5 Things Friday - Favorite Concerts

Anyone who knows me knows that I have been to A LOT of concerts over the years.  My sister likes to give me 5 Things topics to use.  Her FAVORITE singer of all time is Kenny Chesney.  She is going to his show tomorrow, so in her honor, my 5 favorite concerts:

1.  Counting Crows & John Mayer
     Starlake
     August 14th, 2003

Not because its the best show I have ever seen... I really didn't see much of it actually!  But its where Gary and I met, most important night of my life, therefore a favorite concert!

2.  Britney Spears Circus Tour
     Consol Energy Center
     March 27th, 2009

I love Britney Spears, I don't care what anybody says!  And her Circus tour was phenomenal.  Truly, such an amazing show from beginning to end.  And it was a "show"! 

3.  The Clarks
     123 Pleasant Street
     June 2004 (rough estimate)

I have seen The Clarks more times than I should really admit.  hahaha  But I think my favorite place to see them is this little bar in Morgantown.  I saw them there a few times but one of them all my girlfriends from home came down and we were right up front leaning on the stage.  And we got lots of pictures with them afterwards.  It was really awesome!

4.  Farm Aid
     Starlake
     September 21, 2002

This was absolutely one of the coolest experiences of my life!  If you don't know about Farm Aid, please check out their website (www.farmaid.org)  but the main people in charge are Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews.  Well first of all, I went to a Toby Keith concert at Starlake Friday night, went to work early Saturday morning, left work in time to get back out to Starlake Saturday afternoon to go to Farm Aid!  Oh to be 19 again... haha   So those four guys all perform, plus other people who want to come out and support the cause.  Awesome Cause.  Awesome Event.  And I just adore John Mellencamp so so so much! 

5.  Jamboree In The Hills
     Belmont, Ohio
     July 2004

My Dad always wanted to go to Jamboree in the Hills, so in 2004 Stef and I decided to take him.  Well it poured down rain and everything was a big muddy mess.  But we were all still there to party and having a good time.  My Dad couldn't wait to see ZZ Top.  They were going to be the last act of the night.  Well I made some new friends and drank too much of their cranberry juice with vodka and got sick.  Dad had to carry me to the car and we missed ZZ Top.... He reminds me of that all too often!  I think I made it up to him though when we got him ZZ Top tickets at Starlake a few years later!

And Then She Was THREE

My little girl is officially three years old!  Her birthday was so much fun this year because now she is old enough to totally understand what it means for it to be your birthday.  She was really excited! 

The three of us spent the night at my mom & dad's Friday night then Saturday we had a birthday party for her there.  She had her mom and dad, Grandma & Pappy, Great Grandma, Sitta, Auntie Em & Uncle G and Erin all there to celebrate with her.  Lyla is a very lucky girl to have so many people that love her so much!  Thank you all for celebrating with us and for all of her great presents!  And of course, Auntie Em made another awesome cake! 

On Sunday Lyla and I made cupcakes for her to take to daycare on Monday.  They were a mess but she had fun and everyone at daycare said they tasted really good!

Monday was the big day - her actual birthday!  First we had to wake up the birthday princess....

I dressed her up in her special outfit from Great Grandma for daycare.  And she was all excited that we got her balloons!

After work, Daddy and I picked her up at daycare... Daddy brought her flowers:

Then we took her to dinner where they sang Happy Birthday and brought her ice cream!

After dinner we met Amanda, Justin and Becca at the mall.  The girls did the big spider jump then went and played.

After all was said and done I didn't get her to sleep until after 10:00... lol  But I think she had a good birthday!

5 Things Friday - Lyla's Favorite Things

My baby girl is going to be 3 on Monday.  3 years old already!  She becomes less of a baby and more and more like a little girl every single day.  We are so lucky to have her in our lives! 

When she was born I started taking a picture of her every month on her monthly birthday, then plan to continue every year on her yearly birthday.  I have them all in an album that I love flipping through and seeing the progression. 

I was thinking now that she is almost 3 and can talk and has her own opinions, along with the picture each year, I want to do a little interview with her as well.  I think it will be fun to look back at the pictures and look at how her "favorites" change from year to year!

And just for fun I videotaped it!

The transcript (& my answers/opinions):

Q:  What is your favorite song?

Lyla's Answer:  Fresh Beats!

Mommy's Answer:  She does really love all of the Fresh Beat songs right now.  She also really loves "Live While We're Young" by One Direction - much to her daddy's disgust.  lol

Q:  What is your favorite food?

Lyla's Answer:  Watermelon!

Mommy's Answer:  She does love watermelon, but she also ate that for dinner right before I asked her...  She really loves tacos and raviolis right now.  As well as any fruit or vegetable that you give to her especially watermelon, cantaloupe, peas and corn.  And black olives... lets not forget about that current obsession!

Q:  Who is your best friend?

Lyla's Answer:  Becca!

Mommy's Answer:  Yes, Becca is absolutely her best friend.  She also talks a lot about Hannah and Joshua from work (daycare).   And she always tells MY FRIEND Ashley that she is her best friend.

Q:  What is your favorite color?

Lyla's Answer:  Blue... and Pink

Mommy's Answer:  She changes all of the time.  A lot of the time it is purple and pink.

Q:  What is your favorite TV show?

Lyla's Answer:  Fresh Beats!  No.. Yo Gabba Gabba ... AND Dora.

Mommy's Answer:  She used to be obsessed with Elmo and Sesame Street.  Then she sort of moved on to  Blues Clues then to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Now there isn't really any ONE SHOW that we have to watch over and over.  She watches a variety.  Which I really like a lot better so I don't get worn out on the same show over and over.  

Heard Around the House #24

Getting Lyla ready for bed last night:

Lyla:  Can we read this I don't like Green Eggs and Meat book?

aka - Green Eggs & Ham.... lol

Hello Again Summer - Thanks for coming back!!!

I love Summer.  I love the heat.  I hate winter. 

So last weekend was Memorial Day Weekend, what better way to celebrate Summer finally returning than with a party with all my friends and family??? 

Gary got to finally use the new grill that Santa brought him.  My Grandma is in right now from Texas so we got to see her.  It was a really perfect day!  :)

And the pictures to prove it!

Dress Up

Lyla has been REALLY in to playing dress up lately. She is always either a princess or she gets out all of her doctor stuff and is a doctor.... Sort of one extreme to the other! lol But the last couple days its been mostly princess... Oh and did I mention she is a magic princess with a magic wand?? Oh yeah.. She has got an imagination that's for sure!! :)



Heard Around the House #23 - Mothers Day edition

Sunday was Mother's Day.  Seriously not a big deal to me.  Anyways... I was down in the basement Sunday morning and when I walk in to the kitchen:

Gary:  Lyla wasn't there something you wanted to tell Mommy?

Lyla:  Be Nice!

Gary and I crack up!  Then he whispers in her ear...

Lyla:  Happy Mothers Day!!