Cookie Dough Cake

Bill's #1 saying is "do we have any cookies?" When the kids and I were talking about cakes we could make for his birthday I mentioned one I saw on Pinterest. When they saw it they all voted this had to be the cake! Believe me this was quite the cake! Totally homemade and totally delicious. Everyone loved it. It was definitely a labor of love which took me 4 hours to make start to finish. The cookies were chocolate chip but with chopped bittersweet chocolate. The filling had no bake cookie dough between the layers of homemade butter cream icing.
Happy Birthday Bill! We all love you so much!

Happy Birthday Bill!

An Easter birthday celebration. Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday Aunt Gretchen!

Like When She Was Little

I have pictures of Erin and Bill sitting at the table like this, only she was 2 weeks old! They are so sweet. When they were both sitting together for a dinner time snuggle I had to capture the moment!

Merry Christmas

It's a little late, but Bill's Christmas gift finally arrived! I ordered it at the beginning of December from a local artist and I knew it was going to be after Christmas when I could give it to him. I am not good at keeping secrets but I made it! I'm so glad that I did. It's fun to have a surprise on an ordinary day.

The significance of the Conservatory is that we were married there almost 18 years ago. I am always looking for anything that has the Palm House to add to our home. This is the first picture I have found that is a night time setting and I think its beautiful! It makes me happy when I see anything with the conservatory since this is where it all started!

Seabase

 Kyle is getting the most fabulous experiences. This month he was able to go to Seabase a high adventure Boy Scout "Camp" where the boys sail the Florida Keys for 7 days. Since Bill is the Scout Master he went too but I think he would have gone as a chaperon either way since this is such an amazing trip.
There are 8 boys to a boat plus 2 adults and the captain of the boat. You have to be at least 14 to attend so Ethan has a couple more years until he is able to go on this kind of trip. Basically the captain instructs the boys on how to sail. They also get to dive, fish, and swim. Highlights of the week were catching 4 lobsters for dinner one night, going to a local resort for the day to hang out by the pool, bike ride, go tubing, and kayaking. But living on a boat for a week really is a unique experience.
It was an amazing week. As I told Kyle the day before he left, this is such a special thing to do with your dad. Even though there are other boys there, the two of them were able to spend the week together on an adventure. They have made so many memories together and as I told Kyle, Bill didn't get the opportunity to do these things with his dad which makes it all the more special for them.
Memories of a lifetime below....

Father's Day

A belated Father's Day post to the best husband and father ever! There is no one I would rather spend my days with than my sweet husband. He makes everything for our family possible with all of his hard work and dedication.
I am so grateful to be able to stay home and homeschool the kids and he makes sure that can happen. He spoils all of us so much with his time and energy. His sense of humor and big heart and his dedication to our family is so appreciated. I look at Kyle and Ethan and what wonderful young men they are becoming and know it is from his influence and love for them.
We are off later to have a family day at the park, Bill's favorite thing to do. Thank you for being the best daddy ever!

Daddy's Girl At Heart

Paige was in her typical goofy mood last night. Bill's holiday vacation officially started at 2pm yesterday when he walked in the door! Yea! Five days of holiday with Daddy and we are all so excited to have him home. Fall is such a busy time of year at work with budgets and we look forward to spending time together over Christmas. No kids activities, no work or additional responsibilities.
Paige can be such a Daddy's girl. They are so alike....

When I Was a Little Boy...

Many pictures from the weekend but these are by far my favorite. After many hours decorating, Bill told Erin he had something to show her, something that was his favorite thing to do when he was a little boy at Christmas time. He laid down under the tree looking all the way up for hours when he was little. Erin jumped right down and laid beside him and they looked at the top of the tree from way down below. They talked about the lights, their favorite ornaments, ornament placement and why Erin put things the places she did, and they snuggled.
It was so incredibly sweet to see them under there with their feet sticking out. Can't put those pictures here since Erin had just gotten out of the shower and was in her undies! But it was cute but she would not be happy about those being posted!
These are the moments that they will always remember. We have had such a wonderful time as a family together this weekend. Just being together, hanging out, playing, and not having anywhere to go. I am so looking forward to many more moments like these over the next month.
Here's to many more tree viewing nights!

Make Me a Mermaid

When your little girl says "make me a mermaid"  Daddy gets into sand building mode and makes her a mermaid! What a sweet afternoon on the beach! They had so much fun together and Erin was more than pleased with the results. She sat patiently and waited for me to take pictures and to get Kyle to check out the final result. Her prince did rescue her and help her out of her "tail" and they walked off into the surf together...