No More Braces

Mackenzie had her braces removed this morning. She had them on for one year and nine months. Not bad at all, Congratulations Mackenzie! What a beautiful smile :)

By Mom

A Nacho Throw Down

Mom's Boston Beer Garden chicken nachos

Dad's famous ground beef nachos

On Super Bowl Sunday, we decided to have a Nacho Throw Down (like Bobby Flay). It was Dad's famous nachos with ground beef versus Mom's Boston Beer Garden chicken nachos. Needless to say, it was a close call, Dad and Mackenzie prefer the beef nachos while Mom and Mason prefer the chicken nachos. To end the night, we started a fire and cooked so-mores with a twist. Instead of regular marshmallows, we used strawberry flavored.


by Mom

Tennis Shoes

I couldn't resist taking a picture of Mason's tennis shoes today at practice. There is something so cute about him in a pair of tennis shoes. I can't put my finger on it, maybe it is the fact that the shoes stay so clean and white because he only wears them while on the court.
by Mom

Greek Festival

This blog post is dedicated to Nana and Grandpa. Once again, we had to attend the annual St. Katherine Greek Festival without you. Nine years ago, while you were visiting, we all decided to attend this local festival on a whim. The food was so good and the entertainment was much fun that we have gone back very year since. FYI, next year will be our 10th annual visit, your attendance is requested :)

An Old-Fashioned Church Picnic

Mason and I attended our parish picnic this afternoon. There is nothing better than January temperatures in the low 80's and a cool breeze. We enjoyed burgers on the grill, popcorn, cotton candy, snow cones, bounce houses, sack races, tag football and best of all, a cake walk!

by Mom

What a birthday!

We woke up to record low temperatures in Southwest Florida, lows in the 30's. We feasted on peanut butter and chocolate pancakes for breakfast. We headed to the local movie theater to see Avatar, an awesome movie! We ate dinner at DaRuMa Japanese Steakhouse and ended our day with a slumber party. Overall, a great 12th birthday for Mackenzie.

Happy 12th Birthday, Mackenzie!

Happy 12th birthday to my 3 week early 6 lb 4 oz toe-headed bundle of joy! You are my only girl, sandwiched between two boys. You prefer spending time with friends and family over gifts and presents. You make our family slow down and enjoy nature even in this fast paced world. Twelve years ago today at 2:56 pm I would have never dreamed that the years would go by this quickly. Although I miss my baby girl, I am truly enjoy my new middle school-er, and especially the fact that we can now share shoes.

Love, Mom