Father's Day

For Father's Day this year, we had both of our families over to celebrate!

The girls passed out gifts to their dad and their grandpas.

Jaden made a couple of very special gifts this year. For Mike, she made a pendant to hang from his rear view mirror in his car.

For her Grampa Max, she made a binder full of drawings and stories that she created just for him!

The girls with my dad, their Grampa Max.

The girls with Mike's dad, their Grandpa Ron (or just Gramps).

Shane was even able to come over all the way from PA!

It was a great day... We are all so lucky to have these three wonderful fathers in our lives!

The girls just LOVE their Uncle Shane-O more than life itself!

We ended the day with Jaden reading us all a bedtime story.

Both girls cried when Shane had to leave that day because they just wanted him to stay longer!  It broke their heart (and his) to have him go.  Taylor had a hard time that night and into the next day. She just missed Shane-O so much.  After talking with Shane the next day and telling him the story, we decided to both sign up for Skype and let the girls give him a call!

Taylor was SO EXCITED to get to talk to Shane-O!  We've done it many times since then. They always have fun talking and being goofy with Shane-O :-)

So, that was our Father's Day!

I'm participating in the Nester's 31 Day Challenge!

30 Things: 10 Things I'd Tell Myself at 16 - UPDATE!

4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year old self.

My 16th Birthday in 1998

1. See all of your friends around you? THEY matter, not that doofus you are dating. 

2. Take super good care of your skin because when you are 30, you'll have "fine lines" on your forehead...

3. Someday you will have TWO daughters. Be kind to your momma or karma will come back to bite you in the butt.

4. Be nice to your bro. Believe it or not, he'll be your buddy one day!

5. Have fun! You are still a kid.  Enjoy your time in high school and keep making memories. Live with no regrets.


6. Never stop reading!!


7. Do your absolute best in school. Strive for perfect... you can do it!


8. Save your money. You'll want a good chunk to start your adult life with :o)


9. Image is NOT everything. Don't compare yourself to your friends. You are beautiful exactly how you are.


10. Smile!  Never stop!  Find happiness in the little things :o)

UPDATE: I asked Mike what he would tell his 16 year old self: "Wrap it before you tap it."

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Stay tuned for 5. What are 5 things that make you most happy right now?

Parents At Work

Last week, I called Mike at work.

Mike: "Hello?"
Me: "Hey!"

Mike: What's wrong?
Me: Nothing.

Mike: Who's sick?
Me: Nobody.

Mike: Usually you call if something is wrong or someone is sick.
Me: Nope, just bored.
Mike: Gee, thanks.

blah, blah, blah...

Mike: Alright, I'll talk to you later.
Me: Ok. Have a great rest of the day!

Mike: Love you.
Me: Love you more, love you most, EX STRIKE!
Mike: Smurf you!

For the record, I have no idea what "ex strike" means.  When we tell Jaden "Love you," we have to go through the whole "love you more, love you most," just like in the movie Tangled.  Rapunzel says something after her mother says, "love you most."  I'll have to watch it again to see what it is that Jaden is trying to say after that because it comes out as "ex strike!"

Bringing in the BIG bucks!

Mike and I had to stop at the bank last Wednesday after work to cash a check. This check has been sitting in my billfold for a couple of weeks now.  Why?  Because it was for only $4 :o)  We needed to get gas anyway and the bank is in the same parking lot so we headed over.  That is when we turned into pot-smoking college kids:

Mike: "You should've said, 'Um, can I have that in ones please'"  *giggle giggle*
Me: *giggle giggle*  "I was thinking about asking for biggest bills possible!"  *giggle giggle*
Mike: *giggle giggle*
(tube slides down with envelope in it)
Both: *giggle giggle*
Me: "Can you open and count that for me to make sure it's all there?"  *giggle giggle*
Mike: *giggle giggle*

I think the cold meds and pain pills (for Mike), along with limited sleep probably made this a little funnier than it really was.  Then again, I am still giggling while I relive it!

Have a great day!

BTW, Neither Mike nor I are or ever were pot-heads, just in case you were wondering!

12-21-12

Does this date have any meaning to you?  I had no idea there was any significance to this date at all until last night.  Mike and I were downstairs and he casually brings up "2012."  In response to the blank stare on my face, he started to question whether I even knew what he was talking about... um, nope.  So, he kindly began to explain to me how the Mayans stopped the calendar on December 21, 2012... blah, blah, blah... the sun is going to throw these freaky death flares that will creep into our atmosphere through some hole in the Earth's magnetic field and knock out the entire power grid for the whole world for like four to six years... or something like that (or maybe not even close... that is what I heard).  There are these hidden bunkers that the government is building that are ten stories tall under the airport in Denver, and unless you have a bazillion dollars or work for the government, you will be screwed.  I told him I didn't believe in that stuff and I choose not to even think about it.  But the funny thing about how the mind works, you can't really choose what you don't want to think about.  In fact, not wanting to think about it makes it the only thing you can think about.  After he said that our family would die of starvation in two years, I started to think about nothing BUT that.  I was watching Modern Family (and especially loved the half-episode at the end with Phil and his sweatshirt because it just so happened that I was wearing this in sashimi... nice, I know) and in my head, I was calculating how many cans of green beans I needed to buy to prepare ourselves for a six-year power outage.  In case you are wondering, it is about 8,000.  Stupid, stupid sun flares.  Thanks, Mike.  Thank you for filling my brain with useless worrying.  grr...

So, what are your thoughts??  Watch Jesse Ventura explain it all...

Happy Birthday, Mike!

Today is Mike's 29th birthday!

Last week, Kalie and I went to Michigan to Ikea so I could buy Mike a new chair.

"His" chair was a worn faux leather glider rocker with a glider footstool.  I snagged it a few years ago at a garage sale because we needed a chair and well, the price was right!  Needless to say, it has seen better days...

I decided on this lovely duo!

He loves it!

We celebrated at his parents' house last Saturday.

Since Mike isn't a huge fan of cake, his mom got him a DQ ice cream cake!  Jaden helped him blow out his candles.

Last week, I took Jaden shopping.  I told her she could get her dad anything she wanted.  After walking down aisle after aisle, she finally found the perfect gift!  She took it up to the register, along with some money I had given her, and told the cashier, "I'm buying this for my Daddy!  It's a surprise for his birthday and he will love it!"

"Close your eyes, Daddy..."

She got him a basketball hoop to put over the door!

  

At home, it goes over Jaden's bedroom door :o)  They play together and have so much fun! 

Later that night, Mike had some friends over.  We ate, drank, and played some games!  Mike got his groove on with the DDR...

Today, for his special day, I made some treats for him to take to work.  Tonight, Mom, Dad, Mike, the girls, and I are going to Bandido's for his birthday meal! 

Happy birthday, sweetie!  I hope your day is wonderful :o)

Pillow Talk

As I lay in bed reading while Mike watches TV...

Shannon: You should read.
Mike: No thanks.
S: I have some books I think you'd like!
M: Why do you want me to read?  Because you do?
S: Yeah, it's fun! Then, when we're old, we can sit in bed with our reading glasses and drink coffee and read!
M: You've thought about this way too much.
S: You'd have white hair and square black glasses.
M: And you'd have purple hair and a big @$$.

 

Project Life: Week 47



Playing "Go Fish" with Gramma Karen

  

Checking out books that came in the mail for us to review!



Taylor loves to read to herself in the mornings



Playing with babies!



Jaden feeding her Baby Jenny!



Taylor taking her baby on a walk

Waking Daddy up on Saturday morning!

BEST Decision Ever!

I originally posted this last week and am ashamed to admit that I got our date-iversary wrong... We started dating seven years ago TODAY, July 19th.  You know what though, Mike never corrected me so I'm in the clear, right??  Ok, re-read it and go puke because you know our love for each other is sickening ;o)  Love you forever, baby!

Seven year ago to today, Mike and I were officially boyfriend-girlfriend. We knew right from the very start that we were soul mates.  In fact, I remember one time, my gramma introduced Mike as my friend to someone.  Mike leans over and whispers, "doesn't your gramma know we are dating?"  I told Grams that he was my boyfriend.  She said that since we were older, she wasn't sure if we called each other boyfriend and girlfriend, so she played it safe and just said friend.  She asked Mike what she should refer to him as the next time and he said, "we are soul mates."  I think ever since then (before he became my husband), Grams introduced Mike as my soul mate.

On November 15, 2005, there were some bad storms a-brewin'!  Mike and I shared an apartment together and being on the third floor with tornado warnings made Mike both of us a little nervous.  I had evening classes that day so Mike just went to campus with me and hung out in the student union.  After classes, I met up with him.  We ate nasty Andy Capp french fry thingys from the vending machine and played shuffle board until the storms passed.

When we got home, I was STARVING!  It was like 8:00 and I hadn't had supper yet.  I turned the oven on and was getting ready to heat up a "cardboard" pizza when Mike asked me to go into the bathroom for a minute.  Not a clue as to what was going on, I went.  I waited and waited and waited until he finally called me out.  He gave me a note: "You eat this."  I was starving and was thinking he was wanting me to eat the paper... I don't know, I was just really hungry!  He explained that I was actually participating in a scavenger hunt... for food, I hoped :o)

I went from room to room, collecting the little notes that lead me back out into the living room where Mike was waiting for me.  He gave me one final note... this one was a letter.  I sat on the couch and read the most heart-felt letter I had ever received.  The very last line read, "I'll love you forever, I'll love you for life.  Mama, the time has come, will you be my wife?"  (I'm even tearing up just typing it!)  I looked up and Mike was on one knee in front of me with a box.  What did I say?  "Are you freakin' kidding me?  Because if you are, I'll kill you!"  Obviously, I accepted his proposal!  We both called all of our family members to spread the news!  It was a perfect evening.  In case you are wondering, we ate mac & cheese at about 10 pm that night :o)  Totally worth nearly starving to death!

We spent the next eight months planning our wedding.  It was perfect!  We got married on July 8, 2006.  That day was one of the three best days of my life.  Mike is everything to me.  He is my second half.  I can not even imagine life without him; my soul mate.

Last Thursday we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary with our traditional dinner at Red Lobster.  The four year anniversary theme is fruit and flowers so we were planning on getting new Blackberrys... we have to post-pone that until September though because of my contract.

I love you, babe!  You make me the happiest girl in the world!  Cheers to many MANY more anniversaries and making each and every day in between them the "best days ever!"  Love you forever :o)