Sammy loves snow

It's snowing again!!!! We love the snow and our dog loves it even more. He got to prance in it for a bit, but then the cold got to him and I only got this one picture as I opened the door. You can see the blurry paw post telling us he was done. I hope we'll be up for a walk today in this beautiful snow, but it sure is cold and Sammy and I are wimps in the cold. It's nice to see the white again but to still be able to go about our lives. The blizzard was fun but we have things to do and people to see:)

Another win for the Caps

With Ryan being out of town so much we weren't sure we would be able to make it to a Caps game this year and we LOVE going to Caps games. We are fans of the local teams and it is nice to have a good one. Plus hockey is just a fascinating game to watch and it helps that it is easy to understand. The crowd is great too.

In any case, we got home from the game a little bit ago and we are so happy that they won. Ry won't be home for the season next year so we decided to an extra game this season to make up for it so we are going to see the Ottawa Senators on March 30. This time our seats are better too so that will be nice.

It was a really nice day today overall. I was off from my internship because of a teacher work day and it was Ryan's Friday off even though he probably would have had to call in sick again anyway (poor guy can't beat this thing but fortunately he could suck it up for the game though it looks like we took a few steps back now). In any case, I had to drop off some things at my moms this morning and while I was there I decided to look in her crawl space for any toys that I could have around the house for when kids come over. She has enough out at her house and I didn't want to take the really special ones, but I knew there had to be something in there. I have been on a toy kick because I love when our friends and family bring their kids over and they are entertained and enjoy being over here, but I also don't want to spend tons of money since we don't have kids yet and our money should be going to paying off debt and saving up for the house when Ry gets back. In any case, I struck gold with a wicker cradle for baby dolls and a few Barbies. It was so fun to see some of my old toys and to realize how many clothes and other things I can hopefully use for my little girl one day.

After that success I headed to run some more errands, one of which was to recon healthy foods for Ryan and I at Trader Joes. I expected to get a few things but to mostly just report back to him and see what we thought would be worth getting since I thought the prices might be kind of steep. I was so wrong. The prices weren't that different from the Commissary and they had a lot of the staples that we use. I filled up a cart (pretty easy to do since they are small) and I look forward to going back after we go through these supplies. We're trying to make the move to natural/organic whenever possible and it looks like Trader Joes will make it easy for us.

Sorry if this post seems disjointed but I am on a high from the excitement of the game, but also tired because I probably packed too much in to today. I just wanted to share some blessings before I close though in keeping with what is going to be a new tradition:
1. Classes starting off well and getting to see my friends at school again was really nice
2. I started some new groups at the elementary school this week and it looks like it is going to be pretty interesting, I have a selective mute in one of them
3. My most challenging group was actually almost perfect this week and I cannot thank God enough because Lord knows my patience was getting a little thin with them
4. My site visit from my supervisor at VCU went really well and she even offered to let me end my field early because of Ryan's deployment. I think I'll opt for more flexible hours to enjoy time with him when he is off, but that was really sweet.
5. I found some good deals on toys this week in addition to getting some of my old one's from mom's and stuck to my budget on them. Ryan thinks I am the biggest nerd but I just love having people of all ages over and its good for Sammy to learn that not all toys are his.
6. Thanks to Ry's bonus and our tax refund coming we were able to buy the tickets for another Caps game.
7. The Apple Geniuses got my computer back in tip top shape since my applecare ends in May and there were some weird things going on. After adding a little memory and their replacing some things they assured me that it should last a few more years which is nice since I have gotten so much use out of it and don't have any need to upgrade anytime soon.
8. I am looking forward to Tawnya's Housewarming tomorrow (and to baking for it) and to having a full row at church on Sunday followed by card time and grocery shopping with Hilly.

Life sure is good with another weekend filled with great people and great memories:)

Tate Tuesdays

I love having off most Tuesdays this semester. I only have a one credit class that meets four times the semester so I plan on making the most of the rest before I join the rest of the 9-5 world. Most Tuesdays it will probably just be the older nephew since I have a booster seat for him and he doesn't need nap times, but we'll try to include the little man as much as we can. My friend Ashley and her son may come over some Tuesdays too. It's kind of nice to get quality time with the kiddos and their moms while the rest of the world is at work and I probably should be doing homework.

In any case, Tate is getting older and smarter and even more fun than ever. He tore through most of the toys/games at my place on Tuesday and had fun, but we spent the most time on the puzzle cube pictured above, building a block tower to match the one on the box, and making "cookies" out of play dough. The timeless classics have it. It was so fascinating to watch his brain work in making three of the puzzle options and at times I thought he might give up, but he worked so hard and was so proud when he got them (as was I). The tower was the most complicated I have tempted but we made a game out of his getting the blocks and I kept praying Sammy would not knock it over.
Can you see his brain working in this picture and that cool tower next to it?
He is so funny. He started making all of these funny faces with the playdough mouths instead of making playdough creatures. He is very methodical as well and had a distinct pattern about which cut outs to use and when we were done.

It looks like my semester will be manageable after getting all of my syllabi on Monday and it was kind of nice to see my friends again and know that we are all in the homestretch now. 98 more days until I am done with school/my internship. I will also be thankful when tomorrow is over. It is going to be a long packed day but at least Friday is a teacher work day so I can stay at home and catch up on paperwork, then go shopping and to the Caps game with my love.

Latest dessert hit

I have had a few requests for the dessert that Ryan and Samson have become addicted to: Kifles. Here is the recipe my Grandma gave me for them:

Mix:
4 cups of flour
1lb of butter
4 egg yolks
12 oz cream cheese

Make little balls and put them in the fridge to chill overnight

Flatten out the balls (use a powder sugar/flour mixture with a rolling pin, the thinner the better), and place the apricot filling inside. Roll them up and pinch the ends and put them in a crescent shape. Poke three holes on top with a fork.

Bake for 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until the bottom is only slightly golden brown

Note: The apricot filling came in a clear container from a special section at my Grandma's grocery store. I hear you can get it in the baking section. Good luck because it looks like I may be going back to PA to get the supplies for our next batch.

Holiday Party Weekend

Last year Ryan's unit began holding their holiday party in January which is really nice since it used to always fall around finals time. This year I got to spend some time with Alex who made the trip up from NC for the party and we had a lot of fun with our dogs before we started getting ready. After a trip to the dog park we went to the barkery near us. The dogs love getting special treats and being able to go in a store and the people at the store are really nice to them, giving them free treats and loving on them.
Then Alex and I ran into get the flowers for the honored guest spouses and we had to leave the boys in the car. These are the faces we came back to after picking up the roses. I didn't take a picture of them but Giant did a nice job with the flowers. We asked the lady to wrap three bouquets for a holiday party and they were beautiful and probably even cheaper than if we had bought the plastic wrapped already made bouquets. I am a real ribbon snob though so I did switch out the ribbon around them when we got home and it really classed them up for next to nothing.

Then we came back to the house to get ready. It is nice that our hall bath is on the other wall of the master bath so both couples had their areas but we could still talk and laugh at the dogs who were hamming it up. Samson and Sarge may have just met but they were great together.
I searched so long and in so many stores for my holiday party dress. It was looking hopeless for a minute but then I found this great steal at Ann Taylor online and I am so happy it fit and worked out. It is definitely a keeper too. I just wish it wasn't so cold in there so I could have taken my cardigan off because it was really only supposed to be for outside but that's January for you.
This is Ryan's best friend in the unit, Williams, and his girlfriend Alex. I am so thankful they have stayed close in spite of Ryan switching to the dark side when he got commissioned. It's really nice that Alex and I get along well too and I am glad they are moving back to MD soon. We will hopefully get in a few double date things before the boys go and then Alex and I will be each others dates once they go. It may even work out for her to move in with me when the boys leave which would be really nice. I would be okay alone but having someone around would be really nice too.
Ryan may not have been Mr. Vice, but he sure was a ham for most of the night. He looked out for the other soldiers and ended up in "trouble" a lot for it. This was his punishment for asking if the soldiers could use the latrine. The Captain said that it could be dangerous and he had to be prepared to save lives if necessary. The way these dining outs work is that there are tons of rules and silly punishments to keep the night interesting.

One of the highlights of the night was getting to know the Brigade Commander. Ryan was tasked with playing host and wasn't sure what to expect since he had never met him. He and his wife were so wonderful to talk to and so sincere. They really have a heart for Belvoir and this unit and it turns out his wife had trained some of my physical therapists so it's a pretty small world. LTC Lawson gave an excellent speech in which he prepped all of us on what to expect in the various stages of deployment we are in and about to enter. He was so honest about some of the challenges we are all about to face and so thoughtful in his suggestions. He encouraged the use and creativity of the Family Readiness Group and I am looking forward to getting to know the other spouses more through it and to getting through this together.

Some nice surprises/blessings of the weekend:
1. My friend Ashley C and her son came to visit Friday after my internship and Connor and Sammy hit it off. It looks like she will be coming over more often now that we know how great they are together.
2. My parents and one of my mom's co-workers joined me for church and it looks like they will be coming more often. I am okay going to church alone because I feel like this is the church I am meant to be at right now in terms of the healing and growth it has blessed me with, but it sure is nice to have people there to share the experience with when Ryan is away/at drill.
3. We got a lot more done today with the invitations than I expected. I am glad they are turning out so nicely and I will have to get a picture of them when they are all finished.
4. I got to have some one on one time with Laura's sister-in-law while Laura and Nicole went to Kinkos and it was really nice. She lives less than a mile from me and has a sweet baby girl and we may try to take walks together sometime and have baby/puppy play dates. It's always good to expand the circle of friends especially those who live nearby since most of my high school/college/grad school friends live pretty far away.
5. My husband is finally home so we have a few more weekend hours to enjoy before the week begins. Only 5 more days until our date Friday together: Daily Grill for dinner, Crate & Barrel trip, and Caps game, does it get any better than that?

The kids I work with

For obvious reasons, I can't post a picture of the students I work with, but if I described them and their behavior to you, you probably wouldn't believe me. In about two hours I will be wrapping up my autism group at the high school I have been interning at and then I will be ramping up my efforts to reach out to kids whose attendance has been really bad. I found out yesterday that one of them was raped recently and that she is refusing to talk about it and has not received any care since. No wonder she is having difficulty with her attendance, yet it is such an important part of her learning English and building a good life for herself.

Yesterday at the elementary school I intern at, I found myself praying through one of the worst groups I have had yet with some of my kids. I don't know how the teachers manage with some of the kids I have because I only have them 45 minutes once a week but they have them everyday. I thank God for giving teachers the talent to work with such students even when they show no sign of improvement and test you in every way. I should mention that this elementary school is in one of the worst parts of Rt 1, an area known to be plagued by poverty, substance use, and abuse of all kinds among other challenges. 85% of the kids are on the free and reduced lunches program and we suspect that number would be higher if the illegal immigrants knew it was safe to apply. We are so blessed and working with them and seeing the struggles they have has given me a better understanding of the greater challenges to the war on poverty in this nation. These kids are seen as not having a chance from the start and many of their parents simply do not have the parenting skills needed to teach them basic personal and social skills that will help them rise out of their situation. This task is left to the teachers and staff and boy, these kids don't make it easy. Yet even when they are difficult beyond measure, you can't help but fall in love with them.

In any case, here is to praying I can do what I need to do to meet the needs of the students today and here is to praising God that it is Friday. I am so excited about the weekend! Ry's best friend in the units girlfriend (did you follow that?) is coming over for a puppy playdate tomorrow and then we'll all get ready for the holiday party together. Turns out Ry will not be serving as Mr. Vice since the person who asked him to do it wasn't supposed to pass that task along so here is to praying all goes well for that Lt tomorrow night and that it still entertaining for us. At least Ry will be able to sit with me now. Then on Sunday after church, my friend Laura is coming over to start working on her wedding invitations. It will be a nice weekend of fun before school starts up again on Monday (at least it is my last semester).

Happy Birthday Sarah!

We miss you!!! We had so much fun celebrating your birthday last year with two parties and especially with embarasing you with two cakes at the Lebense Taverna as pictured here:
Then we almost died the next day between the freezing cold in DC and the trecherous trip home in the crowd as pictured here:
Most of all I miss our good times at Macon like this day:
The family just isn't complete without Dad's favorite:
But I am thankful for the times we do get to see you even across the miles like our fun day at Universal Studios:
We hope to see you again soon. Let us know when you might be coming out this way again and I promise to call soon. Hugs headed your way and we hope it is a great day for you!

Happy things

So I realized after the party on Saturday that we have had 7 straight weeks of partying/exciting events since Thanksgiving: 1. Thanksgiving 2. Ryan's brother's 40th birthday party 3. Kids Christmas with our nephew at church 3. Rockette's with my family 4. Christmas Festivities Galore 5. Ryan's mom's birthday party at our place 6. Wicked and my cousin's baby shower and 7. Ryan's birthday party. We are about to have 8. Ryan's unit holiday party 9. Caps Game and Tawnya's Housewarming and 10. Game Night with Ryan's sister and her friend and Superbowl party with my "sister" and her running team.

After Feb 7 the streak will be broken by Ryan's drills picking up, but it just hit me today and I wanted to note this fantastic streak so I remember it when Ry is busy/gone. We are social people, but between the demands of Ry's two jobs to include his traveling pretty often, it is sometimes hard to fit in parties and special outings. We have been really blessed that he has not been traveling on the weekends lately and that his drill includes his units holiday party this month.

Another thing that I am really excited about is that Ryan was just asked to be "Mr. Vice" at his units holiday party. This is a pretty big honor and it pretty much means he is the master of ceremonies. Thank God he is funny because this position can make or break the night. I am praying that all goes well with his preparation for this role this week and that he can relax and enjoy it Saturday night. The only down side is that it means that he won't be able to sit next to me but that will be all the more reason for me to reach out to the other spouses at my table. I am really looking forward to getting to know them more and talking about ideas for the Family Readiness Group for while the unit is gone.

Other blessings of the week so far:
1. We had a really nice relaxing Sunday and Monday together since we had no big plans. We really enjoyed the roast of Pastor John at church for his 50th birthday and had fun shopping Monday and stuck with our gift cards for the most part. Diana and Jason also stopped by for a bit Monday since they had to miss the party and it was nice that the decorations were still up for them to see all the cute pictures of Ry.
2. I got two nice dresses from Ann Taylor on great sales for both of my graduations in May.
3. We got a great deal on Caps tickets for next Friday night and we both have off that day so we may go into DC early if it is nice. We may end up going to another game before the end of the season but I am so excited we will get at least one in because we love going Caps games.
4. Babysitting with my new clients (twin baby girls) went great today and we are in the process of lining up more dates.
5. I filed our taxes today and can't wait for the refund so we can pay off more debt. Props to the US government for adding more support for those in post-secondary education programs this year.

Our dates for the Super Bowl party. I am so happy that my "sister" Hill has found a great guy and that he and Ry have so many things in common with similar civilian and reservist jobs and hobbies (like Call of Duty).
Our second holiday party at the unit. I loved that dress and wearing the traditional Engineer red (the picture is clearer if you click on it to enlarge it). This year I am wearing blue though since I wore red again this past year and it was a good thing too because last year they called the Officers up and asked them to show their red and they couldn't use the same thing as anyone else. Ry was at the end of the line and all of his red items had been taken so he used his date and it saved him from whatever weird punishment they would have come up with for him since thats how the unit rolls (drinking weird stuff with sand in it, singing songs in front of everyone, wearing life jackets, etc.). Here is a picture of the red dress that saved the day:
This year I will make sure he has other creative red things to show for himself.

One of my new dresses. Only $40 from Ann Taylor and my favorite color:)

Praying for Haiti

My father went to Haiti with the 10th Mountain Division for several months when I was 10. I probably spent most of the 4th grade wearing Operation Uphold Democracy shirts. He came back passionate about helping the people of Haiti and telling the family that we had to go there to help the people one day. Fifteen years later we haven't made that trip yet, but I feel like one may be coming up. It's too soon after the Earthquake right now and I know that those who have been able to get there to help have a difficult situation on their hand, but Lord knows I am praying for them now and patiently waiting for my opportunity to go serve.

Our church took up a collection on Sunday to go to the United Methodist Committee on Relief which is on the ground in Haiti. I never knew how active the committee was until Pastor John shared about it and we learned that they are either immediately behind the Red Cross in 95% of disasters or immediately in front of them on the ground. Once again, although I still have issues with the concept of denominations, I am pleased we have found a place that is so connected to missions.

I was really proud of my husband who immediately pulled out all the cash in his wallet that he had just gotten for his birthday to give to this special offering. I had already written the check for our offering but we hope to give more in the coming weeks as well. I am really happy to know 100% of our offering will go to the work in Haiti and praying that others will take the opportunity to give to the multitude of organizations on the ground.

What happened in Haiti this week is a reminder that life is precious and tomorrow is not promised. Here is to praying for healing among the people of Haiti and to rebuilding a better future. Nothing can erase what they have been through, but we can each play a part in showing our love and support for our brothers and sisters of this impoverished nation.

Diaper cakes and the hunt for the right toppers

So I found a new hobby in 2009...making diaper cakes for friends and family. I enjoy gathering the toys to be used and the challenge of finding the right size stuffed animals to use as the topper, especially because of the other qualities it also has to have like being able to sit up or stand solidly and being photogenic (some stuffed animals have really little eyes). The whole inspiration for this post being that I am excited I found a cute frog today that will be perfect for a future cake and it was super cheap. I have decided to stock pile them since it took forever to find one for my cousin and I left it up to Diana to find one for her friend since I wasn't having any luck and wasn't sure of her taste.

Here are some pictures of my diaper cakes from 2009:
The first cake I made for my second nephew. It was so easy that I fell in love with it as my signature baby shower decoration and gift. It was so easy to take apart after the shower too and I love that all the diapers are still usable since you never touch them inside of them.

Then my mother-in-laws good friend asked me to make one for her friend and I went a little toy crazy but I think it still looked cute.

I figured out the best system for transporting it this round. I use a plastic platter as a base and wrap it in tulle now because then you can still see the decorations but they all stay on tight.
The third cake was for my friend Diana's friend. This was the first one I did where the ribbon was the focal point and there were no extra toys. I didn't get a picture with the stuffed animal on top but I think it turned out nicely with switching up the bold and understated ribbon.

This was the most recent one I did for my cousin on New Years Eve. I used seventh generation diapers as per her green lifestyle and stuck with her pink and gray theme for the baby. You may notice I have paired down the number of toys I add on since I first started because I have found the diaper cake is statement enough. It was nice to finally get to do a girl one too.

If you know me, you know I love parties, weddings, and babies. I have a side gig I call Deem Designs where I make wedding invitations, other paper related crafts, and where I help coordinate weddings and other events. If you know anyone who needs pretty much anything party related, to include diaper cakes, let me know. I will especially be looking for gigs to keep me busy while Ry is deployed.

PS. While writing this post I remembered that I made my first diaper cake with a friend in 2007 for our fellow seminarian who was having a baby girl. She had a different technique for wrapping and stacking the diapers. I have found my technique to be a lot easier but I could do it either way. I've sure come along way since making this one:

Birthday Pary Success

Ryan's birthday party was so much fun to prepare for and even more fun once all of the people showed up! We had a full house and a beautiful night for it. We watched the games and were entertained by the kids and Sammy. We got to catch up with friends and family who traveled from Richmond and to see friends we haven't seen in a while. We never did pull out the games but there were so many people to catch up with we didn't even think of it.

I tried some new food for this party. I am known for having a narrow perspective on food but I am trying to branch out. My mom and I tried out my Grandma's kifles recipe and it was a huge success. We had way too many desserts but for once I actually made about the right amount of food so that was nice.

For those who were interested, the kifles recipe is:
Mix 4 cups flour, 1 lb butter, 4 egg yolks, 12 oz Philadelphia cream cheese
Make little balls and put in the fridge overnight to chill (small than the size of a donut hole)
After rolling out (the thinner the better) and adding less than a teaspoon of the desired filling, roll into the shape of a crescent roll and slitting three holes on the top with a knife, bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until only lightly golden on the bottom.

Here are some pictures of the decorations, the first picture is of some of the old pictures of Ryan and his family that I put up around the house:

This second one is of the timeline I put up as a conversation starter:


Since I had to pan out to get it all here are the milestones:
1985: Shocked his mom when he turned out to be a boy
1987: Met his future sister-in-law for the first time and threw grapes at her
1988: Built a "super car" at his Grandma's out of special materials(You'll have to ask him about that)
1990: Made multiple attempts to count to 400 on a 4.5 hour trip to Grandma's
1995: Became an Uncle for the first time
1997: Moved to a new house (His Grandparent's were the original owners); Started Civil Air Patrol
1998: Started working for his Dad's HVAC company
1999: Started JROTC; Bought and started fixing up his 1969 Mustang
2001: Started playing football for Hayfield High School; Started dating his lovely high school sweetheart
2002: Joined the Army Reserve
2003: Graduated Hayfield Secondary School; Graduated Bootcamp and AIT at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO
2005: Graduated Airborne School, Got Engaged
2006: Got Married, Started Interning for Army Test and Evaluation Command
2008: Became Samson's Dad; Graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University; Got his dream job at Army Evaluation Command
2009: Got commissioned in the Army Reserve
2010: Gearing up for his first deployment

Here are some good shots of Ry and I and the nieces and nephews. For other pics you'll have to look at my facebook album or our picture webpage since there are a lot of good shots of our guests.
Ry opening his gift from his older brother. This was payback for the Ensure that Ry got him for his 40th birthday. Baby food that we will be donating somewhere because we won't have need for it anytime soon (sorry Mom).
We were so thankful we got to see our nieces since we missed them at Christmas. They are growing up so fast. They even watched some of the kids in the basement for a bit to give the adults a break. We are looking forward to seeing them again soon for snow tubing adventures.
Love the faces this child makes. Carter was a great sport even past his bedtime. Sammy is in love with him and he'll be even more fun now that he took his first steps yesterday. He is growing up way too fast! I can't believe he'll be one in just two and a half months.
Our other nephew jumping on the bed with one of Ry's co-workers kids. They were having way too much fun! Can you tell that we love having kids around?! They bring so much joy to our lives.
Sammy and I were exhausted by the time the last guests cleared out around 1. It was so much fun preparing everything but it had been a long week with my internship and finishing up my winter break to-do list.

Ready to party

I can't believe my husband is 25. Last night we had a pre-party family dinner to celebrate Ry and my "brother-in-law" Jason's birthdays. It was so fun and nice to have some quality time with them before the crazy but fantastic party that is happening tomorrow night.

We feel so blessed that so many people are going to join us to celebrate his birthday tomorrow. We invited the family, some friends and some of Ry's co-workers and almost everyone invited is coming (when does that happen?!). We are so excited to have some friends come in from out of town and to fill this place with the people we love. It will be about 35 people so here is to hoping that parking goes smoothly, the food comes together nicely, and that everyone has a blast.

The old school pictures of Ry are already adorning the walls, the shopping is all done, and the baking is about to commence. I am looking forward to trying to make kifles tonight. I hope to make my Grandma proud and my husband happy. Stay tuned for lots of pictures and fun stories from the party house:)

Goals

So its a little late for New Years but here are my goals for 2010 since it helps to have some accountability (in no particular order):

1. Lose 30 pounds
2. Graduate from both programs (can't imagine what would stop that from happening)
3. Pay off our credit cards, my student loan, and my car (debt free is the way to be)
4. Find a full time job without compromising what I value in a job and in life
5. Adopt a child through Compassion International
6. Get involved in a small group at church
7. Go on a Spain fun/mission trip with Ashley
8. Make scrapbooks/photo albums of all of our pictures and for the nephews
9. Spend more time with family and friends
10. Hold it together while Ryan is gone

Here is to hoping I meet them all!

Fantastic Weekend...Happy Birthday Ry!

First off, Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband. I'll try to remember to take a birthday picture at some point today. I am so happy he could be home to celebrate his 25th birthday. We are taking today to celebrate together, church, walk with the pup, games, dinner and movie date. I tried to convince him to go see ICE at the National Harbor but I guess that was a little much given all the excitement of our weekend so far. I know we are both really excited about his birthday party this Saturday and all of the people who are going to be coming.

Since he is still asleep I have time to blog about our fun weekend. We ended up having a lot of things to do on Friday since I had so much unexpected work last week so we didn't leave until 1 for the city but it was probably too cold for us to enjoy much anyway. We got there and had some time to relax at the bar before Tom and Colleen got there for dinner. It was nice and probably a first for us. Dinner was great at Monk's Cafe in Philly and then we rushed over to the theater for Wicked. We forgot to take a picture because we were so excited. The show was incredible. It is so well written and performed and I can't wait to take the rest of the family to it (not sure when but I'll get them there).

We got to see the baby room when we headed to their home for the night and it looks so cute. Colleen has such good taste and I love the pink and grey combo. After sleeping in (the country just does that to us) we headed to the other part of PA for her shower. It was so much fun seeing the family again, playing weird games, and seeing all the creative and cute gifts. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the shower:


With my lovely cousin three weeks before she becomes a Mommy.
Shot of the cake, the invitation and all of the prizes for the fun games.
My first girl/eco friendlier diaper cake. So fun and easy to make these.
Caught two of my younger cousins being funny and they didn't even notice.
Cute Colleen. It might look cuter on baby Lucky though:)

Fun weekend ahead/Week of thanks

After putting some last minute things together for my cousins baby shower this weekend, Ry and I are headed to Philly to see Wicked with my cousin and her husband. She and I were so close growing up and then the boys entered the pictures and our schedules got all wacky and it seemed like when she was with the family I wasn't and vice versa. We are working towards fixing that and I feel so blessed that we had extra days at the holiday together for scrapbooking at Grandmas and now we have this date set up. I am really excited about the shower on Saturday and all the details I can't share yet since she might read this. After that Ry and I will come home and spend Sunday however he wants since it is his 25th birthday. I imagine we will be completely lazy and just play games all day and maybe go for a long walk with the pup, but the only thing on the schedule is church. We got a lot of restaurant gift cards for Christmas so maybe we'll take advantage of those but Ryan's lazy days are so rare I think he will enjoy the birthday excuse:)

I also wanted to list the things I was thankful for this week since it was FULL of blessings:
1. Lots of extra time with the Barker family before they left for Korea this week. They have been fantastic to me the past 3.5 years and they were a blessing to the end. I will miss them and their kids and am praying for safe travels and a smooth transition. We are also thankful for all of the good food and alcohol they gave me since they can't take it with them. We are well stocked!
2. Time with Hilly and her help putting away the Christmas decorations Sunday (always so sad but better with good company to distract me).
3. A good first day back at the internship.
4. My holiday party dress arriving. It's better than I could have imagined and it was on a fantastic sale that I used a gift card for. It is going to look great with Ry's dress blues.
5. The light snow that has blanketed the ground outside.
6. Getting to see Christen and the boys midweek.
7. Some financial things coming together and seeing once again how the Lord provides in His perfect timing.

I also have a recommendation to make: I played Perfection with my second graders at the school yesterday and they loved it. I hadn't played it in years and I would highly recommend it for the kids in your life since it is great for teaching them to focus and think strategically. My two kids worked together really nicely and were so proud of themselves.

Happy Birthday Linda

Ryan's Birthday Message to his mom on facebook was too cute: Happy New Year! Happy Birthday to my wonderful, amazing, beautiful, smart, and inspiring mom. Happy 39th!


I love to host parties at my place and was thrilled that the family opted to have my mother-in-laws birthday party here. I decided only a formal dinner would do for my the lovely Linda. I would like to get a small foldout table eventually but for now TV trays worked. It was fun to make the place cards and bring out the pretty table cloth. It actually fit us all perfectly.


The Birthday Girl cuddling with the sweet Carter. She seemed so happy. We made her a calendar for her birthday and I love it. I'll have to take some pics of it later. I made one for Ry last year and it was a hit at his work. This year I had a lot of great pics of the Deem family to include so I thought it would be perfect for her, especially for those months when she misses her baby. It's kind of cool to think that we will all have at least something in common while Ry is gone since I will have a copy at home of our best memories from 09 and hopefully Ryan will have a place to hang it in theater (Army word for deployment destination).


Tate not only put the candles on and helped light them, but he also helped blow them out. It is so much fun to watch these kids grow up and want to help out with all sorts of things.


Thanks Christen for thinking to make delicious cider for everyone. So yummy and a great source of Vitamin C. I love how happy and relaxed she looks, do you think it is because she was around her brother for a few hours? I love the little fake rivalry she and Ry have.

Happy New Years

May your new year be filled with blessing. May you know joy. May you remember to be thankful always. May you know the grace of the Lord always. These are my prayers for you and I this new year.

Ryan and I originally thought we would buy a house and have a baby this year. God had other plans and we are okay with that. Instead we pray for solid preparation and safety as Ryan deploys. We praise God that I survived four years of grad school and am about to walk across two stages in May. We pray that God has a job in store for me and that it will be a good fit. We look forward to making the most of the first 4 months of the new year together and to staying strong the rest while we are apart.

God is good and faithful and we know He will provide in this new year of blessings and challenges.

Christmas in PA

We always spend the weekend after Christmas with my family in PA. It's great to see them all gathered and crazy fun times are usually a given with this crew. Here are some of my moms family in this first picture but we forgot to get some of the rest of the crew in pictures because we were having too much fun.


We got to celebrate my long lost cousins daughter's birthday for the first time. This year we were reunited with my cousin Larry and his family. They are so much fun and this was our first time meeting them in person.


We played Apples to Apples with the crew later the first night and the chicken stood in for my mom at one point. It made sense at the time and added extra humor for a few rounds.


After Ryan came back home to go to work we started sorting through old pictures to make family albums. It was a little overwhelming at first but once we got our system down we were on our roll. It was fantastic walking through memory lane with the girls and then sharing the finished albums with everyone.


This was my first time seeing my cousin since she got pregnant and she is only 6 weeks away from having her baby girl. It was great to have some extra time with Colleen since we haven't had much in recent years. Ryan and I are looking forward to going to see Wicked with she and her husband later this week and to a fun baby shower coming up at some point in the near future;)

Christmas Day

We had a blast celebrating with Ryan's family Christmas Day. We love our nephews and watching the joy in their faces as they opened their gifts was priceless. It was great to have Sammy over to play with them too. He's so cute with kids and in love with cousin Carter.


How cute is that smile?! Carter's First Christmas and what a wonderful one it was.


He wanted to open gifts so badly. Waiting for the rest of us to finish eating is so rough when you are three.


Ryan with his mom. They didn't even plan to match, but aren't they just adorable?


Sammy taking a break from playing soccer in the snow. He played forever while we took a break for Carter's attempted nap. It was so cute to see him hopping through the snow. He always wants to be outside in Ryan's parents huge backyard. I guess we conditioned him that way since we usually are outside when we go over there. It is the perfect yard for playing soccer in.