I'm not really a planner.

     My dear family, we are not planners. It just isn't one of our strong suits. For the most part it worked for my parents. Big things like vacations were usually put on the calendar (or not), but all the details waited until the last minute. Stress and arguing would ensue, but for the most part we were flexible and what happened happened.

(FaceTiming Poppa.)

(Patiently waiting on his birthday cake.)

     Well, I grew up and moved out. I got married and started my family only to realize that that characteristic seems to have followed me. I think more than that I've realized just what goes into planning a big event or vacation. It's not easy. My mom only did "big" birthdays when we turned 5, 13, and 16 and I can see why. It's a lot of work and truly quite time consuming.

     Unfortunately for me, I love parties. More so I just love celebrating people and having an excuse to get together. I also love the creativeness involved. I enjoy making everything look cute and put together. Giving a concept life really makes my heart sing.

(He blew it out on the first try a big difference from last year, ha!)

(The candle was his favorite part, he spend 10 min trying to make it stand in his little piece of cake.)

     It becomes complicated because I still waffle between planner extraordinaire and planner terrible (read that word in Spanish, it flows better)/awful procrastinator. I am definitely more so that latter than the former. When it gets down to the wire the struggle is real folks and so I'm trying to get better at having my stuff to together. I've come to understand it's going to take time. I'm learning you can't overcome lifelong habits all at once.

(I loved the way his cake turned out, pretty simple and super tasty!)

     It all started two weeks before Tobias turned two. I finally decide to throw a party! But of course, the day before his birthday I think "we must celebrate on his actual day too!" I was a mess trying to get things together last minute. Multiple trips to the store, an extremely late night, you name it. It was all unnecessary and I totally did it to myself. Auntie Cesca was able to enjoy this celebration with us and it truly was the cutest thing to watch him blow out his candle and revel in all the attention.

(Books and CD's and other fun things from Nanny.)

(His first lego set, an airplane.)

(We FaceTimed Nanny so she could watch him open her gift!)

(My parents bought him a CD player to go along with what Nanny got him, 

he loves it, especially the volume button ... my little rock star.)

(Gray and I got him a play do set, a huge hit.)

(A few pictures of the cute chunker just because.)

     So again, the crazy started two weeks before his birthday when I finally decided to throw a party. At that point I was kicking myself for not planning something sooner. I find that once something makes it on the calendar all of a sudden every day leading up to it becomes filled with other random important activities! Does this happen to anyone else?

   (I did the same cake for his party just added a splash!)

     In the end I kept it small and low key. I invited my two closest friends and their kiddos. The theme was a Splashin' Birthday Bash. We had fried chicken and biscuits, mac n' cheese, baked beans and green beans. It was very yummy. I opted for cake pops instead of cutting the cake and they were a huge hit. The kids ran between the sprinkler and the kitty pool. They squirted water guns and then broke all the water balloons in two seconds flat. Tobias had so much fun. It was a win and I'm glad I did it.

 (All of his closest friends; it will be fun to see if anything will change and if they grow up together.)

(Lauren and I had a pretty good game of water balloon toss going 

before we got upstaged by Gray and John.)

      All that to say, I may not have come from a family of planners and most days it shows. I am determined to get better. I don't have to follow in their footsteps, I can be on top of things ... maybe (ha). We should probably wait to see how next year goes.

 (These two photos just make me laugh, cake pops apparently make kids go a little crazy!)

(These two; the best of buds. Westley and Tobias.)

(Such a fun evening hanging out with friends!)

Father's Day 2014

     Just another post playing catch up! Father's day with Jim here was a real treat and going to a Brave's game was definitely the icing on the cake! It threatened to rain on a number of occasions, but thankfully it stayed nice the whole time and the sky, well the sky was spectacular. It was such a fun day!
     I'm always encouraged when family come to visit. They seem to bring a slice of home with them that truly refreshes my heart. They might even make me a little homesick too, but only for a short time. And one of the many perks (especially when Jim comes) is getting pampered and spoiled! I definitely had sweet tea and ice cream that day. Baby was kicking like crazy from that sugar high. :)
     It was good for Gray too, just to relax and enjoy time hanging out with his dad. I love the relationship they have. I'm excited for baby to experience the same relationship with his daddy as Gray does with Jim. So much to be thankful for, so much to look forward to with great anticipation!
     Thanks for making the drive Jim, you are truly a joy to be around. I'm so blessed with a wise and loving dad, father-in-law, and my own Gray who is soon to know the joy of being a daddy to our little boy! I'm glad Gray and I got to celebrate Father's Day the way it should be celebrated, making much of the special dad's in our lives! You can never give dad's too much kudos!!

Fourth of July with the Cato's!

     I have such contrasting memories of July 4th that at times it can be baffling. Some memories include the anticipation of getting together with a large group of friends and playing games and eating watermelon while waiting to watch the fireworks display out at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. While other memories seem less climatic and include grilling out with just the family and sometimes missing the fireworks altogether. I loved hanging out with my family, but there is something special to gathering with a big group of friends to celebrate and make memories and I hope that Gray and I can make it a tradition when this little one arrives!
     Unfortunately, this year will be one of those less climatic years. Grayson just started a new job at Applebee's, a job we are very thankful for, but as the new low man on the totem pole, he doesn't have much say over his hours. So today he works from 11am to close. But in my disappointment at not being able to "rightly" celebrate the holiday, I can find comfort in the fact that this is just a phase of life and that this is just one 4th in the midst of many. But before I depress you all with too much disappointment, let me say that the two of us did get to pay proper tribute this morning before he left! I'm hoping that these scrumptious strawberry banana pancakes become a part of our tradition because they were so so yummy and festive!
     I had a box of strawberry cake mix just hiding out in my pantry and I figured someone had to have made a pancake recipe using cake mix so I went searching and found this POST on the blog Tastes of Lizzy T. After a quick trip to the store for some eggs (one of my go to meals during this pregnancy has been eggs over hard so eggs don't keep very long in our fridge) and heavy whipping cream, I went to work! I started with THIS whipped cream recipe first and then set it in the fridge to keep cool. After mixing the ingredients for the pancakes I started the long process of cooking them, oh the woes of not owning a griddle! :) I used coconut oil to keep the pancakes from not sticking and it worked great! After creating a decent stack I started the layering process. Pancake then whipped cream then banana slices and repeat as many times as you like. Once I got to the top I used a star cookie cutter to create a little topper. These pancakes were so good! Good enough that you can definitely eat them without syrup if you choose, but being sweet lovers Gray and I decided a side of syrup never hurt anyone and it was just the right addition!
Go ahead try these out, you won't be disappointed!

Disposing of the tree.

     There really isn't some awesome story that goes along with these pictures. Getting rid of the tree is something that everyone has to do. It was a little harder for us because when you live in an apartment you can't just stick it on the curb and wait for someone to come pick it up. But with a little online research we learned that we could drop it off at a park about 3 min from our house and from there the City of Greenville would take care of it. Pretty simple if you ask me! The only issue is that when two lazy people live together it takes a little longer than necessary. So a week or so after we had taken off all the ornaments and packed them away we finally got around to removing it from our home. And about a week after that we eventually dropped it off at the park . . . those were a cramped couple of days riding in the Escape! At least is smelled good!

I love my macho man!

Family Hiking.

     I was so hoping that when Gray and I went home to Ohio for Christmas we would see lots of snow. But it wasn't meant to be, in fact instead of snow or cold weather we seemed to have brought Greenville weather with us. It was balmy with temperatures in the high 40's and 50's . . . even though the lack of snow was disappointing, it did allow my family the chance to go hiking.
    I love hiking with my family, it always makes me laugh. You see, my mom goes hiking to exercise, she is always way ahead of the pack fast walking her way to the end. She likes to appreciate her surroundings at a drive by speed. My dad on the other hand, loves the outdoors, he loves exploring and breathing in the beautiful environment. Its more about enjoying the hike than getting through it. My sisters seem to get drawn into my mom's exciting speed and use it as exercise for themselves. I hate exercising, but instead of thinking that I'm lazy, I choose to believe that like my dad I love taking it slow, making my way with careful feet, capturing all of the beauty that God creates.
     Hiking with my family, regardless of the speed, is a great reminder that there is this stunning world all around us and that sometimes we just need to get out and see it. I can't wait to take hikes with my kids and make similar memories one day.