Family Vacation 2011

We are home! Our family of three spent 4 days and 3 nights in a cabin along the Illinois River with our friends Rachel, James, and their 1yr old girl Jet. We packed and brought everything we could possibly need to keep 4 adults and 2 toddlers happy and well fed. Our cabin was adorable and we turned it into our home while we were there!

^The loft where Nick and I slept

We decided the best thing would be to put the babies in the bedroom at night so that the adults could stay up late and not disturb them. Rachel and James slept on the pullout bed in the living area and we slept in the loft.

We had an amazing view of the river and lots of shade to keep us cool while we grilled out dinner every night.

I think our favorite part was the screened-in back porch where we ate all of our meals and played board games past midnight!

The babies (and the parents) got along good and seemed to have a good time.

Everyday we went down to the river bank so that the kids could put their toes in the water and play.

We also went to the pool everyday to beat the heat! One of the times there was a tiny baby bunny that we found and let the babies pet.

We all had such a good time eating good food, watching scary movies, playing games, and learning about how much we all have in common.

We even talked about doing it again next year, but that would be even more interesting because we would have three kids aged 1, 2, and 3 to bring along! We parted with hugs this afternoon and were sad to end the vacation, but I'm sure we are all happy to be back in our own beds!

I have been working on embroidered goodies for Rachel's new baby Tinley who will be here next month. I will post about that and Father's Day next time. Have a great weekend!

1/4 Century Old

Yes today is my 25th birthday!! It's funny how when you are a kid, your birthday is all you can think about and it is almost better than Christmas! But when you grow up, it is just like another day and you enjoy spending it with friends and family.

My dear husband went out of his way today to plan me a party! He made a menu, cooked the food, invited the people, decorated the house, and bought/wrapped my presents. He even built us a new computer today after our old one finally bit the dust. He is the best! We had a great afternoon with our family, then a nice dinner out this evening. I am so thankful for everything!

Yesterday we took Brad to his friend Jet's 1st birthday in Shawnee. They grilled out burgers and hotdogs, plus there were lots of sides and desserts. There were several other babies there, but they were all girls and were all much younger than Brad. He did very good though! He was careful around the crawling babies, and mostly walked from person to person being cute. We stayed awhile past dark playing bean bag toss outside and talking with our friends. Next week we all go to the river together!

In other news, we also got our fancy new pool filter yesterday! It is much bigger than our old one, and hopefully more efficient. It came with a new valve thing and lots of instructions on how to do it. Nick is tackling that tomorrow so HOPEFULLY we can get our pool semi-clear by next weekend! This heat is killing me.

I wanted to do a little summary of goals I have reached in my 25 years....the next big one is 30!

• College degree in Nursing
• Happily married for 8 1/2 years now
• Momma to a precious little boy
• NO credit card debt
• Growing 401k
• Growing savings account
• Both cars are PAID off
• In good health and active
• Worked at same place for 5 years now
• Own my own house
• Went to Italy

Some goals of mine for the next 5 years to aim for:

• Move out of Oklahoma
• Have another child
• Visit 3 more countries
• Do something big for our 10th anniversary!

Sew Busy!

My schedule has been all wacky this month because of the birthdays and outings that I'm booked up with! I somehow made myself work 5 shifts in a row last weekend...that was fun. If they are only 8 hours, that is one thing. But try doing 10-13 hour shifts five days in a row. I was blessed today and got cancelled by my day job. I am on-call tonight, but so far so good! Just a few more days and we will be headed out to a river cabin for our double family vacay!

My friend Rachel's baby girl Jet is turning ONE tomorrow and her big birthday party is Friday evening. I had to sew her up a special outfit because she will become a big sister next month to baby girl Tinley!

First I appliqued/embroidered a 12month onesie...

Then made an adorable elastic-waisted skirt trimmed with lace!

And the neat thing is that the polka dot fabric is from my stepdad's late mother Wanda's fabric stash from the 60s-70s! So these are true vintage!

I had my dad over for dinner tonight and cooked stuffed bacon-wrapped chicken breast and parmigiano risotto--yes, all from scratch! I had boiled a dozen eggs earlier in the day so while the chicken was baking and the risotto was simmering, I made a big batch of egg salad for the weekend! I even used my own HOMEMADE pickles. Did I mention I made a batch of my own pickles?? They turned out so delicious. I wasn't sure what flavor they would end up being because I just kind of made up my own recipe, but I would call them bread and butter. Yum!

After we ate dinner, my dad took me shopping at a few places to pick out my birthday present that I requested--a digital waterproof 24hr watch to wear to work. I found a cute turquoise one and I will get it Saturday!

While we were out, of course I found a few things I couldn't live without...

The sunglasses I needed before our river trip so I could protect my eyes in style, and the guitar necklace is a tribute to my rockin' hubby that plays guitar!!

Hopefully I can squeeze in some pics of my party {that Nick is planning} on Saturday and blog once more before we leave for our summer vacation!

Henry Overholser Mansion

This is what I saw today!

Isn't it the most gorgeous house?? I got a Groupon 2-for-1 admission on a tour several months back that expires on June 6. So I grabbed my mom up and we went there today to check it out.

Here is a snippet from their website:

Walking through the hallways of the Overholser Mansion one journeys back in time experiencing first hand life as the Overholser family did over one hundred years ago. This 1903 three-story Chateauesque home replete with original furnishings, hand-painted canvas walls, stained glass windows and lavish fixtures, the Overholser Mansion stands as a tribute to one of Oklahoma City's truly remarkable families. The 11,000+ square foot home provides a unique experience to all who visit. Nestled in the beautiful historic Heritage Hills neighborhood, we invite you to tour one of Oklahoma City's top tourist attractions.

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Because of construction downtown, we got there around 2:45pm. We thought the tours ended at 3pm, but evidently the last one was at 2pm. It looked like no one was home, so we started walking all around the grounds trying to look in the windows and see the outside. When we were about to leave, 2 people came out of the front door! Long story short, it was the tour director (who also lives on the grounds and is in charge of all maintenance and decorating) and she gave us a private tour! She said they only get about 3 tours a week so she was happy to show us.

It was so beautiful to see the vintage furnishings and to try and picture what it would have been like to live in such an opulent setting in that time. We really enjoyed ourselves, and she invited us to come back later on for a more detailed tour on the house!

Last night Nick and I went on a date! We took Brad to his hourly daycare and went down the street to Alfredo's Mexican restaurant. It was very good! I was impressed with the looks, the service, and the food. Prices are nice also! I'm sure we will be returning. Now if we could just find another good Chinese place closer to us...