Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Detroit Zoo

Since we had a nice, long weekend, we decided to take the kids to the Detroit Zoo. We went on Sunday so that Allyson, Andy, and Scott could come with us (the other family members had other plans for the day so they didn't join us). We went to the early service at church and then headed to the zoo afterwards. It was the PERFECT day for the zoo!! The sun was shining, it was cool in the morning and warmed up in the afternoon. The Lord blessed us with a beautiful day!!Halle outside the Butterfly House
Inside the Butterfly House. Parker just pointed and said "eye" (butterfly)
It was inside the Butterfly House that our camera decided to break. The lens broke and the whole camera jammed up on us. Thankfully, I was able to get it to come back on, so we were able to get some more pictures of our day at the zoo. But we couldn't use the screen and we couldn't zoom, so we didn't as great of pictures as I would have liked. I guess we're buying a new camera this weekend!!

Scott and Parker looking at the animals

In front of the famous fountain
Isn't she beautiful?
Why is it every animal was either asleep or wouldn't look our way?? I think they know where they are and are sick of humans staring at them all the time...


The Peacocks rule the roost at that zoo!!! They were walking around everywhere!!!
Aunt Al, Halle, Parker, and Uncle Scott Here's what Uncle Andy did while we were there...Talking to his girlfriend!Parker's favorite exhibit-Rhinos!! We ended up buying him a rhino stuffed animal! He could have watched these guys do absolutely nothing all day long!! They must have really fascinated him.
Halle with her favorite animal-Zebra!! We took a bunch of pictures of the zebras in hopes that we can put some up in her zebra-themed bedroom!!


Parker with his ultimate favorite animal--Horses!!!!

Halle bought a stuffed zebra!!

Parker was zonked out in his wagon!!! He was SO tired!!

Before we left the zoo, we all sat down for one more picture (minus me). We ended up going back home, dropping Halle off at Bailey's to spend the night, and met up with everyone again at bd's Mongolian BBQ. We all love that place!!! We were all starving and ate all our dinner, plus we all split 2 huge desserts!!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

This week in tv

This was a BIG week in televsion!
"Americal Idol" finished up and KRIS ALLEN won!! I was so happy he took the victory over Adam. Way to go, Kris!
I do agree with most the world that Adam will in fact be really successful even though he lost, however, I won't be one to rush out and buy his music.
"Dancing with the Stars" also finished up this week. I really liked the last 3 "stars", so I didn't really care who won. I was surprised though that Shawn Johnson won over Melissa and Gille. Obviously, she has a huge fan base from the Olympics. They were saying on the radio that every time an Olympic athlete has competed on the show, they have won.

On Tuesday night, "Glee" premeired on Fox. It was SUPER good!! I loved it and can't wait for it to start up in the fall again. It's my new favorite show.

The NBA playoffs have been on all week long, so all the men in my life have been glued to the television watching the games. I can't comment much on it because I don't waste my time watching them, so I have no clue who is winning/losing. But, I do want to mention that Parker loves watching the games and every time a player shoots the ball, he either says "Missed it" (when they miss) or "Made it" and claps his hands (when they make it). It's adorable!!
Although this isn't a tv show, we went and saw "Night at the Museum-Battle of the Smithsonian" last night! It was really good and funny. It lived up to our expectations. I would definitely recommend it! It also made me really want to go to Washington, D.C.! The Smithsonian looks awesome and I have never been to D.C. before!!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Little People & Strawberry Turnovers

For Halle's first Christmas, one of her gifts was the Fisher Price Little People doll house. It came with the people, furniture, and it even made all sorts of noises when you pushed different buttons inside the house. She played with all her Little People stuff a ton. She even got into the Little People movies, and would watch them all the time. Now, as she has gotten older and no longer plays with them, she has passed all the Little People toys down to Parker, and he is loving them. Between the two of them, I think they have every single Little People toy out there. They have the house, barn, airplane, Noah's Ark, town, campsite, playground, amusement park, race track, and all the people, vehicles, furniture, animals, etc. that goes with it. It's a bunch of stuff!!!
When they set everything up, it takes up a lot of space!!!
Where's Parker?


Parker enjoys playing with them and actually Halle plays with him a lot too. I have been known to get down and play with them too! It's fun!

What I love about Little People is that the people are so cute, they are the perfect size for little kids, and everything is made of plastic or rubber, so nothing can break very easily. We have had a lot of the pieces for 8 years and they still look brand new.
I am planning on keeping all the Little People toys for my grandkids one day. I know, that's forever in the future, but I think kids 20 years from now will enjoy them just as much as my kids are enjoying them now.
Halle is my dessert fanatic! She LOVES making desserts. The other day she got out her cookbook, wrote the entire recipe out, took it with us to the grocery store, and found all the items she needed to make Strawberry Turnovers. After dinner, she and Brad made them for everyone. They were delicious!! I now deem Halle my official dessert maker!!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Happy Birthday Dad

On Friday, May 15th, it was my father-in-law's birthday!! Like he said, "I'm turning 35, just backwards!" So, here's wishing him a wonderful birthday and year ahead!!
On Friday, we all went in to "Logan's" to eat. It's his favorite restaurant. We had decided we were going to actually celebrate his birthday on Sunday (today) so that everyone could make it, however, we went ahead and told our waitress that it was his birthday, so she ended up having him stand up in the middle of the whole restaurant and announced it was his birthday and everyone gave him a birthday "Hee-haa"! It was pretty embarrassing and funny!!
Today, after church, we grilled rosemary chicken and salmon and we grilled green beans for his birthday dinner. He's a doctor and is into eating really healthy foods, so it was right up his alley.
Parker enjoying his dinner!!

We realized we had no pictures of Dad and Parker by themselves. Parker actually cooperated and looked sweet for a picture!

It didn't last long!! Why can't my kids just smile?


Halle colored Dad a picture and wrote "Happy Birthday Papa" on it! She also made him a banner that we had put up on Friday.

Mom made him a Texas Sheet Cake, so we ate that after lunch and gifts!!


The rest of the afternoon we just relaxed. I actually got to take a nap with Parker on the couch for 2 hours this afternoon. It was so relaxing!!!
Happy Birthday Dad!!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

My Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day! Happy Mother's Day to all the moms!! I spent my morning at Hadley Community Church accompanying a singing ladies group. The church is very small and the choir director asked if I would play for them to sing "Simple Gifts" as a Mother's Day special in the service. I have accompanied this choir before for their Christmas cantata as well. I just enjoy serving the Lord in any way I can.
My kids presented me with a few gifts! Halle made me a silhouette of herself at school and also brought me home a potted plant. They also bought me a light, cotton dress from H&M. I love it!! It will be perfect for summer!!
Afterwards, we headed to meet my family and grandparents at the Chinese restaurant, House of Hanan. You wouldn't be able to tell that it's an awesome restaurant from the outside, but their buffet is so good!! My dad actually delivered mail to the restaurant one day and realized how good the food was, so we have been eating there periodically with my parents on Sunday afternoons. We decided this would be a great place to eat on Mother's Day because every other restaurant will be packed with families celebrating the day.
My parents just got back from Cancun, Mexico yesterday (Saturday), so they had lots of stories to tell us and pictures to show. The place they stayed at looks incredible and the water is SO blue!! I'm still trying to figure out why we never went on such awesome vacations when I lived with them?? haha!
The stayed at an all-inclusive resort, Moon Palace, right on the ocean! They were able to get into any of their 8 locations in Mexico while they were there!! At the Moon Palace resort there were 14 restaurants alone!!!

They brought back a soccer jersey and a bunch of toys for Parker.
They got Halle a t-shirt and toys!

After lunch, the girls got in one car and headed to the mall to do a little shopping. The guys headed home! My mom ended up buying Allyson and me a lip gloss from Bath & Body Works.

Have you ever tried them? They not only make your lips shiny but they smell like mint and are supposed to help disguise bad breath! I love mine!!!We went back to the house and ate dessert! Here my "black" mom is with her 3 kids!!We got her a INC shirt from Macy's and some earrings. She really liked them both and the shirt looked so nice on her because she is SO TAN!!!

My mom, Allyson, Halle, and I all went over to my grandma's house to spend a little time with her on Mother's Day. She didn't end up meeting us at the restaurant earlier in the day.

All in all, it was a very nice Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day!!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Happy Mother's Day, Mom

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!

I became a mom 7 years ago. My pregnancy with Halle was an unexpected surprise at that time in my life, and the plans that I had for my future had to be altered quite a bit, but it was all worth it. The joy she brought me was overwhelming!



Parker made me a mom for a second time almost 2 years ago. He is the sweetest little guy around. My love for both my kids is amazing. You never realize you can love something with all your heart until you have kids. They are the best thing in the world! Nothing can compare to holding your own child in your arms. Without my kids, my life would be boring. They keep me so busy and entertained, I think I would sit around and feel lonely all the time if I didn't have them in my life. Being a mom is quite a job, but the blessings you get in return outweigh all the work by miles.


I know I wouldn't be the mom I am today if I didn't have 2 awesome moms in my life. My mom, Pam, is an awesome lady. She is into marathon running, yoga, dancing, and reading. She is a hard worker, oragnizational freak (like me), and loves her grandkids bunches. I know that while I was growing up, her job wasn't always easy. She worked full time and then had to come home and cook dinner, clean the house, do laundry, and spend time with us. She always tried to make it to as many of our sports games as possible. I remember when she started getting Saturdays off and she would take us to either Bruegger's Bagels or Taco Bell for lunch. Just little things like that made a lasting impression on me. We've spent a lot of time shopping together, from weekends in Chicago to a quick run to the local grocery store. We both can usually find a reason to go shopping. I usually get to see my mom once a week and I enjoy spending time with her. She is my mom and I love her with all my heart. Happy Mother's Day, Mom.


The other mom in my life is my mother-in-law, Micky. She has been my 2nd mother for almost 8 years!! A lot of people think it's weird to be friends with your mother-in-law, but I have a very close relationship with mine. We talk about everything together. She is into reading, shopping, and loving on her grandkids. She has a servant's heart and is always willing to do anything to make my life easier. She likes to shop, so we do that a lot together. Many times, I try to get both my moms to go shopping together. That way I can spend time with both. I see my mom-in-law daily, as I live with her, but I still enjoy all our time together. She has been an awesome 2nd mom to me, accepting me into her family as if I were one of her own. I love her and wish her the best Mother's Day ever.
Happy Mother's Day!!