Emma Bear is ONE!!!

The Birthday Girl!

Panda & Polka Dots

Ryley got all "dressed up" for the party!

Happy Birthday to You!

What is this stuff?? Jackson's there to show her what to do!

Jackson is just so funny w/ this toy! He gets so excited every time!

Going for a ride w/ Daddy!

These pictures really tell the whole story! Emma was so adorable in her little dress! It is so hard to believe that she is already one! She is such a happy little girl and is always smiling! Happy 1st Birthday, Emma!

Mrs. Crocker & Mrs. Hines

Amy and I continued our cake making tradition Friday night, with Emma's panda bear cake. When Amy first told me the idea, I thought it sounded great and would be pretty simple to make. Well, the end result was a really cute cake, but the process of getting it there, well, that was quite a challenge. We learned that there is a little more to a layer cake, than just slapping on some icing, adding a layer and repeating. Levelness is very important, but nothing a few skewers couldn't take care of for a few hours. Good thing the party was Saturday afternoon!! But hey, we've got many more birthday cakes to make for our kids, so we learned a little bit more. And as always, we had a lot of fun!

Lots of cakes -- Lots of icing

That would be black dye on my hands from coloring the fondant. Amy icing Emma's very own cake!
Pretty cute, huh?!?

Toddler Talent

I am quite impressed by the new skill Jackson displayed this week. He was snacking on a few Cheerios that he of course, had to have in a "bow". He went over all by himself, grabbed the tweezers out of his doctor kit, and began picking the Cheerios up, with the tweezers, and eating them! That's talent, right? I think so!!

My Garden

My garden is really starting to take shape! Sean got it filled with dirt mixture and we added the planting grid. Now, I'm just ready for danger of frost to pass so I can get to planting!!

My little sproutlets!

Bell pepper -- almost ready to move outside!

Yummo to my Tummo!

We went out to dinner Saturday night to celebrate Pat's retirement. This dinner had been 3 months in the making, so we were all excited that we were finally going out. We started off with happy hour at Solas. It's a relatively new place (to us parents who don't get out much) and I had never been there before, so I was excited to check it out. We went up to the rooftop bar and enjoyed a couple of drinks. Since it was a little chilly, they had the tents up, but we still got the rooftop experience. I'd definitely like to go back when it warmed up a little! The bartender was great! He came up with a fun Mamatini for me that was excellent! It had muddled strawberry in it -- yummy!! He gave me the ingredients, so I'm hoping I'll be able to recreate it! We did have a little mishap while there... Our server was passing out all the drinks, when her tray tipped just a little causing a domino effect that ended with Beth, Stevie and Amy getting doused with a couple of fruity cocktails. Poor Stevie took the brunt of the spill -- he was covered from head to toe, literally! Of course our girl felt really bad, but everyone just laughed it off.

So after Solas, we headed down to Hibernian for happy hour #2. If you know Pat, you know that it wouldn't be a trip to downtown Raleigh without a stop into his favorite Irish pub! After a couple of appetizers there, we made our way down to Sullivan's for dinner. And boy, was it good! I had a filet oscar style, on a bed of asparagus, topped with lump crabmeat and bearnaise sauce. Mmm, Mmm, Mmm!! It's making me hungry just thinking about it!

It was a really fun night and I'm so glad we were all finally able to get together. Happy Retirement, Pat!!

The Girls at Solas!

(I know, I'm double fisting. -- The bartender made two for me. One that I had found online and the Strawberry Mamatini he made up. The Strawberry was sooo much better!)

Group pic!

The boys at Hibernian!

At Home on Monday

We stopped in Wilson on the way home from Hampton on Monday to pick up Jackson. It was so nice outside, so we spent all afternoon enjoying it. Sean built me a "square-foot garden" for my birthday, so he got it set in the ground, ready to fill in with the dirt mixture. I can't wait to get to planting. Whether or not I can get anything to grow is another story, but it will at least be fun to play in the dirt! Jackson included.

Sean was out doing a little mowing, so of course Jackson wanted to help out.

How cute!?!

There's my garden! Pretty cool, huh?

So if Daddy gets to play in the dirt, you know what Jackson is going to do!

Hampton Came Alive!

Phish returned to the stage for the first time in nearly five years this past weekend and we were some of the lucky few who were able to see them back in action. Sean and I tried really hard to get tickets, which were sold through a lottery back in the fall. Since we knew Don and Jen were getting married this weekend we only tried for Sunday night -- they played 3 shows. We each submitted requests and we also had my mom and his dad request for us. Well, only requesting Sunday night must have worked out in our favor, because we ended up with 6 tickets(they all got 2, I got none)!! We know lots of other people who tried for tickets, but we were the only ones to end up with them. How cool is that!?! So, Sunday morning Sean and I, Matt and Beth, and Jason headed up to Hampton, VA.

We stopped in Wilson to drop Jackson off with Aunt Amy and Uncle Stevie. We heard he had the best time hanging out with the girls all day -- playing on the Gator, in the sand/water table, on the swingset. He even came home with a couple of new words -- Mom-my and Dad-dy! He has been saying ma-ma-ma-ma and da-da-da-da, but not Mommy and Daddy! It's great and I love hearing it!

Having the Odyssey for the 3 hour road trip was great!! There were a couple of "minivan" comments along the way, but it was all in good fun. I mean, we haven't been to a Phish show in over 5 years, so a lot has changed since then! We are all grown up now...okay, not really, but maybe a little bit. :-)

The parking lots opened at 2 and we were waiting nearby to get in. It was a great day to be outside, so we had a lot of fun. Phish shows are always fun, because there's such a hodge podge of people there. Lots of hippies of course, but there's definitely a little bit of everybody! That makes it fun to people watch. We met people from all over the place -- I think the minivan must have been a sign that we were good people b/c we seemed to attract all kinds. Good times!

The show was awesome!! They played lots of favorite tunes, but the best for me was 2001. It's a great song to hear live, because their music is accompanied by a fantastic light show. My other favorite moment was when we sang Happy Birthday. Since these were reunion shows a lot of the band's families came along. The drummer, Jon Fishman, had his father there with him, Leonard, as I know now, and it was his 76th birthday. When the band came back out for their Encore, they recognized Leonard in the crowd and everyone sang Happy Birthday. It was really cool!

I am so glad we were able to be there! Phish is an unbelievable band, made up of 4 insanely talented musicians. These days it's hard to find real music amongst all the manufactured radio tunes out there! Glad you're back Phish! Can't wait to see you again soon!

Approaching the Mother Ship!

Jason, Matt & Sean

Beth & Me (nice backdrop, huh?)

Matt & Beth

Sean & Me

One of our new friends took this one for us.

Don & Jen's Wedding Day

Don and Jen had a picture perfect wedding day -- Sunshine and 75 degrees, in March! What a great way to start your new life together! These are two of our very good friends and we are so happy for them both. Their wedding was beautiful. The ceremony took place at Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Five Points near downtown Raleigh. Their reception was at Marbles Museum, which is the same museum that I take Jackson to. I had never been to an evening event there, so I was anxious to see it all set up! And it was beautiful! One of my favorite pictures is the "view from the top". Don and Jen have headed down to St. Lucia now for their honeymoon, probably spending their days by a pool w/ a cocktail in hand. Good for them! I wish them all the best in the world and a lifetime full of love and happiness! So, wonder when they'll have a little friend for Jackson??? Hmm....

Soon-to-Be Mr. and Mrs. Misenheimer

Our wonderful friends, Don and Jen were married on Saturday, so we had lots of wedding fun this weekend. Their rehearsal dinner was at The Pit on Friday night and the food was fabulous! It was a fun night and great to catch up with some good friends!

"The Boys" (L-R: Weir, Jason, Don, Matt, Swaz, Sean)

"The Girls" (L-R: Sarah, Shelly, Sarah, Beth)

Rehearsing for the BIG DAY!

Wolfpack Cake!

There's the Groom!

A toast to the Bride!

Busy weekend

This has been a great weekend! I know it's already Monday, but we had a 3 day weekend (okay, 4 day for me) around here and beautiful weather to boot!! Since we were celebrating Don and Jen's wedding this weekend, I took Jackson to Nana and Pa-Jack's for a Friday night sleepover. We got there before lunchtime, so I was able to spend a little time with my Grandma before I headed back to Raleigh. I took her with me to Wal-Mart and Melvin's (yum!) and it turned out to be a pretty adventurous trip -- when you're 79 y/o and don't get out much, Wal-Mart is a pretty exciting place!! Jackson was up from his nap when I got back from E-town with Grandma and he was ready to go fishing with Nana and Pa-Jack. I wasn't quite ready to get back on the road, so I tagged along -- it was a beautiful day!

They got one!

I obviously have lots more updates, but this is it for tonight. Busy Weekend = Tired Mommy

Stay Tuned...

It has been a fun and very exciting weekend! I have lots of pictures and updates to share, but right now I have to get outside and enjoy this beautiful day!!!!!

Swimming in March?!?

That's right, swimming in March! At an indoor pool of course, heated to a toasty 87.5 degrees! Jackson has been taking a swim class all winter and Wednesday night was his last class. Well, it's not so much a class, but just 30 minutes playing in the pool, working on kicks and bubbles. He did great! He loved it and had so much fun!! Now if it will just warm up so we can play in Mamma and Papa's pool! Bring on SUMMERTIME!!!!

Daddy and Jackson in the pool. Kick, kick, kick!

Just coming up from a dunk. He does great with that!

Mommy's turn in the water w/ Jackson.

Playdate at Marbles

Amy and I took Jackson and Ryley to Marbles on Wednesday and as you can see, they had a great time!! They were all over that place and into it all -- from one thing to another.

Dr. Ryley treating Jackson. He was a good patient, just a little impatient.

Ryley aboard the Pirate Ship. Before we got there she said this was one of the things she was most excited about!

Jackson up on the ship, too! Aunt Amy climbed aboard to help him out! Thanks, Aunt Amy!

Playin' in the water... So much fun!

Hangin' out in the "peas and carrots"!

Not so sure about all the "peas"!!

Check out the fort we built w/ giant Legos!! Aunt Amy got it started on her on, but it wasn't until she built in the window that Ryley and I realized she was onto something, so we decided it would be fun to help!

Peek! You know you want to build something with those now, right?? It is a lot of fun!

The peas and carrots for little kids were a little easier for Jackson to move around in.

He loved it!!