Happy Birthday, Papa! - 59/365

Happy Birthday, Papa! 

Tonight Jim, Reagan, my mom, dad and I went to Tippy to celebrate my dad's birthday! It's actually tomorrow, but we decided to celebrate tonight. We always say it's Spring once we get to his birthday since it's March 1st.  So Happy Birthday and Happy Spring! LOL! 

We had a wonderful dinner with lots of laughs! Reagan especially loved being the present delivery girl. I had the gifts on the floor by her high chair so she loved carrying them over and giving them to Papa.  After presents we sang Happy Birthday and shared some desserts. A perfect evening to celebrate a perfect guy! 

Reagan and Papa are the photo of the day!

Fluffin' Fuzzy - 58/365

At the end of every vacation is laundry and LOTS of it. This time was no different. 

Mr. Fuzzy was in desperate need of a "swim" as grandma Ruthie would say. After traveling all the way to Florida and being in three theme parks, it was time for Mr. Fuzzy to get cleaned up. Washing Mr. Fuzzy is always a challenge because... 1. she NEVER puts him down, and 2. she MUST nap with him. I planned it out that first thing this morning I would throw him in with the whites. Well of course, she was clutching him and would NOT let go! I decided to talk to her about it and show her what we were going to do. I put him in there and showed her what he would be doing. She watched him go around and around and only showed very minor distress. At one point she did say, "get Mr. Fuzzy out!" I took her out in the kitchen and distracted her with her breakfast and by the time she was done it was time to put him in the dryer. We moved him over and she thought that was pretty funny. We went up so mommy could take a shower and when we came back down, she did run in the laundry room looking for him, but he was still tumbling away. We went to lunch with Nana and when we came home he was spic and span waiting to cuddle for nap time. She seemed to be all proud that she actually witnessed the bath this time. She kept holding him up to me saying, "mama smell!" 

 The photo of the day is Mr. Fuzzy in with the whites, getting ready for his "swim".

 

Swimming in February - 57/365

Today is the last morning in Florida for awhile. 

Every time we come it gets harder to go home. We just love Florida! 

We woke up around 7:30 and decided to hit the playground at the resort before we got showered and packed up for the airport. We left the room, and realized it was already around 75 degrees. It was BEAUTIFUL! We played at the playground for awhile, then said what the heck, let's hit the pool! Turns out they were cleaning the big pool, getting it ready for the day, so we just let Reagan splash around in the baby pool. She was LOVING it! We ended up talking to a lady that grew up in Struthers. What a small world! She and her husband now live in South Florida and love to take weekend trips up to Disney. 

After swimming for awhile, I headed back to the room to start my shower and get packed up. We got all situated, then went and had lunch at the resort food court. We got a bit of a late start to the airport, but thankfully, all the lines were nice and short. We ended up having plenty of time before our flight. There was a pretty nasty storm that rolled through right before we boarded the plane but by the time we were taking off, it wasn't even raining, thankfully! We got up in the air and had a pretty smooth flight. Although, I think the flight deck mentioned "gusty winds in Pittsburgh" about four times while in the air, which was making me rather nervous. As we started our decent, we hit the worst turbulence I have experienced in a flight. The plane was shaking and flopping everywhere. I honestly had tears in my eyes. At one point, the plane just dropped straight down and I think every passenger said "whoa" at the same time. Reagan, on the other hand, was just happy as a lark asking questions about anything and everything. Jim said it wasn't the worst he has experienced but was a little uncomfortable at certain points. We're both pretty good fliers, him more so than me. I don't get nervous flying but I HATE any type of turbulence...even minor. I was never so happy to be back to the gray skies of Ohio. (well PA at that point...LOL!) 

We had a smooth drive home and the wonderful weekend officially came to a close. 

 The photo of the day is Reagan swimming in February!

 

Alexandra's 4th Birthday! - 56/365

We hit Magic Kingdom today. It was SUPER HOT and the park was packed! We started over in the new Fantasyland to get fast passes for the new Ariel Ride, which happened to be broken. Nice! It was due to be up in awhile, so we still got fast passes for that and then went to the Haunted Mansion. We had a small wait for that but after we got on, it was a long ride, it kept stopping through the whole thing...LOL! 

We headed back over to Fantasyland to ride a few more things. At that point Andrew, had had enough Princesses so Matt and Nikki were going to take the kids over to ride Big Thunder Mountain, since Ally was tall enough, too. Jim and I like it, but Magic Kingdom just has SO MUCH "kiddy" stuff we decided to stay behind and play in Fantasyland for Reagan. As soon as Matt and Nikki walked away we looked down at Reagan and she was sound asleep, so that killed that plan. Jim and I decided to get out of the heat and took a stroll over to the Contemporary Resort. We had a drink in the lounge of one of our favorite Disney restaurants, The Wave. It was lovely because it's a little bit dark, it was ICE cold and we were the ONLY ONES in there. We kicked back and just chit chatted while Reagan got a little snooze. We headed back to Fantasyland and rode a few things before we were supposed to meet back up with Matt and Nikki for Alexandra's birthday celebration! 

We all met at Cinderella's castle to celebrate! We got right in and met Cinderella first and had some pictures taken. We got seated and soon after the waitress came over with some wands for the girls and a sword for Andrew. Nikki was also nice enough to turn one of Alexandra's "perks" into another crown for Reagan, so both girls got to wear these beautiful crystal crowns! (THANKS NIK! You are too sweet! Reagan just LOVES it!) We placed our order and suddenly the princesses started coming fast and furious. The kids were so excited to see all of them. At one point, Aurora was a few tables over and Reagan started yelling "RORA" trying to get her attention...LOL! After we finished up dinner, the server brought out Alexandra's adorable Ariel cake. It was so fun to see how excited she was. We all sang and she had a ball. The cake was delicious, too! 

 The photo of the day is Alexandra with the fondant banner from her cake and her beautiful crown. Happy Birthday, sweetie pie! So happy we could help celebrate your birthday at the Magic Kingdom! 

 

 

Biergarten! - 55/365

 Today we hit EPCOT! We were going to meet at park open which was at 9am. 

We all ended up running a bit late due to the Disney Marthon that was going on. Turns out, nearly 25,000 people (yes that's correct) were running the marathon, which ended in the parking lot of EPCOT. Roads were all turned around and rerouted for the runners, who were all wearing tutus, mind you. We all finally made it and got inside. Once inside the guys were going to run and get fast passes for Soarin' and Test Track, while us girls took the kids to meet Daisy Duck, who was right up front. 

Jim ended up coming back because he couldn't even make it to Test Track because the runners track went through that part of EPCOT. Matt was heading for Soarin' and they had a partial road block over there. It was a very rocky morning but by 10:30 all was well and we were making it around with no problems. We ended up doing almost everything in future world and then headed back to have lunch in Mexico and margarita to wash it down. There is not much better than an EPCOT Mexico Margarita!!! They are Nikki and I's favorite! It was nice to sit and enjoy a margarita after the hectic morning. 

After lunch, we did a few rides at World Showcase and then headed back to future world to do Test Track. They just revamped it and it was AWESOME! We all LOVED it! Ally was so excited because she was tall enough to ride! 

After a few more things we headed back to have dinner in World Showcase. We had made reservations at the German Biergarten. This was one thing we had all been looking forward to for a long time. They have huge beers and a HUGE buffet. There is also a stage where they have some music. It's such a fun and upbeat place. After we ate, Nikki and I took the girls down and they spent some time dancing on the dance floor. It was too adorable. We were having such a good time we didn't even realize we were in there for TWO HOURS. 

We had fun, but were kind of bummed because we weren't going to make it "around the world" as a group. Matt had promised Andrew he could ride Test Track again, so they headed over there. Jim, Nikki, the girls and I took a stroll "around the world" and then found a spot for fireworks. Ally was so excited to watch fireworks, she was talking about them all evening. The funny thing was, as SOON as they started, the little sweetie was out cold! She was sound asleep. More proof of a super fun day. 

The photo of the day is Matt, Nikki,  Jim and I at the Biergarten where we stayed for two hours! LOL!

Expedition Everest - 54/365

Today was our first park day.
Jim, Reagan and I headed over to the Animal Kingdom Park to do a character breakfast at Tusker House. Donald Duck is the main character, but Mickey, Goofy and Daisy were all there as well! It was a wonderful buffet and we had a blast. The characters were so great.
After breakfast, we met Matt, Nikki and the kids over at the safari for our first attraction. We all loved it and most all the animals made an appearance for us! After that we went over to Expedition Everest. This is one of our favorites in the Animal Kingdom. It's a huge coaster, while not that intense, it's just super fun. We all loved it and rode it multiple times!
By the end of the day we took in almost every attraction at Animal Kingdom, except for It's a Bugs Life, Khali River Rapids (which Jim and I NEVER do) the Wildlife Trail, and Rafiki's Planet Watch. It was a GREAT day, we even stopped to have a drink at Jim and I's favorite, Dawa Bar. The kids were great and never gave anyone a problem. The only problem all day, was I lost my photopass lanyard. Luckily, I had taken a picture of the numbers on the back so it was easy to replace. The rest of the crew finished up an attraction while I headed to the front to get it replaced. We ended the day back at Expedition Everest, which at that point was a walk on. YAY!
After doing an open to close day at Animal Kingdom (which was open till 8pm, very unusual) we were all starving so we had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe to close our day. We were seated by some animitronic gorillas, which scared poor Ally through the whole dinner.  We felt so bad. She had had enough that she didn't even get to enjoy the chocolate volcano, poor thing. Reagan was so pooped that she actually FELL ASLEEP sitting at the table with a french fry and a hunk of grilled cheese in her hand! The sign of a perfect day!
The photo of the day is Everest, since it's where we spent most of the day! 

Lapu Lapu - 53/365

Today, we took another trip down to Walt Disney World!

 Nikki and Matt decided they wanted to fly down and have a birthday dinner at Cinderella's Castle for Alexandra's 4th birthday. When they booked it, they said we were more than welcome to join them. Of course, we RARELY will turn down a trip to see Mickey, so away we went. 

We headed to the airport in the morning during an ice storm...that was fun. We made it to the airport OK and boarded the plane. We were about a 1/2 hour delayed due to being de-iced...also fun.

 We finally got to Orlando to near 90 degree temps. It was WONDERFUL!!! 

We decided to have a family dinner, to kick off our trip, at the Grand Floridian Cafe. We had a wonderful dinner even though our waitress was a little slow with our drinks. Which after a long travel day, we were all itching for....LOL!

 After dinner, we decided to take the monorail over to the Polynesian to have some Lapu Lapus! Nikki and Matt have always wanted to try one but just never made it over to the Polynesian to get one. A Lapu Lapu is a strong adult beverage served in a hollowed out pineapple. 

They are so delicious! 

We arrived at the Polynesian and found a great sitting area to all sit and chat while we enjoyed our drinks. Nikki and I stayed with the kids while Matt and Jim hit the bar. A few minutes later, Jim came back over and asked if there is anything else we may want because they were OUT OF THEM! WHAT!? Nikki was so sad, and I was too! We came all this way and NO Lapu Lapus?! Jim took our replacement order and headed back over. A few minutes later they came back over with 3 Lapu Lapus! YAY! Another bartender said they weren't out of them after all, someone just went to go get some more pineapples. We all enjoyed our beverages while the kids enjoyed some ice cream. It was a perfect kick off to our trip! 

The picture of the day is Matt, Nikki and I and the much anticipated Lapu Lapus! 

Ghost Hunters - 52/365

This evening Jim finally got to enjoy one of his Christmas presents...LOL!

 For a long time we had been HUGE fans of the television show Ghost Hunters on SyFy, so when I saw they were coming to Cleveland, I had to get Jim tickets for Christmas!

 We would sit and watch five or six episodes in one sitting...even episodes we had seen before. We bought shirts and have most of the DVDs. We were even lucky enough to be down in Disney one time when Steve and Tango were doing an appearance. We got to meet them and have our picture taken. It was great!

We have kinda got out of watching Ghost Hunters since Reagan came along. We have found that since the show is all in the dark and they whisper a lot, we tend to fall asleep during the show these days. LOL! We still keep up with them via Facebook and Twitter though. 

So finally tonight, Steve and Jason were doing a presentation at the Palace Theater. We started the evening by having dinner at Nicolinni's. Then had drinks at a restaurant next to the theater. 

The presentation itself was fabulous! For two guys standing on a stage talking about the fact that there MAY be ghosts, it was extremely entertaining. It was almost like we went to see a comedian because we literally laughed out loud the whole time. They talked about some of their clients and how they never know what they are walking into. For example, they said they went to one house where the lady let them in and was talking with them at the table. Then she went into the kitchen and came back with a pan ready to hit them because she FORGOT she let them in! 

 They played a lot of EVPs and showed some video evidence as well. They showed a scene where Jason left a camera running in his room on a case, while he was trying to fall asleep, and the light came on next to his bed. He popped up and just stared at the light and kinda held his pillow as a weapon. It was too funny! 

They ended the show with a pretty long Q&A which was fun, too! We really enjoyed our night out and were really happy we went. Merry Christmas, Jimmy! Xoxo 

Steve and Jason are the photo of the day! 

Cruising with MB20!!!! - 51/365

Today is a SUPER EXCITING day! 

My mom, Jennifer and I have booked a cruise with MATCHBOX TWENTY! OMG! 

The band has chartered a ship leaving from Miami and heading to Nassau for three days in December! A cool thing about it, is my mom will get to celebrate her birthday on the ship, with one of her favorite bands! How awesome is that? 

 With the particular cabin level we booked, we are guaranteed seats in the first 3 rows of all their reserved events on the ship. The ULTIMATE is we get a meet & greet/photo session WITH THE BAND!!! We finally get to HUG, Rob Thomas. OMG! 

He is one of our absolute favorite artists, and I can honestly say there is NOT ONE song that he has EVER sang, that I can say I don't like. I really need to pinch myself because it's unreal!

 We got to book today being fan club members, before the general public could book. Good thing we did, because our particular cabin level was gone in 11 minutes! WOW! It should be a super fun three days with two of my favorite gals! 

Nassau in December with MB20? YES, PLEASE! 

 Here is the photo the day..... 

 

Tower Builder - 50/365

Tonight, Jim and Reagan were playing in the playroom with the Mega Blocks. She started building a tower and before he knew it, it was taller than her! Bonus, she had done it all by herself. He called me to come see it and I said "that's fabulous! Let me get my camera!" I was afraid she would knock it down, so I was trying to hurry. Of course, I could NOT find my camera. I started to panic that I left it somewhere. It finally hit me, it was just in the basement so I ran down to get it. Thankfully, she didn't knock it down and we kept one last block to catch her putting it on the top! Congrats, Reagan! I think we have a future architect on our hands.
Reagan and her tower is the photo of the day....

 

Family Fun Finale - 49/365

We are closing the book on "Family Fun Weekend" today. Boooooo!
We had such a great time, probably the best family fun we've had in awhile. We got to enjoy so many fun things together and had so many laughs.
 Ed and Pam had to head back to Piqua today, after making the special trip to help us celebrate Reagan's barnyard party. They love Inner Circle in Canfield, so we all met there to have our last family fun lunch, for this time. We got our usual hot chips and pizza and had a great time. Uncle Ed bought Reagan a little treasure at Hobby Lobby earlier in the day, she was so excited. He got her a "Wild Animal Toob". It comes filled with little animals. We had the animals doing all kinds of stuff around the table again. Aunt Pam even put the Polar Bear on the ice in her drink, saying he was hot...LOL! Uncle Ed also put his awesome drawing skills to work by drawing Reagan a Pluto, airplane and even the old school, Wooly Willy! She loved it! We had a great lunch and it was a great way to close the weekend! I'm exhausted...LOL!
Today's picture is Ed, Pam, Reagan, Fuzzy and the "Toob" that Eddie got Reagan! Thanks so much for everything 

 guys...we had a BLAST!
Reagan gives a thumbs up to the weekend! ;)

  

Matchbox Twenty! - 48/365

Family fun continued today!
The day started off with an impromptu trip into Mill Creek Park to photograph the freshly fallen snow. My Aunt Pam said she has always wanted to take winter pictures of Lanterman's Mill, so they decided to go after church.  My mom texted around 8:00 to see if I wanted to go and I jumped at the chance to take some pictures...LOL! We had a great time wandering around in the snow! It was gorgeous! After our "hike" we headed off to Bob Evan's for some breakfast.
Then, we all headed home to rest up and get ready for Zabel girls night with Matchbox Twenty! WOO HOO! We had dinner at the Phoenix in Canfield and were taken care of by our friend, Cindi! It was such a nice dinner!
We finished up dinner and got on the road. We wanted to be early because Jennifer loves Phillip Phillips who was opening for MB20. He was fantastic! Usually, openers are a little rusty and not too swift but he was excellent!
 Matchbox 20 hit the stage at 8:30 and played for TWO STRAIGHT HOURS! It was AMAZING!!! I've seen them countless times, but this time had to be the best yet. They were spot on and did every single hit they had. It was an absolutely phenomenal show!!! Rob Thomas just seems like such a nice guy and has a great sense of humor. He plays with the crowd and his band mates. The one guitarist, Paul's guitar wasn't working and he teased about that. He also took a girl's cell phone off her and started making a video of him walking around the stage...LOL! It was just such a good time all the way around!
On the way home us girls reminisced about all the fun times we've had together down in Myrtle Beach. Perfect day with some of my favorite ladies! Love you girls!
Today's picture is Rob Thomas taking a video of Kyle with the stolen cell phone.


 

Barnyard Party - 47/365

Neigh, Moo, Cock-a-doodle-doo... Reagan turned two!
Today was the long awaited Barnyard Party! WOO HOO!
 My mom, Aunt Pam and I all headed to Fair Park at 8:00am to get started decorating. We had such a fun time setting everything up. Everything went better than we could have imagined.
We finished up and headed back home to take showers and then got back to Fair Park around 2:00 to take some pictures and start waiting for all the guests. Everyone showed up right on time, and we got the party kicked off.
 The kids all had a BLAST playing in the Barnyard and they were all so well behaved. Reagan was in her glory!
She got so many wonderful presents, too. You can tell she is very loved!
 Clean up went just as easy as set up, but obviously a little more sad. Parties go too quick! I think Reagan was sad to see it end, too...Jim said when he was getting her in the tub and took her party outfit off she said, "Bye Birthday!" So pitiful!
All in all, I think (well I hope) everyone had a great time and we're already looking forward to birthday number three!
Photo of the day is a picture of the hall before everyone arrived....   

Party Eve - 46/365

It's birthday party eve, I am so excited!
Today final preparations went into the party. Reagan is getting excited and keeps saying "get the horses out!" I'm not sure where that is coming from, we aren't having horses. Maybe just talking about a barnyard for the last month...LOL!
Tonight, we kicked off "family fun weekend" with my mom, dad, Uncle Ed and Aunt Pam.
 Ed and Pam drove up from Piqua to spend the weekend. Yay!
We had a yummy dinner at Tippy with a lot of great laughs.  Anyone that goes to dinner with a two-year-old, knows there are moments that you need to do something to keep the attention on the table. Aunt Pam helped by having Reagan's princesses and Pluto dance on the beverages. Reagan got a great laugh out of that! She was also quite generous with her dinner. She had french fries as a side, and loved dipping each one in ketchup and then passing them around the table...lol.
All in all, a great night and really looking forward to tomorrow!
The princesses and Pluto dancing with the beverages is the photo of the day.... ;) 

Valentine's Day - 45/365

Today is Valentine's Day!

 I woke up around 6:30 to Jimmy carrying a huge box into the bedroom. He thought I was sleeping, but I wasn't...LOL! I said "what is that big box?" He said, "Why are you awake? It's a Valentine's Day present for us!" We had "agreed" on a no presents pact since we have some extra trips planned this year. Obviously, he didn't follow that rule! I opened the box and it was a brand new Keurig Machine...YAY! Ours has been acting up for sometime now, so I think it was on it's last leg. It's so fun to have a brand new shiny one on the counter! 

My card was awesome, too! When you open it, it sings a Rascal Flatts song. Now what can be BETTER than that!? 

 I didn't quite follow the rules either, I ended up getting Jim a WII game called Disney Universe. Hee hee.

All in all it was a very nice Valentine's Day and I got to spend it with my two favorite sweethearts. 

Our new Keurig and my card are the photo of the

 day. Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Bag Lady - 44/365

So THIS is how our spare bedroom has looked for nearly a week and a half. If someone walked in there, they would most certainly call me the bag lady. I like organization, so this mess was driving me BONKERS. I'm so weird that every night Reagan's toys in the living room and her playroom have to be picked up and organized. LOL!
 Anyway, in that pile of madness was all stuff for Reagan's party. I have been slaving away on the centerpieces and little signs, but this is all the purchased items that haven't been organized yet. I spent the morning organizing and sorting that major mess. All the plates and napkins, banners, and other ready made decorations are now all in their own boxes packed up ready for travel to Fair Park.
I feel SO MUCH BETTER!
My pile of bags is the photo of the day.....

Mardi Gras - 43/365

Not too much to report today, just spent the day continuing to prepare for the big barnyard bash this weekend! Getting so excited!
 It happens to be Fat Tuesday! Mardi Gras in your mid 30's is A LOT different from your
mid 20's...LOL! We spent the evening playing with Reagan, having spaghetti for dinner and snacking on leftover birthday desserts....wouldn't trade it for anything!
 I've done a Mardi Gras picture of Reagan the last three Fat Tuesday's so I had to do one today.
Here is the photo of the day!

I figured I'd share the other two...it's fun to see how much she changes!
Here is the one from last year....

And the year before....

 

Have a great Mardi Gras!

Happy Birthday, Reagan! - 42/365

Today our little girl turned TWO! It's unbelievable how fast the time goes. It honestly feels just like yesterday that  we were scared to death at the hospital, holding this tiny little person we had no idea what to do with. Now, we have this beautiful little girl that spends the day singing! 

We started the day by taking a picture, of course, then we had some yummy breakfast. Reagan dined on strawberries and "Oh-ga" (yogurt) her favorite! We then headed out with Nana to run some more birthday errands and had lunch at Salvatores. 

When daddy got home from work, we got a visit from grandma and grandpa Cvetkovic a few minutes. They stopped by to drop off a card and some cupcakes! YUM!

 Next, we headed down to take a few more birthday pictures with her balloons. To celebrate her awesome behavior, we went straight to opening presents! She had a few from mommy and daddy and a couple from Nana & Papa. She was so excited to open presents! She has a bit of OCD though, and wanted to throw away each piece of paper she ripped. She kept saying, "I frow dis in twash". After a lengthy present session, finally, came the yummy ice cream cake and cupcakes. Reagan absolutely loves ice cream and calls it "cake" so it was perfect. We spent a little time playing with her new toys, and finally ended the day with our usual, bath, book and singing. 

All in all, I think she had a fabulous day! She is just a little sweetheart and we can't get enough of her. We are so proud of her and are just so excited to watch her grow. 

I just wish I could freeze this time...it goes so fast! 

Happy SECOND Birthday, Reagan! We love you! ♥

Congratulations Musilli Family!- 41/365

I had the special honor to take a very important photograph for a good friend today! 

Rachel and Ron, our neighbors and good friends, are expecting their second baby in August! YAY! Rachel asked if I would take a few pictures for their family to help announce their big news! Of course, I said YES! We started here at the house and used my new lights to take a few of Parker in his big brother shirt, first. Then we went down the street and took one outside to "add up" their family. They were perfect subjects and I only took 4 before we "got it"! The picture came out fabulous! 

We all love it! 

Congratulations guys, we're so happy for you! Can't wait to meet the new addition! ♥ 

 They are my photo of the day!

Sleigh Ride - 40/365

We went on a little adventure today! Awhile back, I had discovered a little place called Ma & Pa's. It's a tiny little colonial house with a gift shop and they offer sleigh rides all winter, and carriage rides in the summer. I had signed up to receive their "snow alerts" which will tell you when they are heading out.  I finally just got one the other day, so I called and got us an appointment for today. 

I was a little nervous leaving home, because all our snow was pretty much melted. I was thinking "how can we do a sleigh ride with no snow!?" As we kept going north the snow seemed to be holding steady and by the time we got there, they had at least a couple inches still on the ground. YAY! 

We arrived, hopped out of the car and spotted the stunning horses. They were HUGE, gorgeous animals! There were four horses and two sleighs. We ended up in the green sleigh which was the first one in the ride. That was nice because Reagan could see both sets of horses. I think she really enjoyed it and Jim and I did, too! It was a really nice relaxing ride through the beautiful country side. It's something we would all do again! Us in our sleigh is the photo of the day!

We finished our day with a trip to the Eastwood Mall to check out the fish since we were already on 422. We ended up riding the little train they have, which was also super fun. Each little car has a speaker with jammin' music...LOL! We finally grabbed a bite to eat at Fuddruckers! Perfect day!

Frigid Flag - 39/365

The last couple days have been pretty much like Groundhog Day around here. Wake up, work on the party, go to bed. It makes for some tough photo of the day possibilities. I hope I'm not having "photographers block" already. I'm only 39 days in. LOL! 

Today the news was all about the huge winter storm ("Nemo" as the Weather Channel is calling it...whatever) that's pummeling the East Coast. New York City was expected to get between 12-18 inches, and Boston is expected to get nearly TWO FEET of snow! WOW!

 Here in Youngstown, we weren't affected by "Nemo", but the winds were quite blustery. I could hear the house creaking from the wind all day. Luckily, we only got a dusting of snow, which was good news. Jim, awesome daddy that he is, braved the wind and still took Brinkley for his walk. He said Brinkley's fluffy hair was blowing all over the place but the pup didn't seem to mind. Thankfully, we're nearly half way through February so the yucky winter days, will soon come to an end. 

Today's photo is our American Flag being tossed about in the wind.
Not the best, but hey, it's a picture! LOL!

Bed Time Story - 38/365

Today was just another day around the Cvetkovic house. Jim headed off to work and I did a few chores. Grandma C came over for a bit so I could continue some party planning. 

I'm so excited about the barnyard party! 

Anyway, this evening Jim headed out to catch a YSU basketball game with his dad, so it was girls night in. Reagan and I hung out, watched some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and had some dinner. Before we knew it, it was bath time. Every night after bath we cuddle up under the blanket and read 4 books while she drinks her milk. Then we turn off the light, and sing a few songs. ALWAYS "Old McDonald had a Farm", we don't go an evening without singing that one, then I tuck her in with her bedtime pals. I'm sure daddy has his own routine, but that's mommy's...LOL! 

Today's photo is Reagan and I cuddled up for story time. ♥

Googly Gluing - 37/365

Today I finally started assembling some barnyard stuff for Reagan's 2nd Birthday. I can't believe she's going to be TWO! It really feels like we just brought her home to a house with NO HEAT...LOL! It's crazy! 

Her party this year is a barnyard theme. She is all about animals and constantly sings "Old McDonald Had a Farm", so it's perfect! 

I spent the day cutting out 64 barnyard animals with my Cricut, and glued 128 "googly eyes" onto the various animals. It was really fun and it was so great to be back in my craft room. I hadn't spent anytime in there since I made all the stuff for Reagan's FIRST birthday. Thanks, Nana!

I really love crafting and hope to get scrapbooks done someday, but we'll just save that till she heads off to school. I'm not rushing that...MOST days...LOL! 

Today's picture is my pile of googly eyes, my distress ink, my FAVORITE crafting glue and a peek at one of the horses!

Lights, Camera, Say Cheese! - 36/365

I'm SO EXCITED! Today, I got some studio grade lights to play around with! Now I can have the perfect lighting all the time, any time! YAY! I have been wanting these forever and after hoarding some gift cards, I was able to make my purchase today! I got them home and immediately tried them out. I love them! 

I managed to get them all set up and working properly just in time to take a handsome little boy's Valentine pictures. I can't give names because it's a surprise for his mama. I'm not friends with the her on Facebook (so sorry friends) but Youngstown is a SMALL town and who knows, who knows who! LOL! I hope to share the pictures soon. 

Brinkley was happy to demonstrate my new "studio".  My new lights are the photo of the day....