Weekend in Tennessee

This past weekend was Preston's first road trip and we went to Tennessee to see Corey's cousin Josh and his wife Laken for their little girl Kynslee's 2nd birthday party.  I was a little worried about how Preston would do for that long in a car seat and then not being at home in his own bed but he did great. We got to see a bunch of family and had a really good time visiting and see our nieces and nephews! We are so blessed to be able to call these kids our nieces and nephews because Corey and I will never have a real niece or nephew by blood because he was an only child and my brother is handicap.  Corey has always been really close to his first cousins Josh and Lindsey and I am grateful that they allow us to call them our nieces and nephews and that Preston can call them aunt and uncle.
Preston loved playing with all the kids and he had such a good time he slept until 11:20 Monday morning because I think he was so worn out! Here are some pictures of our trip!

On our way to TN.


Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of just the birthday girl she was sick and was not feeling well, poor baby girl :(.  She had the cutest birthday party it was Candyland and was decorated so cute and they had a big jumper for all the kids to play on.

Jaxson (Lindsey's little boy) and Preston. 

Corey's Aunt Kathy, Madison (Lindsey's little girl), me, Corey, & Preston. He was not happy, he was getting hot in the gym.

 

 Preston sitting in his bumbo watching all the kids play.

Madison & Preston.

 

All the kids at the birthday party. Kylie (Josh and Laken's oldest daughter ) is holding Preston and next to them is Laken and Kynslee (the birthday girl)

Daddy and Preston in the big jumper  he loved it!

Aunt Lindsey holding Preston and the boys were giving kisses before they had to leave.

Family pic of all the family that was at the party.

After the party we went down to the park and swung and let the kids play and Preston feel asleep swinging.  Yes I know my baby has some chunky little legs but I love it!!

On the way home Preston slept the first 3 hours but woke up and was ready to play but had to stay in his car seat so I rigged up my nook so he could watch Mickey Mouse his favorite show, and he was fine the rest of the way home.

I want to thank Josh and Laken for having us at their house and being apart of the kids lives we had a great time!

 

We're Back!!

So... I know it has been a while but we have been super busy with welcoming our first child as well as finishing our house before baby (Preston) got here. Corey and I were talking about our blog a while back, saying that we should start it back because everyone had asked us about it and wondered why we had stopped blogging so here is another shot at blogging!

So we have a different blog name now instead of just "The Martone's " it is now "The Little Italian Family" courtesy of my husband! Most everyone knows that he is Italian so when trying to come up with a name for our blog now that we are a family, that's what he suggested and I liked it and it stuck!

Hopefully everyone now can keep up with our lives and Preston as he grows as well as some yummy recipes and crafts!

P.S. I will be doing a blog post on Preston very soon to get everyone up to date on him for the ones that are a little behind on seeing him grow!

Taco Stuffed Shells

Let me just start by saying these are amazing!! So good that my hubby ate 5!!! He wants this to start being a regular on our menu! Before it was completely done my husband was working up in the attic while I was cooking these and he kept telling me it smelt the whole house up with a Mexican smell that was amazing!  Hope you enjoy!

Sorry the picture was taken after we had ate one.

First you need to gather you ingredients.

Ingredients

1-2 lbs ground beef

pkg of jumbo shells (I only used about 13 shells)

1 pkg of taco seasoning

1 8 oz. pkg of cream cheese

2 cups shredded cheese ( I used fiesta blend)

1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips

1 cup salsa

taco sauce ( your preference on how much)

sour cream if wanted as a topping

First cook noodles as stated on package.

Cook meat/drain and then add taco seasoning and follow direction on pkg.

Then add cream cheese and mix until melted.

In a 9 x 13 spread salsa on the bottom of dish. After noodles are done cooking drain them and return to pot and add some butter to them so they don't get sticky.

After the meat is done cooking you can now begin stuffing the shells with the meat mixture and placing them on top of salsa in pan.

Now you drizzle some taco sauce on top of shells. (Up to you how much you want)

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 min.

When that is done sprinkle with the crushed tortilla chips

Top with the shredded cheese and bake uncovered for another 15 min or until cheese is melted.

These are AMAZING!!!

Better Late than Never : Halloween Party

Yes yes I know I am very late on this post!  But with school and stuff I have been very behind on blogging. Back in October we had a Halloween Party at my mom's house  for Corey's birthday.  We had a blast with all our family that was able to come and celebrate. Here are some pictures of that night.....

The Murphy's came as Corey, a patient, a doctor, and a vampire.

The Larkin' came as the Joker, a Monster High girl wolf, and an army guy.

My mom and Bob came as the Pilsbury doughboy and Betty Crocker.

My grandparents came as a Master Sgt in the air force and an air force wife. Can you believe he still has a uniform that fits lol

The Brown's came as a flapper girl and a surgeon.

My dad and Renetta came as an angel and and engineer.

Lucas and Amanda came as Robin Hood and a wolf.

I was a flapper girl and Corey was a mobster.

Jacob came as a vampire and won the Scariest costume award.

Liz and Adam came as Meredith and Mcdreamy from Grey's Anatomy.

The voting table for Scariest, Best, & Funniest Costume

Corey's mom and step dad came as the Harlem Globetrotters and won the Funniest costume award.

The Smith family came as the Adam's Family and won the Best costume award.

The Matthews' family came as the people from Christmas Vacation and jail people.

As you can see we had a great time and hope this can become a yearly thing that we do! Hope all that weren't able to come will be able to come next year!!

Happy Birthday Chad!

So yesterday my brother turned 28! So this past weekend my mom ,myself, Corey, my dad , and Renetta all went down to Arkadelphia to his home to spend the day with him and have a birthday party! He was so excited to see us, and of course mom had to have pictures of us!

Singing Happy Birthday in sign language

I know he had such a great time and was so happy to see all of us! I hope he had a wonderful day yesterday!

Dad and Renetta got Married!

So a while back I posted about my dad getting engaged, so in October they got married in a lilttle private church ceremony. It was perfect and their closest family got to be there. Here are some pictures.

You may now kiss the bride!

The bride and groom with their sisters.

The bride and groom with me!

I am very excited and happy for them as they have started their life together. I could not have asked for a better stepmom! She is so great to my dad and my family! Welcome to the family Renetta!

The House: Finished with Bed/Bath

I know I know it has been a while! I still haven't gotten used to this whole blogging thing! Hopefully soon but we are some super busy people lol.  Well we have finished the master bathroom and bedroom of our house so here are some pictures of us finishing up!

This is when we got the lights up!

This is my finished room, bathroom, and closet!! I have to say my hubby did a great job! Cant wait for the rest of the house but fore now we are taking a break but will keep yall posted!