we had to laugh...

on saturday we were meandering around in crate and barrel.... as we walked past some pancake items..... brennen says that he needed a pan of his own to make pancakes.... mom says "mom will buy them for your wedding and then you can make them for your family like dad does..." he stayed quiet... aaron adds "i will teach you how to make them..." he disapproves and says "i'm not getting married.." and mom says "you say that now... but you will have a wife and your own family and you can make them pancakes like dad does for us..." brennen says "mom... i'm not going to have a wife...." aaron and i both chime in "you will.." brennen says ......"dad's going to be my wife....."

aaron and i busted up laughing....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARRIE!!!!!

Just wanted to wish a wonderful & happy birthday to Carrie!!!! I hope you have a wonderful day and have something fun planned today & tonight!!

"The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate..." O.Winfrey

first kindergarten picture!!!

believe me.... i was one happy mommy when brennen came home from school with this picture... not only do they have to wear a uniform... but a white shirt?? of course you know with school pictures you have to pay for them in advance.....so i wrote the check on complete faith....well this time it paid off!!! :)

This picture means sooo much to me... not only because it's his first year... but to see him smiling at school.... in the beginning of the school year aaron and i would torture ourselves and brennen each time we tried to drop him off.... he would cry and not want to stay.... sometimes we would either sit in the class with him for 45 minutes to an hour or leave him crying .....

one time....aaron and i took him to school together and we said good-bye...and began walking down the hall... we heard him crying and begin coming in our direction... so aaron and i dove into a room... in hopes he would see that we left and go back to his class.... yup sure enough we heard his cry come and heard it going back.... NOPE!!.. he went back into the class to get his new kung-fu panda backpack and started running back out again!!!! we felt sooo bad... but now we are sooo proud of him... and we love his picture!!!!

super deal!

so who doesn't love a comfortable and super stinking cute pair of flip flops??.. once i got a picture message from my friend carrie... reporting that these came out once again at Sam's club.... for only 9.97..... i ran out of the house quicker than aaron could ask me where i was going.... it was pretty funny... i even think carrie heard me scurrying around in the garage leaving.... well of course when i got there.... i had no self control .....instead i bought the brown, black and pink pair... and for only 9.00 (yes..... i'm a girl that rounds down ;)... so if you can get over there.... get a pair... i love them!!!!

paper bag goodness....who knew??

Really... these are paper bags.... not only have they become my favorite scrap-booking style...they are sooo easy to create!!!! the above paper bag book was designed by my wonderful teacher susan mast... and from there i kind of took her lead and created many more... so far i have a san diego....sea world... disneyland.... and one for my cat and dog...


The nice thing about them is that they are so versatile and you can add onto them... also a huge bonus.. .is that they have pockets that can hold even more slide cards with photos..or other souvenirs... the one above is a book of our san diego adventures...busting with pictures from the beach and other things we did along the pier.... it also has areas to journal memories and quotes that made the trip memorable... try it... super easy... and REALLY CUTE!!!!

What a day.... after church on sunday... aaron and i decided to take brennen to the maricopa county fair for some over-priced entertainment.... of course it was tons of fun .....but hot!! i think at one point we were walking from shaded area to shaded area!!!

Aaron and i are an awesome team and always seem to be on the same page when we attend ANY event.... we enjoy a scheduled day.... (of course we are pretty flexible)... we definitely do our research and find the best deals and ensure that we hit up all the shows... so here's a little re-cap....

First stop!! aaron loves a good corn dog... (and swears that they only real good ones are from a fair stand)!! he dragged brennen and i here first.... as he devoured his corn dog... i looked through the program and mapped out what shows that were interesting and set-up our time line and took pictures..... :) He is sooo stinking cute... as you can see he has a back pack on that contains everything to mend a scratch to a broken heart :) .... secretly that thing is loaded (not with a gun)!!....he sure makes a great man scout!!!




next.... we headed to the attractions and featured shows... including a dirt bike race... live shark exhibit (which aaron and i agreed was completely cheesy!!!... but didn't fill brennen in on our opinion..:0).. and ended with bird experience (way cute)..... brennen was definitely the easiest to please and loved all of it...




then it was GAME TIME!!!.... brennen is soo cute... he loves to win me those little deformed animals (that resemble an animal or a knock-off celebrity cartoon from twenty feet away).. of course when they come from him ....i love them....




not only did we hit up the shows... we stopped in and perused the exhibits... (my favorite part :)... you know the building with all the "as-seen on tv" products.... brennen made the best of it and wondered over to see the baby animals and play farmer for the day... not to mention cooling off in there was the hugest pay-off....

here's a couple of pictures i snapped......

the fun did come to an end... but all in all was a great time!!! we left ...sunburned... tired... and with 4 deformed animals strong... (a pink teddy bear.... a snake... a baby whale.... and a siamese cat).... what a collection... i guess "only at at carnival".......

priceless...

i have to remind myself to stop and catch the best memories on my camera that are happening right now...
it makes me sad to think.....when will i be able to look back and remember; that when brennen was five.... he turned the living room rug into a NASCAR racing track!?! i can't believe how fast he's growing up and if i didn't catch this on my camera... i would of missed a great flash in time!!!

Brennen... your mom loves you!!!!!

Easter in a Nutshell.... or an Eggshell?... :)

so easter weekend was a blast!!!!... my family was in town and we had a jam-packed... shop til you drop.... dining family-style weekend!!!

friday - aaron and brennen had some dad/son bonding time... they went to the driving range and ended the afternoon with a short nine hole course.... afterwards they met up with me for dinner at Pei-Wei... then we all headed to church for the Good Friday service... which by the way was extremely moving (insert clips from Passion of the Christ)..... afterwards my parents called and said they were almost in town and were heading over. We of course .....scurried around straightening up... you know the run around tidying needed to ensure you look like they taught you well???? :0)... once they arrived we hung out and visited with them.... then off to bed...

saturday - woke up bright eyed and bushy-tailed and went shadow shopping with my parents... of course they spoiled all three of us!! We had fun and were pretty tired.... that at one point brennen and aaron fell asleep in my parent's suv..... the evening ended with dinner for eight (parents and siblings)we had tons of fun reminiscing about the past... (insert all the good and bad memories of growing up with two older brothers :) afterwards we all came home and went to sleep...

Easter morning... aaron, brennen, and i headed to Easter service.. which was also a great experience... our church had such a huge turn-out ... we filled 80% of all the extra overflow rooms... and while on our way home aaron and i decided to host the Easter sunday brunch and hit up the store for our Easter dining items... of course we invited over all the family... and had a blast preparing breakfast!!! of course Aaron's busted out with his pancake skills... i need to make some money off of him... he has serious skills... :) ... he delighted us with his version of easter-inspired pancakes... Who knew....... this would turn into......................................This!!!!!!!! Blasting yumminess!!!!
after they were all done... they were served with fresh strawberries and whip cream!!... of course the rest of breakfast came with all the fixings..sausage...bacon (of course the turkey kind :) )...hash browns... steak.... eggs... cinnamon rolls... lemon meringue pie.... a variety of tasty drinks... we had a blast... it got us all together for some family fun!!

Of course Brennen was blessed heavily by the easter bunny :0)......

Brennen loved decorating eggs with mom and dad!! and they sure turned out really nice... and boy was be proud!!

Who knew that three nails and two pieces of wood were going to hold the weight of the world?

I hope you had a great time with your family and friends!!

Happy Easter from the McCabe Family!!!!

OMGoodness!!! Where did the month go??

so i sit here and realize that march is already over!!! wow... where did it go? however it's sure nice and relaxing to return to the blogging world....... Here's a recap....

1. First of all, i finished my 29 day challenge. (29 days of giving).. and boy was it a great experience!!! i gave ....many dollar bills...water and food to people at stop signs... gifts to loved ones and strangers... notes of appreciation... even two of the four dozens roses (from valentine's)to a man that couldn't afford to give his wife flowers on valentine's day....etc.... all in all .... it was a rewarding experience and i plan on doing it again soon... (as i pat myself on my back... at times it was difficult to be creative....)..

2. one of my bff's from vegas came to visit me... although short and sweet... it was definately jam-packed and full of laughs and girl talk....i picked her up at the airport on a friday evening... returned back home... took a nap... went out for thai food .. one of melissa and i's favorites....grabbed some ice cream... rented a movie (which by the way was HORRIBLE.... suburban girl) and did pedicures and manicures... and finally ended the night with cookies and milk... :) the next day i dropped her off at the botanical gardens and gave her a big hug goodbye... can't wait to see her again!!!

3. on the 19th ....i turned 30!!!.. i was definately feeling a little strange... maybe a little scared... but it came and went ....and i still feel great... i did ask aaron if i needed to start applying anti-wrinkle cream... of course he was nice and said no... i was taken back ... realizing that i've celebrated 17 birthdays with aaron!!!!... time sure flies by...

the day started with my poor... tired ...hubby (who gets off in the wee hours of the morning) making me breakfast.... he was a little upset that i woke up and he wasn't able to surprise me in bed....i was still extremely impressed with breakfast..

since my birthday fell on a work-day ...i finished breakfast and headed to work... and since i had a half day off ... the day flew by even faster.... that after i returned home... i was greeted with flowers.. balloons... and a new camera.... which i was super stoked!!! i take my point and shoot camera everywhere... so it has taken a beating... well ....i was delighted with all the new features of my camera and how nice it was!!! thanks!!
Our night ended with dinner out at Ah-so.... (and while i'm thinking about it.... we have been on a japanese kick)... which was tons of fun!! we had a crazy cook that made many strange sounds.... and was very interactive with our party... we had a blast!!!

the month was also filled with....... brennen's soccer practice and his first season game... which they won!!! YAY!!! 4-0.... he did great!!!.. aaron and i were able to see a play out in peoria... hit up a couple of trips to the golf course... dinner and arcade fun at dave and buster's... a quick trip to tuba city.. and a couple of visits to flag to visit friends...attended a baby shower for our dear friends Carissa and Nick...viewing of Monsters Vs. Aliens at the IMAX... and we started phase one of our spring cleaning and organizing this month... hopefully we will be done soon.... this month was extremely busy... but i loved every minute of it!!