifts to each other is to start 2013 debt free except for our mortgage. I've had fun planning our meals and cooking this week...yes, I've actually enjoyed cooking...HA! Vince has enjoyed all of the things I've made which only adds to my motivation. I altered a recipe for a Caramel Apple Pie that I clipped from ALL YOU magazine and made it as gluten-free/sugar-free as possible. I assumed it would be a failed attempt, but much to my surprise Vincent loved it! Here's to many more cooking adventures this month! XOXO

 

BROCK'S BAPTISM + WEEKEND ADVENTURES

It's Thanksgiving week! We're so excited to have a long weekend with the family enjoying some yummy eats! Our weekend was FILLED with fun and we're sure more is right around the corner as we enter the holiday season!

 

Let the little children come unto Me, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. {Luke 18:16}

 

Our precious little boy was Baptized Saturday at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. It was a sweet little service presided by Deacon Ken Reisor. Brock was an angel {I love having such a calm, sweet little man!} and looked precious in his Baptismal outfit.

 

We celebrated afterwards with brunch and laughs at JJ's Cafe before heading to Irving for my sweet niece's 4th birthday party. My sister-in-law did an awesome job planning a fall themed event {details here} and we had a great time catching up with everyone.

 

 

We spent Sunday watching football with Brock before an evening Mass and a quick run for groceries at Whole Foods. The perfect ending to our fun little weekend was a warm mug of hot chocolate, Boardwalk Empire and laundry!

I'm super excited for Thanksgiving and am keeping my fingers crossed the dishes I'm preparing turn out scrumptious...those of you who know me know that I AM NOT known for my cooking! I'm hoping to change that this year...ha!

Have a great week everyone! XOXO

 

TGIF! We made it!

Thank Goodness It's FRIDAY! It has been one LONG, STRESSFUL week, but we made it through! I'm looking forward to spending the weekend with this little guy...

 

 

We've got a busy, busy weekend ahead filled with fun adventures! {A certain somebody is getting baptised tomorrow!} We hope y'all have a fun weekend! XOXO

Handmade Holidays: Joann's Project Ideas

Eeek! It's almost time to start hauling out the holly! I've been busy trying to finish hadmade ornaments, Christmas soft books for Brock, and a nativity scene before Santa's big debut at the Chase house, but I couldn't resist adding a few projects from Joann's to the list!

GLITTER BULB ORNAMENT | POINSETTIA TREE SKIRT | FELT HOLIDAY WREATH

 

Hoping to have some finished projects to showoff after the weekend! What projects made your holiday to-do list? XOXO-Bri



Mama said there'd be days like this...

Hello, sweet friends! We had a whirlwind of a weekend at the Chase house. It was one of those weekends when we were slammed with one thing after the other leaving Vince and I completely exhausted and Baby Brock completely off-schedule :(

Despite everything that went wrong, I've collected the few wonderful things that went RIGHT to focus on. When days like that happen I just take it as a sign that I need to pray MORE! So concluding an otherwise awful weekend with a sweet Sunday Mass was just the answer this little family needed.

Here are a few of the highlights of our weekend...

FRIDAY: Bryan's last home football game - Eventhough it was a L, it was a great game and an exciting overtime finish.

SATURDAY: AdvoCare Ladies Alive - I LOVE our AdvoCare family and this company has completely chagned our lives and future. Brock attended half of the day with me and did so well. He had fun flirting with all the ladies. Vince worked our AdvoCare booth at the SMU game and we finished the evening with a gluten-free Picasso's pizza and an early bedtime!

SUNDAY: Vince had an amazing tryout for the Plano Revolution. I can't wait to see him play again. Despite not training the past year he ran a 4.68 sec 40 and impressed the coaches. I'm SO proud of him! Brocky and I spent the day playing while a contractor fixed the sheetrock in our Master Bedroom. He cut his 2nd tooth and handled it like a champ! Our afternoon was filled with cheers for a Cowboys victory and we finished the weekend with Mass and a to-go dinner from Fuzzy's Tacos.

We've learned the last few days to always look on the bright side! Here's to a great week ahead! XOXO

Linking up HERE and HERE

Handmade Holidays: Snowmen Ornaments

I ADORE the holidays and the happiness and joy they bring. My favorite part of decorating our house is making handmade ornaments and decor that sparkle in the twinkle lights. When I was a little girl, our Christmas tree was always filled with the ornaments my mom made. She's passed them down to our family now and I love adding to the collection.
 

These little guys are 3 of 13 snowman ornaments I'm making from a kit I picked up a JoAnn's a few weeks ago. Now that Brock is here we're putting up a large tree and starting our own traditions as a family. Of course, a larger tree calls for more ornaments and this little elf has quite a bit of work to do!
 

In addition to these little guys I've found some inpiration/tutorials online I can't wait to make for our collection. If DIY DECOR is your thing, you may want to check them out too! Tis' the season!
 

MONOGRAMMED FAMILY ORNAMENTS, CHRISTMAS LIGHTS, SQUIRREL ORNAMENT, CHARMING HEART, EASY SNOWMEN & TREES, HOLIDAY HOOT, PEACE & LOVE ORNAMENTS, GINGERBREAD HOUSE,

Linking up HERE.

Looking Back: 4 Months

Little Buddy turned 5 MONTHS on Tuesday! He's changed so much this past month...

 

Started eating solid foods

LIKES: brown rice cereal, green beans, carrots, peas & sweet potatoes

DISLIKES: bananas

 

Sits up on his own

 

Started crawling...he doesn't move very fast or get very far yet :)

 

1st Halloween - Dressed up as Popeye

 

1st tooth cut through

 

We are totally IN LOVE with this little guy and his cute little ways of doing things! Have a great evening, everyone! XOXO-Bri

What A Weekend!

It was a pretty exciting weekend at the Chase house filled with football, family and fun! Sunday, Vince and I had the honor of being a vendor and judge at the Miss Plano Frisco Pageant. I'd never been a part of a pageant before, but I loved the wonderful people I met and am secretly crossing my fingers that one of the girls we selected will go on to be the next Miss America and Miss America Oustanding Teen :)

Here's a recap of Brock's weekend...

 

{1} Pop-Pop & Brock cheering on Uncle Bryan at the Irving High football game in Euless.

{2} Brock's 1st tooth cut through on Saturday!

{3} Somebody LOVES his feet!

{4} Woke Daddy up to tell him secrets and laugh.

{5} I have no clue what he was looking at, but I love this expression!

 

Happy ELECTION DAY everyone! Brock is 5 months today and we're hoping our candidate wins so we have twice as much to celebrate tonight! XOXO-Bri

Brock's 1st Halloween

Have your recovered from the Halloween Candy Coma? We fortunately didn't buy/or bring home any candy which made avoiding it much easier! We spent the evening helping Pop-Pop pass out candy to trick-or-treaters before enjoying a feast of sushi at one of our favorite spots. Popeye had a blast before passing out from exhaustion!

 

 

Here's a quick rundown of how I put together Brock's Popeye outfit for anyone who's interested:

 

{1} I cut the sleeves off from a boy's muscle suit I found at Walmart in the Halloween dept. I cut down the length and hand basted them into the shoulder seams of a black t-shirt.

 

{2} I cut the lapel from a scrap piece of sweatshirt material I found at JoAnn's and ironed on white seam binding to the edges. Hand sew the lapel to the t-shirt and sew on three yellow/gold buttons.

 

{3} I took an adult sailor hat I folded the back over till it fit Brock's head and hand sewed a new seam.

 

{4} Using a black permanent marker I drew an anchor tatoo on one forearm and I used dark jeans and white tennis shoes we already had to complete the look.

 

I wish I had pictures of the process, but I was rushed to create it the night before and it was all I could do to get it done! Enjoy! XO-Bri