One Hundred!!!

One hundred is a BIG number, and that is how many posts I've done!!! WOW!! I thought I'd never get there!! Since it's such a monumentous occasion, I'd like to let you get to know me a little more with a list of 100 things about me!! But, I also just got back home from a fabulous vacation and want to share with you about that... so I'm combining the two into one post!! (Lucky you!)

One Hundred Things about Our Vacation:

1. We flew to Kansas City, MO

2. It was Ruthie's first flight and she did FANTASTIC!!! A born traveler!

3. We were laid over in our airport for 4 hours. So glad we rushed to get to the airport for the allotted 2 hours before the flight took off!!



4. The starbucks at the airport stinks!! I was so glad to get to the terminal and to start our trip off right... with a starbucks. But, my mint chip frap was DISGUSTING. I took one sip and through the rest away. I don't know what went wrong. But, it was all wrong!

5. We went with my husband's family - Sister and her family, and his mom and dad! We had 9 people in all.

6. We went for Tony's family reunion on his mom's side!

7. We stayed with his Aunt Judy. She is so sweet and kind. She was the most gracious hostess.

8. We rented the family truckster- a 15 passenger van- for the week. We looked like we were with a church group!




9. We had a lot of fun the first day at Deanna Rose Children's Farm. It is a city park- so it was free!! It was the coolest place. If you're ever in KC definitely stop by. We were there for 6 hours. They had goats, horses, pigs, and chickens. Butterfly gardens and vegetable gardens. Fishing, pony rides, baby goat feeding, and hay rides. Playgrounds, mining for gold, milking cows, and little bitty tractors to race. We did most of the things, but could have come back the next day and done more!!








10. We met Tony's cousin, Kelly, and her daughter Gabrielle there that day.

11. Gabrielle is 14 months old and introduced Ruthie to many new foods!



12. Drove by Tony's house when he grew up.

13. Met his neighbor who still lives there.

14. Saw the creek that he jumped on his bike when he was young. (It's about 20 feet across!) He loves to tell that story.



15. Saw the elementary school where Mardi (my SIL) went to school!

16. Ate the BEST tacos prepared fresh by Aunt Judy. Ever heard of Perez taco shells? You have to fry them fresh to get them in the taco shell shape. Also, enjoyed Spanish Gardens taco sauce

17. We brought back a suitcase load of Spanish Gardens and Perez for our eating enjoyment!

18. Woke UP EARLY the next day to drive 3 hours to go to Silver Dollar City



19. Loved it and got to see Alana and her family I grew up with her husband, Rich and met Alana in college. They are true kindred spirits and wonderful friends. It's wonderful to pick up right where we left off the last time I saw them... for my wedding 2 and 1/2 years ago! Their sweet boys were so much fun to hang out with. I'm still looking for that stone bear, Richie!!





20. Enjoyed the rides and the company. Made some candles, saw glass blowing, ate some fresh made peanut brittle.

21. Ate the biggest pork tenderloin sandwich known to man. Shared it with the hubs.

22. Took the LONGEST (and scariest) route home. 3 hours turned to 4. Didn't get home till midnight. Was as cold as a Frozen piece of shrimp. (Tony kept the air on full blast so he'd stay awake!)

23. Saw 2 deer standing at the side of the road. Did NOT hit said deer.

24. Got up the next day and went to World's of Fun.

25. Totally recommend the rides. They were great! Especially the carousel. Fantastic! Actually they all LOVED the rides there. Many were like the ones at Busch Gardens.



26. I Don't recommend the BBQ at the park. The cashier is a LOT rude. Threatened to beat us up. We called manager. She's fired. EWWW-WEEEE Pray for me! End of story!

27. Ruthie met Snoopy. She loved him and even gave him a big kiss on his nose. Too Cute!



28. Left tired, cranky, and in need of food (see #26). Stopped at Subway.

29. Watched 1/2 of the movie Fools Gold and fell asleep!

30. Went to church with the family

31. Met most of Tony's aunts and uncles and A LOT of his cousins. His mom is one of seven, so there are a lot of people to meet.





32. They had yummy ham and mac and cheese, and the best barbecue beans I've ever eaten.

33. Ruthie loved the clown that came to entertain the kids. She wanted to crawl up to where all the big kids were sitting!






34. Stayed up REAL late playing phase 10. We love that game!!

35. Drove the Family truckster to down town KC to go to the Plaza and Halls- Crown Center

36. The plaza is a posh outdoor shopping place.

37. Halls, the crown center, is the corporate office for Hallmark.

38. A lot (including Aunt Judy) of Tony's family worked for Hallmark.

39. They have the coolest place called kaleidoscope where kids use all sorts of arts and craft items to be creative.











40. Tony made Ruthie a plane and a 1st birthday crown!



41. Inside the Crown Center is a wonderful mall

42. and the hugest store called- Halls!

43. Side note, it is true, once my MIL actually turn the card over to see if it was a Hallmark - just like the commercial!

44. The Family Truckster DID NOT fit into ANY of the parking garages!! We almost left several dents in the roof trying to fit!

45. We ate at the cutest little restaurant for lunch- Trains was it's theme.






46. The train goes around the top of the restaurant and delivers your food to you!!



47. They had cherry-limades there but they weren't quite as good as sonic's

48. Everyone started to get on everyone's nerves.

49. No one had enough sleep.

50. Tired = cranky

51. ate enchiladas - yes there is a Mexican theme here..

52. Yes, we used Spanish Gardens taco sauce to make and eat them!

53. Stuffed ourselves because Aunt Judy made 70 enchiladas because the boys said they could each eat an entire row. They didn't do too bad!

54. Played triple solitaire while waiting for dinner.

55. Ruthie loved Gabrielle's toys. They are toddler kind of toys, not baby toys like we have for her. Good thing her birthday is coming up... we'll have new toys!

56. Went to Cosco to buy our own container of Organic Animal Cookies. Anyone near a cosco I highly recommend.

57. When to Price Chopper to pick up our fresh perez taco shells and spanish gardens sauce to bring home.

58. Saw the Price Chopper that Tony worked at when he was in High School and college!

59. Went to FUN HOUSE PIZZA and ordered lunch!!

60. This was basically a whole in the wall, but had really yummy pizza. Wish we had it here in FL!!

61. Ate pizza.

62. Packed Up ALL of our stuff.

63. Our stuff didn't fit into the luggage.

64. Had to leave some not so necessary items!

65. Loaded the Family Truckster... to the brim!

66. Said goodbye... boo hoo :(

67. Drove exactly 41 minutes to the Airport.

68. Got to the airport more than 2 hours early.

69. Had to repack some of our bags because one was over the weight limit!

70. The air conditioning was out at the air port.

71. Not a good combination- cranky, tired and HOT travelers...

72. Our flight was NOT delayed this time.

73. Ruthie did NOT sleep this time.

74. She played the entire time we were in the air.

75. Both times we had an empty seat between us so Ruthie had some room.

76. None of our bags were missing.

77. Our rides picked us up at the airport and took us home.

78. Even though we had a lot of fun, it was SO nice to be HOME.

79. Glad we took the extra time to clean the house before we left!

80. Missed Aunt Judy and her yummy breakfast the next day.

81. Missed waking up to the smell of bacon!

82. Missed all of us being together.

83. Ruthie really enjoyed having daddy home all day for a week.

84. All she wanted was Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!

85. We were all exhausted.

86. Ruthie has slept until 9:30 each morning since we got home.

87. Our bags are only 1/2 unpacked.

88. I hate that job.

89. Laundry is done.

90. We miss Aunt Judy

91. We miss Kelly

92. We miss Gabrielle

93. We enjoyed being on vacation with Grandma

94. We enjoyed being on vacation with Paw-Paw

95. We enjoyed being on vacation with Aunt Mardi

96. We enjoyed being on vacation with Uncle Jack



97. We enjoyed being on vacation with Luke

98. We enjoyed being on vacation with Bailey





99. We loved spending time with each other



100. We are glad to be home!



WOW!! I did it!! Had to stretch it out a little at the end!! To all the two people who are still reading... thanks for hanging in there with me!

Ruthie is 11 Months Old!!! And We're off!

Ruthie turns 11 months old today, and we're flying to Kansas City for Tony's family reunion!! What an exciting day. This month has just absolutely flown by. I can't believe my little baby is almost one year old!! It's such a weird mixture of sad and excited all at the same time.

She's accomplished a lot during her tenth month...

* She signs for "More" "eat" and "all done" I was SO excited when she first did the sign. I've been working with her for months on that. When I say working, it's not like we had baby sign boot camp or anything, just that Tony and I have been doing the signs to her for about 4 months and she finally returned them!!

* She has been doing this for quite a while I just haven't gotten around to blogging about it. The first bite (of anything) she takes is always a small test bite. Almost like she's wondering if it is going to taste good or what in the world is mommy feeding me this time. Once she's done her little taste bite, she opens wide and takes full bites... unless it is something that she doesn't like, which is currently carrots.

* She eating pretty much whatever we have for dinner. She gets her little small pieces and eats to her tummy's content. It's so cute. I think her two favorite foods right now are broccoli and cantaloupe!!

* She put her peek-a-boo blocks in the top of the Giraffe so they would slide down and make noise! This is also something we've been playing with for a month or so. She usually just grabs the blocks and starts shaking them to hear the noise or eats them. But, this month she actually figured out what the primary purpose was for the silly orange giraffe. It's too cute!

* She pulled up to the coffee table. This is MONUMENTAL!!! For Ruthie. Most babies from early on will put pressure on their legs and "stand up" if you get them into that position and help support them. NOT RUTHIE. She wanted nothing to do with putting her feet on the floor. And, since she's been born, when we've tried to get her to "stand" on our laps or anything else she lifts up both feet as if to say... I'm not doing it! Finally, thanks to some extra time with her exersaucer she has begun to "stand" with assistance. She's still wobbly and isn't sure of it, but she's trying. Thats all this Mommy cares about!

* We put her bed to the lowest position. This was a sad day for me. I know it's inevitable, and that there are so many fun milestones ahead. But, that bed will never be moved for Ruthie. It's the last step until she's moving out on her own. Ok, I'm a little dramatic, but seriously, I felt a twinge of sad.

* She also learned how to sit up on her own from lying down. A couple of time this past week when I went to get her from her nap she was sitting up in her bed. This is totally new. She's not been able to do that before. I was so excited, but I wanted to see how she got up. Sunday, at Tony's parent's house, we witnessed it MANY times!!

* She also is doing her own type of crawling. She's getting really fast and moving much farther distances. Nothing is safe for real now!

* She still LOVES books best. Those are her favorite toys. She love ducky, too! (and her mini wii controller!)

* Absolutely LOVES the water. She loves to play in it, swim in it, drink it....

* Wants whatever we are eating or drinking. (But, doesn't always get it!) It's so cute if she sees you eating or drinking she does the sign for eat until you give her some! She especially wants your drink if it is a water bottle. She loves to drink out of them and to chew on them and play with the water!!

BIG Weekend. HUGE.

This was probably one of the biggest weekends of my husband's life (aside from getting married and the birth of our baby). All in one weekend, my husband celebrated his 40th birthday, his first Father's day, and he was inducted as a Deacon at our church. WOW! Can anyone say it with me? WOW!

To celebrate his birthday, he thought we were going to Ruth's Chris Steak House. But alas, what he didn't know was that his wonderful (and humble) wife was planning a surprise party for him!! AND, I (with the help of MANY other people...) pulled it off!!! I can't hardly believe he was actually surprised. He has a nose for news... as they say and can usually sniff out a disturbance in the force... if you know what I mean... but he was surprised. My sister and brother in law led with a wonderful performance of a fake argument so that Jack would need Tony's help with carrying things to the car. Then once he was out of the car, we grabbed Ruthie and headed to the surprise location. Jack led him right into a BUNCH of people who were all there to surprise him!! He was speechless. If you know my husband, that is saying A LOT. HUGE.

Surprise!!!


Me and the Hubs


Birthday Boy and his little girl


Our Fam!



The next morning, at church my husband was one of 5 men who became a Deacon. They were anointed with oil and the elders laid hands on them and prayed for them. To say it was very meaningful is an understatement. I have never been more proud of my husband than I was on Sunday. He has such a heart for the Lord. His desire is to be SOLD OUT for Him. To follow Him. Do the Lord's Will. To become more Christ like and now, to humbly serve the Lord through serving His Church. What a blessed woman I am to have a Godly husband, and leader of my family.

He's the tallest one with the dark shirt!





Then, later that day we went to his father's house to celebrate Father's Day! They watched the race and we played the game Life (a father's day gift). We ate party left overs. And had a wonderful time together!! Tony is such a wonderful father. He loves his daughter more than words can describe. He provides for her every need and want (and mine too!). But, most importantly, he plays with her, reads to her, prays for her, and show's her his love for her through his gift of time. She is very blessed to have a Daddy like him.

Daddy and Ruthie


Pa-paw and Ruthie

Memorial Memories

Yes, I'm a little (ok, a lot) slow on posting about Memorial day... but we were busy... and have remained busy!!

We had so much fun both Sunday and Monday hanging out with family! We took turns at each of our parent's houses and cooked out and swam to our hearts content!! There was much food, fun, water, and sun screen! Ruthie absolutely LOVES the pool. She has a cute little floaty thing (thanks Uncle Matt) and she loves it. But, after a while she wants out and we let her kick in the water. She has such a cute froggy kick!! Below are some pictures I was trying to take of her in her cute swim outfit - bathing suit, cover and hat... but as you can see I couldn't click the camera fast enough to get a "good" picture...
But, I kinda like what I got!! See for yourself: