Valentine's Day Part 2

Happy Valentine's Day

 Valentine's Breakfast was a hit!  More heart pancakes please!

 I hate Valentine's Day!

 I love Valentine's Day!  As I am taking this picture he is saying Happy Valentine's Day Maw Maw! 

 The Handsome Little Devil reading nursery rhymes before school.

 Cheese! So proud of the cupcakes we made Valentine's Day morning for his class.  Yes, we baked 48 cupcakes and 3 heart shaped cakes by 8 am.

 The table set for Valentine's Dinner.  I am cooking dinner tonight since Corey does most of the every day cooking.

 Our three mini heart shaped cakes.  A personal cake for each of the boys.  I will take a nibble here and there but cake is not really Weight Watchers friendly. =)

 Close-up of Cooper's setup.

Close-up of Tucker's setup.


Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!!!  Even though it is a commercial holiday, it is always nice to spread the love!!!!

Happy Easter!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Cooper's visit with Santa

Decorated for Halloween

Father's Day Recap

Because it was Corey's 1st Father's Day, Cooper and I decided to make a really big deal out of the day!!! We woke Corey up bright and early with a cup of coffee and his cards and gifts. We got him a coffee mug that is covered with Cooper pictures so he can show off the proud Daddy that he is, a canvas for his office that has Cooper's feet and hand prints and a card from Cooper that said that Daddy's last present/toy was in the driveway...Corey absolutely hates mowing the yard and complains about it every week. I had looked into a lawn service but they are extremely expensive - what I paid for the mower would have only covered a 6 month contract with a lawn service. Ridiculous!!! So, I figured a riding mower would cut the mowing time in half and it could be Corey and Cooper's new toy. I am sure Cooper will love riding the mower with his Daddy next summer when he is a little bigger!

I made Corey biscuits and sausage gravy for brunch - his favorite. Corey relaxed and watched the Mets game all afternoon and read his riding mower owner's manual. We headed to Sears later that evening to buy mulching blades and to look at additional attachments for the new mower. When we got back home I made Corey an awesome dinner - Seasoned Sirloin Kabobs.

Here is a picture of my colorful and delicious kabobs! This was the first time I had ever used the grill...Corey was very nervous - but everything turned out great!

It was a wonderful day!! Cooper and I really enjoyed surprising and spoiling Corey and I think Corey really enjoyed his 1st Father's Day!!!!

Daddy, I think we need to pull this to make it work...

Yea, we got a new toy!!!

Corey, Happy 1st Father's Day!!! We love you!!!

Here is the recipe for the yummy kabobs...
Ingredients
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic pepper seasoning
4 fluid ounces lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage
2 pounds beef sirloin steak, cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes
2 green bell peppers, cut into 2 inch pieces
skewers
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, stems removed
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 fresh pineapple - peeled, cored and cubed

Cooking Instructions
In a medium bowl, mix soy sauce, light brown sugar, distilled white vinegar, garlic powder, seasoned salt, garlic pepper seasoning, and lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage. Reserve about 1/2 cup of this marinade for basting. Place steak in a large resealable plastic bag. Cover with the remaining marinade, and seal. Refrigerate for 8 hours, or overnight.
Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add green peppers, and cook for 1 minute, just to blanch. Drain, and set aside.
Preheat grill for high heat. Thread steak, green peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and pineapple onto skewers in an alternating fashion. Discard marinade and the bag.
Lightly oil the grill grate. Cook kabobs on the prepared grill for 10 minutes, or to desired doneness. Baste frequently with reserved marinade during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Happy Father's Day to Gramps & Poppy!!!

Cooper is very lucky to have two wonderful grandfathers - Gramps & Poppy!!! He loves them both very much!

Cooper & Gramps playing before bedtime.

Poppy playing Cooper a song on the harmonica!

Happy Father's Day!!!! We love you guys!!!

DaDa, Happy 1st Father's Day!!!!

So much to blog and so little time right now...

The title of this blog entry says it all.

I really need to post pictures and videos of vacation, my 30th birthday and Corey's 1st Father's Day! This week is really busy with Cooper's 1st birthday on Wednesday, so I am not sure when I will get to the updates - it might just have to be one giant blog entry.

I still have no decorations or cake for Cooper's birthday- will get to that tomorrow night hopefully. I not exactly sure what happen to the organized/planner me - it seems like lately I fly by the seat of my pants more often than not. Good thing we are only having a very small celebration on Wednesday with Nana, Gramps, Grammy, Poppy, Uncle Aaron & Brooke. I am not sure if I could handle a large party with everything that's going on right now...

Until then I will leave you with this cute picture of Cooper!

Cooper's Easter Pictures

I know I am a little late posting these, but they're too cute not to share-Cooper's Easter Photos.

Happy Birthday DaDa!

Corey's 32nd Birthday was this past Wednesday - May 13th (be sure to mark your calendars for next year). I was in Virginia Beach for the week attending a conference for work (will update in a separate post). Corey had made comments a couple of times before I had left that he couldn't believe I was going to miss his birthday. So, I talked to my government client and boss and asked if I could leave the conference early and surprise him - they said absolutely! I had talked to Corey a couple of times earlier in the day and unfortunately he was not having a great day! He started ranting that it had been the worst day, now he had to come home, eat hot dogs and spend the evening by himself on his birthday! Little did he know that I was parked in our development, where he couldn't see me but I could see him, waiting for him to get home. Once he pulled in the driveway, got Cooper out of the car, headed into the house and closed the garage door - I pulled into the driveway. I started to get out of the car with birthday cake, champagne, and dinner in hand when Corey starting walking out the front door - he had forgotten his laptop. I was so bummed because I wanted to ring the door bell and surprise him. But oh well, he was completely shocked and couldn't believe I had pulled one over on him! He thanked me repeatedly for coming home and that me surprising him made it a Happy Birthday! Yeah me!

Here is a picture of Corey and his cake. The cake was delicious! It's called a Mozart cake - it is the signature cake of Sugar Plum in Virginia Beach. Yes, I drove 3 1/2 hours with the air conditioning blasting and me freezing so the cake would not melt. Here is the description - 3 split layers of yellow cake filled with a layer of raspberry filling and a layer of Bavarian crème filling. The cake is iced in vanilla butter cream and finished with melted chocolate fudge and a purple rose. We are not cake people but this cake was absolutely deadly! Thanks H-Butt for a fantastic recommendation!

Cooper's present to DaDa was "Uh Oh". He learned a new word on DaDa's birthday and now he can't stop saying it! It's too cute!

Ever since Corey received an email from UVA that U2 was playing a concert at Scott Stadium he has been asking me if I wanted to go and if we should buy tickets. Every time I said no and that I didn't want to go to the concert. Which is true - I know a lot of you are thinking I am crazy but I only know like two U2 songs... However, I could tell he really wanted to go so I decided to give him two tickets for his birthday. He was pleasantly surprised! So, we are headed to the U2 concert in October - guess I need to start downloading songs off iTunes so I can learn.

Happy Birthday DaDa!!! We love you very much!!!!

My 1st Mother's Day!!!

My 1st Mother's Day weekend was wonderful!!

Saturday night Nana and Gramps babysat so Corey and I could enjoy a night on the town! We caught a 5:00 movie - "Ghosts of my girlfriends Past" - it was very cute. Then we headed to Macaroni Grill for dinner. Good food, good company, good conversation! It was a nice night out and Cooper had a blast with Nana and Gramps!

On Sunday, Nana, Uncle Aaron and Brooke got up with Cooper in the morning so I got to sleep in till 8:30 - woohoo!!Corey brought me breakfast in bed - coffee, cantaloupe, pancakes and sausage - yummy!!! I could get used to this treatment! I received a fabulous spa package (manicure, pedicure, massage and facial) that I can schedule sometime in the near future. I can't wait!!! My mom and I got pedicures in the afternoon - I feel like a new woman! Mom and Dad left around two. Corey, Cooper and I took a three hour nap after they left. I love naps! Later that evening we took an hour walk around the neighborhood. It was a great way to end the weekend!

I received this email from a friend in honor of Mother's Day...it's so true I wanted to share with all of the other Moms and Mom-To-Bes.

Before I was a Mom -I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed. I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom -I cleaned my house each day. I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom -I had never been puked on - Pooped on - Spit on - Chewed on, or Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and My thoughts. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom -I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests...or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom -I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom -I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known The warmth, The joy, The love, The heartache, The wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there!!! Thanks for making the world a better place and keeping the human race going!!!

The day my life change forever for the better! I absolutely love being Cooper's MOM!!!!