A rare night indeed!

Tonight is a night so rare I haven’t had one since our little boy was born!  

It all started when I called Matthew after I got off work @ 6 (Thursdays are my only “late night”!).  He says that he and James talked about what they wanted to do tonight and they decided to make the journey to Carmel to meet Matthew’s friend Adam’s parents.  I say journey, but this is Matthew’s daily drive to work!  So the BIG question…what is this Mama who hasn’t been alone in the house since her baby was born going to do with this new found freedom…ok…let’s not get carried away Stacy…it’s realistically an hour, maybe an hour and half!! 

Mama's treats!

Mama’s night to herself started with a stop at the store to get some supplies because my monthly friend is back and with a vengeance!!  Does Aunt Flo get mad because she hasn’t been allowed to visit for 10 months?!?  I don’t understand this!!  But while checking out I did splurge and got myself a kit kat!  Mmmmmm!!!!  

Once home I took a loooong hottttt shower and oh boy did it feel great!!  Next came my oversized sweatpants and my BAZINGA shirt…because it’s Big Bang Theory night!!  Then I started dinner—pork chops on the grill and homemade mashed potatoes!  What great comfort food!  As I sat down with my plate of yummy food and started writing this post…my boys were home!!!  So there’s was my 53 minutes of alone time!!! 

Exploring Greenfield

We bought our first house on June 25th in Greenfield.  The day we looked at houses Matthew and I were sitting down to dinner and wondering why we were looking all the way out here when neither one of us had ever lived here, didn't have any family or friends that lived here, and really didn't know much about the town.  So we've done some exploring in the past few months and have found some pretty great local places.






A few weeks ago our friends Betsy and Hank came to visit and to explore Greenfield with James and me.  We went to the Pennsy Trail (this is like a mini monon) that goes 3.5 miles East to West just south of US 40.  You can learn more about it here.








 We stumbled upon a little cafe that is new to Greenfield.  B.C. Brew Coffee is a sandwich and coffee shop. It was delicious!! And the weather was so beautiful we sat on the outdoor patio!

B.C. Brew

Patio at B.C. Brew

 Here are some more pictures from our Greenfield adventure!

Mama and James after our walk

Hank and James during our walk on Pennsy Trail

Beautiful river that runs under the trail.

Thanks Betsy and Hank for a great time and exploring our new town with James and me!  We can't wait for our next adventure!

The first of many traditions

Matthew and I have decided to start a tradition of giving.  Every year when we buy a winter coat for James we are going to have James buy another winter coat in the same size for another little boy and say a prayer for him.  We pray this will teach him to give and pray for others, even if he doesn't know who will receive the coat.  While he has no clue what we've done this year...we wanted the tradition to start from the beginning.  Here is the coat we donated this year--size 3 months for another newborn baby boy!

Lord, we ask that you bless the little boy and his family that will receive this coat.  We ask you bless their family and keep them warm this winter.  Amen.

Tuchman cleaners accepts the donated coats for Bob Gregory's Coats for Kids through October 15th.  You can also make a monetary donation on their website.

It's fall time at the Toole's

While the weather has been cooling off and according to the calendar it's been fall for almost 2 weeks, it did not become fall in our house until last week...we got our PUMPKINS!!  While I would have loved to take James to the pumpkin patch and picked the "perfect" pumpkin for him it just didn't make much sense to me this year.  After all...he doesn't even know what a pumpkin is!  So Matthew & I went to Kroger and
"picked" some pumpkins...ok I picked out our pumpkins while Matthew looked in disbelief at me as I exchanged them for better ones about 4 times...oh I'm so indecisive sometimes!!  So here are our pumpkins!
 

We also went to our town's fall festival last weekend--Riley Days!  It was below 35 degrees so James had to get all bundled up!!  He was quite the trooper!  He slept most the time!  When he wanted to be held he was happiest in his signature position (he likes to fly like a super hero!)  I would have to say he was a hit with almost everyone we walked by! 

 

 A few weeks ago Daddy David let me have my Mama's fall decorations.  Here's some fall decor around our house!

 

 Walking through the parking lot tonight at work I crunched some leaves...makes me think of my Mama and her love for crunching leaves!  My Mama's facebook status on October 22, 2010...

"(Diana Raney) Loves walking through the leaves and making that crunching sound. Also, wonders why David doesn't like her walking around on the leaves when he is raking and blowing them up. I'm just mulching them!"

Oh, how I miss my Mama EVERY day! 

Who's who and how are they related

As I was starting to write a new post I realized that sometimes I can be quite confusing when talking about my family members because let's face it...my family dynamics are ODD...my family members? No the dynamics!!  hehe!  

While Matthew's family is traditional, mine is not.  

Matthew's family

Both of Matthew's parents, Kevin & Dawn, have been married for 35 years in March!  (Early Congrats!)  He has one brother, Mark.  And he has two sets of grandparents, Art & Anita and Lauren & Margaret Toole (The Tooles are no longer with us).  So when mentioning one of his family members it's easy to know who I am referencing.

Mark, Art, Anita, & Matthew

Mark, Kevin, Matthew, and Dawn

My Family

My parents, Diana and Mark, married and had my brother, Josh, and me.  After 5 years of marriage they divorced.  My mom re-married when I was a year and half to my step-dad, David.  While growing up we called our dads "Daddy Mark" and "Daddy David"; now I simply call them both dad.  I try to be respectful around each of them by calling the other dad by their name.  The truth is they are both important to me and they are both my dads.  I've learned that I am a very lucky person to have two loving and caring men in my life that call me their daughter.  When I was twelve my dad...see I'm already confusing you...for the sake of this blog and to keep you in sound mind I will revert back to my childhood and they will from here out be called Daddy Mark and Daddy David.  So back to what I was saying...when I was twelve Daddy Mark married my step-mom, Sherry.  Sherry and I did not have the best relationship when I was a teen this is because I was an evil red-headed stepchild and probably should have been beaten like one...Oh!! does that saying remind me of my childhood?!  Now Sherry and I are very close and I can't imagine my life without her.  If you are thinking...okay this isn't too confusing and has become quite the norm in today's society...I'm not done!  

Most of you reading this know that we lost my mom last year to cancer.  While we all at times still mourn the loss of my mom we know what an amazing, uplifting, Godly woman she was.  She expressed to several individuals, including myself, how she wanted Daddy David to find someone who would love him for who he was, embrace his love for God, and love God herself.  Well I am proud to say my family dynamics have gotten more confusing and our family has grown.   Daddy David found God found Daddy David an amazing woman who does all of those things and so much more, Crissy and Daddy David got married on September 15th.  Crissy has the most wonderful girls, Mara & Makayla.  So what does that make Crissy, Mara, and Makayla?  They aren't step, half, twice removed--whatever that means!  I am calling the girls my step sisters and Crissy my step-mom if we need to get technical, but EVERYONE IS FAMILY and that's all that matters!!  And I truly, TRULY believe if my mom could have picked anyone for Daddy David to spend the rest of his life with it would be Crissy!

And then there are my beautiful grandmothers that I am so blessed to still have.  My Grandma Elliott (Daddy Mark's mother), my Grams ( my mother's mother) and my Great Grandmother (my Grams' mother...That's right!! --> she's 101!).  We have lost my grandfathers.

Now that you know who is who and how they're related...on to more posting!

Me and my beautiful Mama

  

                                     My dads and me                               

 My brother, Josh, and me

Daddy Mark, Sherry, Grandma Elliott, Matthew, and me

 Makayla, Crissy, Daddy David, and Mara

                              My Great Granmother                               

                                 me, my Grams, and my Mama              

Why does this blog exist and who are these Tooles?

Why does this blog exist?

Let me start by saying I will not claim to be original in anyway!  A lot...okay let's be real, almost all of my ideas are from another source!  I will do my very best to honor each blogger/person I get my ideas from.  This blog exist for my pure pleasure.  If at anytime I feel that this blog has become an "obligation" I will stop posting. This is a way that I can express my feelings, share our lives with our family and friends, and projects around our home.  There will be grammatical errors!!  Oh and I love...I mean LOVE exclamation points!!!
 
and who are these Tooles??

My husband, Matthew, and I have known each other my entire life, since I'm the younger one...meaning he is OLDer!  See back in 1967, when our Mom's were in the 3rd grade they became friends.  Their friendship grew and throughout the years they stayed in touch and we've even taken family vacations together (pictures to come!)  Matthew was the oldest of the 4 kids and I was the youngest and I was the only girl so Matthew and I were not very close growing up, in fact I was closer to his brother, Mark.  Matthew, Mark, my brother, Josh, and I all grew up and went on our own paths.  In 2010 Matthew found me on facebook.  We got to talking and started hanging while watching March Madness games.  This would bring us closer than we had ever been before.  A few weeks after befriending each other OFFICIALLY...ya know nothing is official until it's on facebook, my mom made a suggestion of dating Matthew.   My reaction: "Matthew?  Matthew Toole? Oh Mom, we're just friends!"  She knew in her heart we were soulmates, but didn't push it.  Fast forward another few weeks and Matthew made a move!  He started flirting on facebook and then one night while hanging out we kissed...June 18, 2010 to be exact!  1 year later, June 25, 2011 we were married!  While my mom was there to see us married she passed just 2 short weeks later-more to come on my mama!

Matthew & Stacy 1988 & 2010

Matthew & Stacy June 25, 2011

On July 30, 2012 we welcomed our son, James, into this world.  James is now 2 months old and developing quite the little personality.  Being a mother is everything I've dreamed it would be and so much more.  It's true...there is such a thing as love at first sight!  

James Brian Toole July 30, 2012

Well...there you have it...we're just a bunch of Toole's!