Rock-N-Romp...

There is so much for families to do in our part of the jungle, and we take advantage of it every chance we get.  We have an incredible Parents Network in our neighborhood that over 70 families belong to, most with children under the age of 5.  There are free concert series throughout the year where you can bring you own cooler and picnic basket, all sorts of festivals most weekends, story time at bookstores around town, and so much more.  One of our absolute favorites is Rock-N-Romp, held one Saturday per month.  They used to be held in peoples backyards around midtown, but it has grown pretty large, so now is held at different venues around town. Three bands play each one, there are beer kegs for the grown ups, BBQ for everyone, and tons of stuff for the monkeys to run wild and do.  It's a great way to spend an afternoon with friends and everyone's kiddos.  Here's some photos of the August RNR that was held at the Levitt Shell close to our hood...

checking out the all girl band on stage- woohoo for girl rockers!

yummy bbq provided by Central BBQ   :)

it was so stinking hot!

slip and slides!

baby pools!

giant water slides!

and monkey's favorite... sprinklers!

wishing this little girl would get off of her sprinkler  ;)

great live music

and relaxation in the shade :)

So Grown-Up...

We took our first family vacation last month, and I swear it was the most grown-up I have ever felt in my life!  Husband and I have spent the last 10 years planning lots of rock and roll getaways, but this was different.  This time we planned, booked, and financed the entire vacation without the help (or company) of our parents.  AND, we were responsible for a very mobile 18 month old monkey who ran wild on the Florida beaches, charming the pants off of anyone who passed our way.  How grown-up is that???  We had an absolute blast.  It was so much fun for us to be able to relax with our monkey for 5 whole days- no schedule, no routine, no stress.  Just fun, fun, and more fun.  And I know it was so much fun for monkey to have her mommy and daddy completely relaxed and focusing on her. Here's a recap...

Her first steps on the beach!

Checking it all out...

The baby pool may have been monkey's favorite part of the trip.  She LOVED being able to run around in it without us holding on to her!

We only ventured out one night for dinner.  We went down to Schooners and ate beachside.  This is a picture I snapped of her eating her very 1st crab claw.  She loved them!  We showed her one time how to pull the meat off with her teeth and she got it immediately!  It was too funny watching her eat them :)

After dinner, we walked down to the beach to snap a few pictures.  It was pitch black and we couldn't see a thing.  I wasn't even sure if I had monkey in the frame until the flash went off, and this is what I saw on the screen...

Poor baby!  I quickly scooped her up and snapped this adorable picture...

We spent our days collecting sea shells...

Building sand castles...

and playing on the beach playground next door to our condo...

We visited Shipwreck Island and monkey had a blast!  She was such a big girl and did all the kiddy area stuff by herself.  She had no fear walking around in the water, even when it was up to her chin.  She would just stretch her neck up and stand on her tippy toes and keep going!

We rushed down to the beach after the waterpark for our last sunset beachside.  Monkey was sad to leave all the beach chairs that provided her with endless climbing opportunities...

Taking it all in until next year....

One last beach pic before we packed it all up...

Our condo had child size bunk beds in one of the closets, so husband and monkey spent our last evening playing this game...

I'm not sure she has ever had so much fun!

We had so much fun on our first family vacation, and it was so needed.  After the month we had in August, we deperately needed a get away.  It gave us time to reconnect as a family, and a short break from the stress surrounding Beck's illness and surgeries.  I'm so thankful we were able to do this.  After we put monkey to bed, I poured a glass of wine and went out to the balcony to join husband.  We immediately heard a large boom, and looked to our right and saw this....

It's not a great picture, but there was a 30 minute gigantic fireworks display right on the beach next to our condo.  What a perfect ending to a perfect vacation :)

Sunday at the Ball Park...

My workplace had a box for the Redbirds game this Sunday afternoon so we took the monkey to her first baseball game.  We all had a blast!  The heat index was 116 on Sunday, so an air conditioned box was necessary.  The stands were pretty sparse, but  lots of people packed the boxes.  I can't wait to take her back when the weather cools down so she can see the kiddy area.  She is going to be amazed!  We spent our time at the ball park doing lots of the following...

Watching the game... we lost 3-1

Checking it all out... especially that giant red bird running around

Eating and watching the game in the AC

Cheering on the Birds

Running the halls

And being as silly as possible :)

Really paying attention to the game!

Let's try this again...

       Well, it's only been 7 months since I last posted here.  I have clicked on here from time to time, trying to talk myself into posting something, but just haven't taken the time to do it.  I'm going to try to give this whole blogging thing a go again, and we'll see how it works out.
       Life has been a little intense lately, and I am hoping that starting to blog again will be a happy distraction for me.  Two weeks ago we found out that a family member has an unexpected illness.  Even though I firmly believe all will be well in the end, finding out that type of news brings on crippling fear.  There have been some dark days, and my faith has been jilted.  There are always questions of "why," and these questions don't seem to receive any answers.  I have been filled with intense worry, sorrow and anger at times, but what I'm feeling isn't really significant compared to what my loved one must feel.  At the end of the day, I'm a nurturer, and I life to fix things and make people happy.  It is frustrating  when as much as I want to make this better, I can't.  So today, I have resigned myself to give this over to Him, to trust that He will do His will in the end, and that all will be well.  I am committed to rededicating my life to a higher power and my family.  I want to focus on big picture things, because really, who cares if there's dog hair on the furniture (besides my Mom!) or laundry to be washed when there's a monkey begging to go outside and play?  Big picture means taking advantage of every opportunity to focus on family, friends, and living the life we love.  This has been an eye opener for me.  Tomorrow is not guaranteed, and our lives can change in an instant, so it's time to stop sweating the small stuff.
       And that is my inspiration to start blogging again.  I want to celebrate our life and all the fun we have, and I want my family and friends to watch my monkey grow.  You really wouldn't believe how much the monkey has changed.  I mean,  she's turned into a whole new monkey.  She climbs, sings, runs, pouts, throws fits, terrorizes the dog, flirts with strangers, and melts our hearts on a whole new level. She is bursting with personality and full of spunk and sass.  Husband and I spend most of our time rolling on the floor laughing at her, and she completely eats up the attention.  She LOVES it.  It is so much fun watching both husband and I coming out of her.  I'll do my best to keep up with the blogging so that you can all enjoy her as much as we do.  Here's to Round 2 of my blogging (or lack of) world...

Gobble, Gobble...

I am so proud of myself for getting these Thanksgiving pictures up before Christmas :) So, is this what your holidays look like with your family? These pictures pretty much sum up what every Mauceli family holiday looks like....








Exciting, huh?!?!? We spent Thanksgiving this year in Jackson at my cousin David's house. It was a lot of fun, although you'd never guess that from the pictures! Pretty much all of holidays include lots of energy and cooking and drinking and visiting, and then once everyone eats, things seem to get a little bit horizontal! We had a blast visiting with all of my aunts and uncles and cousins, and it was fun for everyone to see how big Stella has gotten.

David pretending to play with SG when he's actually texting some girl, somewhere in America...

Stella and her Godmother :)

Eventually SG passed out just like everyone else!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving Everybody!

Lots of Halloween Fun...

Chris and I LOVE Halloween- it is our absolute favorite holiday! This probably stems from the years of Panic shows over Halloween weekend in New Orleans that are some of our most fun memories ever. With the arrival of little Stella Belle, we had a whole new kind of Halloween fun this year. Here are some pictures of our week long celebration...

Chris won first place in the costume contest at work! He was a mummy (minus the guaze in this picture)- his department dressed up and performed Thriller!

One of several Halloween outfits :)

Another cute Halloween outfit!

SG loves Halloween too!

Pop and Bella took SG to pick out her first pumpkin!

Me and my pumpkin :)

Stella is lucky to have a cousin who adores her as much as sweet Lilly does!

Happy Halloween!