Delana's Halloween party

Today was Delana's very first Halloween party. Well her very first at school! She decided she wanted to be Minnie at school and she looked so adorable!


My friend Kristina's daughter also attends and she tagged me in a photo on Facebook where all the kids are singing Halloween songs (wish I had known that was going to happen!) and Delana is of course in the background. Still though when I came home from work and asked her about it, she said she liked singing the songs but "I really liked the candy! I got a lot of CANDY!" Yeah, that's what it's all about little girl.

Tomorrow it's Tyler's turn! Bryan and Delana are going and they're pretty excited about. Me? I'm bummed and again, if I had known......

Mr. Smartypants

Tyler's report card came today. I'm very proud to report that he got all As! His reward was being allowed to pick out ANYTHING for dinner. I figured we'd be heading back out (once I got home from zumba) to McDonald's but he surprised me when he requested homemade waffles. Well that's easy enough.

So a feast was had! And man I need to make homemade waffles more often!

Fall Foliage

This past weekend, Delana and I went with my parents to southern WV to um, well look at trees, what else? Cause you know there just aren't enough trees to view here in rural Ohio. No seriously, if you've never been to this area it really is quite beautiful. We've been there many times but never in the fall. WOW!

We left about noon on Friday and took our time going on a bunch of winding back roads and through several towns - my dad loves this kind of stuff and really this trip was "his" since he obliged on so many camping trips this summer that were for us or the kids to see stuff. We finally came to the town where we were going to stay for the night, Lewisburg, and we were all pretty much starving. We debated where to go but my dad wanted to go one more exit and man am I glad we did because we found a really nice "mom and pop" kind of place called Granny's Kitchen (or something) and man was it GOOD and CHEAP. I had pulled pork and it was seriously to do for. After a fantastic dinner and a wonderful dessert of oreo cream pie, we headed to the hotel for the night.

Saturday we got to do a little sleeping in (this is easy with Mr. Rooster aka Tyler not around) and had a late breakfast and then it was into the van for another drive. Again, my dad is famous for this. We had no idea where we were headed next or anything. We wound up driving around for a little while just taking in some sights and then back to the town of Lewisburg for a little shopping in their art district. Then it was back into the van for another drive and a short hike to see a waterfall. Delana got a big kick out of going for a walk and an even bigger kick out of the water. She is obsessed with water actually - even when we cross the Ohio River (which we do quite often) she gets all giddy. Before we knew it, it was almost dark and time to find another hotel. This time we stayed in Summersville, WV and we were all pretty tired from the busy day and wound up going to bed pretty early.

Sunday it was time to head back home but not before another drive down another winding road or two. We found ourselves in Fayetteville - which is where the New River Gorge Bridge is and like I said if you haven't been there you NEED to go at least once. It's beautiful and it's amazing!
(See for yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_River_Gorge_Bridge)

And man it was even more beautiful and amazing in the fall. Delana was just in complete awe of the big bridge, the water (and how close we could get to it) and the pretty leaves. We took the old road that was in existence before the New River Gorge Bridge was put in and marveled at how difficult and long that had to be back in the day when now you can be across the gorge in oh, 5 minutes. We also went to a lookout area we had never been to before and I am so glad we found it. It was a really nice little spot and Delana and I had a blast picking up leaves. She even insisted on picking a red one out just for Tyler: "Red is Tyler's favorite color mommy. He likes red!" Then we pretended like the lookout area was her "castle" and she promptly declared "I'm a princess!" Yep that's right you are.

The only thing that was a complete bummer about the entire weekend was that I forgot my camera battery so I have no pics of our fantastic weekend. But hey, I've got it all written down now.

5 hour energy and then some

Yesterday I mentioned how much Tyler has improved in football since the start of the YMCA flag football league. It is really amazing actually. Today during Delana's nap he requested to "pass some football" and of course I obliged. It was a beautiful day out and I was more than happy to get outside and enjoy it. He goes through spells of catching/not catching. It seems if he catches one, he catches 10 and vice versa. So in the first half (Tyler insisted we play halves, with a halftime break and some kind of scoring system he made up on his own) he dropped nearly every pass. We took a break on the swing by the fire pit, errrr.....locker room and then started the second half. This half he turned it ON and caught 4 or 5 passes in a row right from the start. He then informed me: "Wow Mom! I guess I had my 5 hour energy today."

This wound up being a good thing because later on that afternoon some of our friends came to visit and Tyler really needed that energy. (If you know Tyler, you sense the sarcasm here - the kid has 15 hour energy!) We had a great afternoon/evening visiting and playing. It was really funny because for the first time the boys did their own thing (cars) and the girls did their own thing (coloring. I was unable to get a pic of the boys - imagine that but my friend Aimee got a great one of our 3 girls coloring.

Fall festival and other things

Tyler's elementary school's PTO puts on an annual event and well it's called...guess. It's a very nice event and I can't understand why more kids/parents don't attend. They put inflatables in the gym for the kids to play on and have many games for winning prizes/candy. Then there's a Chinese auction as well. Last year I won a gift certificate for dinner out but this year I wasn't so lucky. Ah well. The entire event is just FUN for the kids and the PTO raises a little money from it. I'm all about getting something for my buck that isn't a candle, pizza kit or some other useless ornamental somethingorother I really don't need.

Our day actually started out much much earlier than that because Tyler had his last football game at 9:00. If they had won this playoff game, they actually would have played another game this coming Saturday. I was torn between wanting them to win and hoping they wouldn't (BAD MOM!) because it's been a lot of running around for us. Well they lost so it's over. I feel really bad for the boys because they didn't win a single game this entire year. Oh well, they learned a lot and improved so much over the course of the season. I saw it in all the boys and especially in Tyler. He is catching really well and I swear this kid is going to be a punter - he has a great boot. (They don't punt or kick at all in the games, he just loves to do it and he's pretty good.)

After the game, we attended the previous mentioned Fall Festival and then headed home to hopefully watch the Ohio State Buckeyes kick some butt. That didn't quite work out as planned. Overall though we had a good day despite the outcome of the game.

Another great recipe, another wasted dinner for Delana

I have the pickiest 3 year old on the planet when it comes to eating. She has always been a light eater, even as a baby. I don't remember her ever eating more than 6 ounces of formula at any time and so her current pickiness/lack of eating should come as no surprise. And yet, it still frustrates me to no end! Tyler was a picky eater at this age but he's got NOTHING on Delana. I could always bribe him with a snack later or threaten to take away something he loves or wants to do. But Delana, oh Delana - she just plain straight up does not care about the consequences of not eating breakfast, lunch or dinner. (Although typically dinner is our biggest battle.)

Last night I made a fabulous recipe and at first even Tyler turned his nose up at it but as soon as he tasted it (something Delana wouldn't even attempt) he exclaimed, "Wow Mom, this chicken is GOOD!" Oh yeah - SUCCESS! Delana basically sat there and pouted and wouldn't even consider touching the chicken or the carrots. Thankfully she did eat the cheese cubes and the banana - which honestly were only there because I knew she'd at least eat those. Perhaps that's the issue, I don't know. I can't exactly let her starve though, right?

Readers (all 6 of you): I'm accepting any and all tips for dealing with this by the way.

Now on to the recipe!

Greek Chicken (from my friend Amie)

Ingredients
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 roma tomato (seeded and diced)
1/2 cup red, orange or yellow pepper diced
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1/2 tsp oregano
2 minced garlic cloves
1 cup crumbled feta cheese (I actually just use a 6 oz container from the store)
1 Tbsp olive oil

Procedure
Place chicken in a greased baking dish and sprinkle with pepper

In a small bowl, mix tomatoes, peppers, parsley, oregano, garlic and feta
Evenly spoon over chicken and drizzle with olive oil

Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes in a 375° oven or until the feta is lightly golden and chicken feels springy (Ours took closer to 50 minutes)

Corduroy Makes a Cake (or Tyler reads his first real book)

First grade has proven no different than Kindergarten in terms of what they expect the kids to learn. I am in awe just about every day when I go through his folder. I just want to yell, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THEY ARE LEARNING TENS AND ONES? SPELLING TESTS?!!!" I know for a fact we did not have spelling tests until 2nd grade. I remember it very clearly because well, I tried to change a word on a pretest "knead" that I spelled "need" and Mrs. Murphy caught me trying to fix it. Man I was humiliated.

Okay, anyway, how about I talk about what this post is actually about. Tyler read what I consider to be his first official book tonight! He's been reading little stories that were sent home last year and this year in his readers. You know, 5-6 pages of sight words basically. And he's even read a few books that are more what I consider to be preschool age appropriate. But tonight, he read a 32 page book (well probably more like 20 b/c some of the pages didn't have words) with minimal help from me. It was a Corduroy book if that means anything to you. I admit it didn't to me but I guess there's a whole series of books about this bear named Corduroy. The one Tyler read was "Corduroy Makes a Cake."

Oh and he read it to Delana too. It was so cute!

Awesome recipe

One of my fall projects is to start cooking more again. I've been doing pretty well. Although considering that I maybe made 5 meals the entire summer that didn't involve Bryan grilling or making something over the campfire, it wouldn't take much to improve.

I'm not an exotic cook. Heck I'm not even a good cook. If the recipe calls for more than oh 5 ingredients, I start breaking out in hives. Even worse if it has multiple steps on top of that. Egads - get the benadryl! But I am determined to get better and to be less intimidated by recipes that are a little more difficult. Today's recipe fit the bill, well it fit my bill. Some of you will probably laugh that I actually considered this recipe diffcult. Well you know what - bite me.

So shut up and post the recipe! Okay then.


Chipotle Pork Quesadillas

Ingredients:

* 2 boneless pork chops (about 3/4 pound)
* Salt and pepper
* 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 1/2 onion, chopped
* 1 cup canned diced tomatoes
* 3 cloves garlic, chopped
* 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, plus leaves for garnish
* 8 medium flour tortillas
* 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook until browned, 4 minutes on each side. Transfer to a cutting board and let cool; cut into thin strips.

2. In the same skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and their juice, the garlic, chipotle and cumin and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes; stir in the pork and chopped cilantro.

3. Heat a grill pan over medium heat. Brush one side of each tortilla with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Working in batches, cook the tortillas oiled side down until grill marks form, 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Arrange 4 tortillas grilled side down on a baking sheet. Divide the pork mixture among the tortillas and sprinkle with the cheese. Top with the remaining tortillas, grilled side up. Bake until the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes. Cut into wedges and top with the cilantro leaves.

Summer's notes (see now I'm an expert!)
1. It's not really needed to bake them really but if you do, I'd spray the heck out of a glass baking dish and bake them in it next time. I had a bit of a mess on the baking sheet today.

2. I omitted the cilantro. I don't even know where to find fresh cilantro. Clearly I have just lost my expert status.


Bryan and I loved it! And I liked that I only had to change it for the kids by making them their own pork chop.

When I grow up....

I don't really remember what I wanted to be when I grew up when I was little. I know in Junior High I had thoughts of being a lawyer. I will say though the one thing I never dreamed of being was a doctor or a nurse. Why you ask? Well because I can not stand the sight of blood. Yeah, imagine that!

Anyway, last night Tyler declared his current aspirations for when he grows up while we were in line at the McDonald's drive-thru following the PTO meeting. (And for the record, a PTO member wasn't something I aspired to be either, LOL!)

"Mom when I grow up, I'm going to drive a bus on Monday through Friday then on Saturday and Sunday I'm going to work at McDonald's. *pause* But I'm not going to take orders, I'm going to make the ice cream."

And there you have it - my son's lifelong goals. Shoot high buddy! Shoot high!

And just where the HELL have you been?!

Boy if I could count how many times I heard that from my mother growing up.....

I disappeared from the blogosphere. I have no excuses - just horrible, horrible shame.

So where have I been since May? I think the question is more like where HAVEN'T I been?

End of May
Tyler graduated Kindergarten and started baseball. We went camping with friends for Memorial Day.

Early June
Tyler turned 6 and we had a very nice party attended by great friends and family. He got a bike WITHOUT TRAINING WHEELS for his birthday and rode it all summer long. He is starting to be quite the daredevil actually. He also played his last baseball game on June 13. He just loves baseball and we were sad to see it end but also HAPPY because then the camping season can begin!

June 18-21: first official trip of the year (Bryan was able to come)
We went to Canaan Valley Resort/Campground and had a great time. It's so gorgeous there. The kids loved Blackwater Falls.

July 3-10: Family vacation at Topsail Island, NC
AWESOME TRIP! We went with my parents, my sisters and another family that we're friends with. The beach there is gorgeous and everyone had a great time! Lots of good food, good drinks and just fun! We did wish there was a little more to do in that area but it was still very nice!

July 15-18: JAMBOREE IN THE HILLS!
Like always, mom and dad had a blast while the kids stayed with grandparents - two days at Bryan's parents and two days at my parents. Jamboree is one of the best times - good friends, good music and lots of beer.

July 23-25: Camping trip to Akron/Canton area
We spent Saturday at Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom. We lucked out because the weather was perfect during the day. Not so perfect that evening and the next morning. We really had a great time here though - their kids area rocks!

July 30-Aug 1: Took a break, well kinda
We hosted friends at our house for a weekend of fun. But, hey we did STAY home!

August 6-8: Kansas City for a girls weekend
I am a nerd and I have a lot of online mom friends. We've been friends for YEARS. And this year, we had a huge GTG in Kansas City (it's centrally located) and it was a blast! I had so much fun with all my girls! We ended up with around 22 attending which isn't too bad considering we have about 50 really active members on the board and about 100 total. SO MUCH FUN!

August 13-15: Took another weekend off, just chilled and got ready for.....

August 18-22: Last camping trip - Washington DC
We stayed in a nearby state park in Maryland and saw plenty of sights during the trip. The highlight for me was (NERD ALERT) the Holocaust Museum. The kids really enjoyed going up in the Washington Monument. In fact the day after, Delana requested to go up in the "castle" again and cried when I told her we couldn't. I thought they would like the Smithsonian museums a little more but oh well. Maybe next time. We had to go inside them though because it was SO HOT out that week. Wow! We also toured the Capitol and if you're a FB friend you already saw that I felt that was a huge bust. Bummer! It was way better when I was a kid - the tour now isn't nearly as nice. Too many people!

Unfortunately during the trip, I caught the flu BIG TIME. I wound up missing two more days of work and really didn't feel 100% for about 3 weeks. That kind of stunk.

August 25: Tyler's first day of school - FIRST GRADE!
His teacher is Mrs. Cook and she's awesome so far. Tyler is really enjoying first grade, that's for sure.

September 7: Delana's first day of PRESCHOOL!
Don't you dare call it preschool in front of her though. It's school by god. She won't even entertain the idea of it being pre. She's too funny. I really thought she would struggle but she has surprised us all and hasn't cried once. I totally did not expect that. She attends two days a week - Tuesdays & Thursdays.

September 11: Tyler's first flag football game
He loves it. And you know we do too! WOOHOO!!! Every week he & the team have gotten better. Unfortunately they haven't won a single game yet. But oh well.

September 23-25
Thursday I took the kids to the Barnesville Pumpkin Festival which they always enjoy. That night is the night to ride for the low, low price of $9 per person. (HA!) Friday night we had a sitter and were able to enjoy the Festival without kids for a while and then headed to Wheeling Downs to party it up with some college friends of mine. Saturday, Kenna and I went to the Ohio State football game. They kicked some serious booty and we had a great time. (It was Kenna's first game.)

And there you go....all caught up! Last weekend was a chill weekend and we really needed it. Whew.

More sentences by Tyler

I am continuing to be amazed by Tyler's progress in school. He has learned so much this year - it's really crazy! I am so proud of him.

Here's some sentences he wrote today at school:
Me and my sister has fun in the tub. I can see the ro(c)k fart

Ooookay, maybe that one doesn't make on proud. Here's a better one!

Last nite (night) we slep(t) in the caipr (camper).
I was on time for the bus.
On Saturday me and my sister play(e)d a game ca(lle)d chas(e) araod (around) the grach (garage).


I think he's pretty damn amazing!

2nd child syndrome

You know how it goes. With your first child, you're constantly taking pictures, writing about what color poop they had that day and trying to teach them everything they could possibly learn before they even reach age 1. Oh the baby book is perfect. The first year frame is updated monthly. And then the 2nd child is born and it's all downhill from there. Here's a perfect example:


Tyler was telling me his favorite song which I guess is currently the one on that State Farm commercial where the guy is singing in the car so I then asked Delana the following question - "What's your favorite song?"

Her answer:
"A, B, C, D......"

Yeah I guess she knows the alphabet now. Huh. Who knew?

Sentences by Tyler

Every day they write sentences at school and they used to be pretty basic "I like....." and easy things like that.

Lately though they've been getting longer and more indepth. The two he brought home today made me LOL. Hope you get a chuckle.

"On Saturday me and my dad winte (went) to Loes (Lowe's) an(d) we made a flawer (flower) for moth(e)rs day."

This is the one that actually made me laugh:
"I gave my mom the card and my mom liket (liked) it and she loved me and she is in love with me."

Isn't that too cute??

Falling off the wagon

YIKES! I am really slacking on my working out right now. Last week I was out of town so I was only able to get my weight training portion in once. Thankfully the hotel did have a rather nice workout center so I was able to get on the treadmill both nights we stayed. Then over the weekend we were busy with Delana's room and I was fighting off a minor illness. And then today, I overslept so again I haven't done any weight training in over a week now. The only saving grace is that I DID go to zumba yesterday.

HELP!

New bedroom!

Many of you know this and maybe some of you don't BUT I am scared of colored walls. I mean petrified. When we built our new house 5 years ago, I didn't even consider it. White walls it was. All white. Every room. Have you ever painted a brand new home with no carpet or heck no anything in it? Well it's quite difficult - I was literally blinded by lack of color.

Okay, so anyway, back to this new bedroom....I finally decided that it was time for color and the first spot was to be Delana's room. We already had the new bedding and the new big girl bed so it seemed a natural choice to go all out with colored walls too. Off to Lowe's I go and then the fear set in - what if I pick the wrong color? What if it looks horrible? I texted my friend Jen in a moment of panic and she pulled through for me. She talked me down and I decided on yellow. Unfortunately when I got home, it just didn't look right. (And I'm thinking, yeah...this is why I don't do color!) So back to Lowe's I go to ask them to lighten the yellow or if there's a way to make it more of a green. The lady there was SO nice and told me to just pick out an all new color and we'd trade it. So I settled on Valspar's Abisinthe Mint (not sure if that spelling is right) and I have to say it turned out FANTASTIC! And it was even better that Bryan did the painting while I was out of town for a conference. Even better. So when I returned home, there was a gorgeous painted room all ready for me to see. Yay!

The next day, we headed to Lowe's first thing in the morning to buy trim and again, this was something that I really wasn't into at first and again, it turned out great. While there, we also looked at some new hardware for the dresser. Unfortunately the ones I liked were NINE dollars each - putting the handles at more than the dresser probably cost! No way. So I decided I'd try to spray paint the handles. It was worth a try. I found some spray paint that supposedly bonded better to plastic and was even in a really pretty lilac color. $4 and about an hour later - wallah - brand new handles that in my opinion look fantastic!

Up next.......Tyler's room!

Look Mom, no training wheels!

I guess it's pretty evident what this post is about. Some time last week, Tyler asked that we take his training wheels off. Bryan obliged but Tyler really wasn't able to ride that well without them. Well today he finally made some progress and mastered it. Considering I didn't learn how to ride a bike until I was oh about 10, this is really amazing to me to see an almost 6 year old pedaling away like he has been doing this all his life. Delana is doing similarly well on her tricycle this year. Last year she could only master the backwards with the feet trick. But this year it's on - she's pedaling forward and doing great.

Here he goes!


SCREECH! Putting on the brakes




This evening was probably just about as perfect as it could get. And we took advantage of it big time and as you can guess, it was mostly spent with the kids riding their bikes. What a great day!

Riding off into the sunset

First baseball game

Tyler had his very first baseball game today. Unfortunately Bryan had to work and was unable to attend. But Mom was there as well as Delana, grandma Vernann and Aunt April. Tyler did fantastic! He started out playing second base, then he was the pitcher and finally played in the outfield. I think he liked second base the best. He said he didn't like pitching because it was hard to see. The kids have to wear a helmet with a mask on it when they pitch for safety. Add that to the fact that Tyler wears glasses as well and I'm sure it was quite uncomfortable.

Classic Tyler in this pic - he got a little bored.


I was a little disappointed in how things were run - they had 5 batters per inning and then switched sides. Personally I didn't feel like it taught them a whole lot. Plus no one got out and the kids were mostly held at first base when they hit. It was just strange to me. I'm all about the kids learning and equal opportunity but I think the concept of OUTS should have at least been part of the equation.

Okay, anyway......back to proud mama. Tyler hit two times during the game and he did GREAT! I was seriously so proud! SO PROUD! He rocked. The first time he had a nice hit but the second time he CRACKED it. It went to the outfield before it even started bouncing and then it went all the way to the fence. That's my boy!!

First time hitting:


CRACK!



My favorite baseball players
Cade, Tyler and Lexi

Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog!

Well I guess I don't need to explain the subject of today's post. It's DELANA'S BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!! A good friend of mine made the above invite. Everyone oooh and ahhh at how awesome it is. Thanks Cheri! And prepare to oooh and ahhh again over the awesome cake my mother-in-law made. She is very talented! You'll have to take my word for it but the cake tasted just as good as it looked.



Delana's birthday was actually April 9 but I have two friends whose children were born close to that date (April 11 & April 13) so we have to work together to figure out the dates for the parties. I offered to go late this year because I wanted to score some warmer weather. HA! Let me say it again - HA! Yeah it was warmer weather alright but the forecast was thunderstorms the entire day. That's just fantastic. I had visions of this awesome time of the kids doing their thing on our swingset & sandbox and the adults kicking it with some adult beverages on our back deck. HA. Thankfully God was on my side (well other than the weather) because I lucked out completely that the gym in the old school in our town was available for rent that day. And relatively cheap! A quick set of emails/phone calls/facebooking and the party was moved. Whew. It meant a lot more work for me since I had to take everything to the gym but you do what you gotta do. I had a few moments of freak out (right Aimee?) and worry about having games but I got over that. I did print out some Mickey themed coloring packets for the kids in case they felt like coloring there and as part of their favors to take home.





Sunday morning we woke up to a gorgeous morning. I was silently cursing my luck because well I could have just had this party at home. However by the time we started packing things up to head up to the gym it was getting cloudy and windy. And wouldn't you know it, at right about 2:15 the thunder started rolling and man did it rain! That kind of made me happy. By about 2:30 almost all the guests had arrived and Bryan was back with the hot dogs (he went home to grill them) so everyone dug in. For those of you that may not know Mickey and friends sing the "hot dog" song at the end of every episode so it was only fitting for us to serve hot dogs, complete with all the toppings - ketchup, mustard, relish, sauerkraut, cole slaw, cheese and sloppy joes. We also had chips, baked beans and potato salad.



We ate, we talked, the kids played and before long it was time for CAKE! Delana was very concerned over whether she was getting sung to - she asked me at least twice while I was getting the cake put out and people were taking pictures. I assured her we were singing and this year she really loved the attention.



Waiting patiently to be served the first piece of cake & ice cream



One last pic of the birthday girl!



What a great party! Delana was really excited about her presents too. This is the first year she has really been into her party and it was so much fun sharing it with everyone. Thanks all!

Baseball!

Tyler's team had their second practice last night and it's amazing to see the improvement in all the kids already. I have to say it is VERY hard to observe only. I really should have volunteered to coach - maybe next year.

For those of you that may not know, Tyler loves baseball. He gets it honest - he's grown up with it, heck he was at Jenny's games in utero listening to Mom cheer (and maybe get into a small argument with someone *blush*) and then attending Jenny's games or my women's league games ever since. We were very disappointed to learn that last year he missed the cutoff for turning 5 and was unable to play. His exact words were, "mommy I'm very sad I can't play baseball." Then on his 5th birthday he woke me up extra bright and early to announce, "Now I can play baseball!" Talk about heartbreaking.

Oh well, Tyler just got another year of practice and practice he did. He attended a 4 weekend long camp at the YMCA and spent most of the summer whacking balls (and his friend Davis's eye and Delana's tooth out - both completely innocent accidents) with us in the yard.

This year though, he is old enough and very excited. It's so cute to watch him really enjoy a sport. He tried soccer but it just wasn't his thing. But baseball - oh yeah, he loves it. It helps that he's pretty damn good too. *halo* Last night he played 2nd base, 3rd base and 1st base at different times during the practice. I think he liked 1st the best. It might have just been because he was beside Cade though who was playing 2nd at the time.

We have a BIG GIRL!

It has finally happened folks! My daughter will not be in a crib come high school! It is official - you can write it down. At the ripe age of 3 years and 2 weeks, Delana is OUT of her crib!

There was no reason for it beyond me finding someone that was looking for a crib. I didn't want to miss this opportunity to sell it that easily so I called Bryan on Monday and informed him that tonight was THE last night for the crib. That night, Delana and I talked about it so I could feel her out. I asked her if she was ready for a big girl bed and she said, "Nayna sleep in bed like Tywer?" and was so excited. So yeah I guess she was ready.

This morning, Bryan had quite the project to undertake. Tyler's current bed is (was) a day bed. This means rails and so our plan has always been to move that bed to Delana's room so we can put it against the wall with the rails facing out (backwards) and then to set up the extra bed my sister Kenna gave us for Tyler. So today, Bryan took apart the crib, took apart Tyler's bed, moved it to Delana's room AND put together another bed. Whew! I bet he would have preferred to have worked today.

Delana was very excited for her new bed!




And Tyler, for his!





Delana even napped in it yesterday with no problems! She didn't even attempt to climb out (this was a concern for us especially now that she can open doors). In fact she climbs IN but will not climb OUT. This kid!! Seriously, she stands there and yells, "Help Nayna! Need help out!"

Tonight at bed time, she was again very excited and laid right down in her new bed. I checked on her later and yep - sound asleep! Where's that Staples button cause "That was easy!"

Week 2 workout plan

I'm sure this is boring you. Do I care though? Nah. Here's my plan for week 2 of the TBLC challenge:

Monday, April 19
PM workout
cardio - 60 minutes zumba

Tuesday, April 20
AM workout
weights - legs/abs
cardio - 30 minutes treadmill

Wednesday, April 21
PM workout
weights - back/biceps
cardio - 60 minutes zumba

Thursday, April 22
PM workout
cardio - 30 minutes treadmill

Friday, April 23
AM workout
weights - chest/triceps
cardio - 30 minutes treadmill

Saturday, April 25
some kind of cardio - not sure on the where or what yet

Sunday, April 26
OFF day b/c it's Delana's bday party

Week 1 summary

So how did my week go? I think overall it went pretty darn well! I'm still having some issues with wanting snacks at night but overall I'm eating cleaner as they like to say. It takes some effort but at the same time, it's worth it. It's particularly hard for dinner some nights because we're doing so many things or because I'm just tired. I will have to work on that. Lunch is getting easier & easier although it does get boring some times to eat a packed lunch. I can't even remember the last time I ordered out.

Today was kind of a milestone - I actually turned up my nose at a McDonald's double cheeseburger. Now before you get all worried about exactly who this person is - I did eat the fries! I don't know, the burger was just SO unappetizing for some reason.

Okay, anyway, here were my goals for this week:
My week 1 workout plans are as follows:

Monday, April 12:
PM workout
Zumba


Tuesday, April 13
AM workout
Weight training - legs & abs


Wednesday, April 14
PM workout
Weight training - back & biceps
Zumba

Thursday, April 15
AM workout
Weight training - chest & triceps
1/2 hour on the treadmill

Friday, April 16
PM workout
45 minutes on treadmill

And how did I do?
The only one I "missed" was the 45 minutes on the treadmill on Friday. I cut it short to just 30. Oh and I also switched and did chest/triceps on Friday afternoon (which is why I cut the TM workout back) because after doing back/biceps on Wednesday there was no WAY I was doing chest/triceps Thursday morning. Yikes! BUT, I also got extra cardio on Sunday because I took a Zumba class that day (45 minutes)

Sentences by Tyler

Recently Tyler and I assume the rest of his class have been working on writing sentences. It's really fun for us to read them when he gets home.

Here's some for you to enjoy:
My grama is getting a white van.
I like gramas white van. I like my dad.
I like to vacuum and I like vethdbls (that's vegetables and he really doesn't like them - little fibber!)


And for St. Patrick's Day, they filled in the following sentence:
If I found a pot of gold I would.....
He wrote:
giv it to my Dad

Man do I ever hope he finds that pot of gold soon. Bryan probably won't share it with me though. Hmph.

Rocka Baybee!

I am not quite sure where my daughter gets certain things from and her newest little ditty is one of those things. She's taken to singing the song "Rock A Bye Baby" to anyone and everyone. It's actually quite hilarious because she gets all into it, scrunches up her little face and belts it out "ROCK-A BAY-BEE!" "ROCK-A BAY-BEE!" Sometimes she changes it up by adding this deep, almost sinister voice when she does it. Perhaps I should be concerned that she's going to go all Poltergeist on my ass but I prefer to just laugh said ass off and ask her to do it again. She is a funny little thing, that's for sure! Her sense of humor just keeps growing & growing.

Another challenge

I decided to again join my mom board's The Biggest Loser Challenge. I am not sure why I joined other than to just be a part of it and for the fun smack talking. I know I haven't been keeping anyone up to date with my progress towards my goals but I've really been keeping on. I didn't win the last challenge but I really worked hard and I transformed my body a lot in the 8 weeks the challenge lasted. Since then I've continued to work hard. Okay, okay, I admit I slacked the first week after because I was disappointed I didn't win. But then I decided I was NOT about to let those 8 weeks of hard work be lost and I got right back on track.

The challenge this time is lasting 12 weeks. 12 long weeks! It will end right before we leave for the beach. Literally - it ends July 2 & we leave that night. I would like to lose 5 more pounds but it's going to be tough. Really tough. I have to be more disclipined. I have to quit snacking at night more than anything. I will do this.

My week 1 workout plans are as follows:

Monday, April 12:
PM workout
Zumba


Tuesday, April 13
AM workout
Weight training - legs & abs
First though I have to figure out what some of the these things are on the back workout. HAHA!

Wednesday, April 14
PM workout
Weight training - back & biceps
Zumba

Thursday, April 15
AM workout
Weight training - chest & triceps
1/2 hour on the treadmill

Friday, April 16
PM workout
45 minutes on treadmill

I have not included the weekend yet because Bryan works this weekend and I have to think about how I can modify my weights for stuff I can do at home with my 5 lb weights. I might just do as much of the "total body workout" I have been doing up to now on Saturday with a Denise video and then Sunday will be my rest day - we have a birthday party to attend anyway.

Happy birthday Delana

From this


To this

How the heck did that happen and WHEN??!!

It's hard to believe that Delana is three. She's such a tiny little thing first of all. But secondly, it's just really hard to believe she's been a part of our family for three years. We celebrated her birthday with just our little family today (well I guess Jenny was part of it b/c she works at the restaurant where we went) with dinner & dessert at Garfield's. She loved having everyong sing to her but immediately after the song she said, "Where my Mickey cake at?" I guess I should have explained the celebration today a little better to her beforehand. She still enjoyed her ice cream and clearly she's really looking forward to her Mickey party which is April 25.

We scheduled it for later because we're hoping for warmer weather and also because two of my closest friends have daughters with birthdays on April 11 and April 13 - had to spread those parties out a little bit.

Easter trip - day 4

Unplanned day 4. Unplanned. Need I remind you of my type A tendencies people? UNPLANNED. The day started out pretty good - up early with the kids, a free continental breakfast and some time outside enjoying the cool morning while drinking my coffee. Ahhh...it was almost heaven, which is fitting cause we were in WV after all. I even thought, you know - this is really not such a bad thing here. I get an extra day off with the kids and no one is sick or hurt. Damn - that's good luck. My mom was on the phone with her insurance company first thing this morning and the agent told her to use Enterprise and tell them she was an Allstate customer. Cool. Great. Wonderful! Let's call Enterprise and get this car rented. I call because you know, PLANNING is my thing and the guy at the office tells me a one way rental is possible. WOOHOO! But the office we have to go through (that's the closest) is a small office and the guy isn't in at the moment. Okay, still not a problem - I can call back. I explain the need for a one way rental, making sure that can be done. I am told yes, we can pick up the car where we're at and return it to St. Clairsville, Ohio.

We wait a half hour and do some more web surfing, playing outside, and so on. The call goes through again. This time whoever I talked to told me that Enterprise doesn't do one way rentals. I almost jumped through the phone. I explained it to him and he said, "Who told you that?" I'm like, "I don't know who it was. Someone in your office." The guy then says, "Oh well it must have been so & so, he's the only other person here." Uh, yeah........I'd guess so then.

We have now wasted almost 2 hours at this point and still have no rental car or idea where we're going to get a rental. We even considered a moving truck - but that was going to $130 with only 250 miles. So, long story short: Kenna called her people (her friend Jenn who has a van) and I called my people (Bryan) and he got her van and came and picked us up. 11:30 he left; 3:30 he arrived - our knight in shining fiberglass!

And we were off - first to the van to clean it out in the event it gets totalled by the insurance adjuster (my parents are NOT going 4 hours to do this later on if that happens) and then we beelined it for home. One stop for a bathroom break & snacks - that's got to be a record with 2 kids and we were in Barnesville at 7:50. But wait, there's more...........

We start unloading the car and there's no Tigger. He is missing! My son's Tigger that he's had since age one is missing. This is the trip from hell that never ends. I finally had my breakdown over the entire what could have happened thanks to the missing Tigger - it just set me off and that was that. I had to be consoled over this - I wanted to keep that Tigger forever.

Tomorrow I have some calls to make in hopes Tyler left him in the van or even somewhere at the lodge and he just hasn't been found yet. I sure hope Tigger turns up.

Easter trip - day 3 (and unexpected day 4)

Today started off like every other morning. The kids were up by 7, we ate breakfast at 8 and then the kids went outside to play in the front yard of the house while I packed everything and got the others in the house moving. We were loaded and ready to head home by about 11:15 am. On our way home, we practically drive past New River Gorge in Fayetteville, WV and I asked my dad if we could stop by there for the kids to see it. We do. It was really neat seeing the kids so in awe of the huge bridge and the river. (If you've never been there, you really need to go!) The kids were being totally silly at the visitor's center and I caught this shot of them - it's my new favorite:



We take a short walk and then decide to get in the van and make the long journey home. We're about 3.5 hours from home at this point. We're all getting hungry and my dad decided to take a "shortcut" from Fayetteville back to Beckley because my mom was jonesing for some Cracker Barrel mac & cheese. We are headed west on State Route 60 in Ansted, WV - we had just passed the entrance to Babcock State Park and are about to pass Hawk's Nest State Park. And it happened.

We were just driving along. Kenna was on the internets on her phone, the kids were playing happily in the backseat and I was using the GPS to try to find us a place to eat dinner. All of the sudden my mom yells out, "LOOK OUT!" I look up and all I see is this tree falling to the ground. My dad hit the brakes but it was too late and he had to swerve to miss it. Unfortunately, he didn't miss the entire thing - it was really close but didn't clear. And actually thank God again that no one was in the other lane because that's how we missed the entire tree coming down on the van probably even through the windshield.

Uh, yeah here's the tree after it was pushed off the road by a backhoe


And here's the van after it was all loaded up


Like I said, we were in a rather rural area - the people in the house next to where the tree fell were outside and saw it all, probably scared the crap right out of them. They called the police, the fire squad & the wrecker for us. We all just stood the dumbfounded, ya know. It was just like, are you kidding me??!! Did that seriously f-ing happen??!!??!!

Then I called the insurance rep while my parents sorted things out with the police and the tow service. The rep was such a pain in my you know what. She asked me if the wheel damage was there previously like 3 times. Uh seriously?!?!! Go F yourself. Then when she talked to my mom she told her it was going to be cited through them as "failure to control" by my dad. Oh my mom went APE! Since when does an customer service rep decide fault in an accident? For real?

But anyway, it all got sorted out as much as it could tonight and tomorrow we're going to probably rent a car and drive home. The "funny" thing is that my parents talked a lot this w/e about possibly trading the van off for something newer & soon. HA! Guess that is an easy choice. Oh and my mom was so funny at the scene, she kept saying, "we just filled up the gas tank. It was $60 dollars! $60 DAMN DOLLARS!!"

We lucked out* and are staying at the Hawk's Nest State Park lodge. The view is amazing (every room has a balcony overlooking the river), there were several trails for us to explore and hey, there's wifi. We ate some dinner here at the lodge - thankfully they have a restaurant onsite b/c by the time everything got sorted out we all were really hungry. Then after dinner we took the kids to the lookout point and watched the trains go by and went to the playground.


Kenna & I then decided it'd be a good idea to walk this trail that went clear to New River. Uh, that wasn't such a good idea in hindsight. It was quite the little walk back up that hill. Good cardio though, I guess. As if I needed more cardio after the events of today - I think my heart was pumping just fine thank you. Once we returned from our walk from hell, we headed to the room for baths & just to destress from the day. And it was quite the day!




*if lucked out = $84 per night per room for two rooms & $75 for dinner

Easter trip - day 2

Today we got another late start. This is always the case when we travel with my parents and only one vehicle - we are at their mercy. And neither of my parents are early risers - 10:00 am is early for them. I haven't slept since 10 am in well......a very long time, let's just put it that way. But once everyone got moving, we were on the road by 11:30. Today's adventures were to do a little more sightseeing, hit some flea markets & shopping & I was hoping to get a short hike in for some much needed cardio. The good news - we did it all.

We started off at a couple flea market/antique shops in Wytheville, VA. My parents, okay my mom is addicted to these impossible things. I enjoy them but with the kids, it's difficult because they always find something they want me to buy. Today was no different and we ended up with a poseable Minnie for Delana ($2) and a Star Wars dude for Tyler ($4). At least my kids are cheap.

After that, we wound up heading just a bit north (as in UP) because I wanted to go to the Big Walker Mountain Lookout Tower. Unfortunately once we got there, I quickly changed my mind about going up in the tower. First, it was so windy and that thing was a creaking. Second, well if you had seen this old rickety thing in person...you'd understand. I am not normally afraid of things like that but there was no way I was taking myself and the kids up that thing. Uh-huh. Instead we found a trail that went up about as high and took the kids on that instead. Delana insisted on walking "by mself" but she later decided she had to ride the horsey down. Uh, one guess who the horsey was. Thank God she only weighs 26 lbs.

Here's the view from the top:


Tyler was asking my dad if you could see Tennessee from here. Only Tyler!


Then we had an early dinner at a seafood place in the town - supposedly the best seafood around which means I feel really bad for the worst place. It just wasn't that great. After a quick stop at KMart just because we felt like it, we headed home to call it a night and to watch the WVU game.



That wound up being a huge letdown - boo!

Easter trip - day 1

Hmm...well I guess it could kind of be day 2 since we drove to our rental Thursday night. We (my parents, my sister & I) were up pretty late after we arrived just checking out the house we're staying at and unpacking. This place is unreal. It definitely housed a complete family and so of course I'm determined to figure out what happened to the family. Plus this location isn't exactly a huge vacation destination so this place was definitely not built just to BE a rental. It has an awesome deck, a great pool, tons of updates so someone spent a lot of money on this place and now it's "just" a rental that's renting for a decent price. So yeah I'm intrigued. I'm a nerd like that.

So anyway, yesterday despite my best trickery (turning the clock back an hour to get Tyler to stay in bed longer) the kids were still up & at 'em before 7. *cry* We lounged around the house watching some TV and then the kids took a bath in the huge jetted tub that's here. Delana was scared to death of the jets though and wanted out. After everyone was ready, we did our usual exploration of the area. We stopped a few spots to see some sights but mostly we drove around looking at the Blue Ridge Mountains and stopping at various shops. That's how we roll, especially on day 1. My dad loves to just drive so we let him. It was a fun time though and we finished off the day with some ice cream, of course. Everyone in my family loves ice cream so any trip we take involves ice cream.

One of our stops had an old railcar and the kids thought it was pretty neat. But then they soon found the water and that was much more fun for them, as in throwing rocks and stick into it. Oh the things that amuse kids!






We got back to the house around 7 and then played outside on the amazing swingset here at the house. Then the kids went off to bed & we enjoyed the rest of the evening with some pizza and beers. It doesn't get much better than that I'd say.

Mornings you are slowly becoming my friend

I have never been a morning person. I don't even want to be a morning person. I want to sleep until at least 9 every day of my life. (Funny that used to be noon Before Children!) These past two weeks though, I made it my goal to start going to the gym in the mornings. I know, I know - what the hell was I thinking?!?! Me? Get up in the morning on a regular basis and WORK OUT??!! Say what?

The first few days were pretty difficult. Okay, they sucked - big time. I kept going though, refusing to succumb the "oh I'll go in the afternoons" or the "but it's too cold out to get up" thoughts I usually have. I sucked it up and I forced myself to get out of bed on day 3 despite the nasty sinus issues I had going on. I don't know why, but day 3 is where I always tend to mess things up. Well not this time! I did it. And you know what I did it again on........okay, day 5. I just couldn't do 4 days in a row.

Well that was last week and now here I am on Wednesday and it's getting easier each day that passes. Heck on Tuesday morning I was wide awake before Bryan even & I left the house before he did. Today, I admit I struggled and almost went back to bed but I decided no way, I'm not ruining it. Up, dressed and out. And you know what, I'm looking forward to it again tomorrow. It is really great having my workout completely done by 7:30 and then knowing after work I can come straight home and play with the kids and enjoy the upcoming fantastic weather.

I never thought I might possibly become a morning person. Whoa. We are going out of town tomorrow until Sunday though - let's hope that doesn't ruin it.

Easter Egg Hunt

Hey, you try getting a good pic of NINE kids!


Today I went against every fiber of my type A planner being and threw a rather impromptu Easter Egg hunt for the kids & some of our friends. When I saw the weather forecast on Thursday for the weekend, I just knew I had to plan something. Thanks to that marvelous technology called the internets, I was able to quickly invite some friends and the event was planned. Each family brought at least 10 treat filled eggs per child to share and some type of covered dish and WALLAH - we had ourselves an Easter egg hunt. I had four friends that were able to attend and then I also invited our neighbor's daughter as well. This put the total number of kids at 9 - whew. First we served up some lunch which Bryan and another dad prepared the main course - the ever so delicious and nutricious hot dogs, of course. While the kids were all eating, the dads then busied themselves with hiding all the eggs. Then we let the kids loose. And in case you're wondering, trying to keep nine kids inside the house and letting them all go out in one windfall is not such a good idea. Oh well, regardless, the kids enjoyed themselves and so did the mamas!

The start of the hunt in the backyard (Tyler and Shelby pictured)


Once all the eggs were found in the backyard, the older kids got smart and headed to our side yard. Can't fool them! (Lexi and Haylee pictured)


Tyler, spotting an egg and adding it to his loot


And finally off to the front yard! (Shelby pictured)
Side note: Shelby cracked us all up the rest of the day because she carried that bag of eggs around like it was treasure. She would not let it out of her sight or for that matter, her grasp. It was very funny!


Me putting the kids names on the bags because God forbid anyone pick up the wrong bag. (Tyler and Delana pictured)

Not exactly the big girl room I had in mind

Today I got another project started. Delana is almost 3 and shows no signs of ever leaving her crib. I'm starting to think she may very well have to get matching his & her cribs when she marries to be honest. Okay anyway, yes, that's right - Delana is still in her crib. This crib (and bedding and other decor) have been about the only constant thing in my life in the past 6 years. SIX years the crib has been present, let me say that again - SIX years, SIX! I should have done a new nursery when I was pregnant with Delana I guess. I just never thought she'd still be in her crib at this age. Tyler was out right after he turned 2 as I was pregnant by then but it was actually more because he climbed out of it at around 14 months. We were able to keep him in the crib another 11 months thankfully. I figured we'd have the crib about another 2 years so why waste all that money on a new nursery when I could save it for the BIG GIRL room instead.

Well fast forward to now. My precious baby girl won't even attempt to climb out of the crib. In fact we still put her in timeouts in it and when we go up to get her out, she seriously has one leg up over the rail and is just standing there crying, "want ouuuuuut! Let Nana out!!!" Yeah - like I said, she'll be in this crib until marriage.

I decided yesterday enough was enough - if I didn't get that Pooh bedding & decor out of her room I was going to go nuts. I did the best I could with her crib still present and I have to say I'm pretty proud of how it came out. The comforter (that I've had for a year, as well as all the other decor I might add) folded quite nicely to fit in her crib without looking too goofy. I hung up a shelf we bought last summer at a craft fair and also two butterflies I purchased around the same time as the comforter on one of the walls. My plans are to eventually paint her room when we do the complete BIG GIRL room transition but this will have to suffice for now. I feel better and most importantly Delana loves her "pwetty woom!" and especially her "piw-whoa" - you should have seen her beaming when I put her to bed last night. It was the cutest!

Here's a few pics:

Actual happening in our house

Tonight after the kids were done with their bath (yes I still bathe them together - they love it!) I took Delana to get her jammies on and Tyler headed to his room to do his jammies. Tyler likes to use his little heater we have in there to warm him up after his bath and usually Delana joins him in his room for the same reason. Tonight was no different. I went into our bedroom to finish putting away Bryan's work clothes & Tyler and Delana were in Tyler's room. The door was closed, of course so that the room would stay warmer. I was probably in our bedroom for about 10 minutes. I then went into Tyler's room. I opened the door and Tyler is still unclothed, sitting in front of the heater and Delana is right next to him. They're both looking down at something.

I then asked a completely innocent question:
"Tyler what are you guys looking at?"

This was NOT the answer I expected:
"Oh I'm just showing Delana how peebugs grow."

It took me a moment to compose myself mainly because I was fighting an internal battle over whether I should freak out or laugh out loud at the innocent-ness of this event. I took a deep breath, collected myself, and calmly said: "Tyler we don't show others how our peebugs grow. We do that in private."

Add THAT to the list of things I never thought I'd say in my life.

It's Spring, it really is!

Thank you GOD for this wonderful week we've had! Our family needed this week more than you will ever know. As you can tell, we've had the best week so far this year. Wonderful! Bryan worked Monday & Tuesday which put a small damper on the otherwise wonderful week BUT Wednesday and Thursday more than made up for it. We played ball, we rode bikes, we grilled out, we played frisbee. WONDERFUL! I know, I know it's too early to be this excited but I really don't care what you think or say - nothing is ruining this great mood I'm in right now. NOTHING. You hear me?? And the best part is that they're calling for great weather most of the weekend too!

Here's some pics from the past few days:

Busy weekend!

First thing yesterday morning, I had a hair appt & I do mean FIRST thing. 7 am - yikes! It was either that or 2:00 and I didn't want to wait that long for the appointment since yesterday was also my big celebratory dinner for all the hard work I've put into losing weight. I know this seems counter productive but oh well. I don't even know that you can consider dinner at Greco's a big celebratory dinner though. It's hard to believe that when I worked at WJU, I ate there once a week and now it's my special treat instead. It was worth every calorie too - the pepperoni rolls are heaven & so is the dessert pizza. Before we ate dinner, we hit the Highlands for some serious shopping. I put a hurting on Kohl's let me tell you. The biggest score of the day for me was a dress marked down to $9.60. My sister Kenna wins the prize though - she found a dress marked down to $4.80. Both were originally $48 so she got the biggest deal. Still though I do love my new dress and I've shared it on FB so I assume you've all seen it by now.

This morning I slept in just a little later than yesterday and when I woke up, I did my regular morning routine of making breakfast for everyone. On the weekends Bryan is off, we like to have big breakfasts at least once and this morning it was banana fosters french toast. It's one of our favorites & I think we have it at least twice a month now. The recipe:

Banana Fosters French Toast

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/2 cup cream (I just use milk)
1 tsp cinnamon
8 slices bread

2 bananas
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3 tbsp butter


Procedure

Beat eggs, and add cream and cinnamon. Dip bread in mixture and fry in a skillet with butter flavored cooking spray. After all breadis done, melt butter in skillet. Slice bananas and add to butter. Add brown sugar and saute' for a few minutes until it thickens a little. Pour over french toast.


Anyway, after breakfast was over & cleaned up, I spent a little time goofing off online but decided today was the day to put away the rest of my Christmas stuff (snowmen and yes, a few Santas still) and get out my Easter stuff. And I don't know if you're like me but if you are, just one project just isn't enough. I then decided to really light a fire up under my ass and wound up FINALLY putting out some stuff I've had in storage for a while from Celebrating Home. I've had it for almost a year but just never had the motivation to actually do anything with it. Today was the day. I decorated my entryway, my dining room wall and then I even finally put up some pics in a wall collage type thing I've had in my head for a while. Obviously Bryan helped with this. You should have seen him hanging the sign above the window as it was a very comical routine involving a tape measure even. He's such a perfectionist!

I am very pleased with the results. Hope you like!
Our entryway - it came out even better than I had pictured in my head


Our dining room - the shelves are the new addition:


My new wall collage - I'd like to do more with this but it's all I got right now. Yes, Delana's frame still needs a one year picture. Yes, she's going to be three. I know how sad this is.



New wall hanging above our living room window: