Daddy's Birthday

Emma and her friend helped me make Daddy's Birthday cake. I had envisioned something a little prettier. But I ran out of frosting and had to use the girls purple frosting and then I made a goopy mess. Oh well, it was yummy though.

The video below does work just push play.

Daddy's Birthday Presents

For Daddy's Birthday the kids each got Matt a book that he could read them. Emma got Matt "My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw and Logan got a book about monsters. Since I have not moved the wrapping paper yet I wrapped the books in brown paper bags and asked the kids to draw on them to make them pretty:) They did not understand my intent but they liked that they too received a gift on Daddy's birthday!!

Grilling Steaks with Daddy

It has been rather warm here in Carthage lately. Tonight it was abbout 37 with a light snowfall. So Matt fired up the grill and cooked some birthday steaks. The kids had a blast running around outside while Daddy was cookie.

Getting settled

Well, we are finally getting settled and it is starting to feel more like home now. Today we brought over the storage shelves we had in the playroom and placed one full one in each of the kids rooms. We are not sure what tomorrow will bring. Looks like we should get 4-6 inches of the heavy wet stuff tonight. I am hoping to be able to take some time tomorrow to go through Emma's drawers and toys. We really need to purge and get rid of all the baby stuff.

Visit with Cousin Lisa and her fam

on our way home from DC we stopped by my cousin's house for lunch. We were able to meet baby Joshua. I did enjoy cuddling this little dude but I was just fine handing him back to Daddy when it was time to get going.

Hooters for dinner

Tonight we went to Hooters and the best wings EVER!!! So super yummy. I also tried raw oysters for the first time, also a good treat. While we were waiting for our food Logan was taking a few pictures and even captured a self pose of himself.

Ikea with Uncle Sam

I sooo wanted a little trip to Ikea. I did not really want to buy anything specific I just wanted to browse the store. So I bought the candles that I remember loving so much and Emma a cool thing that will hang over her bed, soooooo much fun. And after wards the kids and the guys had some lunch.

Port of Discovery Children's Diner

Baltimore's Port of Discovery Children's Museum

We had a chance to take some much needed time to ourselves while we were on Vacation. So we took the kids to this awesome children's museum that looked like a giant 3 story play room. The kids played and played and played. After more than 4 hours of playing we jumped on the metro so we could take Logan on a train:) After we got back in the Jeep to make our way back to Sam's the kids both fell fast asleep!!

1st Day at Uncle Sam's

After a great easy 7 hour drive we made it to Uncle Sam's tonight. The kids were incredible in the car and were anxious to arrive and play with Uncle Sam's dogs and in his new hot tub.

Not a good blogger

Well, I have not been very good at uploading pictures and blogging lately. I hope once things slow down a bit I will get into a better routine.


We started our big move to the apartment today. We have over to weeks to do this if we wish but we are gonna get most of it done early next week. Our phone number will stay the same and I will email out a address change.

But first we are gonna play a little more. We are headed to the DC area tomorrow to visit Sam and a handful of other people to include my cousin Lisa and her family. I am so excited to have another vacation with Matt before he heads back to work March 1st.

My new Hair Color

I have been wanting to do something different to my hair and choose to do a new color. I have never colored my hair before, only highlights. So I picked a Dark Golden Blonde and love it. I really wanted brown and this is just perfect!! I also had her trim up my ends and leave long layers. So much fun!! I think I will go completely blonde next time.

Valentine's Party for Emma

Matt had a chance to go to Emma's Valentine's Party at School. He told me she is quite to social bug and giggled with her best friend the entire time.

Chuck E Cheese

On our way home from the WaterPark we did a little shopping around Syracuse and ended our trip with Chuck E Cheese. The kids had a blast and Matt and I enjoyed seeing them really be able to play some of the games offered there.

Hot tub

red slide

Bucket dropping

Baby Pool Slide

Our 2nd Day at Hope Lake Lodge

We have had a blast at the WaterPark. Matt headed out early for some skiing. We decided we would drive Daddy over and let the kids play in the snow a little. Kind of a bad idea, it was about 14 degrees with a horrible wind chill. So we quickly took a few pics and headed back to the hotel. The kids and I were anxious to get into the warm water at the Water Park.

After Matt got done skiing I headed to the Spa. I enjoyed a facial for the first time, and will definitely have that done again. And I enjoyed a nice massage. I easily could have come back and took a nap but we got the kids all ready to head back to the swim park.

For dinner I had planned a crock pot meal. So after dinner we took the kids to have some dessert. And then, you guessed it, we headed back into the water park. This was probably one of the best times because we had the entire park to ourselves. (It was during the super bowl). By time we got back to the room and into PJ's the kids and I were out by 9PM:)

1st Day at Hope Lodge

We had a great first day. I wish I would have gotten more pictures but I was too into the moment and then the kids were being super tired cranky little things that I love dearly:)


We arrived a few hours before check-in so we could fully take advantage of the water park. The kids had a blast!!! We spent almost 2 hours enjoying the wave pool, kiddie pool, kiddie slides, and Emma, Matt, and I enjoyed the big kid slides. After we checked in and got into our suite we quickly headed into town so we could get the essentials for our stay, mainly Matt's beer. We decided to enjoy 1 meal in the hotel restaurant and was kind of tortured at the beginning as the kids were definitely showing signs of being over tired and hungry. But thankfully, some markers and books proved the trick and Matt enjoyed prime rib while I stuck with a cobb salad. After getting the kids in bed I headed down to the hot tub/ hot springs. What a treat. It was about 10 degrees out and it felt so incredible. After about 20 minutes and several ice crystals forming in my hair I decided it was time to switch with Matt.

Tomorrow is skiing for Matt in the morning and a Spa afternoon for me. We will be filling in the gaps with multiple trips to the indoor water park!!!

Hope Lodge and Water Park

And we are off for our 1st "mini" vacation this month. We chose a resort about 2 hours from here that will not only provide entertainment for the kids but will also give Matt a chance to go skiing and me a chance to enjoy a spa afternoon!!! I am so excited:)

100 Days of School

It is crazy to think Emma had been in school for 100 days already. Tonight Emma and Daddy worked on her 100 day of school Project. She needed to create a posted with 100 items on it. She had a great time talking about and creating the project with DADDY:)

The other picture is of the little guy that insisted on wearing his "glasses" and riding his "car" tonight:)

Daisy Scouts

Today I joined Emma at her Daisy Scout meeting. I have attempted in the past but because Logan is so wild I have not felt comfortable staying at the meeting. Today I was able to go and watch Emma with all the other Girl Scouts and get the information on the upcoming Girl Scout Cookie Sales. Emma was having so much fun. They did this cute little sewing project while the leader read them a story.

SOOOOO!!! Girl Scout cookies go on sale February 5th. If you would like to order from Emma please let me know. I will have Emma call you and talk to you about the order and the cookies. (
I will cover the shipping) Emma is really enjoying Girl Scouts. She honestly has no idea what is going on but she is enjoying the other girls. Emma will be a Daisy next year too before she moves up to the Brownies in the 2nd grade.