Preschool Valentine's Party - 43/365



Today was Reagan's Valentine Party at school! She was so proud of her box we made and couldn't wait to show the kids.

We worked hard on her little box. She said she wanted a dog box so I let her choose what dog we cut out and the papers we used. She helped me do a lot of the gluing. She was so proud!

We got to the school and loved checking out everyone's boxes. They were all fantastic! There was a Olaf, gumball machine, hot air balloon, basketball hoop, giraffe, all kinds of neat ones! It was so cute to watch them pass out their Valentine's!

They played some super fun games. Pin the heart on the dog, shoot arrows through a hoop, transfer candy hearts from one cup to another! They loved them all.

They did a great craft where they used washable markers to color on coffee filters. The mom's sprayed them with water and the colors bled to cover the whole filter. We let them dry and attached them to straws. When we did that, they looked like an adorable flower. The kids loved them!

After that, they had pizza and cupcakes! They gobbled everything up!

We finally read a book, played a couple games over and then it was time to go!

They all had a great party! It's so cute to watch them all in action! They are a wonderful group of kids!

This evening, Jim, Reagan and I had a fun time going through her Valentines and her little gift bags from some of the kids. She got so many cute ones!

What a fun day!

Reagan and her Valentine Box.

Reagan and Alivia in class with their boxes

Filter flowers

Reagan and her Valentine's

Her box and all her Valentine goodies!

Disney 4th of July - 185/365

It's 4th of July and we're in Disney! How cool is that!?

 We spent some time wandering the resort this morning before breakfast. It was a gorgeous day and I was fascinated with the HUGE plants around the resort. We grow them here, but ours are NEVER this big. I loved it!

We were going to avoid all the major crowds, so we thought we would do Animal Kingdom this morning. We chose right, because the lines were minimal. It was so nice!

We got over there, took a few family photos, and hit the safari! It was a great safari, a lot of the animals were out.

Before we left this afternoon, we decided we would try Kali River Rapids. Reagan finally met the height limit! YAY! She was so excited. She did great on the ride and of course, I was the only one that got totally drenched! LOL!

We decided to head back to the room later this afternoon to take some naps.

We were going to do Epcot tonight for the 4th. Magic Kingdom was supposed to be a mad house.

We actually had a lovely Chinese dinner on the America's birthday. It was yummy. I actually got a text from Barb and Pat that they were in the park, too!

We met up with them and did a few rides. We decided we would go to the front and ride the rides while the fireworks were going off. It worked out great, because there was NO ONE in line for ANYTHING! It was awesome!

It was a fun day!

Our baby girl

Family photo!

 She made it!

Way to go, Reagan

Barb and Pat!

Beautiful 4th of July lights

Downard Easter - 109/365

Today we were celebrating Easter at Nana and Papa's house. 

It was just a small crew this year with grandma in the rehab facility. It was just Nana, Papa, Raymond, Jennifer, Dexter, Jim, Reagan, Brinkley and I. It was just a nice quiet dinner. 

Jenny brought our "trio of carbs" and I brought the broccoli casserole and dessert. Nana and Papa did the meats and some appetizers. We had it covered! We had a fun time just sitting around, chatting and stuffing ourselves. 

Reagan got an adorable Easter basket from Ray and Jenn with lots of candy and some fun toys. Parachuting rabbits, chalk, book, stickers, gardening gloves and fun socks, which she loves! She was excited!

Nana and Papa had a little Easter egg hunt for her and also had some Easter treasures, too! Her favorite was her Belle gown, she was THRILLED! She also got a new Lalaloopsy, some pajamas and a couple Leap Pad games. She must have been a good little bunny! She was excited! 

After dessert, since it was so nice, we decided to go up and do a family fun fitness walk at the three mile trail. We were all tired but felt pretty good after. Reagan even walked, well more like ran, probably a little more than a mile of it. She walked Brinkley and then tried to "catch" one of the adults. She had a ball!
Another thing that happened today, was I shattered my iPhone screen. I dropped it right on the kitchen floor and it just shattered across the WHOLE thing. It was a mess. I called Broke Ass Phone in Boardman and they were happy to fix it. $133 dollars and an hour later, it was good as new! I now have a stronger cover on it. I sure will miss my Mickey covers though. 

The photo of the day is all of us at Easter...  

Next, Reagan with her basket...

Ray and Jenn making a "tunnel" for Reagan and Brinkley to go through on our walk.

Finally, Reagan putting out carrots, lettuce and water for the Easter Bunny before bed. 

 

Thanksgiving Take TWO - 333/365

Today, was decorating day! 

I never venture out for Black Friday, it scares me...LOL! I always just stay home and put my tree up. 

Jim had to go into work, so that was the plan. 

Jim's mom was nice enough to come and take Reagan for the day, so I could run up and down bringing the Christmas stuff up. Papa Greg had the day off, so they were just going to play at her house. 

I did manage to get everything up. I was so happy! I felt a little "scroogey" this year, though. I really wanted it up, but I REALLY didn't feel like doing it! Oh well, it's up and it looks great! I'm happy! LOL!

This evening, Jim, Reagan and I went over his mom and dad's to celebrate Thanksgiving. We have developed a tradition of getting Chinese food the day after Thanksgiving. We figure, we're all tired of turkey, so it's something different! It really works out great! We still have pumpkin pie though! We were all just as stuffed, as if we had, had turkey. 

 We had a great visit just chit-chatting. Reagan watched some Bubble Guppies and played with Timmy. She was pulling a blanket around that he would chase. She got a kick out of that. 

We had two great Thanksgiving celebrations! We are blessed....

The photo of the day is Reagan with Grandma and Papa Greg.

 Here are the finished decorations...

 And, Eppie (Epcot) our Elf has made his debut for this year!

 

Thanksgiving - 332/365

Thanksgiving today! 

This morning, we just hung around in our pajamas watching the Macy's parade. Reagan seemed into the two seconds, here and there, that they would actually SHOW a float. It was mostly just people talking the whole time. Whatever...lol. 

Finally, we headed over to my mom's around 2:00 for dinner. It turned out to be a small Thanksgiving this year. Great Aunt Jean wound up in the hospital, with what they think is pneumonia, the poor little thing. Most of my dad's side needed to stay close to the hospital for her. It ended up being, Ray, Jenny, Jim, Reagan, Nana, Papa and I for Thanksgiving. Dexter and Brinkley, of course, too! 

We had a really nice time hanging around and were completely STUFFED by the end! Everything was great! Nana and Papa did the turkey and stuffing. Aunt Barb, dropped off her world famous sweet and mashed potatoes. I made my broccoli cheese casserole, and Jenny brought yummy cupcakes for dessert! It was perfect! 

Reagan and Jenny had a ball playing doll house for the longest time. We watched a little football and just hung around. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

 Here are some pictures from dinner....

 

Kraynak's - 329/365

This afternoon, Nana and I were going to run some errands. I have to say, we got A LOT accomplished. We bought a few Christmas presents and did some Thanksgiving errands. Plus, we squeaked in lunch at Dutch Hause! YUM! 

This evening, Jim and I decided we would take Reagan over to Kraynak's to check out Christmas Tree Lane before it gets too crowded. We lucked out, because there was no one there. We were able to take our time and check out each display. We went through three or four times. It was great! Reagan was fascinated with everything, she kept trying to go real fast to the next display. We had to keep slowing her down. She was pumped! I think her favorite display was, Donald Duck's nephews and Pluto hanging around a fire. She also loved the one with Rudolph and the Abominable Snowman. Jim and I LOVED the scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It was HILARIOUS! They had Clark and all his lights, along with Cousin Eddie and his motor home. Awesome! 

After we went through a couple times, we stopped to visit with Santa. Reagan told him she wanted, "Dora toys." Santa was awesome, he chatted with her all about Dora. He knew every character from the show. She loved it!

 By the time we left there, we were starving, so we went over to Applebee's and had some dinner. It was yummy! 

We had a really fun evening getting in the spirit of Christmas!

The photo of the day is Reagan with one of the displays.

 Next, Reagan and Santa

Finally, the cousin Eddie, display. 

 

Hiking and Pumpkin Carving - 301/365

After our busy weekend, it was nice to take it relatively easy today. 

Nana, Reagan and I, had lunch at the Dutch Haus today. Reagan was in rare form during lunch. She was just singing and singing. She was singing, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" while eating a grilled cheese. She pushed one of her pieces of grilled cheese into her ketchup for her fries, when she broke into... "Row, row, row your boat, into the ketchup!" It was so funny! She was laughing so hard, she almost had tears streaming down her face. She is just a hoot! 

After lunch, we went to Parks Garden Center to look for a couple pumpkins to carve. I'm so late on my pumpkin getting and carving. The last couple years, Jim, Reagan and I have gone to White House to pick out pumpkins, but we just never made it this year. We popped into White House today, but they had NOTHING left. Luckily, Parks hooked me up. I got three really nice ones, that I hope to get done before Thursday. 

 Jim went this afternoon to get his flu shot on his lunch hour. He went up to the CVS in Canfield and only had to wait 5 minutes. He said it did hurt a little. The rest of the day, he just kinda felt out of it. Not really bad, just tired and weird. It's probably just a side effect. Hopefully, he'll be better tomorrow. 

This evening, Jim, Reagan and I took Brinkley up to Austintown Park to run around on the back trails. We were still a little worried about his leg. We didn't want to put him in the dog park, but still wanted him to be able to run around. Reagan and Brinkley both, had tons of fun. He just ran and ran, while Reagan, collected sticks, rocks and nuts. It was nice to be out and about before it starts getting dark at five.

When we got home, we had a gourmet dinner of Subway. YUM! LOL! 

I ended up carving one of our three pumpkins. Reagan is so into Dora since our Alaska Cruise, that I had to do at least one of them, Dora. I have to say, it came out really well! I got some better carving tools this year at Target, which really cut down on the carving time. Reagan was thrilled! I was so happy! 

The photo of the day is the Dora pumpkin...

Next, is Jim's little chair where he got his shot...

Lastly, is our little girl on her hike...

 

Harvest Festival & Boo at the Zoo - 300/365

We had a super fall fun day planned! 

We started our day at the Tippy Harvest Festival with Nana and Papa. They did a fantastic job with the party! 

When you first walked in, they had the lobby all decorated with spider webs, spiders and spooky candles. Rapunzel and Prince Flynn were there, too! They were telling stories to the kids by the fireplace all afternoon. 

When you went in the main ballroom, they had the tables decorated in the typical Halloween colors. They had a pumpkin painting station, photo booth, face painting and a clown who was making balloon animals! Reagan loved getting her face painted. She asked for an orange cat. She was more excited by the dust of glitter on him at the end. 

Next, we moved on to the clown. Orange cats must have been the theme of the day, because that's what she picked him to make her, too! 

After we finished inside, we set off to the side yard. They had a bounce house, petting zoo, wagon rides, and a bonfire. We started at the petting zoo. They had a couple adorable FLUFFY bunnies, two turtles, a couple guinea pigs and even a Lemur. It was so cute! Reagan went to pet the turtle and he turned the other way. She cried out, "He doesn't like me." It was pitiful. LOL!

Next, it was time for the wagon ride. We ended up getting the whole wagon to ourselves. It was fun because, they had Snow White on the wagon telling the legend of Sleepy Hollow. Reagan listened quite intently. She just loved sitting with Snow White. 

After the wagon ride, we bounced in the bounce house and got some hot chocolate. 

Finally, we headed over to the bonfire to make some s'mores. Reagan was interested in roasting them, but she kept covering her eyes. It was so funny. This was the biggest bonfire she has been around, so I think the heat was really bothering her. We got a kick out of Papa, because he had marshmallow goop all over his hands...LOL! 

Finally, we hit the buffet. They had tons of yummy food, we were stuffed by the end!

It was a great afternoon and we were so happy we went!

 Even though we felt ready for a nap after stuffing ourselves, we were now off to the Akron Zoo for Boo at the Zoo. This is our third year and just love it. They do a great job and give out the best treats! Each station is really decorated well. They had construction workers, soap box derby, candy store, trains, farm theme and lots more. The stations are worth it to go, just to check them out. They are that well done.

We were meeting Adrienne, Jake, Jillian, Evan, Matt, Nikki, Andrew and Ally. Ron, Rachel and Parker were supposed to come, too, but Parker was feeling a little off, so they stayed back. 

We met at five and had a great time. The weather ended up being great. A little cool, but not horrible. The kids all got along great and just had a ball. 

We had got them little glow bracelets, wands and glasses, so we had some fun with those. 

We had a good laugh at the goat petting area. We got the kids crackers to feed the goats and they were having a good time. There was one that kept getting real close to the adults. I decided to give him a hug and get my picture taken with him. Next up, was Nikki. She moved in and put her arm around him. All of a sudden, he had a hold of her turtle neck! It was hilarious! I distracted him and set her free. We were howling! 

Next up was the little train. Jim was nice enough to be the adult to ride with the kids! They all piled in the caboose and went round and round. He said they all just giggled the whole time. 

We finished up the night with the carousel. The kids talked about it all night and were excited to finally ride it! 

We ended up closing the place down. 

Jim and I ended up driving Matt, Nikki and the kids back to their car at the end of the night. Unfortunately, they had to park way down the street and had to ride a shuttle to get there. We piled them in so they didn't have to walk all that way, late at night. 

We had a great time as always! Super fun day all around!

The first photo is Reagan at the fire...

 Next, is all the kids at Boo...

Also, the adults at Boo at the Zoo...

 

Halloween Party & Los Gallos - 298/365

It was going to be a busy day today! 

Reagan had a little Halloween Party today at All the Little Birds. She was so excited to wear her Watermelon Fairy costume. She has a little purse that came with it, and she had to bring Mr. Fuzzy along as well. He stayed right in her purse the whole time. The kids were so adorable in their little costumes. There was a little elephant, monkey, bees, kangaroo, Wonder Woman, Monsters Inc. guys. A little bit of everything, really. The kids had a ball. They just danced and played, it was so fun to watch. They supplied little doughnut holes for everyone and had coffee for the parents. It was such a cute little party. Jim even surprised Reagan by popping in for a minute. She was so excited! 

After the party, Nana, Reagan and I went to lunch at Cheddar's, then ran some errands. Nana dropped me off, then was going to take Reagan back to her house for a slumber party tonight! Reagan was pumped! 

After they left, Rachel picked me up and we were going to run up to the Canfield Fire Station to take some pictures of Parker in his Fireman Costume. We had a great time exploring the trucks and seeing all the gear. I think we enjoyed it as much as Parker. He seemed fascinated, but a little intimidated at the size of everything. He kept saying "Big Truck." It was so cute. I think we got some great shots!

This evening, we were having an adult dinner with Ron and Rachel. It had been awhile since just the four of us went out. We decided to go to Los Gallos and have some Margaritas! YUM! We had a great time with a lot of laughs. 

When we were done at Los Gallos, we decided to have a couple more drinks at the Pour House in Canfield. Jim and I had never been there. It was really nice and it was packed! We enjoyed it and had such a fun night with great friends! 

Reagan, Nana and Papa had a really fun night. They just played around the house and had dinner. We were so thankful for the offer of her to sleep over! 

The photo of the day is Reagan, Jim and I at her Halloween party.

 And, Jim's drink at Los Gallos. 

Finally, my little fireman buddy! 

 

Halloween is Here - 274/365

Today was a spooky good day! 

Nana came over to pick up Reagan for the day. They went to music class, then were going to play at her house for the afternoon, so I could get out my Halloween decorations. They had a good time! They played Legos, Lincoln Logs and even went to Tippy for dinner! They had a different waitress instead of Linda tonight and Reagan asked the waitress, "Where's the Linda?" She just loves her...LOL!

While they did that, I got all my spooky decorations out. It's always so fun to dig down in the bins and unwrap the treasures. There is always a few things that I say, "OH look! I forgot about this!" LOL! I got everything situated then cleaned the house. I got a lot done, it felt good. 

After I was done cleaning, Brinkley and I went up to the Kirk to Herbert trail. We saw lots of wildlife along the way, including two snakes and a tiny turtle! He was so COOL! I felt bad for him being on the trail. I picked him up and put him on the grass, so he wouldn't get run over. The snakes were on their own. 

When Jim got home, he took Brinkley up to the farm to run around, while I got some editing done. 

It was a very productive day! 

The photo of the day is my Halloween decorations... 

Next, is my turtle friend...

 

Tippy Fireworks - 186/365

Today, we were all feeling a bit lazy after our party. It was super fun though.

Reagan and I went up to Gia's around 11:00, to meet Ed, Pam and nana for some lunch. We of course, had to have dippy! LOL! We had a really nice time.

After lunch, nana, Reagan and I headed up to the mall, because I needed one more little present for Jim's birthday. We were walking through Dillard's, when this lady, RAMMED her stroller into my mom's leg. I mean HARD!! She hadn't even said, "excuse me, move, get the eff out of the way," NOTHING! My mom said, "Jesus Christ!" The lady didn't even say she was sorry, just continued to try to get around us at around 100mph. In doing so, she then, RAMMED her stroller into the glass cosmetics case. The stroller bounced off the case and a water bottle went flying across the Dillards. I, then said, "Oh my GOD! Are you insane!?" She SCREAMED, "there is an emergency with my kid YES, I am insane!" She then, just continued on.

 We assessed nana's leg, which had a pretty nice mark right at her shoe line. She also had a black mark across her calf, where either the footrest or another part of the stroller struck her!

We still could see the lunatic trucking through the center of the mall. She started slowing down by Auntie Ann's Pretzels. My mom said, "if she stops for a pretzel!" LOL! Sure enough, she stopped at the pretzel stand and grabbed something off the counter. Here, she or her son, must have left her cell phone on the counter. She said, rather loudly to her son that wasn't in the stroller, "You are so lucky!" She turned around and headed back towards the Dillards and passed us in the concourse. I said to her, "Yea, real big emergency with your kid." To which she replied, at the TOP OF HER LUNGS, in the MIDDLE of the mall, "YOU DON'T KNOW! YOU DON'T KNOW!" There were some younger guys working a kiosk right there and said, "Don't know what?" LOL!

I always hear, "be nice to people because you don't know what they may be going through at any given moment." BUT, I don't think whatever you are going through, gives you the right to run people over and/or ram your child into the glass cosmetics case. That's just me...LOL!

After that excitement, we continued on our present quest and went back home.

  I put Reagan down for a nice long nap. She was so pooped from the day before. She needed to rest up for the evening anyway.

We were heading over to Tippy to have some dinner and watch the fireworks that night.

The Tippy fireworks have become a little tradition for our family. It's so fun!

Raymond, Jennifer, Jim, Reagan and I met at Nana and Papa's at 6:00. We let Reagan play a little bit and had a drink. Then, just walked up to Tippy, since it's right there. They had a lovely buffet of picnic type food. It was delicious.

We saw some kids walking around with some balloon animals, so nana and I went on a hunt to find the clown. We ended up finding him in the foyer getting ready to leave. Nana begged him, "Can she get one? Just one more?" He of course, said, "sure!" He whipped out a balloon and made her a little teddy bear in literally, 10 seconds. It was amazing! She just loved that little bear and clutched him the rest of the night.

We went back to the table and just chit chatted a little more. Reagan went around the table and gave everyone 10 second hugs. It was too cute!

  Finally, it was time to head out for fireworks. We had brought blankets, so we set up a little camp ground. The fireworks were great! Reagan was a little nervous. She didn't really cry and she never took her eyes off of them, but she did kind of hide her face. She had seen fireworks in Disney, but these were the closest ones she ever saw. On the walk back to the house, she was talking about them. In one breath, she said she liked them and in the next, she said she was scared. It was too funny! We had a great evening of family fun! Love my family!

The photo of the day is all of us at Tippy...

The next is the fireworks....

And finally, Reagan and her balloon bear.

 

Water Balloons - 184/365

Today was just about getting prepped for our little picnic tomorrow. Jim and I are having a few family members over for a little gathering, nothing too big.

Jim's mom came over to watch Reagan, while I did some more party preps. My mom came over to help me do that stuff, too! We're so lucky to have our mom's close by! They are the best! 

We got everything in order and it should be a good time! I can't wait! 

Jim got home from work early and just played with Reagan and Brinkley, while I ran to the store to grab the "yummy yummies," as Reagan would say! LOL! 

This evening, I spent about 45 minutes filling up water balloons for the kids in the laundry room. What a hoot that was! If they weren't breaking, they would fall out of my hands as I was trying to tie them! It looked like I had a water balloon fight with myself! The front of me was SOAKED! LOL! It was fun though! I hope the kids have a good time with them! Can't wait to see them in action!

The photo of the day is my water balloon tub!