A "Berry" Special Day!

Better late than never so here goes.....

Clara Kate my baby girl turned 2 on June 15, 2012!  Where does the time go?  Right away I knew a Strawberry Party would be perfect for her little personality.  Plus she is her Mie Mie's "mini me" and my mother has always been a strawberry fan.  This would be the perfect idea!  So the planning began..this year would not be a blow out.  Just simple and small (right Mandy LOL).  Well as all my friends and family knew from that point it would be anything but Simple and Small.  So the cleaning and prep work began.  The list for food and drinks, decorations and cake and of course a Strawberry Shortcake dessert bar.  All of the hard work and preparations paid off.  The party was absolutely precious and Clara Kate loved all of her friends and family celebrating with her.  She was, of course, the perfect little Strawberry!

Summer Summer Summertime...

So our annual Beach Trip has come and gone but "Oh What Fun" we had!  This year we took our niece Madison and Aidan went on his very first deep sea fishing trip.  Madison was pure joy to have with us and was so helpful with our bizzy body who shall remain nameless (but its Clara Kate)! I hope she will make it a new tradition herself and join us every year.  Our first day was mainly driving, lunch at Oyster House and Walmart trip.  Ended with a birthday dinner for Juju; her favorite boiled shrimp and potatoes.  Day 2 was a beautiful day at the islands.  The water was incredible and the kids loved snorkeling.  They found hermit crabs and Big Al even found some clams.  Grand finale was the dolphin show right in front of our boat.  Then back to the condo so the babies could rest and the big kids played on the water slide and floated around the lazy river. And by big kids I'm including myself!  Day 3 was just about the same back and forth between the islands and the condo and day 4 was the big fishing trip.  Aidan was beyond excited for such a big boy trip!  So on Sunday morning Al, Kevin, Hayes and Aidan packed up their sandwhiches and chips and left for the boat that our friend Sonny recommended.  On return they had a million stories about the sharks they saw, the fish they caught and how they couldn't wait to go back next year!  I was so proud of Aidan and of his daddy for the patience he has and the quality time he spends with our sweet boy!  The 5th day was a special day of remembrance and celebration of all the many men and women who have died while serving and protecting our precious USofA!  Breakfast came first with a boat trip to Tacky Jacks and a wait of and hour for our table and an hour for our food.  By the time we left breakfast had come and gone and lunch was in full swing but we were on vacation so Que Sera, Sera.  Off to the islands to enjoy our last day of a perfect vacation.  Going home day was in full swing slinging suitcases, washing dishes and cleaning out the fridge while the cleaning ladies patiently waited for us to depart HaHa.  Lunch was  at Bahama Bobs (my favorite) with Juju, Madison, CK and sweet Jace.  The boys took off for home and we were left with no other option than to shop till we dropped and that we did!  Back home close to midnight to a house with a broken A/C.  Thank goodness the upstairs unit was working so off to bed we went ending what had to be the Perfect Vacation! 

Sweet Madison

Boys will be Boys

Jace Man

Island Time



Cool Baby!



Peek A Boo

Sweet Ride



Captain Aidan



Hated the Lifejacket

Watching for dolphins



Precious Baby



Worn Out



WOW!



Aidan and Hayes

Fun fishing trip!



Look what we caught



Two Sweet "Southern Smiles"

So we had to get our pearly whites checked a few weeks ago so off we went to our sweet dentist at "Southern Smiles".  This was Aidan's third visit and Little Misses first so it was quite the adventure.  Big brother went first to show little sister how it was done.  He has always been a brave one and no suprise this time...he did great.  He loved helping with the suction and picked bubblegum for his cleaning flavor.  Next came Clara Kate.  She smiled for the camera for her own personal photo shoot (they use the picture to identify her file) and then they counted her teeth.  But she wasn't gonna get down until they brushed her teeth.  So sitting in the dentist chair, a million times her size, she had her teeth brushed and we were done!  Oh and about 15 minutes digging through the treasure box we were out the door.  Who knew the dentist could be so entertaining!  These are small memories, but nevertheless the ones I don't want to forget.  So goes my blogging. 

First Annual Caerus Mardi Gras Parade

     So I have to back up a few weeks for my first official Blog!  Many of you know that I love tradition and look forward to traditions that  were started when I was young and continue to be tradition for my family.  That being said, on February 8, myself with Aidan, Clara Kate and Mama Buckley in tow attended the First Annual Caerus parade in Hattiesburg.  It was important to me that my kids would be a part of what I could forsee as a new "tradition" in our family.  Having a Mardi Gras parade in Hattiesburg has been long overdue and the fact that we were able to be right in the middle of it made me quite giddy to say the least.  Now I suspect that in the future there will need to be some tweaking and revamping to work out a few kinks but through my children's eyes it was nothing short of spectacular!  And to me what more could you ask for?!?!
     We were joined by some of my work friends and their kids as well as 6000 of our closest friends.  The kids played some football in the middle of Hardy Street before the big event and the rest of us snacked on bottled water, beef jerky, Doritos and CK munched on some leftover Chick-fil-A thanks to Miss Caroline. 
     All in all was a fantastic night and a perfect start to a new tradition.  So Let The Good Times Roll and Happy Mardi Gras to everybody!