5.26.2008


Chablis and I wanted to have a surprise "going away" party for our friend Heidi! Her husband and her were only in Virginia Beach for a year and we are so sad to see them move on. They are going to North Carolina next month and will be greatly missed. We had a fun night filled with memories and laughter! Heidi has made many friends in this past year and we invited a few of them to gather to celebrate her!

I have been wanting a picture of all four of us for awhile now, so I was so glad that we got one! All four of us are pregnant...all due within about 1 1/2 month! It's so fun to have not just one, but three other close friends to be pregnant with. You can imagine...a lot of our conversations right now are about being pregnant but it is so much fun!

Everyone was asked to bring an appetizer to share and we had some delicious ones! Heidi brought an amazing Brie with baguettes and then we had ham and crab dip and also Five Layered Taco dip!








This table was so fun to decorate! We decided to do the party at my moms house because she has more room at her table than Chablis and I do. It was so great! One of my favorite parts about doing parties is the decorating and making things look nice. This table was a success for sure!









Chablis was in charge of the dinner. She did fabulous, as usual! She made us this delicious salad that was made with blueberries, pine nuts, sugarsnap peas, and parmesean cheese! The dressing was amazing too! The main dish was a stuffed chicken breast with an artichoke filling. It was served with mediterranean tomatoes and was not only beautiful but delicious too.






















For dessert I made chocolate covered strawberries, toffee, and miniature cheescakes and lemon rounds! Don't you just love dessert? Everyone was asked to bring a few scrapbook pages of memories that they have had with Heidi and her family this past year! It turned out so cute! You can see it standing up in the dessert table.




























Everyone brought home a personalized goody to remember the evening by! I filled them with delicious mint cookies.

Parsley Eater!

I kept finding little holes in my parsley and I couldn't figure out who was eating it! I finally found the little bug who was responsible. I think that he is really cute though so I left him alone! I figured he can enjoy it just as much as the rest of us...there is plenty to go around. I have a weird issue with killing bugs that are outside. Our rule in our home is that if it's in the house...it's toast...but if it's outside then it's free to roam where it pleases. I get so sad when I see the neighborhood kids playing with our little frogs and caterpillars. I seriously have a problem though...because I get really sad! If I see a little frog I try to hide it before any of the kids come and torment it! Hailey was really enjoying watching a little caterpillar crawl around the other day and we were talking all about how they lived and she even was thinking of names for her. Then, as she was spinning around in circles she accidentally squashed it! AUGH! I was horrified! I told you...I have a problem!

Strawberry Picking

This was such a fun activity to do with the kids! Hailey had so much fun. It was the perfect day for strawberry picking. Virginia Beach has lots of fresh produce farms where you can either pick your own fruit and vegetables or buy it from their market. I went home with 10 lbs. of strawberries and only spent $6.00! Amazing! They were so delicious and so beautiful. I had all these ideas of how we were going to eat these strawberries but we ended up just eating them with every meal and I also made chocolate covered strawberries for a party! They taste so different because of how fresh they are. One bite of these yummy strawberries, and you are left with a trail of juice down your shirt...they are so juicy!
Paige just picked away!! She had her whole bucket full of strawberries so quick. She had a great time.
Because Isabella is fighting the walking, she ended up sitting in her stroller observing most of the time. No complaints from her! She enjoyed watching all of us while she lounged in the sun!
It was so funny to see the difference between how Heidi and I picked our berries. She could find one spot and sit there for a few minutes as she picked berry after berry. I on the other hand, I would only pick one here and then one there. I was all over the place!
Hailey was so fun to watch. She didn't pick a ton of berries...but she would come over to my bucket and see a really big one and put it in her bucket! Lincoln and her preferred just to run up and down the aisles and look at bugs and such!

5.05.2008

Happy Anniversary!

John and I just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. It's amazing that it has been that long. I love him more today than I ever have and I am so thankful for him in my life! He is the greatest dad and loves his children so much. He is such a hard worker and is so dedicated to all that he has going on. Thanks for loving me so much John!

Hailey

What a personality this little three year old has! She is so full of life and energy and is always ready to play. Her favorite things are her friends, Playdough, Barbies, dress-up, and eating! I asked her what are her least favorite things to do are and she informed me that she likes all of her toys and there is nothing that she doesn't like doing. Well, I can think of a few-she doesn't like to clean-up her toys (eventually she gets into it), she doesn't like to be bored, and she doesn't like to get her hair done. We sure do love her though and I am so happy that she has such a strong and confident personality. Although it's hard for me to have a three year old who always wants to be so independent, in a few years it will be such a blessing to know that she will be a beautiful and determined girl.

Little Isabella

Isabella is 15 months old and has finally mastered the skill of sleeping through the night. When Hailey was a baby, we helped her learn how to sleep on her own at a very early age. It's hard to listen to them cry but it is so nice when they are good sleepers. John really felt uncomfortable about making Izzie cry so we never did it! I have had nights of little sleep ever since she was born and I have been so anxiously waiting for her to figure it out on her own. There were many nights when I was up every hour, patiently rocking her back to sleep. Many prayers later... I think that she has really done it! For the last week and a half she has successfully slept (with the occasional cry). She goes to bed around 7:30 or 8:00 and then she sleeps all night and doesn't wake up on her own until 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning! Crazy huh! Just this morning Hailey was talking in her sleep at 8 am and woke both herself and Isabella up. I sent Hailey out and rocked Isabella for a minute and laid her back in her bed. She is now still sleeping and I imagine she will be for a while longer. I feel bad because there are so many mornings that we have to wake her up because we have to take Hailey to preschool, or go to church! She usually takes two naps during the day as well. She does like her sleep. She is STILL not walking. She does this adorable crawl sitting up on her knees. She doesn't use her hands (they are usually filled with either toys or her coveted burp cloths). She is such a sweet baby and we are so lucky to have her in our family. She brings joy to everyone she meets!