Two Sisters, No Kids, and a Whole Lot of Nashville

So I just returned from Nashvegas. And boy was it fun just hanging out with my younger sister Heidi. I went to celebrate her 28th birthday. My mom and dad came to our place to watch the girls (yes, Ian was there too but very busy with work). Thanks to them I was able to take off for 5 days and not worry about the kids or the hubby.


Since I was last in Nashville, Heidi moved into a new place (her place is behind her in the above picture). She is now the neighbor of Bill Frist (former senator of Tennessee).


His house is the one below. He is literally the next door neighbor of her. A fun little tid bit of info.


One night, we went to see The Pajama Game (one of her friends gave us the tickets). It was fun to go. But while we were parking (we were late and it was so darn cold), we (and I mean Heidi when I say we) had problems paying and ended up paying twice! Luckily the tickets were free, but $20 for parking was somewhat frustrating.

After the show, we (and by we, I mean I) were hungry. Heidi is a carrot cake freak so she took me to a place that she loves to go for carrot cake. I of course wanted something salty so we ordered carrot cake and a loaded potato.


Now let me just tell you, we were getting funny looks from the waiters because of our food combo. But we liked it and were filled up for a mere $10.93! (check it out below) I just have to say that I was very impressed by my frugalness. Yay me! High five to myself and my cheapness!




The next morning we went to Pancake Pantry. It is famous in Nashville for it's pancakes.


Here we are standing in line waiting to fill our tummy's with some sweet potato pancakes. We stood in line for an hour. Supposedly the line was quite short that morning.

We finally got in. And I had to take a picture of Heidi messing with her Blackberry. You see, normally when I am home or on a trip with the hubby, he is doing this (see below). But I was away from the hubby and I still had to deal with this (see below) the whole time.


Once we got our food, I knew that it was well worth the wait. The syrup alone filled my heart and tummy with the greatest of joys...ooo that was good cinnamon syrup. I highly recommend eating at this place.

Baby happy! ( I am Baby. Hah! I got you!)

After filling ourselves with pancakes, eggs, and hashbrowns, we walked around (hoping to burn whatever calories that we could before it got cold again).

One of the places we went to was Posh, a boutique in Nashville.

There was an article in Elle Decor that mentioned the exact one that we went to:

"Hillsboro Village, a neighborhood near the Vanderbilt campus, is like a compact version of New York's SoHo, and it's here that Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood find edgy fashion at Posh."

-Elle Decor

So I found a fun pair of boots here. I couldn't leave the store without them. I mean that I literally could not. I am very indecisive (as you all know) and couldn't decide whether or not to buy them but I refused to leave the store without them. So what's a girl to do...I had to buy them!

We decided that that night would be an order pizza/rent a movie night (it was supposed to snow). So we rented Mama Mia. I think that we were the only 2 females in the U.S. of A to have not seen it yet. I had heard mixed reviews. It was cute and cheesy. I wouldn't recommend it (even though I know that you have all seen it). One thing that the critics had said that was absolutely true was that Pierce Brosnan sounded like a water buffalo. Too true, too true.

I had a great time with my sister. I was able to attend one of her classes. She was amazing! I knew that she was a great speaker but this was a completely different level of amazingness (love the anayansi-ism). I would have loved to have a professor that was as engaging as she was.

One thing that I should have known but didn't, was that in Nashville, everyone is a singer/songwriter. Everywhere that we went, people were claiming to be making an album or just performing somewhere. It was quite funny. Even a guy working at Sprint was telling a customer about it. Oh, and the picture of Heidi and me in the line at the Pancake Pantry...yup, that was taken by a "singer/songwriter". Too funny.

Well that is a quick overview of my trip. It was much needed on my part. I had a wonderful time with my sister. And had a great time seeing even more of Nashville. I highly recommend the Pancake Pantry (the cinnamon syrup is to die for).

Happy Birthday Heidi! Welcome to edge of your 20's! :)

Thanks Mom and Dad for watching the kids. I definitely couldn't have done it without you two.

Date Night

Saturday evening was an exciting time for our girls. Reagan and Ian had a date. They were going to a Daddy/Daughter Princess Dinner and Dance. And Jenna and I had reservations at the American Girl Bistro (I didn't want her to feel left out).

Reagan was so excited. She had fun dancing with her friends.

And loved dancing with her daddy the whole evening.

They both had a wonderful time. Ian said that it was so funny to see all these grown men dancing their hearts out. Then when you looked down, there were all these little girls dancing right along. Personally, I loved the fact that they had this opportunity. I would have loved to have done something like that with my dad.

Jenna and I said our good byes to Daddy and Reagan and headed down to the American Girl Boutique and Bistro. We got there early enough (I know, me early... it seems almost impossible) to check the store out. Jenna loved the Bitty Baby section (since that is the doll that she has).

Then it was time for dinner. She loved having Ruby sit by her for dinner.

And since she ate all of her food, she was able to enjoy a yummy milkshake.

We all had a fun night. But Jenna is definitely ready to have a date with Daddy...she wants to go camping!

OH MY GOSH! It's DON DRAPER!

Last night, Mr. Don Draper (Jon Hamm) of Mad Men was on 30 Rock! I don't know who was more excited, me or Ian. I think that we are like most fans of Mad Men, we have a lady crush and a man crush on him. I mean look at the guy! Plus he just exudes coolness.

I must admit, Mad Men has been a tough show for me. The sexism and adultry (this is a PG13 show) are just constant. I find myself hating the characters and loving them all at once.

But in 30 Rock, Don Draper (aka Dr. Baird) is this kind, animal loving Pediatrician that is basically the perfect man. Needless to say, we were so excited to find out that last night's episode would not be his last.

So here's to all the ladies and men that were just as excited as we were. May we enjoy his good looks and charm while we wait for the new season of Mad Men to begin.

Teeth, Mama, and a Fashion No No

My mother came into town 2 weeks ago so that I could attend my annual CE Dental courses. Tons of fun, let me tell you... So I sat through 9 hours of lectures the first day with no lunch break. As a result, I only had to do 3 hours the following day. Which was still torturous but not quite as bad. The only plus (other than getting my hours over with---not including my jurisprudence one, which Ian laughs at every time I call it that) was that I got to hang out with Cindy (went to hygiene school with me) and eat the whole day.

What did I learn at my conference? Basically, not much other than some nutritional information. I also had my beliefs, on parents being in the examination room, reaffirmed (I'm totally for it). I attended a 3 hour course on that one. And it was rather convincing.

As I said before, my mom came to help out with the girls. It turned out to be perfect timing because Reagan was sick during this time and I wouldn't have been able to leave her with a friend.

While Reagan rested/watched movies, Jenna and her Mama made cookies and played.

Yummy!

OK. Now on to a completely different subject....Uggs. I got a pair for my bday from the hubby. And for someone that thinks that 60 degree weather is cold, these baby's are a jewel! Even when it has been it's coldest here, the 20's, my feet have been extremely warm. So presently, I am living in these things.

While my family was visiting for the holidays, we went shopping an obsene amount of hours/days. And other than noticing that everyone has these shoes or some that look like them, I also noticed these uggs (see below). And can I just say that the name Ugg, completely descibes what I thought when I saw these:

What I think is hideous about these boots are the amount of...shall we call it..."fluff" that is hanging out. I think a small amount of "fluff" can be nice (see below). But the above pair, are sporting a crazy amount of "fluff". And when I checked them out in a store, I noticed the large"fluff" of a mohawk or ducktale (whatever you want to call it) above the heal and up the leg. The pair below have no mohawk (don't you love my termonology). They are bare in the back. Which makes the boot look so much better in my opinion.

Now if you have a pair of the mohawk "fluff" Uggs, please don't take offense. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I just needed to get this off my chest. I love clothes and shoes too much to let this slip by. So if you do have this particular pair, I say work it. It is better to "own" your style then to look like you went a little bit overboard with the trend.

Visit from Sweden

Two weekends ago, we were able to spend time with Cami and Klas. We were so excited to meet our soon to be brother-in-law. And the girls (mainly Jenna) needed to be proved that it was not Santa Klaus that was coming but instead "Uncle" Klas. :)

We had such a great time with them. Cami is such a kind hearted person so we knew that Klas had to be something special. And he was. We loved him almost immediately. He was so sweet, very friendly, and very genuine.

We are so excited for them both. They truly make a wonderful couple. Congratulations Cami! We love you!

Jenna and Camille posing with "Hannah Montana" and "Mulan".

Klas, Cami, Jenna, and Reagan

Cami and Klas were very clever. They knew that bringing gifts to the girls is always a sure fire way to get them to be extra friendly.

Ian and I are so excited to go to Sweden and attend their wedding! I know that it will be a beautiful experience.

Congrats again to you both!

Jen

Jenna has grown so much in the past few months. She potty trained herself (just like her big sister). She is drawing pictures of people that you can actually tell are people. She is getting her letters and sounds down. The list goes on and on. But the thing that really hit me hard was when she went to Sunbeams 2 Sundays ago. It was one of those moments when i was in shock. My baby wasn't a baby anymore and I wasn't ready for that.

So I stood in the back of Primary with tears filling my eyes...trying to fight them the whole time. It was no use, no matter how I felt and no matter what I could do, she was/is growing. Time waits for no one. And my desire to keep her small just isn't going to happen. So in honor of my growing baby, I share with you the picture of her on her way to church as a Sunbeam.

Reagan picked out matching outfits-from the dress to the boots. (Reg had her coat on.)

What Jenna is into: She gives kisses and hugs constantly....and I mean constantly. She also loves to tell you that she loves you, at least, 30 times a day (I love it myself). Jenna loves to dance around and pretend that she is a princess ballerina. She loves to pretend to cook and wants to feed everyone. She is a big helper in the kitchen. Jenna loves to play with her big sister. The picture below is of Reagan and Jenna pretending to be Tiger Lily (Jen loves Peter Pan). Reagan made them both matching costumes and headpieces. They had so much fun doing that. Jenna loves singing and doing arts-n-crafts. And she has a great love of books.

She is such a fun loving little girl. We are so blessed to have her in our family.

Now if anyone knows how to get her to stop growing, please tell me your secret!

A Very Merry Christmas

Let me begin this post by bringing up last Christmas' post. Last year, I had planned on putting up a series of posts so as not to overwhelm the reader. Well, I only put up 1 post in a series of 3. I was disappointed with the fact that I never got it done. So this year I decided to overwhelm you with a crazy amount of pictures. I know that this is the only way I'll get it done (because if you know me, not only am a procrastinator but I am also constantly filled with good intentions that never happen). So brace yourself, this was our 2008 Christmas.

My family came to our home for Christmas. It was so wonderful to be with them, just us girls...and Daddy and Ian (those poor/lucky guys).

Reagan and Jenna (or shall we say I) decorated Christmas stockings for everyone.


We started Christmas morning off with the stockings. --I am still trying to get used to these things because in our Panamanian home, stockings were such a minor thing with only one small gift inside.--

Then we headed to the tree.

I know that this picture is fuzzy but Reagan's face was to perfect not to share.


Jenna loved her violin. She always wants to play her big sister's but is not allowed to touch it, so now she has her own.


Every gift was so exciting to the girls. Jenna wanted to play with every gift the moment she opened it. Needless to say, it took her quite a long time to open her gifts.


Anita got Reagan "Hungry Hippos". We always wanted one as kids (my parents never knew). So we went crazy playing a few rounds.

Jenna was exhausted after opening gifts, and it wasn't even 8 a.m. yet.

Later that day, we grabbed a neighbor for a family picture.

The "Traditional" Kemple family picture.

In the evening, Reagan finally lost her first tooth. She was so excited. She has been waiting for this day for months!

And then the next evening, the 26th, Reagan lost her second tooth.

Jenna wasn't feeling very well due to a cold. Luckily, she had her Auntie Anita to read her stories.

And she only wanted her Papa to hold her and make her feel better.

I loved hanging out with my sisters, since I hardly get to see them.
Ya'll seriously need to move back to the motherland.
(Texas was once it's own country, therefore, it can be referred to as "the motherland".)

We celebrated my parent's 38th Anniversary while they were with us.

We loved having everyone with us but knew that our time was almost up. The excitement of Christmas was perfect. And we can't wait until we are together again.

I do have to say that even though Ian Claus spoiled me to an amazing degree this year (which I absolutely loved), my favorite thing was and is feeling his love for me and the girls (which we feel everyday), and having time with him (and that is definitely not something that we get everyday).


Everyone, except Heidi, headed back home after a wonderful couple of days. Heidi stayed with us for one more day before flying out (it really helped make the whole family leaving thing a lot easier for the girls...and me too).

We had a very Merry Christmas! I hope that you all had a wonderful one too.

Parents' Day at Ballet

Yesterday, Jenna's ballet class had Parents' Day. It was so fun seeing her in action. It was funny how the girls would pay attention occasionally and then go off into their own thing (they were pretty distracted with parents there). I loved it and thought that it was the cutest thing ever!

A bit of Thanksgiving in the month of December

Yes! I realize that this is a bit behind and all but I am putting the darn pictures up.

We spent Thanksgiving in Corpus with my parents and Ian's parents and brother came down too. It was great spending time with all of our family there. I didn't take many pictures and have actually taken none since this day but I am going to try and make up for it soon.

Jenna with Papa (my daddy).

Reagan with Grandma Lori (Ian's stepmom).

Us with the Roberts Family. Boy I sure am short next to all of them. Oh well.

Like I said before, it was really nice being able to spend time with everyone while we were in Corpus. It had been over a year since Ian had been. The girls kept on asking me if Daddy was really coming with us. I think that it was a miracle that he was able to come. It was wonderful being there as a family and having that time to relax with him. Now Christmas...we still have our fingers crossed that he will be work free for more than a day.