Sharpie Mugs...Cafe au lait?

It seems that I did not manage to save ONE travel mug for myself during the move. I used to use the plastic mugs you get with the Disney Dining Plan because they were microwaveable. I would take my coffee with me to work each day and then when it was break time I would just pop it in the microwave quick. Voila, just saved myself from having to pay $2 for crappy cafeteria coffee.

While we were packing up we decided to just chuck them (we had 2) because well, they're plastic travel mugs and they do tend to get a funk after a while. Oh and we go to Disney a ton so we'll get new ones next time. 

Now that I'm driving Aidan to school a bit further and earlier than his last preschool I find myself wanting to drink my coffee on our drive. But I literally had no travel coffee mug. I started searching places like Etsy, and unrelated to travel coffee mugs, I came across these cute Harry Potter Mugs that someone had handmade.

 Then I had a thought. I could totally make those.

I bought a GIANT pack of Sharpies at Target and some white mugs from the dollar store. Then I scoured the web for different instructions on how to make "sharpie mugs".

I found one that seemed like it was the best to follow and went for it.

Click here for the tutorial

The beauty of Sharpie mugs is that before you bake them you can wipe them off and start again, or fix any mistakes. In fact I made one for Adam too and I re-did the quote on the back of his 3 times because it kept ending up off-centered.

Here is my finished piece.

Since I was super bored I made a Harry & Ron pair too.

I've noticed that the sharpie lasted about a week after baking before I needed to re-do some of it. Even though it won't exactly wash off with a sponge I think it was getting scratched off by other things touching it in the sink (hand wash only of course). So I grabbed the sharpies and touched it up and baked it again. no biggie, and worth it for the cute mug ;)

As for the travel mug, I ended up ordering one from the Disney Store. If you've seen the new Mickey cartoons on the Disney Channel you'll get it ;)

Honey, where's my Super Suit??

So in the last few months the boys have become obsessed with "The Incredibles".  Aidan became a fan in the beginning of the year right before we went to Disney:

Even though when he had a chance to meet Mr Incredible and Frozone he totally clammed up and wouldn't let me put him down.

Mason on the other hand.......

Photos courtesy of Char (our photopass ones never made it to our account for some reason)

 Their interest in the movie has definitely become an obsession since then.

While I am a fan of most Disney movies I'll admit this one was not one of my favorites....until I watched it a thousand and one times with the boys. Now it's grown on me.

They can both recite it word for word (yes, Mason too).

This has always been my absolute favorite scene, which happens toward the end of the movie. Once Aidan heard me laugh at it he realized it must be funny and it became his favorite scene too. And then Mason followed suit (excuse the pun). Now they both recite it and giggle and giggle.

Somehow it came about that the boys started referring to their life jackets for the pool as their super suits. It's pretty cute to see Mason all dressed up for the pool and to hear him say with his little 2 year old lisp:

" I have my thooper thuit on!"

So why don't you marry it?

Do you remember that Episode of Pee Wee's Playhouse where he married a fruit salad because he loved it so much?

I am having that exact same emotion with Skinnytaste's Southwestern Black Bean Salad.

I made it twice this week. And I will make it again as soon as it's gone. It goes great with anything as a low carb side dish! Even though Aidan will pretty much try anything I can't get him to try this one yet though, so Ryan and I will continue devouring it ourselves.

I want to marry it.

Do yourself a favor and make it now.

Run Disney!!

So I've always seen the advertisements for running the Disney World Marathon or the Princess Half Marathon, etc at Disney World.

While I have always had a secret desire to be able to say I ran one of those I knew that a half marathon just wasn't in this "non-runner's" future. I mean I don't care if I can dress as a Princess while I run....13.1 miles just ain't happenin'.

Then one weekend at work on a boring Saturday in Chemistry (funny enough it was very shortly after we had just returned from a WDW visit), in my usual browsings across the Disney website I saw something about a 5k. What? A 5k?? I can do a 5k!!

This discovery lead me to the RunDisney website where I discovered a whole secret world of Disney races!!!

Lisa was in the midst of training for a Girls on The Run 5k with Emma and so in a crazy "Black Magic Espresso Blend" coffee buzz/motivated by Lisa's motivation, I ran around the lab talking a mile a minute deciding I was going to run Disney!! I'm sure Lisa still remembers how bouncy I was that day! Anything Disney gets me excited, but something NEW at Disney gets me more excited! Hell, we've visited WDW a ton of times, so this was something new and cool to do!

Now I was on a mission to recruit friends to do it with me! Ryan and I decided on the Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend since I have been talking about visiting Disney during the International Food and Wine festival forever anyway. For varying reasons, lots of friends were unable to make the journey with us. It was OK until Ryan decided he was going to challenge himself and run the Half Marathon, leaving me with no running buddy for the 5k :(

I managed to not worry about it during our crazy last months in PA and the new move to TX but last week I threw it out on Facebook that I needed a running buddy and a friend/neighbor from back home in NY responded that he and his wife would be willing to do it with me. They live in Orlando (and I believe at one time they have both worked for The Mouse himself), so why not?

Yay! Running buddies!

Then I started putting a bug in Krysta's ear because I knew she didn't have any actual "obligations" to keep her from coming ;) Ryan pulled a few strings and created a plan (best hubby ever) to make sure we could convince her to come run with me! So Krysta will be coming and staying with us in our Villa for race weekend (this will be our first trip as Disney Vacation Club members!!), and we'll have a sleepover weekend and now I have THREE running buddies!!! Yay!!

I'm not sure if Eric and Katie are going costumed but I am running in a Snow White getup and Krysta I believe has decided on Ariel.

The official countdown and planning has begun!!

School Days, school days.

Once Springtime in PA hit I knew I had to get on a mission to find Aidan a preschool in Texas. I assumed if I started looking in the Spring then I would definitely be able to find him a spot for the Fall.

Luckily I found a school with an opening in their 4 yr old room, and even learned that preschools in this area are year-round. She said he could start as soon as we got down here if I wanted.

I ended up having him start on July 9 since our first full week here was the week of the 4th, and the school would have been closed one of his class days anyway. We did however go for a visit the week of the 4th and I loved it. I loved the teacher and the director, and Aidan even said he didn't want to go home at the end of our visit so he got to stay until lunch!

The first day of school rolled around and I of course overslept, and realized the night before while in bed that I never made him a first day of school sign to hold like I did in the Fall in PA. I still had to assemble and install a new carseat, apply sunscreen and bug spray (both required since they start their morning off on the playground), and make sure his lunch and snack were ready to go.

Somehow I managed to get all that done and just decided to have him hold a white sheet of paper and figured I would photoshop all the details in later...which I'll admit looks super sloppy, but hey it'll do.

He appears to be liking his new school and he even has a girlfriend, Claire. The teacher told me she actually told Aidan he was her new boyfriend and that it was a super cute little friendship. He has even started saying things at home like "mom, tomorrow at school I'm going to tell my girlfriend all about this movie,  and "mom, where do you think my girlfriend will sit today?"

Oh, and my favorite part? The drop-off and pick-ups are a Drive-By. I pull up and his teacher gets him out of the car, and when I go pick him up they get him all buckled up again for me! This means I don't have to get Mason in and out of the car at all! I LOVE it!!! 

Would have come in handy in PA when the weather was sh*tty, huh?

Mason's Two Year Photos

So Mason turned 2 while we were home in NY, but since we were in the midst of being in limbo and moving, I never got around to taking his 2 year photos, which I would have done at Lockridge while we were still in PA had I been thinking ahead.

Once we got in TX I went into full out location scout mode as we ventured out and about (Where is the sun at what time? What's the light like? Will I get arrested for trespassing? lol). There is some beautiful foliage inside our pool area, so initially I planned on heading over there to take them. And then somehow I stumbled across the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center on Facebook.

To top it off I learned that to use the trails it's free. Bonus!!

Ryan managed to go over with us that night (it was the 4th of July actually) and we enjoyed walking the trails, and he was even very patient when I would say "stop here, I wanna change his clothes/take a photo/pose him better, etc". What a guy, and a great assistant ;).

Happy Terrible Two's to my baby :)

Goode's BBQ

Ah, Houston, there you are.

Just a 15 minute drive.

How convenient ;)

Ryan wanted to take us out to dinner last weekend to get some BBQ. There is a place in our town that he's eaten at before that he said was good but there's also a pretty famous place right in the city called Goode's that he's had too. I thought we should venture out into the city so we headed to Goode's.

When you walk in, there are coolers loaded with beer, wine, & root beer, and the walls are covered in retro cowboy stuff. I had my camera with me but the line was moving so fast I couldn't quite get any pics, except one inside with my cell.

In fact the line was moving so fast (and I was totally immersed in the atmosphere and was checking it all out) I missed the fact that the menu was posted up on the wall so when I got to the counter I had NO idea what I wanted or what they had so I had to get back in line and start all over!

Doh.

I ended up getting smoked ham (ssooooo good) and ribs (just meh). (We had way better ribs the night before at Kara & Ethan's, but I can't remember where she said she got them from). Aidan shared my ham and some of Ryan's chicken...while poor picky Mason had to wait until we were done and could go to the Wendy's drive-thru for nuggets for him.

He flat out refused to try anything we had on our plates. Brat.

He did however enjoy some of the root beer we got for them that came in this pretty bottle:

We ate outside at large picnic tables under a roof and they had giant fans with misters on them blowing around. It was really tasty, and an amazing atmosphere, and we will definitely be going again....unless our next adventure brings us someplace better ;)

The front of the building

The entrance

Boots :)

Of course I couldn't let Char leave Texas without us at least taking a trip to look at boots first.

We had spotted a boot store on one of our adventures out to the City and knew we had to make a trip. Cavender's Boot City, here we come!

When we got there we were greeted by the salesmen who explained all sorts of things to us such as how the boots were arranged to the different types of leather available and where to find what we wanted.

We spent lots of time looking around and ooh-ing and aah-ing at the different styles, colors and patterns. Hell, we even saw a crazy pair made of Stingray!! (eew by the way). 

Now, if you're looking for real boots, with real hand stitching, made of real leather you are going to pay for it. 

So after a call to Ryan we decided it just wasn't in our budget at the moment seeing as we had just moved and I'm not working, etc etc. Totally fine with me (I knew there was NO way I was leaving TX without a pair eventually anyway). My father in law was with Ryan and knew the situation, and in turn called Char and said to get me my boots and consider it a housewarming gift.

So unbelievably generous I'm actually still in shock!

After we both tried on a few pairs I decided on a nice hand stitched brown pair that I figure will go with pretty much anything.

Char found a great red pair that I think are fabulous too! Thankfully we both left with a pair that we were happy with and couldn't wait to wear!

Apparently Mason couldn't wait to wear mine either ;)

And still likes to wear them!!

Aidan too!

Last weekend we went to the city for BBQ and I wore them to break them in. I felt so Southern ;)

Once again, thank you to Sean & Char for my first pair of real Texas boots. I love them and am greatly appreciative of your generous gift!!!!

Wanna see something scary?

So while I was in NY I happened to hear "She Thinks my Tractor's Sexy" on the radio.

This brought 2 things to mind:

1- Ironic the country radio station is on in this car seeing as we're moving to TX tomorrow...

and

2- OMG this makes me think of my college Roomie Krista and her love of Kenny and country music!

In fact I still remember the time she showed me my first pic of Kenny and I thought oh hey, he's pretty easy on the eyes.

then she dropped a bombshell and showed me a picture of him without his hat on.

And I have never been the same.

That is all.

ps- miss you Roomie!!!

Making the (stressful) trip to HOUSTON!

So the morning that Char and I were supposed to fly to Houston our travel plan was as follows:

-10am fly from Syracuse to DC

-12:20 fly from DC to Houston

The end!!

but reaaaaaally it went something more like this:

-845am arrive at airport to find ridiculously long line at front counter to check bags(we had already checked in for the flight online the night before).

-wait in said line for about 20 mins before announcement is made that our 10am flight has been moved to 1pm, causing a glitch in our plans since our layover flight was at 1220 out of DC.

-wait for THREE, yes 3, HOURS in same line to make it to the counter to have our flight rebooked.

-1pm fly to DC

-5pm fly from DC to Houston

-Arrive in TX at 8pm TX time (9pm NY/PA time)

-EXHAUSTED AND STRESSED, welcome to your new home!!!

The whole time we were waiting it was really stressful because we had no idea if they had to rebook both our flights or just the connecting flight, and the people all around us were so angry and crazy at times! 

I was not mad at the airline over the flights being delayed (the ones to and from Chicago were completely cancelled so it could have been worse). They can't control the weather...and tell ya what, I'd rather my flight get cancelled/delayed than travel in unsafe flying conditions. Just sayin'.

What I WAS pissed about was the way it was handled by the clerks/attendants/counter people? I don't know what they're called. There were 2 of them at the counter and neither of them seemed to know what they were doing. The line was moving NOWHERE and fast. When they finally brought a third person out over an hour later that person just ended up helping out the 2 clerks that were already there so it didn't make the line move any faster.

2 hours later they brought out a 4th clerk and even then, they had 3 clerks helping one customer!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!

I kept my cool even though I spent the 3 hours frantically texting Ryan (who had no internet at the house in TX and couldn't help us re-book).

The part that I haven't gotten to yet that's super important to how high my stress level was is that I had a 2 yr old and almost 4 yr old in tow. Thankfully they were amazing during this long waiting process. I mean I had trouble standing in the same spot for 3 hours so it was some sort of miracle that they were so good!! There's also no way I would have been able to do it without Char being there. Mason tends to run off when you take your eyes off him, so it was nice to have an extra "chaser", and some company to help take my mind of the ridiculous stress of my "Moving Day".

The boys were actually really good on the first little puddle jumper plane to DC, and then on our second flight they both passed out for most of the 3 hour ride.

All I kept thinking that morning/afternoon was: if this is how I'm off to a start for my move to TX, I'm in trouble! Luckily so far it was NOT a sign of things to come. We're here safe and settled and starting to adjust to life in the hot, humid Gulf Coast of Texas.

Stay tuned..............

Mason's birthday & Aidan's "fake birthday".

We happened to be in NY on Mason's Birthday. Since that has never happened before I decided we should have a small family get-together that night and celebrate BOTH boys bdays (since Aidan's is in July anyway. Aidan referred to this as his fake birthday since it was really Mason's birthday and not his yet.

It appears that Mason knew it was his second birthday and that he was supposed to enter the Terrible Two's, because he did it that very morning, and like he meant it. He was actually so bad that morning that Nani even noticed. So early naptime for Mason it was! 

We were lucky enough to have a nice little gathering with family, and the boys thoroughly enjoyed the attention and all the food!

Due to Mason's abundance of allergies I made his cake (vegan of course) and before we left for PA for Ryan's graduation I let Aidan pick out a cake from Walmart for everyone else. Since I usually decide what the party theme will be for his bday parties (we've had construction, mickey and cowboy now) I figured it would be a nice treat to let him decide for once. 

So, he chose Angry Birds. There was even one extra Angry Bird that I was able to steal and put on Mason's cake so they sort of matched ;)

It rained and rained before everyone got there, but they still made it!

The boys had a blast with everyone and it was special that Aidan got to see his Godmother, who is one of my very best friends from high school. She is also one of those friends that I feel like I just pick up with whenever I get to see her. We have so much in common, Harry Potter (remember the expectro patronum day? ahem Adam) The Parent Trap, sway steps, sh*t the list goes on and on!!!!

She and her wife Alyssa are expecting a baby boy in September and while I'm sad I won't be able to meet him in person right away, I'm so excited for the two of them!!

We even had a surprise visit from some family who weren't able to make it earlier to the party:

and yes that is Aidan hitting on his cousin. Doh.

While there was lots of fun and visitors, we still had to say goodbye to my dad at the end of the night, and that was super tough. If you think it's hard saying goodbye to friends then imagine saying goodbye to your parents. There are no words for how much I miss them. 

I just know that I plan on harassing all family members until they come to TX to visit and buy boots (Char you're already ahead of the game!)

And thank you to all who came and visited the boys and to my mom and char for helping me put it all together. 

Ryan "graduates"!!

So like I said before, Ryan has been doing a 5 year residency at Lehigh Valley Hospital for General Surgery. After the 5 years is up they technically "graduate" and can then start a practice or join one, etc etc. They're officially on their own, with nobody to hold their hand.

Pretty exciting and pretty scary(for the patients haha) if you ask me ;)

Some of Ryan's "classmates are also going on onto Fellowships as well, which is a more specialized area of study and usually for a shorter time than residency. Ryan's Surgical Critical Care Fellowship is only 1 year. Some other classmates are calling this the the end of their schooling and settling down and joining practices.

In honor of this momentous occasion in these doctor's lives, the hospital hosts a Welcome/Graduation Dinner each June. Everyone in the surgery dept. is invited and it serves to welcome the incoming Interns as well as say goodbye to the graduating Chiefs.

 I look forward to this night each June because it's a chance to get dressed up and go mingle with grown ups, and I love it!

Plus, it's held at the Lehigh Country Club, which doesn't hurt either ;)

As a graduating Chief,  Ryan was allowed to "fill a table" so we were lucky enough to have his Parents, Adam and Don, and his Aunt Deb join us for the evening! It was so much fun to share this little bit of our world with them :)

Ryan even won an award for being the best "resident as a teacher" to the medical students. Meaning the students that have done rotations through LVH voted him as their best educator. (oh yes the residents are the ones teaching the med students, while the Attendings are the ones teaching the residents...it's all hierarchy). It was a really nice honor, and he had no idea it was coming! Ryan also gave an amazing speech at the end of the night when the Chiefs were allowed to get up and say their thank you's and goodbyes. 

Each resident was also given a really nice "captain's chair" with the hospitals info and their name on it as a graduation gift (apparently intended to be placed in their offices when they're an attending). The fun part (insert sarcasm here) about this was our stuff had already been shipped to TX, so we had to ship it to our new house. And it cost $165 to do that!!! We used the shipping guy I always ship my photography stuff from and he gave us a hell of a deal because he said anyone else he would have charged $225!! YIKES!!

We were also lucky enough to have Lisa offer to watch Aidan and Mason not only for the dinner, but to keep them overnight as well, which was great, since we got done with the dinner after 10pm. We even stayed out super late with some of the other couples and had a nice night out having drinks and late night appetizers.

 But MAN was I tired after going to bed at 2am. I'm getting too old for this sh*t.

Since our house was completely empty and the contents were already on their way to TX, we all stayed at a local hotel, and it was nice to be all together. We shared a suite with Don and Adam, which was nice because it had a kitchen and a living room. Oh yeah, and a pool. 

The boys LOVED the pool.

Our last night together we ordered in from one of our favorite local pizza places and sat outside on the hotel's patio and ate dinner.

We started chatting with the group at the table next to ours and explained our situation with us moving to TX and all, and as we started to get up after dinner they offered to take a group photo for us before our big adventure the next morning. 

Sometimes people are just plain nice.

So the next morning the adventure began, with Ryan, his Dad, and Adam driving our 2 cars down to TX, while Don, Char, Aunt Deb and the boys and I headed back to NY.

It was a rough go for me knowing that we were driving away from Allentown for good this time, but I managed to keep it together, basically because I was riding in a car with other people. If I had been driving myself I'm sure I would have cried all the way up to Scranton.