Spring Blooms!!

It went from really cold...to really HOT!! It has been at least 80 degrees everyday since Saturday, I love this warm weather. Since it call still freeze at night in upstate NY in May, I don't buy my outside flowers until Memorial Day weekend, but when I saw this gorgeous geranium at the store I had to buy it, it is so pretty!! If it freezes at night one plant won't be hard at all to bring in. This picture does not do it justice it is absolutely beautiful!! I can't wait to buy the rest of my flowers.

I also love this tree in our front yard. I think it looks so pretty now with all the spring blooms.

Happy Tuesday!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

...that sums up our weekend! It was so beautiful here both days and we were on the go all day both days! Saturday was the opening day of Little League. It was a perfect day for baseball! The parade and opening ceremonies were in the morning and Brock's game was at 3pm.

Here is a picture that my friend Abby took of Graig talking during the opening ceremonies (thanks Abby!!) As Little League President he worked so hard to make sure that everything was ready for the kids, coaches and families for Opening Day. I think he did a great job and the weather was absolutely perfect. Ava has a Little League uniform too she looks so cute in it. I was so busy during Opening Day that I didn't take a picture of either of them, I will have to make sure to take some next weekend.

On Sunday, Brock and Ava both had soccer games. Ava took a couple of pictures from Brock's game, he plays goalie. Ava's first game of the season was in the afternoon. Last week Graig took her to get her uniform, he said she was worried about three things:

1. she wanted to know what color her team was (they are yellow this year)

2. she wanted to get #9 which is Graig's number from when he played sports, she told Graig they needed to get to the uniform handout extra early because #9 is a popular number (ha ha)

3. she wanted to know where the team was going to go for their end of the season party

Isn't that cute? Ava played goalie too, she takes after her big brother!! I will have to take some pictures of her game next week.

TGIF!!!

I am so happy it's Friday!! This past week has been so busy at work and Graig traveled a couple of days and he's coming home today so I am ready to relax and enjoy the weekend!! It is suppose to be about 75 degrees and sunny so it's going to be a perfect weekend. It has been so cold and yucky here the past week so the sunny warm weather will be a nice change! Two big things are happening this weekend. Brock is so happy because his Little League season is starting tomorrow!! Baseball is his favorite sport and is SO ready for his new season to begin!!

Here is a picture of Brock with his friend Theo from last season!

I am also going to get some painting projects done this weekend. I need to finish painting my trim white. I have so much to do, I think this is going to be the never ending project!!

Have a great weekend!!

April showers bring lots of baby showers!!

Two of my friends from work are expecting baby boys next month! I wanted to get them both something cute and unique, so I ordered roadies from Monogram Chick which are little bags that hold a couple of diapers and wipes and personalized note cards from Cute Cat Designs. I think they both came out really cute. I hope the moms to be like them!!

I put both gifts in a basket with some tissue paper, here's what they look like all wrapped up, I also threw in a receiving blanket, a binky and a little hat. I love the way they turned out!

Tagged

I was tagged by Jill from Peeptoe Pumps and Pearls, Jill was one of my partners for the Christmas cookie swap that Monogrammed Chick hosted. We have been blog friend ever since. I love reading her blog every day, she is so creative!! We would be real life friends if we lived in the same town.

8 things I am looking forward to:
1. Little League season-it starts on Saturday and I can't wait!! Brock is so happy baseball is his favorite sport and Graig is his baseball coach. I love going to the games and sitting in the sun and talking with all the other Moms, we have so much fun!!


2. Summer since it's my absolute favorite season of the year and since I work at a college I love the laid back atmosphere of work in the summer months!

3. Redoing our kitchen, it's my least favorite room in my house right now and it's so tiny and out of date it probably won't happen anytime really soon, but I know we are going to have to redo it eventually

Here is what our kitchen looks like now

4. Our new housekeeper! I interviewed her yesterday and she had a ton of great references, her name is Martha and she is going to be great! Her cleaning day is going to be Thursday, I am so excited to come home to a clean house!!


5. Summer flowers, I love planting flowers every year! I do my planting on Memorial Day weekend and I can't wait!!

Flowers on my deck from last summer

6. Painting my trim white, this is going to be an extended project. I want to get all of my trim painted by August when the College students come back and my work gets crazy again!!


7. Brock and Ava getting bigger. They are at the BEST ages right now, 7 and 11 we have so much fun together. They are a little older and we have our routines and family traditions and I just love where they are at right now and I can't wait to see the teenagers they become!


8. I am excited about becoming an Aunt!! It hasn't happened yet but my sister Shelby and her husband Ryan are bound to have a child sooner or later, I think that will be so much fun to have a niece or nephew!!

8 things I did yesterday
1. Took Brock and Ava to school
2. Went for a walk with the dogs
3. Read a book with Ava
4. Went to work
5. Got my to do list done at work...that hardly ever happens :)
6. 100 sit ups
7. Texted my sister Shelby
8. Emailed about 20 people about Little League Concession Stand stuff

8 things I wish I could do
1. Paint and Draw
2. Yoga
3. Run a marathon
4. Get to bed earlier every night
5. Remember birthdays and anniversaries
6. Download a podcast on my iphone ( I still haven't figured that out!!)
7. Learn more about the stock market, and financial investments (Graig loves all that stuff and I wish I understood it!!)
8. Go on a tropical vacation with no kids!!

8 shows I watch
1. Any and all news show-Anderson Cooper 360, the Today show, nightly news, 20/20, Dateline NBC, etc. I love them and I blame my Dad for my news addiction! I have to watch the news everyday.
2. Gossip Girl thanks to my fall Greek Life intern!
3. Tori and Dean Home Sweet Hollywood
4. 90210 (esp. old school 90210!)
5. The Office
6. 30 Rock
7. Saturday Night Live
8. Oprah

I tag anyone that wants to do play along, it's really fun!! Happy Wednesday!!

The sweetest gifts

Last week Brock and Ava were on spring break, since Graig and I had to work Ava went to an Art Camp for three days. Ava loves making things so I knew that she would have a great time! While she was there she worked on this basket for me, she said she made it for my office since our school colors are red, white, and black.

She made this mirror for Graig, I think it turned out really cute, I hung it on a door in our living room.

Happy Tuesday!!

Weekend recap!

We had a very busy weekend (I feel like I say that every weekend!) Anyway, Friday night Ava had her friend Jade sleep over, they are so cute together! Jade is so sassy and darling. I love how she just says whatever is on her mind. Friday evening our neighbors brought over the 12 (yes 12!!) boxes of girl scout cookies that we bought, we had just ordered pizza so they ended up staying and hanging out with us until 11:30, which is extremely late for Graig and I!

Saturday morning we were all up early to volunteer for the Little League. Graig and Brock went down to the fields to help paint picnic tables and the dugouts. Ava and I headed to BJ's (a warehouse store) with a couple of other Moms to get all of the stuff that we need for the little league concession stand. We were there about an hour and spent $1300 on food!!

Ava and Jade surrounded by hamburger, doesn't Ava looked THRILLED!!

Ava and I at lunch on Saturday.

Ava always gets the biggest ice cream, she loves it!

On Sunday, Graig and I took our doggies to the park. We let them off of their leashes and just let them run and run until they are exhausted, they absolutely love it. They get so dirty!! As soon as we got home I put them right in the bath tub. I thought it was hard getting two kids to smile and look at the camera at the same time, with two dogs it's twice as hard!!

I love this picture of Cotton!! He looks so cute!

Licking their doggie lips

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Brock starts Little League this week! We are all ready for baseball season!

If I had a million dollars...

I would redecorate my whole house with things from Ballard Designs!! I have heard so many other bloggers talk about Ballard Designs and I wanted to know what all the hype was about so I ordered a catalogue. They have soooo many beautiful things!! I spent about an hour last night going through the whole catalogue. I did order these apothecary jars, I love them, I can't wait to get them!!

I wish I had a big kitchen, I love this island!! I think it would look so pretty in a nice, big kitchen.

I also wish I had enough room for this, I think this would look so nice in an entryway.

I am so glad it's Friday!!! I am ready for the weekend, it is suppose to be beautiful here and I can't wait to go outside and work in our yard. Have a good weekend.

Touch of Spring

Vera Bradley is sold downstairs from my office in the College Bookstore. Every day I have to walk by the beautiful Vera Bradley displays on the way to my office. I have had my eye on this wristlet for a couple of weeks and yesterday I finally broke down and bought it!! I love it, I think it will be perfect for the spring/summer. It will hold my money, credit card, license, gum and a lip gloss...my essentials!! I think I will use it when I go to Brock's Little League games, it will be so much better than my 20 lb. purse!! Isn't it cute? It has all four Vera Bradley spring patterns on it. When I went to the grocery store over the weekend I bought this sweet little violet and I added the flower pick at home. I put it in my bathroom to brighten it up and add a little touch of spring. I think it looks so cute in there, I love flowers and plants and they are so cheap at the grocery store, I try to buy a plant each time I go to the grocery store this time of year to brighten up our house for spring. Violets are my favorite because they are so easy to take care of.

Happy Thursday, one more day until the weekend-yeah!!

Spring is in the air

On Saturday, I went to HomeGoods, they have the nicest things for your home for really cheap prices. I love going there and could spend a ton of money there because everything is so nice. I set a spending limit of $20 for myself. I looked around the store and found this adorable planter. When I checked out the cashier said he couldn't believe the planter was only $10!! He thought it would be $20-$30, I love a bargain and I think the green color will be perfect to brighten up our home for spring/summer!

Three little bugs all snug in their beds

Last night Ava had her friend Jake and his little brother Timmy sleep over. They jumped on the trampoline for about an hour, then we went for a long bike ride, when we got home they played wii and at about 9pm they asked me if they could go to bed because they were tired! Isn't that funny? In all the sleepovers that Brock and Ava have had this is the only time the kids asked if they could go to bed, usually it's about 11pm and I am still trying to get them to settle down.


They wanted to sleep in Ava's playroom in the attic so after they were asleep I went up and got this picture of them. Aren't they cute? I love the boys camouflage sleeping bags, so cute!!
Last night I made real homemade popcorn on the stove. It was so good!! We used to have it all the time that way growing up but now I always buy microwave because it's easier. Anyway, I think I am going to start making it on the stove because it was delicious, we all loved it!
I also did a little photo shoot with Brock, he needs "head shot" for our town paper (yes we live in a small town, and yes I will save all of the papers that Brock is in-ha ha!) for Little League. I took about 10 pictures of him and this was the best one. Doesn't he look so cute?? He is getting so big!! He is going to be one of the oldest kids on his team this year. He is so excited about his upcoming season, his first scrimmage of the year is going to be on Wednesday.

Easter Sunday

Easter started early for us yesterday, Brock and Ava woke us up at 6am to see what the Easter Bunny left in their baskets! It was so early I forgot to take pictures but Ava got a new bathing suit and Brock got a new polo shirt for when he plays golf. They both got tons and tons of candy!! After they opened their baskets they (thankfully!) went back to bed.

When we got up we got ready for church and got there extra early because our church is always packed on Easter. Brock and Ava were so happy because we got to sit up in the balcany, they love sitting up there because they can see everyone and everything that's happening.

After church we went to Grandma Jan's for lunch and an Easter Egg Hunt. Here are Brock and Ava finding their eggs, it was so cold today, it only got up to about 40 degrees!! It was a very chilly Easter!Ava showing off her eggs!

Brock and Ava checking out their loot ! They got tons and tons of candy! Ava didn't want anyone to eat her candy, it was so cute!Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! Brock and Ava have spring break this week Graig and I have to work so Ava is going to Art camp and Brock is going to spend time playing golf (if it's nice enough!) and playing basketball! I think they will have a fun week.

Happy Easter!!!

Have a Happy Easter filled with family, friends...and lots of candy!! We are going to church this morning and then we are going to Grandma Jan's for Easter Lunch and an Easter Egg Hunt!!
Hope you have a wonderful Easter!!
Love,
Angie, Graig, Brock and Ava

I can't wait...

for summer!! I found these pictures when I was going through all my picture files last night. I love these flowers that I got from my garden. I can't wait to have flowers again!!

Last summer at Brock's party we had sparklers, they were a big hit!! I love this picture of Ava with our neighbor Anika, they love sparklers!!

Summer is my favorite time of year! It's only a couple of months away, I can't wait!!

Easter Weekend

I have worked every single day this week while the students have been on break-I have gotten so much done!! I am so happy that I worked every day, I had a to do list for the week and IT'S DONE!!! That never, ever happens!!

Brock and Ava's spring break started yesterday and Ava has spent the last two nights with Grandma Jan, she is going to sleep over again tonight and tomorrow they are going to an Easter Parade! She calls us a couple of times each day and keeps us updated on all the fun things they are doing.

Tonight, Brock and Graig have Little League Practice and I am going to make manicotti and salad for dinner. After dinner, I just want to relax and catch up on all my tv shows and magazine reading!

Tomorrow we need to color our Easter Eggs and I need to make my deviled eggs and chocolate pie for Easter Dinner. I also need to put Brock and Ava's Easter Baskets together. The Easter Bunny always leaves them on our dining room table.

Tomorrow evening I want to take Ava to see the new Hannah Montana movie, I think it looks really cute and Ava can't wait to see it.



I hope everyone has a beautiful Easter weekend filled with family and friends!!

Weekend recap!

Friday evening we had Graig's Dad, brother and grandma over for dinner. Graig's Dad went down south to North Carolina for the winter and we haven't seen him since before Christmas, so they came over to eat dinner with us. Here is a picture of Ava and Grandpa Larry Saturday, Brock had his championship basketball game for a tournament they were in, Brock's team won! They were so happy!! Brock had a good game and made all of his free throw shots when he got fouled.

Saturday night was my friend Angie's 35th birthday party. She had about 25 people at her party, we had so much fun laughing and talking. I forgot my camera, but thankfully one of her other friends took ton of pictures and she is going to email us. Here is a picture of Sabrina, me and the birthday girl, Angie, from last weekend at Sabrina's husband's b-day party

This morning we went to church for Palm Sunday services and this afternoon our neighbors had an Easter Egg Hunt. Poor Ava had dance practice so she couldn't go :( but Brock went and he had a good time with the little kids, he helped them get eggs and he got some for himself, we told him he could only get eggs that were hidden from the waist up. I am so glad that Brock still likes hunting eggs, this will probably be his last year :(

sweet treats I bought at our church bake sale for the Easter Egg Hunt

All the kids ready to go
Silly boys-Joe and Brock before the egg hunt

Brock inspecting an egg

Brock searching for eggs

Joe and Brock showing their eggs, aren't they cute?

Have a good week!!