Party Preps and Playing - 44/365

Today was pound the pavement day to get everything ready for the party.

Jim's mom was coming over to hang with Reagan while I did some stuff. Then they were going to head off to gymnastics. Jim's mom has got to take her to gymnastics the last couple weeks and has been enjoying seeing her progress.

I worked on getting her photo board done for the party. Every year, whatever her theme, I gather all the pictures I have that pertain to that theme. This year, I took anything that had to do with the Frozen movie. Our meet and greets, seeing the movie, etc. It came out super cute!

This evening, we went over to Tippy for a family fun dinner with Nana, Papa, Ray, Jenn and Ed and Pam. We were all gearing up for the big bash tomorrow! It has become our tradition to have a family dinner the night before the party!

Ray and Jenn brought some Valentine gifts for everyone! They gave each couple a gift card for BW3, since we go to corn dog fest after the party! They gave Reagan a monkey that smooches you when you press his heart. She loved him! She made everyone wear him on their head. It was too funny!

Fun night!

Reagan and Grandma playing before gymnastics

The photo board I finished up today

Eddie with a monkey on his head

Ray and Jenn with the monkey

Nana with a monkey on her head

 

Dress Up Princess - 33/365

Jim was heading back to work today. He left early because he knew he would be facing a huge pile of work on his desk.

Reagan and I were off to start getting some stuff ready for her Frozen party.

She INSISTED on being dressed up today, even though it was still pretty snowy from the winter storm. We didn't get as much snow as thy had initially thought, but it was still yucky and cold.

Anyway, she got all dolled up in her little Valentine outfit from Gymboree. She looked absolutely adorable! We went to a couple party stores where she had a great time playing with some of the props.

This afternoon, she was playing with her Disney "Barbi" dolls in her playroom. I went in to check on her and she said "Mama look! I put Elsa in this chair looking outside because she loves the snow!" It was so cute! Sure enough there she was gazing out the window. She is such a HOOT!

This evening, Jim, Reagan and I played a few board games and Reagan continued her dress-up. She decided to be Ariel tonight! She looked FAB!

 Making sure she looks perfect! She loves looking at her pigtails!

 Playing at the party store!

 Our little Ariel!

 Elsa enjoying the snow!

 

 

2015 - Year THREE! - 1/365

New Years Day, 2015! 

TIME FLIES! It's been two years since we started this little project! It's amazing!

We just cherish our first book and can't wait to start putting 2014's book together. I'm still behind in a few of the blogs, but I have the notes and pictures. I WILL get caught up, I WILL! LOL!

So, we're going to give this yet another go.... it's so fun!

This year, I want to pull out my good camera a lot more, like I did in 2013. I had some great pictures in that book. This year, I felt I relied on the iPhone a bit too much. I also really want to get back into taking quality pictures. 

So, for our first full day in 2015, we didn't really do too much.

This morning, I tried to get some of my Christmas pictures finished up, while Reagan taught Jim how to do her Beados. Which is her most favorite thing in the world right now! LOL!

This afternoon, Jim and Nikki went to take in the Hobbit at the theater. They got there and said they were surprised because it was in a small theater way down at the end of the main hall. It only had about 10 rows of seats in it. Jim said he was shocked. There were quite a few people for the small theater, too. He said they both really enjoyed the movie and were glad they got a chance to take it in!

Reagan and I hung around the house the whole day. I got her little tree in her playroom taken down and went through and organized all the cubbies in her playroom. I finally made some room for her new stuff. It looks GREAT! Now, if it could just stay that way. 

Great first day of 2015!

Jim getting a lesson in Beados...

 Jim and Nikki at the movies!

 Reagan's dress rack finally in it's place, now that the tree is gone!

King of the Castle - 104/365

Today was just errands and getting back into the grind. 

Jim went off to work and we went running with Nana. We both ended up getting new printers which was pretty exciting!! Ours were old dinosaurs. Now, I can print stuff wirelessly from my phone, which is AWESOME! 

We did get a walk in before the temps started to dip. It is so nice to be back out there a little bit. Can't wait till the warm weather sticks. 

This evening, we just played around the house. I played in the castle for awhile with Reagan and then Jim took a  turn. Even Brinkley got in on the action. Too funny! Guard dog! 

Next, a "selfie" at the bike trail...

Belated Birthday Dinner - 100/365

Today, I had a bunch of stuff to get done, so Grandma came over for her play day with Reagan. 

They had a good time. Reagan made her spend most of the day "baking cupcakes" in her Sofia Castle! LOL! 

This evening, Nana, Reagan and I were meeting Carol, JoAnn, Pam and Kris for dinner. We originally were going for Aunt JoAnn's birthday back in March, but we got a blizzard the night we were supposed to go, so we finally rescheduled for tonight. We had a great time laughing and catching up! Carol was even so sweet and brought Reagan a huge Sofia coloring book! Good times! 

 Jim and Brinkley took advantage of the nice weather and went for a walk! 

Photo of the day is the girls...

 Next, Reagan and Grandma baking cupcakes...

 

Polar Express - 337/365

Tonight was the Polar Express! 

Reagan just loves going on the Cuyahoga Valley Railway. She was pumped! 

 Jim, Reagan and I were meeting, Nikki, Adrienne, Alexandra, Andrew and Jillian. Matt was supposed to join us, too, but got called into work at the last minute. 

The kids had their matching pajamas again this year! Nikki ended up finding them on the Disney Store website. They were maroon with little Mickeys all over them.

 We got there nice and early to make sure we got seats together. We decided to try the Parlour Car this year. It was really nice, because it had tables in it. It seemed to give you more room to sit and more room to put your stuff. We really liked it! 

The kids ended up taking over one table. They seemed so grown up sitting there together. They just sat real nice and munched on their cookies while listening to the story. They were so good! 

  They all loaded up on popcorn and hot chocolate, too. Nikki was helping the smaller ones with their drink, while it was still a little warm. The girls were sharing a cup, so Nikki would hold it up, the one that wasn't getting any would say, "Me, me, me!" It was too funny! 

Reagan was munching on some chips at one point, when she asked Ally if she wanted one. Ally replied, No, I'm full." I said to Reagan, "I'll have one. I'm not full." She looked me right in the eye and said, "Mama, then you eat your popcorn." It was too funny. I did have a half a bag of popcorn sitting right there. Guess she told me! 

 When we finally got to the North Pole, they were glued to the window, so excited to see everything. It was just darling. It's so fun to watch the wonder in the little one's eyes. 

 The ride back was fun. They sang lots of songs. All the little ones in our group got to attempt to sing a line from the Twelve Days of Christmas. 

Andrew even go to tell a joke over the microphone. It was too funny!
Finally, Santa made an appearance in our car. The kids were so excited, but so patient, too! They absolutely loved the bells he gave them! They were all shaking them! Reagan even broke into a chorus of Jingle Bells!

When we were getting close to the station, all the kids in our car, got to go up to the microphone to say what their favorite part of the Polar Express was. Reagan said her favorite part was the train.

She really does love trains. Anywhere we go with a train table she is just glued to it. 

When we loaded her in the car to go home, she said, "I don't want to go home. I want to go back on the Polar Express." She really had a great time hanging out with her cousins. 

We all had a great time and are already looking forward to next year. 

 The photo of the day is all the kiddos on the train.  

Next, Jim, Reagan and I enjoying our ride. 

Eppie Adventure - putting on a concert for his friends. 

 

Fall Fun & YSU - 292/365

Today we were going to a Fall Festival at Austintown Park. 

It was fun for the whole family, your furry family members, too! Jim, Reagan, Brinkley and I, set off to go, as well as Raymond, Jennifer and Dexter. It was a small little festival, but super fun. It was hosted by For The Dogs Animal Rescue. 

 For the little ones, you paid $6.00 and got, a hotdog, cupcake, hot cocoa, goody bag, face painting, a pumpkin to paint and entered into the Halloween costume contest. 

Reagan and Brinkley were loving socializing with all the pups. Some of them were even dressed up, too! Brinkley didn't have a "real" costume, but we threw his Mickey Ears on, from our family photo shoot when Reagan was an infant. He looked fantastic! LOL! 

Reagan wore her fortune teller costume and really looked amazing. She pulled it off quite well, we think.

Reagan loved her little treat bag. There was a lot of fun goodies in there, a pencil, noise makers, spiders, fake teeth and candy. There was also a tiny, gummy-like green frog in there. She carried that little frog around all day. His little paw eventually fell off and she went nuts. She said, we need some glue to fix him! She's so sweet. 

 All of a sudden, around the bend, here came Rapunzel and Snow White. Reagan was beyond thrilled and went right up to them. She followed them around the rest of the time. She even sat on their laps, waiting for the costume contest. When they finally left, she gave them the biggest hugs and a kiss, too! They were so flattered. 

Finally, came the costume contest. There was probably only 10 or so kids, but they all lined up for the contest. Each kid had to walk down the middle of the picnic tables and then tell the judges what they were for Halloween. Reagan pulled it off and ended up winning a gift card to McDonald's. She is so excited to get nuggets and fries. LOL! 

Next up was the dogs, we didn't enter Brinkley, since his costume was just so, so. Dexter had a really cool frog costume, so Ray and Jenn entered him. He ended up winning, too! He got a bag of treats, a toy and a PetCo gift card. He was pretty excited! 

After the contests, Reagan painted her pumpkin. She created quite the masterpiece. 

We were happy we went and we all had a nice afternoon! 

This evening, Jim and Greg were going to brave the rain, to attend the YSU football game. 

They stopped down to Warehouse 50 before the game for a couple drinks. When it was finally game time, the rain was just pouring down. They sat on the small side, with the rain and cold, they didn't feel like hiking up the big side. 

YSU played great and ended up winning 24-14. They are now tied for first in their conference. 

Earlier in the day, they tossed around not going, but in the end, they were happy they went to see the WIN! 

While they were enjoying the game, Reagan and I hung around the house and played games. We played Hungry Hungry Hippos, Barnyard UNO, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Super Silly Slides. We had a really fun time! I just love hanging around with my little buddy. 

The photo of the day is all of us at the Austintown Fall Festival.

 Here is Reagan and Dexter with their prizes.

Next, is Jim and Greg before the rain and after....

 Finally, Reagan and I playing games...

 

Pictures and Popsicles - 162/365

Today started with rain! I was starting to get nervous because I was supposed to take pictures for a friend later this morning.

 My mom came to pick Reagan up at 8:30 and took her to her music class, while I got ready to take pics. An old friend from high school, Heather, has a little girl that's going to be turning two. She wanted to get a few pictures taken of her before her birthday, so she asked if I would do it. Of course I said, absolutely! We agreed to meet at Fellows Riverside Garden at 11. It just kept raining and raining up until it was time for me to walk out the door. By the time I got there, it was finally starting to clear up and you could see some blue sky trying to peek through. Thank goodness!

 It was so great to see Heather and her precious little one, McKenna. McKenna was the perfect little subject and cooperated right from the get go. She sat perfectly still and didn't move! It took a little coaxing to get a smile, but once we got that first one, she passed out quite a few! We had a great shoot and got some lovely shots! 

After we finished up pictures, we went into the cafe to have some lunch and catch up. I bet we hadn't seen each other in 15 years, but it was like no time had passed. We had a great visit! 

Heather was leaving to head back to Columbus the next day, so I wanted to get her pictures done as soon as I could. Since my mom was keeping Reagan for the afternoon, I edited away and got them all done. We were meeting my mom and dad at Tippy for dinner tonight, so Jim and I dropped the disc off on our way. 

 When we got home from dinner, we were sitting on the deck for a few minutes when we heard the ice cream truck! Since Reagan had never gotten anything from an ice cream truck before, we bolted to the street for her first purchase! She was so excited! She picked out a popsicle called a Scribbler. It was supposed to look like a crayon. 

We were coming back across the lawn, when Jim and Joni walked over. Joni was holding a tray with 8 painted cans attached to it and gave it to me. She said her dad makes them and it's for Reagan's crayons! It is too darn cute! It is so well made and so unique! It even has little felt feet. We were just so thrilled with it. It looks absolutely darling in her playroom! They are just so thoughtful!

We stood and chatted with them for awhile while Reagan chowed down her popsicle and Brinkley chased after Josh...LOL!

Great day! 

 There are three photos for today....

The first is, Heather and I...

 The next is Reagan making her first ice cream truck purchase....

 And the final picture is our new super cool, crayon holder...

 

Princess Muffins - 115/365

Jim, Reagan and I were playing in the playroom after dinner. Reagan started pushing her doll stroller around the house like 100mph. Somehow, we ended up back in the living room. I sat down on the couch, and the next thing I know, she was bringing all her stuffed animals from the playroom and piling them up next to me on the couch. She ran back to the playroom one more time and came back with her play muffin tin from her kitchen. She took it over to her Little People Disney Princess Castle and she filled the muffin tin with princesses and princes. It was hilarious because they fit perfectly in there, too! LOL! We enjoyed that for a few minutes, then she went and grabbed some cars for the princesses. Luckily it was bath time so we were able to stop the migration of toys from the playroom to the livingroom...LOL! 

Overall, she was a little bit of a pistol today. Knock on wood, 99% of the time she is extremely easy going and happy. For some reason, today, everything upset her no matter how minor...LOL. She cried over cheerios, water, going potty, getting dressed, putting a bib on, having to eat dinner at all.... It was all too much for her today...LOL! I guess we all have those days. 

 We took Brinkley to the groomer and she started crying when we left him there. It was pitiful! We ran to the mall and grocery store and she must have asked nearly 1000 times, "Brinkley get-tin a baff? We go get Brinkley now?" She was thrilled when daddy delivered him home safe and sound! She was glued to him the rest of the day. Everywhere she went you would here "Come on Brinkley!" Too cute! 

The photo of the day is the muffin princesses....   

 

Sea Creatures - 92/365

Reagan was feeling a little under the weather today. 

Nothing serious, just a slight runny nose and a little cough. She was supposed to start back up at All the Little Birds today. We were so excited to be getting back to her music class, she really loves it. We ultimately decided we didn't want to "share" whatever she has going on. She's playing and running normally, just a little congested. Oh well. 

It was sunny today, but cold. Jim was planning on taking Brinkley for a walk after work. If Reagan wasn't sick we would have went, too. We just decided it was best to stay inside and play. She had gotten a Sea Creature Play-Doh set for Easter, so her and I stayed back and built some fun little friends! She loves to make things and then instantly squish them...LOL! 

The photo of the day is the few sea creatures that I caught before the squishing....

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....

 

Brinkley, RUN! - 16/365

Today was a traditional "Puppy Crazy" night at the Cvetkovic house.

Most evenings we have to have a "run" around the house. A lot of times it's just around and around the island in the kitchen....Reagan will shout, "Mama, run!" then you have to chase her. She makes you go a few times then it's, "Dada, run!" Well tonight, Brinkley took over. They ran circles around the playroom for a good 10 minutes! I was exhausted just watching. The giggles and screeches were hilarious! 

They really gave me some good practice shooting fast subjects...LOL. The picture isn't as sharp as I like them but it's improved.

  I love my "puppy crazy" life!