14 Years...and counting...

Hard to believe it's been 14 yrs since I married the best thing that ever happened to me! We often reminice about that 'chance' mtg...and how we have two wonderful friends that if it weren't for their persistance to inviting Jim to a limo bd party for Staci, we'd probably never be together now...those are the ones you are forever grateful to!! Now, 14 years later, 2 amazing little girls have blessed our lives, making our family complete! As I like to say...life is good when you are surrounded by good people...and that I am!

Sista Luv

Patty's shortest visit yet...a whopping 2 day visit...but we'll take what we can get. It was short but sweet...we made sure to take advantage of it by visiting a slew of Aunt's and Uncle's that have a hard time getting around...gotta make those visits count...so, after 3 stops to visit different family, we had a quick lunch at Mexican Post, followed by Grotto's, followed by Harry's...always a fun time when I'm with my sister's!!!

Scared of Santa...

I have to chuckle when I see this pic of Ashlee wanting NO parts of sitting on or near SANTA...this was in 2006 when she was 14 mos old @ Tutor Time. At first I thought to myself, why torture this poor child...why force her to get a pic with someone she clearly wants nothing to do with? She was traumatized for the next couple yrs but thankfully fell out of the phase as she would watch her cousins and her sister all sit happily on Santa's lap and tell of her Christmas wishes.

DANCE

The girl's get ready for a dance session...did their own hair and all...

Ashlee, Haylee and Ryleigh ready to DANCE!

Riverfront Skate

Girls had a blast ice skating along the Wilmington Riverfront Saturday with their cousin, Collin and Aunt Sarah!

Holiday Date Night

A fun night with the gang...dinner at Hibachi, then drinks and desserts back at my house!

Frank's FIRST time ever at Hibachi

My girls!!

Haylee told us to make funny faces...lol

COUPLES DATE NIGHT (Nov 22, 2014)

A very impromtu gathering of besties in Rehoboth (Dos Locos)...dinner, drinks, shots....karaoke (more shots)...and it was good night MAUREEN....when will I learn that me and shots do NOT mix...esp the hard core ones (Grand Marnier).

Chris and Jim (with his HUGE big girl margarhita)



Rob & Jody




Staci & Chris



Karen & Frank

(More) Thanksgiving

Some pics of the actual Thanksgiving DAY...:)

Bella and Ashlee



Haylee, Tommy, Collin




Chris, Kelsey, Mary, Sarah, Aunt Eileen




mom, Loretta, Jim, Aunt Mary, Sarah, Kev, Mike



Thanksgiving 2014

This year me and Jim hosted Thanksgiving...I love hosting parties like this...I plan well ahead of the day, prep as much as I can...love the smell of the house with the turkey and all the goodies. It went perfectly...Then Friday it was off to Uncle Dan's for the tradional prayer service and Santa visit...Saturday was off to Fran's for Kelly and Kristine's birthday's...by Sunday, I was wiped OUT...I'd eaten too much and felt like crap...I pretty much rested by the fire most of Sunday, with spurts of cleaning in between....anyway, here's a few pics of the weekend! One tradition the guys always do the day AFTER Thanksgiving (Friday) is go to Grotto's to drink and eat...sometimes us gals would meet up, but this time we wanted to go somewhere more 'our style'....so Firebird's it was...love that place...sat by the fire, had wine...chit chatted with my sibs...then off to Uncle Dan's for more fun! Gotta love family!!!!


Guy's @ Grotto's



Girls @ Firebirds

'selfie' shot @ Uncle Dan's with some cousin's

Keeping UP is Hard to do...

I'm at a stand still here with the upkeep of my blog...it used to be my source to update my life and keep everyone connected...not only am I finding it hard to update this thing, I'm not even sure if anyone even comes on this thing anymore?! Ever since Facebook broke out, the blogs become less and less used...don't get me wrong, I still love my blog and wish I had more time to update it...as you can see there is a huge lag in time since I've updated it last...and clearly I've got plenty to post on the past events...I just seem to do it more and more on FB...and with everyone already ON FB, why bother updating THIS?! Not to mention, I pay for this blog every month...only $2 a month but STILL, that adds up over time...and I'm not sure it's worth it at this point. So...for now, I will continue to 'try' and update it...and re-evaluate end of the year.... If you do get on this, ck back in a week, I'm sure to have some new pics from previous events in the past 2 mos...

Happy Hour w/ Patty

My sister surprised us again for the 2nd time in 2 mos. by driving back East for a short family visit. We love these visits!! She came in Wednesday and left early Sunday...so naturally a happy hour was in order at my house...I quickly thru something together and it was a total blast!

Sea Isle City Fun...

As a child, we always went to the "shore" for our vacas...Sea Isle City, NJ was our 2nd home...loved it there...then in my 20's I started liking DE 'beaches' just as much (not to mention they were closer and more affordable)...anyway, it had been since 2003 since I was last in SI...my aunt invited us to a quick & relaxing get away...not everyone could make it unfortunately....but me, my mom, Mary, Rob and Aunt Eileen made the most of it...sitting on the porch, drinks and appis, with the view of the ocean less than 10 steps away...a quick dip in the ocean (it was really warm), and I even got Mary to put her feet in the sand and ocean...something she hasn't done in decades (she hates the sand/ocean) but she's happy she finally did it! We also had a wonderful lunch on the bay, followed by a delish dinner in the crock pot of pork tenderloin...mission accomplished!

Catching Up...

I've lagged a bit in my posts from time-to-time, so I figured I'd post a bunch together, to 'catch-up' on various events that I missed to blog...:)
So, my sister, Patty, came to DE for a surprise visit last week...we had a great time...we did a sleepover at my house with all my sibs...tons of food and drinks, lots of laughs...

Haylee gets braces

Haylee and bff, Sydney, join the UOD cheerleaders at halftime for a dance/cheer routine

My old co-workers from DCM days...

Ashlee's first game with the MAJORS (she's the youngest at age 9, all the rest of 12-14)

Labor Day Weekend Fun...

What a busy but FUN Labor Day weekend...Friday an impromtu HH at my cousin, Sean's...Saturday an impromtu HH/dinner at Rob's...Sunday a fabulous family bbq/pool party at my cousin, Kristine's...and Monday, we did ZIP, Nadda, nothing...we were a bit wiped out so we needed a good down day to regroup...I did manage to make a pot of turkey chili and cookies and a few other cassaroles...love to cook! So ready for the FALL Festivities to begin....

Best game ever (center, left, right)...my aunt won big!

Dinner at Duffer's Saturday

Mary Kathleen's BD Celli

We grilled chicken, salmon, pork chops...tons of salads...cake...ice cream...and spirits! We kicked back 'old skool' and even danced on the chairs like we did back in the day at my mom's many moons ago...Mary had a great time!

Mary tries to dip her popsicle in her brandy

Happy Hour @ Diana's!

A fun Friday night with family & good friends...always a great way to end the week!

Indiana Trip

Another GREAT vaca at my sister's house on the lake...it's great to just walk outside and have so much to do...jet ski, canoe, tubbing, pontoon...and just relax with drink in hand!