Reminiscing :)

Surprise!!

So I haven't been on this little blog 'o mine in awhile. 

I feel like I have absolutely no time to sit down & write anything. 

And honestly, before this week I had nothing really interesting to talk about.

Well folks, that has changed. 

DRAMATICALLY CHANGED!! 

I went from getting engaged in February & planning a wedding at least a year from now;

to eloping to the Big Easy this weekend!

That's right, we're getting married THIS WEEKEND!

I am so, so, beyond excited. 

I cannot believe how quickly this has happened.

I had given up hope of Creag & I even getting engaged. 

Now, in just a few short months we've gotten engaged & in 3 days I'm going to be a Mrs.!!

It is so amazing how everything just comes together, just the way it's supposed to.

I have to give credit to the man upstairs.

He has blessed my life more than I could have ever thought possible.

This year has been beyond stressful for us. 

The last two years actually.

Blending a family is not easy. 

It is one of the hardest things I think we have ever done.

There were more than a few times along the way that I think we both just wanted to throw in the towel.

And a few times we did.

I'm just so grateful, that in the end, our love for eachother was strong enough to get us through the challenges that we faced. 

For these challenges are the ones that have made us stronger than you could imagine.

The respect that I have for Creag, as a father, as a step-father & as my soon to be husband is beyond measure. 

I am so excited & honored to become his wife.

I know that our future will only continue to get better. 

We'll make more memories that I will forever cherish.

We'll continue to raise our children to be the best that they can be.

I pray that we set a good example to the kids of what love is, what love should be.

And I pray that my daughter one day finds a man that loves her & treats her the way that a woman deserves to be treated.  I'm very confident that Creag is that example for her.

I hope that my sons learn from him on how hard work pays off.

Because his hard work is what holds our family together.

  I pray that I never take him, or our life for granted.

Because this life that we have been given, is more than I ever could have wished for.

That's what I love about Sundays

This is how our Sunday was spent....

I must say it was perfect!! 

 I'm looking forward to many more just like this one in the coming months:)

Happy St. Patricks Day

We spent St. Patrick's Day this year with the kiddos.  No partying here, just some good old family fun:)  Which was quite fine with me.   

Skylar slept over at a friends house on Friday night, & Sam stayed with her Nana so it was just Wyatt & Hank on Friday night.  I took them & did a little shopping.  Found some cute Easter decor at The Christmas Tree Shop & stopped by Tarjay to see if I could find anything that I just couldn't pass up but I knew I didn't need.  I succeeded of course!

Saturday, Hank had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese at noon, so Creag & I dropped him off & took Wyatt shopping at the mall.  It was crazy to just have one kid.  That never happens & let me tell ya it was nice to be able to spend some one-on-one time with Wyatt.  We took him to get new shoes, & the Easter Bunny was at the mall.  He said he wanted to see him so we waited in line & Wyatt was all for it until we started walking toward the Bunny...He instantly freaked out.  I'm not one of those parents that will stick a screaming child on the Easter Bunny's lap just so I can get a picture, that's not going to turn out good anyway-so I just carried him on by & Creag snapped a quick picture of us.

Little Stinker is so darn cute! 

He's holding his duck mask that he got to pick out of the Bunny's basket.

After a little more shopping, it was time to go & get Hank from his party & then head to get Skylar, then Sam.  It's a lot of work when they separate to round them up again....whew!

When we finally had them all, we headed downtown to partake in some of the St. Patrick's Day festivities.  We went to the Lager House where Creag's brother Michael works.  They have a pretty nice sized lawn for entertaining right on the River.  They had live music, a few food booths, beer booths, & souvenir booths.  The kids were able to run around a bit.  Which was nice & the weather was perfect for it.  Creag & I got the best beer brat I think we've ever had & the kids chowed down on some hot dogs.  Michael was working so we got to say hello to him, too.  After the Lager House we walked over to Fountain Square before heading home for dinner.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.....

Once we got home, we got started on preparing our "Irish" dinner.  Stuffed pork roast, potatoes, cabbage, & green cool-aid. 

After dinner the adults had not green beer, but BLUE beer while we cheered on the C-A-T-S.  They won again!!

THEN, while I was cleaning up dinner....

Out of nowhere, a little leprechaun showed up in my kitchen!! 

They're not really as scary in real life as I thought they'd be:)

Happy St Patricks Day, Mates

Amy Jo turned the DIRTY 30!!

My best friend of 15 years recently turned the big 3-0 so we did what anyone would do & we celebrated!

Another one of her girlfriends (Rachel) planned a surprise party for her & it turned out so nice.    I was actually jealous that I didn't get to help her plan it.  Living so far away though didn't really allow it & she did a great job without me.  Amy's really lucky to have her!  Thankfully, I don't live too far away to actually show my face at events like these, though.  Amy is way too dear to my heart for that & I would hate to have missed her party. 

We weren't due in Dayton until 6PM so Creag & I had lunch at Hooters by our house & watched the UK game. 

My game day attire

It was a good game, & we were watching it with some great company.  Creag's cousin Jake, a few of his friends were there along with Creag's uncle who came a little later after he had gotten off of work.  We had a pretty good lunch while we were there.  Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches & Fried Pickles!!  I love me sum Fried Pickles:)  UK won of course which made the afternoon even better.  Let's also not forget it was in the 70's that day, so I was loving it. 

After the game was over we closed our tab & headed home to clean up & head to Dayton.  We had both already showered that morning so it didn't take too long to hit the road.

My evening attire

Notice I'm wearing that necklace again?  I loveeeee that thing.  It goes with everything!!

We had dinner at the Mongolian Grill at the Greene.  Amy was really surprised to see everyone & dinner was delish!  After dinner, we had cake of course & visited for a little bit.  It was crazy to see some of Amy's cousins that I hadn't seen in years who were 8 then & now like 17!  Talk about feeling old.  It was really good to see everyone & to finally be able to introduce Creag to Amy's family.  Her parents have always been like second parents to me so I'm glad they they finally got to meet the guy who has made me so happy.  They approved of course:)

  Rachel made Amy wear this goofy hat with Clay Matthews on it (Green Bay Packers Clay).  She put it on & wore it the whole entire dinner & even to the bar afterwards.  She was getting some crazy looks from people though & finally took it off.  haha

 

(Sorry for the blurry I-Phone Pics)

Notice the goofy hat?!  Nice, right?

BFF's

After dinner, just hangin' out.

<3

After our food had digested, the older adults & kids took off so we could continue our evening in other parts of the Greene;)

THE PUB to be exact. 

It was pretty crowded & took us quite awhile to get a table but we didn't let that stop us.  We just made due, had a few drinks & waited it out like the champs that we are.  I had a Stella, & tried a new beer....Old Speckled Hen.  It was pretty good, I'll have to have it again.  It's very rare, that I try a new beer and like it.  I tend to stick with Coors or Miller Lite.  

 All in all it was a great night with some of my favorite people.

Happy Birthday Amy Jo!  I am so blessed to be able to call you my best friend.  You are a beautiful person inside & out & I had so much fun celebrating with you:) 

Until next year, & our next birthday blow job shot......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 

You make 30 look good!!

 

My baby lost his first "toof"

Wyatt lost his first tooth, or "toof" as he would call it last night, March 15th.

How stinkin' cute is he?! 

He may even be a little bit cuter now that he's toofless:)

I think he's a little young to be losing his first tooth.  3 1/2, not turning 4 until September.  I'm not sure if he hit it on something & knocked it loose or what.  Who knows.  Funny thing is, his brother was really young when he lost his first one.  He knocked it out with his own knee rolling down a hill & is still toothless 3 yrs. later.  Anyway...I had noticed that Wyatt's tooth was loose about a month ago & just tried to leave it alone hoping that if it was in fact knocked loose that it may just tighten back up.  But, it just kept getting looser & looser until it was really just hanging there. 

I'd mess with it a little every night this week until finally I got it!!

It was right before bed time when we pulled it & he was so excited, but leary about putting his toof under his pillow because he was afraid it would get "squished" haha.  That boy comes up with the cutest things ever.

I assured him that it wouldn't get squished, that it was in fact a strong toof & he had to leave it there for the Tooth Fairy.

He woke up this morning to find a $20.00 bill under his pillow!  That Tooth Fairy pays good these days, or just must've been out of $1's. 

I'm going to guess it was that she was out of 1's though;)

Wyatt was really excited, but I think Hank was more excited to wake up & realize that his brother finally lost his tooth.  I think it was a proud brother moment.

I was also really surprised that Skylar or Hank brought up or complained about the fact that they didn't get $20.00 when they lost their first tooth!  Phew!  I wouldn't have known how to answer that one!!

I hope he likes his $20.00 now, because I think I'm gonna try & switch it to a one without him noticing....

Sneaky Tooth Fairy!!

Weekend Recap

My last post I had said that I'd be back to share the details of our weekend.

 It doesn't matter that I'm 5 days late right?

I'm a firm believer in the ....

Better late than never!

SO HERE IT GOES

We were kid-free the entire weekend, so Friday night we had a nice dinner, just the two of us.

It had probably been a month since our last date night, so it was long overdue!

We met at home after work & headed out for an early dinner. 

Well I thought we were headed to dinner, but we killed some time car shopping since it was so early.  We've been throwing around the idea of a bigger 3rd row vehicle.  We stopped at a few places, & nothing really caught our eye, so we gave up & headed to dinner.

 We had decided on a place called John Phillips.  It's in the Town Center by our house so it was pretty convenient & we'd also received a buy one entree, get one free coupon in the mail so even better right?! 

Creag had been there once before, & wasn't too impressed but it had been awhile so he didn't mind giving them one more chance.  Right away though, we weren't really impressed with the atmosphere, or the drink choices for that matter.

Creag is a big fan of craft beers, he always likes to try something new.  When he asked our waitress what they had on tap, her answer was..."the normal stuff"  uh, wrong answer!  What exactly is normal?  We got our drinks & ordered dinner.  They brought out bread with a honey butter that was overloaded with honey.  Wasn't a fan.  There was a band playing there that night, so there were a lot of people there and it was LOUD.  Not really my idea of a nice sit down dinner.  We had good conversation & waited quite awhile for our food.  I ordered the pork chops w/ a rasberry sauce & he got the sirloin, they both came with a baked potato & a vegetable.  Our meals were just ok, & for the price we probably could've gone somewhere better.  So we probably won't be going back. 

I wish I would've taken pictures, but didn't.

After dinner, we did a little shopping at Dillards & then headed to Turfway Park to watch the horses run.

Friday nights are $1.00 beer & they usually have a band too.

Not too shabby.

I don't really bet on the horses a whole lot, but it's a fun place to go & people watch for sure!

You see all kinds, & it's AWESOME:)

for instance....

Total Rock-Star right?!

And, if that's not enough for you, I had to go to the restroom while we were there

& walked into THIS.....

Let's just say, I had to step out of the stall after seeing this & make sure I was in the right bathroom.

When I realized I was, I was instantly traumatized!

I texted Creag a picture of the toilet (or whatever you'd call it) from the stall that read something like....

"Only in KY would you see this in a Womens Restroom!!"

I have never seen these anywhere & I hope to never come across them again anywhere else.

Creag was even like WTF are those haha!

So other that the horses, the $1.00 beers, the people there & the toilet, there was also a really awesome band.

They were called My Sister Sarah.  I think they're out of Cincinnati, but they are a RIOT!

They dress up in costume, & are very entertaining.  We will seriously be trying to see them again sometime.  We actually had a conversation about booking them for our wedding reception!

That's a picture of them looking like the guys in the band from the movie The Hangover. 

They also dressed up like LMFAO from the video I'm Sexy & I know it & it was hilarious!!  Tight pants stuffed with a sock & all.

Then they broke our with a whole set of boyband stuff.  NKOTB, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, you name it.  I could have actually done w/out it, but it was different & fun. 

After Turfway we just headed home & crashed.

Saturday night was my Best Friend Amy's Surprise 30th Birthday Party so I think I'll come back & do a whole other post on that one!!

Happy Friday!

2nd Annual Seafood Boil & Engagement Reveal Part II

Mardi-Gra is kind of a big deal and we like to celebrate any chance we get so a few weekends ago, we had our ....

2nd Annual Sea-Food Boil!!

We had a few freinds over, along with some family. 

The party started around 4 o'clock when the UK game started.  Let me just add that they won, once again!!  They've only lost one game this year & that was a buzzer beater so this has been a great season for the CATS!

I made Gumbo for the first time & it made for a good snack while we watched the game.

Creag started up the broiler at about 6 P.M.

That sucker is BIG!  It will cook an amazing meal too.  All you gotta do is just throw the food in it & go about your business & we did!

The same night, Skylar had her first sleepover of this school year. 

I won't plaster her friends face all over the internet with-out permission, obviously. 

They had fun, but she did exactly what I used to do....

complained every time her brother came in her room!

Oh, the joys of having younger siblings. 

I know they bicker now, but I pray that they grow up to be very close. 

They ended up playing together the next day.  They actually all created some pretty cute videos on the I-pad.  I was surprised they figured out how to do that on their own.  It's amazing how well kids do with technology.  If you're not careful, you'll find 'em cruising you-tube. 

Anyways, getting off track. 

Dinner took I think all of a half-hr.  (Love-It)

When it was ready, Creag drained it, then dumped it!

It was delish!

We had shrimp, crab legs, clams, sausage, potatos, & corn on the cob!

I had to tell Sky's friend that we don't usually dump our dinner on the counter. 

I could only imagine what she was thinking.  Probably something along the lines of .... what a bunch of weirdos!

It was a great day. 

We also got to share the news of the engagement with Creag's parents & I finally got to post it on Facebook!  That is a big deal you know!

Until next year......

Laissez les bon temps rouller

Let the good times roll:)