Happy Birthday, Dad!

I am nearly 2 weeks late blogging on my dad’s birthday – sorry dad! On May 4th he celebrated his 59th birthday! Happy Birthday, dad!

We have been trying to meet up for dinner this year to celebrate everybody’s birthday. For Brayden, we were in North Carolina and my parents were in San Diego, so we didn’t have dinner on his birthday. For my dad, he was hanging out with his brothers and sisters in Bartlesville, so again – we missed his dinner. Well, last night Brayden Tiger and my dad FINALLY had their combined birthday dinner. And where did they pick – why McDonald’s, is there really any better place?!?


I just realized I never wrote about MY birthday dinner! For my dinner, I opted for Subway at our house. My mom made me a birthday cake AND the kids got me cupcakes, YUM-MO!

40 Years in 40 Days, Day 1

I have been waiting for this day for months! I seriously didn’t think that this day would EVER get here! Today is Day 1 of “40 Years in 40 Days”.

Our parents will be celebrating their 40th Anniversary on June 23. We couldn’t be more excited for them for reaching this milestone. In honor of their 40th Anniversary, we will be spending the next 40 days celebrating! Each day we will be doing something special for them, with the 40th day of their celebration being on their anniversary, June 23rd.

It has been fun getting to this day. Mandy and I have literally been planning this since January 28th! And yes, we have forced Jason & Brian into this planning as well! My parents obviously know that something is going on now, but they won’t know what they will be getting each day. We hope that our parents enjoy their celebration over the next 40 days and that they know that we are very, very proud of them for reaching this milestone.

I think the world of both my mom & dad. They have been a constant in my life, to which I couldn’t be more thankful for. I know I have grown into the daughter/wife/mother/friend that I am today because of my parents.

Here is to Day 1 of 40 ... we got things “ROLLING” with 40 donuts.

Celebrating Mother's Day

My Mother’s Day celebration started on Friday. The kids had a special luncheon honoring mother’s and grandmothers. My mom was able to make it, but Brian’s mom had a prior commitment. The luncheon started off with a poem/song from all the kiddos, followed by giving us paper flower bouquets and then a tasty lunch. We had finger sandwiches, fruit, chips and cookies. It was so much fun and I was so glad to have my mom there with me.



Sunday the kids gave me a few presents, framed paintings (L.O.V.E.D. it!) and a glider for the back porch. I have to say, I spent almost ALL day Sunday in the glider! We have been looking for quite a while on which glider to get and this was the front runner. I was pleasantly surprised to get it! Mother’s Day ended with the kids dressing up as Spiderman and Spiderwoman … I couldn’t ask for a better ending!



This post wouldn’t be complete without saying a few words about my mom. I feel extremely lucky to have my mom. She is a very special person and I couldn’t be more honored to call her one of my best friends. I wouldn’t be the mom I am today without her. Happy Mother’s Day mom!

Laundry Room Makeover

I know this is incredibly sad, but I was SO excited to have our laundry room get a facelift! I am in the room nearly everyday, so I wanted to make it a room that looked pretty.

Of course I have no before pictures! Here is what we did ...
1)Paint ... A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. how much paint can change a room! We used the leftover paint from our bedroom - I really like how the colors turned out.
2)New light ... We had a big fluorescent light in the room, which equates to blah in my eyes. So, Brian put in a new light. Yeah!
3)Folding table ... I didn't have a table in the laundry room to fold clothes, so our bed has served as the folding table. We looked at several ways to put a counter in the room. Brian recommended we try a door as the counter top, so that we did! I am super happy with how it turned out - I just need to put a couple more coats of paint on it.
4)Molding ... we added new molding to the ceiling, floor and doorway. The ceiling molding we bought as is. The floor and door molding Brian made. I am completely in love with how the door molding turned out. We will eventually do it throughout the house.

Here are some pictures of the finished product ...