Family Forever

Marriage Monday

2012-01-16T16:59:00.004-05:00

Marriage Monday-Topic-Celebrating Womanhood

I saw this on Denise's blog today and thought it was such a wonderful list to complete, that I just had to share mine! Thank you Denise for making me take time out of my busy day to think about these important things in life!

Please Complete These Sentences

I am…..happy with my life.
I want….. More of Jesus.
I have….. So many precious blessings.
I wish…..Salvation for all the lost.
I hate…..hate.
I miss….. my grandmother, Meemaw and my grandfather, Poppop. Both went to heaven this past year, 2011.
I fear…..snakes outside and the thought of one getting inside the house!
I feel….. tired but happy.
I hear…..Ella playing on her ipad.
I smell….. My hand cream I just put on.
I crave….. sugar!
I search…..everything & anything on google!
I wonder….. what this year has in store for us.
I regret…..not eating better the last several years.
I love…..Jesus, my family & friends
I ache…..for friends that have suffered through and/or, are continuing to suffer through cancer.
I care….. about being the best mom, wife, child, sibling, and friend I can be.
I always…..Try to be encouraging.
I am not…..good, at NOT judging others too quickly.
I believe…..in GOD
I dance…..to make Ella laugh
I sing…..all the time!
I cry…..not often for myself, but all the time during movies or commercials!
I don’t always…..want to cook dinner!
I fight…..for what's right.
I write…..on my blog
I never….Want to discourage anyone.
I listen…..with my ears & my heart.
I need…..a stronger relationship with Jesus and less influence from me wanting to be in control.
I am happy…..when I get to spend time on the beach or at the pool with Ella, friends and/or family!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."-Henry Peter Brougham

Family Trip to the Zoo!

2012-01-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

Back in October we took Ella to the Zoo. It was a beautiful day and we had wonderful weather! We even ran into friends of ours in the food area and enjoyed having lunch with them. Here are some pictures from that trip.

Ella & her friend Sara enjoying ice cream after lunch.

The Zoo was fun! Now we need to plan a trip to the Aquarium!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."-Henry Peter Brougham

Ella's 7th Birthday Party!

2012-01-05T19:37:00.000-05:00

7 years old already! Can you believe it? I can't! This year she wanted to have a bowling party for her friends. We had so much fun! I'm a little delayed in my blogging, so please excuse the lateness. Her birthday was October 24. And her party was on Sunday, October 23, 2011.

Thomas, Bella & Ella

Ella and her awesome bowling skills!

Sara, Bella & Ella

Ella opening her presents.

A good friend of mine made Ella's cake & cupcakes!

She had a wonderful birthday surrounded by her friends and family.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."-Henry Peter Brougham

Is there anything better in life than friends?

2011-11-19T18:49:00.006-05:00

Thought I would share some photos of Ella & her friends doing what they do best....

We went out to eat one night with our friends. This is Ella, Layla & Bella. Layla & Bella are sisters.

And here they are enjoying a hayride after apple picking at the farm!

This was another day when we visited the pumpkin farm with some other friends. This is Ella & Kylie. Kylie is the sister of Ella's future husband, lol.

Well, I just thought I would give you a little sneak peak at what we have been doing so far this fall. Hope you all are enjoying this beautiful season as well!

-Heather

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."-Henry Peter Brougham

I'm coming back to blog land!

2011-11-14T21:43:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone!

It's been so long since we've seen each other. Life has been crazy busy this past year. I can't believe it's been over a year since I posted anything on here. I am happy to report that I am going to start posting again!

I noticed my list of blogs that I follow had completely disappeared when I updated my blog tonight, so with that said, if you are missing from my list please let me know! I tried to remember as many as I could, but you know a year is a long time to forget!

I'm looking forward to chatting again with you all. Hope you have been well. See you soon!

-Heather

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."-Henry Peter Brougham

Hello again!

2010-08-15T17:18:00.003-04:00

Oh my gosh I can't believe it's been this long since I last posted! I don't even know if anyone is still reading my blog, but I thought I'd check in and give you a quick update....

Yes, we went to Florida(back in MAY!) on vacation and had a great time. We've been having a wonderful summer so far and we're very excited to start home school this September! Ella will be starting kindergarten. She's so excited to have mommy as her teacher :)

I will be back soon to post some more of what's been going on, I promise!

Sorry I haven't been around to check on any of you. It's been so busy this summer!

-Heather

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."-Henry Peter Brougham

We're going...going...gone!

2010-05-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

That's right. We're outta here! We're headed to the beach. Beautiful Florida here we come!

I won't be able to check in on any of you while I'm away but don't worry, I'll check in when we return!

Until then, hold down the fort for me!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."-Henry Peter Brougham

New friends

2010-05-13T09:16:00.000-04:00

The other day just before we headed inside for dinner Ella found a caterpillar. We had been outside all day playing with her friends and it wasn't until everyone cleaned up and went in and we were the last two outside, that she found her treasure.

We probably spent another 20 minutes outside with the caterpillar because Ella wouldn't leave her. She wanted to play with her and love her.

I finally convinced her to put her new friend in her flower pot that we had just planted her seeds in. Of course the caterpillar moved all around in it and even around the edges. Ella wouldn't leave her. She wanted to know that she would be safe. I told her she would be safe that she would either stay there or go looking for food.

The next morning of course she was gone. Ella was sad but ok with it. We went to the store, came home, ate lunch and went outside to play. As we were heading outside to play something amazing happened. The caterpillar came crawling across our porch step! She hadn't gone very far after all. Ella was so excited, I was shocked and the caterpillar had her friend again :)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."-Henry Peter Brougham

Button Boo-Boo, Mother's Day & Grandpa's Birthday!

2010-05-11T17:31:00.001-04:00

This past weekend was a busy one!

First let me show you Ella's boo-boo that happened Saturday afternoon. This is what happened: Ella didn't listen, Ella was told to sit on the porch step for time-out, Ella turned around to sit on step, mis-judged step, fell and scraped her spine on the edge of the cement step, time-out OVER!

When she looked in the mirror to see her boo-boo she said "oh it looks like buttons! I have a button boo-boo!".

Sunday was Mother's Day. I got to sleep in! Nathan bought me our summer membership to the pool (per our tradition!), and Ella gave me 3 Bath & Body Works lotions that she picked out all by herself at the mall. Nathan said she walked the whole mall looking for the perfect present and then decided she wanted to get me lotion!

In the afternoon we headed to my parents house to celebrate Mother's Day and Grandpa's birthday! We have a tradition of celebrating both events together because sometimes my dad's birthday (May 12th) falls on Mother's Day.

My mom opening her gifts from us:

My dad opening his birthday gifts from us:

Birthday cake!

Thanks for helping blow out the candles Ella!

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day & weekend too!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."-Henry Peter Brougham

Bathroom Snapping Divas Party!

2010-05-07T10:40:00.006-04:00

What a fun idea! This is my very first Diva photo. Of course Ella joined in :)

We are in our main bathroom upstairs.

Strawberry Shortcake joined in as well :)

For more Bathroom Diva photos please visit our host Shelia from Note Songs to see all the other Bathroom Divas who joined the party today.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."-Henry Peter Brougham

Her very first big girl bike!

2010-05-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

If you remember this post, Ella just recently taught herself how to ride a big girl bike (with training wheels). She learned on our neighbors bike and after a week or two we realized she needed her own to ride.

Off to the store we went...

Testing bike after bike...

Until we found "the one"...

All that testing works up an appetite...

Mommy & Ella... (Can you tell how much she likes ICEE's? LOL)

Daddy & Ella...

Helping Daddy put it together...

Riding her new bike!

I couldn't help but include this photo. A couple days ago the kids were taking turns drawing chalk outlines of each other up and down the sidewalks. It was so funny, I was waiting for the cast of Law & Order to show up! HA!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."-Henry Peter Brougham

The Sweetest Reward

2010-05-04T08:00:00.001-04:00

SHE DID IT!!!!!!

That's right, Ella has gone 30 days without sucking her fingers! No more bandaids, no more stickers on the calendar to mark each night, no more reminders!

If you remember this post, she received a present after going 7 nights without sucking her fingers. Of course it was something she really wanted. So we decided she could pick her BIG present for the end of the 30 days. I mean 30 days is a long time to wait!

Are you dying to know what she wanted so bad? What she asked for every morning after putting her sticker on the calendar marking another night of accomplishment....

She wanted her fingernails painted for the very first time! (I wouldn't do it when she was still sucking her fingers).

To say she's thrilled would be an understatement!

Babycakes I am so proud of you! I knew you could do it. You are the best girl in the world :)
Love,
Mommy

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."-Henry Peter Brougham

Kids Health Day at the Y

2010-05-03T07:44:00.000-04:00

My neighbor Cathy told me about this event at our local YMCA. She was taking Donnie (Ella's boyfriend) and Kyleigh his little sister. Ella and I decided to go up there that morning. I'm glad we did too because Ella had a blast!

It was pretty crowded in the gym area...

Some classes were going on too...

All the kids received goody bags which included a t-shirt, healthy snacks, pencils, stickers, and more.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Playing outside with friends...

2010-04-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

The kids have been having a blast the last couple weeks. For the most part we have had excellent weather and have been able to be outside from noon until 5-6pm most days. The kids enjoy popsicles and fruit snacks to keep them going.

Ella taught herself how to ride this bike in one day! It's our neighbors so I'll be on the lookout for one just like it this summer at the yard sales.

My child has amazing leg muscles, lol. She is going up hill with her boyfriend on the back!

While they are playing hard I get to enjoy the warmth and get an early start to my tan!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Our dream house...

2010-04-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

Nathan and Ella collaborated to draw our dream house. Ella made sure to have him add trees, flowers, the moon, some stars, and she added the sun.

My special order was the moat surrounding our property complete with sharks. Nathan decided that sharks who shoot lasers would be awesome, so he added a laser to the front of the shark :)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

A new addition to the family...

2010-04-26T08:00:00.001-04:00

Over the weekend we added a new addition to our family. Yes, that's right, a brand new truck! LOL. Sorry no babies, just a new truck :)

Nathan has been wanting a truck for quite some time now and he finally found the one he really wanted, at the price he was willing to pay.

Here she is in all her glory...

Brand new 2010 Honda Ridgeline. It's very comfy inside and it turns like a car! I'm having a lot of fun driving it too :)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."-Henry Peter Brougham

Be careful of hitchhikers...

2010-04-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

Nathan wanted to go test drive a truck he's interested in. While at the dealer Ella had her eye on something else...

She told me she was going to "work" and proceeded to get in her new car, complete with huge balloon still attached to her wrist...

Oh no, is that a hitchhiker approaching her?

Bad mommy! I forgot to teach her not to pick up hitchhikers, lol...

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Special Delivery!

2010-04-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Beauty all around us

2010-04-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

This is what we see every day just on our street...

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

She did it!

2010-04-19T08:23:00.000-04:00

Ever since Ella was a baby she has been a finger sucker. A two finger sucker to be exact. She gave up the binky when she was around 6 months old and wanted her two fingers instead. Yes, very cute I know. However, she's getting older and needs to stop sucking her fingers so we can try to avoid major dental issues when her permanent teeth come in. We probably have another year or so before she starts losing any teeth so we're ok for now.

The last few months she's been doing so good with NOT sucking her fingers during the day. We would ask her every morning if she sucked them while in bed and her normal response was "yes, but I took them out!". So she was really trying hard not to do it. I would catch her occasionally when I would check on her right before I went to bed. And if I whispered in her ear to stop sucking them she would pull them out. So I came to realize that she was doing it while sleeping and not aware she was doing it. That's a problem. A habit that her little arm and fingers were used to. So how do I fix that?

Well her new special dentist gave her & I a book to read about stopping sucking the thumb/fingers. She was really excited to read it. She wanted to read it everyday. In the book they suggested putting bandaids on the finger and other suggestions. I like the bandaid idea the best. The other suggestions seemed a little harsh like taping a sock over the hand at night. No thanks.

So on Wednesday March 31st, Ella and I decided to put a bandaid on each of the two fingers that she has sucked for the last 5 years. She was very excited to do so because I told her she could have a special toy after 7 nights of not sucking her fingers and showing me that her bandaids were still on the next morning. We also put a sticker for each night on the calendar the next morning so she/we can keep track. Well she got her toy after 7 nights. We are continuing the bandaids for probably 30 days total. In another week or so I'll probably go down to one bandaid on the main finger and leave the other finger without one and see how it goes. I'm so proud of her. She tried so hard on her own and did great, she just needed a little help for when she's sound asleep and didn't realize she was doing it.

As of when I wrote this post, she had 9 nights under her belt of no finger sucking! Woo hoo!

Her stickers for each night...

The cleaner guy from the Wall*E movie. He has been on top of the fridge for about a month or so. The deal was Ella could have him when she stopped sucking her fingers. Nighttime too, but since that wasn't happening definitely, she had to wait. Everyday she asked for him and we had to say no and explain why. It was breaking my heart because she really was trying so hard. Then the bandaid idea came to mind and I changed the deal to 7 nights with bandaids and finger free then she could have him. Those 7 nights were so exciting. Counting down on the calendar, getting a new sticker each morning to mark the date, etc.

Oh my goodness Mom, really?

I did it! I stopped sucking my fingers. Cleaner Guy I love you!

***As of "today" 4/19/10, she is still free from sucking her fingers and we are down to one band aid instead of two. Her reward at the end of this month and going 30 nights finger free, is to have her fingernails and toenails painted. She can't wait! She's never had her fingernails painted because I wouldn't allow it since she sucked her fingers. Now you know why she's so excited to get to the end of April!***

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Visiting daddy at work...

2010-04-17T10:12:00.000-04:00

The other day we visited daddy at work. He works about 45 minutes south of where we live so we don't visit that often. However we went there twice in 2 weeks time recently, lol.

Ella loves to walk around and say hi to everyone and she likes to get a snack out of the snack machine.

Hard at work or hardly working? LOL...

She is so excited to visit him at work. We drive through the Ft McHenry Tunnel to get there which is really exciting for her too. She cracks me up because I generally flip my sunglasses up onto the top of my head when I enter the tunnel so I can see better and now she does that. Right after we go through the toll booth she'll say "ok mommy, get ready to take off your sunglasses...ready...ok NOW!" And then when we near the end she'll say "ok mommy, get ready to put your glasses back on...ready..NOW!" Gotta love it!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Car Wash

2010-04-14T08:16:00.000-04:00

The other morning when we walked outside to go shopping, my normally black car was a lovely shade of bright yellow. And even had tree sap on it. Um, how do you get tree sap on your car when you don't park near any trees? Sheesh. Thanks a lot.

Needless to say we headed straight for the car wash before shopping...

Yay for having a black car again! Of course the next morning it was completely covered in yellow pollen again! Uggh.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Outlet shopping & Enjoying Spring Weather

2010-04-13T08:29:00.000-04:00

With warm weather comes outlet shopping and walking along the water. Well ok, for me & Ella that is! We enjoy being outdoors and seeing birds, ducks, fish, etc. On this past Monday we decided to hit the outlets and then spend some time in Havre de Grace on the way home.

We got some great deals at the outlets, some clothes for her and shoes for ME & her. Yippee!

Of course this is how Ella likes to end our time at the outlets...

The designer behind the outlets was a genius to put a playground there right in the middle of all the shopping. It's great!

Now, off to Havre de Grace!

On the boardwalk...

Ella decided to take my picture...

Us...

All that walking creates an appetite. We ate lunch on the water and then she had chocolate & vanilla ice cream...

We came home to find all her friends outside so we quickly joined them. She taught herself how to ride a scooter in about 3 days...

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Easter fun at church

2010-04-10T08:53:00.000-04:00

Our church has an Easter egg hunt with several games, prizes, etc., for the kids each year. Last year it rained so hard it was like a monsoon, that we had to bring everything indoors last minute! This year however it was nice and dry. A little cold when we first arrived but by the time we left it was sunny and warm.

One of Ella's best friends was able to come too and they had a blast together.

Sara at the craft table...

Ella at the craft table...

Grabbing as many eggs as they can...

Ella & Sara...

Storytime...

Ella does not like clowns but she eventually "warmed" up to this one...

The girls doing the egg race...

The girls making Salvation Bead bracelets...

The girls racing remote control cars...

The came home with lots of candy and prizes. They had a blast!

The following day was Easter Sunday and I hosted my very first Easter dinner. My parents came and my Aunt Cathy was here too. I forgot to take pictures but it was really nice. I made a ham, steamed rice with scrambled eggs & onion, broccoli, cornbread, cranberry salad and peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Everything was gluten free and dairy free except the ice cream, for which I substituted vanilla bean coconut milk "ice cream" for me!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

In one week...

2010-04-08T19:06:00.005-04:00

We did all this...

Played some ball...

Dropped my mom off at the airport for a business trip...

Played cars on the kitchen counter while looking very 80's...

Drove through the Fort McHenry Tunnel...

...to visit Daddy at work. Even stayed long enough for snack time...

Tried a new "hair-do" with her bangs now that they are really growing out...

Enjoyed a special treat from Baskin Robbins- chocolate ice cream!

And that's just the highlights, LOL! Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Aunt Gussie's Gluten Free Cookies & Mi Del Cookies

2010-04-02T18:53:00.000-04:00

I found some delicious cookies the other day!

Aunt Gussie's Gluten Free Cookies. I tried the sugar free, wheat free & dairy free chocolate chip almond cookies.

Description:
"NOW Dairy-Free. Made with our own gluten-free flour blend, and baked in our dedicated gluten-free facility, these sugar-free (sweetened with maltitol) cookies are crunchy, and flavorful with chocolate and toasted almonds, with just a hint of coffee".

My review:
Perfect blend of flavors. The chocolate is not over powering.
The cookie is crunchy, but light.
You would never know this was a gluten free product by the taste & texture.
I didn't even realize it was sugar free until I read the box. You could not tell by the taste.
Overall flavor: Awesome!
The price: $5.69 a box.
Total rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

I also tried another gluten free cookie that I didn't quite like. The MI-DEL Chocolate Chip Cookies.

You could tell these were gluten free. And the chocolate chips tasted bitter/unsweetened. The chocolate was too strong for the cookie, like it was trying to cover up the other flavors on purpose. I would not buy these again knowing I can find better tasting gluten free cookies. However, I am going to try the other varieties by MI-DEL.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Adventures at the Dentist office

2010-03-25T09:40:00.000-04:00

Ella had an appointment with a specialty dentist the other week. She is a 2-finger sucker instead of a thumb sucker. She opted to do that instead of having a binky when she was around 10 months old. Because of that her upper palette is narrow and totally unrelated, her bottom jaw sits back from the top jaw. (I have the same jaw issue).

However, nowadays they can correct the jaw issue without surgery and it's a lot easier to do when they are little and everything is still forming. So we made the appointment to see what he would say and he said he can definitely fix both issues.

She was fitted for a nite-guard that she will have to wear to bed. If she takes it out, she'll have to wear it during the day while watching tv, etc. It's soft and flexible but will gently move the bottom jaw forward while expanding that upper palette. I hope she will keep it in at night so it will work. I'm actually a little jealous because I wish I could have done that as a kid, but when I was a teenager the dentist said my only option was to break my jaw and pull the bottom forward. My parents said no way, that I'd have more problems with my jaw because of that. Which I tend to agree with. I'm glad they didn't let me do that. Now of course I'd do it just to lose weight, LOL. Just kidding! No you couldn't pay me to do it.

I am so blessed to have a child that loves to go to see doctors and dentists. It's all an adventure to her. She loves meeting the doctors, meeting the nurses & assistants, and the ladies at the front desks. And she always has tons of questions for them. She is a better patient than me!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

The EARTH by Ella

2010-03-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

Ella kicked me out of the kitchen a couple weeks ago because she wanted to draw me a picture. I was not allowed to come in or even peek to see what she was doing.

When she was finished she brought me her masterpiece.

EARTH through the eyes of a 5 year old...

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

The Original Chi Machine

2010-03-22T09:18:00.000-04:00

Have any of you heard of or even tried a Chi Machine? I never had until the lady at one of my favorite natural food stores told me about it. She asked if I would like to try it. Of course I said yes! I am all about finding products, foods, etc., that make me feel great!

I was very excited when I got home. I followed her instructions- watch a short video online explaining what the Chi Machine is all about, how to properly use it, and how to properly prepare for using it.

So I drank my 8 oz of water, positioned myself on the floor, turned it on and had quite a ride!

Here are some of the benefits of using the Chi Machine: Cellular Activation, Spinal Balancing, Improving the Immune System, Blood Production, Restoration of Balance to the Autonomic Nervous System, and Exercising Internal Organs.

There are 3 different positions while laying on your back to use the machine. I tried the Goldfish Exercise the first day. You lay on your back with your arms by your side. Once the machine turns on you wiggle back and forth like a goldfish, hehehe.

The second day I tried the Mid Position where you fold your arms under your neck while laying on the floor. You don't wiggle as much as the goldfish but you still wiggle.

The third day I tried the Stretched Back position where you stretch your arms up over your head and keep them straight as possible while laying on the floor. This had the least amount of wiggle (with your head) in my opinion and I really liked this one the best. I felt great for the rest of the day after trying this position. I had a lot of energy and felt light on my feet. I noticed my neck and back pain I normally have was gone.

Each of those positions does something different for you so it's good to alternate between them all to get the full body effect. And you start at only 4 minutes for the first week or two depending on how you feel. If you are a fan of the tv show The Doctors, they even had the Chi Machine featured on one of their episodes.

I have to say, if you have the opportunity to try it, you should. Even if you can't lay on the floor, you can get the same benefits by sitting in a chair or wheelchair and using the machine in a different way. The video shows you how.

You can read more about it *****here***** if you are interested. And if you have any questions please email or call Sherrie and she'll be more than happy to help you!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Our new favorite thing to do!

2010-03-20T16:27:00.000-04:00

Ella and I have recently started walking around our neighborhood. It's quite large so we only walk a small portion but it's a "big" small portion. Did that make sense? It does to me! LOL.

I didn't know exactly how much she could handle and it turns out she can go farther than me without needing a break! Just how out of shape am I? We started a couple weeks ago, then we had to stop for a few days because of non-stop rain and then we started back up again. She asks me everyday, can we walk mommy? Is it time to walk? How can you say no to that? You can't. So I change into my exercise clothes because you know they just make the pounds fly right off, and away we go!

She likes to collect pine cones, rocks, sticks, and her imagination just goes wild. She even makes maracas using pea pods that fall from certain trees. She groups them together and when shaken they sound like a maraca!

This was our very first time walking. Still pretty cool, almost cold outside. We walked all the way to the pool to check it out. This is the kiddie pool. So gross! In June it will be beautiful!

The next day it was not as cold...

Stopped off at the playground...

The next day Ella wanted to carry her little back pack full of snacks and water...just in case she got hungry!

We walked over to the pool again. This time looking at the big pool. So gross!

The following day...oh my goodness is that short sleeves I see?

Is that short sleeves AND shorts I see? This was just the other day.

It seems with each day that passes it is getting warmer and warmer and even hot! Oh my how I love spring :)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

A harder, but fun Meme...

2010-03-12T09:51:00.001-05:00

I saw this meme on Dawn's blog and though it would be fun to join in!

If I were a gemstone, I would be- a ruby.

If I were a scent, I would be- fresh laundry.

If I were a pair of shoes, I would be- black suede boots.

If I were the weather, I would be- a hot sunny day the ends with a lightning/thunder storm.

If I were a facial expression, I would be- a serious face.

If I were a car, I would be a- 1968 Road Runner.

If I were a time of day, I would be- the morning.

If were a month, I would be- July.

If I were a place, I would be- the beach.

If I were a liquid, I would be- the gulf or Atlantic Ocean.

If I were a taste, I would be- bold.

If I were a sea animal, I would be- a dolphin.

If I were a food, I would be- pizza

If I were a color, I would be- blue.

If I were a musical instrument, I would be- a guitar.

If I were a flower, I would be- a snapdragon

If I were a song, I would be- "This is Who I am" by Third Day

If I were a planet, I would be- earth.

If I were an object, I would be- a tv remote control.

If I were a fruit, I would be- a cherry.

If I were a sound, I would be- waves crashing on the beach.

If I were a day of the week, I would be- Sunday.

If I were a pattern, I would be- solid.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

I know, I know, but I'm here now!

2010-03-10T20:15:00.005-05:00

Hello everybody! Oh how I've missed you. I've been so bad about posting lately. I've been really busy with teaching myself how to eat healthy (for the first time ever) and how to live a life that's gluten free, dairy free and shellfish free!

I've been enjoying going to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods on a regular basis in addition to the two smaller natural food stores that I love. Ella and I have found a new Christian book store during our outings that we really like. We've been eating lots of berries and have discovered the wonderfulness that is Quinoa! I made it the other night following a recipe in one of my healthy magazines and it was super yummy.

I'll leave you with some photos of the past few weeks!

Lunchtime...

Valentine's clearance at Target. Ella's new heart pillow that cost $2.50!

I made a homemade burger with an over-medium egg on top, served on my gluten free Kinnikinnick hamburger bun. Delicious!

Talking to daddy on the phone while riding her tricycle...

Enjoying a Saturday shopping with mommy & daddy...

Stopping by to visit Ayla...

Some more shopping, this time we're outside the Christian bookstore and Ella wanted her picture taken on the bench...

Enjoying a blackberry sorbet bar. We have discovered the yummiest "popsicles" ever! They are Julie's Organic Sorbet Bars in blackberry and mandarin. Only 60 calories each (big size bar too), they're made with real fruit and are free of dairy, cholesterol, preservatives, chemical additives, food coloring and gluten!

And on this note I shall end my post. See you all again soon...

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Amazing Gluten Free Pita Bread

2010-02-12T09:35:00.004-05:00

Rami from GFL Foods was kind enough to send me a free sample of their gluten free pita bread.

When I received this I was instructed to put it in the freezer and let it be frozen again before using it. Once I was ready to eat, all I had to do was take one out of the freezer and microwave it for 40 seconds.

Oh my goodness. It was warm, soft, and easy to stuff. I put my sandwich makings inside and took a deep breath before taking a bite. I was so excited I really really wanted it to be great. So with the first bite I was pleasantly surprised! There was NO weird taste, no weird textures and no weird smell. Ok I thought, we're on to something here. With the next bite I let out a big sigh of relief. Once again there was nothing negative about the pita bread. I was eating my first REAL sandwich since going gluten free. It was heavenly. Towards the end of my sandwich I had eaten most of the makings and most of the pita but there was that end piece where all the good stuff has been eaten and you're left with the last piece of pita bread. Normally I would leave it and throw it away because what fun is an empty shell? However, I decided to take a bite to see just how well the pita bread was on it's own with no filling. Let's just say that this particular night there wasn't a crumb left on my plate when I was finished! The pita bread was so yummy even by itself with nothing on it, I ate it all!

Even if you don't have to be gluten free you will love this pita bread. It is so soft and pleasant unlike the pita bread out there in the grocery stores. This is thicker and not like the paper thin ones in the stores. This pita bread makes an awesome sandwich!

Go check it out for yourself! You won't be disappointed. Click HERE for their website.

I filled mine with sliced turkey breast, havarti cheese, sliced cucumbers, a little sea salt and some thousand island dressing.

What will you fill yours with?

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Quick update!

2010-02-10T17:42:00.003-05:00

If you read my previous post you know that we were hit with a blizzard this past weekend. Yesterday (Tuesday) was the first day without having to shovel. We had 25" dumped on us.

Yesterday late afternoon it started snowing again. Snowed all night, and has snowed all day today. We are having high winds, major snow drifts and power outages. We are expecting to get another 20" by the time it stops snowing tonight. Yes, ANOTHER BLIZZARD. TWO blizzards, back to back!

I shoveled twice so far today. I'm exhausted. My legs are killing me. I'm calling it quits for tonight. Please pray that our electricity stays on and doesn't go out again.

Also, Nathan is supposed to fly home tomorrow and get in to our airport around 4pm. I'm surprised they haven't canceled yet, but I'm sure they will. I don't think he'll be home, yet again. His flight has only been canceled 3 times so far. He was supposed to be here this past Saturday, then Tuesday night, and then tomorrow. And they are calling for another significant snowfall the beginning of next week. If he doesn't make it home this weekend, it may be another week before we see him. This Saturday will be two weeks that's he's been gone. Seems like forever.

I'll try to get around to see you if we have power. If not, you might not see me for a few days. Between that, the shoveling and don't forget Ella, I'm a little stretched. But I'll be back!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

'Snowmageddon' February 2010

2010-02-07T17:05:00.010-05:00

This weekend we were hit hard with our 2nd, yes I said SECOND blizzard this winter! No, this is not normal for Maryland at all. We maybe get one blizzard every few years and normal snowfall for the winter season is around 18 inches total. So far this winter we've had around 60 inches. Blizzard #1 was right before Christmas.

Here are some pictures from this weekend!

It all started Friday afternoon. With a slow accumulation until later Friday night going into Saturday.

Late Friday night just before I went to bed:

Saturday morning when I woke up:

Ella doing her part:

I think the cars are still there!

This morning (Sunday). As you can see the bobcats came through late last night to plow the street:

Now it's time to dig out the cars.

Our cars have been dug out and pulled forward so we could clear the spots totally. Yay!

Bella & Ella mountain climbing:

Thank goodness I have wonderful neighbors. We all pitch in and help each other out and it makes shoveling a lot nicer. It's nice to have people to talk to and it actually makes it fun. Very tiring and hard on the body, but fun.

On my previous posts I had mentioned that Nathan flew to Texas last Saturday (a week ago) to be with his family. You can read more about that here & here. He was supposed to fly home this past Saturday (yesterday) but the airport was shut down because of the blizzard. The airline has nothing available until Tuesday night. So Ella and I have to wait a little longer before he gets back home. We're also expected to get another snow storm Tuesday night through Thursday. I don't think I'm going to see my husband again until Spring!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Lullabies for Christian

2010-02-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

Lullabies

Daddy please don't look so sad,
Mommy please don't cry.
I am in the arms of Jesus
and He sings me lullabies.

Please do not try to question God,
don't think He is unkind.
Don't think He sent me to you and that
He changed His mind.

You see, I am special
and I'm needed up above.
I'm the special child you gave Him,
the product of your love.

I'll always be there with you.
So watch the sky at night.
Find the brightest star that's gleaming.
That's my halo's brilliant light.

So Daddy please don't look so sad.
Mommy please don't cry.
I am in the arms of Jesus.
And He sings me lullabies.
~Author Unknown

Christian Thomas
October 24, 2009 - January 29, 2010

Christian is being laid to rest today. Please continue to pray for our family in Texas during this sad time.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Lobster? Lobster!

2010-02-02T09:32:00.000-05:00

You can imagine my surprise when my husband called from work one night last week and asked me if I would like lobster for dinner. I said "What? Lobster? How? Where?".

He said "I'm bringing home some lobsters. Find out how we cook them, lol".

So I looked it up online and got everything ready so when he walked in the door we could cook them and eat them!

Ella touching her very 1st lobster. She always visits the lobsters at the seafood counter in the grocery store. She likes to talk to them. She was very excited to touch one and watch it get cooked.

These were so yummy. Freshly shipped lobsters all the way from Maine. Nathan's boss won fresh Maine lobsters in a bet. The other guy who lost had to buy them and arrange for them to be shipped. Yes, they were still alive when we were ready to cook them. They have to be or you can't eat them.

Now being a Maryland girl I have grown up eating seafood and steamed crabs. I've watched my daddy cook fresh crabs every summer growing up. But never lobster. So this was all new to me. It was quite fun too! And the smell. Oh the heavenly smell of the lobster cooking on the stove. Just the lobsters, water and sea salt. That's all that went in the pot.

Nathan melted some butter and voila. The perfect dinner. Well, Nathan made steak to go with our lobsters, so yes I guess it really was the perfect meal!

Nathan's boss needs to win more Lobster bets! LOL.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

A doctor's Visit, Ice Cream w/Grammy and the Pig Tails are BACK!

2010-02-01T11:20:00.000-05:00

A couple Saturdays ago I had a doctor's appointment in the morning. Ella and I have the same doctor. He's great!

This is how we entertain ourselves waiting for him to come into the exam room...

Playing trucks:

Drawing and practicing writing letters on the paper:

Trying to take cute pictures together. That takes a lot of effort, lol...

And then before you know it, Doctor Steve is coming in to see us! Woo hoo. We've been lucky, we generally only have about a 5-10 minute wait, once back in the room before he comes in.

Later that day Grammy came over and picked up Ella. They went to visit Maa & Poppop (my grandparents), they went shopping, and they went for... ICE CREAM!

A few days ago I was able to talk Ella into letting me put her hair in pig tails again. In fact it was the day of the princess birthday party. She didn't want them, but once I finished her hair she really liked having them again. I'm so happy. Now I can get her hair out of her face AND she's too stinkin cute with her hair up! - If I do say so myself :)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Heartbreaking News

2010-01-30T14:21:00.004-05:00

Yesterday my brother-in-law and his fiance lost their 3 month old baby boy to SIDS. His name was Christian and he was born on October 24, 2009. He was exactly 3 months and 5 days old yesterday. He & Ella shared the same birth date except for the year.

My husband is on a flight as I write this to be with his family in Texas. Ella and I have stayed home.

Please pray for my Texas family. My brother-in-law and his fiance have two other children who need them to keep going through this pain.

We did not get a chance to meet Christian in his short time here on earth. I know that one day we will.

I imagine that Christian is snuggling with God right now.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

A Princess Party

2010-01-27T14:06:00.000-05:00

Last Friday one of Ella's best friends was having a Princess Party for her birthday. The girls were instructed to wear their favorite princess dress to the party.

Ella getting ready for the party:

Alyssa, Ella & Lauren-the birthday girl:

Making princess necklaces:

The girls had a blast destroying the pinata!

Ella, Lauren (birthday girl) and Alyssa:

Happy 5th Birthday Lauren! Thanks for a fun party!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

My Mom's Birthday Celebration

2010-01-25T14:06:00.000-05:00

If you remember my previous post, my mom was in Boston during her birthday. Now that she's back in town we were able to celebrate with her.

Yesterday, Sunday, she came over to our house for cake and presents. I made my first gluten free cake too! It was Pamela's chocolate cake mix

and her dark chocolate frosting mix.

The frosting was amazing! The cake had an odd taste to it, but was very good with the frosting on it. If you ate just the cake like my husband did, he didn't like it at all. I'm not sure if I'll buy the cake mix again. I WILL however buy the frosting mix again!

Ella wanted to wear one of her princess gowns (that my mom has bought her) to celebrate in.

Ella & Grammy getting ready to open presents:

What did you get Grammy?:

Singing Happy Birthday:

My mom making her wish (see her eyes are closed):

Blowing out her birthday candles:

Happy Birthday Grammy! We love you :)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Gluten Free Snacks; The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

2010-01-24T08:57:00.000-05:00

First the GOOD, great actually...

Glutino Gluten Free Candy Bar; Chocolate Peanut Butter:

Description:
For all chocolate lovers, one bite and you're in chocolate paradise. Glutino chocolate wafer candy bars are made with three layers of delicious creme-filled wafer, covered in scrumptuous chocolate. Simple and savory treats are available in three delicious flavors.

My review:
Perfect blend of chocolate & peanut butter flavors.
The texture was smooth on the outside and a perfect wafer type peanut buttery inside.
The size of each bar is perfect and fulfilling for a snack between meals.
Would never know this was a gluten free product by the taste & texture.
Overall flavor: Awesome!
The price: $5.49 for a box of 5.
Total rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

And the BAD...

Glutino Gluten Free Breakfast Bars; Apple:

Description:
Gluten/wheat free. Milk/dairy free. Low in fat. No added sugar. Free of trans fatty acids. Made in Australia.

My Review:
The apple filling was very good.
The overall texture was soft.
You would definitely know this was gluten free.
The taste was unpleasant. I took one bite and made myself swallow it because I was driving. Had I been home or near a trash can I would not have swallowed it. The outside was very dry and had a distinct taste to it. Not a pleasant one either.
Overall flavor: Not good.
The price: $5.98 for a box of 5.
Total rating: 1 out of 5 stars. One because of the apple filling, only.

I was very disappointed in this product. I was looking for something for those mornings when breakfast needs to be on the run. This was not it.

And now the UGLY:

Ian's Gluten Free Mac & NO Cheese:

Description:
Kids with food allergies can now enjoy another American classic - macaroni and cheese! Ian’s combined brown rice pasta with a rich ’no cheese’ sauce to create a delicious macaroni and cheese dish made without wheat, gluten, milk, casein, eggs, nuts or soy.

My review:

The noodles had an odd flavor.
The cheese-less sauce was disgusting.
Overall flavor: Dreadful
Size: Individual
Total rating: 0 out of 5 stars.

The concept behind this is awesome. Kids and adults can enjoy mac n cheese that is gluten free & dairy free. Well this product was not appetizing at all. It has to be the worst gluten free item I've tasted so far. I'll keep looking for a gluten free & dairy free mac n cheese. I'm sure there is one out there!

I'll throw in one last product before I go.

Gluten-Free Foods by George- Cheese Pizza:

Description:
No description listed

My review:
Cheese tasted good, the crust cooked nice and crispy.
The sauce was "ok" and the crust was "ok".
You could tell this was a gluten free product by the taste & texture.
Overall flavor: Satisfactory
Size: Individual; very small individual
Price $7.19
Total rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

This pizza was definitely "edible" (I've had some gluten free ones that are not at all edible). However it's not great. The picture and ingredient list shows there should be italian herbs along with the sauce and cheese. I saw no herbs on mine. Along with the size of this for the price I paid, I would skip it in the future. I've definitely had some better GF versions.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Pamela's Gluten Free Pancakes!

2010-01-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

Pamela's gluten free pancake & baking mix:

Description:
Our easy-to-use mix creates light and fluffy pancakes and waffles, as well as delicious breads, cakes and muffins … also, a great substitute for flour.

My Review:
The finished pancake texture was smooth and looked like a whole grain pancake.
The instructions are right on the back of the package and very easy to follow.
You can tell this is a gluten free mix BUT they are very tasty and no one would have a problem eating them.
The taste was very good. They tasted pure and light as opposed to pancakes with all the "bad for you" ingredients.
It's easy to add your own likes to the mix as well, fruit, chocolate chips, extract flavors, etc. I made the first batch plain and they were good. The second time I made them I added vanilla extract (pure) and chocolate chips. They were outstanding! Next time I'm going to try some almond extract.
Overall flavor: Awesome!
The price: $7.31 for a 24oz package. Each batch uses 1 cup of dry mix for six, 4-inch pancakes.
Total rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

It's so nice to be able to make pancakes for the whole family without having to make separate gluten free ones for me. Everyone enjoyed Pamela's.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Happy Birthday to my Mommy!

2010-01-17T08:00:00.001-05:00

Today, January 17th, is MY mommy's birthday! She is in Boston right now for work but will be home in a few days. We'll celebrate her birthday next weekend! Woo hoo!

My parents on their wedding day:

(so pretty!)

Me & My mom:

My parents on my mom's graduation day:

(graduation for her SECOND Masters Degree!)

My mom this past Christmas, 2009:

And in Disney World, January 11, 2010:

Happy birthday to you Mommy!

Love,

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Gluten Free Purely Decadent frozen dessert & PopChips

2010-01-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

First we'll start with the good! I recently tried the Purely Decadent non-dairy frozen dessert. Not only is it gluten free, but it's dairy free too. It's made with coconut milk. The flavor I tried was Mint Chip.

Oh my goodness. It was so good! It reminded me of the chocolate mints you get on your pillow at some hotels. You know the kind, the two thin layers of chocolate with a thin layer of mint in between. This is definitely a HIT!

Now onto my gluten free bad snack. All Natural PopChips. These are potato chips that are popped instead of being fried or baked. I tried the Sea Salt & Vinegar flavor and the original flavor. The concept sounds great, there's no harmful ingredients, they are gluten free, and disgusting. I love normal salt & vinegar chips but these did not taste good at all. They have a wonderful texture to them but something about the vinegar they used just was too over powering and did not taste good at all.

The Sea Salt & Vinegar are definitely a MISS! And the original flavor was so-so at best. They had a weird after taste to them. Sadly I don't think I'll be buying these again or trying any of the other flavors. Not worth the money. I'd rather buy normal potato chips that are gluten free.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Ella and the Eye Doctor

2010-01-12T14:03:00.007-05:00

Ella had her first "real" eye exam today. (I had her eyes checked right before her 1st birthday but this is the first real one since then).

She was so excited this morning! She couldn't wait to see the doctor and be examined. When the doctor (my eye doctor) walked by us while we were doing paper work she got all excited and said to the nurse at the counter "Oh I love boy doctors! This is so exciting!" (I credit her pediatrician Dr Steve for that. He has always been so great with her and because of him she isn't afraid of "boy" doctors).

Ella has perfect vision! Dr Filandro absolutely loved her. He thought she was the cutest thing and said that his 3 year old daughter and Ella could be twins with their personalities. LOL.

I am so proud of her. She did great! She sat perfectly still and listened to Dr Filandro and did everything he said.

Too cute!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Update on my sister!

2010-01-10T12:04:00.004-05:00

In my previous post I told you all about my sister Sam running in the Walt Disney World Marathon this morning. It was a total of 26.2 miles she needed to run.

I was on the phone with my mom when Sam came across the finish line. I was able to hear all the cheering! Of course I was crying on my end of the line. I'm so proud of her.

It was her #1 goal to run a marathon. She wanted to finish it in less than 5 1/2 hours with an average of 12 minutes per mile.

Her final stats are.....

Time completed: 5 hours 10 minutes and 22 seconds.
Average mile ran at: 11 minutes 50 seconds

She did it! Not only did she achieve her goal of running a marathon, but she surpassed that goal by completing it under the time she set for herself.

What an achievement. I am so proud of her!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

My sister is running her first marathon!

2010-01-09T20:56:00.005-05:00

As you all know I have one sister. Sam. Technically Samantha but she likes to go by Sam. I used to call her Sammy all growing up. She's 8 years younger than me. But she doesn't exactly like "Sammy" anymore even though I do :)

Well tomorrow (Sunday), my sister Sam, is running in her very first marathon! She is running in the Walt Disney World Marathon in Florida. I believe the start time is 5:45AM. Yikes!

She flew in to Florida from Boston Saturday evening. And my parents flew into Florida from Maryland early Saturday morning. They are there to cheer her on. They had to buy/reserve spots along the route and were able to get a spot at Cinderella's Castle and at the finish line. My mom is so excited because she'll get to see her run through the castle!

Sam has been training for several months in order to be able to run the 26.2 miles to the finish line! She has never run this distance, not even in training. Training only takes you up so many miles before the training brings you back down to prepare your body for this kind of distance.

I am so nervous for her and she is quite nervous herself. She really wants to finish and she has set a goal of keeping a pace that equals 12 minutes per mile. She signed me up to receive email and text alerts to my phone during the race so I'll know her progress. Each runner will have an electronic chip on their shoe I believe, to keep track of them.

It's so cold down there right now too. Well, I'll let you know how she does. I'm so proud of her no matter what her end time is.

If you are interested I would love any prayers her way to keep her safe and to help her complete her goal.

Ella, Sam & Brady on Christmas:

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Bye Bye Ballet.. Hello Singing Career?

2010-01-08T11:25:00.004-05:00

The last couple Thursdays that Ella was supposed to go to ballet class she has stated that she didn't want to go. That she doesn't like it anymore. She used to love it but then if your remember, the last time she went before the holidays I was able to peek in and I overheard the teaching telling her to dance, not sing. And I was able to catch her in the act. She was singing the songs and using her hand as a microphone instead of dancing. See picture below :)

(you can click on it to enlarge)

However she does love to sing and sings all the time whether it's to real songs or making up her own songs. She also is very good at keeping the beat too. (She gets that from her daddy, lol).

Aunt Sammy (my sister) bought her a disney sing along boombox for Christmas. Ella LOVES it! She performs for us daily. Here she was performing during the football games this past Sunday. Every time I leaned to a side to see the tv around her, she would move and block my view. I was cracking up because normally she's great and loves watching football but for about 10 minutes she wanted to sing and wanted me to watch her and only her. So what's a mom to do? Well this one hit the pause button on the game (thank you Tivo) and listened to my daughter sing her heart out until she was tired of singing and then we snuggled on the couch and finished watching the games.

(no idea why the lighting is so bad in these. And yes she's totally rocking her Ed Reed, Ravens jersey. Go RAVENS!)

So are we really saying goodbye to ballet? I'm not sure. Each week I'll continue to try to get her excited to go, but Nathan and I have decided if she really truly doesn't want to go we will not push her. Simply just offer her the chance to go each week.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Glutino Gluten Free BBQ Chicken Pizza

2010-01-07T18:20:00.004-05:00

Oh my gosh, I just found an awesome gluten free pizza! It's already made and ready to eat in 12 minutes. Yay for being able to stock up on individual frozen pizzas again! Hallelujah!

Glutino Gluten Free BBQ Chicken Pizza

Description:
Brown rice pizza crust topped with sweet barbeque sauce and all white meat chicken. A good source of iron and excellent source of fiber.

My review:
Great BBQ flavor
The chicken pieces were tender, moist and a good size.
The crust was thin, crispy and did NOT taste gluten free!
Overall flavor: Awesome!
The price: Rather pricey. I paid $7.19 for one. The size of the pizza is a little too small in my opinion for an individual pizza. It left me hungry still.
Total rating: 4 out of 5 stars. If it was a little bigger and little cheaper it would have received 5 stars.

With that said, I will be buying more of these to have on hand when I need a quick snack or light meal. It was pretty awesome tasting!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Happy New Year & Yummy Gluten Free Snacks

2010-01-01T18:08:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to you all! 2010 has such a nice ring to it doesn't it? I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend! We had a great New Years Eve at our house. My parents came over to celebrate and we all played Wii for 4 hours straight, LOL. Ella went to bed at 9pm :) Today the three of us went shopping, ate a wonderful sushi lunch and went back out shopping again! Now we are relaxing at home.

I don't know about you, but snacking is a big part of my eating habits. I've discovered that I need to eat every 3 hours to avoid feeling shaky and nauseated. When did this happen? I have no idea but ever since going gluten free I've really noticed it more than I did before. Probably because I never paid attention until now! lol. So I am on a mission to find lots of snacks that I can eat without worrying. Fruit, chocolate, cookies, etc. Here are a few I've found so far...

Glutino Sans Gluten Free Milk Chocolate covered Vanilla Wafer Cookies.

They are amazing! The chocolate is absolutely perfect and the vanilla wafer balances it out awesomely! I LOVE these!

I do buy fresh fruit but it seems to go bad before I eat it most of the time so I'm looking for alternatives so I can stop wasting so much. I found these and they are perfect!

Del Monte Orchard Select Barlett Pears. YUM-O!

I am horrible at picking out fresh pears. I can't pick a good one to save my life. Now I don't have to! These are totally worth trying! PERFECTION in a jar!

Today I am exactly 3 weeks gluten free and I am loving it! What a difference it's making on my insides and how I feel. Woo hOO!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Christmas 2009

2009-12-29T22:57:00.004-05:00

Christmas morning at our house...

Christmas afternoon at my parents house...

My mom:

Ella & my sister Sam:

Ella, Sam & Brady:

Sam, my dad using his new video camera, and Ella "ham-ing" it up for the camera:

We bought my mom a Roomba and she was super excited when she un-wrapped it:

Nathan, Ella, and my aunt Cathy:

Love this picture! Ella is thoroughly enjoying her dessert and my mom is pouting at something in the background, lol!

We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas. This was my first gluten free Christmas and my mom was really sweet about making sure there was enough for me to eat. She even made me a special dessert of peppermint chocolate meringues!

Oh yeah, and we had a BIG surprise on Christmas at my parents house. There was a big box underneath a chair that we didn't see when we were opening presents. So when we did pull it out, it was addressed to the three of us, my sister and my aunt Cathy. It was from SANTA. I was nominated to open it and inside there was a big stuffed Mickey Mouse for Ella and Disney World ornaments for each of us. There was also an envelope addressed to us. I opened it and inside there was a letter that said......"Santa is taking all of you to Disney World"! Yes, that's right, Disney World in Florida! We are going in May. The resort has already been booked for our stay and the planning has already begun as to what to do, eat, see, etc. So exciting! Nathan and Cathy almost passed out when I read the letter. My parents, I mean SANTA sure did surprise us!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T19:53:00.006-05:00

Check the video out
here.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Ella's 2009 Christmas Photos

2009-12-21T10:04:00.000-05:00

Every year I take her to the photo studio inside Walmart for her Christmas photos. I think they do an absolutely great job for way less than most places.

(it doesn't get any cuter than this!)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Oh my back, arms & neck...

2009-12-20T18:44:00.004-05:00

I can't move my upper body without hurting. I have shoveled so much snow I really hope more doesn't come on Christmas like the forecast is predicting!

Ella helped me a lot today too. She would grab big snow hunks/balls and carry one at a time away from my car, or the sidewalk where I was shoveling and put it on our big piles we were making with all the shoveled snow. She also brushed my whole car off yesterday and again today. She's a good little helper!

And she played a lot today! It took me a long time to finish shoveling and I helped some neighbors shovel so Ella got to play for a while.

Climbing to the top of her mountain...

Ready...

Slide....

I took a nap on the couch around 5pm. One of those naps that wasn't intentional! lol. And the Ravens are winning right now! And the Survivor Finale is tonight! Woo hoo!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Update on Snow from earlier post...

2009-12-19T17:17:00.005-05:00

Well with the forecast saying to expect anywhere from 20-30 inches, we're well on our way there! It's been snowing non-stop since around 11pm last night and isn't expected to stop until Sunday morning around 10am.

I've shoveled a couple different times today, last time being 1 1/2 hours ago and it's already totally covered again! At least I know my shoveling exercise will continue tomorrow! That is if, I can get out of the door in the morning! It keeps snowing so much that it comes up over the bottom of the door. Which is saying something because we have a porch with steps so we aren't flat on the ground, lol!

Here are some photos I took the last time I shoveled around 3:30pm today:

The birds have been flocking to the feeders today like crazy. All day long!

I refilled it for them because they were getting pretty low. As soon as I hung them back up the birds came back to inspect and started making all kinds of noises. I had a little chuckle because I realized they were calling all their friends to come eat! They sounded like children on Christmas morning they were so excited!

This year was the first year I was able to put lights outside (we just had an outlet installed on the front of the house last month). I'm not great at putting them up, but they look good enough for me, lol. Here is how they look in the snow :)

Hope you all are enjoying your Saturday evening! I'm going to take a nice hot bath, drink some peppermint tea, cook some dinner and snuggle with Ella on the couch!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Snow! Snow! And more Snow!

2009-12-19T11:50:00.003-05:00

This is what we awoke to this morning!

Ella and Bella playing:

The news is saying we will be getting 20+ inches by the time it stops snowing on Sunday! We are officially having a blizzard! Woo hoo! Nathan is away this weekend in Virginia and supposed to come back tomorrow. Not sure if that's going to happen or not. Depends on the condition of the roads whether he can drive home.

Snow shoveling is all mine. Yippee. Can you sense the sarcasm? It is a good workout though!

Now it's time to bake some cookies!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

OMG Gluten Free Mac & Cheese!

2009-12-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

I've been slightly depressed that I haven't been able to enjoy mac & cheese since going gluten free 7 days ago. It's by far one of my most favorite things to eat in the world. I knew eventually I would figure out how to make my own and have it taste really yummy but nothing would ever compare to Kraft mac & cheese. (I know it's processed and horrible for you but dang it's yummy)!

The other day as I was reading some gluten free blogs looking for recipes and product suggestions, someone had mentioned a mac & cheese that was totally awesome. I knew right then and there I HAD to try it. So I bought it yesterday and tried it tonight with dinner. Let me just tell you it was AWESOME! I'm going back to the store to buy several more because I HAVE to have mac & cheese on hand at all times, lol.

I present to you, the mac & cheese that just saved me in my new gluten free lifestyle....

Amy's Gluten Free Rice Pasta Rice Mac & Cheese! (found in the freezer section)

It is so yummy. No one would ever know it was gluten free. NO ONE! Hallelujah Hallelujah!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Ella's Gingerbread House

2009-12-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday was a day of football (Yay Ravens!) and gingerbread house decorating.

Ella opened the box, pulled everything out and then decorated the way she wanted.

While I was making the frosting she proclaimed to me that she was done decorating!

Of course I had no idea what she was talking about and turned around to see this:

The green candy in the front is the grass, the candies on top are the lights and the candies in the back are the snow! LOL!

Ella did everything on here all by herself except for the frosting and a couple pieces of candy here or there :)

And then....I caught her eating the candy pieces the next day! Hope they were toxic! Only my kid...

Do you notice the difference in the decorations? She destroyed all her hard work with all the picking and eating.

Today Ella and I went shopping in the morning. We headed to the natural food store to pick up some more gluten free items and then over to the mall. We had one last Christmas present to purchase. We also went into Victoria Secret to check out their undies. I had a $10 gift card that I wanted to use :)

Ella wasn't interested in helping me pick out undies but was super excited to find a dog in the store!

Later in the afternoon Ella's friend Lauren come over to play and exchange Christmas presents. They had a great time playing for a couple hours.

Isn't Lauren cute in her dress & tights! Gotta love any shades of pink!

Hope everyone is enjoying their week so far! I can't believe Christmas is next week!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

I finally did it! I'm Gluten FREE!

2009-12-16T15:42:00.005-05:00

I finally went totally GLUTEN FREE! And I feel wonderful! I was told about 3 years ago that I had a gluten intolerance and needed to stop eating anything with wheat/gluten. Well that's easier said than done if you ask me. I LOVE breads, rolls, desserts, flour, and everything else on this planet! And pretty much everything on this planet is made with some sort of wheat/gluten.

Do you know how hard it is to buy things without it? Unless you are a vegetarian and enjoy eating only veggies and fruit! Yeah not me. I'm not exactly a spokesperson for veggies and fruits. I am a meat and potatoes kind of gal!

This past Thursday night Nathan brought us home some Chick-Fil-A for dinner. And it was super yummy of course. However shortly after eating I was nauseated severely and miserable. No not food poisoning. This is normal when I eat something with a high gluten content like the breading on the chicken and the bun. Yes, that is what gluten does to me. Makes me nauseated, miserable, stomach all kinds of messed up and me absolutely horrible to be around. So Thursday night I kicked myself in the butt hard and said told myself I needed to change this. I couldn't go through this anymore.

Friday morning rolled around and I used all my willpower to drive past all the fast food places I normally would have gone to for breakfast (Ella and I were out shopping) and I ignored them at lunch on the way home too. Instead I decided to make myself cheesy scrambled eggs and bacon. And then I was still starving, lol.

But I felt great after eating which hasn't happened in a very long time. So I was on a mission. I was going to find gluten free products to replace my wheat filled products in the house and I was determined to find things I liked and stick to my guns being gluten free.

I went to the grocery store and stocked up on Rice Cakes, lol. No salt plain rice cakes became my new best friend. Of course I spread peanut butter on them and then drizzled honey over the peanut butter. Great snack if you ask me!

I did find plenty other products and I will try to review them in case anyone else is looking for gluten free items that are good! It's so disheartening to pay expensive prices to find out you hate it and there's no way you'll eat it. Speaking of expensive, why is it that everything is right around $5.00? A package of gluten free cookies $4.49, a loaf of GF bread $4.99, box of GF donuts $6.99, and so on. I can see my grocery budget needing to be expanded :(
BUT... I feel great! So does that make it worth it? Heck yeah!

I'll leave you with my new favorite Gluten Free item. These are the BEST! I'm so happy to have found them! Even Nathan likes them a lot. Of course I told him to stay away from my crackers, he can eat the gluten ones in the pantry! LOL

These are nice and crunchy, perfect alone or with turkey and cheese piled on top, and have no weird aftertaste or texture. They are slightly on the salty side but if you put cheese or something on them it balances out the salt.

Yay for being gluten free finally! I feel like I am getting a new start to a healthy, feeling great life!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Ballet & Gingerbread Cookies!

2009-12-14T09:33:00.000-05:00

I went around to the other door where there is a little spot you can look in. I found Ella holding a pretend microphone singing the song instead of dancing. And then the teacher said "Ella no singing, dance please." Only my child...

That's better Ella...

After ballet we ate some lunch and decided to bake gingerbread cookies!

Ella took my picture first...

And then I took her picture...

So many more cookies to bake...

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Snow, dates with daddy & the dentist...

2009-12-11T11:29:00.003-05:00

Well, saying we've been busy is an understatement lol. We've been house/dog sitting for my parents while they went to Disney World, we had our first snow and Ella had her routine dentist visit. Those are just to name a few of the many things we've been doing!
Here's a look back at the last WEEK! lol.

Ella & Brady when the snow first started falling (Dec 5th):

I wasn't feeling well later in the day on Saturday so Nathan & Ella went on a daddy/daughter date to the Waffle House. This is Ella blowing me a kiss for Nathan to send me on my phone:

This is what it looked like the next day:

Not bad for the first snowfall of the year:

On Sunday Nathan and Ella decided to go out shopping together so I could relax and enjoy some quiet time :) They also decided to eat at TGIFridays for lunch!

This past Wednesday Ella had her 6 month dentist visit. In the waiting room a magazine caught my eye. This one:

I couldn't help but laugh. I had never heard of this magazine. Garden & Gun! Those two things don't exactly go together at first thought. I flipped through it and to my amazement it had everything from gardening to cuisine to nature to guns and everything else you can think of! It was quite impressive. The funny thing is, this particular dentist office is a pediatric dentist office ONLY, lol. Oh well I guess you have to entertain the adults somehow right!

She loves going to the dentist! Can you imagine that yourself? I can't, LOL!

All clean!

I can't believe it's 2 weeks exactly until Christmas morning! Yikes! I have all my shopping done thankfully. But I still have some things to finish which are handmade/homemade and all the wrapping of the presents. I do not like wrapping :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their week! Snow is in the forecast for later in the weekend! WOO HOO!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Thanksgiving, Sushi, Santa & our Tree.

2009-12-01T18:37:00.006-05:00

Here's a little look at the past few days :)

We went to my parents house for Thanksgiving. My aunt Cathy was staying with us. She lives in Connecticut, and my sister Sam was staying at my parents house. She lives in Boston. I didn't take many pictures and I didn't get any of my mom. But you can see her in my last post from the baby shower :)

Thanksgiving; Ella at the dining room table with all the desserts, lol:

Cathy (my aunt) and Sam (my sister):

Me & Ella:

Nathan & Ella:

Ella & Grandpa on the porch:

They were looking at this:

A very large tree in my parents yard that my dad put lights around. He had to use a big bucket truck to get to the top!

Sunday afternoon I decided to pick up some Sushi for lunch. Here is Ella in her Ravens football jersey waiting for my food to be ready. The Ravens played the Steelers for Sunday night football. We won! Woo hoo!

Later on Sunday we heard this outside:

Santa on the fire truck waving to all the kids throughout the neighborhood!

Finally on Monday we decorated the tree. We put up the tree and all the house decorations on Saturday but I ran out of steam and couldn't do the tree. I thought I'd do it Sunday but we got busy with other stuff and ran out of time. So finally on Monday Ella and I decorated the tree.

Nathan comes home tomorrow (Wednesday) from his hunting trip. They have one deer so far. Maybe they'll get another one tomorrow before coming home.

Glad everyone had nice Thanksgivings! Hope this week is going well for you too.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Baby shower!

2009-11-25T09:56:00.008-05:00

Last night I threw a surprise baby shower for my friend Jen. This is her 4th child and her third girl! Her oldest is 14 and youngest is 4. She thought she was coming over for a Pampered Chef party and was all excited. I didn't tell anyone at her house what was going on because I didn't want anyone to slip and let on to the truth.

I put all the presents and anything baby related in the kitchen so when she walked in the front door she wouldn't see anything out of the ordinary. It wasn't until she walked into the kitchen when everyone yelled surprise and she just stared at us. It took her about a minute or two before she realized what was going on. With all of us telling her over and over that it was a baby shower for HER. Even after we said baby shower she didn't even realize it was for her. She kept asking for who? LOL. When she finally put two and two together and realized it wasn't a pampered chef party and that it was a baby shower for HER, this is the reaction we got:

To say she was surprised is an understatement, lol. She didn't expect any kind of shower with it being her 4th child. And so close to delivering! She's being induced in 2 weeks! (Earlier than expected).

Me & Jen after she realized what was going on, lol:

Thomas & Ella. Thomas is the son of Anna, one of my best friends:

Erky (Eric), Me, Anna and Shane:

Game time!

My mom & my sister Sam:

Opening presents:

My mom & Jen:

Everyone had a lot of fun last night. It was a small party but full of love!

I hope everyone has a very blessed Thanksgiving! We're headed to my parents house!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Roots and a trip to the ZOO!

2009-11-23T11:00:00.000-05:00

Nathan took Ella to the Zoo this past Saturday while I was busy having this done:

You see I would have gone to the Zoo but this-

-was LONG over-due. No one should EVER have roots looking like this!

So they left for the zoo and I left for the hair dresser.

This was Ella's first time going to a zoo. They went to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. I gave Nathan strict orders to take lots of pictures and to send them to my phone throughout their adventure so I could still be a part of it even though I wasn't there. Boy did he take pictures. Many many many pictures AND videos, lol. Score one for the daddy!

Riding the Tram into the middle of the Zoo to get started:

Just another reason why I love my hubby :)

Fast asleep on the drive home, with souvenirs (Otters) in hand:

I made it back home right after they did and they surprised me with my very own stuffed Momma Otter. (Before they left the house I had mentioned to Ella that Otters are my favorite animals to go see at the zoo ). Ella picked out the baby Otter for herself. When she went to bed tonight she asked if she could sleep with both Otters :)

I will leave you with a video of Ella brushing the goats. Make sure you pay attention to the beginning, LOL:

And a very short video of her feeding a Giraffe!

Oh I almost forgot to show you my finished hair! Ta-Da!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Ballet + Leg Warmers= Cutie Patootie!

2009-11-21T19:53:00.000-05:00

Ella is thoroughly enjoying taking ballet lessons. She loves putting on her special ballet clothes and can't wait for Thursdays to come around so she can go dance her little heart out.

This past Thursday it was cold and rainy so it was my first chance to put her leg warmers on that I knitted for her. I just taught myself how to knit them a couple months ago. Let's just say I had to totally restart the first one 3 times. Yes, completely restart it 3 times before I got it "just right". So I was hoping they would still fit, lol. I don't want to make them ever again, Lol. Yeah I know, I totally will be. I will be making her another pair to go with her "winter" leotard!

She loves them. She said they keep her legs nice and warm in class. Her leotard is short sleeve but she still wants to wear it and says she isn't cold yet. Of course I make her wear a sweater outside :)

On her way to ballet class.

"Point and flex". She is the one in the mirror facing us. Not the one in the pink sweater:

Far left facing us in the mirror:

Sometimes she's so cute I can't take it! You moms know what I'm talking about :)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

The outlets were calling my name...

2009-11-20T12:29:00.007-05:00

Last Sunday Ella and I decided to go the Tanger Outlets in Lancaster Pennsylvania. It takes about an hour to drive up there from our house. We play a game to see who can spot the cows, horses, laundry hanging outside on the lines and any other animals first to keep us entertained. And let's not forget the horses and buggy's :)

I had clipped two coupons out of the "junk mailer" that came in the mail a couple days before. One was for a free coupon book which has tons of great coupons in it, and the other was for a free $10 gift card! Yep, no strings attached, just bring the coupon and get a free $10 gift card that was good in any store at the outlets. I couldn't pass that one up. I also had printed out some coupons from their website and my mom had given me an additional coupon for the Coach outlet. I was on a mission. To the Coach store!

And in the sea of beautiful purses this one called my name...

A dark purple pebble leather Coach purse:

And matching wallet, lol:

I was able to get an additional 40% off of their sale price on the purse and 20% off the sale price of the wallet. I SAVED $389.36 when all was said and done between the sale prices and discounts. Don't forget my $10 gift card that I used when I paid. So my grand total I had to pay out of pocket was $166.64! Now that is what I call a steal.

This is how Ella recharges between shopping stretches:

After the outlets we stopped in Strasburg Pennsylvania for a little more shopping before heading home.

On the drive home we saw many horses with buggy's and pretty fall colors:

Ella asked me to take a picture of the pond below:

And this is part of the Land O Lakes farm:

We love their butter :)

Ella and I had a great day together :)

We'll be heading up there again on black Friday with my family while Nathan is on his annual Thanksgiving hunting trip. Wonder what we'll come home with this time!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Happy Veterans Day!

2009-11-11T15:29:00.010-05:00

I just wanted to take the time to thank all the veterans who have served our country. And also to thank the veterans in my family.

My mother's father, my grandfather Poppop, who is still living today fought for our country in WWII on a navy ship. His ship was hit with a torpedo from an enemy submarine. But as he says "it was a dud thank God, otherwise I wouldn't be here telling you my story, lol". He also had an encounter with an enemy on the ground when he was on mail duty. He had to leave the docked ship and go into town to get the mail for the ship. A guy tried to kill him with a machete when he was headed back to the ship. My grandfather said he shot him with his pistol and took off running to get help from the ship. When they came back the guy was gone!

My other grandfather, my father's dad, who is not living anymore fought in The Battle of the Bulge with the Army. During this time he helped free the Jews from the concentration camps. I don't know much else about him because he died several years later when my father was 9 years old. I do know he met General Patton. They were both in the same hospital at the same time.

My father-in-law Tom, Nathan's dad, fought in Vietnam with the Army. He started as a radio telephone operator and then went on to Tropic Lightning Ambush Academy where he received the highest score of all E4 and below. From this he was promoted to E4 and was allowed to lead ambush patrols in Vietnam. He joined the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry, of the 25th Infantry Division- Tomahawks. (now known as Stryker). He rode in helicopters and would have to jump out of them into the rice patties while the helicopter would "slow down" but not land. After 8 months in the field he was wounded in a rice patty while engaging the enemy in a firefight. He has bullet wound scars on his arm.

He has TWO Purple Heart Medals, a Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, a Vietnam Service Medal w/ 2 Bronze Service Stars, a Marksman (rifle) ribbon, a Combat Infantry Badge, and a National Defense Service Medal, to name a few :)

He was Honorably discharged leaving the Army as a Sgt E5 Command Information NCO and Training NCO.

I just want to say how proud I am to come from a family who has served their country with honor and pride. Without them we wouldn't have the freedoms we have today.

Thank you to all the veterans I have not met, to all of my friends who have served and/or are still serving and to my cousin who is currently in the Marine Corps. He just came home yesterday from being stationed in Georgia (the country).

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Vandalism, Ravens football, & Chick-Fil-A

2009-11-10T16:38:00.011-05:00

This past Friday there was a knock on our door just around 10pm. It was our neighbor letting us know someone spray painted Nathan's car. Thankfully it was just his windshield and not the car itself. However when the police came they said someone two streets over also had their car spray painted and a pumpkin thrown through their window! Over the weekend we learned that our neighbors work van was spray painted, a lamp post in front of our playground and just today I saw house windows spray painted on one of the other streets. I sure hope they catch these kids. We know they are kids ranging in ages 14-17, they are drop outs and wander the streets day and night causing problems. But no one knows where they live or their names so we have nothing to give the police. About 3-4 weeks ago some cars were egged, including Nathan's but we assumed that was stupid kids being kids so we didn't report it. Now we're guessing it's the same bunch of brats. To say I'm full of anger would be an understatement. I feel so violated and then to find out they're destroying our neighborhood and making it look trashy just puts me over the edge. Oh and they spray painted the first guys car around 8:45pm and ours around 9pm! Yes, 9pm- how brave are they doing stuff that early in the night! I know I need to let it go because I'm sure they won't get caught. I just hope they stop destroying things that don't belong to them. And yes, we live in a good neighborhood!

Nathan was able to get all the paint off thankfully.

Sunday of course was FOOTBALL! Nathan went to the range with a friend so Ella and I watched the game at home. We bought Ella her very own Ravens jersey so she can dress in style on Sundays!

Today (Monday), was Operation Christmas Child shoe box collection day at our Chick-Fil-A.

Sorry Blue you have to stay in the car...

Shoe boxes have been safely handed over. Now it's time for breakfast!

I hope everyone is enjoying a good start to the week so far! I think we're going to visit the outlets one day this week. I have some really good coupons that are expiring soon :)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

The Ravens, Shopping, Mr Turkey, & Fall Trees

2009-11-05T10:54:00.009-05:00

This past Sunday my parents and Nathan went to a Baltimore Ravens football game. (I was supposed to go but our babysitter was sick). That's ok because Ella and I had fun watching the game together at home. We had lunch delivered during the game and even had funnel cake for dessert!
It was raining all morning and during the first half of the game. Then the sun came out and dried up all the rain for the last half of the game :)

My mom & Nathan:

Look at the Ravens eyes on the big screen. I love it!

My dad & mom:

They had a great time. It was an awesome game. The Ravens won. Woo hoo!

Yesterday morning Ella & I shopped until we dropped and then came home and put together some more shoe boxes!

Outside JoAnn Fabric:

Hangin' with the Turkey:

Our shoe boxes ready to go!

I'll leave you with some of our fall trees :)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. I'm busy working on homemade Christmas presents :)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Operation Christmas Child 2009

2009-11-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

We love participating in Operation Christmas Child. We've been participating for the last few years and I think it's my favorite. I look forward to putting together our shoe boxes all year long.

Samaritan's Purse is such a great organization and I'm so happy to help them spread the word of Jesus Christ. If you are interested in helping they have many different ways you can do so. Please check out their site Samaritan's Purse, here.

Yesterday morning Ella and I went shopping for the perfect goodies to stuff our boxes with. We had so much fun picking out specific things for each little girl that is going to receive one of our boxes. We decided to do two girl boxes this year. The last few years we've done girls and boys but this year for some reason girls are weighing have on my heart.

I love too that you can track where your box goes when you pay online, the small shipping/donation fee. It's so fun to receive an email in a few weeks telling you what country your box is being delivered to!

All the goodies to be stuffed...

Stuffed and waiting to be finished...

All finished and ready to go!

We still have a week or two before we have to turn them in. Who knows, maybe we'll stuff a couple more between now and then :)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Product Review Monday

2009-11-02T07:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Product Review Monday!

I have found my new favorite products! Laundry soap that is amazing and free of chemicals AND hand soap that is to die for! I have to give credit where credit is due. TeresaR from Life, Homesteading and Everything is the one who turned me on to these products. She posted about them a few days ago and said how much she really liked them so I checked out the sellers blog and thought I would like to try them myself! So I contacted her and asked about her laundry soap. She was very pleasant and I enjoyed emailing with her. I decided on my items, paid, and she shipped them the very next day!

I ordered the Lavender Grace Laundry Soap in a collectible jar and also in a medium size to refill my jar with. I was so excited to receive my package. When I opened it she also gave me a sample of her other laundry soap in Cambridge Rum scent and a little sample of her honey oats & goat milk hand soap bar, as well as some other surprises but I'm going to keep them to myself and let you be surprised if you order from her.

I used both laundry soaps today and loved them so much I just emailed her and ordered a big jar of the Cambridge Rum laundry soap and a few bars of the hand soap! Let me just tell you about the hand soap. Smooth, gentle and lathers up wonderfully. And don't forget the smell- heavenly. I instantly fell in love after the first hand wash!

If you are looking for natural products with no harsh chemicals and which work wonderfully you should definitely check out Carrie at Under the Willow Gift Shoppe. You won't be disappointed!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

ABC's

2009-10-30T17:17:00.004-04:00

I've been working with Ella on hand writing. She loves doing workbooks and has been enjoying tracing letters. She hasn't wanted to write them freely in her workbooks, only tracing them. So you can imagine my surprise when the other night she did this:

Nathan was impressed but not as much as I was until I revealed to him that this was in fact the very first time she had ever freely written her name! I couldn't believe what my eyes were watching. She did it over and over to please us. Everytime we said "that's awesome Ella, do it again!" and she would happily erase it and start over!

Then we said can you write all the letters of the alphabet?

You can imagine my delight today when I was writing her thank you cards for her birthday gifts she received, and I realized that SHE can sign her own name to them! Woo hoo! The "firsts" are always so awesome!

Now we just have to find the best writing instrument for her when writing on paper. She's great on the chalkboard but not as good on paper yet. I've tried crayons, thicker pens, and normal pens and she gets frustrated because it's harder than using chalk. Any suggestions as to what we could try?

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Ella's 1st trip to the Tea Room!

2009-10-27T12:05:00.006-04:00

I had reservations at the Tea Room this morning for a special mommy & Ella birthday celebration. Now that she is 5 years old she is allowed to go there. Woo hoo! I have been waiting so long for this day to arrive. I love going to my tea room and now I can go anytime I want because Ella can come with me!

I didn't tell her we were going there until yesterday. I figured with all her celebrating I should wait until everything settled down from the weekend. I pulled up their website and showed her where we were going. When we arrived there this morning she got all excited and said "Mommy it's just like the picture we saw yesterday!".

Doing what she loves- shopping!

I made arrangements ahead of time for their birthday special- cake in a Tea Cup!

Here she is seeing the surprise coming her way:

Shen made Ella strawberry lemonade:

Shen & Ella. Shen & I have become friends from me going there so often!

After the tea room we went next door to the florist. They always have beautiful displays and pretty things.

Check out what's above Ella's head!

This red feather tree is gorgeous in person!

Ella had a great time at the Tea Room and can't wait to go again. Of course I haven't told her that she can't have cake in a tea cup next time she goes, LOL.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Tuesday!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Celebrating with family

2009-10-26T13:24:00.009-04:00

Yesterday we had Ella's family birthday party at our house. We had tons of food which I totally forgot to take a picture of, and lots of desserts which I did get a picture of, LOL!

I served Venison Chili, Honey Cornbread, Sweet & Sour Meatballs, Spinach Herb dip w/chips, Shrimp dip w/crackers, Key Lime Cheeseball w/crackers and fresh Grapes. It was very yummy!

Daddy helping Ella open presents:

Grammy & Grandpa brought Mickey Mouse back from their trip to Disney World!

Ayla and her daddy Tim:

Jennie (Sean's wife) & baby Lindy, My dad (Grandpa), my cousin Sean and my mom:

Erky (aka Eric):

Me & Katie putting the finishing touches on Ella's big surprise from Nathan & I:

The big surprise!

Clint:

For dessert we had Birthday Cake, Icecream Cake, Mini Cupcakes, Cookies and Gummy Worms.

Ella's 5th birthday party was a success! I will leave you with the video of everyone singing Happy Birthday to her :)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Chuck E. Cheese with friends!

2009-10-25T11:15:00.006-04:00

Yesterday we had Ella's birthday celebration with her 3 best friends at Chuck E. Cheese. At 10am, lol. I am not crazy. I only go there when I know it's empty! She had a great time and her friends had a great time.

Nathan came home from his hunting trip later in the afternoon. After dinner we gave Ella her presents from us and from her grandparents in Texas. Well, all but one. Her big surprise present from us is still in hiding. We're waiting to give it to her either today before her big family party or during the big family party.

My kittens!!!!!

She has wanted these kittens for so long!

Patiently waiting for daddy to get the kittens out of the box :)

This afternoon we are having her big family party. She can't wait! She wants to blow out her candles :)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

It's Ella's BIRTHDAY!

2009-10-24T06:00:00.000-04:00

My baby girl turns 5 years old today! She is so excited to be getting older and turning 5 too! I'm still amazed that it's been five years since she was born. It feels like yesterday. Take a stroll down memory lane with me as I look at her past birthdays...

Ella Marie was born on October 24th, 2004 at 10:24pm.

(That's right, 10/24/04 @ 10:24pm! How cool right!)

First day home from the hospital :)

1ST BIRTHDAY, 10/24/05:

Ella & Grandpa:

2ND BIRTHDAY, 10/24/06:

3RD BIRTHDAY, 10/24/07:

4TH BIRTHDAY, 10/24/08:

We are headed to Chuck E. Cheese this morning to celebrate with her 3 best friends. And then tomorrow we'll have her big family party at our house.

Stay tuned for pics of her 5th birthday!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Doe a deer...

2009-10-22T14:20:00.003-04:00

***Warning, do not read this post if you do not want to see a hunter and his kill.***

I'm so excited! Nathan left last night for a hunting trip. Today is the first morning that they can hunt. He got a deer first thing! He couldn't believe it happened so quick. He called me around 8:45am and said they were headed to the butcher shop to drop her off and then headed back out into the mountains for more hunting. I hope his friend Kevin can get one too!

Here is Nathan and his doe:

I have to say, my hubby looks super cute in this photo :)

Well they have a couple more days before they come home from the mountains. Nathan will be getting home on Saturday sometime. Which by the way is Ella's 5th birthday! Woo hoo! I can't believe she's going to be 5.

I guess I better go organize the basement freezer and make room for more venison! I can't wait... venison steaks, fajitas, chili and anything else I can think of to do with the meat!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Smore's is Smore's

2009-10-20T16:07:00.006-04:00

Yes that's right. I said "Smore's is Smore's"! That's what Ella calls Smore's, lol. If you remember back to this past summer when we were visiting Mimi in Texas, we made smore's on her cool little smore's maker. Well ever since then Ella has been asking to make "Smore's is Smore's". Of course do not have a cool little smore's maker so we haven't made any. All that changed a couple days ago when Nathan surprised Ella with a package.

(I bet some of you make this face when someone gives you Chocolate too!)

Today I decided to interrupt Tockle Tossie's swimming (yes, that's what she named her rubber lizard about 2 years ago when we bought him. He's still one of her favorite toys! lol) and asked if Ella would like to make some smore's.

(I was cracking up when I saw him floating in the ring like that, lol)

I got the hair pulled back just in time!

Hope everyone is having a good Tuesday! We're enjoying our chocolate high right now :)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Harford Fall Fest

2009-10-17T15:12:00.006-04:00

Today Ella and I went to the Harford Fall Fest. The Harford Fall Fest is a community event that raises money and awareness for Harford County's food bank and homeless shelter. Our church hosts this event. There are a couple other churches who help out, many businesses that sponsor the event, and it's a great day of family fun.

Playing some games:

Visiting the animals in the petting zoo:

Pony ride!

Meeting Scott McGregor, former pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles:

(He was really nice. He autographed a photo and gave one to Ella).

Meeting the Oriole Bird from the Baltimore Orioles! (Ella doesn't like any larger than life animals- Easter Bunny, Oriole Bird, Chuck E Cheese, etc., so she wouldn't go near him, but he did sneak over and give us a signed photo as well).

She loves firetrucks so of course we checked it out!

She wanted to show the fireman her new dog she won after playing the games earlier, lol:

Story time! Someone from one of our local libraries came to do story time. Ella was the only little one at the time. However Melissa (on the left) and her sister Amanda (on the right) participated with Ella. They both teach Ella's pre-k class at church, and Ella loves them both dearly.

Despite the cold and rainy weather we had a great time! This was the third annual Harford Fall Fest and the first one we were able to attend. I am definitely looking forward to next year! Now I need to throw our jeans in the wash because we both came home with mud on us up to our knees! How did that happen? lol.

Oh and if you were wondering where Nathan was, he was and is still at work. He was woken up early this morning with a work emergency. With all the rain we've had the last couple days one of the buildings at his work flooded. The roof leaked and now the computer server room is flooded, wires are dripping with water, and he needs to get everything dried and re-wired. He's going to be there all day and possibly all night. I would appreciate any prayers that he can get everything up and working again quickly and safely. Thank you! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

LoveLeeSoaps

2009-10-16T17:09:00.006-04:00

I don't do a lot of shopping on Etsy, in fact I've only bought from two stores on there, lol. However my latest find, I couldn't be happier with! I found a cute little shop that sells handmade soaps, body butters, and more. It's called LoveLeeSoaps.

I can't tell you everything I bought because some are for Christmas presents and I don't want to ruin any surprises, but I had to show you some of her items.

Peanut Butter Squirrel Soap:

Sweet Tweet Bird Set:

(I bought the bird set for Ella!)

Cinnamon Twist Body Butter:

(I bought this body butter and it smells heavenly!)

These are just a few of her many items she has listed. You should definitely go check out her shop LoveLeeSoaps. I bet she'll have something you'll like!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Guess who started Ballet!

2009-10-15T12:19:00.000-04:00

Well it's not me. My ballet days are long gone! LOL.

It's Ella! She started ballet last week. She was so excited. She had never been to a ballet class before and couldn't wait to become a ballerina. We had fun shopping for her leotard, tights and ballet shoes last month and couldn't wait for class to begin!

Her first class was last Thursday and she had so much fun she didn't want to leave. And she didn't want to take off her outfit when we got home. And then, when Nathan & I asked her later that night what she learned, she re-enacted the entire class to us in the living room. With her imitating the teacher and the students! It was quite entertaining.

Ready to head out the door! Don't worry the rubber lizard stayed home, lol. He is one of her favorites :)

Standing outside the studio:

She is the one on the far left:

Ballet is canceled this week but resumes next week. We can't wait!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Another trip to Weber's Farm!

2009-10-14T15:00:00.000-04:00

The other morning we met Katie & Ayla at Weber's Farm again. If you remember we met them last month at Weber's to buy our first pumpkins of the season. You can read more about that trip here.

This trip though was to celebrate Ayla's FIRST birthday! We wanted to get together to give her her birthday present.

Here she is opening her present. It's safe to say that she loves it!

Then we helped Katie look for more pumpkins:

I love white pumpkins:

Ella & Ayla (the birthday girl):

And yes, we did have apple cider donuts while we were there :)

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Swimming in October???

2009-10-13T18:39:00.004-04:00

Yes, that's right. We went swimming in October. In MARYLAND! lol. Our pool closed on Labor Day but my mom's pool at her gym is still open. They haven't covered the pools yet for the winter. We had a wonderfully warm day and my mom invited Ella and I to go swimming with her. (Nathan was away for the weekend). Of course Ella and I being the pool and sun lovers that we are, just had to say YES of course we would love to come swimming with you!

So, I dug in the closets and pulled out our pool bag, towels, swim suits, pool toys, and sunscreen that had been packed away until next summer, and packed everything up to go. We layered on the sunscreen, packed some snacks and headed out the door. To say laying poolside with the hot sun warming our bodies in the month of October was greatly satisfying is an understatement. It was AWESOME! Ella had the entire kiddie pool to herself and there were only a handful of people in the other pools. Yes, other pool-S! Not only does my moms gym have a kiddie pool that has a waterfall, but they have a lap pool with racing lanes, a heated therapy pool, and a big "family" pool complete with diving boards and big water slides! We had such a great time. Then we treated ourselves to dinner at Bull on the Beach. Yummy!

Here are some pictures of our day at the pool.

Ella enjoying the kiddie pool, (above & below):

The Family pool with the slides:

The heated therapy pool:

No more outdoor swimming for us. This week it is turning cold. Upper 50's starting tomorrow and then rain come Thursday. I wish it was snow instead!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Cooking and baking!

2009-09-30T14:38:00.008-04:00

Hello all! Not much new to report here. We're just waiting for fall to really kick in around here. I still haven't put any decorations out yet. Maybe this weekend!

Last week Ella and I made homemade popcorn for the first time. It was pretty good!

Yesterday Ella & I went up to the outlets for a little shopping & playing on the playground. Then we went to Havre de Grace for lunch on the water and a visit to the candy store.

It was a little windy, can you tell? lol

The last night was our first night of bible study here at our house. It's a 6 week bible study and we have a small group coming here each week. One week down and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the lessons. We're studying Max Lucado Fearless. I know I need a lot of help letting go of fears so I'm really hoping this study helps me. Last night I made bread pudding for our bible group. It was so yummy! And we had Chick-Fil-A sweet iced tea with it. I totally forgot to take pictures! I think I'll make lemon bars for next week!

This morning I decided to try and make pumpkin french toast for the first time. I followed a recipe I found from The Recipe Girl. It was sooo good!

And tonight for dinner I am making Chicken Tortilla Soup. Also a recipe I found on another blog but I can't remember where and I forgot to write it down on my copy of the recipe.

I hope everyone is enjoying their week so far!

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

The craziest busiest weekend ever!

2009-09-23T12:54:00.007-04:00

This past weekend, Friday 9/18/09- Monday 9/21/09:

Last Friday was our 5th wedding anniversary. You can read more about that here.
Nathan was in Texas during our anniversary so we didn't get to celebrate together in person, but we chatted using Skype so we could see each other. And, while talking to each other there was a knock on the door. Flowers for me! He bought flowers for me and had them delivered while he was away.

If you look in the background of this photo you will see more flowers in another vase. I couldn't fit them all in one vase!

My mom gave us a beautiful teapot set from Disney World. My parents were just there a couple weeks ago and she saw this and thought I would love it. They also gave us a gift card to Cracker Barrel for our anniversary!

Then on Saturday my mom and I had a yard sale together. We do it at her house because she has the bigger driveway! My friend Jen decided to join us and sell some of her things too. We had a fun day. We were out there from 6:30am (setting up) until 3pm! We all sold a good amount of things and made some decent money. I can't wait for the next one!

Jen & my mom. Jen is due in December :)

Me & my mom AND this guy who photobombed us, lol. We had a good laugh after wards because he did it on purpose and started cracking up.

Then on Sunday Ella and I went to the Bel Air Arts Festival. It was a lot of fun. Super crowded, lots of booths set up, tons of food and we ran into my parents! We had funnel cake of course and bought some really cute Christmas tree ornaments and some fall items. After we were done at the festival my mom went shopping around town with us. It was fun to spend the afternoon with her.

After our day shopping we picked up Nathan at the airport. He was home from Texas. Yay! However the following day, Monday, we had to take him to the train station. He was going to New York for a few days for work. He landed at the airport at 6pm Sunday night and then left the train station Monday morning at 7:35am. Poor Ella she cried her eyes out when he got on the train.
Monday, Daddy & Ella waiting for the train to arrive:

Here comes Nathan's train, headed North, and at the same time a train coming South came zooming by!

Bye daddy! Have a safe ride!

We pick him up tonight (Weds) at the train station. And he has promised he isn't going anywhere until his hunting trip over Thanksgiving. Let's just hope work has the same plan.

I think I need a bubble bath...

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham

Happy Anniversary to us!

2009-09-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

Today, September 18th, 2009 is our wedding anniversary. On this day 5 years ago we were married. The day before our wedding a hurricane was coming up the coast and headed our way. It rained all day and all night. When we woke up the morning of the wedding it was still raining & super windy. We turned on the news and to our shock they were reporting a hurricane AND a tornado hit our area! Thankfully no damage in our neighborhood but not far down the road a couple houses lost their wood fences, siding on the houses, etc.

I know they say rain is good on your wedding day, but a hurricane & tornado? lol.

I probably should have mentioned that we were marrying in our BACKYARD! Yes, in our backyard. We had a small intimate wedding & reception for our closest friends and family. It was perfect. Even with the cold whipping winds and wet ground. We had yummy food and even yummier desserts. Everything was perfect. We headed to the beach for our honeymoon.

Nathan's family flew in from Texas for our wedding. They stayed with us and helped us set everything up. The day before the wedding the rental company delivered our tables, chairs & tents. We couldn't put any of it out because of the rain and wind so we had to put it inside. Nathan and his dad went to Home Depot and bought huge tarps to lay on the ground. They covered our whole back yard in tarps before it started raining really hard. It worked! Most of the ground was relatively dry for the wedding/reception. A few muddy spots but other than that it was ok! We (myself included) were still setting up the chairs, tables, centerpieces, etc., when guests started arriving. Let me paint you a picture of what the early guests saw upon arriving- an almost completely set up back yard, a bride in sweats, hair standing up in every direction because of the wind (the rain stopped about an hour before guests were to arrive, so needless to say we had just started bringing everything outside!), and I still hadn't even showered yet! Nathan was just as behind as me. Our early guests helped us by finishing getting everything ready so we could go shower and change. Nathan had to shower at the neighbors house because we only had one shower! It was so windy my friend Katie had to hold the arch so it wouldn't blow over! She held it until we were ready to get married, lol. Surprisingly enough we only started the wedding 30 minutes later than planned! Don't ask me how we did it, but we did. It was wonderful. I wouldn't change a thing if I could do it all over again.

Here are some photos from our special day.

Katie holding the arch:

Family & friends waiting, pre-wedding:

My dad "giving" me away. Nathan youngest brother Aaron was his best man:

Me & Sam, my sister. She was my maid of honor:

Nathan & his parents:

My dad, my mom, my sister & me:

The cake!

Us :) (we looked a little different back then didn't we? lol)

Happy Anniversary Nathan! I love you more and more with each day that passes. I'm so blessed to have you in my life and as my husband. You're a wonderful man, a devoted father, and I thank God for you everyday.

Love, Heather

"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
-Henry Peter Brougham