The Zuziks

Why my 7 year old needs a cellphone ...

2015-09-28T21:22:00.002-04:00

I'm sooooo far behind on blogging our everyday events. I WILL get that caught up before the end of the year and then I vow to do better next year. I started this blog to be sort of a memory book for our family and I sure don't want that to go by the wayside.

Normally I would have just made this little ditty a Facebook status and that would have been that, but ... it was just too good to not make it in to more of a story.

Every morning for the past 2, now 3, years of school, Jacob and I have looked at the menu his teacher sends home every month, so he can see what his options are for lunch that day and then make his decision on whether to buy or pack. It's worked wonders for us EXCEPT the one time I went out of town for a few days and left John at home in charge of getting him to school. I forgot to tell him that one little piece of information, and so he just sent Jacob to school with no lunch assuming he'd buy and that would be that. Wrong! He completely lost it in the lunchroom because he had no clue what was for lunch or what he was supposed to do (keep in mind, he was in Kindergarten at the time). Whoops!! We have never made that mistake again ... until today!

This morning we went through our normal routine. I asked if he wanted to buy or pack and we looked at the menu together. Tacos. He wanted to buy. Okay, no problem! I go and put more money on his card and tell him he's good to go to buy. Then I go about the rest of my morning (because half the morning is gone before these kids go to school! Seriously ... elementary school around here doesn't start until 9:20 AM - they don't get picked up until 9 AM!) and I pack his snack. We have to send a separate snack to school for them because they have lunch so late, so he has one bag specifically for his lunch and one for his snack, so he doesn't get confused and eat the wrong thing. It's getting closer to the time we need to leave the house and naturally I lose track of time and we're running late, so I'm rushing us out the door. I take his backpack from him and put his snack bag in because he was having a hard time getting it and his library books back in it. Little did I know that was because his lunch bag was still in there from Friday - I thought he had taken it out earlier.

Fast forward to when he gets home from school .. we walk in the door and he very calmly and sweetly says "mom, I have a request. Next time can you put more in my lunch?" I stopped dead in my tracks and said "what do you mean? I didn't pack you a lunch today, you said you wanted to buy?!" I came to find out just a little bit later that he saw his lunch bag and thought that's what he was eating, so he took it to the cafeteria. He ate .. doritos and water left over from Friday for his lunch today. :*( My poor, tiny, skinny little baby!!!!! I was soooo mortified when I heard this!! I immediately made him a meal at 4:30 PM! I still feel so terrible about this little mix-up ... This is why I think he needs a cell phone. Lol Now, don't get me wrong, I've been so against kids having them, but really in this day and age they NEED them. Not with a bunch of features, but if he could just text me a quick question "mom, is this all you packed me for lunch?" I could have said "NO! go buy something!" and this never would have happened. I'm sure they have rules in schools as to who can have a phone and when it can be used, but I'm sure in this instance, his teacher would have allowed it. So there .. that's why my 7 year old needs one and will likely be getting one before his 8th birthday. :)

Hector and Joey's Visit ~ Christmas 2014

2015-01-27T14:57:00.001-05:00

I mentioned in an earlier post how Hector brought us another elf on Thanksgiving night, and that the boys named him Joey. Well ... Joey is apparently a naughty elf whereas Hector has always been very well behaved. The day after Thanksgiving we found them just hanging out in the boys basketball hoops in the playroom.

That's not too bad, but theeeennn ... one morning we woke up and found poor Hector inside a mason jar and Joey just chillin' right next to him!

Crazy!! When we traveled to Williamsburg at the beginning of December our elves must have called in reinforcement because as soon as we got to the hotel, we discovered Tito (my parents' elf) had made the journey to come check on the boys.

Joey wasn't ALL bad, though. He and Hector brought the boys a bag of "magic seeds" and a little note that went with them. It told them to plant the seeds in sugar and then the next morning they'd have a treat. They were so excited!

But then we found them doing some shenanigans again later on in the month.

Look, I realize the Elf on the Shelf is a "hokie" thing or some say he's creepy looking. But guess what? It's a fun family tradition we started for our children that will hopefully be passed along to THEIR children one day. That's the whole point behind the Elf on the Shelf (at least for us). Not to make our children behave better (LOL!) cause guess what?? They don't behave any better with Hector and Joey here as they do any other day of the year. So to all the haters out there, maybe next year you just keep your Elf on the Shelf hating comments to yourself and keep on scrolling when you see pics of them on FB, mmmmmkay? And, let the rest of us have a little fun with our children and build memories. :)

Jacob's Winter Party

2015-01-14T22:53:00.002-05:00

The last day before Christmas break (or "Winter Break" as it is now referred to) was Jacob's Winter Party at school ... and they got out early that day, so it was basically a free day for them. Lol

That morning I went in to school to help out with their party and I had so much fun, as I always do when I get to go in and hang out with his class. :)

I ended up being in charge of the games that day, which was a lot of fun. The kids had a fun math/snowman game they were doing on their own at their table, but then I also brought Snowman Smash (a bowling game) and a snowball toss. They had so much fun with the games! I wish I had snapped more pictures, but I was a little busy resetting the snowmen for our bowling game. ;)

I think it's safe to say that Jacob loves when I come to school to help in his class, too. Lol And, I, of course, love it SO MUCH!

My Weight Loss Journey

2015-01-12T15:01:00.002-05:00

It's no secret that I've tried (and failed) to lose weight in the past. I'll lose 20 lbs, get bored with exercising and then gain it all back. Well, last February we bought an elliptical machine for in the basement and I've been working out several days/week. I've been in numerous "Biggest Loser" competitions and although I haven't won one yet, I've managed to lose 29 lbs since February 2014!! I'm pretty proud of that!

I've been making small changes here and there. For instance, I no longer drink diet soda. In fact, I don't really drink soda at all anymore. If I get a really bad headache, it's usually from lack of caffeine and so I'll drink a regular coke then, but for the most part I only drink water now. I also stopped eating fried foods (most of the time). My biggest issue is carbs and sugar. I love me some bread and chocolate! It's still something I struggle with daily, but I'm hoping to cut those both back tremendously this year, so I can lose 30 more pounds!

This is the only real good "before" picture I have of myself. It pains me so much to post this, but I need to so you can see where I began, where I am now and then hopefully in a few months, you'll see where I end up.

This was taken in September, 2013:

Then, just less than a year later in August, 2014 at approx. 20 lbs down:

And, on NYE at another 10 lbs down:

I still have a really far way to go to get to my goal weight and what I'd LIKE to look like, but I'm definitely on the right path!

Williamsburg Trip!!

2015-01-10T22:57:00.000-05:00

The first weekend in December is the Grand Illumination weekend in Williamsburg. I've been a few times, but never really seemed to care too much for the actual Grand Illumination festivities. I just want to go to Busch Gardens to Christmas Town! Lol This year I really wanted John to be able to go with us because the last time we went he was out of town on business. He ended up not having to go out of town for work this year, so he was able to go with us. Yay!!

We took that Friday off, picked Jacob up early from school and left town around lunch time. It was a beautiful day out, but it was pretty cold. When we got down there we checked in to our room and then went to Hooters for dinner. Yum!

The next morning we got up to .... RAIN. :( Christmas Town doesn't open for business until the afternoon, so we went to breakfast and then stopped at the Christmas Mouse where I got our family's Christmas ornament for 2014. :)

It's cute, no? And, different than anything else we have in our collection. John also spotted Advent calendars for the boys .... something I've been wanting to do with them for a few years now and I just never remember to look for them. They really loved them, though I think they still missed the Christmas story because they were more interested in the daily morning candy. Lol

After the Christmas Mouse we went to the giant Yankee Candle store! I loooove that place!!

We browsed all the different sections, checked out the awesome decorations, listened to some carolers and the boys even got to write and MAIL letters to Santa.

So ... after the Yankee Candle store we decided to drive out to Busch Gardens and try it in the rain. We got in, got parked and then ... it POURED. Worse than it had all day. We waited a few minutes to see if it would let up, but no such luck. :( Time to call it ... we left and we never did get to go to Christmas Town this year. Well, John and I didn't. The boys and my parents went back down the weekend before Christmas, so at least SOMEONE got to go. :-/

To kill some time we decided to check out the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum as none of us had ever been to that one. I'm glad I can say I've been, but I don't think I'll be going back any time soon. Lol It was just .. ehh .. okay.

Jacob enjoyed the giant Iron Man and Transformer. And, I personally thought the tallest man was pretty neat ...

And, since I'm really intrigued by the Titanic, I liked seeing a piece of coal from the Titanic.

But, then there was some stuff I wish I could UNsee. Like this double headed goat. WTH?

There were some games that the boys enjoyed like this shooting game. And, there was a "mission impossible" type game that *I* really enjoyed. Lol You had to make it across and room and back without breaking any of the lasers. I did pretty good even on the "hard" setting when my husband turned it up and didn't tell me. Lol

Probably my favorite part was this 3D movie we got to see when it was over. It felt almost like a motion simulator yet the seats didn't move, so it was safe for the kids. Henry, however, FREAKED OUT about halfway through and I had to hold him so he couldn't see the screen while he cried through the rest of the movie. Thankfully it wasn't a very long movie!

That night we had dinner at Captain George's ... our consolation prize. Lol After that we just went back to the hotel and hung out the rest of the night. John and I had to get up early and leave to come home the next day, but the kids stayed and hung out with my parents. They got home later that night in time for dinner. We had fun quality family time, but I'm still bummed over not getting to go to Busch Gardens! Lol

The Color of Heaven series by Julianna MacLean

2015-01-08T14:30:00.001-05:00

I haven't done a book review on here in awhile. I've been reading a lot lately, but I've been behind on blogging our day to day stuff, so I really just didn't have the time to review EVERY book I've read recently. This series I've been reading over the past six months, though, is seriously the best series of books I've read in such a long time! There are two books left that I haven't read yet, and I'm really hoping she continues to write more, so I can keep going with it. I'll be so sad when it's over for real! Although I do have them all on my Kindle now, so I guess I could always re-read them. Lol

Anyway, the series is called "The Color of Heaven" by Julianna MacLean. I first found book #5 on one of my daily freebie FB pages I follow for the Kindle, so I downloaded it and then did a little more research realizing that there were four books before it. So I looked them up on Amazon and lucky for me, book #1 was free also! (Each image below is linked to where you can download it on Amazon)

The second book:

The third book:

The fourth book:

The fifth book:

And, the sixth book, which I just finished today:

Each one of these books has several main characters, their lives are intertwined and they each tell you their own story from their point of view. Each book is about real life struggles and real things that can possibly happen ... lots of loss and near-death experiences, too, which is very intriguing to me (the near-death experiences .. not so much on the death thing, lol)

There are two more books still for me to read and I can't wait to begin those!

Here's my review I wrote on Goodreads. I rarely write reviews on books, but these are just too good NOT TO.

The Color of Love by Julianne MacLean
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I found book #5 of this series on amazon as a free download for Kindle, and then discovered the first book in the series was also free, so I downloaded that one and have been hooked on the Color of Heaven series ever since! This is easily my favorite series I've ready in a really long time! I love how all the books are intertwined and you never really know what direction it's going to take next. I also love how each character tells you their side of the story, so you get all the perspectives. They're just all fabulously written and I'd recommend them to anyone! I can't wait to read book #7 .. The Color of the Season!!

View all my reviews

You can friend request me on Goodreads if you want to see what I like to read and so I can see what you like to read too. It's a great way to get recommendations on new books to check out too. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2015-01-07T23:22:00.000-05:00

The week before Thanksgiving, Jacob's school had "Thanksgiving lunches" so the parents could come in, hang out for a bit and then have a turkey lunch with their child. I love getting to go in to Jacob's school, and this year for the Thanksgiving lunch John was able to come with us, so it was even more special. When we got there they were working on their "fraction turkeys". So cute!

When they were done, we headed to the cafeteria for lunch. And, btw ... two years of this and I finally found out that *I* don't HAVE to eat the turkey lunch. I can just come in with a packed lunch to eat with him. DEFINITELY doing this next year!

Thanksgiving Day this year went like it does every year ... we had dinner at our house and I cooked it. Lol Pretty boring, but we love it. We used to go to PA for Thanksgiving, and honestly I'm not sure why we don't anymore, but now we just stay home. I think we stopped going up after Henry was born. I know that first Thanksgiving after he was born everyone came to us, but he was only a month old, and it was just easier that way.

Anyway, back to 2014 ... I had the house spotless the day before Thanksgiving so that ON Thanksgiving I could get up and be lazy. All I really wanted to do was sit on my butt and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. My favorite Thanksgiving tradition!

So, for dinner we had the same thing we always have, lol, and hopefully next year I'll remember to take pictures, so I can share the recipes with you all! I basically only make this meal once a year. We're not the types of people to have a turkey dinner on just an average day.

Our Thanksgiving Dinner menu:

Turkey (duh! of course)

Mushroom Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potato Casserole

Dinner Rolls

Cranberry Sauce

And, I just realized we didn't really have a vegetable. That's terrible! Oh well, I guess. Lol

Oh, check out our "fine china" I bought at our new, amazing Dollar Tree!

I'm terrible at timing meals for a certain time to eat, so we always end up eating super late. :-/ I have GOT to get better about this! So, the boys were getting a little restless waiting for dinner.

Henry was mad at my mom for some reason, lol, so hence the really nasty looks he's giving. Good thing he's cute!

FINALLY dinner was ready, and so we ate.

After dinner the boys put their elf jammies on that Gee got them because Hector was coming that night! They get so excited when he comes back to visit. I'm definitely going to have to remember to bring him back over the summer for a mid-year check-up. I always forget to do that!

After they were dressed we sat down to read "Hector's story" like we do every year.

We were only a few pages in when there was a knock at our door!! Jacob ran to see who was there while Henry went to the window and started screaming "It's Hector! It's Hector!" So Jacob opened the door, and lo and behold, there sat Hector with two presents and a card taped to the top!

I don't have the actual note at the moment to write was written inside, but basically it said to open the top present first, then read the card attached to the second box and then open that one too. They began to open the top box and what did they find?? Another scout elf!!

And thus .. Joey was born! Now the boys each have an elf of their own, and some day when they leave the nest and start their own families, they can each have one of the elves to take with them. THAT is how traditions are born, my friends. :)

Now, on to the next letter and box. This one said for them to both open the box and to share the contents.

They were so happy! :) Henry took custody of the stuffed elf because Jacob already has one, Jacob took the activity book and then there was a poster and a puzzle that they're sharing, believe it or not.

Now that all the excitement was over, we put Hector and Joey up on the shelf in the dining room and went back to reading our story.

I think I know how Charlie is going to act the whole way through the Christmas season (and I was right!)

We hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving as we certainly did!

November 4th

2015-01-07T19:06:00.000-05:00

My little sister's birthday. Though she has gone home to Heaven, we still celebrate her birthday here on Earth every year. The first year she was gone, it was only two weeks after she passed that she would have turned 30. It was on a Sunday AND we just so happened to get the Steeler game that day (something that doesn't happen very often down here), so we had dinner at our house, watched the game and let 30 balloons go up to Heaven. It was really sweet and I'm sure she loved it. Funnily enough, half the balloons got stuck in our tree and never really left our yard. Lol When Spring came around and the tree started to bloom, the balloons fell down in to our yard.

I don't know why, but I cannot for the life of me remember what we did on her 31st birthday. I wanna say nothing too much (or I'd remember, lol) We definitely didn't let any more balloons go. Lol

Then this year, on what would have been her 32nd birthday, we drove out to Leesburg in the evening to let ONE balloon go ... at Ida Lee. Where it's nice and open. haha Jacob ran in to Giant to help me pick out the perfect balloon!

We also picked out some pretty roses for my mama.

We picked my mom up at home (I believe my step-dad was at duty crew, maybe?), and then drove over to Ida Lee to release her balloon. It was dark and so it was hard to get a good picture, but I got an okay one.

I hope she enjoyed her birthday gift! (btw, Henry was with us, but he fell asleep in the car and slept through the whole thing, lol)

After Ida Lee we went to a new restaurant in Leesburg, Pittsburgh Rick's! It seemed totally fitting for the occasion and is the closest we will get to a REAL Primanti Bros sandwich down here! So yummy!

Halloween Festivities!

2015-01-06T09:34:00.000-05:00

Halloween this year was jam packed with fun stuff going on!!! Although I will say that we almost missed carving pumpkins because I was just so focused on my own grief over missing my sister all month long. I snapped out of it (sort of) a few days before Halloween, and went to buy the boys their pumpkins. Yes, we totally went to the pumpkin patch yet didn't buy their carving pumpkins there. I got them at Giant for a fraction of the cost of what they charge for them at the pumpkin patch!

Anyway, one evening a few days before Halloween, we set out to carve their pumpkins and John even helped us out this year. Usually I just do it with them, but now there are two and they're not quite strong enough to physically carve it themselves, so they need a little help from us. I usually do the cleaning out of the "guts". That's my favorite job!! Lol

After they were cleaned out, the boys picked their patterns (coincidentally, I'm pretty sure they chose the same two they chose last year - I have reusable stencils - I'm pretty sure the same boy chose the same pattern, even, lol) And, no ... we did not cut a 4 and 6 year old loose with giant butcher knives like the picture above shows. That was staged. :)

And, here are their finished products. I think we did a pretty good job on these two ... we work well as a team!!

The day of Halloween Jacob's school had an Imagination Parade in the morning. All the kids and teachers were invited to dress up as a storybook character or something they wanted to be when they grew up. It was so fun to see all the cool costumes!! Some kids were able to wear their actual Halloween costumes. While others, like Jacob, couldn't because it couldn't be something with a mask. What did our little guy go as?? A soccer player, of course. Lol He wore his uniform from the Fall soccer season. I'm not sure how he didn't freeze to death that morning because it was soooo cold out!

And, check out his teacher, Mrs. Geyer! She was Chester the raccoon. :)

That afternoon John's parents and nephew arrived for the weekend!! It was soooo much fun to go trick-or-treating with the three of them. Check out our trick-or-treaters.

Jacob was the headless horseman. See why he wasn't able to wear his costume to school? Lol

Henry couldn't decide on a costume, so instead of buying him something this year we let him choose from our bin of costumes/dress-up clothes. He went with Batman!

Our nephew, Josh, was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!

Look how cute they were all trick-or-treating together. I'm so glad they had that opportunity because I'm not sure when they will again.

Happy Halloween (late) everyone!

Ashlee's 2nd Angel-versary

2015-01-06T00:11:00.002-05:00

This is the day all Fall/October that I anticipate and dread the most. October 20th. It's so difficult to get through the months and weeks leading up to that day. I'm hoping and praying that as the years pass, it'll get easier, but I'm not really sold on that. Last year, the first anniversary, was no where near as bad as I had thought it would be. So, I'm thinking maybe I wasn't preparing myself as much as I should have been because on the night before the 2nd anniversary. I had the WORST anxiety attack I think I've ever had. My doctor had JUST given me a prescription for Xanax, and so I took one at bedtime. I was already in the middle of the anxiety attack, so I laid down and waited to drift off to sleep, but sleep never came. I kind of drifted in and out of consciousness all night. I'm sure I looked like I had been run over by a truck the next day. Lol The day of her angel-versary wasn't anywhere NEAR as bad as the night before was. That was the trend that entire first year, too. The week leading up to an anniversary/holiday and the day before were absolutely horrible. The day of? Not so much.

Anyway, that night John took me and the kids out to eat. I was still pretty emotional and cried off and on, but we made it through dinner. It was a sweet gesture. I just don't know how to get through that month in one piece anymore. :( It's so sad. It's my baby's birth month. But my sister dying 6 days after his birthday has completely stolen the feeling I SHOULD have around his birthday. If anyone has any tips on how to survive a month like that, I'd love to hear them!

Henry's 4th Birthday!!

2015-01-05T09:38:00.002-05:00

Poor Henry! Ever since his second birthday, which was the last time I saw my sister alive, I haven't been able to bring myself to do a party or anything for him. :( I'm going to change that with his 5th birthday, though. It should give me something fun to look forward to and immerse my time, energy and thoughts into, plus he deserves it, poor kid.

His birthday in 2014 was during the week, so I just spent the entire day with him. I was able to get a "birth time" photo for probably the first time ever.

12:56 PM on October 14, 2010 this little nugget came in to the world and changed our lives forever. Some days I think Jacob wishes he'd go back to where he came from, but I know in the overall scheme of things, he loves his baby brother and is beyond thankful for him!

That evening we went out to dinner ... to CiCi's no less. Lol I think that's where we went for Jacob's 4th birthday also. Must be a tradition now! After dinner John and I stopped to get his cake because I didn't bake one and we wanted one that he'd love. I think we succeeded with this little gem from Milwaukee Custards:

We came home, sang and had some birthday cake. It was so yummy too!

He got a little help from his big brother. :)

After that he got to open some presents! Ours hadn't come yet, so he opened what my parents brought for him:

Thomas the Train!! His favorite!! He had been talking about this train set for weeks, but I really had no clue what he was talking about, so I had to google it. Lol

The next day our package finally arrived, so I just let him open the box instead of wrapping it first. I'm lazy, what can I say?

The Julius Jr. Rockin' Playhouse!! He had been asking for this for weeks, as well!! I know my kids are spoiled, but it's so worth it to see the joy on their faces. :)

Even though my mind was somewhere else, I did the best I could to make his birthday a success, and I think I did pretty good. He had so much fun and got two very awesome birthday presents!

Awana 2014 - 2015: Sparks

2015-01-05T09:18:00.000-05:00

So, over the summer we began going to McLean Bible Church - Tysons over the summer with our friends/neighbors. Then, said friend, Heidi, told me about an Awana club that her son, JD (who is the one in Jacob's grade at school), attends at one of the other MBC campuses. So, we signed Jacob up right away!

He's in the Sparks club with other Kindergarten - 2nd grade kids. Each week he works through his booklet learning new scripture verses, books of the bibles and he even got to choose a missionary one week. After he finishes a section he earns different awards. The first two awards were a patch for his vest and then his wings. Now each time he finishes a section he earns a new jewel that goes in to his wings. He also gets points each week for attending Sunday School, so it's really important to me that we go. We kind of fell of the wagon at the end of 2014 due to sports/sleepovers/traveling/holidays/etc., but it's a new year and I'm making every attempt to get us to church every Sunday!

Here's Jacob with his brand new Awana vest and his book he's currently working on. Because he didn't go to Awana last year (we didn't know about it) he had to start with the very first book this year. This one is the one that Kindergarten students receive during their first year of Sparks. We're over halfway done with the book now, though, so as soon as he's finished with it (hopefully by the end of February), he can move on to the next book. It's red (I forget what it's called) and is what he 1st graders are working on this year. I have a feeling if we work really hard at it, he can finish all THREE books that Sparkies receive over the three years they're in Sparks, in TWO years. :)

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

2015-01-03T23:34:00.001-05:00

October is always such a crummy month in our family now that my sister passed away that month, but it's also Henry's birth month. So, we try to make it as fun and memorable as we can. I don't always succeed, but I sure try.

That said, Henry's birthday is 6 days before my sister's angel-versary, so the weekend before his birthday, we took the boys to the Pumpkin Patch. We took them to Pumpkinville in Leesburg. The last time we went there, it was the week before she died. Last year we went to Great Country Farms to try something different. It was fun, but really far away!

So, this year we took them to one that was much closer. It was a long day for Jacob and myself. We went to church in the morning, the pumpkin patch all day and then Awana that night.

When we got there immediately we went to all the fun stuff and figured we'd save the animal park for last. Jacob wanted to go down the big hay slide right away, so we were happy to oblige. I wish Henry would have gone, as well, but he's a lot more timid than his brother, and I'm not about to push him.

We met up with some friends there who have a son that's the same age as Jacob. They actually go to the same school and were in the same class for a few weeks last year.

While my parents were hanging out with Henry, Jacob and I talked to and hung out with our friends.

We checked out a fish pond that I had never seen before on my other visits. Some kids were there feeding them, so it was a frenzy!

After we were only there about 20 minutes or so, our friends left. They had been there all morning and we're tired, so they excused themselves and we went on to enjoy the rest of our day.

We took the hayride next!! It wasn't busy, which was nice, so we were able to get right on with no wait.

We rode this around the entire park, and then when we got back, the boys wanted to check out the maze (made of hay).

After they were done in here, they checked out a few of the moon bounces, and then when started working our way back to the front of the park. On our way back up the hill, Jacob saw the zip line and decided he wanted to give it a whirl. I know he likes to try new things and he's super athletic, but I really didn't expect him to go through with it.

But, he did!

That was pretty much the highlight of my day!

After that there wasn't much left to see, so we headed out to the Animal Park. I LOVED seeing all the animals, as did the kids!! There is one area where you can go in and pet/get up close and personal with the animals. That's where I fell in love with this beautiful little goat!

There were also soooommme ... not so beautiful animals.

Most of them were friendly enough, though.

This next one just made chuckle ...

Then we just cruise through checking out the rest, and then we pretty much left. Henry stayed with my parents the rest of the day, but Jacob and I headed straight to Awana.

The Pumpkin Patch is one of our favorite things to do, especially as a family, so we'll continue to do the same thing year after year. We may just change up the location from time time. Ironically enough .. we took the kids to the *pumpkin* patch, but didn't actually buy a pumpkin there. Lol

Herndon Homecoming Parade

2015-01-02T23:02:00.002-05:00

Today was the Herndon Homecoming Parade. We've only been to one other HHP in the 8 years we've lived in Herndon, and it was when Jacob was just a baby. Lol This year we, honestly, wouldn't have gone had it not been for Jacob being in Tiger Cubs. It rained a poured the entire day and was SO COLD!

We had to drop Jacob off on one end of Elden Street and then WALK to the very END of the parade (where everyone was lined up) because the Cub Scouts were at the very back of the parade. :( I trudged through the rain and finally got him to his spot ... by then Pap was there to take my place and walk with him in the parade, so I could go to the very end of the parade route with my mom, John and Henry. That's where we watched the parade (at the grand stand).

It was fun getting to see the parade and all the high schoolers and the groups that were in it. I, of course, have zero connection to any of the high schoolers, but it was cool to see what Bub and Henry will be up to when they get to high school. I also think it got Jacob's wheels spinning on playing football because he didn't start asking to play until after he had seen the football team in the parade. Lol

I did, however, have a connection to one of the floats in the parade. Dranesville Elementary had a float!! Pretty cool!

FINALLY, our Bubba strolls along and we can go home and get out of the freezing cold rain!! Lol

He looked so cute (I mean ... HANDSOME) in his Tiger Cub shirt. :)

Fall Teeball Season/Henry's First Sport

2015-01-01T17:29:00.001-05:00

During the summer when we were enrolling Jacob in soccer we asked Henry if he'd like to play a sport too. He was still too young to do soccer, so we decided to try teeball out for him. I guess it was a good first sport for him, but I don't think he'll be playing in the Spring. I know the Fall league is a lot more unorganized than the Spring league, but it just didn't seem to be his cup of tea, and I honestly wasn't blown away by it either.

But, check out how cute my little guy is in his when he's practicing and learning the basics,

His first game of the season was cancelled due to rain, so the two coaches coordinated a make-up game. He ended up playing later that week on the same day as he usually had practice at the practice field.

I think, for the fact that he was the youngest child on his team and their ages ranged from 3 - 7, he did really well and learned quite a bit, though!

Oh and check out his number ... numero uno!

Fall Soccer Season

2015-01-01T15:32:00.002-05:00

Jacob's second soccer season was this past Fall. John decided to coach this season, so he could be more involved with the practices and games. Jacob LOVED having his dad coach his team!

(Doesn't he look so hot in his coach's uniform?? lol)

Because John was coaching he was able to choose Jacob's number before he handed out the jerseys, so he got to stick with #11. He was pretty excited about that!

One of his good friends from school, Jacoby, was on his team, so that was fun. It's always nice getting to see and hang out with familiar and friendly faces!

Jacob had a lot of fun this past season and is so looking forward to the Spring soccer season. I'm pretty sure he'll be playing travel soccer when he's old enough, and honestly (I'm not being biased because he's my kid either) he'll be good enough by then to be on a travel soccer team. He practices literally all.day.long!

Jacob's 1st Day of 1st Grade!

2014-12-31T09:49:00.000-05:00

Jacob's first day of 1st grade this year was on September 2nd, 2014 ... the day after Labor Day, which is completely normal for this area. I'm pretty excited for this school year! We are in a good routine finally and I seem to kind of know what's going on in school these days. Last year was definitely a learning experience for us both!

The school board did away with the early dismissals on Mondays, which I love, but they added in extra "student holidays" and specials, so that teachers could still get their planning time in and students would still go X amount of hours for the school year. Sounds like a win/win to me! The only thing I DON'T like is that we STILL don't get out of school until June 19th. :( It's such a long year. But, oh well I suppose, it is what it is. I guess that's a few weeks less I have to deal with non-stop fighting at home? Lol

The morning of Jacob's first day was just like any other school morning except we were all up really early. He was so excited for his first day! I'm so glad he loves school so much! His Gee got him a sweet new Steelers backpack this year that he absolutely loves!

Henry wanted a picture with the frame, too, and I have to admit, he looks really cute, but way too grown up. :( I'm thankful to still have him at home with me for two more years.

I decided to do a picture of the boys together like I did for the first and last day of his Kindergarten year. :)

By the time we were done with our mini photo shoot, it was time to head to the bus stop. John came home to see Jacob off again this year. I know it's not as important to the dads, but I hope he continues to be home for when they get on the bus on that first day as much as he can and for as long as he can. It's just special to them, I think.

And, check out our bus stop crew this year!

Jacob's not the youngest one at the bus stop anymore, although he is still one of the smallest. Lol Poor kid ... hopefully he'll hit a growth spurt soon!

Our 2014 Family Vacation

2014-12-30T23:33:00.002-05:00

I think I've said it before, but I'll say it again ... my favorite vacation spot on EARTH is the Outer Banks. I've been going there since before I can really remember, so I have lots of fond memories there. It's a fun, wholesome place for families to vacation, and so we continue to take our family there every year!

This past August was our trip for 2014. Our rental this year was from Saturday to Saturday, so we didn't get to go to Williamsburg/Busch Gardens like normal, but instead we stopped there on our way home on Saturday. John and I came home that night, but the kids stayed and came home with my parents the next day.

But, let me back up to the day we left. We drove straight through on Saturday down to the Outer Banks and then checked in like normal. Normally we'd go swimming and just get takeout for dinner, but we decided to just drive up to Corolla for the night and have dinner up there. We went to this fun restaurant right on the water that we found a few years ago called First Light. I love that place!

After dinner the boys wanted to do something fun, so just down the strip/parking lot from the restaurant is an area with paddle boats, a mini golf course and go carts. I took Jacob in the go carts (my first time in my entire life, thankyouverymuch!) and John took Henry out on the paddle boats. I think they both had fun that evening!

The next morning, our first full day, we got up and hit the beach and pool immediately. This was probably our first year at the beach that Henry didn't freak out over the sand, BUT he still wouldn't go anywhere near the water. Lol Progress, though ... we're still making progress.

John and Jacob went out boogy boarding for a bit, and then came in to rest. While they were "resting", the little ones decided to bury each other in the sand. Another first and super cute!

That night, after we had showered and changed, we decided to hit up one of our very favorite AYCE seafood buffets, Jimmy's! LOVE that place!

The boys had to have their picture taken with this beat up old pirate they have, lol.

After dinner, we drove down the bypass to Jockey's Ridge where we climbed the dunes so the boys could fly their kites, and we got some really nice family pictures.

While they were flying their kites, I wandered down the dunes a ways to where the old mini golf course is buried. I love coming back every year to see how much of the old castle you can see. Depending on how the dunes have shifted, sometimes you can see more and sometimes you can't see anything!

And, then I snapped a few pictures of the view both facing the ocean and the sunset over the dunes ... it was SO PRETTY!

Once the sun had gone down we went across the street to Kitty Hawk Kites because Jacob was DYING to climb the rock wall. He's pretty good at it, too!

On Monday, day two, we got up, packed a cooler, some extra clothes and our beach stuff and headed South! I haven't been to Hatteras since I was little, so I really wanted to go back. And, I'm not sure I had ever been to Ocracoke, so we decided to hit both in the same day, but it really was a full day trip. We left around 9 AM and didn't get back until around 9 PM. Exhausted and cranky, lol.

Our first stop when we finally got down to Hatteras was the lighthouse .. of course. If you know me at all, you know I love climbing all the lighthouses I can. So far I've only done the Currituck one, the Bodie Island one and now Hatteras. I don't think you can climb Ocracoke, and it was storming bad when we got there anyway, so we didn't hang out to find out. I'd love to climb others on the East coast as well!

Jacob is my little climbing buddy :)

I saw an imprint of a little lizard in the concrete, so I had to snap a picture of it. Lol And then the rest of these are the view from the top.

Henry got a picture taken with a much smaller lighthouse in the gift shop when we got back down. Lol

After the lighthouse, we went down the road a bit to a little strip mall on the water just next to the ferry where we had lunch at a little bar/restaurant. We were able to eat outside and enjoy the view, though.

Now here's what is crazy to me ... you've seen all these awesome pictures and how pretty it was outside that day, right?? Well, after we had lunch we went to the beach. The water was perfect! Great waves and sooo warm. I played in the water with Jacob for a bit and then sat down to read. I fell asleep and woke up about a half hour later to thunder! We got off the beach and packed back up in the van in just the nick of time because it started storming and it didn't stop for the rest of the day and night! We rode the ferry over the Ocracoke in this horrid storm! I thought for sure we were going to die! The ferry ride to and from took a couple of hours, but while we were there I did manage to get a picture of the Ocracoke lighthouse. I'd love to get back down there to get a picture when it's not crappy weather out, but I won't be doing it again anytime soon. Lol

When we got back to Hatteras we started our trek North, and decided to just wait to eat when we got back to Nags Head. We ate that night at Sonic. haha It was really good, though!

The next day we stayed at the resort and just played on the beach and at the pool for the rest of the day.

That night after dinner at Dirty Dick's Crabhouse we played a little putt-putt with the kids. Or maybe just for me? Lol I love me some putt-putt! Anyway, we went to Mutiny Bay. It's our go-to mini golf at the beach even though there are a billion of them to choose from! It started raining (again) about halfway through, but I made us stay and keep playing. Lol

I forget which day this was, but one of the days my mom bought a small package of perfect shells from one of the gift shops and hid them on the beach for Henry to find since that was all he really cared about anyway. Lol

Our last day there everyone was kinda sluggish, but Jacob and I wanted to go to the pool, so we went over by ourselves for a little while before everyone else came out. I got some pretty cool pics of him!

That night we went up in to Corolla for the night to find a good location for our family photo and to check out the tiny little town that I never knew existed! It's back a dirt road!!

These next two were taken at a cute little schoolhouse. They had PUMPKINS out already ... it was AUGUST!

This next picture was taken just outside the cutest little bookstore. Next year I'm going to have to go up there and do a little shopping .. I loved that place!

And then, check out this cute church!

And, to end our trip we went mini golfing again at a little place in Corolla. You pay one price and then you can play on two of the three courses. Had we had more time, we'd have probably paid more and done all three. They were pretty neat!

And then like I said in the beginning of this post, when we left the Outer Banks we went to Busch Gardens for the day. John and I left around dinner time to come home while the boys stayed and had an extra day of vacation with my parents.

I think it's safe to say we all had a really good time!

Jacob looses a tooth ... or two!

2014-12-30T10:14:00.000-05:00

In June the boys were at the dentist for the 6 month check-up, and I asked the dentist about when he was going to lose his first tooth since so many of his friends had already lost several and were getting their adult teeth in. She told me not to worry ... some kids begin losing their teeth as early as 5 and some as late as 7.

A few weeks later he came home from an evening out with his Gee and Pap to tell me that he had a loose tooth! Then about a week later we discovered that the tooth right next to it was also loose (These are his two bottom front teeth, btw. Coincidentally they're also the first two teeth he got as a baby. I'm fairly certain those are the most common first two teeth to come in and then also to fall out, though).

Fast forward to the first week in August ... Jacob is signed up to attend basketball camp at a local church. On that Monday morning, August 4th, I am woken up by Jacob ... so excited saying "my tooth fell out!" and sure enough it had. He was holding it in his hand so proudly! I took it and put it in a safe place so we could leave it out for the tooth fairy that night.

Then three days later when I went to pick him up from camp in the afternoon ... he had lost his SECOND tooth!

The tooth fairy was working double time that week and she may have gone a little broke, but it was well worth it to see how excited he was the next day. :)

Happy Independence Day!

2014-12-29T21:19:00.000-05:00

Our Independence Day routine stays pretty much about the same from year to year. The only thing that usually changes is where we actually go to watch fireworks. This year we stayed closer to home and just hung out in Leesburg for the day.

In the morning, we packed our bags for the day and headed to Leesburg to watch the annual 4th of July parade. This year Jacob wasn't IN the parade, but we still like to go see it.

Our favorite part of the parade is the fire department, of course. Lol After that we always wanna just leave, but then figure it would be rude, so we stay and watch the rest. haha

After the parade we went to my mom's house to swim at the pool while John and his friend, Adam, went to ride their motorcycles for a bit. It was so cool for the first time as long as I can remember that it was actually too cold at the pool, and then later after the sun went down it was really chilly!

After we swam and ate the goodies I had made the day before, we got showered and changed to head on over to Ida Lee to stake out our little spot for the fireworks that night. The boys, of course, wore their shirts we had made earlier in the week. You can see the post on how we made them here.

Then we met up with John and we all left to go over to Ida Lee for dinner, music and fireworks. Like, I said ... it was much chillier this past year then it has been in years past. By the time the sun went down, I was freezing! But, that didn't stop us from walking around and checking things out. And, just having fun, in general.

We hope everyone had a happy and SAFE Independence Day. Happy Birthday, America!!

4th of July Treat!

2014-12-29T17:36:00.001-05:00

Here's another fun Pinterest project I did last summer for the 4th of July!

(Image is linked to the original site where I found this treat)

I pinned this one when I first got my pinterest account years ago and just never really got around to making them. I'm glad I did last summer because they were so yummy!! Definitely making this one each summer.

So, to make these all you need is strawberries.

white chocolate chips

and blue sugar sprinkles (which I just realized I don't have a picture of those, lol).

Melt the chips over low heat until smooth, then being careful not to mess up/rip off the stems, dip the strawberries 2/3 of the way in to the white chocolate and finally 1/3 of the way in to the blue sprinkles. This is what they look like when they're finished.

They're not as pretty as the above picture, but boy did they taste good. Lol We enjoyed them that afternoon while lounging at the pool!

4th of July T-shirts!

2014-12-29T17:22:00.001-05:00

This is the original post where I found this adorable little project on Pinterest.

(the image is linked to the original post)

Anyway, I saw these really cute 4th of July t-shirts on Pinterest and just knew I wanted to make them with the kids this year, so off to Michaels we went where I bought them each a white t-shirt, fabric paint and some sponge brushes. When we got home, we got set up and started to make the shirts.

I helped the younger two do their hand prints, while Jacob did his on by himself. Then I helped Henry and Scarlett use their thumb to paint the lines on, while Jacob did his own again. I think they turned out really cute, and the kids (my boys, anyway), got to wear theirs on the 4th of July!

Congenital Heart Walk - Pittsburgh 2014

2014-12-29T15:41:00.001-05:00

June 29, 2014 .. that was the date of the annual Congenital Heart Walk in Pittsburgh (North Park). Last year was the first one I had ever attended, and the first since losing Ashlee to a congenital heart defect 6 months before. It was a hard day. I cried a few times yet didn't let on that I was (thank GOD for sunglasses!). This past year, however, was a lot easier and I was actually able to enjoy the day some. It was on a Sunday morning, though, so I didn't even get to go to the cemetery. To date I haven't been in a year, I think? It's been too long, I NEED to go. :( Anyway, we had to pretty much bail as soon as the walk was over so we could on the road to get home at a decent time.

I was so happy to get to hang out with my cousins, though. I'm always happy when I get to see them!

This year we changed our team name to "Ashlee's Angels" and had matching t-shirts made for everyone on our team. I kind of came up with the design, but Dawn took care of the ordering of them. They turned out so great!!

The walk was held in North Park which is actually really close to where Ashlee and Mike lived before they got married and for a little while afterwards, too. It's such a pretty park!!

OH! I almost forgot ... this year I was able to actually raise the minimum $100 they like everyone to try to raise before the walk, so I earned a free t-shirt. It's not about that, though. :) I'm just glad we could be together to walk and raise awareness for all the people living with or who were taken too soon due to a congenital heart defect.

School's Out For Summer!!

2014-12-28T21:17:00.000-05:00

FINALLY!! After what was, undoubtedly, the longest school year EVER, today was Jacob's last day of school! His last day as a Kindergartner! I still can't believe I am the mother of a 1st grader!

Naturally my camera wasn't far from my hand as I wanted to document Bubba's last day of school, so I could later compare shots from his first day. And, boy am I glad I did because he grew so much!! So did Henry!

We walked over to the bus stop as that's our normal morning routine and there were several other parents there (with cameras in hand) to wish their kiddos a great last day of school. Keep in mind, after Christmas break last year, these kids practically didn't go to school the entire month of January because of snow. So, with all the make-up days and then the school year ended up being an extra week long anyway (and we go pretty late in the year to begin with because of so many teacher workdays/holidays that other school districts don't get off) that by the time this day rolled around, EVERYONE, and I do mean EVERYONE, was so ready for summer vacation. So ready! I mean, it was only a week before Independence Day!

Anyway, back to the pictures we took at the bus stop. Here is Jacob with his two buddies that he hangs out with the most at the bus stop/on the bus: Mark Anthony (in the middle) and John David (on the left):

And then, a nice group shot of all the kids from his bus stop for the 2013-2014 school year:

And, because I got one of him getting on the school bus at the beginning of the year, I had to get one of him getting on the bus at the end of the year, too.

Here's a fun comparison from the first day to the last:

It's crazy how fast they grow in less than a year!!

Our newest family member!

2014-12-28T17:09:00.000-05:00

Meet our newest family member, Charlie!

We were at the DMV one weekend in June and had been talking about getting a new kitty for awhile. Well the topic came up that day at the DMV, so I hopped on Craigslist to see if I could find anyone giving some away. I found ONE ad. In Maryland. I called and lo and behold .. they had ONE kitten left ... a boy. Just what we wanted!! So, when we were done at the DMV, we drove to MD to pick him up. He was for the boys. Bella just doesn't care for them, and so they wanted a kitty who would love them and play with them. Charlie has turned out to be just that!!

Look how tiny he was!! I miss those days .. he grew SUPER FAST!

Anyway, as I was saying .. he loves the boys! They toss him around and play pretty rough with him and he totally puts up with it. If John or myself try to touch him, he flinches .. it's the weirdest thing, but whatever. We got him for the boys and he is totally in love with them, so mission accomplished!!

Some nights when I go to bed as I'm checking on the boys I notice him tucked in the corner of their bed with a sleepy look on his face ... he looks up at me, lets out the tiniest little "meow" and puts his head back down. He's in utter relaxation mode when he's with them. :)

Now, Bella, on the other hand, too a really long time to warm up to him. I'm glad she has finally gotten to the point where they can co-exist, but still to this day sometimes when they're "playing" I wonder if they're truly playing or if HE'S playing and she's mad and fighting him off. Lol

But, sometimes, like in this picture, I come home and find them hanging out together or sleeping very close to each other, and then I realize that they get along a lot better then either of them would like to let on. Lol