The Ride of a Lifetime?!

I think I married the one of the luckiest men alive. On Saturday, during Sloan Family Day at Freedom Weekend Aloft, they gave all of the employees in attendance a raffle ticket for various prizes. You will never believe what happened? WE WON A FREE HOTAIR BALLOON RIDE!

We were worried at first about what to do with Mackaylan because you had to be 12 to take the flight, but our pilot and his crew were phenomenal and offerred to let her ride in the van as part of the chase crew. Our pilot also reassurred us that we did not exceed the weight limit despite the information from the young girl at the registration tent. LOL Anyway, after waiting around for a little over 2 hours on Saturday evening to launch we were grounded due to pop-up thunderstorms. However, we were encouraged to come back on Sunday morning at 6:30 to try again. Being that we only live 45 minutes from the event site, and this was a chance of a lifetime, we agreed to return. We arrived at the site, met up with our crew, and waited...and waited....and waited. It was very foggy. Once it finally cleared a little, the sun started to break through some of the clouds, but rain was moving into the area. To make a long story, a little shorter, after about 3 hours they raised the red flag and grounded the balloons again. The visibility was low and showers were on the way. They offerred to let us try again Sunday evening, but we opted out due to church obligations and the fact that returning for the third time didn't guarantee that the weather would cooperate and we would be able to take off. Even though we didn't get to actually ride we met some incredible people, experience the set-up and take-down of a hotair balloon, and of course got in the basket for a photo op! Oh well, maybe next year?!.........

Family Day

Saturday was Sloan Family Day at Freedom Weekend Aloft. We all had a great time! As part of the Sloan event we were treated to free tickets and parking, a catered lunch, face painting, balloon designs, a cornhole tournament, and many, many tickets to enjoy the rides and food on the fair grounds. It was a wonderful day! The sun was shining and even though it clouded up it never actually rained. As I was enjoying the company of Mickey's fellow employees and their families, I couldn't help but think about how reassuring it was to know that my husband works for a company that finds it important to show their employees (and their families) how much they are appreciated. The construction business requires L-O-N-G hours at times, but it is easier to accept those challenges when you know that the sacrifice you are making is not going unnoticed. And to that I say: "Thanks!"

Love Language

Okay, so it is no secret to anyone who knows me IRL, my primary love language is gifts. I love to receive gifts, but I also love to give gifts. This can sometimes be dangerous for the budget, but thank goodness I have a husband who understands! The gifts don't have to be big. Many times they are actually very small (less than $10.) Just something to let the other person know that they were on my mind. Anyway, the other day I gave Mackaylan a HandArt book. She has recently fallen in love with coloring, drawing, anything crafty so I knew this would be a perfect "prize." Boy was I right! It has definitely satisfied her artistic desire, and we have spent many afternoons creating a "few" HandArt masterpieces. Here are a few pics from one of our recent afternoon art lessons:

For My Love....

May 25, 2002 is a day I will never forget. Every detail about that day was perfect. From the bridal brunch to the hair salon to walking down the aisle to our first kiss as husband and wife. May 25, 2001 was the day I married my best friend, the man of my dreams, and my soul mate.

>>>>>>>>>Fast Forward 8 years>>>>>>>>>

May 25, 2010. An amazing day as well. Today Mickey and I celebrate eight years of marriage. I am so blessed to be married to my best friend, the man of my dreams and my soul mate. He still gives me butterflies and takes my breath away! I love the way he can look at my face and know what's on my mind. I love the way he wraps his strong arms around me at the end of a long day. I love the way he is a godly husband and daddy. I love the way we share inside jokes that are for just the two of us. I love the way he makes it a point to always kiss me goodnight. And the list could go on and on......

Mickey, Thank you for making me the luckiest woman alive. I love you FOREVER!!!!!!!

Flashback

How do you get a 5 yr. old to finally eat at McDonalds?
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(Give up?)
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These:


Mackaylan is in love with the movie Shrek 2 and can recite most of it by heart. When we saw the advertisement for the Shrek glasses that McDonalds has for a limited time we ditched our Mexican meal plans and went out for a Happy Meal! As Mackaylan was playing on the playground I spent time remincising about my childhood.

Do you remember these from McDonalds:




What about these from Hardee's:

And from Pizza Hut:

What were your favorite childhood Kids Meal toys?

Wordless Wednesday

Enough said.......

My 4-Wheeler Man

Check out these pics from our 4-wheeler race on Sunday. I was pretty proud of my photography skills. I am actually in the market for a more sophisticated camera that takes rapid shots. With my current camera I can only get one shot each time Mickey comes around the track, which means 4 or 5 "action" pics at the most. However, I am still satisfied with the quality of pictures that my camera takes. I just need something a little faster! If you have any suggestions, please leave me a comment. Anyway, here are my favorite pics from this race:

And in case you every wonder how dusty a 4-wheeler race can be, check out these two pics:

Mickey finished 5th and was able to receive a plaque to add to his collection. I am satisfied with any "one hand finish," but he was disappointed because he was in 3rd, but lost two spots on the last laps.

And here is a picture of me. This is what I do when I wait in the woods for Mickey to come around. Mickey really liked this pic so that is why it made the cut!

Dancin' Queen

Mackaylan danced her heart out at her recital last night. I will be honest and admit that I was a little worried we would have a repeat "flower girl performance," but she pulled through like a champ. She didn't miss a step and smiled the entire time! I am so happy with our decision to move her up into a little more advanced class this year. I think she would have been bored if she would have stayed in the preschool class another year. Now that the recital is over she is already thinking about what she is going to take next year: ballet? clogging? tap? hip hop? Only time will tell...

Granddaddy, Granny and Mackaylan

Sissy and KK

Grams, Pop-O, Aunt Esther and Mackaylan

Peanut (aka Sister) and Mac

Iddy and Mac

Rachel, Mackaylan, and Chloe- We loved the small class size!

Shake it, girlie!

Ta-da!

Mackaylan and her 3 bouquets of flowers!

Mickey, Mackaylan, and DeeDee (Dancing Doll!)

Red Robin

Today we met Mickey for lunch at Red Robin. Mickey had never eaten there before, and was highly impressed with his burger. He said it may have been the best burger he had ever eaten! Of course, I took my camera along for the outing, but I am yet to master the art of photographing food. Everytime I take pictures of food I always think of Alicia. She is so good at capturing food, but she always gets her shots BEFORE the meal is practically gone! I was halfway through my lunch before I thought to take a picture to share on the blog. I guess I will get better with practice, right?! Tonight we are headed to Mackaylan's dance recital and I will try to get those pictures up as soon as possible. Have a great afternoon!

Goals

Almost a year ago I decided to join a blogging weight loss challenge. I posted the reasons why I wanted to lose weight and a few things I wanted to do once the goal was achieved on this blog. Unfortunately, I did not successfully complete that challenge at the time. However, I did begin a weightloss plan lifestyle change in January and am very committed to this way of life. Today I wanted to take some time to revisit the list and edit accordingly. So….here it goes:

Reasons why I wanted to lose weight:
- to wear my original wedding band again
- to wear the many items of clothing that are taking up space in my closet
- to shop at regular clothing stores, not just ones with plus-size clothing
- to set a good example for my DD- in progress
- overall health- in progress
- to have a healthy pregnancy sometime soon- still in progress (Hence all of my posts on patience! LOL)

After reaching my goal, I want to:
- get family pictures made
- buy a pair of cute PJs- in progress
- go dancing with Mickey- in progress
- go SHOPPING!!
- visit someplace tropical/beachy-in progress

So, there you have it! My goals. My progress so far. My next steps.

As you know, my best friend, Dawn, and I have been on this journey together. Next weekend we are treating ourselves to a day at the spa to celebrate her birthday and our success so far. I am so psyched! I am sure there will be lots of pictures to share after that adventure! :)

Thoughtful Thursday

PATIENCE is trusting in God’s timing.- @TweetingChurch

I have posted alot about the ways that God is teaching me patience. When I received this quote via Twitter it quickly became a favorite. When I am feeling discouraged because life doesn't seem to be going the way that I have planned, I return to this quote along with many other verses of scripture. I know that His plan is perfect, but waiting is very hard for me. If you struggle in this area as well, I pray that you will listen to the words of this song by The Isaacs and let it speak to your heart.

Mother's Day 2010

To me, Mother's Day is everyday! Being greeted with a big hug in the morning, and ending my day with giggles at bedtime, makes my day complete. Between my DH and my DD I am treated like a queen everyday with Mother's Day being no exception! This year due to my mom's work schedule we celebrated on two different occasions. It was nice to have time with each family without having to watch the clock in order to move to the next gathering. On Sunday we enjoyed lunch at the O'Shields' . Mackaylan ended up spending the night with Grams and Pop O so Mickey and I enjoyed a fun date night! I told Mickey I was probably the only mom in the US who went out to eat for Mother's Day without her child! :) Then on Monday, we celebrated Mother's Day with my mom. It was so nice to be able to enjoy dinner swapping stories around my parent's kitchen table. It was a great way to start the week- family, food, and fun!

The little one who made me a mommy!

Betsi, Grams- the best MIL ever, and Mickey


Grams and Mackaylan

KK and Granny

Me, my sis, and the best mom ever!