It's Tuesday!

Hello all.

I am happy to say that the weekend went well and I am feeling like myself once again. It was great to return to Alexandria and spend time with family and friends. Saturday night I was able to go with my family to Johnny Carino's Italian Grill ... my all time fav. Sunday we visited our home church and were so glad to see faces we have missed over the last few months. It was nice to be loved on! After church we ordered pizzas with the old bible study gang and hung out for a little while. It was great to catch up on everyone's lives. All of our kids are getting so big! I think we had 11 kids and some were missing (including Jason McCorkle!) Then we were off to Gavin's first birthday party. Fun times.

I took the boys to get their hair cut last night. They wanted mohawks, we settled for faux-hawks so that I can brush it down too. I think they are pretty cute! What about you?

Have a great week everyone,
Carrie

Weekend

Hello!
We had a wonderful weekend. Friday night the boys stayed with their grandma so that Marcus and I could get ready for Logan's birthday party on Saturday. We went into Wal-Mart and bought a Ford F-150 motorized truck. Never in a million years did I think we'd ever buy one of these because of the price, but I found one on clearance for $79 and we couldn't pass it up! Logan was thrilled (picture in slide show below). We then came home and worked for 4 hours on the monster truck cake. We cut the shape out, constructed and decorated it. I was so proud of us! The tires were ding-dongs. Food Network Challenge has nothing on me! HAHA! It wasn't perfect, but was pretty impressive for me. The party went great. Logan got some great presents and we had a house full. Thanks to everyone that came to celebrate with us. Check out the slide show below of all the festivities!
Have a great week,
Carrie

Logan's Birthday Party: MONSTER TRUCKS!

Action Packed Weekend

Where do I begin? Friday night we took the boys to the Whitko homecoming football game. We had a great night of football, fireworks and family time. We came home and waited for my parents and Gavin to get there. As you know it was my dad's bday so Logan and I decorate dad's birthday cake (pictured above). We gave him his cake and gifts. Saturday we hung out at the fall fest riding rides and I was in the parade. That evening we headed to the mall for food and shopping. Sunday morning Aiden decided to run in the 1 mile fun run. Crazy ... I know! His cousin Brody said he would run with him (he's in cross country ... thanks Brody). Aiden finished 9th out of 18 runners that were probably 10 and under???? Either way we were VERY proud of him. He finished in 9 minutes and 14 seconds. Brody told us that he never stopped running! Seriously, I was more proud of him for running that than watching him play baseball. I don't really know why ... maybe because bball comes so easily to me and running doesn't that I respect him for it? I don't know ... either way, so proud. He got a medal (every runner did) but he calls it a gold medal. He is so proud of that thing. I framed the picture of him crossing the finish line and of him holding his medal and gave it to him. He placed it on his shelf and enjoys looking at it. Did I mention how proud I am of him??????

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's 52nd birthday. He is coming up to our place for the weekend. I am very excited. The boys and I are going to make his favorite birthday cake (white cake with milk chocolate icing) and we have some really cool gifts for him.

This birthday seems a bit more special to me this year. On July 17th, dad had a small stroke. Luckily he was only away from work for 6 weeks and seems to have made a full recovery although the dr.'s still are unsure as to why he had the stroke. Anyway, the experience made it all to clear how precious life is and how I should cherish my time with him. So, with all that said, here are 52 that I love most about my dad (or remember doing with him when I was little).

*Sunday afternoon wrestling matches.

*The smell of hamburger and onions (the only thing he can cook).

*The time he warmed up frozen waffles for me ... in the microwave.

*Our phone conversations.

*Watching him play baseball with my boys.

*The way his hands felt when I was little. They were always rough from boxes, but they were still comforting.

*His laugh.

*His baseball card collection.

*The way he loved (and still does) his mom.

*His organizational skills. Seriously, if I had half of them I would be in good shape!

*His work ethic. The man never calls in sick (ok, other than for a stroke or back surgery! HA).

*Playing catch with him in the middle of Chipaway Drive.

*Driving around looking at Christmas lights after he got home from work.

*He was the only one I would go trick-or-treating with.

*Daddy walking me down the isle.

*His face when he held his newborn grandsons.

*He taught me to mow the grass.

*He taught me to change a tire (I do neither of the last two now, but I could at one point in my life).

*The drives to Toledo every third weekend.

*He treated his three daughters as fairly as possible.

*He didn't judge when I brought a drunk friend home.

*The fact that I'll have to print this blog entry off so that he can read it. He's never used a computer!

*He is forgiving.

*He recognizes me for the woman I am today.

*He made it to as many sporting events as he could ... even for cheerleading!

*He's a Detroit Tigers fan.

*He's a Green Bay Packers fan.

*He a Colts fan.

*He's a Pacer's fan.

*He's a Nolan Ryan fan.

*He's a Brett Favre fan.

*He's my fan.

*He's Aiden and Logan's fan.

*He took us sledding ... down the driveway.

*Building snowmen.

*Snowball fights.

*Good's donuts and Sunday night with the Oldies on the radio.

*He's Pepsi addiction. Really ... it's a problem.

*Watching hockey with him when I was little.

*Being his bat girl when he coached the church softball teams.

*His strength.

*His faith.

*Watching him rock with my boys.

*Hearing him try to sing, "My Girl."

*Seeing his face light up when he is singing "My Girl."

*His record and 8 track collection!

*His discipline.

*His sense of humor (well, most of the time).

*The fact that he's proud of me even though I know I didn't make things that easy sometimes.

*He cares about my friends.

*He prays for me and my family.

*Watching him do anything with my boys.

*And the number one reason ... because he's my Daddy and I will always be a Daddy's girl.

I love you Daddy!

Carrie

Happy 30th Birthday Marcus!

I love you! Let's see if I can come up with 30 reasons why:
*Your laugh *Your eyes *The way your hand seems to swallow mine when you reach for it *You think I'm funny *You're a wonderful daddy *Your honesty *Your organization! *Your determination *Your strength *Your cooking *Your cleaning perfection *Your forgiveness *You warm my feet at night *Yet don't get angry when I tell you to stop touching me at the same time! *The way your hair is never wet (always makes me smile) *The way you love your family *The way the boys get when they see you walk in from a long week at work! *That after that long week one of the first things you do is kiss me *Your kisses *When you wrap your arm around me at church *When you hid your watch from me during church (I am just counting minutes until nap time) *You allow me to sleep even when it's a beautiful day out because you know that means more to me than nature! *The way you know me more than I know myself *The way you support me in all I do *The way you do not worry about anything and always calm my worries *The way you've grown in Christ *The way you look when holding a baby *Your quietness *Your peacefulness *The way it is so easy to think of 30 plus reasons I love you!! I love everything about you Marcus!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday Jill!

Now who could that be dressed as the raven? Great President Morrison impression!