Saturday, March 12, 2011

A Special Happenings In This House

I already posted my normal Saturday version of Happenings in this House but this is part 2 :-) 

Darryl and I have a tradition and that is what we did today!.  See, 10 years ago on March 18th, my husband proposed to me!  We got engaged at Metrobeach on the east side of the state.  At that time, we  said that on that day every year we would always come back to that place to remember where we were and see how far we've come.  We don't make it back on the actual day but we always get over there sometime within a week before or after that date.  This was a little bit of a last minute decision - we had planned to go two weeks from today but my husband is started school that will cover the next couple of weekends so we switched it to today earlier this week.  Earlier this week, I spent some time looking for some activities that we could do as a family besides just our normal stuff and, thanks to a recent blog post on Superchikk, I had some creative findings.  So check out our day in pictures:

Getting ready to leave - don't you just love those white t-shirts?


 Our very first stop once we arrive in town is always National Coney Island.  There is only one reason for this tradition - I love Hani's and Chili Cheese Fries!!! Honestly, Darryl doesn't really care for this restaurant all that much but he always gets something that he enjoys in the end just so I can enjoy this once a year treat!!  The boys were great - they ate lots of "ries" :-)
From there we headed to Metro Beach.  Some years, like the year we got engaged, it is warm and in the 60's or 70's.  Not this year!!!  It was C O L D!!  Notice the picture showing the people ice fishing still (which I think is crazy since there is open water just past the ice!!!).  So we have a couple of traditions: 1) We always get the "ring" shot.  When we got engaged, before we got in the car to leave, Darryl took a picture with my ring just like the one above.  Now, I show off both the wedding rings and my anniversary ring plus we get one of Darryl with his ring too.  The other tradition is that we always get a picture where he actually proposed.  That is the family shot :-)  Finally, Darryl always has to do a chin-up, which, of course, he did this year.

One of our new activities this year (and is going to become part of the tradition) was inspired by that above mentioned blog.  We went to the Morely Candy Factory!  Even all the years I lived on that side of the state, I never stepped foot into that place and it is probably a good thing!!!!  The boys loved it - especially Josh.  We all picked out treats - Darryl got a box of chocolates, I got an incredible Turtle Carmel Covered Apple (it was fruit so it was healthy!) and Josh, surprisingly picked out solid chocolate butterflies - I think because they were wrapped in really bright foil.  I was sure he would pick something covered in sprinkles.  As you can see - he was enjoying it very, very much!

Another tradition we are adding is a visit to Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum.  Simple, it is a huge arcade but is filled with both new and old style stuff.  It was fantastic.  Josh enjoyed all of the little rides (above he is sitting a chair that goes round and round than on a mechanical see-saw - he is seeing WEE WEE every time he went up in the air) and playing games with his dad.  Nate had to enjoy the stroller instead - it really wasn't his style yet so he just watched me play my favorite - Skeet ball -- so "we" could win tickets for Josh to pick out a prize.  Josh picked out two bouncy balls.  We will be going back to this place - the kids had a blast.

Our last stop was dinner on the way home. We stopped and ate at Crackle Barrel.  Now I will confess, this would not be our first (or probably even second) choice to stop and eat at since we don't go out to eat that often but, we had a great gift card to use which helped keep this entire day within my planned budget.  Sure the food is good and at this location, the helpings were really huge, more than any of us could eat, but we aren't into the home cooking thing as much as others (because my home cooking is so good!  hahaha)

So, that was our busy day!  The boys did awesome on the long rides in the cars thanks to a little "A Bugs Life" on the DVD player and both went to bed quickly.  I got to do something I rarely get to do - rock Nate to sleep.  It isn't because I don't want to but that kid is the energizer bunny - he goes and goes and goes until you lay him down and than he falls asleep.  Tonight, though, he was so tired, he just cuddled in and fell asleep.  Super sweet!!

Happenings in this House

Welcome to another week of Happenings in this House!!! We are doing a family fun day, today, so I'll be sharing that adventure tomorrow but I still wanted to post this today :-)

I wanted to keep the photos "clean" LOL  But, Josh has started showing interest in using the big boy bathroom so one night, we put some underwear on him for the last 15 minutes before bath time to tempt him.:-)

Just kicking back on the rocking horse with some juice :-) 

Josh was playing peek-a-boo with the little munchkin I babysit.  They were both laughing and have lots of fun!
This is a scene that I used to see every day, almost all day long.  As Josh has grown up, he's found other things to play with but every once in awhile, he sits up in the window and just watches outside or plays with some cars.  I really loved seeing this sight this morning . .. but . .. .

This was even more fun to see!  I was busy feeding the little guy so I threw Nate up on the couch behind me.  Usually he would just sit there but he got up and took off for the window.  He climbed right up on that arm and stood there staring out the window.  Josh than came racing over and I was a little concerned I would here "Mine, mine mine" but instead he just got up there next to him and they stayed that way for a long time!!
Nate is discovering new toys to play with that he hasn't played  with before which is always fun to watch!

Josh decided he needed to eat lunch in the chair.  I found this funny because last Wednesday, we got a Happy Meal for dinner (Wednesday is our treat day since Darryl is gone all day long due to driving cab and practice).  Well, that is when he took one bite of a french fry and showed me he had the stomach flu (yuck!)  So, I had given him a bath and than put him in this chair with that blanket wrapped around him.  So, he saw the lunch today, ran to his room, grabbed the blanket and ran to the chair.  Than said "ries?" (Fries)  LOLOLOL  He relaxed there for a long time, watching 'toons and eating "ries"
Finally, I was cooking dinner and the boys were in Josh's room.  They had shut the door (Josh can open it) and I heard them playing.  When I went to get them for dinner this is what I found :-)  I'm sure Nate (or as Josh calls him "Eat") had help getting up on that desk but, hey, at least they were playing together!

So, as you can see we played a lot this week - always lots of fun!!

Creative Memories Spotlight

This week, I've been working on organizing my digital photos.  I finally have figured out a great system thanks to the weekly challenge at A Bowl Full of Lemons.  This is a great way to keep them organized when you download them straight from your camera.  From there, I really like the Creative Memories software.  There are two parts to the software - one is for photo organization and one is for scrapbooking. 

Memory Manager     Scrapbooking Software

The Memory manager program is available for both PC and Mac (I don't have a MAC so I have not had an experience with the product - if you have a MAC and want more info - please let me know, I do have a people that use it!).  Both programs are easy to use and really make scrapbooking quick and easy! 

There are tons of downloads available for these as well - basically digital paper and stickers that you can use over and over and even change the color, texture and more.  Many of the downloads are available as a CD that you can purchase or as a download.  The downloads are great because they are pretty much instant use - just upload them into the system and you have the data.  The digital aspect is also great if you don't like all of the clutter of scrapbooking - everything from paper to stickers is all digital and on your computer, nicely organized.

Am I still a traditional scrapper?  Absolutely.  I find that I love the digital aspect for getting current because it is faster.  Once I am current (it WILL be this year!)  I plan on using the digital piece for the very day things - I tend to take pictures almost every single day of just the stuff the kids do and this will be an easy way to keep up with those daily photos.  Than, I will use traditional scrapbooking for special events and holidays so that I can search Magazines and websites for really neat layout ideas that I can use for just those special days. 

Would I recommend this software?  Yes.  It was given to me as a gift before I became a consultant and, at first, I wasn't sure if I would use it.  Once I got into it, though, I discovered how nice it is to have the ease of the organization and preparing of quick pages.  I wish I would have had the "equipment" when I was on bed rest for 17 weeks with Josh - I could have gotten so much done LOL 

You can check out my Website and search through the "shop", "digital" section for all things digital.