A Night to Remember...

It's nights like these that I want to remember forever...

On Thursday, February 26, our church Shout Family helped serve dinner at our local homeless shelter.

Our kids were so eager and willing to pitch in, and they truly made us all so proud.




These are two of my most favorite young women...love them so much and want my kids to be JUST like them when they grow up!




We were so grateful that the roads were clear enough for all of us to come out in 6 inches of snow to make this dinner happen. It is a blessing for us to be able to do this, and I already look forward to the next time. My kids are so incredibly lucky in life- spoiled even. I am thankful that, at this age, they have this opportunity to give back and thankful for a church that makes things like this happen for us.

Snow Day FUN?!

The jury is still out on whether or not I consider snow days fun. Looking back on these pictures, it appears that we had a wonderful day filled with memories the kids will cherish forever.

In the moment, however, I am a big ball of stress- rescheduling meetings in my head, praying that our power stays on (and having mini heart attacks every time the lights flash), and constantly wiping the snow tracks off the hardwood floors.

But these nuggets had a great day either way you look at it.

And I used them for some Girl Scout marketing...


The grown-ups enjoyed some quick sledding down the driveway. (Hey, it's got to be good for something.)

And I made a pitiful snowman with Jake.



Jake called him Snow Feet. I had him use Thin Mints as eyes, so we could use him for more shameless Girl Scout marketing.

And then we all made our own personlized Snow Cream. What's that, you say? Thin Mint Snow Cream? Why, yes, yes, I will.

Judging by all the pictures that I saw on Facebook, so many of my local friends had a great snow day. Me? I'm ready for some Pappy's Paradise pool time. Bring on SUMMER!

Brooklyn's Birthday Bonanza

I'm pretty sure we celebrated Brooklyn's birthday for 8 days straight. It started on Saturday, February 21 when her Godmother, Godsister and I surprised her with a trip to Charlotte to visit the American Girl Store.
The girls (and moms) had a great time and it was so nice just spending some quality time together.


We expected that she would go to school and Girl Scouts on Tuesday, the 24th (her actual birthday). So, she made homemade Japan flag cookies for Girl Scouts (they were learning about Japan) and we bought a tub of chocolate chip cookies for her class.

Unfortunately, we had unexpected ice that day, so school and Girl Scouts were both cancelled. So, we stuck a candle in a Japan cookie and had an inpromtu celebration that day. (Luckily, I at least had all her presents bought and wrapped for that day.) When the ice cleared, we met her grandparents at her favorite restaurant, Golden Corral, and had a birthday dinner together.

We also read her baby book that night....crazy to see how far she has come in 10 years!

Then, on Saturday, the 28th, Brooklyn had her Friends Party at TumbleBees, a local gymnastics center. She had a BLAST and kept talking about going back again next year.

These three sweet girls have been friends before even their FIRST birthdays. So grateful that they have Girl Scouts to keep them together.






We ended the night with her "official" family party with her grandparents and aunt, uncle, and cousin.


Whew, Brooklyn, we love you, but celebrating your birthday is EXHAUSTING! I was quite thrilled when the festivities were over but so thankful to celebrate 10 memorable, precious years with my first baby.

V-day Shenanigans

Chad and I have always kept Valentine's Day very low-key. This year's weekend was no different, but we did have some sweet moments with our littlest valentines.

Friday the 13th, I attended the annual school dance at Jake's pre-school. I have been attending these since Brooklyn was about 2, so it was a little sad knowing it was the last time I would be standing around with moms and dads for 30 minutes watching dozens of kids running around and screaming in a cafeteria. :-)


On Valentine's Day, we did "make your own pizzas" and chocolate fondue with the kids.


Nothing flashy; Nothing fancy. Just some good old fashioned quality family time. A rarity these days, so we'll take it any time we can get it.

February Recap: #splitaplatelosesomeweight

Month 2 is in the books...

#splitaplatelosesomeweight is still in full swing.

In February, Chad and I split 7 meals.

The good news? That's one less meal than January.

The bad news? We seemed to have eaten a tremendous amount of burritos and cheeseburgers...which as one would guess, is not really conducive to the whole "lose some weight" part of the plan. Even when you are only eating half.

We used our holiday freebies on President's Day and Valentine's Day and the "bonus day" on Brooklyn's birthday.

It's still a challenge, but I do find it kinda "fun." (Chad would probably disagree.) For March, I would like to continue to cut down on eating out and maybe lay off the red meat, but we shall see. :-)

Dear March...

Dear March,

Hey. It's me.
I'm smiling here in this pic, but in reality, I am looking at you with side eyes and a scowl. You are the month I have been dreading for 11 months now. You are the month that comes with the most painful memories. You are the month that changed everything for me. For my family.

But ready or not, here you come.

March, I'm warning you. I am not ready for you. I don't want you. I'm not happy to be in you. I wish I could close my eyes, hold my breath, count to 10, and be through you.

But I have put on my big girl pants today.

And I will enjoy you on the days that celebrate the birth of some of my favorite people. But other than those days...and maybe an occasional Saturday when I can love on my family...I will wish you to be over.

I may even spend March blogging about February since that didn't seem to happen last month.

And maybe it will distract me for a while.

So, March, sorry it has to be this way. I'm sure one day you will understand. I think all the Irish love you, so you won't miss me too much.

January Recap: #splitaplatelosesomeweight

So, we did it. Chad and I made it through month 1 of #splitaplatelosesomeweight.

To give you a quick re-cap, Chad and I ordered in/ate out 8 meals and 1 snack. The 1 snack was not technically required to be split, but why not? :-)

I'm not going to lie...some meals were easier than others. Villa Rosa, for example, does a split plate cost, but they plate it for you and give you an extra salad. A 1/2 of a Moes Quesadilla, on the other hand, was a bit tough to make an entire meal out of.

But we did it. We used our "national holiday" bye's on New Year's Day and MLK Jr. Day and our freebie day on January 2 (we were just getting used to the whole idea- ha!).

All in all, it's been a great challenge. We saved about $95-100 and, Lord knows, how many calories.

And we are still happily married, so #winning.