Belated Anniversary

Remember our Anniversary? Well within the week we got a chance to celebrate our 2nd anniversary! It wasn't the day I imagined because we decided to celebrate our anniversary on a whim. Ben was scheduled to work but at the last minute they had a low amount of kids so he didn't have to. I was suppose to spend the day in Lansing for some one on one training time in the Department of Education but that got cancelled so we decided to celebrate! I planned on pulling out some of the crafts I made last year but no time! Like our honeymoon and our 1st anniversary - Ben planned the day! (Prepare yourself for a long post!)


We started at...

The hospital for Ben to meet the man I spent our anniversary waiting for! 

Okay this is super cute.. I love their little grins!

We then went to John Ball Zoo. We haven't been there in years and Ben hadn't been back since his last day of work. Ben worked there for three summers and built quite a few things that you can see as you wander around in the zoo. 

A lot had changed but many of our favorite animals could still be seen!

Ben is almost as tall as a Kangaroo! 

Me.. not so much... 

I loved these little guys! I just wanted to jump in and cuddle with them. 

We hung out with the birds - and didn't get pooped on!

We took a cute picture under here many years ago...
2007

(pre-beard days)

2012

Lazy bear

Baboon, he wasn't into entertaining that day... 

Reminded me of Puss In Boots - sweet innocent face!

This little guy had ADHD! He was HILARIOUS to watch!

Ben saved the best for last!! PENGUINS!

Our day continued with dinner at The Winchester. 

I had the Chicken Pesto - grilled hormone free chicken breast with sun dried tomato pesto and sliced portabella mushroom on a Nantucket Bakery Vienna roll with a Tiramisu Martini! 


Ben had a Tuna Dish with sesame seed encrusted tuna over wasabi and sushi rice with a local beer!


Both dishes were delicious. 


It was clear during dinner that we didn't want the night to be over quite yet. We debated a few different options.








In the end we decided that we really didn't want to spend the extra money at Buffalo Wild Wings (we talked about getting some wings to share and dessert) so the option we looked into was going to see a movie. We decided nothing sounded appealing. In the end we decided to run to a RedBox and look at movies there. We had never done that before. We picked out a movie and enjoyed the comfort of our own home.


We rented..



We Bought A Zoo!


WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE! LOVED IT! This movie was the perfect end to our 2nd Anniversary!

This year we moved into our apartment, Ben and I both got new jobs, we furnished a large portion of our apartment, made incredible progress on our banking goals, bought a family ready vehicle, watched all the LOTR and Star Wars movies, fed ourselves throughout the winter with food we grew, and most importantly continued to learn about one another and grow in our relationship. Here's to Year 3!

2nd Anniversary

Yesterday was our 2nd Anniversary! Our anniversary came up quickly and with our busy schedules we had a late start to thinking about what to do for our special day. We decided on buying a joint gift, something special for our home that we would pick out together! We found it! A fun foot stool/extra seating for our living room. 

Check it out! 

We know this little foot stool will be a hit with guests of any age. And so far it has been! (Noticed a change in our living room? I'll update about the changes soon!)

As for our actual anniversary Ben had to work until 4pm and then he was taking me out to dinner for a special night out. 

At least that was the plan....

I got a phone call from our friend Lauren at 6:30am saying that she was heading into the hospital because she was in labor! I quickly showered, packed a bag and headed over to watch her two youngest children. I stayed at their house until about 12:30pm. I brought the girls to their Papa and Nona's house and then headed to the hospital . For the next 12 hours I waited patiently in the hospital room for Baby J to make an appearance. Finally at 1:24am Baby James Michael was born at 7 lb 12 oz and 19 in. long. I was honored to be there to see baby J come into the world and take his first breaths. Here is a glimpse at the little cutie!

James Michael

Proud Daddy with his new piece of {temporary} body art.

Mommy holding baby after his vitals were checked. 

Mama and Daddy and their new addition. 

Baby makes 5!

Love those kissable lips, dimple chin and curly hair!

Daddy holding his long awaited son!

So blessed to hold this new baby boy!

Sucking on his fingers. So precious!

So instead of spending my anniversary with my husband it was spent waiting for this little man. He was worth it! We will be taking time to celebrate our anniversary soon! 

Welcome Baby James!

We love you so much! 

Love, Ca and Ben

Happy Anniversary!

[Forgot to post this yesterday..]
One year ago we were living in Sioux Falls and packing up our life [again] to move back to Michigan. On April 29th, 2011 I woke up like any other day to prepare another day of student teaching. Except this day was different. I woke up in the middle of my living room because our bed had been moved there to make space for packed boxes in our bedroom. And instead of waking up at 6:00am I was up at 3:45am! I quietly made my way to the kitchen where I made a cup of tea, grabbed a cookie and then snuck past a sleeping husband to the couch. I snuggled under a blanket and grabbed the remote.

I turned on the TV which instantly brought up the Royal Wedding guests being ushered into the church. Nothing says excitement like seeing Elton John on your TV screen at 4:00am. For hours I watched history unfold! I had butterflies in my stomach, could barely sit still and had a huge smile on my face watching this beautiful couple become husband and wife! I was fascinated with Princess Di as a girl - watched her funeral, witnessed these two young boys at their mother's funeral, have done speeches on Princess Diana, and watched movies and documentaries. All of this made this morning extra exciting to witness! 

Prince William and Prince Harry on their way to the church.

The Groom!

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip

First glimpse of the beautiful bride!

The day Pippa (and her fabulous body!) became famous!

There she is! I believe at this point I clapped out loud and giggled which woke up Ben. 

Kate and her dad

The famous back-end

Entering the church!

The butterflies in my stomach got super intense here! So excited!

A photo likes takes me back to my own wedding day! 

The excitement in her eyes and the smile on her dad's face is priceless!

 Here they go!

The groom finally meeting up with his bride. Love that goofy grin!

Love this one!

Exchanging rings.

The front of the church.

My mom and I were texting back and forth throughout the morning. 

I did miss the famous kiss (had to go into school). 

I wasn't the only insane one up at 4am from JFK Elementary. I sat in the staff lounge and exchanged stories with the staff about their morning. Some talked about Princess Diana's wedding and I got even more excited! Some of my kids were up in time to watch part of the wedding too. Overall the whole day was super exciting!

Happy First Anniversary William and Kate! 

DIY: Gift Card

For a long time I've wanted to include some Do-It-Yourself projects or in other words.. craft projects that I do that are simple and fun for YOU to try! 

Ben and I are currently working on some fun projects, some for our new apartment and another for a special 2nd birthday party coming up. I've been taking pictures of these projects and can't wait to share them with you as we finish them up! 

We'll start today with a crafty project that I did for our anniversary. A gift card is a card that holds gifts!! 

Here is a look at the finished project and then I will go into the steps on how I made this fun card.

Take a look at the front of the card in the picture below. 

The card folds up like an accordian.

The best part of this project is that you are likely to have everything you need at home RIGHT NOW!

This project is made using a super secret supply..

ENVELOPES!!

Here is another look..

This is the front of the card. 

I opened the envelopes and taped down the flap to the envelope directly on top of it.

By doing this you create pockets. 

This is what the back will look like. It doesn't matter that you can see the flaps because you can cover it up with paper later. 

I then began cutting out decorative paper and taping it to the card. 

Some parts were tricky, I needed to create a template to help cut the paper for the inside and outside of the pockets. 

I used an envelope and cut it up. 

The top part was used as a template on paper that was put at the entrance of the pocket and the lower part was used for the bottom of the envelope. 

 I traced the template on decorative paper, cut it out and glued it on.

Then comes the fun part, use ribbons, paper, stickers, etc. to create an interactive card.

You can make this card as long as you'd like by just adding or subtracting envelopes. 

Then fill the pockets with whatever you'd like; a gift card, note, homemade coupons, etc.

In the spirit of our first wedding anniversary I did a Mad Libs like the ones we had at our reception.

I wish I could take the credit for this idea but I found the idea on the internet.

Click here to see where my inspiration was found!