A Date Night Surprise!

Last week was a total blast. We headed to Indy for our annual monthly trip, hit the Childrens' Museum and watched a beautiful snowfall. Cary had been cooking up a little something special for the two of us, a Pacers game -- or so I thought...

A few weeks ago Cary said he'd found some 'sweet' Pacers tickets, they were playing the Lakers and he's scored floor seats for a steal. He wanted us to dress up (which I later found out was part of the whole scheme) incase we were put on ESPN (hahaha, I'm a sucker). I could care less about the Pacers - I think their recent criminal activities have really turned me off, but seeing Kobe Bryant & Co. sounded pretty cool. I said, let's go! We planned on Mom watching McKinley while we trotted off to dinner and a game.

Plans changed due to the inclement weather, we were unable to make it home from our annual Indy trip, so we stayed another - unplanned - night (thank goodness for being able to handwash some clothing before re-use! ugh!), arranged for Honey & Papa (my Godparents, Diane & Brent) to watch McKinley and were able to still go to 'the game'.

Did I mention that the weather was 'inclement'? Yeah, it was EIGHT DEGREES BELOW ZERO. We chose to park a few blocks from the fieldhouse and so our walk was...bone-chilling. As we walked along, in the back of my mind I noted and wondered at the number of women attending this game, and in some serious heels, no less. I mean, there were a LOT of women. It was too cold to wonder for long though and we rushed inside. No more did I start to feel my eyeballs did Cary turn to me and say, 'Honey, we're not at a Pacers game, we're at 'Dancing with the Stars, the Tour. We're gonna see Lance Bass!'

O.M.G.

I stopped in my tracks and looked around at the sea of people dressed up - no Pacers jerseys to be found. I was shocked. Had no idea. My husband is good.

I started jumping and cheering like the little kid in me who used to get so excited about New Kids on the Block (who are BACK, by the way). Lance Bass is the closest thing to Justin Timberlake folks, I'm so there!

We rushed to our seats and I think we were both completely amazed. The show was AWESOME. We love live events - concerts, shows, etc - this was a chart-topper. The absolute best part of the night was when they announced that Toni Braxton (a long-time fave of mine and a competitor last season) would be singing Unbreak my Heart while her cohorts danced. I freaked. It was unreal to hear that voice live - no lip synching here. This is the real deal with this woman. She stole the show with that.

Oh, and Lance Bass even paid homage to N'Sync with a brief tribute to 'Bye, bye, bye' with that signature dance. Every woman - from teenagers to the elderly - squealed with delight at that moment. WHEW!

I have been so anxious to blog about the high I have been on since that night but a nasty bug plagued Cary all this week and has not allowed for blogging time until now.

I cannot thank Cary enough. I know this is not his normal idea of a super-fun time - lol...but we truly enjoyed the evening together, every part! Well, okay...we could have done without the sub-zero temps, but whatever! It was a lovely evening, a wonderful chance to spend some awesome time with my awesome husband watching something that has long been a love of mine - DANCING!

Check out the two-part video of Toni singing and everyone dancing. AWESOME! I tried to hold the camera as still as possible while freaking out. hahahaha Note the random girl selected from the audience by Derek on the 2nd video. OMG. I would have passed out!

We had the best time.

Thank you, Cary. I'll get you back - just wait!

I love you!!!

Lynn

A Year and a Half

Today is McKinley's half birthday! He is a year and a half now...just six whole months from TWO. Can it be?

To celebrate we headed to Indy to the AWESOME Childrens' Museum. This is our second trip, we went in October for the very first time (okay, well it wasn't MY first time, but his). I could see many differences in McKinley's abilities from the last visit. He enjoyed the water table and the sand table so much, but this time he really explored on his own and went to the pretend area and had a ball! At the water table he soaked himself and squealed with delight at the sheer excitment of WATER. All the parents were laughing hysterically - made a Mom proud. And of course, I'll admit it was so freaking cute. And leave it to Cary's son to find the only mailbox in the entire playscape, right? Hee hee hee. Seriously, I did not prompt him. He went right up to the thing and started opening it. He even picked it up and moved it to his liking. Funny.

Every little boy in the playscape went for the two 'lawn mowers'. It's like the task is ingrained in their brains! lol When one boy would let go, a new boy would grab it and they would all follow the lucky ones pushing the lawn mowers. Us mommies were having a good laugh about that.

Just like last time, we finished out the day with a ride on the antique merry-go-round. This time, McKinley loved it even more. He smiled through the whole ride, it was precious.

We had such a fun day! I can't wait to go back. We were there for the annual monthly trip to Indy, which I really enjoy. While we were there it began snowing quite a bit (which ended up kind of stranding us the next night, but that's for the next post). We were on the 9th floor of the downtown Hilton we love so much, and we we looked outside those big flakes were so breathtaking to watch. Equally as breathtaking was the sight of my sweet husband holding my sweet son on the window's ledge to watch the snow fall. OMG. Sweetest thing ever.

What a lovely mid-week getaway!

Lynn

Earning his keep

Tonight the fam hit the grocery store, when we arrived home there was a very eager little boy who thought it would be so much fun to help Mommy unload the (eco-friendly) bags. THAT is earning your keep! So, in between putting away the last bins of Christmas decorations and bringing in the groceries, McKinley was a really big help to Mommy & Daddy.

He seriously loved picking out every single item and handing it to me, or to Cary. He literally got everything out except for our laundry detergent - too heavy, thanks! I just can't get over how much fun McKinley is now. He is so interactive and responsive and very eager to try almost anything. McKinley is just shy (2 days!) of being 18 months, it's so great! The time is certainly flying by, but we continue to enjoy all the new things McKinley is doing and saying (banana, now!, applesauce, etc). He is just so much fun!

Lynn

Play dating

What a fun week for McKinley! On Monday we visited my long-time friend Jen and her new baby. Okay, well she's not new anymore, I guess...she's 6 months, but she's new to us because this is the first time I've seen her! McKinley was a very busy boy, but enjoyed seeing such a sweet little girl who was so little and new. We didn't stay long because of various nap times, but it was so nice to catch up with an old friend.

Tonight we were invited to dinner with new friends Robin & Rick's house. They have a sweet little girl, Savannah, who was born just a month after McKinley. Robin and I used to work together at the hospital and were officially acquainted during our hospital stay when McKinley was born. We had so much fun tonight watching the kids play like crazy. Savannah and McKinley particularly enjoyed our cell phones, the wonderful dinner Robin made us and the cupcakes we brought for dessert - a rare treat for McKinley, and I'm sure for Savannah too. The kids played with all kinds of toys, and McKinley got a real kick out of pushing around one of Savannah's babydoll strollers. Ha! Then he found a familiar site...a power wheels very similar to his own...only Barbie pink! He rode it around like a champ. Robin and I decided this summer will be lots of fun to take the kids outside (maybe on a park playdate?!) and let them ride their little power wheels all over the place. Won't that be something to see.

It sure has been a fun week for our boy!

And I love that he wasn't afraid to play with something pink!

Lynn

Ringing in 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!
Do you believe it?
Another year gone by - 2008 was full of so many wonderful things for our family...and a wreck. hahahahahaha. No seriously, it was truly a very special year for us and with so many great firsts for McKinley - his first Valentine's Day (a favorite in our home), first trip to the beach, first birthday, first wedding, first steps! And so many fun firsts for Mommy & Daddy too (first birthday party to throw - how fun is that?!).

On NYE (New Year's Eve), we enjoyed a lovely dinner together along with my Mom, then we all headed home to watch the ball drop - quietly and from our own homes. McKinley had so much fun staying up late - which we let him do for such a special occasion, I mean hey - it only happens once a year, why not? Our parents always let us stay up for it! And it's not like we were keeping him up, he WANTED to be in on all the fun. He had so much fun with his hat this year, and I managed to find some super cute '2009' glasses and noisemakers. For 9 years I have watched everyone wearing those goofy glasses in Times Square and I finally broke down and got some of our very own. I HAD to...this is the last year that the zeros will be side by side! Next year they might look weird! I know...I know.
Anyway, it was a great evening.

The next morning I got up very, very early for a very, very important excursion with my Mom.
Shopping.
Mom invited me to join her at one of our favorite shopping locations - a HUGE outlet a few hours from home. It worked out so well because Mom and I had a great time and Daddy and McKinley had a really great boys day! It was the longest I have ever been away from McKinley...ever...thus far.
I enjoyed the therapeutic day (yes, I find shopping to be VERY therapeutic) and even scored some great finds for myself and my boys! Cary got a gorgeous cashmere sweater (oooh, and so did I!) and McKinley now wears the cutest robe ever...among other goodies.

All in all, I wouldn't want to ring in the new year any other way. And here's hoping that 2009 is as wonderful to us as 2008 has been.

Happy New Year,
Lynn