March to July Catch Up

Wow, so a lot has happened since my last post. We took a spring vacation to Hilton Head, Hannah finished Kindergarten, we had our patio put in, celebrated Hannah's 6th birthday, went to the Shedd Aquarium, celebrated Ellen and Shawn's wedding with Hannah as one of their flower girls, hung out at the beach and mom & dad's pool, caught some kids' summer movies at the theatre, and the kids all learned to swim without their floaties!

It's been a strange weather spring and summer with lots of storms and extremes-too much rain, then not enough, too cold then too hot.

Here are a slideshow to catch up on what's been missed...

Splish Splash Art Night

Hannah had an Art Night at her school last week and wanted us all to go. She was cute as she showed us her art hanging in the halls. There was a scavenger hunt that all the kids could participate in by collecting little shells and such and then there were crafts in the gym. Our kiddies had lots of fun! The cutest part was when Hannah would spot on of her little friends and they would wave to each other and say, "hi," but then move right along. It was funny. Here are some pics...

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day, the kids and I made heart shaped cookies. They were excited to decorate their own. It was so funny, Ryan was frosting and decorating his cookies and all of the sudden he had eaten most of his already! He did it so quietly.

The weekend after Valentine's Day, we met mom and dad in St. Joe. We had fun hanging out. Dad took the kids on a walk and to play at the park since the weather was sunny, then he treated them to hot chocolate at the Chocolate Cafe. YUM! Now that's some hot chocolate. I had coffee of course, but had to steal some of Ryan's hot chocolate. After that, we walked around taking pics of the kids by the snowmen throughout the downtown. They wanted to pose by each one, but mommy was cold!!

Daddy Daughter Dance Luau

This was Hannah's very first Daddy Daughter Dance. Her school sponsored it and the theme was a Luau. It was cute. We painted her nails, and did her hair and she wore a tropical looking sun dress and flip flops with a flower in her hair. I think she was very excited to have daddy all to herself and to have him meet her little friends. They had a great time.

Winter 2011

Well, it probably comes as no surprise to any of you that I am totally OVER winter!!! The kids and Pat are too. The below average temps and most recently the third worse blizzard the Chicago area has ever had are putting me over the edge.

Aside from that here are some pics of us trying to make the best of it by putting our sand toys to work and a couple from the blizzard. Bring on SPRING!! Please??!!

Happy 4th Birthday Josh and Ryan!!

This year we celebrated Josh and Ryan's birthday by having a party here at home with both sides of our family. We had a big sleepover for whoever wanted to stay, and it was really fun. Poor Eric and Sarah and family had to leave early because of sicky kiddos, but they made it home safely. There were thirteen of us spending the night.

This year, Ryan wanted a Thomas the Train theme and Joshy wanted Iron Man so I made Ryan some Thomas cupcakes, and Josh an Iron Man cake. It was a lot of work, but they liked them so much it was worth it :) We ordered Portillo's for dinner, some Italian beef sandwiches, and some Chicken Giambotta, yummmm...After dinner, the boys opened their presents and had such a fun time playing with all their cousins and family. Ryan barely left his Aunt Debbie alone, he kept telling her, "It's time to cuddle," while dragging her over to the couch.

This morning we got up and had some pancakes and everyone went their separate ways home. Makin' memories!

"Oh, Christmas Tree"