From our Family to Yours

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


May 2012 be a BLESSED year for you and yours.


Xoxo-

Brittnye, Evan & Avery
(Gus and Paris too!)

All About Avery.

Happy Birthday!!

December 19, 2008

4:49pm 6lbs 5.9oz 19inches long

6 months old

My adorable cuepie doll.

1 year old

12/19/2009

"Belle of the ball"

1.5 yrs old

Ready to go to school.

2yrs old

12/19/2010

"Little bit country, little bit rock n' roll"

2.5yrs old

Happy Birthday

12/19/2011

Getting so big on us!!!!!

3 Years and I still get emotional

I know, I know I am almost a week behind here but it has been one super hectic week FULL of family, friends and adventures!!! Avery and I just got in from an over-night trip to Austin and are currently packing everything up and organizing for our trip to NM and CO tomorrow!!! It's FINALLY here.

Monday was our sweet Avery Claire's 3rd Birthday!

Can YOU believe she is THREE? I sure can't.

We didn't have a party for her in my usual crazy mom fashion but we really didn't have the time with so much family coming in that day as well as over the weekend. We did however, have cupcakes and opened gifts to celebrate her special day.

Needless to say she is one LOVED and SPOILED girl. Who is busy with her new dolls, Doll size pack n play, high chair and stroller, Portable DVD player (for the future trips in the car), cute girly outfits, Glittery red TOMS and 2 new barbie movies. *sigh* Our tom boy is turning into a girly girl!

Avery Claire,

    It gets harder and harder for me to accept that you are no longer my sweet baby but that you are turning into a amazingly kind, sweet natured, funny and compassionate Little girl whose spirit lights up any room she's in. You make your mommy and daddy so proud of you! You truly enrich our lives. You are so smart and quick witted, your always so helpful and you make this parenting job more of a reward than a job. I love you more each day and am so proud to be your mommy.

I love your zest for all things, your ability to make someone happy with a smile, a wave or a cute giggle. I also love how you sing and dance to EVERYTHING.

Always remember to keep yourself in the positive, to never back down from a challenge in life and to say your prayers at bedtime. Eating your veggies, brushing your teeth and wearing clean underwear is also a must my dear.

Happy 3rd Birthday Cuppycake,

Love Mommy

YAY!

Life is busy.

December usually is, I know, but still...WHEW.

As we speak my sister and sweet baby niece are on a plane from North Carolina headed to DFW. Avery and I are excited to pick them up although not in this rain we're currently having but meh. It's going to be so weird having a baby in the house. Glad I kept Averys infant car seat and pack n' play!

Then tomorrow Avery has her class Christmas party and I'll be bringing cupcakes to celebrate her birthday as well. Friday I'll be in NM with Gary for the day, Saturday is prepping for Averys birthday family dinner and last minute Christmas shopping, Sunday is church followed by a lunch to celebrate Avery. Monday is her 3rd birthday and we're treating a few friends kids to free Chuck E. Cheese for a bit but it's not a party. Then a few days to pack and organize for our trip to NM and CO. Then I take Desi to Austin to be with her dad, Avery goes to NM with her Nina, Pawpa and Great Oma while Evan has to work the 23rd (boo) then Evan and I will be getting on the road for NM around 12:30am on Christmas Eve.

Again WHEW.

My Baby is Growing UP!

Today was Avery's MDO Christmas program during Church. She was sooo cute and PTL there were ZERO tears on stage and we (Evan, my mom, Nan & Gary) all got to sit and watch her perform from a safe distance away and laugh with her little antics. (She is so silly)

While you watching her cute friends perform, she is dead center in the red dress with the red bow on her head. She's also the one who starts laughing with the jingling bells and after EVERY song starts clapping her hands and yelling "YAYYYYYY!"

Sorry about the poor quality, Evan was being resourceful with his windows phone and the zoom is horrible!


So proud of my big girl, hard to believe she'll be 3 very soon!!!!

Enjoy your Sunday,

Brittnye

BRRRRRR

Baby, it's cold outside!

For Texas, That's huge! Been raining the last 2 days here and with it the temps have dropped, not that I'm complaining. We stocked up on S'more makings and have plenty of firewood on standby for nights like this, I bought and enjoyed my first eggnog of the season, Christmas movies and music are on a lot and Evan and I jokingly say this is to prepare us for our trip in 2 weeks when we're in a log cabin in the New Mexico mountains surrounded by snow.

Have I mentioned how excited we are? Probably, yeah, I thought so....

I still feel like I have a million things to do for this trip and I am trying not to go into panic mode. I know that where we are staying has been getting snow since late October! This weekend alone they received 5-8 inches. So now I'm freaking out thinking how I may need to buy Avery some more pants and thermals and a heavier coat so she can play in it and not get wet. Alas, I'm a TEXAN we don't know how to dress for Snow that actually accumulates and sticks for more than a day or two!

I'll be driving with Gary to Clayton, NM on the 16th to pick up his mom who lives in Denver. I love road trips and even though it's 8 hours in a car only to turn around and drive 8 hours back...I'm totally excited about it. Again, I say this and yet a week from the day we'll be doing the exact same drive only add an hour. Pretty much every destination on this trip from point A to B to C to D is average 8 hours and we're making the perfect square on the map. :)

 I just hope Avery will do okay being in the car so much. We have a DVD player and she will have the new leapfrog explorer (A Birthday gift she'll be getting) and we have a TON of Disney audio books to play. Plus side is, we're not in any rush so Evan has mentioned that if we get too wound up we'll just crash at a motel and continue on the next day because this is a vacation and vacations shouldn't be timed to the minute. Again, we're pretty excited.

I still have a few more gifts to make/purchase but so far, I seem to be ahead of the game. I think anyway....

How about you? Anything happening over the holidays you are excited about?

*Sneak Peek* Megans Bridals

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Avery had Croup and the Flu so we didn't get to really have the Thanksgiving we had hoped for. She's doing fine now but last week was rough. Now we're just gearing up for her 3rd Birthday (SERIOUSLY!?) and our amazing Christmas in New Mexico followed by a few days in Colorado and Missouri.

I got to let my Photographer side come out this weekend and take some bridal shots for my friend, Megan. She's getting married in April. It was super windy and cold out but Megan was such a trooper and we got some really good shots. I seriously love doing this stuff, I just need to get better software for photo editing and need to learn the ins and outs better. Still though, it was a lot of fun.

Take a look, tell me what you think(seriously), I still have a lot to edit but these are some of my faves.Her hubby to be can't see these so we're good. :)

Isn't she beautiful? I had so much fun.

How was every one's Thanksgiving? Anyone have fun traditions?

Happy Tuesday,
Brittnye

Happy Thanksgiving!!

To all my wonderful Friends, Family, Readers & Stalkers (you know who you are)...


Happy THANKSGIVING.

I hope you remember what today is truly about and get to enjoy it with family, traditions, stories, laughter and of course FOOD. If your dumb enough to rush out with the crowds for materialistic items that give you minimal happiness and cut off the meaning of this day I hope you black Friday shoppers are safe as you rush out to find those "Deals" and remember to stay calm and not go crazy.

Avery is sick and we will not be doing anything today that requires us to change from our jammies and get off the couch. I'm a little bummed about this but she comes first and I would rather her get better than drag this Flu and Croup out any longer than need be. Plus side, food is being brought to us and I get lots of snuggle time in. Who can complain about that?!

I'm truly THANKFUL for so much this year, crazy to think this time last year we were so desperate for help just to put food on the table and keep our heat on....wow..... I'm sitting here looking around me at all we have now, how warm I am with the heat on low, how crowded my walls are with family pics, how I know Avery is safe and resting peacefully in her room, how content my 2 spoiled cats are in the respective dwellings on the couch and how ridiculously happy I am.

God is truly AMAZING.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving with those you Love and know I am THANKFUL for you in my life.

                                                                          -Brittnye

Pinterest: Round 2

So after the amazing turn out with the cinnamon roll waffles I grabbed another pic of drool-worthy proportions for my Sweet Mother-in loves birthday celebration this weekend and I must say...it was a hit! And I'm not talking about just to my hips.

Nan asked me for a Birthday pie instead of cake (we Hartfields, we're so different). I thought it would be simple, just find her amazing recipe for her Strawberry pie that is a cure-all for a bad day and whip it up for Sunday....not so much. I looked and looked and could not find it and I was not about to call her for it, that'd be just weird "Hey, you said you wanted pie, can I have your recipe for the one you make without even thinking?" Yeah, that conversation was so NOT happening.

So off to Pinterest I went and there it was on the main page, this beautiful picture of a slice of pie that looked like it came straight from Paula Deens kitchen.

Told ya so.

So there it was, the picture, the recipe and all the easy how-to steps.

So Sunday morning I woke up, went to wal-mart, bought the 3 items I didn't have to make this and set off on a mission in my kitchen. Ready for the recipe? Of course you are.

S'more Pie-

What you'll need:

• 16 Grahmn crackers
• 8 tblspn of butter (1 stick)
• Pinch of salt
• 10oz. semi-sweet choc. chips
• 1 bag giant marshmellows
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup of milk

What you do:

• Preheat oven to 325*
• mix melted butter in with crumbled and chopped up grahmn crackers (I did mine in a food processor) in a medium bowl until moist and smooth
• in a pie pan spoon mixture and flatten into a thin crust (You'll have plenty left over)
• 
• Bake fo 8-12 minutes or until fragrant.
• In a medium sauce pan heat up milk and whipping cream to a boil then reduce heat.
• 
  
  Add in chopped semi-sweet choc. chips and stir until melted

•  
• 
  Stir it continuously, it'll start outlight then get darker once all the chocolate is melted.
• Add in pinch of salt and 2 eggs slowly and blend in.
• Pout chocolate into pie pan and bake in over for 25min until pie is set and doesn't shake when lightly shaken. (I ended up cooking mine for almost 40minutes, you may just need to bump up the heat to 350*)

• While your pie is baking take half the bag of marshmellows and with kitchen shears, cut them in half.
• 
  Once pie is out of the oven, place marshmellows on top and place in over set to Broil.
• 
  
  
  Brown marshmellows lightly, this usually takes 1-5min so watch them CAREFULLY!

• Chill in fridge for 2-3 hours before serving.
• Chocolate sauce drizzle optional upon serving.
• *side note* when you serve it, you can microwave your piece for 12-20seconds to heat it up and make it more like a S'more.

YUM, YUM, YUM.

Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of it in it's final appearance or while it was enjoyed by the family. Nan liked it and Evan really liked it. To me it was a bit too rich and almost too much chocolate but I'm not a big choco-holic like my family. Even Avery went to town on this pie and she is NOT a pie kid at all, so over all I give this pie a B+.

Any of you try something from Pinterest you really loved?

Try it and enjoy,

Brittnye

Pinterest.....

If you know me, You know I love Pinterest.

However, what I don't like so much is that half the time I try a recipe I find that LOOKS oh so yummy, it never looks like the picture that I fell in love with.I'm sure you guys know what I mean (all those crockpot pics never look like that when I try them!) and Sure the DIY projects look easy but your end result vs. the professional who mastered it and originally posted it on the web is making them silently mock and laugh at you.

Doesn't stop my obsession with the site though.

This morning though, I tried something I found last night and it was both super easy and also added a new twist on a favorite breakfast here in the Hartfield house. Thought I'd share it with you....

Cinnamon Roll Waffles.

Take a tube of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls and open it, spray hot waffle iron with non stick spray and place 1 cinnamon roll on each waffle square (mine has 2) close waffle maker and cook for 2min. ice as you prefer and enjoy!

It makes for mini cinnamon roll waffles! Still chewy in the middle but the outside has a crispy crunch to it.

Super Easy.

Fun to make.

&

Avery loved them!

Let it Begin, Let it Begin!!!

Whelp...so much for not getting in the holiday spirit this early..

I've been in debate over what to do this holiday season as far as budgeting for gifts and decorating the house since we won't be here for Christmas at all. We have no big plans for Thanksgiving, in fact...I'm not even sure where we're going or who we'll be with or if I'll be hosting and it's only 2 weeks away! (hmm)

Not to mention, Avery will be 3 in less than 6 weeks!!! Yep, THREE. (How is this possible?!) and 4 days from then we'll be in the car off for 11 days of travel and seeing family and sweet friends in over 5 states.

Christmas this year is going to be beyond amazing and I am so excited for the memories we'll be making since we'll be in a cabin in New Mexico. I know Evan and I will be setting up a small tree in the cabin and our plan (which is already set in motion) is to bring stockings for everyone and fill them up with goodies for Christmas morning as well as make our own decorations for the cabin the night before. I am super excited about some of the things we bought for Jarrod and Gary this year and even though Nan can be hardest to shop for, Evan has total faith in me and I'm working together a few little treats for her.

It kinda makes me giggle thinking that it's only November 9th and I've managed to buy a few gifts already and am getting my lists and details down for our trip for CHRISTMAS but well....it happened this past weekend, traveling home I saw a lot of families and soldiers and business people all mingled together for this slew of reasons but it just brought it into prospective for me of how quickly the holidays will be upon us and how I always, always, ALWAYS procrastinate until the week of Christmas and go into panic mode. I mean HELLO, Thanksgiving is in TWO weeks.

I also got this gem of a magazine today and am suddenly so very ready to start my holiday baking!

(Not the real issue, this is last years Dec. issue)

Don't get me wrong though, I can not stand that stores already have Christmas stuff out already and sales for Christmas and are playing Christmas music....it drives me NUTS. Thanksgiving deserves it's own month for decor and traditions and well, heck simple RECOGNITION for a really wonderful and traditional holiday our country was started on. It's the one time of year you can get together with family, eat some amazing family recpies and give Thanks to God for all your blessings.

So share with me sweet readers.... What's one thing you look forward to at Thanksgiving and what's one gift you received at Christmas that has meant the most to you?

I'm off to do more planning...

-Brittnye



Picture Post.

Sorry FB Stalkers, chances are...you've already seen these.

Sisters. I have 2 brothers and 1 other sister and Desi and I look alike.

What do you think?

Self-pic.

Desi was fulfilling her fantasy of being Bella Swan.

Desi, Sweet baby Stella and I on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Looking Glass Falls-Pisgah National Forest, NC.

Representing too. ;)

^Happiness.

How cute is my niece?!

I was obsessed with her feet, she wasn't amused with me.

BEAR BUTT!

Pucker- Up Buttercup!

Yeah, I'm not moving for awhile *Contented Sigh*

Safe to say, I had a good trip.

I survived....

 6 days away from my hubby and sweet girl!

North Carolina was amazing and getting to spend so much time with my sister and baby niece with no drama from our other siblings or family was just pure BLISS! (You know what I mean, you get more than 5 people together for too long of a time and the dust stirs)

I posted a TON of pictures on my face book but I'll share my favorites on another entry VERY soon. For now, it's Chinese food and movies with Evan since I spent all day with my Avery. I'm glad to be back home but the trip was very much needed for the 3 of us. I can not wait for all 3 of us to go back up there, the mountains were amazing!

How was everyone's week? It's been kinda quiet on the comment front.

Bigger update soon,
Brittnye

Check out my little Ballerina!!

Since I leave in a few hours for North Carolina for the week to be with my newborn niece and my sister I got Avery in her Halloween costume to make sure she was set to go for Monday. She looked too cute for words and she knew it!!!!

Check out my sweet girl. (She looks so grown up, where's my baby!?)

(could you imagine if Avery had a twin, whew!)

She had fun twirling in her tutu for me tonight and I'm so excited she liked being in it. Makes me sad to miss Halloween with her but I know she's in amazing hands (Her Pawpa has assured me she'll have a great night with him) and I know she's going to love being with daddy all week too.

Pray for me, I've never been this far from her or Evan or for this long of time.

Enjoy your weekend and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

-Brittnye