Love, memories and traditions

Steve and I will be celebrating 10 years together come July.  Insert Hearts here!  

I would love to go away, just us.  We will see, we have quite a Disney trip planned for May.  But thinking of our milestone led me to think about Traditions.  I have vivid memories of sleeping at Gramma and Grampa's house on Friday nights, making popcorn and pizza, drinking sodas, having Pa blow dry our hair, Lucky charms in the morning.  Small things that maybe my grandparents never thought of as tradition but I could never forget.  Pa would pull us around the yard behind his tractor, pick pears of his tree, show us his rain barrel, pick some mint for us to smell.  I can remember making a cherry pie from his tree and him always coming over with bushels of homegrown tomatoes.  Memories are all I have now and it has made me realize how important they are!!  So I will never care about how much money I spend if it means we are making memories as a family.

Memories make me think of traditions and I LOVE traditions.

 I feel like its these things my kids will remember and hopefully do one day with their families.  So here are a few of our family traditions.

Pizza night!  Every week this happens - YES EVERY WEEK we order pizza.  We all love it!  This was something my parents did when we were little.  Just to give mom a break from cooking :)

That's what I'm talking about!

Breakfast on Halloween has to be cider and donuts!  After a trip to Pumpkinville to get our pumpkins we wait until Halloween to carve them.  We dye our Easter eggs on Good Friday.  Who can resist a good deviled egg anyway?  We have polish bread called Placzek for Christmas and Easter.  We both aren't Polish but its some darn good bread - check it out!  Christmas Brunch has become a tradition for the past 6 years.  I switch up the food from time to time but we always drink Mimosa's.  And on Thanksgiving I make sweet potato souffle.  It basically turns sweet potatoes into tasting like candy. My family waits for it!

We have been taking a family vacation every year for the past 3 years.  We waited until Brady was 4 and now I feel like we need to go every year.  My husband growing up never went anywhere so he says it makes him feel like we are The Griswold's - whats wrong with that?

Speaking of vacation, I always need to eat Eggs Benedict when I am away.  This started way back on a family cruise when I was 20.  The Bellaggio in Vegas probably had the best.  And Steve and I both love Hooters wings so there is usually a stop on vacation if we can find one.  We go to Great Wolf Lodge at least once a year - it is the best place to make family memories!

Oh and every time Hubs and I go to the movies, we kiss as soon as the lights go down.  It just became our thing because Steve is shy and doesn't like PDA. Feel free to steal this one!  I hope in 40 years we are still doing it - even if we just go to the movies to nap when we are old <3

Remodel Time

After much thought and consideration, and house hunting we have decided to stay right where we are - and remodel.  Yay!! Except now I have a lot of decisions to make.  But let's be honest here for a second.  This entire remodel will focus around the kids.  So many of my "decisions" will be dictated by what makes sense at this stage of our lives.

I'm sick and tired of Reid going behind the tv and pulling cords.  Soooo, tv above the fireplace. Take that!

I'm sick of getting hit with fruit roll-ups and digging around snacks to try and find a pot or pan. Soooooo, this mom is getting a pantry for just food!  And then my cupboards can be for dishes and glasses.  I already told the designer I need a shelf for cereal boxes and the big goldfish carton (you know the one) so I can get all that stuff off my countertops.  I hate when beautiful countertops are cluttered anyway.  Oh and extra storage in the island.  Take that!

I can't seem to keep the carpets clean for a day soooooooo hardwood floors it is.  Take that kiddos!

I don't get to decorate because the kids can get to every surface in this house.  This mom is getting a mantle that those little boogers won't be able to touch.  This mom will be dusting off her decorations in the basement.  I don't even remember what I have - Ha!!

This is what I mean.  So many of these decisions will just be to make life easier with 3 kids.  We have a dining room that never gets used.  Except for Christmas morning brunch.  So we will be cutting back the wall that separates the dining room and kitchen and eating in there.  Where our kitchen table is now will be the island.  I really want an island with seating.  It will be so nice to just serve the kids breakfast at the island.  I never sit anyway in the morning.  I desperately want some marble in the kitchen so the top of the island will definitely be that.  Husband wants to re-use our existing granite countertops which will save some dough for the new furniture he doesn't know about it yet :)
Here's what I was thinking for the island.

If you need me, I will be on Pinterest.