Saturday, April 27, 2013

The month of April!

The month of April was a very busy, very fun month for us.  The main reason for that is because we had Grandma Marnie come and stay with us for 3 weeks.   She left 2 days ago and the whole family is missing her already.

Some of our April activities included:

-A trip to New Orleans for Brandon and I to celebrate our 8th anniversary. 

This was so much fun for us.  Another great reminder that I really did marry my best friend.  (Thank you to Suzi, Dee and Grandma Marnie for helping with the kids while we were away.)

If you ever make it there do not skip visiting Cafe Du Monde.  You will seriously regret missing out on the best beignets ever.

-Other highlights included: relaxing, french market, pralines, Brunch at Court of 2 Sisters, anniversary dinner at Muriels, Ghost Tour and just taking in the sights.

-A trip to the Cleveland zoo with Grandma, me and the kids!

This was a fun day because we just decided to do it on a whim.  Funny story about this day, It was a kinda humid day.  To get away from the humidity we decided to duck into the rainforest.  The problem was that it was more humid in there than outside.

-Lots of shopping

First off, I want to make a plug.  JcPenneys is my new favorite store.  I don't know why they are failing.  They have great prices.  If you haven't been there in a while, GO!!
We also went to: Ollies Outlet (for books), Target (of course), Bed Bath and Beyond, Costco and others.

-Lots of home improvements!

YAY!  We painted our living room, dining room, office and Meghan's bedroom.   All these rooms were dark and ugly before.  They are much brighter now.   Our office used to have blue/green plaid wallpaper. Really???  Why would someone do that to a room??  We hired a great painter.  He was fair and worked hard.  If you need a painter, let me know.  I will give you his information.

For the house we also got:
-a grill (let's cook out soon!)
-a new dishwaher (The original one was from 1988.)
-a clubhouse for the kids
-a disk swing for the kids (That I hung up in the tree by myself!)
-a picnic table
-Cabinets for the family room
-a slide and sandbox for the backyard (ok, we didn't buy these.  Thank you Dave and Ann.)
-New pictures for the walls.
-a new toaster (The old one only had 3 legs.)

-Aunt Suzie came to spend a few weekends with us.

She helped watch the kids while we were on our trip.  Then she came another weekend to visit with us.  We had a LCR night filled with family and food.  Don't know what LCR is?  It is this game where you sit around laugh your ass off.  Come visit and I will teach you!  We also did the normal stuff which included shopping.  It was so fun to have her here.  I hope she comes back soon.


-Flag Football games, Irish Dancing practices and concerts.

Owen has been playing flag football and loving it.  He plays on a kindergarten team at the Force center in Rocky River.

Both boys have been doing Irish dancing for over a year now.  Their big recital was just yesterday. Super fun to watch!  They really are good boys.

-Tried some new baking recipes.

3 words: Chocolate Oreo Truffles.  You must try these, yummy and easy to make.   I will gladly give you the recipe.  Just ask!  Actually it is Marlene's recipe, I stole it from her!  I also made a chocolate flourless cake for the first time.


Looking back on April I learned that all my favorite things in life begin with the letter F.

Family, Friends, Fun and Food.   Aren't I a lucky girl to have all four?

(Oh, I also like sunny days!)






(These are the videos from the Irish Dance recitals. Owen is helping Seamus during his recital. )

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Owen's 6th Birthday


Ok, this post should have gone before the first day of school one.  Oh well!

 On July 30th, our spunky, sweet, outgoing, caring Owen turned 6 years old.  We celebrated by having a family party and a friend birthday.  The family party was also a housewarming party.  The friend birthday party was the next weekend.  We celebrated with  cupcakes, pinata and a slip-n-slide.  Both parties were fun.  It would have been more fun if you were able to join us!  Here are some pictures.







Thursday, October 25, 2012

First Day of School

Once again, I am behind on these posts.  For that, I apologize.  I figured that maybe people would like to see pictures from the first day of school.  The first day was eventful because Owen's bus forgot to pick him up.  I had to drive him there and he was late for his first day.  That was a little bit of a disappointment because I know he really wanted to take the bus.  On the second day of school, they switched him to a new bus which comes 12 minutes earlier.  So now we rush even more!  :)

Waiting for the bus! 
Waiting in the driveway. 


All ready to go!


Seamus's bus on its way to school!

Standing outside his school after the bus didn't come!  :(


So far, the school year has been going great!  Seamus is in preschool and Owen is half day kindergarten.  They both take the bus to school.  That leaves Meghan and I to enjoy the mornings by ourselves.

Friday, August 24, 2012

A boat, a bus and a train! All in one Day!



That pretty much sums up our day at Put-in-Bay.   The kids loved taking the ferry over to the Island.  Then we took the Island Bus into town and a train ride to see the rest of the Island.  We visited Perry's Memorial (It was closed for repairs.), the Antique Car Museum (It was the size of a barn.), the Island Winery and the fudge shop (Of course!).  Did you know that Ohio produces the third most wine in the country?  I didn't until I visited Put-in-Bay.  Maybe you should visit it too and get your own unique fact! :)







As a mom, I crinch at the food we consumed that day.  McDonalds, Pizza, Saltwater Taffy, Fudge, Wine (just Brandon and me.) and ended it with Toft's Ice Cream.  But isn't that what vacations are for??

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Great Wolf Lodge





For the start of our Sandusky vacation, we took the kids to the Great Wolf Lodge!  It is a super fun hotel with an indoor water park.  We spent two whole days swimming, splashing and sliding.  Seamus still asks when we are going back there.  It was one of the highlights from our trip and a great family memory.  I don't have any pictures of us swimming because I didn't bring my camera to the pool area. I didn't want to worry about it while we were swimming.  Here are a few in our hotel room and the lobby.  The best thing about our room was the kids' bunk bed.  I will keep you posted soon on the rest of our trip.



Friday, August 10, 2012

Beating the Heat


It just isn't summer without ice cream cones.  Besides for jumping in a pool, there isn't a better way to cool off.  Isn't summer great?

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Mother's Day at the zoo.

We spent Mothers Day at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.  It was a great family day.   The weather was perfect!

On a side note, Brandon did offer to take me and the kids to a Mothers Day Brunch before the zoo.  I really wasn't in the mood for that with all three kids.  He brought home donuts instead.  A much more relaxing breakfast!!