making lemonade

Not literally making lemonade...I'm no Suzie Homemaker.

The rain on the other hand, I'll nicely call it lemons.  There may have been a few other choice words for the bad weather come out of my mouth, but today....we call it lemons.

Jacks decided to make the best of it, threw on his helmet, and took his truck on a drive.  Apparently to try to find the Mother Nature herself. 
She's probably still mad at me for this little stunt.

And yes, for those of you who know his sensory issues, as soon as the playing was done...the clothes had to come off IMMEDIATELY.  

Fun to be wet in the rain, not so fun in the garage :)

On a serious note - can we shoot a prayer up that the ground dries up SOONER than later!?

I know one farmer waiting to plant that would appreciate it {I'm sure they all would}.

kip graduates...

You know life gets away with you when you realize you have more things to blog about than time to actually blog about them.
{and yes, Angry Birds may also be taking some of my time...}

This feels like AGES ago.
Kip's Graduation.

Jess, Kas, Kasey's bf Brady and I drove to Duluth the night before graduation.
Johnny was in town for goodness sake, we HAD to go.

We had so much fun.
I say it time and time again, but I am so fortunate to not only have such great sisters, but friends in them as well.
We danced, lost each other for a while...I tried finding Kara her future husband {who just happened to sit in front of us at the graduation ceremony.....pretty funny.}

All in all, a FANTASTIC time.

I mean, who else can I make the akward smiles with!?

Those girls keep me young.

After commencement, finally graduated!

Yippeee!

We are so proud of you, Kara.

The next day, she moved out of her house, packed her bags and headed to Europe.

Have you been following her adventure?

Do it here.

b, the birthday boy

I had really great intentions of making sure Brad had pictures of his day on his birthday.  

Fail.  

I took one picture of us out for breakfast, and the rest of the day was undocumented.  We did make it a fantastic day.  I made Brad take the day off, we took the kids to daycare, and spent the day together.  It was awesome.

We picked up the kids {and Kasey} and went out to dinner, and then played the rest of the night.

Kind of a perfect day if you ask me...even though it wasn't my birthday :)

The kids figured out quickly that the walking toy they both used when they were learning to walk doubles as a fantastic ride down the hill in our back yard.

And of course, the boys find a way to make a game of it....

These kids certainly love their Daddy....and what a great Daddy he is.

Happy Birthday, B!! We love you so much!

hmph

I as well as thousands of others am a victim of blogger.  It deleted my Mother's Day post.  So, if I find the time, I will compose another one.

Until then, checkity check it out.  Jess and I purchased Kip her very own blog template.  Follow her, NOW.
Today we're headed to Duluth to help her celebrate her GRADUATION from COLLEGE.  

Oh yeah, and a confirmed internship, and then it's goodbye for a fabulous adventure.

Seriously, follow her.  Read all about it - well, not yet - but soon.

http://ciao-4-now.blogspot.com/

mothers day

Mother's Day 2011.

I have to admit, I kind of love this day.  We decided to head out to the farm and have lunch with my parents, grandma, two aunts and uncles, and of course my kiddos.  Brad is so gracious that he even insisted I sit on the opposite end of the table for lunch, and he took the task of the little ones.

{Is that sad!?  I love my kids, but I LOVED the conversation, too.}

When we got to the farm, we had so much fun hanging out.

Here is my Mama, {the best in the biz, that's for sure} and my little sister, Kip.

Fin serenaded us with a little music...

Jacks was overjoyed with some mega tickle time with Kara...

And when he was tuckered out, a little cuddle time with Mom...

And really....even if I didn't have to change diapers for an entire day, it really boils down to these two littles...

'Cause this Mommy thinks they're the bomb.

the big three-OH! in pictures

Thursday was the day.

Cinco de Mayo for most, a big birthday for me.

Since I {finally} got a new phone, I thought I'd document the day.

I woke up to the smell of bacon...mmmmmmm, bacon.

My hell-of-a-good husband set his alarm bright and early to have it ready for me.

 I do believe this little guy was just as excited as I was. He loves him a good breakfast.

Little Miss decided to make an appearance as well... 

 After a quick shower, it was off to "Tea with Mommy" for Mother's Day at pre-school.

Jacks was adorable, pushing in my chair for me, holding the door open, pouring my "tea" {aka sparkling juice...yum} and delivering cookies.

On my way in to the office, I stopped for a treat of my own.

Carmel Frappucino.  Full Fat.  And yes, I'll have the whip cream.

It's my birthday.

Holy delicioso.

 Uh huh.  I enjoyed every delicious calorie that came with it.

Out with the work fellas.  And a round of Patron to mark the occasion.

I left with a new tee shirt, they all left with Jose Cuervo mustaches.

I call that a successful meeting.

After work, a quick trip to the sure-fire "one stop shop" to spend my birthday money.

Success again.

Then time for a MUCH needed pedicure.

Picked up the little people, and headed to the Newman house.

We even were serenaded with a little pre-dinner entertainment.

 And had a round of tacos, compliments of Jess...

And don't forget the cake!!

Red velvet.....my fav.

I tried on said tee shirt from earlier in the day....

And accompanied it with a glass of wine.

Then it was off to softball for Brad, and mucho play time outside for me and the kiddos.

 Sidewalk chalk covering our clothes, a good long bath for the kids, lots of birthday hugs and kisses and bedtime stories later, it was time for this gal to cuddle up with a good book and call it a night.

Of course a moment to thank God for the wonderful people I have in my life, and to realize how truly blessed I am.

Happy Birthday to me.

{It may be the last one I ever count}

baby bree

I can't believe it took me this long to visit this baby.

Little Miss Bree Josephine is eight weeks old, and one pretty cute babe.

Bree's Mom is Ashley, my high school bestie.  She makes some adorable little ladies.  

Here are the kids together - with baby Bree and Big Sister Shay.

And I'm not gonna lie, I was a smitten kitten with this little one.  Brad and I fought about who got to love her up first.

 Of course, my little mama wanted her turn too...and was shockingly gentle and quiet with the babe.

Can I just stop for a moment and take in the fact that Ash may be a phenom!?  I mean seriously she looks PHE-NOM-ENAL.  

Not fair, I tell you...to look that good.

We had such a fun time meeting the little one and getting some majorly overdue catch up conversation.

The littles were worn out on the way home, too...and good thing I had the camera.  How adorable is this!?

Yep, warms this Mommy's heart.