Lessons Learned about NY

We are back and beginning to settle into our normal routine.

Our NY trip was fantastic!

We were completely exhausted, but in a good way.

I got the full NY driving experience including traffic, rain, and lots of road construction

~It was scary~

(but I liked it!)

Arriving at Brooklyn Bethel

Our silly group

We stood out like a sore thumb.

But we had a blast!

On our flight, returning home from NY, I sat and contemplated what I learned from my trip...

1. Just have faith that the other drivers will NOT hit you. 

(That's knowledge from Kristyn and it seemed pretty true)

2. NY Cheesecake is mmm mmm creamy!

3. No 2 NY pizzas are the same

4. The Bethel family is the single-most friendliest group of people on the planet.

5. If you use a GPS, you WILL get lost!

(Common sense, observation, and a detailed map are what you need)

6. You will get robbed blind from toll fees.

7. Everything takes at least an hour to get to.

8. People are friendlier than depicted on movies

9. There aren't souvenir tables at every corner, as one might hope for.

10. There are people all over the world, including Antarctica downloading Watchtowers from JW.org!

I can't wait to go back!  Perhaps in a year or two when KennaKat is a bit older.... It would be awesome to do a group trip with all the kids' friends, and get some of our Bethel friends to give a behind the scenes, child friendly tour.

If you want to see the hundreds of photos from our trip, let me know, I'll email you the link.

Baseball

A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of going to a ball game with a group of our friends.

The weather was PERFECT, the game was great, our team won, and the mini donuts were yuuuuummy!

The kids were CRAZY and we had a blast!

Can't wait till next time!

SnoBalls!

This is just one of those things that I have to share with everyone.

Pelican's SnoBalls has been my favorite place to get a snoball 

for 6 or 7 years now.  

The problem being that they were located in Garner.  

Making my ability to visit very limited.

I am happy to announce that Pelican's has just opened up a shop right here in Durham... on Roxboro Street!!!

I suggest everyone visit as soon as possible and get your snoball fix.

They are inexpensive and deeelicious!

Not your ordinary snoball, this is New Orleans style shaved ice with 100 flavors to choose from.

Added Plus, like them on facebook and get a free medium snoball of your very own.

They just opened this weekend and I've already been twice.

I pass them every.single.day.of.the.week.

yes, they will know me by name veeery soon.

{I'm ok with that}

Traveling south on Roxboro towards 85, they are on the right,

Between the Large Spanish grocery store and the biscuitville.

They are an old gas station painted Cotton Candy Blue and Bubble Gum Pink

Oh and they have a sign with a big 'ole Pelican on it.

{Open every single day, rain or shine until Oct. 31}

Circuit Assembly

Another Circuit Assembly has come and gone.  And I must say, boy was it FANTASTIC!  I'm not going to ruin it for everyone that has not yet had theirs but I was sad when it was over.

A cool highlight from ours was that we had 52% of our circuit Auxilary Pioneer in April, that's 1,140 publishers!  If you include the 271 Regular Pioneers, then that bumps us up to 63% of our circuit pioneering!  And to think of all the friends that weren't able to pioneer but increased their activity for the month of April, it's just awe inspiring!

I can't wait to find out how many we had world wide!

Here are some pictures from our 2 days.  

The kids had a lot of fun seeing their friends...and so did I :)

The District Convention will be here before we know it.

I can't WAIT!

First Tooth

Dear 5 Year Old Son Of Mine,
The first time I met you, I cried tears of joy for getting to touch, kiss, smell, and see you.  Every moment of your life has been an adventure and a joy for me to be a part of.  Every smile, every milestone, every thing you did and said was always something I had to tell others about.  You got your first tooth at 3 months old and on May 2nd, you lost your first tooth.  That tooth now sits in a jar on your dresser that will collect all of your lost teeth. This tooth is a reminder of how the time has flown by.  Oh if my mind were perfect and I could contain every moment of you in a special jar, on a special shelf, in my mind.
I love you dear boy.
You are a treasure.

Strawberries and Gone with the Wind, just one day in May

One of my most favorite things about May is that I get to go strawberry picking!!!  

Having kids has made this special time of year much more special.  

I have fond memories of picking strawberries with my mom when I was a kid {even though I didn't like to eat them}, and now I get to share it with my children and Nani {Ethylwolfe loves to pick but hates to eat them, just like me..until I got much older, it's too embarrassing to say how long it took me to like them :)}.  

In years past, if any strawberries made it to their baskets, it was either rotten or green.  

This year, I was quite proud at how perfect each strawberry they picked was.  

We made strawberry shortcake {yum} and pectin free jam {I haven't tried it yet, but hubby says it's good. YAY!} 

Ethylwolfe was a big helper.  

He removed every green top and sliced every strawberry {8cups worth} for our jam.

After dinner, I scurried away to GBoro to see Gone with the Wind on the big screen with Kris.

I got there early, so I decided to walk around and explore the downtown of GBoro.

I stopped by a small coffee shop {I don't drink coffee, but I needed something to keep me awake on my drive home}.  After gazing at the menu board, I noticed chai tea...I'm a major lover of chai tea, so I was going to give up on my idea of coffee and grab a chai to go{after-all, tea has caffeine too}.  But below the chai was something I had never seen before, it was a chai bomb.  A chai tea latte with a shot of espresso.  

Could it be the best of both worlds??

Yes, yes it was.

I added a little honey, and it was perfect.  

{The only downside, was that it was a hot drink on a hot day.}

I took cup in hand & sipped away as I window shopped downtown. 

Neither of us had seen Gone with the Wind on the big screen, so it was a nice treat.

To explain how much of a dork I am....

I have the movie, but apparently due to scratches, I've never seen the whole thing.  Only the second half.

I loved the movie before, but now I really love it :)

I arrived home safely right around 12:30.  

~The chai bomb completed it's mission successfully~

Hello there!

I know it has been a while since I have blogged, but what can I say, we've been busy!

April was a busy month for being in the ministry.  I got to work with almost every member of the family this month, which made it even more extra special.

P&K came around one Wednesday and worked with KennaKat, Lisa Pizza, and myself.  Followed by a lunch visit with Ethylwolfe.  That was a beautiful day and Ethylwolfe was very happy to see his aunt and uncle at his school! (Sorry, forgot to take pictures)

KennaKat and I joined Nani and Joann one Tuesday and that was a very fine morning.  Followed by lunch at one of our favorite Chinese eateries. (Again, forgot to use the camera)

To complete the fun, Bri and Nate came into town and we worked together for several hours on the last Saturday of the month.  Followed by some fantastic Pina Coladas and lunch provided by Nani.(Again, no images of proof)

Other service days were filled with visiting friends in other halls and getting to know members of my own congregation better.  It was a very joyful month, filled with BEAUTIFUL weather!

But that's not all our month had to offer...

Trips to the mall and lunch @ the pizza kitchen

Breakfast before school @ Ihop

Another haircut
Bye-bye 5 more inches of hair

Tower construction with Ethylwolfe

A day off of school means lunch with daddy @ Costco,
dessert @ LoYo, followed by running around ToysRUs

Kick Starting Date Night switch off
Watching 2 babies and 2 of my kid's best buds
~Smiling babies means Kid Night was a success~

Dessert from Guglhupf Bakery
and lots of hugs and kisses for Lani

toys vs. the peepee dance

Here's another from my phone.

Taken last summer, in costco, during the toy season.

KennaKat is so excited to look at toys, she's fighting the urge to pee.

It's a face off :

Toys vs. the pee pee dance

Who will win?

Where does Maisy live?

Where does Maisy live?

Read by KennaKat

{Apologies for the quality, this is from my phone}