Weekend Rewind

What a great weekend!!!! The weather started off a little cool, but by this afternoon (Sunday) the sun came out & temps warmed into the 60s. This is definitely the fall weather I've been looking for.

Friday evening Hubby & I just spent the evening at home, grilled steaks, & watched a movie. It was so nice to just relax & hang out at home--sometimes we don't do enough of that.

Yesterday we spent the morning working around the house & then we headed down to my parents' house. They were hosting a reception/shower for my cousin & his new wife who got married in Tennessee over Labor Day. There was quite the turnout with probably at least 50 people there. My mom and I decided on a Holiday theme so everyone brough various Holiday decor and we decorated using red & green for Christmas. It was so fun & everyone really got into it! I so wish my Grandma & Grandpa could have been there--they would have loved seeing everyone, but sometimes God has other plans and she definitely needs to be in the rehab center where she is now.

The Happy Couple with the lovely spread--cupcakes, sugar cookies, spinach dip, crab dip, fruit & vegetable tray, & tortilla pinwheels! YUMMM!!

After the party, we came back & met Hubby's mom, sister, & nephews for dinner. We had a great dinner at Zio's and enjoyed some great conversation once we got back to our house. My mother-in-law even decided that we would make a homemade ride for Jackson--two adults holding the ends up a blanket while placing him in the middle laying down & then swinging him back & forth! He absolutely loved it!!!

This afternoon we grabbed a quick lunch & then came home to do some yardwork. Hubby mowed the yard for hopefully the last time of the year & I planted a BUNCH of tulip bulbs! They will come up next Spring & I can only hope they turn out like the pictures! I'll be sure to have an update in about 5-6 months! (photos from www.colorblends.com)

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Ok, well we're not actually leaving for around 6 weeks, but I just booked the tickets & I'm super excited. No, we're not flying to New York City to see the city at Christmastime nor are we flying to a Caribbean island to soak up the sun before the harsh winter weather--however, it's practically just as exciting for us! This year we made the leap & we are flying to Michigan for Thanksgiving to see Hubby's parents. While they live in Michigan, Hubby & I along with Hubby's sister, brother-in-law, and 2 nephews always make plans to head Up North for Thanksgiving.

Normally the drive doesn't bother me but with all the driving we've done in the past year, I am more than ready to hop on a plane! We still have to drive to St. Louis to depart, but that's much better than the 12-13 hour drive.

Hope everyone has a great weekend--it's been winter-like around here and the sun hasn't been shining for about a week! I'm so ready for a weather change & I think it's supposed to come on Sunday! Woohoo!

He asked for it...

Last night after Hubby got home from work I asked him if he checked out the blog that I had written yesterday about the weekend. "Yes..." he responded with a bit of disappointment in his voice..."But I'm a little hurt." "Why?" I ask. And he responds with something that may forever be used against him..."I thought you were going to use the picture of me in the Batman mask?!?"

Sidenote: Blogging is something I decided to do about a year ago to keep track of the happenings in our life & also to have some way to look back on where Hubby & I have been. While I did discuss this with Hubby, it was more like I just told him that I was going to do it as something to pass the time--therefore, while I almost always include the happenings in our life together, I try not to embarrass him on here or even discuss those incredibly funny personal couple moments.

So...when I snapped the picture of him in the Batman mask he might have been assuming that it was blog material--but I had no intentions to include it...

However....ask & ye shall receive!!

Don't you just love his cheesy grin and his closed eyes?!?

Hubby, I do love you so much and I'm so thankful for the times that you are able to make me smile when nothing else can! You truly bring joy to my life & I look forward to taking many more photos of you in Batman masks, with your tongue sticking out, & with you making weird faces. Those photos only make me smile even more & the remind me why of one of the reasons I married you in the first place. You make me so happy! Wifey

p.s. hope you don't regret asking me about the Batman picture! ;o)

Weekend Rewind

This weekend Hubby & I had a full schedule. Our nephews both have birthdays in October & since Hubby's parents live in Michigan, my sister-in-law planned both parties for the same weekend so they could be at both parties. In the future there will probably be just one big family party; however, Jackson is 1 this year so he definitely deserves his own first birthday! Friday night we had Jackson's party, had Mexican for dinner, & brownies & ice cream for dessert! Woohoo...bring on the calories! After dinner it was time for Jackson's cake, poor guy was worn out already & wasn't real sure about getting all messy...in fact, as you can see from the third picture he was definitely not happy.

Ok, how adorable are those eyes?!? And those eyelashes...why do baby boys always have such long eyelashes!

At first, he was quite curious about what the big round sweet thing was....
however, that all changed quite quickly and he was ready for a quick bath!

After his quick bath, my sister-in-law tried her hardest to keep his attention while she opened his presents but that just wasn't gonna happen. He got lots of cute stuff & a big, red Radio Flyer wagon!

Is he not just adorable!?

After presents, it was time for bed & then it was apparently time for the costume party! Unfortunately the only one who was prepared was Hunter... He brought out Batman...

& Buzz Lightyear! This is actually his Halloween costume that he has been using as pajamas...you know some fights just aren't worth fighting!

Hunter's party wasn't until Saturday night & his parents were busy with Hunter's friend party on Saturday afternoon, so we took advantage of the free time & headed out for an afternoon date! I just love afternoon dates! We grabbed lunch at our favorite local Mexican restaurant, Maria's! YUM!!! After lunch we headed to a matinee showing of Couples Retreat. For whatever reason I was in a funk on Saturday so this was definitely the right movie for us! I hadn't seen many previews and I laughed hard through almost the entire movie! After the movie we had just enough time for me to run to the grocery store & unfortunately buy a new battery for my car. Lovely, I hate spending money on car maintenance!!!

We headed out for Hunter's birthday party which was at Pizza Hut to avoid another night of cleanup for my sister-in-law and also because Pizza Hut is basically Hunter's most favorite place in the whole world! We ate all the pizza we could handle!!! Aunt L (me) & Uncle Nicky (Hubby) bought Hunter a St. Louis Cardinals Pujols t-shirt jersey & his very first Razor Scooter. I think his reaction when he started to tear off the paper was something like...OHHH MYYYY GOSHHHHHH!!! It was priceless & so worth every penny!

I think this was during the Oh my gosh moment!


Getting even more excited--hopefully it warms up so he can ride it soon!

Apparently costumes are his new thing...he got a fireman's costume & a train conductor costume--he's set!!!

Instead of real cake, he wanted a cookie cake which is definitely fine by me! It was sooo yummy!

Yesterday we went to church & then I went and helped my friend for a few hours at a craft show. I was mainly there to help tear down her booth as there really wasn't much selling going on yesterday. We rushed home & made it just in time for Small Group--I think I managed to crash on the couch about 9:15. I was wore out!

Hubby's mom will be in town for the rest of the week so we're going to get some great quality time with her! Hopefully we'll have dinner at least once, maybe twice! I'm also hoping for some warmer weather--we went straight from summer to winter!!!

Waders...check, Canoe...check, Paddle....check

Ok, so I don't actually own any of those things, but after driving to work this morning I think they might need to be on my shopping list. It basically rained constantly for the last 24 hours & while I don't have an exact rainfall total at our house, there have been reports of anywhere from 5.5" to 10.8" of rain. Whew! There is water everywhere. I left for work a little bit early so I could go look at all the runoff--I grabbed these pictures at the creek that is south of my parent's house. This creek ALWAYS floods & normally ends up over the road when we have a big rain. It had already receded quite a bit but I could definitely tell where the water had been.

There is actually a house behind that tree on the left---it hardly every floods the house, but the bridge over the creek is completely underwater--she's not going anywhere for awhile!

Notice the yellow house at the top of the hill? Yup, they're not going anywhere for awhile either!

The same creek near my parents' house runs through our city park a little bit downstream. It was obviously almost out of it's banks as well.

In the monsoon last night we did get to see my grandma as she got settled into her rehab facility. We are all very optimistic about her recovery even if it is going to take a while. I'm just so happy to have her back in Missouri and nearby. As I went to hug her the first time she said "Hey Sugar" which she almost always says to me so I know her mind is just fine & that God has his hands on her healing process. The facility fully encourages visitors so I'll figure that I'll be visiting fairly frequently. Thanks for all your kind words about her, it's going to be a long road but we know she's capable of about anything!

Hubby's parents are in town for our nephews' birthday parties--we have a party tonight & tomorrow night. Plus I'm helping with a craft show on Sunday. Hopefully I'll be back with some great pics!

Traveling in Style

Well the plans have been made, the airplane is ready, & the credit cards have been charged...my grandma is coming home tomorrow!!! She had another CAT scan this morning & the results came back improved enough that the doctor will release her to travel home (26 hours by car) via Med-Evac private jet. They will pick her up bedside at the hospital in Washington & deliver her all the way to the rehab facility here in Missouri. She should be settled and in the rehabilitation facility by tomorrow evening. She's already making incredible progress and regaining lots of her regular movement & ability to function--that should only continue to improve with additional therapy. What an incredible answer to prayer!!!

The plane she'll be on is a private Lear jet--talk about flying in style!

Weekend Rewind

It's just Saturday night & I already feel like I've had such a full weekend...I just love 3-day weekends! Hubby & I left early Friday morning and headed to STL for some quick shopping before the entertainment began. A nice coincidence in timing allowed us to have dinner with my parents at the Cheescake Factory--gotta get that nourishment in before a big afternoon of shopping! After lunch, we shopped and I picked up some cute things from Anthropologie & Francesca's Collection (possibly my 2 favorite stores). I tried...

Interrupted to bring you another Bogey occurrence...as I was sitting here typing this I looked over and realized that Bogey was peeing in our house on the hard wood floor. I yelled at him to STOP! and he apparently got scared, didn't finish, & then moved over about 3 feet and proceeded to finish peeing in another spot. Let me just say that Bogey is not an indoor dog but we have had him in the house countless times and have never had an accident! (except for those 2 minor "marking my spot" incidents) I guess we're partly to blame as we had noticed that he was drinking a lot from the toilet---we'll do better next time!

Anyways...back to where I was, which I don't even remember what I was about to type so I'll start over. I got some great things for fall including a pair of jeans, a new black cardigan, and a couple of tops that will make the transition from late summer to fall to even winter very well. The cardigan has already been put to good use as it was definitely a little chilly last night on the way to the theater & then today at the ballgame.

Before the show last night we had dinner at a fantastic restaurant called Vito's. It's only about 2 blocks from the theater so we were able to just park & walk from the restaurant. I had the house salad & seafood ravioli...oh I was sooo full! As for Phantom of the Opera, all I can say is WOW!!! The actors/actresses were incredible, the stage sets were unbelieveable, & the costumes were absolutely breathtaking! The music is still probably my favorite part--I always love it when I've heard some of the songs before. We were about 10 rows from the front and it was definitely worth it. If you love theater and have a chance to see the Phantom...don't hesitate, it's phenomonal!

The outside of the Fox Theater...it is so beautiful inside but they won't let you take pictures!


This morning we grabbed a quick breakfast & then did some brief shopping before heading to the game. I picked up a few sale items at Pier One & a neat wire pumpkin to add to my fall decor. We headed to the game & had a great time. We had great seats & the sun even managed to come out for a bit to warm us all up! I love the atmosphere of the ball park--all the fans, the little kids in awe of the players, and of course the food!

Hubby & I a few rows down from our seats--we had a great view!!!

The Man...Mr. Albert Pujols! (no homeruns or even hits today, but he's still awesome!)

The Cards clinched their playoff victory last week--Playoffs start on Tuesday! Woohoo!!

Overall it was an amazing weekend with lots of fun had by Hubby & I--I just treasure these times so much when we can take a quick weekend trip to get away for awhile!


On a much more serious note, last week my dad's parents & his sister & brother-in-law headed out on a road trip to visit some family members in Washington state & take in some of the beautiful sites in that part of the country. On Thursday morning we got a phone call that my grandma had fallen and had most likely had a stroke. They rushed her to the hospital, transferred her to a bigger, better hospital and she's still there awaiting lots of test results. Hopefully they'll be able to fly her home in a few days & my aunt & uncle can drive the car home. She has never experienced anything like this so my prayer's at this time are that the doctors would determine the cause & hopefully try as hard as they can to prevent it from happening again. She is one of the most active 70+ year olds I know & has always been the picture of good health--it's almost impossible for me to imagine her even being near a hospital--let alone in the ICU. It's definitely a scary time especially since most of us can't be with her; however, I know that God has full control over the situation and will take care of her & the rest of our family as they determine what the next step needs to be.


Today, my other aunt sent her a bouquet of 18 flowers symbolizing all of her immediate family who can't be there with her. I just hope she knows how much we love her & we are thinking of her each moment of every day.