Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend, my Mom, my youngest nephew, and I loaded up the van and headed to Indiana to celebrate my niece's baptism. We went on Friday, so we were able to spend some extra time with Nathan, Kristin, and Brynzlee.  What a fun weekend. 

Friday night, we had dinner and went to Orange Leaf for some froyo ... yumm!! 

Saturday, we began by hitting up the farmer's market.  Let me just say that it doesn't even compare to the Decatur farmers market ... Then, Kristin and I had some girl time running all over to find some white bloomers for Bryn to wear with her baptism dress.  I can't stress enough how wonderful it was to have some time with just Kristin.  I love Nathan and Bryn too, but I've dearly missed my Kristin time!  <3  K's parents and 3 dogs joined us on Saturday. That made 6 adults, 1 kid, 1 baby, and 7 dogs in the house ... not too crazy!!  

Sunday was Brynzlee's day!  KT Mae and her bf came, and we all headed to church to celebrate her baptism.  The service was very, very nice.  It was one of my few experiences in a non-Catholic church, but I enjoyed it and can see why N and K have found a home in that church.  During the service, there was a point where people were called to share with the congregation anything that they wished prayers for. Jacob (my nephew who used to be painstakingly shy ... and hide behind chairs from people he didn't know) raised his hand to get the microphone. The pastor was kind of shocked that Jacob wanted to speak.  In his sweet 9 year old voice he said, "My name is Jacob Roe and my Dad just got out of the hospital on Thursday.  He's in a lot of pain. He had back surgery on Monday." How sweet is that?!  He even was choking up talking about it.  I was so proud of him being brave enough to ask N and K's church to pray for his Dad.  What a sweetheart!  

After church, we went back to N and K's for one amazing lunch and spending time together.  What a great weekend!  

We dropped Jacob off on the way home Sunday.  He was with us for 7 days straight .. and I was beyond exhausted.  I'm so thankful that I was able to spend time with the boys last week when it was needed.  I'm grateful to have time off to do so. 

Here's a few pics from this weekend ... that I may or may not have stole from my SIL

Jacob was sooo proud of Brynzlee .. and she loved him too!

Love this baby girl

LOVE this one!

Sweet and precious baby Bryn

Cute Family Pic .. captured by me :)

It's so sweet to see my brother who was such a pain to me as a Dad.. Heartwarming!

Cute Girlies!

T minus 8 business days until I return to school to kick off the 2013-2014 school year! I had a meeting to work on the K report card today and walking in ... it hit me.  Yesterday was the 29 ... meaning it would have been Robert and I's 10 month wedding anniversary ... 2 months away from a year.  I still miss that man like crazy, but he's definitely been making his presence known in my life.  I'm so thankful for his love and to have my own special angel watching over me!  

Here's to taking in every last minute of summer vacation!

Hello Wednesday!

There was a point today in which I thought "it's ONLY Wednesday" .. and then there was a point that I though "it's ALREADY Wednesday'.  How can both of these happen in 1 day?! 

Here's a little recap of what I've been up to these past few days: 

Saturday night I went out to celebrate the birthday of a very, very special man in my life, my wonderful boyfriend! 

*Don't mind the blue gum in my mouth*

Now, I know you think this man may look slightly similar to my wonderful friend Chrissy's husband .. and you're right .. he is!  Harrison used to work with Robert and he met Chrissy and Robert and I's house. It's always been a thing between the two of us that we're boyfriend/girlfriend.  Don't worry .. Chrissy is okay with it! :) 

Love him!

Sunday - we ventured to Grandma's to help her celebrate her upcoming 76th birthday! It was so nice to see family and celebrate a wonderful lady!  She's every bit of sassy and sweet!!  Love my Gram! 

Monday - My oldest brother had back surgery which consisted of getting a cadaver bone!  He's been in quite a bit of pain since then, but he will be better off in the end. I've been saying lots of prayers for him (and his wife) to make it through. 

Since he's been in the hospital since Monday and I'm still off for the summer .. I've been lucky enough to be playing Mom this week to my two nephews. They sure have kept me busy!

Dylan's bee sting

Jacob's dinner of a veggie tray and string cheese

We've been spending countless hours in the pool and playing Mariokart and Super Mario Bros on the Wii ... what a fun week! 

I've also been dragging them to my classroom to help me prepare for my 29 kids ... in 3 weeks!  That's right .. I said TWENTY-NINE kinders in one room ... I'm soo scared excited!!

Kinder puzzles are soo fun

Getting the room ready ..

Happy Wednesday!!

Camp Erin

I had the privilege of having a slumber party with two very precious little girls this week. I refer to it as "Camp Erin" because I told their Mom that she could send her girls to Camp Erin anytime she needed a break .. between now and when I have to go back to school. 

Peyton, the oldest of the two, is Robert's Goddaughter. He loved this girl as if she were his own and he spent countless hours with her and her parents before moving to Decatur. In fact, we had just begun talking for the first time about a month before she was born. He was so proud to share that he would be a Godfather very soon, and he did send me a picture of him holding her the day she was born.  He was just SO proud!  Peyton was going to be the flower girl in our wedding .... white dress, cowboy boots, and all. 

Robert was only able to meet sweet Sawyer one time. One weekend while visiting Robert's family, we stopped by to see John, Katie, and the girls on the way back to meet sweet, sweet Sawyer.  I still kick myself that I didn't capture a picture of the moment they met. He instantly fell in love and was so proud of her too. He would repeatedly say that "when these girls start dating ... I WILL be sitting with their Dad on the front porch cleaning my gun when that sorry boy comes to pick them up ..."  oh my! 

Because of the bond with these two ladies and their parents, I feel like I owe it to Robert to keep a close relationship. I love this little family so much, and I'm so grateful that they accept me as one of their own.

Back to the slumber party, I picked up the girls Tuesday night for a slumber party. Peyton was OH SO excited to swim!  We stopped by the store on the way home to grab their favorite for dinner .... fried chicken!  Went over so well! 

Sawyer and Peyton enjoying dinner

Sawyer is such a sweetheart and proceeds to tell everyone in the store "Hi".  She's such a social butterfly and just so, so sweet. 

After dinner, we got in the pool for a while with my Mom and just had a blast. Came in for a quick snack of chocolate cake and ice cream ... then it was time for baths and bed.  I was a little worried about bedtime since the girls had never stayed over here before, but they did fantastic.  We watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ... and fell asleep.  Peyton did tell me "I miss my Mom a little bit" before going to sleep. 

Two sleeping beauties!

The next morning consisted of cinnamon rolls for breakfast, playing with fun toys, and going to Walmart to buy some water wings for Peyton.  Luckily they had pink mermaids ,so she loved them! 

Enjoying her breakfast

LOVES these toys from when I was a kid

Sweet Sawyer

After lunch of peanut butter and jelly, chips, and watermelon ... it was time to swim again!  I lathered these beauties up with lots of sunblock and we were off to the pool. 

Having a blast

They were sooo much fun swimming!  Sawyer started to get tired, so she layed down for a nap out on the porch in the shade and I had some one on one time with the adorable Peyton.  She was full of advice for me. Here's our conversation:
P: Erin, how old are you?
Me: 27 .. almost 28
P: Well, don't you think its about time for you to get married?
Me: I guess. I was going to marry Bobbo (what she calls Robert)
P: You can't marry Bobbo anymore because he's dead.  It looks like you'll have to find another man.  There's lots of men in this town.  You can't marry my Dad because he's married .. and you can't marry (another guy she knows) because he's not a husband .. but he's a boyfriend.  But, Erin .. there's lots of other men.

What great advice from an almost 5 year old! ha! 

These two were wore out .. and both slept all the way in the car to go meet their Mom and Dad.  I had a blast with them ...and hope to do it again sometime soon!  

I definitely felt Robert's presence the whole time they were here. I love having these little reminders of such an amazing man that's watching over all of us! 

Thanks again, John and Katie, for letting me spend some time with your precious and sweet girls!  <3

Celebrating a Wonderful Man

Since I met Robert, I always heard about his epic birthday parties in his Mom's backyard. I was only lucky enough to experience one party with him and boy, did I regret that party before the end of the night ... and almost all of the next day. I definitely drank was served tooo much!!  

Last year, his brothers decided to continue this tradition of getting everyone together for his birthday. What a great way to gather everyone together to drink, talk, and reminisce about a very special man. It was definitely a good time! 

Here's a few of my favorite pics from last year: 

This past weekend, we had our second annual memorial birthday party for him.  It's so fun to gather with these people all in one place.  There's some that I don't get to see too often, so I love having the chance to visit and catch up. 

Amy, T, and I headed over early in the afternoon to spend some extra time with Laury and the boys as well as my bro, SIL, and niece.  Adam and Jamie also brought their precious little girls over to hang out for a bit as well.  We started our party early! 

3 year old photography skills ....

Playing roller coaster

We decided to make a tradition of going to Gross Burger. It's an amazing hometown burger joint over there that I would highly recommend you visit!  There's nothing like their garlic salt on the fries ... yumm! We may have been slightly tardy back to the party, but it turned out just fine.  

Here's the pics I captured with my phone:

Sweet P and Roxy .. Roxy strongly dislikes LOVES kids! 

N and precious Brynzlee

Adorable S

Here's a few more courtesy of my awesome sister and her camera! 

<3 this RoCo fam more than words can say

 T ended up turning into the life of the party before we left. I may or may not have some incriminating videos of him on my phone ... 

It turned out to be such a fun evening with family and friends. Thanks to everyone who came!

Girl Time

Yesterday was full of spending time with some great girls! 

I had lunch and a pool date with Chrissy. I love getting to spend time with her to catch up during the summer because I'm used to seeing her everyday during the school year. We never seem to run out of things to talk about! :) 

Last night, I met up with three girls I graduated from high school with for dinner and to go see Rosetta Stone (the band that played my brother and SIL's wedding reception). This night was full of reminiscing, drinks, laughter, and singing.  We spent quite a bit of time reliving old memories since this is the first time we've all been together since probably high school.  Hard to believe that was 9 years ago!! 

Rosetta Stone at Fletcher Park

"It's just like Senior Trip" 

 

 This was such a good way for me to spend Robert's birthday. He'd be proud to know I went out and had some fun.

Here's a short video of the concert.  They're SOO good! 

**Don't mind the shout-out Denise was giving to my SIL :)  

Happy Friday!! 

Birthday Wishes

Today I'm sending birthday love and wishes to a very special angel. 

 This sweet and handsome man is celebrating his 27th birthday in Heaven!

Happy Birthday Robert! I love you like crazy and miss you even more!

<3

What a Week!

It's hard to believe that it's already July .. and almost mid July at that.  This past week seemed to fly by.  Here's a recap:

Sunday -  My mom, brother, sister-in-law, niece, 4 dogs, and I piled in the van to head to my Grandma's house. Baby Bryn was making her first visit to Grandma B's. 

Here's a few pictures from the car ride.

 What a great visit! Quite a few other family members came over to visit and eat some wonderful food. We all know Grandma is a great cook! Unfortunately, the only pictures I captured were of my cousins .. 

Another fun thing to do at Grandma's ... go through old pictures. I just love looking through her picture books over and over.  I found this beauty! 

Cute Roe kiddos

Sunday evening brought the fireworks that were rained out on Saturday.  Ended up being my only fireworks to see this year.

Great Job Maroa!

 Monday - My brother and sister-in-law came over to spend the day with Mom and I. Extra time with Brynzlee is always a plus. I hadn't seen her in a month and couldn't believe how much she's grown. She was extra smiley and I enjoyed every moment! 

Tuesday - My Mom and I did a little shopping in Springfield, and that evening my nephews had their last ball games. My Mom and I went to watch them play, and I didn't get any pictures!  Here's some of them earlier in the season though ..

Love watching my boys play sports!

My oldest nephew decided he wanted to stay the night with us Tuesday night. He hadn't stayed over here in quite some time.

So Wednesday, I hung out with Dylan most of the day. It's so much fun to have some one on one time with the boys. Wednesday night brought my brother, sister-in-law, baby B, my sister and her fiance here for the night.  Talk about a house full.  We stayed up late waiting on my sis to get home... So good to see her! 

Thursday was the 4th!  What a fun day! I was so lucky for Laury, Doug, and Chelsea to head over and celebrate with my family!  It's so much fun to get everyone together! 
Here's a few pictures .. 

How Patriotic!

Family Fun!

Too bad I didn't capture all of the family that was here.  Next time, I'll do a much better job!  My entire immediate family (plus some) were able to spend some quality time together.  There's nothing better than family!  I say that over and over, but it rings so true! Unfortunately, Amy and Ty had to head back home Thursday night because of Ty's job ... boo! 

Friday brought another hang out day with N, K, and Baby B!  This called for more photo opps! 

The many faces of Bryn from the week ..

I'm not proud of her at all ... can you tell?

Saturday - We celebrated Dylan's birthday.  Can't believe this baby boy is about to turn 12! It just seems like yesterday we were all so very excited for his arrival! 

 

Getting in their snuggles before going home

After the party, everyone left .. and it was back to an empty house.  This called for some relaxation and a nap!  What a fun week spending time with family... but it sure was exhausting! 

P had to try out the swing with baby B left ...

Here's to enjoying the next 5 weeks of summer .... it sure is flying by!!