We're going on a road trip....

Yeah, I've been away for a while, summer is really flying by! From work, home, swim lessons it's just been crazy around here!

Good news though, we are about to have a new addition to the family!!

Well before you guys all have a panic attack, we're expecting a pug! Matt's cousin is giving us her two year old pug "Oliver". The only requirement is we drive 10 hours to New Jersey. Not too bad of a trade off if you ask me...so you mean I have to go on an extended weekend vacation to the Jersey coast (where I've never been) and look at lighthouses?? When do we leave??

Actually, that's a good question. Matt and I've been talking about leaving the week of the 13th. Any advice from my fellow bloggers would be greatly appreciated! I definitely will have pics and stories to post when we get back. Our goal is to see as many lights as possible while we are there. I wish I can find a way to use my navigation a better and put these lights in so we could save on my research.

Thanks guys in advance, and look for our "new" family photo soon!

Until next time...

Happy Easter! Oh, am I late?

Well, call me a slacker, procrastinator or what have you, but things have just been getting away from me lately. I took on some new responsibilities at work the past couple of weeks, as well as being just plain...lazy! Hope everyone's Easter was grand, I know ours was!

This year, because our family just isn't as large as it use to, we decided to combine my family and my husbands. My mother is so great, she hosted the whole thing. Our parents grew up and attended school together, so they are no strangers, but still, having everyone together instead of running here and there was a blessing. Taylor really enjoyed it too, having Nana and Papa with Grandma and Grandpa...lil' bug was ecstatic.

We started out Easter Day traveling to a local church that was hosting an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Matt and I had gone to Easter vigil the night before at our church just so we could go to this other church Easter morning. Don't write this off as just some ordinary egg hunt though. Here they dropped 5,000 eggs from a helicopter hovering overhead! Now this was exciting!! In a marked field next to the church, they roped off areas for different age groups to gather eggs. At 12:30 exactly, a helicopter flew overhead and hovered over the empty field.

3...2...1...DROP! All of a sudden the pilot started dumping bags and bags of plastic eggs from the helicopter! After he circled a couple more times, he jetted off, waiving to all the children as he passed. Once he was clear, the race was on. The demand was far greater than the supply, and many children were left egg-less. Taylor ended up walking away with 10 or so eggs. I was so proud of my lil' tay, there was a little girl who only chased down 2 eggs, and Taylor without skipping a beat took one of her eggs and placed it into her bag. I walked away with a little smile on my heart, Taylor really is growing up to be a caring little lady.

Starving now, we all headed back to my parents home, where we had left dinner cooking in the oven while we went off on our adventure. I had made 3 loaves of homemade bread that was rising, while the ham and twice baked potatoes coasted in the oven. We definitely had our fill, no one was left hungry. We even had two desserts to choose from; fresh strawberry pie, and carrot cake.

After dinner we headed outside to have a little Easter egg hunt on our own. Taylor and I had colored eggs earlier in the week, just to help out the Easter Bunny. Without her even knowing, he picked them up and hid them in the backyard for her. I almost lost it when she seen the first egg up in the lower branches of the tree. "Mommy, he jumps high, the Easter Bunny jumps really high", "oh look, mommy, he jumps on the fence too!" Oh my bug! She was not cautious with them either! Every egg she added to her pail landed with a "crunch". I cringed every time she dive-bombed the eggs. Well, looks like we're making potato salad or deviled eggs!

My mother-in-law even made Easter baskets for us. Yeah, Matt and I got one too. Mine was filled with the ever-so-popular PEEPS(r) and a chocolate bunny. PEEPS(r) are not very far on my list of candies I use to love as a child, but now...(see previous post!)

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter, and you got to spend it with the family you love, I know we did!

Until next time...

Life is like a.....

...roll of NECCO wafers!

LOL..gotcha didn't I?
While going through my cupboard the other day (cleaning out all of the old junk) I found a bag of NECCO wafers stuffed in the back. These things are like tootsie rolls; no matter how old they are, they never seem to go bad!

Taylor was very curious.

Tay: "Mommy, what are those?"
Me: "Their NECCO wafers.
Tay: "can I have one?"
Me: "you won't like them, they taste like medicine."
Tay: "yes I will, I like medicine"
Me: "trust me, they're really bad"
Tay: "then why do you like them mommy?"

Humm....ya know what, she got me. Why do I like them, eh, did I like them? I mean look at them, they're hard, pasty, chalky, medicine flavored flat disks? I dunno, maybe the nostalgic in me bought them? I my grandmother had a large roll in her purse, and my sister and I would pick out the good ones when we visited.

What are the original eight flavors in a Necco Wafer Roll? According to their website (Which you can visit HERE!) the original eight flavors: orange, lemon, lime, clove, chocolate, cinnamon, licorice and wintergreen. If you ask me, the flavors are; orange-yup orange, yellow-i guess lemon, green-lime, light purple-yeah that's clove, brown-powdered tootsie roll, pink-pepto bismol, purple-black licorice or a bad rum ball @ Christmas, green-winter mint, white-cinnamon hearts. Whatever you think it tastes like, its always undermined by the 1/4" dusting of chalk all over it. Whatever you do--DO NOT BITE THEM-- biting them not only could chip a tooth, but it makes that powdery disk a gritty mess in your mouth. Almost like you're chomping on a handful of pebbles in your mouth, yuck!

Ha ha ha...yup, Taylor and I opened them up and had a taste-test before I tossed the whole bag in the trash. Maybe it'll wait another 20 years til I buy them again, who knows?


Yup, threw the whole bag out!

So here's the million-dollar question....Is there something from your childhood that you use to love but now find repulsive or is there something you long for but cannot find anymore?

What do you remember as a child?

Leave me a comment, who knows, maybe I'll give a treat for the best answer?

Until next time....

Helllloooo out there!

You may be wondering (or you may not!) where I've been the past few days...one word, WORK! Lately we've been really cut back on hours, but not this week! When no one else seems to want to show up for work, they call me in. I've worked 3 different departments this week! I'm actually on my way in right now, but as you can see, a shower can wait, but my blog must live on!!


...Working nine to five...

Hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather (mostly everyone, right?) and hope in your neck of the woods spring is right around the corner.

I'll be back shortly with new photos, and stories gallore!

Until next time...

Spring is in the air.

Last weekend the family loaded up in the Jeep to take a little day trip to Sandusky Ohio. We met early that morning to enjoy breakfast at Pond-a-cow (aka. Ponderosa). Funny story, growing up our family used to frequent Ponderosa for any type of family gathering/dinner/holiday and had many, um, experiences. There was one Easter everyone in our family had to rotate in and out of the bathroom after our dining experience. Imagine, a family of four taking numbers to use the only bathroom in the house! Yeah, it took us a long time to go back! My mother would make comments that it was like feeding time at the zoo when she walked in there, stuff yourself til you puke!


Ponderosa (aka. pond-a-cow) a great place NOW for breakfast!

Jumping forward about 20 years, we have grown more to enjoy their new Sunday morning breakfast bar. They really have cleaned up their act. It helps a good friend of ours is also a manager there, so if we EVER have a concern, Cheryl will take care of it! Today's breakfast was filled with pancakes, waffles, french toast and custom-made omelets. Taylor even had a bowl of ice cream to top it all off! After breakfast we headed off to Sandusky. My mom had picked up free tickets to the Kalahari Home and Garden Show saving us a boat-load of mulah($6.00 each savings)!


Kalahari Resort in Sandusky Ohio @ dusk.

Walking into the beautiful conference hall, the smell of fresh blooms filled the air. Patience, we will get there soon enough. If you'd like more information about Kalahari resort and their WONDERFUL water resort, check out their ad on my side bar (then I'll get credit for your click, hehe)or you could CLICK HERE!


Kalahari Resorts...someday we may even stay the night!

We made our way around the halls of the conference hall, picking up an array of freebies; candy, pencils, business cards, magnets etc. The coolest freebie, cash! One of the credit unions booths was even giving away "green bags" cloth grocery bags. Of course I wanted one, but there was a catch. You had to sign up for, wait for it, a drawing! Almost always followed by the annoying telemarketing calls-yuck! Cool part was they had a big basket filled with green plastic Easter eggs that you also got to pick out of after you signed up. Cringing, I did it anyways, and checked the do not call me box very clear. I didn't want to be the only one having all of the fun, so I pushed Taylor towards the basket and told her to pick out an egg. Yay for Tay, my lil bug opened an egg with a dollar bill in it, $1.00 hard cold cash for her piggy bank! You would've thought she won the lottery, she was hooting and hollering like it was a million. My mother, on the other hand, opened one of the MANY dud eggs. Oh well, we all can't be winners!


Aahh..take a deep breath, I've turned on the scent just for you!

Next, we walked into the long awaited "nursery" rooms. These side meeting rooms are filled from top to bottom with beautiful trees and blooming flowers galore. Usual centerpiece is a stone or brick patio, but a really neat addition this year, the water fountain wall. I could hardly keep Taylor's hands out of it.


Taylor playing in the water, surprise, surprise!

We loved walking through here, dreaming, and the fragrance was unbelievable! Taylor wanted mommy to take her picture next to every single flower in the room. I only picked a couple, she literally took dozens! I can't help it though, she is such a camera ham!


Taylor posing...and posing some more!

Overall, it was a very good day. We got to see what everyone was offering in home improvements out there, as well as really get some spring in our system. I didn't mind getting out of the house too. Someday we may stay overnight and check out Kalahari's huge indoor water park, but for now we'll just admire it from a distance.

Until next time...

Signs of Spring....

Today the skies parted and we had a bit of a dry day. We have been drenched with rain here lately and everything is flooded. So when I had the opportunity to get outside and see what was going on, the doors couldn't hold me in anymore. I really could use some signs of spring to shake these winter blahs. The smell of spring was in the air for the first time, and our first robins started flocking around our neighborhood. I even woke the other morning to a songbird serenade, yes I am ecstatic spring is here!


Buds on my favorite lilac bush and the daffodils have broke ground, spring is almost here!

Taylor and I took a walk around the yard for the first time. It was a little bittersweet though, nice to see the yard, bad to see all of the work that needed done as a result of winter. I picked up a bit of trash that had blown into our fence, and moved a few planters, but today's tour was just to assess the damage, and see the new life popping up.


Soon these planters will be filled with beautiful blooms!

Taylor loved it as well. She really could care less about walking around the yard, her main concern was sifting through the sand and picking rocks out. She has had a passion for rocks ever since our trip to Port Huron. She has this need to pick up rock and pebbles everywhere we go. See my post about Port Huron HERE to see Taylor in action!


Taylor picking out a few pebbles out of the sand.

The breeze was really warm as well. It was nice to just sit there on the deck and take in the warmth. Ahhh...I really can't wait for more signs of spring!


Taylor loves the breeze.

I hope to have more photos as the weather warms! Maybe if the water recedes a bit we can go to one of our favorite parks?

Happy Spring!

Until next time...

Friday Favorites..

Now this is a tough one...Friday favorites, time at the end of the week to reflect what your high points were for the week. I don't have any cute banners or buttons, this is my first "official" try at this, so let's have a go at it shall we?

#1. Cough medicine! Not just any cough and cold medicine, but the GOOD stuff my Dr. prescribed that really help mommy go to sleep! This week our family was slapped by some upper respiratory nuisance that just won't go away. We all are hacking and barking, so thank goodness I got the good stuff out so at least I got some good rest!


#2. Y.M.C.A. (shameless plug, he he) These guys are my heroes! I really needed a good kick in the butt this week, and boy did they deliver! I had a really good workout week by going to a few group exercise classes at my YMCA. Their instructors ROCK! Thank you for showing no mercy!




#3. The Sun. OK, OK, little cheesy but I'll explain. Cabin fever has been setting in, but this week we had a preview of spring. Although we got a bit too much rain, the sun did pop out and warm things up nicely. It really felt like spring this week!


#4. My Taylor. Last week we went into remission on our potty training (I think one day alone we had 4 accidents within a couple of hours). This week though, baby girl did a 180* and had very, very minimal accidents. Great Job Tator-bug!



#5. Last but not least.... My new blogger friends! Everyone out there that has spent time visiting or those who are follow me...Thank You!!! You are all so special to me, you keep me on my toes! I will try not to let you down!



Enough blabbing, Have a great weekend everyone!

Until next time...

Our daughter.

Taylor, our pride and joy, has brought so much to our lives. I thought today I'd share a few of her travel pictures. She really enjoys going places. Even if at this age she doesn't fully comprehend where we've been, she still loves going!



Today my husband had his shirt on from the Soo locks when Taylor walked up to him and said, "that's from Michigan right daddy? We're not in Michigan right now. We went there to see the boats." This from a three year old!



Her other favorite line is that we went one day and seen that big lighthouse by the tall grass. I don't know which one she is referring to, but it seems to come up a lot when we talk about places we've been.




More to come!
Blessings...

I hate being sick!

Sorry I've been off a couple of days, I've been bitten by the flu bug. Today is the first day that I can sit up longer than a half hour. Even with the flu shot this has been rough. I think every joint and muscle in my body aches! I hope to re-join society soon, but for now the computer will have to do.
I guess on the upside, we have been snowed in from a pretty nasty winter storm. We accumulated another 10" of snow, with another 2-4" tonight into tomorrow. So I guess if you're stuck inside, might as well be sick.
Blessings...