Happy Birthday Justin and Emma

We had a great time at Justin and Emma's birthday parties! The kids always enjoy their time with the "cousins". We were glad to be able to be there! We spent the week with Grama and Papa, which was great. Papa surprised the kids with a real tree house, complete with a trap door that locks! Don't tell Abbey if you see her - she'll be the last grandchild to see the big surprise!

Trip to SF

I had a great time in San Francisco and Healdsburg last weekend! Jean was a great hostess and her, Megan and I enjoyed some much needed girl time! I walked through my old neighborhood and did some reminiscing...we went wine tasting...AND - we ate at restaurants with NO children's menu! Even my airport time was relaxing...I finished 1 1/2 books!

I can't believe how big our little Kader is! He is officially riding his bike with no training wheels. He just decided to do it and it's done...well, with a few scrapes and bruises and close calls! But we are extrememly proud of him and all of his hard work and determination!

Cari and Amanda came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. For those that know them, you may not recognize Amanda! Where is our little 3 year old neighbor??? She's a girl and not a baby anymore! The kids all had a great time playing together and we had so much fun catching up and reminiscing about the old neighborhood.....

Another year gone by!

Well, I'm a year older now but things still seem pretty much the same, which is good I guess. We spent my birthday going to mass, playing outside and finished up with dinner at Red Robin! This is more for the kids, as they love watching them sing "Happy Happy Birthday!" (although, I do love the Whiskey River Chicken Salad - minus the chicken!) Then Cole entertained us with his guitar and cowboy hat...he is quite a rocker!!

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July this year! We went to my friend Stine's for a party and fireworks - the kids had a great time playing, eating and watching our fireworks! Then we went to a local fireworks display. I was a little worried about the kids making it that late, but they did great! It was a moment I won't soon forget...the looks on their faces when the fireworks started was priceless! A look of awe and slight fear I guess. They ended up loving it, saying "that one is my favorite" on almost every firework in the sky!

Visit to Lapine

Well, the kids and I went to visit Memaw and Grampy in Lapine last week. This is one of their favorite things to do - explore the property and play in the dirt all day! An added bonus is sleeping on the "bunk beds" in the trailer...definitely what I would call "camping"! They were busy all day collecting rocks and sticks and feeding peanuts to the squirrels. Daddy joined us on Saturday morning and may have had a hard time recognizing the kids through the layers of dirt! We had a great time and the kids can't wait to go back!