Our Anniversary Weekend, Part 1

This past weekend, CJ and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.  We wanted to do something special to celebrate, and CJ came up with the idea to drive to Corpus Christi.  It was a last minute idea (I’m just going to be honest here, all of our ideas are last minute ideas.  We aren’t much on planning things out way in advance over here).  I think it was Tuesday when we actually finalized things to leave that Friday.  I cannot thank his parents enough because without them this little spur of the moment trip would have been impossible.  You see, they agreed to drive and meet us in Corpus to watch our sweet girls so that CJ and I could enjoy a night out by ourselves.  They really are amazing!!!

By the time Friday rolled around, we still had much to do before taking off.  For starters, it was National Donut Day and that’s just one holiday you do not miss in this house.  The girls and I went to Kai’s to go pick out an awesome spread to take up to Daddy’s summer school to share with his staff. 

I mean, seriously, don’t those just look AMAZING!?!  The girls had so much fun picking out the different donuts for everyone.

While they had fun picking random ones for everyone else, they knew exactly what they wanted to put into our box.  Hollyn got her Elmo donut, Haylen opted for a red velvet, while I picked out maple bacon, old fashioned, and blueberry for CJ and I. 

The girls were so excited to deliver our goodies!  After delivering donuts to all the teachers, it was finally time to sit and enjoy our own. 

Ha! What is it with kids and having to lick the icing first?

Hollyn is the exact same, most of the icing went first before she ever got a bit of her donut!

We sure do love getting to visit Daddy while he’s at work.  

Now after leaving Daddy’s school, the girls and I headed over to Discount Tire to get our tires balanced and rotated before we left on our trip.  This is something CJ normally takes care of, but he assured me it was easy and shouldn’t take long.  Well, he was HALF right.  It sure wasn’t difficult, but by golly, it took FOREVER!  There were so many people ahead of us when we got there that there were only 2 chairs left in the waiting area.  Thankfully, I remembered to bring the girls’ Leap Pads to give them something to do to pass the time. 

After a while, Haylen got bored watching her videos and playing games, so she decided to start vlogging in the middle of Discount Tire.  She used the video recorder on her Leap Pad and went to town.  It was hilarious!  She gave her “viewers” the run down of our day…We celebrated National Donut Day, took donuts to her dad at school, we were now in Discount tire and they were being SO slow, her exact words here were, “we’ve been here like 100 minutes and they still have NOT touched our car, see…” (she then turned her camera for a shot of our car still in the same spot in the parking lot), she gave then gave a tour of Discount Tire, and ended with our plans to go to Corpus so that her mommy and daddy could go on a date.   Ha!  That girl is something else!  After almost 2 hours, our car was finally done and we headed home to eat lunch, pack up, and hit the road. 

The trip to Corpus was long (4 hours), but the girls did great.  We arrived a little after 7:00pm, just in time to get into our hotel room, send the girls off with Mimi and Papa, get dressed and make our dinner reservation at 8:00pm.  

Five Year Anniversary

 

June 4th was our anniversary.  Five years!  Yep, seems like just yesterday we were getting hitched on the beach.  To celebrate our five years of wedded bliss, we went to Veritas Wine & Bistro.  I have to hand it to my hubby.  He came up with the idea, and I have to say, I loved every minute of it.  We reserved the Chef’s table and did their 6 Course Omakase tasting menu (chef’s choice on all courses…we picked nothing!).   At the suggestion of the chef, I did the wine paring with mine, as well.   If I said I wasn’t the least bit apprehensive about relinquishing total control of my food and drink choices, I’d be lying.  But, my goodness, everything, every course, every paring was nothing short of AMAZING. 

 

Chef Tai prepared our first course.  Being able to watch the chef as he prepared our food was awe inspiring.  It’s like the plate was his canvas and each course was a work of art.  I mean, seriously, look at the pictures. 

 

Our first course was hamachi crudo topped with micro greens and paired with champagne.  While this was probably the dish furthest outside my comfort zone, I cannot even begin to tell you how much I LOVED it!  Looking at a menu there’s no way I would have even considered ordering this.  CJ, yes.  This is so up his alley.  Me, no!  So glad I didn’t have a choice but to try it!

 

Chef Tai’s sous chef prepared the rest of our dishes.  Here he is finishing course number two.

 

Second course, diver scallops with a pea puree, served over arugula corn and chickpeas, paired with chardonnay.  We love scallops.  This was scallops elevated to a new level. 

 

I’m telling you, plating was an art form.  The time, attention, and detail that went into each plate was unbelievable.  Check out that concentration.

 

Third course was monk fish served on a bed of potato chips and topped with crispy leeks.  This course was paired with a pinot grigio blend.   Monk fish was something CJ and I had always wanted to try and it didn’t disappoint.  It had a texture that was quite similar to lobster. 

 

Our fourth course was lamb, fingerling potatoes, arugula, and sundried tomatoes which was paired with a prohibition syrah.  Red wine, red meat…how could you go wrong!?!

 

Our fifth course was the showstopper, wagyu beef with a bacon and potato lyonnaise.  They paired it with a zinfandel and together they made our tastebuds sing!  Sounds super cheesy…singing taste buds…but you didn’t try this…I did…you would have said the same thing.  If you have never tried wagyu, try is as soon as you can.  Trust me, you’ll thank me.  It’s that good.  

 

Last but not least was our sixth course, dessert, which was paired with a port wine.  Our dessert plate consisted of strawberry ice cream, chocolate truffles, Basque cake, and a flourless chocolate cake.  All of which were amazing but our favorite was definitely the Basque cake.                                            

 

We returned home to the sweetest, most thoughtful anniversary gift ever.  You see, while we were getting ready to go out, Haylen was busy running around the house putting a special present together for us.  She found a gift bag, got her Daddy to get a bow for it, and filled it on up.  She was so proud, she even took a picture of what she had put together.  Check out those cute little toes in her picture!

 

Opening our present was a fun surprise!  It was quite eclectic! We got a picture that she got Hollyn to help color, a leopard ear headband, a Halloween board book, animal crackers, a blanket, a sleep mask, chocolate candy, and last but not least, my two favorites from our goodie bag…my bracelet (the one I was planning on wearing to dinner…I thought I had forgotten it at my in-laws when I couldn’t find it…nope it was all wrapped up for me as part of our anniversary gift!) and a wallflower air freshener refill (the one that was missing when CJ replaced them all before we left and was one short. Ha!!!)

 

And finally a special thanks to these two girls.  Haylen and Hollyn were in such good hands while we were gone.  Heck, Haylen was so excited they were watching her, she spent the entire day trying to convince me it was time to get ready for our date!

 

We had an amazing evening celebrating our anniversary. 

Here’s to many more!

National Doughnut Day

 

Yesterday was National Doughnut Day.  Now tell me…seriously…how do you NOT celebrate that holiday!?!  We are not the type of family to miss out on a holiday, especially not one that involves food, so I loaded up the girls and we headed to Kai’s Doughnut Co., in Bryan.  Being the cool mom that I am, I let the girls pick out our spread.  Hollyn had a blast pointing and saying, “This one, Mom!  This one!”

 

Tell me these don’t look AMAZING!!!

 

Haylen was such a big helper!  She held the big ol’ box of doughnuts for us.

I know what you’re probably thinking…DANG, that’s a LOT of doughnuts for 3 people.  Now as much as I might have liked to keep all this yumminess to myself, we decided to share our National Doughnut Day spread with others.  You see, CJ is teaching summer school so we headed straight there after leaving Kai’s to surprise his co-workers with a sweet treat. 

 

The girls loved going up to school to see Daddy and sharing their doughnuts….Well, most of the doughnuts.  Haylen made sure to let everyone know that the Fruity Pebbles and the maple bacon doughnut were OFF LIMITS.  Ha! 

 

What!?!  Don’t you eat the icing off your doughnut first?

Let’s just say we might have a new favorite summer holiday to celebrate! 

Our Little Pumpkin Turned ONE!!!

Seriously!?!  She’s one.  How in the world can my baby be one?  Didn’t I just have her?  They weren’t joking when they said, “time flies.”  I swear this year has flown by.  If I could slow down time, I totally would, but I wouldn’t change a minute of this year.  Are things crazier, busier, and more chaotic with two kiddos…Absolutely.  But that just means more love, cuddles, and more sweet memories to go around!

Hollyn Sabine Havlik.  Where do I start?  You have added so much to our family!  Your smile is contagious and has been since you were itty bitty.  Your giggles just fill the room.  You love being a part of everything, and always want to be right where the action is.  You definitely have spunk and an opinion all your own.  You absolutely adore your big sis and want to do everything she does…who cares if you’re too small, you try anyway!

You are such a talker.  While you have quite the little storehouse of words (Mama, Mommy, hi, bye, bye bye (insert the cutest little wave HERE), Hi Zoe!, more, Daddy, Dada (even though you know how to address your father properly, you usually choose to call him Mama), diaper, baby, bow, my bow (usually said as you take it off your head and show it to me), puppy, football (yes, you can recognize it on TV), etc.), you can babble a conversation with such expression and conviction even though neither you nor anyone else knows what in the world you are saying. 

You have the cutest, funniest, strangest little crawl.  Your Daddy calls it your Quasimodo crawl.  It works for you and sure does make us smile.  You have taken a few steps and will stand unassisted, but have yet to take off.  I have no doubt that it will happen quite soon.

You love going outside, as well as watching Zoe and Sammy through the window.  As for food, you now think baby food is beneath you when you see that someone else has something more interesting on their plate. You love Mommy’s spaghetti, MiMi’s stew, grapes, and Mrs. Steffany’s cookies and cupcakes (don’t worry Mommy definitely limits those, but your birthday was a special occasion).  You currently are NOT digging whole milk.  You’ll take a few sips and then toss your cup away.

You LOVE to cuddle and love being held (especially for naps.  I love that Mrs. Amy snuggles you every afternoon for naptime when Mommy is at work.  We are all so lucky to have Mrs. Amy.  She loves you and your sister just like Mommy and Daddy do.  If Mommy and Daddy can’t be with you all day, I am so thankful that Mrs. Amy can). 

You also have quite an affinity for music.  You love dancing with your Daddy and any time you hear music you start bouncing up and down and waving your little hands.  There have been many nights that you fall asleep on Daddy’s shoulder with the iPod going.  Talk about melt this mama’s heart. 














I’m sure this next year is going to fly by just as fast.  But I vow to savor every minute.  I love watching you grow, learn, explore, and be the sweet little girl that you are.  So, Happy Birthday Beanie Bear!  We all love you more than words can express!

A Picture a Day (Days 15-31)

Here are the rest of my January Photo Challenge pictures.  I have to say, I’ve really enjoyed participating in this challenge! 

Day 15:  Friends – Andy Bunny.  Haylen’s favorite stuffed animal.  These two have been best friends for quite some time.  She never goes to sleep without him. 

Day 16:  Delicious – Had an amazing lunch with great friends.  The chicken marsala was absolutely delicious. 

Babiators.  All the cool kids have them.  Hollyn also got her first pair of Babiators from Aunt Mindi on day 16. 

Day 17:  Yellow – Watching Curious George with Haylen before naptime.  It doesn’t get much more yellow than The Man in the Yellow Hat, or “The Man in the Yellow Pants” as Haylen just called him. 

Day 18:  School – I think everyone is excited that Daddy doesn’t have to go to school tomorrow.  Three day weekends are the best!

Day 19:  Hand – I love how she holds one sweet little hand over the other. 

Day 20:  Unique – Oh sweet Zoe.  You have quite a unique way of snuggling under the blanket to get comfy.

Day 21:  Conversation on the way home from Starbucks

Haylen:  Mommy, can I have a sip of your frappuccino?

Me:  Just wait until we get home and you can have your own.  You just gotta be patient.

Haylen:  (sigh)  That’s kinda hard with a frappuccino.

What can I say, the kid loves her frappuccino!

Day 22:  Black and White – Tonight Haylen was pretending she was Kate and Daddy was Mim Mim from one of her new favorite shows, Kate and Mim Mim.  She decided if she put her leggings on Daddy’s head he would look much more like Mim Mim. 

Day 23:  I spy – I spy someone trying to figure out if she can reach the light string while standing on the bed.

Day 24:  Just waiting for our BBQ.  I have to say Fargo’s is always worth the wait.

Day 25:  Remember – I remember taking this picture like it was just yesterday.  I can’t believe this sweet little girl is going to be 3 in about 3 weeks!

Day 26:  Lunch date with my sweet girl at her favorite restaurant!

Day 27:  On my right – On my right is a sweet girl who loves to read a story before bed.

Day 28:  All clean!

Day 29:  This evening Haylen received a debilitating knee injury, and by debilitating I mean she slightly scraped it.  She has been limping dramatically all evening.  So when she asked to watch Bubble Guppies I put on the episode “Call a Clambulance.”  (Seemed fitting)  This is the face I got when I asked her if she needed a clambulance.

Day 30:  Full – This morning our halls were full of excitement…kinder parade, drum line…Happy 100th Day of School everyone!

 

Day 31:  Just entertaining herself in the checkout aisle.  Who says your can’t have fun at HEB!

And there you have it.  A picture for each day of January.