Seeester & Nieeeester Birthdays | Hickies!

If you read that title, you're immediately asking what HICKIES have to do with... whatever the rest of that supposedly says.

I'll start from the beginning:

TODAY is my dear sister's birthday!
It is ALSO her daughter Cynthia's birthday, because they are special that way and share the same birthday! I think it's pretty daggone cool ♥

♥♥ happy birthday, beauties!! ♥♥

Today was gorgeous. The sun was out all day, but wasn't scorching. Elisa and I made a mini trip out on lunch to Michael's and Fusion, where we made a celebrity spotting of President Ono! [If you don't know who that is.... his first name (for real) is Santa, and I'll leave it up to you to see why he's a person of much-deserved respect here in our community.]

santa ono 

He is pretty freakin' awesome. Let's just be honest. I'm proud to be an alumni of UC, based on his presence there alone... even if he wasn't the president when I was there. Let's not split hairs ;).

I stayed a little later at work than I typically would, but felt accomplished for it and headed home with just enough extra oomph to get myself changed and ready for the gym. It didn't hurt that I'd bought these a week or so back.. and they arrived today!

my new hickies!

^ Funky name, awesome invention. I put them on a trial run for tonight's workout, and won't be looking back to traditional laces anytime soon. Thumbs up to these guys on an awesome little hack that I'll be sporting for the rest of my gear, if at all possible!

At home, Rob made a quick sell off some Craigslist postings; he's all about divesting extra stuff for the Summer, and I'm pretty happy with that choice, too. He also managed to get the front yard mowed, along with a few other miscellaneous things; I got dinner reared up and tackled a few planning things for a certain special date in 2016 ;)..

Needless to say, it's been a successful Monday. See you tomorrow!

xo | cmd

Dad's Birthday Bash

Loaded post, heeeere we go!

Today was Dad's birthday celebration! I'll cut to the chase, since it's been a long day and I want to make sure I get everything in here ;)


First things first. Yoga.
There is something I can't translate into words about how... perfect it is here in the mornings.

#yogaeverydamnday

Once the rest of the family was up and at it, we started in on breakfast preparation. Dad wanted birthday pancakes, so he led the way alongside the best little helper in the house.

Soon Nana came and scooted him from kitchen to patio table setup, and consequently picked up where he left off in the pancake mixing. After all, she made the stuff...

This was Sydni's reaction when I told her that the entire family was coming, and that we'd voted her responsible for making a "bajiiiiiiillion" pancakes:

"uhhhh.. no way, mom"

^My adorable little mad scientist!

Moving on.. Did I tell you Sydni and my parents have formed a band? It's uhhh.. a joyous sound - we'll just put it that way, haha. Just kidding. They love every second of the ruckus..

Nana & Pappy even purchased water balloons to add to the fun. We never actually got around to the water part, but Sydni showed us how to properly inflate and flash-deflate them.

moments before she let go & sent it flying!

It wasn't long before my sister, nephew, niece & great nieces [whaaaat?!.. yeah] arrived. From there on out until the time they left, it was picture time, badminton time and celebration time.

emmie & sydni
model & photographer in training!

ya gotta start somewhere... ;)

my sister heidi & her granddaughters, along with my mini-me

joyful hanny!
precious little great-niece of mine ♥

sweet moment between heidi & hanny

silly sister candid moments

the big girls emmie & sydni chasing bubbles around the yard

mom & rob

sweet little hanny

my compassionate little girl & spanky, the 21-year-old cat
we adopted as a kitten, when i was a child ♥

lady cornhuskers [minus the other two big girls]

my better half ♥♥

♥ sisters.

no makeup, no fuss, no worries.
♥

Last but certainly not least [& disappointingly sans Sydni, who insisted that she wanted no more pictures. In her defense, she was a trooper for the rest of the day!] - the celebration of my dad. Happy birthday, to you! We LOVE you! 

happy birthday, dad!

I love this family of mine. I'm still not over the fact that Sydni wasn't in that last picture, but she sure made Pappy's weekend by being there for his birthday party.

We're en route back to Cincinnati now and looking to take it easy for the rest of the night. It feels like a Sunday but I'm thankful we still have one more day. Here's to the rest of the weekend!

xo | cmd

IIIIIIIIT'S PARTY TIME!!

So just as I'd imagined, today was a blur. It started off with us loading up the gear for the next couple of days and me driving us up to Mt. Vernon. Rob made the off-hand comment that it was the first road trip we've taken together on which I did not need the GPS.  Ihad to laugh at that, but he's not wrong. First time for everything I guess? Hah.

We made it to good old MTV without much fuss at all. I have to stop & stress for a second just how significant today was, for many reasons. Most of my family came in for the weekend, from all over, as far out as Pennsylvania. Aunt Toni & Uncle Norman, Aunt Cindy & Uncle Gary, my cousins Steph, Mark & Tyler, my cousin Maricor & her girls Sophie & Madison, my nephew Jonathan, his sister Cynthia, her husband Brian and their girls Emmie & Hanny, and of course my parents and sister.  That's 14 adults and 4 children.. my family.. that Rob has never met...

...until today.
I felt so bad for him; he had every right to feel nervous walking into it all, even though he had no reason to. I know I would've been just as anxious if it were my first time meeting his family... in its entirety. However, just as I'd expected, my parents love him. As far as I can tell,  he's won the rest of them over, too. I know it took a lot for him to do this for me, but I wouldn't have brought him into it if I wasn't certain they'd like him. Big steps for us today, and I couldn't have been happier.

Back on track, it didn't take long at all to get started in on the birthday party preparations.  I made cake fondant for the first time ever today, and realized that.. well... I am not a baker. Haha. It wasn't awful but I definitely have some tweaks I'm mind for the next time I try this.

Fast forward to the bulk of today.. the party!!

Pictures, as usual [stay tuned for the rest of the collection!] (:

balloons

top: rob & brian [&their helper, miss sophie]
bottom: my uncle gary & my cousin mark

cousins! [madison. sydni. sophie]

cake & favors

nana & pappy ♥

candids!

my birthday girl!



the beautiful girls (:
madison. emmie. sydni

my one & only. i am heart over heeeeels for this guy.

pin the tail on rainbow dash [made by me!]

with my pretty niece cynthia 

"mr. rob, you be the birthday hat monster
& i'll be this pink pony" - sydni

in love over and over again with her...
happy birthday, my little [growing-way-too-fast] girl!!!

Today = Ahhhmazing.

Tomorrow is Syd's actual birthday. It's hard to wrap my head around it all but I'm working on it. (: What an incredible little girl I've got, and the perfect little weekend we've got going! ♡

Seeee ya tomorrow!

xo | cmd

Family Christmas, Take 2

First things first: Saw one of my favorite hometown friends from waaaaay back, for the first time in a few years. The last time we saw each other was over another Christmas break, probably 2006 or 2007? He lives in California now and only visits periodically; this was long overdue and the stories were even funnier now looking back. Gut busters. Love you, friend... and so proud of all the big things you're doing out in L.A.! [Had to add this one for old time's sake, too .. haha.. don't hate me Sheff.]

circa 2003 | circa 2012
so good to see you, clark!

Once Sheff & I said our goodbyes for what'll probably be the next 6 years, I headed back to the lodge to get ready for my sister and her family coming over.

Here's the gist of how that went. Enjoy!


hi, sister!

newphew jonathan & dad having a jam session...
.... while we watch sound of music in the background. typical (:

my mom. love her.
.. in case you wondered where i get my quirks ;)

sweet girls! my great-niece emmie & monster... aka, sydni ;)

musical kids! [we start 'em early!]

mom. corin. heidi. | love... my...family.

I love my family.
Go & love yours, this Christmas.

xo | cmd

A Song for the Road Home

HooRAY for 3-day weekends! 

The bulk of today was spent driving back to IL, but not before we spent the morning and early afternoon visiting with my aunt and uncle from Cleveland. They came down to spend the day with my parents, and we were situated perfectly to have a few hours with them before we left.

Oh, and since there wasn't much else to report today, I thought I'd share this little diddy from late last night, when I partnered up with my sister, neice and nephew on one of those classic praise songs, Holy Holy Holy. Like I said, I am so blessed to have such a musically-inclined family.

I ♥ them, every single one.

We're home now, and Mo & Jimmy just showed up with Bootsie - they'd had her for the day. It's only been a few short days since we saw them last, but I'm gonna go catch up anyway :)

Short work week, woo!!

xo | cmd

Celebrate Family!

my sister!

I get that this holiday weekend was built on the foundation of the holiday itself: Memorial Day.
I am in no way, shape or form trying to detract at all from the gravity of what tomorrow represents.
I am saying that because of the extended weekend, we are here, visiting family, and for that I am celebrating. I love my family, and I was given a quick reminder today that they are just as incredible as they've always been, and that it's only getting better.

For example:  My daughter alone is growing like an outta control weed - she's developing into her own faster than I can follow, and I love it. My husband has since left the Air Force and re-joined the world of auto glass. My sister's family is blooming into this band of musically and artistically talented souls who continue to impress me every time we're together. My great niece Emmie will turn four this year. My parents are remodeling their kitchen. My cousins' kids [my 2nd cousins] are in their mid-20's now. Where is time going???? Holy smokes.

emmie & sydni ... strategy meeting. haha

Anyway, these types of holidays are typically fail-proof in bringing all of us together in one spot at the same time. I say that we're all scattered; that's halfway true. I think I say it more-so just because we are now the ones living remotely. The bulk of my family is located within a 20-30 mile radius of each other. With the exception of us, and my cousins in PA, the majority of the family is back in Ohio. I said all that to say that while the drive can be a little tedious, it is totally worth it to have even just one weekend with my family.

mom outdoing herself yet again!

syd & lola

It didn't take us long at all to get right into the swing of things; Cynthia & Brian brought not just Emmie, but their little puppy Lola, too. It was about 10 whole minutes before Sydni had assessed the little fuzzball as a non-threatening situation, and for the rest of the evening made herself Lola's personal babysitter. Since they were just about the same size - we'll say proportionally-balanced - it was pretty funny watching her tote Lola around all afternoon, everywhere she went. The dinner table, water balloon fight, and campfire were no exceptions. I think she wants one. Hmm. Not gonna happen, not just yet.

water balloon prep..... the dry phase..

Oh, and we had a full blown water fight that stemmed from my mom's idea for an innocent water balloon toss. We warned her that this would spiral out of control; she didn't believe us, but I think she realized it when the water balloons started flying, then the buckets came out, then the hose itself, along with some squirt guns intended originally for just the kids. Needless to say, by the end of it, we were all soaked to the core. That's right, I love my family. :)

kiddies all dried off :)

After we'd swapped all of our sopping wet gear for dry clothes, wiped off all of our runny makeup and tied up stringy hair, we made haste with it to get the fire pit started up for some s'mores & such.. because really what is a family shindig without gooey, chocolatey marshmallow sandwiches?? Duh. :p

marshmallows. this is a science around here....

fire! 

roasting with mini :) 

It's been an incredible weekend. I love my family, and I appreciate so much having the time to come and spend with them. We head back tomorrow to IL; it's gonna be another couple of months before we're back up this way; that makes it all the more perfect to have this time when we can.

I.
AM.
SPENT. 

Time to get some sleep and put my drivin' eyes in. See ya tomorrow. 

xo | cmd