Warm Weather

Okay, I'm not trying to be like some people who find a reason to complain about EVERYTHING, especially when it comes to the weather. I was in the store the other day and heard some old man say, "Well, now all this snow is going to melt and make it muddy out there." My guess is, he was complaining when it was snowing, and nothing is going to make him happy. I'm not trying to be one of those people. I LOVE that we get to experience ALL the seasons here in Missouri. I'm not a fan of winter time, but know that snow, sleet, freezing temps and bitter cold is just part of it. Its a season, it will pass. This winter we have gotten a lot of cold, snowy day. Even a blizzard a couple of weeks ago. Actually, last week we received another 4-5 inches on top of the snow that was on the ground from the week before. My complaint is this. This week, its been GORGEOUS! I know, what am I doing complaining about that. Well, it tricks my mind. I think that spring is here, and I'm SO ready for spring. I'm ready to have my windows open, cool temps at night and start planting flowers. The problem was its only FEBRUARY! I LOVE these 60 and 70 degree days, so I will take them, endure the rest of winter, and anticipate the Spring, when its time.
The other day, while Adriana was in school, me and Paxton has a rare opportunity to go to the park with just the 2 of us. We took Milo along, grabbed a Frosty from Wendy's and headed to the park. It was a PERFECT day. I don't think poor Milo has ever been to the park before, so he really enjoyed the fresh air and watching the geese. I had a special day with my boys, here are pictures of our day.


the old Mill and bridge in Ozark, on the Finley River.

Milo and Paxton enjoying the fresh air.

My sweet boy, with his chocolate smile.

Birthday Trip to St. Louis

Well, we just spent this last weekend in STL for a quick, one night stay to celebrate my birthday. It was AWESOME! Totally had the time of my life! We asked some friends of ours, from church, to go to with us. I don't know if they came along out of guilt or pity, but I'm sure glad they were able to make it. I knew it might be a little of a challenge since both of us have kiddos at home, but we (and them) are blessed with great parents who sacrifice their weekend so we could get away for a little bit of a break. We left Saturday morning, and were on our way. Its so nice to go away with a couple you have a lot in common with. The drive didn't seem that long and we had a great time. We got in town just in time for lunch. We tried a new restaurant that none of us had ever been to before, but Ryan heard its was a great burger place called, Five Guys. IT. WAS. AWESOME. I would highly recommend them, if you ever come across one of them. Next, we were off to do a little bit of shopping. This weekend was filled with a lot of "firsts" for me and Ryan. We went to new stores, ate a new restaurant we had never been to for EVERY meal and we got to see parts of STL that I had never seen in my 3 years of going to school up there. We went to a store called Whole Foods. It was a really cool grocery store that had lots of fresh meats, fish and produce. We really enjoyed looking around in there. We came across their bakery and found these...

They were so good. The little shells were filled with custard, topped with fresh fruit and a glaze. It was a nice little treat.

We were very excited about these, if you can't tell. Next we were off to our hotel. We had gotten a good deal through Priceline and were able to stay within a mile of the Chesterfield Mall. That evening we had decided to do some shopping, go to a movie and eat a nice restaurant. Everything worked out perfectly! There was a 2 hour wait for the Cheesecake Factory, which was SO worth it! So while we waited, we shopped! It was nice to go in and out of stores without have kids screaming (well our kids anyway) and not have to worry about nap times, snacks, diaper bags and strollers. By the time we had done our shopping we were ready to eat. It was SO good! Can't wait to go there again!

All of us at dinner.

After dinner we made it upstairs to catch a movie. We had such a fun day. We were so tired by midnight, when we got to our hotel rooms, but we knew we could sleep in in the morning.

On Sunday we checked out of the hotel and headed to the Science Center. It was a lot of fun to look around at what they had, I hadn't been there since I was a kid.

Here's a picture of Ryan building the Arch.

I had to give him a hand on the other side.

Here's the finished product. We were so proud

of ourselves. Forget the fact that school aged

children were doing the same thing.

Matt and Mandy worked on their own

tower. We were so proud of them!

Their finished product. They seemed

angry at the results but me and Ryan

were proud! :)

After the Science Center, it was on to lunch. We were going to this little area in STL known for their Italian food, known as the Hill. We were right around the corner from there, so we thought we would give it a try. Well, wouldn't you know it, they were closed! I did, however, get to take a picture of this restaurant on the Hill. We didn't eat there, but liked the name.

We ended up going to P.F. Changs for lunch, and they were so good. We had never been there either. After a little more shopping at Crate and Barrel, we headed home. Even though it was a short trip, we had a blast. Mandy kept asking us what our favorite part of the day or the trip was and I would say, that they opened our eyes to new places to shop and eat. I loved the fact that we tried all new things this weekend. I'm very much a creature of habit and not big on branching out and trying new things, but maybe I'll start trying that in my next 30 years.

Thank you Ryan, Matt and Mandy for an awesome 30th birthday trip. Its something I will remember always!

Paxton's First Pickle

Here is a little video of Paxton's first taste of a pickle. He's such a sweet baby and LOVES food, so we were anxious to see if he would eat it. I kept telling him to eat it, and despite the fact that he didn't really like it, he wanted to please me and so he took a bite. You will see that in the video. Poor little guy thinking he HAS to eat something so sour.

BTW: Don't judge me because I haven't posted much since I said I was going to, but our internet has not been working and so uploading pictures and videos have not been pleasant! Hope everyone is doing well and getting out and enjoying this weather! Spring is right around the corner! YAY!

Playing Catch Up

I feel like I am such a slacker. Its funny, I use to think of things to write about all the time, but these days I'm either too busy to think of things to write about or there's really nothing that interesting to write about. I'm really disappointed in myself and for the lack of writing in my blog. I will try to do better.
Lately, we have been fighting illness that seems to keep circulating in the air. Mainly, between me and Paxton. Poor Paxton has had pink eye and congestion for quite sometime (the congestion, not pink eye). I have also had pink eye and have been fighting a head cold. I'm afraid I might have strep throat, but can't get to the doctor for a few days. Adriana has had a little congestion, but is pulling through that really well. We really don't get sick, which I'm really thankful for. It seems like some people we know, their kids get sick all the time, but I really feel fortunate that illness doesn't seem to strike our household that much.
Well today, February 1, we actually had a BLIZZARD! My whole life I have lived in Missouri and NEVER remember having a blizzard. It started first thing this morning and tapered off around 5pm or so. Its getting really cold and very windy out there, blowing snow like crazy! I would say we got at least 9 inches of snow but the drifts make it a lot higher in areas. Needless to say, Ryan didn't go to work today and probably won't be going tomorrow.
The kids are doing great. Adriana will be 4 in just a few weeks. Its so hard to believe. She still LOVES to dress up like a princess, color and watch movies. I'm hoping her turning 4 will help her mature with her attitude. I'm not going to lie, 3 years old had been VERY challenging. I always hear that 4 is the magic number, I'm really hoping so. Paxton is 14 months old now. He's still all boy. He still has only 4 teeth but that doesn't stop him from wanting to eat ALL the time. He's all of a sudden is totally into books, he loves to be read to. Balls are probably his favorite toys. He is growing and learning more every day.
As for me and Ryan, we are doing good. Ryan's work is doing pretty good this winter, for this we are VERY thankful. Winter time is the hardest time of the year for us, but God is faithful in providing for us always. As for me, well, I'm in my last days of being in my twenties. I turn the big 3-0 in 20 days. I'm actually not freaking out about it, but looking forward to this new chapter in my life. Me and Adriana are having a combined birthday party this year, since our birthdays are 2 days apart. I normally don't do anything for my birthday, but since its a special birthday, we thought we would have a combined party.
I PROMISE I will try to do better on keeping my blog updated. Its hard with 2 kids, 2 pets, a husband and a house to keep track of, but I will do my best.

Saving Money

I have been racking my brain on what to write about. Sure, my life is crazy enough to tell plenty of stories, but not everyone wants to hear about an almost 4 year old with an attitude, a feisty 1 year old, a crabby cat or a sweet, but lazy dog. There has to be more in my life than that, right? Now, those kids and animals mean more than me than life itself, but I KNOW I know more about other things besides poopy diapers and sassy toddlers. So as I thought about what to write, I still couldn't think of anything that would blow your socks off (as most of my blog entries do, I'm sure), but I did think of a new hobby or art, if you will, that I'm trying my hand at in 2011. This will actually benefit you maybe too.

I am trying my hand at couponing. Not cutting one or two coupons here and there and saving like $1.25 on a trip to Walmart, but REALLY couponing. There are many blogs and people out there that have this down to a science, I'm trying to learn it. It takes a lot of time and patience to learn, but will pay off in the long run (literally!). These people that have it down can have a total at the check out for like $156.00 and after coupons come out paying about $6.00. NO JOKE! You have to learn the ins and outs of it all. My friend, Hilary, invited me to a class that kind of teaches you some of the tricks of the trade, so as of right now, I'm on fire wanting to learn more.

Its always nice to save money, but in our case, its more out of necessity than luxury. Money can be so tight around here, its crazy. Now, don't get me wrong, God has ALWAYS provided for us, we have never gone without, but we could also save as much as we can, in case we run into a snag along the way. We don't have cable, we do have the Internet, that could be cut if need be, but other than that, we pay our bills and that is it, so why not save on groceries and household items, if I can. Make our dollar stretch. So I'm trying, I hope I don't give up on it, as I normally fizzle out of things I start, but my nature is to get good deals, so I'm going to try. If I ever run across a wonderful deal, I will pass this along to you. I say ALL of this (which is by far more than I thought this post was going to be), to say, I do have a deal to pass along to you (IF you are going to be in the Branson area).

Go to this link and sign up for a free voucher. This is to the Tanger Mall in Branson ONLY. They will e-mail you a voucher, print it off and take it to the customer service area. They will give you a FREE $10 gift card and a Tanger Coupon book Free (a $5 value!). A lot of people shop down in Branson, and personally Tanger is my favorite place to go down there. The offer ends April 30, 2011, so you have some time. IF you think you are heading down here in that time, you ought to try it out. Hey, I'm all for free gift cards!

Like I said, I will pass along any good deals as I get them. I know this one is good for this area only, but wanted to help out anyone that I can.

100% ALL Boy!

Paxton is developing more and more each day. There is such a difference between boys and girls. Paxton is ALL boy! He is a sweet, loving boy, but look closely and you will see a little ornery gleam in his eye. When Adriana was his age, and would get in trouble, she would just break down in tears at the thought of getting in trouble. Paxton is quite different. He thinks its so funny to get in trouble and will even save me the trouble, and smack his own hand when he knows he's doing something he's not suppose to.
His newest thing is to dump things in the trash. I have found shoes, cups, magnates, balls, and who knows what else that has actually been thrown away.
He still isn't saying too much. "Ba" is ball and he has a MELTDOWN if he sees one in the store and can't have it. He saw tomatoes in Walmart the other day and thought they were balls, so he was crying, screaming "Ba, Ba, Ba" for all of Walmart to hear. He knows what he wants!
Can't believe he is less than 2 weeks away from being 14 months old. Can't wait to see how the toddler years play out for this little man of ours!

Milo

Allow me to introduce the newest member of our family. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Milo....

He is a puggle (a Pug/Beagle mix). He actually looks nothing like any puggles I've ever seen, he looks more like a puppy lab. I know what you are thinking right about now, who cares what kind of dog he is, what on Earth are they doing tacking on another member to that family. I know, we are CRAZY! He was a TOTAL spur of the moment buy. This last Saturday, Jan 1, we went to Chuck E. Cheese to get out of the house for a while, and while we were there, I told Ryan we needed to look at PetSmart for a new litter pan for Zoe (they are in the same shopping plaza). Mistake number one!

It was adoption days there, and Adriana LOVES dogs so much. She heard them barking in the back of the store and asked if we could go and see the puppies. Mistake number 2.

I am a SUCKER for animals in need. I CAN NOT stand to go into shelters, pet stores or anywhere else that has caged animals who don't have homes, it breaks my heart. Me and Adriana made it back there to look at the dogs and Milo caught my eye. Mistake Number 3.

Don't make eye contact with the sad animals in the cages, they will get you every time! I actually thought he was a puppy, and there was NO way I wanted to fool with a puppy. When I read his chart, I saw that he was full grown and about a year old. I talked to the lady a little bit about him and she told us we could take him on a walk around the store. Mistake number 4.

Adriana was in LOVE with him. He is so gentle and laid back. He let her love on him and kiss him and be right in his face, and he never barked, growled or snapped at her, so I thought that was a good sign. Me and Ryan talked for a while about it. I haven't wanted a dog for many reasons, but mainly because they can tie you down so much. Don't get me wrong I LOVE dogs and always have, but as an adult you see having pets in a whole new light. Adriana has been BEGGING for a dog for a long time. Her and Ryan were all for it, so when I brought Milo to Ryan, Ryan said it was up to me if we get him or not. My heart was breaking for this dog, something about him brought tears to my eyes thinking of him being in the shelter. After I was told by Ryan not to cry in PetSmart, and after talking to the lady a little more about him, we went ahead and adopted him.

The first night we hit a BIG road block with him, when we took him over to my parents house. He actually settled in quickly there and was content (we hadn't gone to our house yet, we went straight over there after getting him). We let him out in the FENCED in backyard, when it was dark and he got out. Long story short, we had our van, my dad's car and a neighbor of theirs driving around chasing this dog around the block for over an hour! All I can say, is he runs FAST and is very hard to see at night, since he is black. We got him back, safe and sound. We were kind of dishearten when this happened thinking this dog is going to be trouble, but really that was his biggest strike against him. He's a sweet, loving dog, who is taking his time warming up to us and trusting us, but is getting better every day. I think he will fit in perfectly around here.

A Zoe Note: She has actually done really well with him. It helps that he is laid back and doesn't run around and chase her. She has let him know she is boss, and he's actually scared of her. He has gotten the memo that Zoe runs the house and that he will be under her authority.