And this year makes 25

When I met my husband, even before the dating began, I immediately heard Mahoney stories. His family (plus 2 other families) started packing up all 12 kids and going to a nearby state park for 4 days each Fall. This is my 9th year going and it's always a memory packed trip with lots of junk food, card games, football, park time, and more. These days our annual Mahoney trip is huge: of the 12 kids, 9 are married and have 4 kiddos. It's inevitable that we'll continue to expand. Bring it on! Despite Declan's boycott of all sleep, we had such a blast. This year, all 3 families celebrated 25 years of fun. Here's to 25 more!

the crazy crew

cake to celebrate

cook out

"football game"

cousins

gobble gobble

cards!

Just like that's, it's gone.

A few nights ago Declan did not want his paci. Strange. This child LOVES his dear paci. We still chose to give it to him to hold when he was going to sleep thinking he'd grab for it after he laid down for sure. 

Then, after a couple of nights not wanting it, it dawned on me- he's over the paci. 

It's a bright spot in the strong willed child's personality- when they choose they want/don't want something, it's on. It happened with the bottle. I was scared to take them away and he was all about the sippy and the bottle became a pastime before I could stress about it. 

So, just to be sure it wasn't a fluke, we stuck them in his crib again. When he got up yesterday I realized he bit the tips off. Ha! Okay- we get it- you're done. 

Now, if potty training is that easy we have it made. 

I feel like everyone should know...

...about chicken tacos. Yes, seriously. They are THE BEST.

Add this to your "easy and uber delicious" list.

Chicken Tacos

-pour a packet of fajita seasoning in bottom of crock pot

-add 3 raw chicken breasts

-dump in a can of rotel

-add 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup olive oil

*Work against the desire to stir. Just sit and let it cook for 2.5-3 hours on high (or until chicken is cooked)*

-remove and shred chicken

-add back in to the juice goodness for 30 more minutes

We make soft tacos with beans, cheese, lettuce, sr cream and avocado. The next day it makes yummy taco salads- plop on top of lettuce, add a little salsa and sour cream, black beans, etc. 

So EASY so MMMM MMM- every time. 

Your welcome. :)

Surprise!

My sister lives in St. John (must be nice, right?) and worked in NY this summer and is jet setting to Thailand next week. I live vicariously through her. To our huge surprise, she flew in to Lincoln for a quick visit. It's been over a year since she was last here.  Declan quickly warmed back up to Aunt Keh-lee (Kellie):

Cheeeese

My new HTC.EVO (coolest phone evah) has a function where you can "flip" the camera so it shows you on the screen before taking the pic. Declan loves it! Tonight, he laid on the fake grass at the playground (weird that it had fake grass, just hit me) and said "mommy, Deck-an, cheeeese". Here's the result. He was pretty proud of it. I showed him and he laughed and said "siw-wy Deck-an". Ha! Son of a photographer, maybe?! He's already coming up with photo shoot concepts at the young age of 2. Talented boy!

Lights Out

Tonight, the plan:

Laundry, pull weeds, swap out Summer for Fall clothes, clean, etc.

Tonight, the reality:

Storms tore down power lines. Three hours with no power. Started off nice- quality porch time. Then, more bored and restless 2 year old, so off to road trip to Schlotz.kys. Lastly, invaded my parents house for a bit. 

Ah, plans, schmans. 

Found this pic from our vacay last week and realized I love it! We don't have many pictures of the 3 of us.

{heart=happy}

Vacation!

Yesterday we returned from our first vacation with Declan in tow. We headed just North of Austin, Texas. The main reason for our DRIVE (crazy, right?) from Nebraska to Texas was my Grandaddy's surprise 80th birthday party.

To my complete shock, Declan traveled fabulously. The farthest he had ever been was about 20 miles outside our city so a 14 hour drive was a little ambitious. We had planned to drive overnight but, he was so easy in the car, we stopped halfway through and stayed a hotel to catch some zzzzs. I would like to thank my best friend Dora, endless snacking and new toys for the great drive. Here he is catching a nap driving through Fort Worth (notice how close people follow- even at 75 mph+):

The highlight of the trip was definitely my Grandaddy's party. It was at a beautiful vineyard in the country and it was full of family, old friends and great food. Some of my favorite pics of the night:

I love this picture of my Grandaddy and I. We've always had a special bond because we share the same birthday! A year has never gone by that we haven't celebrated together or at least spoke on the phone.

My brother's son and my cousin's son. They played together at this same age:

Declan and Nana (taken by my dad):

My babe and I:

My parents. They flew down. Oh, how smart.

Yes, it tasted as good as it looked:

I love love LOVE this pic of my Aunt toasting her dad:

What a fabulous vacay: 28+ hours of driving, 2 fun impromptu hotel stays (complete with room service and football- heck yeah), wonderful times with family, blast of a party, delicious restaurants and loads of memories. 

A couple last pics of our final night. We had the BEST shrimp tacos followed by dessert at a place called  Shakes. Oh, childless, that is. Thanks mom & dad! 

Molars

Dear molars,

You are causing my sweet son pain.

You tried to ruin our vacation, but you did not succeed.

Push through quickly.

Thanks.