how i weekend.

I was chatting with a girlfriend about weekends and had to giggle at how much my weekends have changed in the last few years.

At first, I tried to resist being lame.

It took me about a year of motherhood to accept that I will no longer be going out on the town Fridays and Saturdays, but I have finally embraced it.



This is what my Friday night looked like.

I got in a great workout during the day, so I capped my night off with a power mile, a shower, a huge cup of sleepy time green tea and 'Say Yes to the Dress.'

All of this before 9pm.

Hecks yes.

Saturday was St. Patricks Day (incase you live under a rock or are without a calendar).

The boys and I packed up the car with ingredients to make Shepherd's Pie and some Oreo Truffles and headed over to my brother's house.

Familial Highlights:



I tasted an 'Irish Car Bomb' that my brother-in-law swore tasted like Dr. Pepper.

Lies.  All lies.

I proceeded to gag and gave it to my fiance who happily downed it.

He also woke up with a nice giant headache Sunday morning, which I suggest is a sign he can no longer 'keep up,' but he insists that's not the case.

Big Steven missed what was to be his first day of church (shame!), but Little Stevie and I proceeded.

The babe enjoyed himself and God spoke straight to my heart, so I'll call it a win.

We capped our night off with a Herman Sunday Dinner to celebrate the birth of my favorite fiance.

We ate my mama-in-law's famous baked ziti (MY FAV!!!), ice cream cake, some delicious GiGi cupcakes, and played outside.

Stevie thought it was his birthday again, which was just adorable.

Big Steven looked handsome as ever - even at the ripe old age of almost 29.

We went home, I folded laundry, and we hit the hay as early as possible.

Sure.  Sometimes I miss my 'do-whatever-I-want' days.

But definitely not this weekend.

like a child.

Kuddos if my title made you sing the Backstreet Boys song.

Like the rest of the world, I love the weekends.

Weekends are awesome because it breaks me out of my normal weekday routine, which can be a ltitle exhausting.

My job is not demanding at all, but the commute plus the whole mom thing at the end of the day can be a little tough.

I don't have to drive all over the place on the weekends and that part I really love.

More than anything, I love relaxing with Stevie.

Watching him play, standing for 30 minutes while he runs back and forth with his cars through my legs over and over again, making breakfast, taking naps together (sometimes), etc.

Stevie time is the BEST time.

This weekend, I got to spend time with my nieces.

We ate sloppy joes, bacon cheddar home fries, and made cake batter bars.

I didn't count calories like I normally do and I really enjoyed watching the girls play with Stevie.

Alexis and Stevie are SO LOUD when they are together; they run around screaming for no reason at all.

I absolutely love it!

It's my favorite kind of loud.

When Stevie went to bed, we said goodnight to Big Steve (and gave him some super awesome goodnight hugs and kisses) and had girl time.

By girl time, I mean we watched the Justin Bieber movie in bed.

Say what you will, but that JB is one talented little sucker.

He gave me the fever all over again.

The whole time they were over, I just kept thinking how quickly we grow up.

When I first became 'involved' with the Schumann family, Alexis just turned 1! 

Now she is 6 and Ashley is on her way to being a teenager!

I miss being a kid.

Maybe that's why I refuse to give up my love of boy bands/pretty boys, girly nailpolish, and choreographing songs.

I keep wanting to tell Ashley to just be a kid, but I know she won't understand.

I remember a time when I just wanted to grow up and move out.

I never thought for a second that I'd want to go back to my sunflower bedroom that I shared with my sister, lay on the top bunk, and stare at my Backstreet Boys posters that covered my walls and ceiling.

I never thought that I'd miss my mom nagging me to clean or my sisters yelling at me for wearing their clothes.

But, boy do I miss it.

I made a pact with myself before Stevie was born that I would always let him just be a kid.

The same way my mom did.

Sure, we had chores, but we were really lucky kids.

My mom and step dad used to fight, but I remember distinctly that they hid it very well; until I got old enough realize what was going on, I thought they were the best couple ever.

My mom never laid her 'grown up problems' on us.

We knew we didn't have a lot of money growing up, but we never knew how hard it probably was on my mom.

I played with Barbies through middle school and believed in Santa until I was like 15.

It was the best!

So, I will let Stevie be a kid for as long as I possibly can.

He doesn't need to hear his mom and dad fight, he doesn't need to know that I've had a bad day.

He just needs to play and have fun.

As for me...

I will continue channeling my inner child by painting my nails pink with sparkles.

potter party.

Yes I do mean Harry Potter.

nerrrrrrrrdddddddds.

I never finished the books (only got through 4) and only saw the first movie.

This is a little bit preposterous considering my love/obsession with Harry Potter in high school.

I got to spend the weekend with two of my siblings, which was so FUN!

My twin showed up to partake in the munchies and make fun of us, but I think he was totally into it.

Here are some of my favorite moments:

[30something, folks.  she was getting us excited for the partaay.]

[harry potter burrow breakfast - w/ glasses and tie!]

[stevie spent most of the time on top of uncle tyler.]

[when he wasn't on top of uncle tyler, he spent his time laying in a dog bed watchin Cars on the portable dvd player.]

[BUTTERBEER!!!!!!]

[typical Daniels reaction to a picture taking.]

[partaking!]

And there you have it, folks.

I spent a lot of time conflicted between liking J.K. Rowling and hating her because of certain events (RIP D-dore).

But, I have officially concluded that I love her and Harry Potter alike.

Still to come:

Twilight weekend

Star Wars weekend

NERDS UNITE!

friends & the vanilla truffle.

We celebrated Mandy's birthday over the weekend and it was so much fun!

Big Steve and I don't really do much together, but we did discover that staying up until 5am is for the birds; he spent the entire day Sunday sleeping and I spent it counting down until Stevie's bedtime.

The weekend was so worth it, though!

Good friends and good food - what more could you ask for?!

[me and the birthday girl!  at some point, i decided a fire hat was necessary and made this face...also necessary.]

[JULIA GULIA!  on a side note, she's finally going to be living with her horse and i am so happy for her!]

[the birthday lady and her maaaaaaaaan.]

[BOBBY!  somehow we also decided to talk about ghosts which gave me incredible nightmares last night, btw.]

[i promise he loves me!]

Remember when I gave you the recipe for the easiest truffles ever?

Well, Mandy can't eat Oreos or chocolate (which makes me really depressed), so I tried Vanilla Truffles for the first time - just as easy and just as delicious!

Vanilla Truffles (aka The Mandy Truffle)

1 package WhoNu Vanilla Cookies (or generic brand)

1 8oz package of Cream Cheese - softened

White Chocolate for Piping

Festive Sprinkles!

Crush up your cookies (I use a food processor, but you can just as easily crush them using your hands) - add you Cream Cheese and mix it all together.  I use my hands because I'm not scurred.

Melt your white chocolate.  Cut a small slit in the corner of a plastic baggie and decorate your balls (a joke can be made here somewhere).  Then add sprinkles of your choice and serve!

These are always a hit, so make them ASAP.

[Oreo and Vanilla Truffles.]

weekending.

  Unfortunately, some sort of stomach bug paired with my cold had me on my butt, literally, from 7 pm Saturday night until this morning.

BUT, I had a really fun weekend, despite the fact that I didn't do everything I'd hoped.

I went out with some ladies to Nick's Nightclub, which was super fun.

My new goal: YouTube line dancing and become a pro.

[different strokes for different folks.]

[good ol' deb.]

[hands out = off center, but <3 these gals.]

 Saturday morning, I could feel the yuckies setting in, but I had a date with my main man to Disney on Ice.  He LOVED it; I wasn't expecting his response, but he was just in awe of the entire show.

[he LOVES mickey!]

[aunt Dede loves mickey more, though.]

Sunday basically looked like this:

[special thanks to my love for taking care of me and taking on all my usual duties.]

Today, I got my ring back and re sized to perfection!  Best part of my weekend.

I feel like a real taken lady now.

 

 

[perfecto!]

 

And a HUGE, special shout out to Mandy on her special day!

Thanks for being born, my friend!

Can't wait for your celebracion de birth!

three whole days.

We got to meet the newest addition to our family over the weekend and he was every bit as adorable as I imagined he would be.

But first was first: I made us some chocolate chip pancakes that took NO time with the griddle I got for Christmas.  They were nommy and I am officially in love with my griddle; her name is Topanga - named after the one and only.

Then we went off to meet Brandon.  He and Stevie are instant BFFs and will cause many years of headaches and worry for their mamas.  I just can't wait.

Having been born into a family of Redskins loving maniacs, these boys will also enjoy endure the pain that is to be a fan.  And I'm sorry...

Then Little Steven had a culinary breakthrough!

That's right, ladies and gentelmen, Stevie ate a sandwich.  But not just any sandwich - a PB&J!

Incase you have not yet grasped the adorableness that is my new baby nephew:

Three whole days of pure goodness.