I have art envy

So I have this friend named Melinda that has been one of best friends ever since 8th grade. She has always had amazing art skills that make me very jealous. Well, she recently started making these art creations that she calls "Upcycled Art" She basically uses her amazing talents and some recycled vinyl wall coverings to create beautiful pieces. I'm excited to own my very first piece that she designed just for me. She can customize any piece for you with your taste in colors and patterns. She can even duplicate something like bedding you have in a bedroom that needs art pieces to match. So if you're interested in her services, let me know and I can give you her info.

(sorry Mel, there was a glare when I took this pic)

I'd also like to mention that the art is even more amazing in person!

Catching up...

Austin and Madison planted some flowers to bring over to their Grandma and Grandpa. We are praying every night for their Grandpa Jerry as he is fighting cancer right now.
Austin and my dad made me this plant stand for Mother's Day this year. I was so surprised and absolutely love it because I don't have anything that my dad has ever made before. Austin picked some Iris's from my garden to put in this vase for my plant stand.

We had great seats for a Harlem Globetrotters game this year. The kids got to go down and meet several players and get their autographs. One of the players name was "Tiny" and he was 7 feet tall. I had never stood next to someone so tall before.

When we were on the court getting autographs, Brian took advantage of sitting on the Chicago Bulls Bench seats. Pretty neat to be walking on the court where some of the greatest Basketball players have played.

Miss Illinois was there and Madi got to shat with her for a little while.

Coming to a computer near you soon

I know it has been a very long time since I have created a new post on here. It's not about being lazy or nothing to talk about...it's because our computer has absolutely no space left on there to hold pictures. So, we're in the process of getting an external hard drive to hold all of our pictures so that we have space on our computer again.

In the meantime, the kids are counting down the days until summer vacation - they have 4 left! I, however, have been counting the days OF my summer vacation. That's right, my school was over 2 weeks before the kids, so I have been enjoying time to myself to relax in a quiet house.

Well, hopefully there will be some pictures to post on here sometime this week!

Bulls Game

We were all pretty excited about going to a Bulls game this year at the United Center. It was the first time the kids and I have ever been there. We had AMAZING seats (thanks J&B) and it was a very exciting game...so we had an awesome time together!
After Austin's team won the championship game we asked him what he wanted to do to celebrate. I meant something like go out for ice cream etc. He said he'd like to go to a Bulls game. Never thought he'd actually get to meet a few players while we were there. 2 players the kids met and got autographs from were no big names...but we did get to meet Joakim Noah.

Waiting patiently for the players to come!!!!

Madison and I even got to meet Benny the Bull. The night we went was Latino night so his name was Benito.

Enjoying the game!!!

Championship Photos

Celtics 38 Spurs 28

I don't have any pictures to post yet...but I couldn't miss this opportunity to tell you all how good Austin did today in his championship game. Austin's team won by 10 points giving them 1st place in his league! The game started off strong with Austin stealing the ball in the first 15 seconds of the game to take it down for his first 2 points. He was on fire from that point on and ended up scoring 20 points in the game. Way to go Austin!!!! Nana and Papa have been his faithful fans along with Brian, Madison and myself this season. Austin was really excited that Uncle David and Kelly were able to come watch him play today too.

The assistant coach lifted Austin up on his shoulders at the end of the game. I have never seen Austin smile bigger than he did at that point.

We are so proud of Austin for working so hard this season.

Exciting day for Austin

Austin meeting Reed Johnson from the Chicago cubs on Sunday.
Austin was excited to wear his Greg Olsen jersey that nana and papa got him for Christmas when meeting Greg Olsen from the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

David Neville is an Olympic gold medalist from our area. Not very often you can say you met an Olympic gold medalist.
Thanks nana and papa for taking Austin to meet all the athletes!!

My family has been so good to me since I have been very sick since Saturday. I finally went to the doctor yesterday to find out I have a double ear, sinus and throat infection. I've also had a high fever since Saturday (this is my first day without a fever and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's gone for good)

Austin has been asking me what he can do to help and Madison made me this nice tray full of light snacks. The only thing that sounded good enough to eat yesterday was a frosty from Wendy's that my wonderful hubby hand fed to me. Sounds pitiful... but my fever kicked my butt so bad I couldn't even move. The first frosty felt so good on my throat that my dad stopped by to give me another one. I'm sure the calories in those 2 frostys made up for the fact that I haven't eaten anything in 3 days. My mom is on her way over here right now with Subway for lunch and spaghetti dinner for tonight. I don't know what I'd do without my family around to help when I'm sick.

Flags, Guitar Hero and Superbowl Fun!

This is the second year that the guys played flag football at Redar Park a few hours before the big game started. They were all good sports when I made them stop playing for a minute so I could take a picture of them. They were all walking funny when they got to our house later and I've heard many of them are sore since that day.Yijie and Dustin rocking it out on guitar hero.

A few more rock stars that day...

The girls were banished to the living room so the guys could watch the superbowl on Brian's new 50 inch plasma in the family room. We soon found out that there was an 8 second delay from our tv to their tv. All the girls thought it would be funny to cheer really loud when the first touchdown was scored. Of course 8 seconds later the guys saw it happen and started cheering. Needless to say, they didn't find it very funny at all. We assured them we did it just to be funny and we weren't planning on watching the whole game.

Happy Birthday Madison!

Madison was pretty excited when school was cancelled on the day of her birthday due to below zero temperatures around here. She said it was the best birthday present ever! Since we weren't in a rush to get ready for school I was able to make her favorite french toast for her birthday breakfast. The principal of my school makes it for teachers and students a couple times a year and Madison loves it!! (yes, it is covered in sugar so she was pretty wired for an hour or so after eating it)

Since there was no school we headed off to the mall for her annual birthday tradition of going to Build a Bear. We ended up being in the Build a Bear workshop for over an hour because she is so terrible about making decisions. (not sure where she gets that from) There are about 20 animals to choose from and she kept changing her mind even while we were standing in line for the stuffing machine. Finally she chose this adorable bunny, but had a hard time finding the perfect outfit and matching shoes for her. Lastly, you have to think of a name for your animal. She ended up choosing Emily. Then we were off for a little shopping, a stop in the photo booth and some hot chocolate before hitting the cold air again.
Later that night we took Madison and her friend Taylor to the roller rink. Madison was really sad that her cousins and Aunt Sheila weren't able to make it this weekend as planned because of the winter weather. Nana and Papa were there too and took lots of pictures and videos of all of us skating.

I think Madison is better than me at skating.
Then we all came back to the house for tacos and birthday cake! And of course there were gifts! You realize how grown up your daughter is when she gets an IPOD from her nana and papa, a makeup case filled with makeup from her Aunt Sheila and a Miley Cyrus CD from her brother. She use to get excited about the bows on top of her presents or the baby doll gifts. Now her eyes light up when she receives gift cards and cash and runs to go put them in her wallet inside her very own purse. Wow, I don't know where the time has gone... but it's official that my baby is 8 years old now.