Tuesday, September 24, 2013

While I've Been Away

I have seriously been neglecting my blog since November of last year. Shame on me! There has been a lot going in in the Marshall house since then : Ethan & Abby are both in school full time - the 2 Year Old class & K4 respectively. This stay at home momma is once again at work and loving it! And added bonus is that I still get to work part-time (ha!) but more full-time still, 3 days a week...which means getting some Momma Mornings on Mon & Fri while the kiddos are at school.

We did a lot this year - went to Disney to celebrate Abby's 4th birthday, Abby was in her first wedding as the flower girl for my cousin Alex & her hubby Clay, Abby went to her first A-Day Game, Had her first recital, her first slumber party. It doesn't sound like Ethan did much but he's been busy too! Playing outside, getting messy, eating, jumping off things, and being a big old sweetie! He is the epitome of a supportive brother to his sissy & a love bug to all who know him!

Since I've been away from the blog, I wanted to list some things the kiddos are doing at their ages of 4 1/2 and 2 (almost 3...sigh!) since this was an effort to remember the things I had hoped to not forget (blame the mommy brain!)

Abby - 4 1/2
This little girl loves, loves, loves, all things girlie...nailpolish, dressing up, shoes, accessories! She is big into technology, ipads, iphones, tablets, you name it. She still loves Chick-fil-A & Polynesian sauce. LOVES chocolate milk, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate bars, chocolate brownies...does anyone else see a pattern here? She is enjoying dancing for a 2nd year at Tonya Speed's Dance Connection. She is incredibly talented at knowing how to dance to the music...she is way better than I was at her age. She loves her grandparents & her family. She is kind-hearted, slightly sensitive, smart and a wonderful little girl.

Ethan - 2 (almost 3)
This little boy is such a sweetie & a cutie...and he's lucky he is. He is always up to something, making a mess or just being too smart for his own good. He loves his sister (most of the time) and enjoys playing with trucks, cars, playing in the sprinkler, getting dirty. He even loves to wear his sisters play high heels and can walk remarkably well in them. He is a sweet, loving, funny little boy. He already has one liners he can pop at you and says the darndest things!


We truly are blessed beyond measure. That's all for now! More to come about our Disney trip later!


Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Giving Thanks

Before things get hectic and I have to start cooking...I wanted to say a few things Our family is thankful for:

- Chickfila, Chappy's, No Way Jose, Arby's, Zaxby's, Red Robin, Cracker Barrell...need I say more :-)
- Our double-stroller, and long walks around our neighborhood to see the fountain
- Gummies...both vitamin and regular!
- Chocolate Milk & cheeze-its
- Mickey Mouse, Super Why, BRAVE, Tangled, Minnie Mouse, Team Umi Zoomie
- iPhones, iPads, Kindles, Nooks, You Tube...etc.
- Dance Class & The Park at Nana & Papa's - ABBY
- Gawages (Garages) and Mimi's Car, Nana's Car, Papa's Car, PopPop's Gawage, Momma'sCar, Poppop's Motorcycle, Papa's Gawage - ETHAN
- Starbucks & Coffee in general - MOMMY
- Fishing, Fantasy NFL Football & You-Pick-Em NCAAF - DADDY

In all seriousness, we are very thankful for so much - We have wonderful grandparents, family and friends who love our family, especially our two beautiful, crazy, stinky, MESSY kids!

We have a home, we have jobs, we have food on the table. We have each other.
May you and yours have a VERY VERY Thankful and Bountiful Thanksgiving!

GOBBLE GOBBLE!!!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Making an Effort!

Wow! To say I have neglected this blog is an UNDERSTATEMENT! Since my last post in May (wow!) we have been really busy! In June, I got a great opportunity to go back to work...part-time in Marketing! I am enjoying it and trying my best to balance working part-time while keeping our household running, kids fed, you know the drill. The kiddos are loving school! Abby goes 5 days a week and Ethan goes 3 days! Again, we are getting the hang of it most days. I am also working on my little man's 2nd birthday party! I cannot believe he will be two already and Abby will be 4 next year! Anyways, here are two picture of the kiddos...a much more in depth post coming later!!

Tootles!!

Going on a walk with mommy...he is just the funniest little boy!

Abby on her first school field trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Abby is Three!

I've been a bad blogger, but I am back and gonna try to make sure to post daily! Life with two kiddos is hard enough without making time to blog! But I wanna remember everything...so onto my birthday girl!

Abigail Marie - Abby, B, Sissy, Sweet Pea, Sweets - turned 3 on April 9th! I cannot believe it has been that three years already! She has been a joy and a handfull all at the same time, but I wouldn't have it any other way :-)

We celebrated her birthday on Easter weekend. (we were pooped out by Easter evening) This year we decided to have her party at the park in my parents neighborhood. The weather was wonderful! Sunny, a little warm and a nice cool breeze! The pavillion was awesome for shade and to chow down on some yummy Cheezie's pizza...a fave of the birthday girl! As always we got a delicious and BEAUTIFUL cake from Cake Designs! We had friends and family come from all over, some even from Huntsville. It was so fun seeing the kids play and catching up!

Hope you enjoy the pictures below! A special thank you to my bestie Leah for taking pictures for me at the party! She is so talented! We love you Aunt Eah!

At three years :
Abby is 30lbs - 50% abd 38 1/2 inches tall - 70%. She no longer NAPS, no pacy, no diaper - just a pull up at night. She loves to play with our ipad (not really an ipad, just a kindle fire - same thing). She loves all things girlie, painting toes, bubble baths, dresses, SHOES (thanks Nana) She is a better eater than a year ago. Some favorites are Mexican, Pizza, Lasagna, Chick-o-lay, Bananas, Apple Sauce, Pretzel Chips and Hummus (her FAVE FAVE). She is big into Dora, Tangled, Barbies, Mickey Mouse CH, and Phenius & Ferb. She talks, dances, sings, asks questions, non stop. If I call someone or they call me - "Who is that Momma?" She loves (95%) her brother or "Eef" as she calls him.



Chocolate Cake with white icing! Delish!




 Swinging with Mimi!




 Abby and Anne Riley





Two of our newest friends - Maggie and Costa with their beautiful mommies Carrie & Camille




One of my favorite little guys - Marshall









This cutie pie came all the way from Hunstville to see us!




We gave Maggie some icing...looks like she might want more :-)





Abby showing Melly, Gigi. Aunt Cindi, Nana & Sara her favorite gift from her Aunt Kelly...a Guitar & Working Microphone - she is mine after all :-)

Yummy Veggie Pasta Sauce

This is the recipe so many asked me for after I pinned it to pinterest bg
yesterday! Side note: this worked so well and tasted amazing! Both my veggie- hesitant kiddos ate two helpings!

4 zucchini or squash ( I used squad since they didn't have the other) chopped
1 large onion chopped in big pieces
4 large peeled and diced carrots
I pack baby portabellas
I jar your fave tomato pasta sauce
1/3 stick 1/3 less fat cream cheese
2 tsp sugar
Chicken broth to thin out thickness

First I roasted the all the veggies except for the mushrooms! I used about a tbsp of evoo and toss the veggies with it. Next for the spices
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flake ( u can omit)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
Salt and pepper

Roast on high heat 450 for about 10 minutes or until onion are translucent. I stirred them about halfway through.

While the veggies are roasting, heat your large saucepan/ stock pot and add the mushrooms and your tomato sauce. Add your roasted veggies and the cream cheese. Keep stirring to help melt the cream cheese. Add sugar and stir.

I used an immersion blender to purée the big chunks of veggies. It had more of a chunky salsa texture than an actual purée. If you don't Have one - let the sauce cool, then put it in the blender, until you get that consistency.

I used this in a lasagna last night, even my hubby thought the sauce looked like a meat sauce! Tasted great too! Happy cooking!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

We are still here!

Well it has been quite a while since I've blogged... Same on me!
Right now we are in the swing if planning and gearing up for sweet Abby's 3rd birthday! She is growing up so fast! She is so smart and so sweet...most of the time!
Ethan's will be 15 months old next week and we cannot believe how big he has gotten! He has 10 teeth and loves to eat! He has quite the vocabulary for a Lil guy his age. Can say all of our names, Elmo, (ba)nana, hot dog, more, no, yes, cheese, thank you, hello, bye, bath and my favorite MINE! :-) tonight he learned to climb up on the couch so that should be fun!
Anyways we are just waiting on better weather and very much looking forward to summer and some beach time! That's all for now!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Playing Catch Up Part 2 - What Ethan's up to at 13 months old!

Yep, 12 months came and went and Ethan is already 13 months old! Crazy :-)! He is all over the place and is really starting to get the hang of walking. He is still crawling some, since he is the Jimmie Johnson of crawling...wink,wink! He loves most of the food he tries, including chicken salad, blueberries, peaches, strawberries, grapes, bananas, apples, turkey, macaroni, cheese,yogurt, crackers...you name it! He is weird about vegetables but will eat sweet potatoes and carrots...he will still eat most any baby foods, even though I don't buy them often. He loves his sister so much, and can be found shouting her name if she isn't in a close radius! He is talking up a storm (including right now, as I type this) He sounds like he is a smart pants, if only i could understand what it means :-) He can say Mama, Dada, ABB-EEEEE, Oscar, Nana, Papa, Pop Pop, Mimi, Melly, Nana (banana), kaker, More, Shoe, Baby, Bath, Beep Beep! My favorite thing he says is "abejubejubejube" and moves from side to side...not sure what it means, but I love it!

He is a tub baby like Abby and myself! If you ask him if he wants his bath right after dinner, he will crawl or walk all the way from the kitchen to the big tub in our master bath! I so enjoy having the big tub to bathe both kiddos at the same time. We have a great routine, Abby is my big helper and gets the wash cloths (burp cloths as she calls them). I have had to start getting ABby out first because Ethan would get hysterical if he got out first!

He is such a momma's boy and I love it, except for the following me around crying to be held...I made him rotten that way! Overall, we are having alot of fun and the futures only getting brighter :-)