HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY MAN!

This month Doug officially moved into the 30's. He turned 31!! He is getting old.

So this year for his birthday I wanted to do something special because we didn't even celebrate his 30th birthday because I had just had a baby. So, I decided to book a bed and breakfast in this quaint little old town named Jonesborough. It is the oldest town in Tennessee and it is darling. It still has the feel as if you were visiting in the 1800's!

Now if you know Doug and I, you will know that since we have had kids we have never spent a night away together. (for those of you who live by family, you should take advantage.) So, I asked some of our dear friends who don't have kids yet, (but one on the way) to come and sleep over at our house with the boys. I told them it was their crash course in parenting before the baby comes. And Brielle went and stayed with some other friends who kindly offered their babysitting services.

Doug had no idea what we were doing. I just told him to be home early from work. When he got home he was a little suspicious because I had made out the futon bed for our friends.:) I was about an hour and a half drive, and it was one of the best parts of the get away. It was so nice to just sit and talk without kids, and we drove through some of the prettiest country in Tennessee. On the way there I spilled the beans and told him that we were staying at a bed and breakfast called the Blaire-Moore house. I had everything packed and he was so excited.

The Blair-Moore House

When we finally arrived we met the owner and were shown to our room. It was so fun! It was decorated Victorian Style and had a private bathroom and balcony. They had completely remodeled it and it was beautiful! Below is a picture.


Then we went and walked around downtown. Everything was in walking distance, so we went and saw some of the sights. We arrived kind of late for a small town, so the only restaurant open was the Bistro. It was a fancy place, and would not have been our first choice, but it was so good!

The next morning we woke up and went to breakfast. This meal made every penny spent worth it! It was a multi course breakfast, and it was SO good. The women and her husband who own the place both graduated from culinary art schools in the U.S. and in Paris. First she brought out all kinds of fresh fruit like kiwi, strawberries, bananas, blackberries, etc. and they were drizzled with this homemade fruit glaze. They also had fresh squeezed apple juice and orange juice. Then they came out with scrambled eggs, which came from fresh eggs from her dads farm a few miles away, and smoked ham and bacon! YUM! and the last dish was a a baked french toast with sweetened blackberries and fresh slivered almonds!!! It was heavenly, and needless to say we were so full! We ate breakfast with three little ladies who were staying in one of the other rooms to celebrate their birthdays. They were so cute! It made the trip. After breakfast we went and walked around all the shops that were closed the night before, and explored the town together. Then we packed up and headed for home.

The whole trip was amazing. We had so fun just being together. Thank you Dennis's and Ryan's for helping with the kids. It was definitely a trip and a birthday we will never forget!

And happy late birthday Doug. I love you so much and would be lost without you. Thanks for all you do for our family! You are the best husband, and dad in the world!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE ONE!

Okay, so it has been a few weeks ago, but Parker finally turned ONE! I can't believe it. It goes by so much faster the more kids you have. We just celebrated by having a quiet little party at home with the five of us. (This is what happens when you have more kids too, Brielle's first birthday was a huge party!) He loved eating cake and getting super messy. We love having him as a part of our family.

He is so much fun. He says a million words and talks all the time. He is still too scared to take off walking by himself, but we are working on it. He also got his first tooth for his birthday, (it is about time) and now he is getting 3 more all at once! But, you know Parker, he is still the best baby ever!
We love you Parker and happy first birthday!!!!

Leave it to me for the camera batteries to die, and the still pictures we took with our video camera didn't work :( Then I tried to uplaod the video and I can't find the cord to hook up our camera to the computer, so you will just have to picture Parker naked in the high chair with strawberry cake all over him!

Could it be??

Hello friends of the blogging world! I am back, wow what a hiatus. I have to say I quite enjoyed it though. There have been a few weeks i have not even turned on the computer, but it is safe to say I am back. Hopefully I can keep it up this summer! I am quite a few blogs behind, so you can check back often, there may be a new blog daily!!

Easter anyone?

We had a fabulous Easter here at home! On Saturday we started out the day by going to the mall for the Handy Manny Earth Day. The kids won prizes, made their own tool boxes, and planted flowers, and of course got to watch handy Manny. Then we went for a ride on the Easter Train! This was the highlight of the outing. Benson was so excited he couldn't stop talking about it!


Then we saw another of our favorites, the Chick-Fil-A cow! If you know my kids, Chick-Fil-A is their FAVORITE place to eat, so they were thrilled to take a picture with the cow!

Then we headed home for some more Easter fun. We ended up having our Easter Egg Hunt inside because of the rain, but the kids loved it anyway. They were both so fun to watch this year because they were so excited about everything.



After they gathered about 30 eggs each they were sent on a treasure hunt to find their Easter baskets. There were clues hidden around the house with little riddles that they had to figure out. Brielle was really good at his part. When they found them they were really excited because they were full of shovel, rakes, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, etc. Everything for outdoor fun!


SUNDAY: Then on Sunday we got the kids all dressed up in their cute outfits and went off to church. Don't they look adorable! (Okay, so Parker wasn't so happy). Because it was a holiday Doug didn't have to stay quite as late at church as usual, so we had the full ham Easter dinner as a family. We then took some time to talk about the true meaning of Easter and just spend time together. I love holidays!


P.S. I am still trying to figure out how to make my blog private, so far I can't get it to work. YIKES!

It is time for some privacy

I am finally doing it. After my mothers request over and over again, we are making our blog private. If you would like to view our blog in the future, please leave me your e-mail address and I would love to keep the Rose family updates coming!

Another fantastic giveaway!

If you love Cally you will love this giveaway! Go Link!

Fact

They say when it rains it pours. I have discovered that it is really true. But along the way I have also discovered that the blessings that come after the rain outnumber all the raindrops put together.

Its Big, Its Blue and It Hurts!

Our Poor little Parker went in for surgery today. He has had webbed fingers since birth and we decided it was time to have them cut apart. :( The Surgeon said all went well and that he should heal with very little scarring. They also had to do a skin graft from his groin (YIKES) to cover his fingers. The poor kid. He is trying so hard to crawl and eat and drink with this big, bulky, blue cast. He is such a trooper though, he hasn't even cried. We love you Parker and hope you feel better soon!

We LOVE Magic!

Last week I took Brielle to see the Magic Treehouse Musical at the Tennessee Theater! For those who don't know, the Magic Treehouse are a series of books written by Mary Pope Osborn. They are fantastic books that I highly recommend. Anyway the musical came and Brielle and I had a little date! The show was awesome and Brielle loved every minute of it. She constantly talks about it and it has made her love reading the books even more. Don't you love it when education is FUN?


Can you believe she can wink like this?? I guess a wink says it all!

More FOOD ART!

This is Brielle's latest food creation. It is a Ritz cracker snowman with a fork broom, and of course a carrot nose! Where does she come up with these things?