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Memorial Day Weekend

I'm sad to see this four day weekend end.  I love when we don't have tons of plans and can just hangout with each other.    Eric was off all day Friday for our anniversary.  We went to Panera for lunch and did a little shopping.  After school, we took Brady to his tennis lesson and then to Grandma and Grandpa's house to spend the night.  Eric and I found this Italian restaurant that we had never been to before and were able to sit outside...the weather was perfect.   I love our son...but sometimes it's so nice to enjoy a meal with my husband all alone.   I feel so much more relaxed when I'm not in parenting mode.  Anyway, it was a great weekend.   On Memorial Day, it was just the three of us, a simple day, just the way we like it! 





I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday weekend!



This And That

I wanted to share the view out our kitchen window.  My picture doesn't really do it justice.

It's the prettiest view we get all year!  It makes me happy everytime I walk into the kitchen.

Last week I helped out with  Brady's 2nd grade field trip to Longwood Gardens.

It was a beautiful day....and the gardens were gorgeous.  I took tons of pictures.

I was in charge of this rambunctious group of boys!

They actually did very well...although I think they would have had just as much fun playing in the

 parking lot as they did walking around the gardens!  Boys!



Tomorrow is our anniversary. 

 Eric took the day off from work.  We haven't decided what to do yet...but it doesn't really matter.  He is my favorite person in the world to hangout with and it will be so nice to have the entire day to ourselves.   Oh, and Eric's parents are keeping Brady overnight on Friday.  Yay!

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend!

~Kerri

Thanks For The 25 Years!





I have always thought of Oprah Winfrey as one of my girlfriends.  I think she makes most women feel this way. 

I tried to sit down and write a lovely post about how much Oprah has meant to me these past 25 years and I just couldn't put my thoughts together.   I wanted to post something, because those who know me, know that I think of Oprah almost like family.  I love her.  I get defensive when someone teases me about her.  I guess I will put a few thoughts down so that I can have some closure as Oprah finishes her last two shows.

  I have watched her everyday at 4pm for all of my adult life.  She has taught me so much about being a woman and she's had such a positive influence on me.  Here are just a handful of things that I have learned from Oprah:

     .  I have learned to live in the moment.

     .  I have learned to have an attitude of gratitude.

     .  I have learned about forgiveness.

     .  I have learned to take responsibility and live my best life.

     .  I have learned about managing money.

     .  I have learned that being overweight is about something deeper.

     .  I have learned about "aha" moments!

     .  I have learned that chaos and clutter can drain you.

     .  I have learned about giving.

     .  I have learned that you should surround yourself w/ people that bring out the best in you.

.  I have learned how to pick the right bra and that v-necks look better if you have big boobs!

     .  I have learned that anything is possible and to never let fear hold me back.

         

    

I know I've learned so much more from Oprah, but these are the things that stick out the most for me.  I was 16 when she first went on the air.   Although I am grieving sad that Oprah will no longer be on the air everyday at 4pm...I am so very thankful for the 25 years she gave us. 

Thank-You Oprah Winfrey!

It has been a great pleasure to watch and learn from you all these years!

I will miss you my friend!

~Kerri

The Funnest Cupcakes I've Ever Made



I wanted to make something FUN for the bake sale last week at Brady's school...something the kids would be really excited about.  I made hundreds of these milkshake cupcakes...and boy were they a hit!



I found the recipe over at Bakerella.  I switched things up just a little bit.  Here's the recipe and some tips that helped me:



Cupcake

1 box cake mix (any flavor)- I used strawberry.

I used tall cupcake liners and filled them a little less than half full.

Bake cupcakes and let them cool.

Ganache

12 0z. semi sweet chocolate chips

6 TBS. butter

3/4 heavy whipping cream

Melt butter and cream in a saucepan.

Remove just before it starts to boil.

Add chocolate chips; stir.

Let cool about 10 minutes.

Poor (or spoon)  ganache over cupcakes.

Eat leftover ganache by the spoonful.

Refrigerate cupcakes until ganache gets firm.

Buttercream Frosting

2 sticks butter (room temp.)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 lb. box of 10 x powdered sugar.

1 - 3 tsp. milk ( depending on how you want your consistency)

Cream butter and vanilla.

Slowly add powdered sugar.

Use a Wilton 1M or 2D tip to frost cupcakes (if you want the whip cream look!)

Add sprinkles after frosting each cupcake.

Put cupcakes in the freezer for a few minutes to harden the frosting before

adding a cherry sour on top.



There were some other FUN cupcakes at our bake sale too.

The two moms that made them said they worked hard to make them "Kerri worthy."

I hope they were just kidding!   They did an awesome job.   They seemed proud...and I made a huge fuss over them!

I love the pig!

The fortune cookies are made with caramels.  You can tuck special little fortunes & messages inside.  Love them!

"You can't look at a cupcake without smiling."

Not sure where that quote comes from.  Anyway, my busy week is over...and I'm

happy to have a little more time this week.  I need to catch up on a few things around the house

that I have let go...and if I don't get some groceries today, my family will be having crackers for dinner!

I'm looking forward to catching up on all your blogs!

Have a great week!

Taking A Break

image



I haven't had much time to blog lately.

Last week was crazy busy and so is this week.

One thing right after another on the calendar.

It's just how the end of the school year goes.

I get stressed, and irritated and not so fun to live with when things are too busy.

However, I don't want to just "get through" this week.

I want to work hard and do a really good job with helping, planning, creating, volunteering and working.

So, I'm going to take a break from blogging this week.

It will be hard for me to do, I'm sure!

If I don't get a chance to read your blog this week or comment, please know I will catch up with you next week!

Have a great week everyone!

~Kerri

Ten on Ten: May

Ten photos in ten hours on the tenth of the month...
trying to  capture the beauty in the ordinary
 moments of your day.

I was called into sub for a couple of hours today at Brady's school and then this

evening I worked a banquet..my only one this month.   So, I wasn't

able to take a photo every hour...but I was able to take ten photos!

You can visit ten on ten HERE to join in the fun!

Happy tenth! 

~Kerri

Mother's Day Rocks!

I never feel I need celebrated as a mother.

I quietly celebrate this privelage each and everyday of my life.

I already feel so blessed to get to be a mom.  Brady's mom.

But, my husband and son feel very differently.

They look forward to Mother's Day.

They make me feel like the BEST mom there ever was.

They make me feel so important and special and loved.

Brady couldn't wait to give me his card he made.

He drew a picture of us and on his shirt it said MOM ROCKS and on my shirt it said MOTHER"S DAY ROCKS!

He wrote the sweetest stuff inside my card. 

Brady also gave me a pot of flowers he made at school.

My two favorite guys made me a video of themselves talking about me.

It made me cry.  I will cherish it always.

(I hope I get another one next year!)

This may have been the first Mother's Day that we didn't leave the house.

It was perfect.

We enjoyed each other.

We worked in the yard and I planted some annuals.

Brady and I finally planted his strawberries....that he's been patiently waiting to do since his birthday.

Eric made me a breakfast casserole.

Brady showered me with too many compliments.

Eric washed the inside and outside of the van for me and cooked steaks on the grill.

I love being a mom, and I'm so thankful that I am able to be one.

It was a beautiful day...that I always want to remember.

~Brady's mom



Gone Fishin'



We took Brady fishing yesterday after school.

Well, Eric took Brady fishing...I just tagged along!

It was such a beautiful evening.

I love when we can all be outside together.

We've had so many rainy days lately...that, when we do have

a pretty day, I just want to get out there and enjoy it.

Everything is so green right now and it's finally starting to feel like spring around here.

Brady's lucky fishing hat!

Have a  FUN weekend!

~Kerri

Coupons & Bargains

My husband and I were flipping channels last night and caught the tail end of Extreme Couponing on TLC.  We had never heard of the show before...we tend to stick with our regular favorites.    Have you ever seen this show?  We were at a loss for words.  There was a man whose bill came to $855.00 and after his coupons, he walked out of the store paying nothing.  All these carts of groceries for free.  (I was happy to see he donated everything to a food bank.)  One lady on the show said she spends thirty hours a week collecting, cutting and planning her grocery trips around the sales.  Wow!  I don't have the time or the desire to do that...but if I could save ten or twenty dollars a week on groceries, I'd be happy.  I'm sure there are blogs and books out there to help people figure it out...but, I don't think I'm smart enough to figure out how to save that kind of crazy money!  Anyway....

I stopped at a thrift store a couple weeks ago and found these items!

I love this little vase..I will add it to my collection.

This blouse fits me so well...two bucks!  I wore it to work one day last week.

I've been collecting old tennis raquets to use in Brady's room once we redo it. 

**********************

It's yard sale/garage sale season! 

 I'm looking forward to heading out early Saturday morning with a friend of mine! 

Hoping to find some good stuff!

~Kerri

A Day At The Beach



We had such a great weekend at the beach.  Actually, I should say that we had a great day at the beach...because it ended up being a much shorter weekend than we had originally planned.  We were going to take Brady out of school on Friday, but because he has missed so much school this year, we used our better judgement and decided against it.  I also got a call to sub on Friday...so it all worked out and we left right after school.  We are about 3 and 1/2 hours from Ocean City, Maryland.  We had planned to stay later on Sunday to make up for lost time...but then Brady's team tennis schedule changed and we had to leave early Sunday morning to get back for his match.  So, that left us just Saturday...and we made the most of it.  It wasn't as sunny or as warm as I had hoped...but it didn't matter.  The beach is truly my favorite place to go.  And even though I have been tired the last two days, I feel rejuvenated as a mom and a wife.  Can't wait to move there go back!

Here's some of what we packed into a short amount of time:

We had breakfast at this 50's diner at the resort.

They put a basket of warm donuts on the table. 

The little t.v. played classic cartoons like Popeye, Jughead, Tom and Jerry and Mighty Mouse. 

 You could also choose from Little Rascals, Gidget and The Munsters.

We played mini golf at the resort and at a place nearby.

I love that Brady is old enough now and more patient to wait for his turn and play the game right.  Can you tell I'm a little competitive?  Let's just say, I brought my A game!

We briefly stopped at two different arcades...waiting for it to warm

up so that we could get to the beach already!

Finally, made it to the beach...but not without our sweatshirts!

We were trying to get Brady to jump up in the air so I could get a fun picture... the boy cannot jump!

We drove around Assateague Island.  There are between 100-150 wild ponies on the island.

Assateague is about 10 minutes away from where we were staying in Ocean City.

Looking for wild ponies!

On Friday night we made it to the resort just in time to swim for about an hour.

The three of us played water volleyball (with the beach ball) against some other people.

(We weren't keeping score...but we clearly won.)

Saturday evening Brady swam for over two hours.

Man, I love this kid!  And, thank goodness he doesn't mind having his picture taken!

We made it home on Sunday with just an hour to spare before Brady's match.

No wonder I'm tired!  We have a busy week as usual...no time to rest!

How come everything always gets so crazy at the end of the school year?!

I guess it just makes the countdown til summer all the more fun!

Have a great week!

~Kerri