A Day At The Park

After a trying morning involving a 911 call because the sprinkler system guy wasn't scheduled to be here but was trying to enter the house without our knowledge, things slowed down, thankfully. It was a beautiful day here in Nebraska. The kids and I went to the Papillion park in the afternoon, here are a few photos.

Teeter-tottering with someone that weighs half what you do isn't so fun. Later Payton and I tried it out, that was probably quite something to see.

She is growing up so fast!

The kids decided to race up these climbing apparatus. Payton won and then Austin freaked out because he couldn't figure out how to get down.

Later we went to Walnut Creek, which is just a few houses North of where we live. It was much more quiet there. People were fishing and I even saw one in a kayak. I might have to look into that...

This photo is for my dad, he wanted to know what types of fish are in the pond North of our house. I think we will have to go fishing sometime...

Even Jolie couldn't stand not being outside yesterday. I like it that you can see her reflection in the glass.

Gregg prepared to go on a motorcycle ride with some guys at his work. The trip happened today and apparently the navigator didn't think driving past numerous feed lots on a motorcycle would be an issue, moron.

See ya Winter!

Wordy Wednesday

MOLLY: A Girl

Example: I hear you've got a new molly, yeah?

Flashback Friday

I haven't been able to really think about anything else other than travel since last Saturday when Gregg popped the big surprise on me at dinner. Therefore it is fitting that this flashback Friday is a travel photo.

This moment was not only captured in time with my camera, but in my mind. I cannot help but smile when I think of the delicious cappuccino Gregg and I had on this very spot on Champs Elysees. It was cold and raining on this day in Paris & just in writing this I can smell the french bread in the air.

Wordy Wednesday

Apparently I have a lot of Irish slang to learn in the next couple months, so I thought I'd take the usual "Wordless Wednesday" post and make it a rather wordy one instead.

For the next few months I will try to share a new slang word used in Ireland.

From my reading, I have discovered that the Irish are known for being somewhat vulgar and always quick witted. Therefore, I must prepare! Just note that some of the meanings might be coarse.

Banjaxed: A state of disrepair, often being irreversible.

Example: We can't go anywhere, the car is banjaxed.

We Are Going To IRELAND!

Gregg is such a sneaky fellow.

He often surprises me with trips, but never as well as he did this time. Saturday evening we were at dinner at Granite City and dinner was over, when Gregg handed me a brown paper bag wrapped package. He had told me a few minutes earlier that he had a surprise for me, inside the package was two travel books on Ireland! Never in my wildest of dreams would I have thought we'd be going to IRELAND for our 15th wedding anniversary. He totally caught me off guard with this trip!

Gregg made all of our reservations yesterday. The flights are booked, rental car (we'll be driving around to see most of the castles in Ireland), and he also made all of the room reservations. We will have 6 nights in Ireland, visiting Dublin, Cork, Killoglin, & Limerick (among the larger towns). I am very much looking forward to the castles, full Irish breakfasts, lush green rolling hills, spending time with my honey, enjoying the change of scenery, and the delicious Irish beer.

Granite City turned out to be a mighty fine brewery and food destination. We even brought, what they call a "growler," home with us.

The "growler" holds 6 pints of whatever beer you'd like to fill it with. We had ours filled with their delicious stout. We drank the entire thing on Sunday while making all the decisions about this trip.

He splurged a tad bit on the two nights we are staying at Dromoland Castle, but the place is amazing & you can only share your 15th anniversary once!

HERE is the link to the Dromoland Castle site, they have some amazing video. I am going to have SO many photos to share when we get back! Now the hard part, waiting until JUNE to leave.

Oops!

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, by far my favorite holiday. To add to the celebration (and as an excuse to drink more Guinness) I made the best chocolate sheet cake ever. I refuse to buy a sheet cake pan, so this recipe always turns into a delicious mess on my counter. This is the only type of mess I look forward to.

I mean, what else are you supposed to do when chocolate pecan icing overflows your "cake" pan and spills onto the counter, but use your finger as a means of transport of said icing into your mouth?


And because I'm feeling generous, HERE is the recipe. Make it, you'll love it! And if you like Guinness, this cake goes delightfully with it.

Wordless Wednesday

Weren't the 80's awesome?!

A Berry Nice Weekend

This past weekend, my father and his wife came up from Oklahoma for a visit. We had a very nice time and enjoyed the company. We made the rounds of all the outdoor stores and ate very well.

Saturday we went to the Papillion LaVista High School for the Junior Women's Club Art Show. Payton was the only 5th grader that was selected from her school. She did an oil pastel of Jolie. And she won 3rd place!

Flashback Friday

Payton, Jolie & Mickey - May 2004. She was so excited to bring Mickey home from Kindergarten and write about his adventures to share with her class. He did a lot of fun things that evening, Mickey even made cookies.

Man, it seems like just yesterday she was this small. Where does the time go?

Cowboy Day

You just knew there would be a "cowboy day" in Nebraska, did you?


Payton dressed up this morning, isn't she cute? Pigtails and all!

Bet you'd never guess that she's wearing more of my clothes than her own.

The Big Thaw

After months and months of nothing but snow, we can finally see GRASS again! The big thaw started yesterday and is supposed to continue with highs in the 40's through next week. I cannot tell you how nice it is to see that ugly brown grass again.

Even Jolie is enjoying the new warmer weather!

They May Be Good For Her...

But that doesn't mean she's going to eat them!

A few months ago we had a big scare with Jolie. She developed an obsession for drinking only water that had ICE CUBES in it. It didn't matter how fresh the water was, if it wasn't iced, she wasn't having it. Which got me thinking that maybe something was wrong with her.

I took her to the vet and it turned out our little Jolie was fine, but a little fat. So I went on the hunt for the best cat food available. You can ask Gregg, I did all sorts of math and made tables that showed all kinds of information that you all likely aren't interested in. I did, however, come up with a winner. Blue Buffalo - Wilderness was BY FAR the best cat food on the market.

It met all the criteria I had after discovering that I had been feeding my baby, essentially, junk food for the past 7 years. The dry food has actual meat, no grain ingredients, and lots of vegetables. She loves this stuff. And at $33 for a small bag, she'd better love it. In fact, I was mixing it half and half for the first two weeks with the "junk" cat food trying to switch her over easily. But she wasn't having it, she would eat just the blue buffalo and leave all of the old food brand behind. After two or so months, she has lost some weight and her fur is SO much smoother, her energy is even up.

I thought this was amazing, I wanted to switch over her soft food that she gets on Wednesday and Sunday to the same brand. Unfortunately, she didn't care for it, so I've been trying to find a healthy alternative by picking up random brands that meet the new standards set by blue buffalo.

Last week I picked up a couple cans from Whole Foods Market and the first was turkey and she devoured it - even all of the sweet potatoes. However, the peas and carrots she didn't enjoy so much. I think she gets this from Gregg. HAHA


Such a picky little thing!