Jambalaya sandwiches

Matt & Kel invited us over tonight for Matt's famous jambalaya sandwiches. They were delish.

In the backyard before dinner

The weather was so nice today, we headed outside before dinner to play in the backyard. Vivian loved crawling around in the grass, and Owen and I played a little baseball. He's getting pretty good at making a hit when I throw him the ball!

Congratulations Missy & Randy!!!

We left Vivian and Owen with Aunt Hillary, Grandpa, and Grandma today so we could drive to Philly to attend Missy & Randy's wedding celebration. Missy and I have known each other since freshman year of college back in the fall of 1997 when we met in English class and she asked me if I wanted to go out for the water polo team with her. We've been friends ever since!


The wedding was at a beautiful estate and the late afternoon outdoor ceremony began at 4:30. A harpist played lovely music during the processional. Missy was stunning as she was escorted down the aisle by her dad. The pastor spoke about how marriage is like the stock market - it comes with ups and downs, but if you continuously are investing in each other and you both stay focused on staying in it for the long haul, you'll do extremely well. Great way to look at it, don't you think? :)


Love these girls ~ friends for 14 years! (Wow - are we really that old?!)

The party was inside the big white tent and main house of the estate directly following the ceremony. We had cocktails outside in the rose garden which was so pretty. The decor was simple and elegant, it was just perfect. The toasts were funny and endearing, the dinner was delicious, and the dancing was very fun. It was a special night and we were so happy to be able to be there to celebrate with them.

Congratulations to the new Mr. & Mrs. Haugh!!!

You know you're taking too many pictures at dinner time when you see this face

Halloween treat

I found this cute Halloween treat idea (Pinterest, anyone??? LOVE IT!) and thought it would be fun to do with Owen.

Once Vivian was pleasantly occupied with some Cheerios, we gathering our ingredients:
Lollipop sticks (from craft store's cake decorating section), small clear treat bags and silver ties, green ribbon (I didn't have enough so ended up having to use my green/yellow ribbon), graham crackers, orange colored (white chocolate) candy wafer melts, and big marshmallows.

Then, I melted the candy melts in the microwave while Owen hammered the graham crackers into tiny pieces. He found this to be a very fun job, as probably any little boy would.

The next step was to stick a lollipop stick in each marshmallow, dip it in the melted orange chocolate to cover it, then dip the top of it in crushed graham crackers. Owen did such a great job helping me!

We put them on a plate so that the chocolate could harden in the fridge. After 10 minutes we took them out and put them into the little clear bags, tied with a silver twist tie, and then a green ribbon. This is a picture of a few of them. We made about 12 total, I think. They came out pretty good for our first holiday-themed treat activity. They taste a little like s'mores. :)

Happy Birthday Dad! (aka Poppy)

While I may possibly be the world's worst at remembering to mail a birthday card, I can say that I am getting better. (Does mailing the card on the birthday itself count for anything???)

Top Ten Things I Love About My Dad

10. He taught me to love watching sports - football mainly - but I have grown to also love watching golf, boring as it can be sometimes, it's relaxing.

9. He was patient with me when I was easily frustrated at learning to drive a stick-shift car when I was 16. I don't think teaching me to ride a two-wheeler was quite as challenging.

8. He always had a bouquet of flowers for me after my dance recitals growing up.

7. When he got home from work each night he'd put his briefcase down, and I'd hear "Hello Sweetie!". I still get that greeting each time we meet. Now Vivi has the nickname too. :)

6. I've learned the value of strong friendships from my dad.

5. He taught me that life is too short and we should enjoy the time we have together and not let the little things get in the way.

4. He gives really great hugs.

3. He taught me that "it's only money" whenever I was stressed about it, and that enjoying life is far more important than having lots of money or buying expensive things.

2. He always knew how to tell me he was proud of me.

1. He has always been there for me. No matter what.

I love you Daddy. You are the best father in the world and I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

Vivi cracking up during bathtime

Vivian has always been our serious baby. But just this week we've seen her silly side emerge and it's SO MUCH FUN MAKING HER LAUGH!

I was putting her jammies on the other night and our neighbor's dog barked and you could hear it. So I said, "Hear the doggy barking? Ruff! Ruff!" And she started giggling!

Then tonight during bathtime, she was splashing so Ben said, "Whoa!" and she let out huge belly laughs. By the time I shot this video a few minutes later, they had been playing that game non-stop and she was getting a little tired of it, but I still caught some cute laughs on camera.

I LOVE hearing her laugh. We waited awhile for that and it was totally worth it.

Playdate with Sarah Catherine & Benjamin

Steph invited us over today for a playdate and we were so excited to catch up since we haven't had a chance to get together lately. From the moment we got there, Sarah Catherine couldn't wait to give Owen his birthday present. The kids played for awhile, then we had lunch, and then Owen got to open his gift. (We knew that we had to save it for last or else he wouldn't want to do anything but open & play with the toy!)

It was an awesome three-story Little People racetrack ramp set with two race cars! Owen LOVES it! He made me set it up the moment we got home and played with it non-stop until bedtime. Ben was impressed that I was able to put it together all by myself. (Without the instructions, I might add, since I didn't notice they were taped to the bottom of the toy!)

Thank you so much Sarah Catherine for a super cool birthday present and fun playdate!

Pumpkin Patch

We visited a local pumpkin patch today to get into the Halloween mood. Unfortunately because of all the rain we've been having, it was too muddy for Owen to enjoy all the fall festival kid play areas. But we kept him distracted by having him pick out mums and pumpkins. We're hoping to head back a few more times before the Halloween season is over.

Owen loves to swiffer!

While cheering on the Hokies today, Owen did some cleaning.

(He picked it up himself, I swear! By no means was I trying to use my child as a maid. I promise.)