The Last Days of July

I can't believe July is over, and the first day of school is just weeks away! The pandemic might have put an end to all our usual fun Summer activities, but time isn't slowing down one bit. After 4 months of social distancing, we managed to cram some fun into the end of July!

During the last ten days of July, we spent a lot of time outdoors, celebrated a birthday, reinstated family hikes, and jumped back into a busy cheer schedule. With the exception of wearing a mask in public, life started to feel a bit more normal. It is such a welcome feeling!

July was a fun month! (It was definitely more exciting than the previous three months combined!) I shared the first half here, and here's how we spent the remainder of the month...

Just Another Pandemic Birthday

Since the pandemic started, both Grant and I have had birthdays. It's not really that big of a deal for us, because once you pass the age of 21, birthdays are just...meh. And we are CERTAINLY over the age of 21!

We haven't had much luck with birthdays and birthday parties for our kids, though. Lexie and Coen's birthdays were just before social distancing began, but their party for their 1st and 13th birthdays was planned for the week the stay at home order was issued. We hoped to have it later, but the pandemic and social distancing is still ongoing. Now Lily and Liam have birthdays in August, and it isn't looking promising for them, either! I just hope it's somewhat better in time

The latest birthday was Grant's 41st birthday on Friday! We didn't have our usual date night or big gathering, but he said it was still a great day. Plus, he got a 4 day weekend out of the deal...now that's an extended birthday celebration!

40 Things About Grant on His 40th Birthday

On Wednesday, Grant celebrated his 40th Birthday! We have been together since we were kids ourselves; not much older than our oldest child is now. Grant doesn't like to be a focus on my blog, but since it's such a big birthday, I thought it would be fun to share 40 things about him!

I keep teasing him about turning 40, but I know that someday it will be my turn. I had my fun, so now it's time to be nice! I wrote most of the list myself, then consulted with him on a few. We shared a lot of laughs as we read through the final list!

Here are 40 things about the man behind the blog:

The Husband Behind The Blog

Happy Monday, my friends! Today is a special day. Today, the husband behind the blog is celebrating his birthday!

In honor of this special day, I decided to dedicate this post to my hard-working husband! Grant is very supportive of my blogging endeavors, and proud of my accomplishments, but he rarely makes an appearance on this little space of mine. He just prefers to stay behind the scenes, and I completely respect that.

Today, however, he deserves a shout out! I'm going to share a few fun facts about my sidekick for the past 18 years. (Yes, we really have been together THAT long!)

• Grant and I met when we were teenagers, when we were cast as the leads in a musical. He was Adam. I was Eve. We were destined to be together.
• We (obviously) have a shared interest in musical theater!
• Grant has 1 brother, Eric, who is 3 years younger than him. I am the baby of 8 kids and have 25 nieces and nephews. Holidays with my family was like culture shock for him.
• Grant's dad passed away almost 5 years ago, and he misses him every single day.
• Grant wanted 1 kid - maybe 2. I wanted 4. Guess who won? 
• When we received Liam's suspected Down syndrome diagnosis, Grant just smiled and told me, "It's okay. We got this. We can do this!" He was so brave and in control, while I was losing my mind, even though he was unbelievably scared, too.
• When it comes to parenting, Grant excels at making each child feel important. He goes out of his way to spend one on one time with each of his kids.
• Grant wanted to be a history major in college, but ended up taking computer programming and business courses instead. 
• If you're wondering what Grant does for a living, he's a mortgage guy! It's incredibly stressful at times, but he made a complete career change 5 years ago and worked his way up in the company. I am so proud of how far he's come and have no doubt that he will climb even higher!
• Grant loves baseball, and even though we live in Pittsburgh, his favorite team is the Detroit Tigers.
• When it comes to football, however, he bleeds black and gold. Go, Steelers!
• Grant taught himself how to play guitar and he really is quite good! He plays every weekend. He has a beautiful voice, too.
• If  you need to know anything - and I do mean anything - about music, movies and TV shows, just ask Grant. He knows trivia like no other!
• Grant LOVES Charles Bukowski and Charlie Chaplin.
• His favorite TV show is Game of Thrones. He's a happy camper right now!
• Grant has 3 tattoos: the Misfits logo, Dylan's initials and Lexie's initials. He isn't really into tattoos anymore, but wants to add Lily's initials with a tiger lily, and Liam's initials with boxing gloves.
• Grant likes to play video games, but it doesn't consume his life. He really likes Fallout, Skyrim and Madden.
• His favorite color is hunter green.
• His favorite animal is a bear.
• Grant despises mowing the grass and was more than happy to pass that chore onto his oldest son this Summer!
• Grant loves iced tea. So much that he goes through 1-2 gallons of homemade sweet tea each week! 
• Grant is a fan of weird drinks. Aloe water? Check. Drinks with chia seeds floating in it? Check. Drinks from other countries that have the texture of lumpy jello? Check. I think it's just his way of not having to share with his family! He's like that with unusual foods, too. His birthday lunch choice for today is a green smoothie, coconut chips and sunflower seeds. (I threw in his favorite sour candy to even things out.)
• Grant's family is a Chevy family. His family owns a dealership, and his uncle just retired from GM, and is very well known among Camaro enthusiasts. Grant dreams of owning a Camaro one day!
• Grant loves to just get in his car and drive around. (That's exactly how we celebrated his birthday together last night! Dinner at Moe's, a trip to the grocery store, and hour drive and ice cream. It was a wild date!)
• Grant did not push himself in high school, but he's actually very smart. He's very well read, knows a lot about politics and current events, and he excels at word games, geography and history. 
• Grant loves the beach as much as I do. We hope to retire to the beach one day...or maybe sooner!
• Grant is very personable, and can easily make friends with everybody. It's one of the things I love most about him!

I hope you enjoyed the condensed version of getting to know Grant, and learned a few things about the husband behind the blog. Happy Birthday, Grant! We love you SO much! 

Birthday Wishes

Today is Grant's 34th Birthday!

In 1999, when we celebrated his 20th birthday as an engaged couple, I couldn't even imagine where we would be 14 years later.  14 years, 15 birthdays, nearly 13 years of marriage, and 3.75 kids later...life is good! 



He leaves for work by 6:30, so I woke up early to make him breakfast, and sent him to work with a bag of his favorite drinks and candy.  When he got home, each kid gave him a present (baseball cards for his collection...in addition to the new xbox that I gave him a few months ago!) and homemade cards.  We all enjoyed his favorite dinner of steak, baked potatoes, and corn on the cob, followed by vanilla pudding pie for dessert!  Even though he put in a long day at work, I think he had a great birthday!

Happy Birthday to my best friend!

Happy Birthday, Grant!!!

My wonderful hubby turned 32 today, and we had fun celebrating his birthday!



Dylan and Lexie were really excited to give him their present. As soon as he woke up, they insisted on giving it to him. They were so proud of the Darth Vader T-shirt and Sour Patch Kids that they picked out for him. Of course, Daddy loved his shirt!

We spent the rest of the morning/early afternoon relaxing, and then Grant's mom stopped by for a visit. While she was here, we had Grant's birthday "cake"...yummy frosted brownies served with ice cream!

My parents watched the kids tonight so Grant and I could go on a dinner date! Grant chose Red Lobster for his birthday dinner. We had a great time going out alone, and after I pulled him out of his seafood-induced coma, we extended our date by browsing Target! He bought some stuff with his birthday money, and then we picked up our kiddos, and headed home.

Now, the kids are in bed, Grant's brother is here, and we're settling in to watch a movie!

We had a fun time celebrating Grant's birthday!

Happy Birthday, Grant! I love you so much, and can't wait for us to become a family of 5!!!