Friends

Last Day of School...almost time to go back!

Beach Day

Two cuties having fun on the beach together. Marissa & Madison
You can usually find Myah and Makayla following Austin around.
So excited about our day together at the beach.
We made lots of memories together today at the beach....
So many that we conked out before we even hit the highway.

Up and Coming Dance Stars

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Cousins

I love this picture of Madison and Marissa.
We've had a lot of fun visiting with my sister and her kids this week. It's so nice that they are all close in age. Even though Austin is the only boy, I think he loves the attention he gets from the girls (especially Makayla and Myah) Tomorrow we are hoping for good weather so we can all go to the beach.

The Guys

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Start Spreading the News....

Did anyone notice the two newest songs on my playlist? We're in the process of planning a family trip to NYC and I can't get either of them out of my head so I figured I might as well add them to the playlist so they can get stuck in your head too. We are SOOOO excited to take this trip in a few weeks. It all started when Brian said he HAD to see the Yankees play in Yankee Stadium before it was torn down at the end of this year. At first I was annoyed because we have been saving to take a trip together for our 10 year anniversary coming up in the fall. I knew if we went to NYC then the romantic "honeymoon we never had " trip wouldn't be possible. So I agreed to the road trip with our kids instead. Yes, that's right, we're driving there AND we're taking the kids too. I'm super excited about it now though. So anyone out there ever been to NYC and have any suggestions for us? Also PLEASE send me your suggestions for keeping the kids company in the car for 12 hours?!?!?! Any fun road trip games or ideas out there? We're also going to drive up to Niagara Falls after visiting Manhattan for a few days. The kids don't know about that part and we can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they see The Falls for the first time.

Murder Mystery

Chief Breaking Wind was in full costume for the event.
We all decided Carl makes a good looking cowboy.
Here are Carl, Lisa and Sarah reading over their player manual. There are 4 rounds to the game. In each round you read things that you need to reveal about yourself or others that round. There are also a few shocking facts about yourself that you don't have to reveal UNLESS someone asks you about it, then you can't lie. All four rounds made for some interesting conversation and it was funny to see how all 8 characters lives twisted together. But who killed the town judge????? We all made our predictions at the end of the game.
I received many funny looks driving over to the party that night with a cowboy hat on. You don't see those very often around here.
Not all of us were cool enough to get into full costume like the rest of us. Just kidding Kristi and Jason. In case you were wondering... Kristi, er... I mean, Elvira was the killer.

We had a great time with everyone. Who's planning the next one??

Visit with Joanna

I took a drive out to Elkhart, IN on Thursday to meet my sister half way between our house and hers to drop Madison off. Madison spends a few days in Ohio every summer playing with her cousins. While we were there we had dinner at Pizza Hut and I decided to look up an old friend in the phone book there. Luckily I got a hold of her so after dinner I was able to stop by and visit with her for a little bit. Joanna and her husband Tony have the cutest family. Mom, dad, 3 kids, 3 dogs and 2 cats.
Joanna is Melinda's older sister and I always felt close to them all growing up like I was part of their family. (Tiffany too)

It was so good to see you Jo Jo! One of these days I'll host a Pampered Chef party as an excuse for you to come visit me. In the meantime if any blog readers out there need to order something from Pampered Chef contact my friend Joanna through her blog.

Visit to the Zoo

Thanks Nana and Papa for taking us to the zoo.

Austin, Madison and Papa petting sting rays and sharks at Stingray Bay.
Do you see the cheetah hiding in the grass?
Austin was tired of taking pictures by this time.

Indy day trip

Jaci, Sumera and I (2 on the left) made a trip down to indy for Melinda's big birthday bash.
I still remember the day I met you on the bus in 8th grade. Thanks for being a great friend. No we did not plan our matching outfits this day. haha Great minds think alike I guess.

Defacing Property

Austin and Madison with their best friends Jordan and Taylor. Fun memory! We are so lucky to have such great neighbors.

Welcome to the 30's

This is my friend Karen that I have known since my freshman year in high school.

Even though she has moved to Florida we still have managed to keep a great friendship over the years.

She came back to Chicago to celebrate turning 30 with me and two other friends. What better way than a shopping day in the city and over to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Miss you already Karen, but I'll see you in October.

Beach Day

Last Saturday we ventured off to our first day at the beach for the summer. Beautiful day to spend at the beach as a family.

Can you tell by the look on Austin's face how cold the water was?????
The kids took turns burying each other in the sand. Madison took advantage of Austin being buried and gave him a few kisses on his cheek.

Austin spent a lot of time digging this hole.

I love this picture of Madison.

Madi showing Austin how to do a hand stand.

4th of July

Well if you are like us, you had a busy holiday weekend with many parties to attend, fireworks to be seen and food to eat. Thursday we went to a BBQ and watched the Highland parade with our friends.

Miles inherited Austin's old camping chair that he grew out of recently. He's waiting so patiently for the parade to begin.
Gee, do you think Austin is excited about the parade starting soon???

Dustin and Madi having a little fun at the parade.

Then on Friday we went to my parents house for hanging out and some more food. When it got dark we watched their neighbors fireworks show that was pretty good considering they do it from their backyard. I'm amazed at how much money people spend on fireworks.

Before the show started we roasted a few marshmallows with nana and papa. Pay no attention to the shirt my dad is wearing.

Kitchen

BEFORE

AND AFTER

I love the potential that our kitchen has at our new home. Hopefully in a few years we will be able to knock down the wall that divides the kitchen from the dining room and replace cabinets and countertops etc. But for now adding some brown paint in this bland white kitchen made a big difference. It is the same color brown paint that I used in the canvases that hang over my couch in the living room. I'm also going to use that brown to paint a horizontal stripe around my dining room.

More pictures

Sumera with her 3 beautiful children!
Alice with her 2 month old baby, Kaden.

Jaci with Nicholas and Hannah

Tiffany with Allie. Her other daughter, Hannah, was a bit camera shy.

Lucas and Lilly belong to their wonderful mommy, Melinda!

Austin and Ali became great buddies.