Happy Birthday Jared!

For the past 3 years I've always wondered what birthdays are like in heaven.  You see, we have a very special angel looking down on us and each August we celebrate his birthday in a big way.  Jared was an avid golfer and having a golf "get together" just seems right every year.  And every year, we have a great turnout, wonderful weather and always a great time!  And every year, Addilyn knows we have to buy flowers and take them out to Jared.  She normally sings Happy Birthday to him, but this year some of his buddies were visiting him the same time we were and she got too shy.  Here's a pic of some of Jared's buddies visiting with Jared and having a beer too!

I want to take the time right now to thank the guys who come every year to participate in this event.  You all were true friends to Jared, and I think I can speak for the whole family when I say you guys are awesome for still coming out and keeping his memory alive.  Thank you!!

I'll share some pictures now from the day...

Addi posing for a pic at the driving range with her golf clubs.  When someone commented on "how good she was" Addi replied with "I play putt putt!"  What a diva!

Evan putting

Uncle Russ going for the drive

Gotta love little Aniston's dress!!  Her Uncle Jared would be sooo proud!

Griffin taking part in the day!

Saundra's tean.  Thank guys for coming in and for all the fun! 

Ethan, Josh, Brad and Dusty.  I think (actually I know) they had a lot of fun!!

Austin, Dee, Zach and Trampus.  And I know they had a lot of fun and laughs as well!

Saundra and Brady.  Must've been a good putt!

Father and Son team-Greg and Keiland

Such a pretty view!

GO TOPS!!!  Jared would be proud!

Jared's memorial garden at Russ and Saundra's hous.  And the concrete with Jared's initials in nothing else but golf balls!

 
 
The next two picture are very sweet. Even at the innocent age of 4, Addilyn seems to have such an understanding of where Jared is and that even though he's not physically here to celebrate with us, we continue to celebrate him. The day after the golf outing, we gathered as a family at mom and dad's and had a cookout. There was leftover ice cream cake from Russ and Saundra's the night before (we go there and eat and party after golfing). Addi said it was a birthday cake and was adamant on singing. She made mom find a candle and light it and all by herself (I think the rest of us were holding back some tears) sang "Happy Birthday" to Jared in the sweetest voice. God love her heart, she was only 13 months old when he was taken from us too soon, but yet, she talks and acts as if she knew him for so long. I know he was definitely smiling down on her as she sang to him!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARED!  

Family Vacation Gulf Shores

We are getting back into the swing of things this week after being on vacation for a week. We spent last week in "Golf Shores" as Addi called. She also thought we had to golf while there! lol. We took Aunt Ericka with us for some help and so Josh and I could have a little time to ourselves also. I think if Aunt Ericka never has to watch the Disney Channel ever again it'll still be too soon!

I think the highlight of Addi's trip was pushing the elevator button every time we went to the beach and the pool from our 8th floor condo. And the fact that she could go out in the pool a little farther than she's used to without floaties! Oh, the little things that amuse kids!

Both of our kids are major water babies and they couldn't get enough of the ocean or pool.

We ate at a lot of good restaraunts and the deal of the week with Addi was "you always try something new". This ranged from simple things to seafood. Addi would never touch a cracker. Whether it was a saltine or a ritz, she wouldn't ever touch one. Our first night eating, Addi decided to try a cracker. And guess what?! She actually liked it, and every place we ate at from there on out we had to get crackers. She also tried clam strips, fried shrimp, mozzerella sticks, popcorn shrimp and fried pickles. She liked the clam strips okay, the fried shrimp was a so-so, LOVED the popcorn shrimp, and hated the fried pickles. I think Reid's favorite place we went to was on our last afternoon we went to Hooters. He kept smiling (more than usual) and kept dropping his toys too! haha

We also took some pictures on the beach before going out to eat one night. I thought they turned out pretty good and wanted to share with you...














And then the night that Josh and I went out for a night for ourselves we took more pictures on our balcony with the ocean in the background...

We enjoyed a night of putt putt where Ericka kicked our butts, taking walks on the beach at night looking for crabs and we ran into a guy fishing for sharks that Addi thought was pretty cool and our endless walks in the morning looking for seashells. We had a good time at a neat place called The Hangout and Addi kept asking to go back to to listen to different bands. And of course we had to hit up the outlet malls!

We had great weather the whole trip without any rain! There was a lot of ocean life I guess you'd call it. Saw more jellyfish than we cared to, lots and lots of crabs, an occasional sting ray and our fair share of fish-and some of the fish were pretty big for being so close to the shore.

It was a relaxing week, we enjoyed having Josh around all week, all day long, all to ourselves! I know Reid won't remember any of his first vacation, but we have plenty of pictures to show him. And I hope Addi remembers it and all the fun and laughs we had. And a big thank you to Aunt Ericka for tagging along! Here's a very cute picture of her with Addi and Reid...




We all had a great time and Josh and I came home with many memories that we made with Addilyn and Reid that I know we will remember for years to come...

Pinkalicious

Last week, my sister in law and I took Addilyn and Jennings to the Derby Dinner Playhouse to see Addilyn's favorite book "Pinkalicious". For those of you who know Addi even just a little bit, this book and character describe Addi to a "T". So when I found out they were doing a play of the book at the Playhouse, I thought what a great girls trip to take. We picked out the prettiest, most pinkish dresses the girls had, loaded them up and took a short trip across the river. And I'm not quite sure who was more excited, the girls or Katrina and I. Of course, as soon as we walked in, the girls saw the gift shop and right in front were lots of "pink" things! So both girls got pink, sparkly light up wands. And in our house, this is still a big hit!

And then after our delicious kid friendly meal, who could pass on a HUGE pinkalicous cupcake?! I mean, afterall, that's how the whole story began...

I think both girls (and maybe even the mommies) are already thinking about the next girls day!

Uncle Tom

So I've sat here for quite a while trying to come up with a story to lead into what I want to write today. But no matter how long I sit here I can't come up with anything good enough. So instead I'll just tell my memories and be done with it. Can't think of an introduction good enough, so here goes... Whether he was actually your uncle, a family friend, a friend's uncle or you married into this big family, he had only one name and he was affectionatley known as "Uncle Tom". His back door was always open and entry hardly required a knock. Just a friendly smile, wave or hello and you were granted access into the most "homey, everyone is welcome" homes in Rineyville. Whether is was Sunday breakfast, burgoo making in October, tobacoo time or Thanksgiving; everyone was welcome. Thanksgiving is a holiday to live for around here. The question was never, "Are you gonna be at Uncle Tom's" it was "What time ya gettin there?" Thanksgiving Day is a day of just that-giving thanks. And a family of our size, well, you always have something to be thankful for. The basement on Thanksgiving was a divided section of card playing and child care. From poker to rook to Texas Hold 'Em, you could always find a game to pull up a seat to and lose your money. Coolers don't have names on them, you just drank from the closest one to ya or whatever was handed to ya. And conversation was always flowing. The TV side was kid central and somehow also nap taking. The kids would take to playing and you wouldn't have to worry about them. Everyone looked after everyone and if your kid did something they shouldn't, you knew someone would get after them. And you could always a find a game on the TV too. From golf to football to our beloved CATS, you could always catch a game any day. And I'm not just talking about Thanksgiving Day. That's just the day you were guaranteed to see everyone. Anytime anything was going on, you could bet it was going on at Uncle Tom's. Because of the man who sat upstairs in "his chair" with a beer in one hand, a spit cup close by and a smile or a nod to all who stopped long enough to talk. A man who let a wonderful tradition take shape year after year with his only comment being "as long as ya'll keep coming, we'll keep squeezing 'em in here". So thank you Uncle Tom for all the smiles, laughs and lifetime of memories. Thank you for the door that was always open and the greatest family traditon and wonderful family that I am proud to say I am a part of~ We laid Uncle Tom to rest last week. I hope he is enjoying reconnecting with all our loved ones who have gone before us. I'm sure it's quite a reunion! I hope our big ol' family will continue to carry on the Thanksgiving tradition and that we all still get together. I don't think he'd want it any other way...because family is what he was all about...

A Princess Kind of Day!

For Addi's birthday her Nonnie and PawPaw got her tickets to go see Disney Princesses on Ice. For a little girl who thinks she is a princess, can name every princess, the movie they are in, who their prince is and what color dress they wear-well, this made this "princess" on cloud nine. As the weeks got closer, she kept asking how much longer. So 10 days before the show we made a paper chain to help count down the days.

Pawpaw decided that Addi would have more fun by making it a "girls day" if Addi took a friend and he didn't go. (I don't think he was too upset at not going :) ) So Addi asked Larkin to go and the excitement between those two on the way to Lexington was contagious. Nonnie and I couldn't help to not get excited either!

Princess Addilyn and Princess Larkin excited before going into the show!

Excited with their Mickey and Ariel snow cones!

Tinkerbell

Ariel-Addi's favorite. She couldn't wait till Ariel came on. Larkin cheesing it up for the camera (I love this pic!)

Two very worn out little girls. I hope they had a blast and will remember the memories they made that day!

Happy Shamrock Day!

Addilyn had been looking forward to Thursday, March 17 since the week before. She called it Happy Shamrock Day and I'm guessing she got this from school. Whatever she wanted to call it, I didn't care-I was just excited she was excited about it. So I took to planning a day filled with "green" things.

Growing up, my mom ALWAYS made green pancakes on St. Patrick's Day. No matter if that day fell on a school morning or the weekend, you could always count on green pancakes for breakfast. So I thought, why not carry on the tradition? So, while Addi watched TV before breakfast, I worked on her green breakfast. I sat her at the bar with her eyes closed and snapped this picture as she opened her eyes! She was impressed with her green pancakes and green milk and didn't leave a crumb!

I snapped this picture the night before of my 2 little leprechauns in their green pj's.

Reid's 1st St. Patrick's Day!

Addilyn the colorful leprechaun!

Making green jello!

Lunch-looks a little gross to me, but she loved it!

And we ended the day with nothing other than a green supper! Grilled chicken (not green!), green beans, green mac n cheese (which looked a little moldy, but tasted good) and of course green jello!

Addi also made some green watergate salad for her Nonnie and Pawpaw to share in the spirit with them! We had cookies to decorate with green sprinkles and icing for her Nai Nai and Poppy, but they were out of town.

Addilyn also played with green play doh all day (she wouldn't play with any other color) and colored many leprechauns, pots of gold and shamrocks. (once again, the only crayon she used was green!) Can't wait till next year! Maybe Reid can join in the fun a little more!

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2011!

What's For Dinner

So last Wednesday for Ash Wednesday Addi and I made homemade cheese ravioli. She had a blast and it was super easy to make. She loves helping Mommy in the kitchen. It turned out to be a pretty tasty dish so I thought I'd share.

Golden Brown Ravioli with Tomato and Basil

2T whole milk

1 egg

3/4 c Italian bread crumbs

1/2 tsp salt (optional)

1/2 pkg cheese ravioli (I used the refrigerated Bertolli brand)

3 c vegetable oil for frying

1T grated parmesean cheese

16oz Tomato and Basil sauce (I think mine was Bertolli again)

Combine milk and egg in small bowl. Place breadcrumbs and salt in another bowl. Dip ravioli in milk mixture and then coat with breadcrumbs.

In large saucepan heat sauce until bubbly and hot.

In large heavy pan, heat oil until ready to fry in.

Fry ravioli a few at a time on each side until golden. Drain on paper towel. Sprinkle with parmesean cheese and serve with pasta sauce over top.

We added some french bread to make our "meatless" Ash Wednesday meal complete!