The one with my little secret...

SHHHHHHHH!!! Don't tell- but this is kind of embarrassing but my favorite fast food restaurant is White Castle. And if you live in Florida, like me, the only White Castles you can get are in your local grocery’s freezer section. So when we were in Ohio a few months ago, we were on our way home from a long day at the zoo, I was taking a small cat nap in the front seat. I woke up to Josh slamming on breaks and doing a hard right turn. Instinct of course sets in, WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING? I look right and saw those lights beaming over White Castle. It was like heavens gates opened and were shinning down. I was grinning ear to ear. I know it sounds so ridiculous, but those hot fresh little squares are AMAZING (and no I am NOT pregnant). I just really really like White Castle. So, we ordered and I savored it. And in between bites, I kept telling Josh how amazing and thoughtful he was. I know, its embarrassing, I even have pictures to prove it. I don’t often right about just me, so boom- there it is. I’m in love with White Castle. The crave is a powerful thing...

Love

The one with the TRUE stay at home mom....

Josh keeps reminding me, Allie you haven’t posted a blog in a long time. Well the truth is, once we got back from Ohio, I was slightly disabled. True story. I cut two fingers on my left hand with hedge trimmers at Jeff and Deanna’s on vacation. I know what you are thinking…. What was I doing yard work on vacation for. Well Jeff is only home a few weeks at a time, the kids were cool and hanging out with Deanna and Josh and I decided we would help out a little bit. Apparently that was God telling me to relax for a little bit. Anyway, I would up in the ER. My fingers were too serrated for stiches, so they glued me up. I have never been more close to passing out before than that day. Thank goodness for Deanna squeezing my other hand, telling me to breath. I saw stars and thought I was lights out. She saved me. Anyway, long story short… I was out of commission for several weeks using only my left hand. It was difficult getting myself dressed let alone the kids. Thank goodness I am passed that and healed. So back to our Ohio trip, Cooper was in hog heaven up on the farm. He woke up every morning ready to help Papa Jeff. Cooper loved riding a real tractor and feeding the horses. Cooper's favorite horse was Sunny. Naturally he was from Florida. Addison was more into the barn cat than anything, although she did like feeding the horses too! She is the crazy cat kid. Obsessed. Cooper is ready for his solo summer trip for sure. He'd be a great farm boy. He loves the outdoor life and yard stuff!

 

 

True Cowboy

Columbus Zoo

How cool is this?!!!

 

 

So, what the heck have the McCarty’s been up to?? Well, as usual we’ve been beaching it and swimming tons. Addison can now swim on her own. Both are kids are swimmie free! Its so cool to see. They are both like fish. I am hoping they both get into swimming as a sport. Amongst other things. Cooper starts baseball next month, we will get Addison into soccer first. (Her Daddy doesn’t think Cheerleading is a sport, so I’ll start with gymnastics and ease him in!) They BOTH start school this month. Can you believe it, Cooper is in preschool! Which means he starts Kindergarten next year. Time flies fast with kids.

Happy 4th!

 

I was “laid” off at CAT last month (the job I have been at forever). I was on contract since I came back after Addison so I was easily expendable under tough times. All is good, because Josh is crushing it at his new job. He is really kicking butt these last few weeks. I couldn’t be more proud and blessed to have such a hard working husband who gives me the freedom to stay at home and raise our kiddos. While some days may be tough and force me to watch the clock tick to 5:00, I am reminded daily of how fortunate I am to stay at home with these guys. I thought I was ready to go back to work, I even had several interviews, but the more I thought about missing parades and holiday lunches at the kids school, I was saddened. I have the rest of my life to work, why would I give up these few shorts years when my kids actually want to be seen with me. So you know what??? I am embracing it. Sometimes I may have kalua in my coffee just to get me through the morning and some mornings I run of straight adrenaline. Either way, I am thankful for my hardworking husband!

LOVE

The one where I throw it back….

You see it every Thursday, #TBT or Throw Back Thursday- and that’s exactly what I am doing today. There are many cool and fun things I remember doing as a kid. But not everything was saved or could be stored in a box in the attic. Don’t get me wrong, my parents stored a ton of my stuff, report cards, baby clothes, stuffed animals, awards, trophies; you name it- if it fit in a box it was saved. Which is totally cool because as I grew older, I was able to look back on my childhood and see that I made straight A’s all the time (well mostly!) and ran the fastest mile in elementary school.  But seriously, when I got married and moved into my own home, I was given all my old toys and things, to share and show with my own children. One of the coolest “hand-me-downs” that I was able to to Cooper (and Addison- but she is more into babies and kitties right now) was a block set that my Papa made. Papa hand made every single wooden block, cylinder, triangle, rectangle, car in this set- you name it… probably 50 or so pieces, all different sizes. The coolest part was, he made THREE sets of these, one for me, Allan and Natalie- his grandchildren. And now that Papa has great grandchildren, my blocks are still just like new and the love and sweat that went into them has been passed on 20 something years later. I guess they should be considered “vintage” toys by now. Anyway, it is so cool to see Cooper playing with these blocks. I mean the kid loves them. I've always said it, but Cooper has the engineer brain like his Daddy. He loves, inventing things with the blocks, building sky scrapers, making me “wine racks”, stacking them on his 4-wheeler. He always has a block in his hand or on the ground in front of his work bench. So, I am going to save as much stuff as possible (without looking like a hoarder) so Cooper and Addison can forever cherish pieces of their childhood like I have been able to.

Current situation at 7:30am!

 Love!

The one where Cooper makes me belly laugh...

So I thought this would be a funny one to share, Cooper says the funniest things... (Addison will be there one day, she is almost making complete sentences!!) But, I think I get in a good belly laugh daily from Cooper daily on the things he says. He’s becoming quite the Christian, scholar and teenager… so with that, I hope you enjoy this as much as me-

The last time we were at McDonald's, my juice box did not have a straw, so I had to drink it like a beer.

Mom Jesus told me I don’t have to eat all my food.

Me: Cooper what is your sister doing?

Cooper: I don’t know, she’s being quite as a mouse.

Mommy did you know that witch and bitch rhyme?

Mommy, are there bad people in this world? Is it because they don’t know Jesus?

Uncle David told me that when I fall down and get a boo boo, I need to be tough. I need to be a tough guy all the time. (If you didn't know, David is our USMC devil dog!)

I slept in a really long time today, like daddy, so I can be big and strong.

Mom, you need to drink water all day long. It helps you poop.

Mom, I need you to do me a favor today, can you vacuum my room again?

Mommy, I slept with my eyes closed last night, did you know that?

You know, now that I think about it... I actually may take some of his advice, he is pretty smart for a 4 year old!

LOVE

The one with our resolution...

This year, we made resolutions like millions of others, to stay fit and work out. But for us, I hope its a life style change. We are already into March and I can tell you we have stuck to our new lifestyle. The key is having someone to work out with to hold you accountable AND just pull the trigger and sign up for races, so you have no choice!

A few weekends ago we ran the Gate River Run, 15K. That's just over 9 miles. We were so excited that it was finally race day. Race days are FUN! Especially this race.... thousands of spectators cheering you on, even more people running and motivating you- all for the "free t-shirt" and "free beer".  The spectators hand out everything from mimosas, to sliced oranges, hot dogs, beer to Popsicles. And trust me, we indulged on it all. Nothing like a little spike in energy after a mimosa shot! However, despite our 3 months of training, we didn't run as fast as we would have liked. But the important thing is we finished and we had fun doing it. It will just give us motivation next year, Run Forrest Run.

So on to the next race, which is an easy one- a Wine and Chocolate 5K. It brings a whole new meaning to will run for wine, yes please! In May, we are doing something we haven't done before- a sprint triathlon!! We will be swimming .25 of a mile, biking 15 miles and running 3 miles. Did I mention the swimming is in the Atlantic and great whites have been tagged out in those waters!!? If that doesn't get me moving faster, I don't know what will. I'm totally nervous about the swimming. I can swim, but I am not swimmer- like Josh. That's one of his strong suits. So I need the weather to warm up so I can start to practice!

The goal by October/ November time is to do another 1/2 marathon. We were into running before kids so I am hoping to keep this momentum going... only took about 5 years to get back in it!

Here are some fun race day pictures!!

LOVE

The one where we go green...

We are finally living off the land and are loving it. We partnered with our neighbor, Ed, who was born to do this stuff. He is teaching us everything we need to know. And the key to the soil, is horse manure. True Story. Trailer loads of it.... While it may stink up the yard for a few days, it makes the soil rich and bountiful!  We have had a huge success with the winter plants such as broccoli, kale, winter greens, lettuce, turnips, spinach, onions and garlic. Not to mention the usual herbs. We have been making salads from the garden nightly. Last night we steamed fresh, handpicked broccoli. It was the best ever! Addison, of course loved it. The garden is such a great learning tool for the kids as well. Cooper is so interested in it from picking out his own seeds to plant to getting excited when he starts to see sprouts. He loves helping Daddy and Ed with whatever task they have for the garden that day. Hopefully Cooper will learn to love the food we grow. He didn't plant carrots. So in a few months he should be heaven. Since spring is quickly approaching, all our winter plants are starting to go to seed, which means we can plant more fruit! I don't quite have the green thumb yet, so I wait until Ed tells me what we can plant. So this weekend we are on the hunt for berries and cucumbers. Cooper also has watermelon seeds, lets see how that goes!

Now all we need are chickens! And maybe some goats.... oh what about cows?! Maybe Turkeys too.... LOL seriously though- I want a few laying chickens :)

LOVE

The one with Daddy's new job...

It's official, Josh is knees deep in his new job. This isn't just a new job, its a career change. He was offered a great opportunity with a new company, something completely out of his comfort zone and he took it!!!! So so so happy for him. He is always thinking of his family, always. While this job brings stress, it is nothing like the Siemens/ Evoqua stress. He can leave his work at work!!! YEA!!!! He now is a Regional Director at The CSI Companies. They are an IT recruiting/ staffing company. Josh is their new main squeeze, sales of course. Josh can sell ice to an eskimo. He is already making great headway and its only been a month. The best part about it, they are a young company and by young I mean everyone is 20-40 years of age, they are all into working out and a handful of our great friends work there. Needless to say he is loving. We all know grass isn't always greener on the other side, but Josh and I have done a lot of praying about his career path and God opened this door, so we all walked right on through. (P.S. I tried to take a picture of Josh on his first day of work, but he wouldn't let me!!! ha-ha!!)

So, with my long winded, Josh got a new job- you know what else he got??? As Cooper says, "My Daddy has the fastest TRUCK!" Yes sir, that's right, He finally got his Tundra Back! It's not the exact same (close enough!!) but just as nice, just as fast and he is just as in love! The first few nights of the Tundra sitting in the driveway, I'd walk around the house looking for Josh and by now I have caught on, If he isn't inside, he is in the drive way vacuuming, polishing, washing, shinning tires, you name it. The kids love it. Anytime we go anywhere as a family now, they want to ride in Daddy's truck. And you know what, I love it too! Something about a man in a truck, gotta love it.

Addison's birthday was a success. Her party was great. She got a ton of cute cute clothes (I need to find in my size) and toys as always, but her favorite thing was the chap-stick. Ha!!! So in the future, if you want to make Addie really really happy, give her chap-stick! And it just turns out that February 22, 2015 was a gorgeous day for the beach. So we packed up the kids (in the new truck of course) got their favorite- popcorn chicken from Publix, cookies and watermelon and enjoyed the warm sun for Addie's 2nd birthday... I couldn't ask for a better family to call mine!!!

LOVE!