Here it is...

Here is my announcement!! I am opening an Etsy store!! Check it out!! There is A LOT more to come - but I wanted to get it up and open this weekend before I left for my girls weekend, even though I didn't get to post all of my items. So keep checking back for more items!! :) You will always be able to get to my Etsy shop by clicking on the button on my sidebar! :)

Not the announcement some of you were expecting ;) Alright I'm off to Long Island for some much needed girl time!! I'll be back on Sunday!! Have a great weekend!!

Time for an update...

Ok - I really really need to win this contest. My blog needs some UPDATING!! And I am entering a contest at From Two to Three to win a blog redesign by Jessica at This That and Your Blog!! I really hope I win - so I can change up my blog :)

Exhausted...

Today was a great day...exhausting but great! I am off of work on Tuesday and I watch one of my really good friends daughter - who is 3 weeks older then Charley. They live right behind us - so it works out great! Plus she watches Charley on Wednesdays so it is a free childcare trade off! Couldn't be more perfect.

We all belong to the same pool and can take each others kids there. So today I decided to venture out today and take the girls. We didn't get there until about 1pm since Charley napped from 915 until 12!! But once we got there boy did I have my hands full!! In a good way most of the time, but boy oh boy are the days gone where I could just sit by the pool. My back got fried...because I was bent over the entire time!

The girls both love the pool but both want to do their own thing...which usually means going in different directions. And when they are so little and can't walk all that well and then there are other bigger kids running around, I have to be within an arms length of both of them at all times. Go go Gadget Arms! :)

So...when T dropped off S this afternoon I already had Charley dressed in her bathing suit and he had S dressed to. When he saw Charley he said..."for real?" I asked him "what?" and then I saw what he was talking about...

I did get a little breather when I sat them both in chairs and gave them drinks :)

Then the girls found some trucks...these are not doll baby girls...they are truck girls and I like it!

Now I am beat...and in bed. Good night :)

Food	Units
fiber one with skim	5
smoothie	3
watermelon	1
english muffin w/ pb & cheese	5
veggie pack	2
fiber 1 bar	2
cheese	1
cardio	-5.5
white chicken chili withsour cream	9
cookies and cream low fat ice cream	5
Total:	27.5

Table provided by Roni's Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

Monday Mish Mosh

I know you all are waiting for my announcement (and it is not what you think it is!!) but it will have to hold off for a few more days. I want everything to be all set up before I post about it :)

This is going to be quite the mish mosh of posts...so here it goes...

Today at work seemed like I was there for 20 hours...the day drug on so long!! After work I headed to the park for a 4 mile run - I ended up running 4 miles and walking 1 - then I had a softball game. So I am beat!

I am back on track with WW and am .4 pounds away from my lowest weight! So the goal for this week is to lose .6 pounds to surpass that low weight :) 8.3 pounds to go - to hit my WW goal weight. Though I am not sure yet if that will be my final goal weight or not - I am just going to see how I feel once I get there. I have to weigh in at a Friday meeting this week instead of Saturday, since some girlfriends and I are heading up to Long Island for the weekend for a girls weekend.

I CAN'T WAIT! We have pool time, beach time, mani/pedi time and a cookout on the schedule...it will be heaven. I will miss Charley and Jimmy incredibly - but will enjoy my girl time too :)

Father's Day was great! I made Jimmy breakfast in bed - french toast & scrambled eggs. Then I told him we could do whatever he wanted all day. I had planned that we could make a picnic and go to a park - but it had POURED rain the night before and the ground was pretty soggy. So Jimmy wanted to go for a bike ride. So we headed to Annapolis to the B&A Trail for a ride. A friend of ours had given us a trailer to pull Charley - we weren't sure how she'd like it...SHE LOVED IT! We were so happy :) Though she wasn't a fan of having a helmet on. We biked 5 miles out to a little gelato shop where we shared some gelato and then we headed back 5 miles. The weather was wonderful and it was a lot of fun and nice to get some exercise.

Here are a few pics :)





Alright - I need to work on some stuff for my announcement :) and then get to bed. Talk to you all soon!!

Food	Units
smoothie w/ spinach	3
chobani w/ granola & honey	5
watermelon	1
chicken and rice	7
tootsie rolls	1
mcd ice cream cone	2
chocolate	1.5
4 mile run, 1 mile walk, softball game	-10
breyers free	2
kashi crackers	2
goldfish	3
Total:	17.5

Table provided by Roni's Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

Jimmy's Birthday Weekend!!

Soo....the weekend before Jimmy's birthday I surprised him with a weekend away. Just him and I. I had been planning this for months!! And it all worked out perfectly. I had a house sitter set up for the dogs, a babysitter set up for Charley, our own private cabin with a hot tub all reserved, plans for a day full of rock climbing and I was so excited!! It was so hard to not tell him!!

So I took off the Friday we were scheduled to leave - see I usually work every other Friday...and he thought I was supposed to work that Friday, but I told him I switched weeks so I wouldn't have to take vacation when I go to Wisconsin in July...a little fib - but it was all for good!

Charley and I had planned to meet Jimmy for his 'birthday lunch' on Friday - since he would be in class for the next 3 weeks and I work on his actual birthday and wouldn't be able to meet him for lunch then. We were going to get some killer crab cakes from G&M's...mmm.

My plan for this birthday lunch was because it was on my way to meet my friend to drop off Charley for the weekend and since Jimmy didn't know we were going away he didn't know he wasn't going to see Charley when he got home or for the rest of the weekend. So this would be a nice chance for him to see her before we went away.

Well I packed her stuff up in the back of the car...which wasn't much due to her going to a house with 2 young kiddos for the weekend. So that helped, because I was afraid he'd see her stuff packed in the back of the car and wonder what was up...well even though we got our lunch to go and ate it in my car...he had no clue. Ms. Charley was VERY sleepy and fell asleep right before we got to the restaurant, so instead of waking her up and taking a cranky 15 month old into a packed restaurant, we let her sleep and enjoyed our lunch in the car! So Jimmy got to see her and have a little time with her...she woke up about 1/2 way through our crab cakes :)

So off I was to drop Charley off with my friend...an hour away from home. I dropped her off and headed home to pack everything and get the dogs set. I got everything done about 5 min before he walked in the door! I put a birthday card I found (which was about camping!) and wrote in it how we were going away for the weekend for his birthday and taped it to the front door. He came home and read it and walked in the door with this look on his face like he was so excited and shocked at the same time, it was great!!

I didn't tell him where we were going until we stopped for dinner about an hour and a half into the trip :) He kept guessing the entire way though!!

Well...we went to West Virginia...we had this amazing cabin....

With this deck and view across the little drive...
Which was right on the river!! (view from the deck across the street from our cabin!)
I had arranged a mounting climbing at Nelson Rocks Preserve of the Via Ferrata on Saturday at noon - I was SO EXCITED for this. You can go here to read about what a Via is.

Here we are on the hike to the start...

Here is the copperhead we saw on the hike to the start...well let me take that back...we walked right past it!! The last person in our group saw it and pointed it out to us...and at that point it was all curled up ready to get to business if we bothered it!!

Here I am hanging off the side of the mountain...

Here is the 'hardest part' of the climb...the blind corner...

And here is Jimmy peeking around the corner...

Here if you look very closely you can see a bridge that we are climbing to...we still had to go up and over to it...

Here we are getting a little closer to the bridge...you can see some of our fellow climbers here...

Here I am on the bridge looking down...we were about 150 feet up (or 1/2 way to our max height) here...

Here is Jimmy coming across the bridge...

And here is the view of the bridge once we crossed it and climbed up the other side of the mountain...we were about 250 feet up here...

Here is another look at the same bridge...we were now at the highest point...about 350 feet up...the views were amazing!!

Here I am at the top of the head wall...

Here is Jimmy after the climb at the top of the summit...(we could hike to this point)

Here are Jimmy and I at the summit...

We climbed for about 4-4 1/2 hours, it was unreal, so amazing and so much fun!!

When we got back to the cabin, we grilled out, I had made turkey burgers and brought them with us. And both mornings we were there we had scrambled eggs and french toast which we cooked as well.

I told Jimmy he could pick what he wanted to do the next day...and he chose to do nothing. And it was great!! We both very rarely get time to sleep in and just sit and relax, and it was wonderful, we walked around a little bit (our cabin was one of 18 in the little 'resort'), packed up the car and headed for a leisurely drive home.

We had an AMAZING weekend. We missed Charley and the dogs....but it was SO NICE to get away and spend time together. He said it was the best birthday weekend ever. And now I have done it...set a standard...and it wasn't even a big birthday! What am I going to do when he turns 30!? :)

Well that is one of the many things I have been up to...but you will be seeing a lot more of me around here :) hope that is ok!!

I will be back this weekend with an exciting announcement!!

Oh Where Oh Where...

Have I been???

350 feet up on top of a mountain that is where!!

Celebrating Jimmy's birthday that is where!!

Relaxing in a hot tub, that is where!!

But now I am back...and if you want to hear all about the amazing SURPRISE weekend I planned for Jimmy for his birthday, you'll have to stay tuned!!

ooh!! And the pictures from Charley's photo shoot are here too!! :)

I'll be back soon I PROMISE!! :)

I loved it so much the first time...

I'm doing it again!!

My AMAZING Swap Package!!

Here is the long awaited Mamarazzi's Favorite Things Swap post!! My package arrived a little early since my swap partner Stephanie at Eyeball Girl left to go on vacation the Saturday they were supposed to be mailed...she went to ALASKA!! How lucky she is!!

Here are all of the goodies that came in my wonderful package!!

It all began with a cute little card...in ORANGE...my favorite :)

There was a little magnetic note pad to keep on our fridge for grocery lists etc...I love these!!

How cute are these!! Monogrammed note cards...with ORANGE envelopes!!! (and stickers too!!)

Kitchen Shears! We have a pair of these in our butcher block...but they were getting gross, it was great to finally replace them!! (Stephanie...I use them all the time too!!)

Cool little individual tea bags!! These are already on my desk at work! I love having tea at my freezing desk!

No Pudge Brownie Mix! You can make individual servings...can you say brownie sundae!!

Pomegranate Fruit Strips!! The reason these are no longer in the box is that Charley and I dug into them as soon as they came!! We both love them!

Awesome ORANGE coasters...that Stephanie made herself!! I can't wait to hear how she does it...if she will share!! :)

A yummy smelling candle!! My house is filled with these...and I can always add more!!

2 shower puffs!! I was so glad to get these...as Miss Charley has claimed my other one as a bath toy...

I loved everything I received!! I loved doing this swap...I loved going shopping for Stephanie's things as well as getting a wonderful package in the mail!! I will definitely do one of these again!!

Stephanie, thank you so much for all of my wonderful things!! I hope you like yours as much as I liked mine!!! Can't wait to hear!!