Bridal Showers and Birthday Parties

This past weekend was a whirlwind weekend, but a great one at that.  Friday started out awesome because I was able to bake some cookies with the kids (recipe to come) and baking always makes me happy.  Friday night Michael and I decided to head downtown to be a more social married couple, but we still ended up hanging out just the two of us at the bar and being home by 10 :) He probably won't like me admitting to that, but it was still fun and we had to get up early the next morning!  Saturday I had the privilege of heading down to South Boston VA for another bridal shower for my friend Jackie - lucky duck!  I got to meet some of Kyle's family, which was great, and meet the wonderful cops of Prince Edward county, not so great...

Anyhoo, after that I drove back up to Richmond to meet Michael and my friend Eddie for the night and we met up with Michael's sister, Sarah, and her husband, Jason at Peter Chang's - which was AWEsome!  Later that night we had a nice time catching up with some old friends and chatting with Eddie, who was kind enough to tell me that he felt he was being yelled at in my blog from the over use of exclamation marks - so in his honor I will be trying to cut down on that - but if you know me at all, you know I like to talk in a loud, excited tone anyway, so what's the difference?  But honest feedback is always appreciated :)

Yesterday, Michael and I drove back from Richmond and drove out to King George to make it to a circus themed 4th birthday party!  It was really cute to see all the kids so excited, and the cake was amazing:

After the party, we made a quick pitstop downtown to jump start Michael's mom's car :) and then to his parents' house to pick up some last minute items for my sister (she's leaving for college in 2 days!) and then we were finally off to our last event of the weekend - Theresa's going away family dinner!  To quote Michael, dinner at the Stoecker household is always "entertaining" and we did not disappoint on this occasion either.  There was lots of yelling, laughing, arguing, and crazy picture taking - and it was a great time.  Theresa is going to UVA (mostly because she I made her) and I am so excited to help move her in on Wednesday.  

After a long but fun weekend, I am relaxing today after a painful but necessary run (Hillary - I hope you read this!) and welcoming our 2nd sale on Etsy!  Stay tuned for tomorrow, I will be posting about the delicious cookies I made last Friday.

Are those your kids?

For those who do not know, I am employed as a nanny for the summer.  It has been a really fun experience, and also very interesting at times!  The three boys are 12, 7, and (just about to turn!) 4.  When I am at the pool or out on one of our many awesome outings, people will sometimes ask if they are all mine.  For those who have not seen me recently, I get mistaken for a high schooler often - so for people to think I am old enough (or perhaps not old enough...) to have a 12 year old is just strange to me!  No one has ever asked if they are my brothers, which I would think would be more relevant - especially since I have an 11 year old brother.

Matthew is the one on the left, having a great time with BOY cousins!

Anyways, today was another one of those days.  I took them to a free movie - Jack and Jill - which was actually pretty funny, then to the park, and then back to my house for pancakes!  At Giant when we were picking up sugar, they were messing around and getting into mischief - per usual - and the cashier asked if they were mine.  It really just gets me thinking - I could not imagine already having three kids! This summer has definitely allowed me to experience the responsibility of having multiple kids (although still doesn't deter me!).  Going to the movies, the mall, a restaurant, bowling, and any activity really is a whole new experience!  The youngest does not particularly enjoy sitting in a theater, so as soon as his snack and drink were gone today, I had the wonderful pleasure of being one of those people  who other moviegoers glare at when their kids are being loud as I hear "Miss Erin, I am ready to go home!" is his outdoor voice, 10 minutes into the movie... :)

Overall it was a great day and I am really going to miss those kids when the summer is over.  Michael and I were special enough to be invited to the youngest's 4th birthday party this weekend, although Michael is not technically invited as he is "not a kid or Miss Erin" - haha, I am cooler than Michael!

Pub-themed shower, anyone?

This past weekend I held my first ever bridal shower!  It was also the first real party I have ever thrown AND the first big get together in our new townhouse.  So I was pretty excited all around.  Jackie is not super girly and she loves beer (I, however, detest it) so after some thought I realized that a pub theme centered around a beer tasting would be perfect!  Unfortunately, I never took a picture of the actual tasting! However, I did use the cutest tasting glasses from IKEA - seriously, they were awesome!  Overall, I think everyone had a blast, I was super exhausted that night and my husband was kind enough to clean up everything (!) for me.  Take a look at some other pictures from the event below.  Thanks to all who helped out with this event and took the time to attend!

All the food!

I was so excited to get to use the chalkboard signs I bought for my wedding again.

I was also really excited to use all my new serving dishes and platters :)

Super cute favors provided by Elizabeth!

Gift table, complete with my homemade banner - I was quite proud!

A tribute to the bride and groom's younger days :)

Desserts - there are still way too many leftover in my house!

Supposed to be like a chalkboard menus you find in bars, perhaps a bit cheesy but I enjoyed it all the same.

The non-alcoholic drinks, I really wish I had a picture of the beer tasting.

The bride-to-be and I!  Can't wait to celebrate in September!

Dreams Come True, One Day at a Time

Here is to trying something new!  Many things have changed in my life in the last couple months.  I got married.  I moved back (almost) home.  I quit my job.  I became a nanny.  I started school again.  So why not add something else? :)

Here is to exlporing the world of marriage together with my new husband, Michael, and making our dreams come true one day at a time.  I hope to share with friends and family far and near, old and hopefully new, and anyone else who may care to stop by.

There will be a bit of cooking, lots of baking, some DIY-ing, hopefully some traveling, and definitely some puppies :)  Join me while I travel on this road called marriage and real life.