You scream, I scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!

I doubt whether the world holds for any one a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice cream...

Without ice cream life is meaningless...

It takes twelve gallons of milk to make one gallon of ice cream

It takes an average of 50 licks to finish off a single scoop ice cream cone

Children age 2 through 12 and adults over 45 eat the most ice cream (they did not count hubs in this poll!)

98 percent of homes in the United States have ice cream in them

Vanilla is the number one selling flavor of ice cream, my fav is Strawberry! What's yours?

Our new addition, Noah James

April 8, 2011. A day that I will remember forever. So much emotion seeing a baby in his first few moments. What a blessing. One that will never be taken lightly. We thank God for this blessing. Babies are his biggest blessing, don't you think?



12:39pm




20 and 1/2 inches long
8 pounds 4 ounces, the same exact weight of his Mama

Saying hello to his big brother for the first time
I think every parent wanders how their first born will be affected by a new baby. We were excited to see what Nathan was going to think. I think we all caught our breathe as he came in the room wondering and praying that he would be excited. That he would still feel loved. All those fears were put to rest quickly. Very quickly. He was so proud. Wanting to jump up with his mama to see his new buddy. Kissing his sweet head. Asking me to take his picture. Emotion. Big emotion. I was thankful that any of the pictures came out because I lost it. Nathan is going to a great big bother. He is already so in love!
I sure love my nephews! They bring so much joy to this family. I pray so many sweet blessing on Noah's life. Such a honor to be part of his life. I will never forget this day, the day Noah took his first breathe.

Happiness is...

Happiness is...
...making pretend dinner with our new play-doh
Happiness is...
...having Sonic on our new picnic table
Happiness is...
...new IronMan coloring sheets
Happiness is...
...that crinkled nose smile that makes me wonder what I did to deserve her
Happiness is...
...letters in the tub and hearing her sweet rendition of ABC's....A, C, D, F
Happiness is...
...watching new life form in one of my sweetest friends
Happiness is...
...this!

More birthday pics....

My husband and my daughter love Ironman. I know, weird huh? So of course I knew the perfect theme for these two. We had a little get together to celebrate these birthday buddies "ion-man" style.
How do you like Ava's new ride? What is it with this girl and boy toys? Trains, Ironman, cars....what is next? It was a perfect day! Happy Birthday to my Loves!

My favorite day! Oh how I love March 31st

I love this date, March 31st has brought many blessings to my life. On March 31, 1979 my husband was born. I thank God daily for the wonderful man and father he is. March 31, 2009 my daughter was born. God has blessed me with a sweet girl who brings many smiles and laughs to our days. The world is much better because these two people came on March 31st!
I am feeling weepy. How can it be that my baby is two? It seems that she maybe could be a year old, but 2, no way!

Ava,
You have been such a huge blessing. I love your smile and that sweet laugh that goes with it! It really is contagious. There are many times that you are laughing and crinkling that little nose up that I think, Is this real? Is she really mine? You make each day so much brighter. I look forward to each new day that starts because we have so much fun together! From cooking to bath time we have a blast.

Your speech is taking off. I love to hear the new words that sound so stinkin' cute. Unfortunately, your new favorite word seems to be no. You know all your colors and we are now working on letters. We ask you how old you are and you say two and hold up 4 fingers. We are working on that.
Here are some of your favs right now:
Thomas the train
Ironman
Cars
Veggie Tales (everytime we get in the car I hear "Bot-Bot" which means "Bob"
You love your dog Rozzy
Your cousin Na-Na seems to be a favorite since he was here for your party
The Little Gym
Slides (at the park and at school)

You are such a good eater, you eat everything. You still love all kinds of fruit. You love to eat Mexican food so you can have chips and dip. Thank God for 1/2 price fajita night at Pappasitos!
Now to hubs:
Jarred,
Happy Birthday! You are such an amazing dad and husband. You bless me is so many ways. I love that we are friends and we have such good times together. I love that after all these years I still get excited to have a date with you and just talk. You mean everything to me and I feel so lucky that God blessed my life in such a big way by just allowing me to be your wife. I am so proud to call you my husband and the father of my children. I pray many blessings on our family this upcoming year. I love you!
Love,
Me

Weekend Fun----Part 2

Welcome to Ava's Sweet Shoppe
What is better than a party with nothing but candy?
Really nothing!

Gummy bears, Star Bursts, Ring Pops, Oh My!
We want to thank everyone who came and made Ava's special day so special! Each of you mean so much to us. We are blessed. We hope you had as much fun as we did. I hope your not mad for the many sugar highs and hyper activity. Don't worry, we had a few here too!
Much love to each of you!

Weekend Fun---Part 1

This weekend caused many smiles, many happy thoughts, and many laughs. I feel so lucky! Lucky to have hubs, a precious "almost" 2 year old, and family/friends. I am one blessed chick!

Saturday was Ava's birthday party so we had Jarred's family come in early to have some fun! Brooke, Susie, and Nathan arrived on Friday. We rented a bounce house for the big day and I got a call asking if it would be okay if they dropped it off early and left it for the weekend! Really!?! Score for us! The kiddos had so much fun jumping (Ok, and the parents and Mamies!)
That night we took Nathan to the Aquarium restaurant so he could see the Sharks! The kiddos were amazed. They loved to watch the fish, there were many oohs and awws! After dinner the train took us to see the sharks! I think they could have cared less! What they cared about was the train that took us there. These kiddos are train lovin' fools! Then it was off to the carousel and farris wheel. What an absolutely perfect night!