Fun Video

Boston

Brian and I were able to get away for a long weekend to celebrate our anniversary. We had a lot of fun touring Boston and going to a Red Sox game. We definitely missed our little guy, but it was nice to have some time to focus on each other too. Plus, he was in wonderful hands with Mimi & Papa! We walked all around the city and loved seeing all the cool sights. We took a "Duck Tour" that lasted 1 1/2 hours and showed us all the history of Boston. The food in Boston was incredible and we definitely indulged:). It was fun to have no agenda and just do whatever we felt like doing. The game was a huge highlight and not just because of the food (I love ballpark food). It was a neat experience to be in Fenway Park even if they did lose that night. The last night we were there, we went to dinner with Brian's sister, Lynnette. She took us to an awesome Italian restaurant that we thoroughly enjoyed. We were able to spend a few hours catching up with her which was nice. Brian made sure we hit the yummy pastry shops for some of the famous cookies he loves so much.
Here are some pictures of our trip.
We walked all around the city and ended up by Fenway Park on game day. There was a fun buzz in the air and Brian was in heaven.
This was on the Duck Tour. I had very few pics from this because a downpour.

The Duck took us for a jaunt in the water which was fun....

Here we are on the Duck (our reflection at least)....

Game night!! We were excited as you can see...

Fenway Park...

Tradition calls for the song, Sweet Caroline, to be sung every game. It was cool to hear thousands of fans getting into it.

We had a great time with Lynnette on Sunday. She is a lot of fun. Here she is singing with the local musicians....they loved her!

Fun with Friends

The last 3 days Samuel and I were blessed enough to spend with two of my best friends (Mary & Dolly) and their families. We arrived on Monday and Dolly's sister Dawn was kind enough to let all of us stay at her beautiful home - she's a great hostess! We could not wait to let all of our kids play with each other! It's very surreal to watch the next generation in action and think back to when we were just "kids" in college. Wow - time flies. We definitely soaked in our time together. On Monday we had dinner out and met up with our friend, Angela, for Mexican. Afterwards we spent some time with members of Roscoe & Mary's church (NorthStar) and then stayed up until 2a.m. catching up. Tuesday we had a great time getting out for lunch and a little pampering thanks to Mary's mom who stayed home with the kiddos and let us get mani/pedi's together. It's such a gift to have lifelong friends who you can walk away from feeling refreshed and encouraged. Even more important, the influence these Godly women have on Samuel's life - priceless. I'm one thankful girl!
This picture (below) was taken within the first 5 minutes Mary arrived with the girls. Looks like someone is really interested in the cute blond...I'll let you know how these two "made out" in another picture. Beautiful Dolly with Annabelle and Michael. This little boy is adorable and SO SWEET I could eat him. Annabelle was such a good example to the younger kids - someone raised her right (and could she be more gorgeous?)!

This was taken on Tuesday night (Dawn, Kim, Dolly, Me, Angela (taking the pic) and Mary). We had to catch the Bachelorette Premiere!

So, these two continued to play together so well - they were adorable.

Time to go in for the kiss!!

These two are going to best buddies....

Our pampered feet....

Our pampered nails....

What a great trip!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there who I love and admire! I feel blessed to have so many amazing women in my life who have influenced me as a wife and mom for the better. I have watched you through the years as you cared for your own children and weathered the storms with grace and patience. How true it is that it takes a village to raise a child and I'm thankful Samuel is surrounded by Godly women who love him almost as much as his mama:).

I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend! It started out with a day with MY mom. We grilled out, played on the Wii and enjoyed each other's company. Thank you, Mom, for being such a caring, precious mom & Mimi - I love you!! Happy Mother's Day to my sweet mother-in-law too - we love you a lot and look forward to lots of great quality time in June!

Today was a lot of fun - I woke up to my hubby sneaking out to get me my favorite coffee at Dunkin Donuts. He definitely spoiled me in many ways on this special day and I felt very loved.

When Samuel woke up, I told him how much I loved being his mommy - one day he'll comprehend that more, but I definitely always want him to know that. I want him to know I love all the things that make up who he is from his big, fun personality to his sweet little heart and his fiesty, all-boy nature.

Here are some pictures (out of order) from this weekend. Again, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all those amazing moms out there!

This picture was taken before church with the flowers from Brian and Samuel....

After church the boys treated me to a yummy brunch (since it was around 11am). Samuel loves using his own spoon and does it well, but we forgot to pack one so he used a big spoon. Obviously, it is a lot more to handle:)...

On Saturday, I told Samuel on the drive over that he could give Mimi her flower when we got to her house. He was so proud to hand his little flower over!

Mimi & Papa bought a kitchen set for Samuel to use while at her house. He had a blast!

Hershey and Tiggy decided to take a wagon ride with Samuel. I think he liked the furry company!

Pasta fingers

Tonight Samuel had macaroni shell noodles for the first time and he quickly found a fun way to eat them:).

Beach weekend

We took a little weekend trip to Wilmington and had a great time! Every year friends of ours let us use their beach house for some R & R. Last year Samuel was only 7 months old when we went and he cut his first tooth that weekend. This year was so much fun seeing the sand, water and sights through the eyes of a toddler. I think it's so neat to be reminded how majestic God's creation is through the eyes of a child. Here are some pics to highlight our weekend.

Samuel is getting his groove on in his shades - He really thought he was something else:)!This was Friday night - like father, like son. Samuel loves sitting in any type of chair and thought he was extra cool sitting in a big chair like daddy.He wore his new fish PJ's that Mum mum sent him in honor of the next day's trip to the aquarium.He LOVED the fish, birds and reptiles at the aquarium. In fact he was having so much fun I didn't take many pictures b/c I was loving watching him take it all in.Mimi and Papa dropped in for a visit since they only live 1 1/2 hours from Wilmington and Samuel loved seeing them... "You peeps ready to hit the beach or what?!" My dare devil literally ran to the ocean clapping along the way - he LOVED it!
The more the waves splashed him the more he giggled! At one point a wave hit us so hard it knocked Samuel's swim trunks and diaper down exposing his bare tush...he loved it.

Eventually, he took some time to play in the sand - as you can see he was very serious about his sand project....all in all it was a great weekend!