Myrtle Beach 2012

We took a vacation to Myrtle Beach South Carolina :)  It was so much fun and very relaxing!  Brady and Izabell had so much fun this year and probably would have stayed in the pool the entire time if I would have let them.  Our condo had an indoor lazy river, an adult pool and a kiddie pool all inside and then an adult pool and kiddie pool outside.  The only downfall was the outside kiddie pool was under construction :(  The first night there we took the kids to the indoor pools and knew we would spend a lot of time there!  They loved it and the kiddie pool was just the right size.

We had great weather except for the Friday before we left so we hit some shops and just hung out and packed up so we could get an early start Saturday morning.

Anyway back to our week, we arrived on Saturday and took the kids to the pools inside that night

Then on Sunday some family friends came in from North Carolina so we went to Barefoot Landing with them and went to a few of the little shops there and had a nice lunch.  Then all the women went grocery shopping for the food for the week.  We left the kids with Mike and my uncle.  My two cousins were also there to keep them entertained!  I feel like the grocery shopping trip is always the most stressful thing to get done! 

On Monday we walked the beach a little bit right away in the morning and I was excited because Brady was okay with the ocean this year.  The past couple years he has been a little intimidated by it but this year he was actually walking right by the water and putting his feet in...until...these little buggers came along...

Lovely jelly fish!


There were tons of them, all over the beach and when I say all over I mean all over.  Because the tide comes up so far in the evening they were way up the beach too.  Then Brady was afraid to even go down to the sand!  Luckily that got a little better but he still would not go anywhere near the water after that :(  Even daddy was a little nervous about playing in the ocean because of how many there were.  Not sure why there were so many this year but hopefully if we go back next year there will not be that many!   Later we hung out at the beach for a little bit (far away from the water) and the kids played in the sand and built sand castles and did sand belly flops! 

                                                                       little diva

                                               BEFORE THE JELLYFISH SITINGS

                 AFTER THE JELLYFISH SITINGS - WE WERE USUALLY THIS FAR BACK

 On Tuesday it was supposed to be a little cooler so we decided to go to the amusement park that was just down the street.  It ended up being a pretty hot day but we had a ton of fun and I felt like a kid again going on a roller coaster with Caitie and Aleeyah (cousins).  I didn't think Brady would try much but he went on a ton of stuff and even enjoyed the kiddie roller coaster.  Everyone had a great time...until...we took Brady on the log ride!  Okay when I was younger I remember the log ride being this little ride with barely any hills and you would get a little wet.  So we thought why not we will go on as a family.  Well Brady hated it and even hurt his hand.  That ride wasn't what I remembered, there was quite a big hill and it went pretty fast!!  To this day we can't mention the log ride!

That night we also went down to the beach in the evening and had A LOT of fun on the beach taking pictures and playing around in the sand!  We tried getting pictures of us jumping :)

On Wednesday we all went down to the pool and took up a row of lawn chairs and let the kids play in the pool and had some fun in the sun.

Thursday we went to the pools again in the morning (we also had access to the hotel next door and they had a working kiddie pool).  The kids played for awhile over there and then we hit the outlet stores and I got some great deals at The Children's Place on their $1.99 rack!!  Then we all went out to eat at "Big Daddy's".  The food was good and it was nice to go out to eat!

Friday like I said was pretty rainy so we went to Broadway On the Beach, another little place with little shops and restaurants all throughout it.  We went to our favorite store "It's Sugar" and spent $45 dollars on CANDY!!!  They have every type of candy you can think of and you literally like a kid in a candy store, not good for the wallet but awesome in the tummy :)

We had a great time and I'm already looking forward to going back next year!

Look for a post coming soon on my Little Man playing T-ball!!!

Road trip and other stuff!

On Saturday we took a road trip to Ypsilanti to see my cousins Jeff and Dana, their two daughters Elia and Emma and their new son Evan.  Evan is over a month old and we have been wanting to go and see them but my kids and I have been sick for about the last month!  Don't want germs around a new little baby :(  Anyway we haven't taken Izabell anywhere too far without a diaper or a pacifier so I was really wondering how this was going to go.  I put panties on her but put a pull-up on over them.  She stayed dry the entire way there and back!  She is doing really good.  We still do pull-ups at night because I don't want to have to change sheets in the middle of the night and she just turned two and a half so I think that's still okay :)  Izabell is still a screamer and in her carseat is the worst.  If you didn't get a chance to enjoy the video of vacation last year on the way home, it wasn't pleasant,  she screamed high pitch about 90 % of the time and the other 10 % she was sleeping.  I tried to send the video from my phone but it said too large, I will have to try to figure that one out! She did better but still has her moments :)

On another note, What I'm Loving - Monday!!

I'm LOVING this Apple Butter.  I LOVE to put it on an english muffin.  The good thing too is it's only 30 calories for one tablespoon.  I've been eating for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  This is a must try :)

 I'm also loving this new chocolate chip cookie recipe I got from this blog spot Jenna's Journey.  She has such good recipe's and I love that some of them are really easy :)

Ingredients for these awesome cookies!

Awesome cookies!

I might just add that these were some of the best tasting chocolate chip cookies I have had!  Thanks Jenna, even though you will probably never see my blog!

I'm also loving these two cute little faces, especially after their bath when they smell so sweet and look so clean!!  My two perfect little angels

Don't they look so innocent!?!?!

Izabell is such a helper lately.  I cut up a cucumber which both of my kids love!  And Izzy wanted to help make one for daddy and I told her daddy liked salt and pepper on his.  So this is her helping put salt on daddy's.  LOVE watching her make one up for her daddy :)

I know I posted about this in another post, but I'm LOVING girl's night out.  This month a friend of mine thought to do something that she has seen on some other blog spots.  Everyone picks out something that they use or LOVE and buy three of that item.  We decided to have a $5 minimum.  I racked my brain trying to think of something that I use or LOVE that is over $5 and couldn't think of one thing.  My makeup is cheap, my hair products are cheap, I just use plain old soap to wash my face.  So I decided on a bottle of bath and body lotion, because I use it everyday and LOVE all the different fruity scents that they have, a thing of sticky notes because being a teacher I have these things EVERYWHERE, a thing of chapstick, and a reese's peanut butter cup because I LOVE THESE, especially the heart ones for Valentines Day or the egg ones for Easter, because they have a lot more peanut butter in  them, okay enough about those now I want another one, yes I did already eat one today, okay enough!  Then at the get together everyone's name is put on a piece of paper and put in a bag and when your name is drawn you get to pick someone else's thing they LOVE.  I ended going home with some really neat and fun stuff!!  Here is my little gift bag of stuff and here are all of us girls! 

 

Have a great week everyone!

Happy, Happy, Happy

This week is filled with happiness!  Tuesday was Valentines Day!  I was surprised by some lovely roses in the morning.  Mike had the kids bring them to me and it made my day :)  We got Brady and Izabell some candy of course, some fruit snacks and they also got some new underwear.  Izzy really needed some since she is fully potty trained during the day, still wearing a diaper at night but it is usually dry when she wakes up!  While looking for some for Izzy we saw some for Brady.  They are super hero ones!!!  I don't know why but they just looked more big boyish than the Thomas the Train or Diego or Cars.  It came with Batman, Superman and one other one that is slipping my mind right now but they are all green!  They also received several valentines from friends at school and daycare.  Gee-Da, (my mom) made them some soft fluffy hooded towels, got them some pez dispensers along with candy and some new slipper socks that are very cute!  Grandma Deb (Mike's mom) got them each a baseball glove and ball and Brady also got a new bat, we are signing him up for t-ball for this spring!!  He loves playing, hopefully more than soccer :)  Anyway they received a lot for Valentines Day!

Then today was Mike's birthday!!  Mike and I went out to dinner Saturday night to Red Lobster (Mike's favorite!!)  He LOVES seafood and when we got there it was packed, come to find out it was Lobster Fest so Mike was all in his glory because they had different Lobster based items on the menu.  Still he couldn't decide between the Ultimate Feast and the Lobster Bake, so he decided to go with the Lobster Bake but get a side order of Crab Legs!!!!  Then there is me who is not a seafood person so I went with the maple glazed chicken over rice with french fries and a Cesar salad.  It was really good :)  But we both ended bringing home boxes, I don't know about Mike but I was full even before I got my meal from those yummy cheddar biscuits.  My mom babysat the kids for us while we ate, it was a really nice time to spend with my hubby!  Then today on his actual birthday we didn't have any plans at all so the kids and I got up while daddy was still sleeping and made him his favorite pancakes (courtesy of his mommy).  I had a heart shape cut out so I made them into hearts and had coffee for him.  We brought it to him in bed (on Brady's tray :)), and sang Happy Birthday to him.

I swear I do Izabell's hair, this was right away this morning :)


The kids got the baby hearts, which they chowed right down

I asked Mike if he wanted to go do anything but he was happy staying at home and just spending the day with me and the kids and relaxing.  The kids and Mike did a lot of wrestling and just hanging out.  Then I also planned another one of his favorites, corn bread casserole, he also LOVES this and I think I might have made it one time before.  I also made chili, which I don't know if I've ever made before.  Then I bought some french bread at Sam's the other day and decided to cut that into slices, drizzle olive oil on it, sprinkled some oregano, and basil over it and then some shredded cheese on top and put it in the oven for like 8 minutes or until the cheese was melted.  EVERYTHING (much to my surprise) turned out really good and I think this will be an easy go to meal more often now.  I didn't get a picture of the bread but here is the chili with cheese sprinkled on top and corn bread casserole.

Then to top it off we had a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting another favorite of Mike's.  I wrote  attempted to write Happy Bithday Daddy on the cake but I have found that I'm horrible at trying to do that so anyway here is a awesome picture of the cake!

Overall it was a really good day full of relaxation, just what a birthday at our age should be, ha!  I did put candles on the cake and we sang again! 

Mike, I hope you had a good birthday.  The kids and I are so lucky to have you and I know I don't say it enough but thank you for all you do for us and all the help you give me with the kids in the mornings, it sure helps.  You are a great daddy and a great husband.  I'm so glad that we were able to spend a nice day together as a family and enjoy each other.  We don't get many of those these days with all the activities and work schedules that are going on!  WE LOVE YOU and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

I hope you all have a good week and enjoy your families!

What I'm Loving!

Hello everyone, happy Monday :)

I have seen a couple people on blog spots do a "What I'm Loving" so I figured I would do one too and it helps to get through a Monday!
Brady is doing awesome at writing his letters and drawing people!  I just LOVE his belly buttons on his people and LOVE his work he is doing in his poetry folder!

This is his poetry folder - he made a letter in an envelope with a stamp and was sending it to a girl in his class in the mailbox!!!  LOVE!

This one is on his Magna Doodle (can I say I LOVE these things too!)  It was a picture of him and one of his friends at Red Robin when we went there and got balloons :)

Brady had his Valentine's Party at school today and brought all his Valentines home.  Izabell got a hold of them and was looking all through them saying "I LOVE THIS".  I can't wait for her to get hers tomorrow at their daycare party!!!

Don't mind her hair this was after a full day with daddy!
Another LOVE with Izabell is she has been pacifier free for 4 nights now!  The first two nights were really easy but the last two have been hard, she won't fall asleep for about an hour to two hours after I put her down and she asks for it but I tell her that they all went to the babies that need them because she is such a big girl now :)  So she is pacifier free and diaper free (except for at night), my baby girl is growing up!

Another thing I'm loving is my once a month get together with all my girlfriends!!  It has been so much fun.  Someone in the group thought it would be fun to do themes so last month we did jammies (which let me tell you that's my kind of theme!)  Then this month it was wear a bridesmaids dress that you wore in a wedding.  I was NOT a big fan of this one AT FIRST because let's face it, it has been about eight years since I have been in a wedding besides my own and have now had two children and just knew that I wasn't going to fit in those dresses anymore.  So called my mom and told her to look and see if I even had any over there and she said I had two.  I tried them on and MUCH to my surprise they fit!!!  Not the same that they used to by any means but hey I could get them zipped and this one I'm wearing was not uncomfortable at all.  All and all it was a fun time in our dresses!!!
Can't ever get a normal one first!!  I think it took us three times to FINALLY get a decent one!

Here we are all wearing a bridesmaids dress!  I can't wait for March's get together!!

Back to Valentine's Day, we have been doing Valentines things since Wednesday!  Brady had to have his Valentines to school by Friday of last week and to daycare by Thursday of last week.  So we went to the store Tuesday and bought out Target of all the Valentines!!  I have 56 students so I had to by a couple boxes plus some suckers to go with them :)  Then a box for Brady for school and a box for daycare and a box for Izabell for daycare.  I also did some chocolate hearts for Brady and Izzy to bring their friends at daycare.  I bought the mold from JoAnn Fabrics and used melting chocolates and chocolate chips.  The melting chocolates worked out a little bit better than chocolate chips.  I just melted the chocolate poured it in stuck them in the freezer for about 4 minutes and popped them out!  VERY EASY.  I LOVE VALENTINES DAY and LOVE to see the my kids and my students have so much fun with it too!

I think that's all for the LOVE post for this week!  HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!