michigan I

elena graduated, we celebrated....and then the girls and i took off for a tiny getaway with my brother and katie.  we left illinois, drove through indiana....

 

and met our mark in michigan....

 

we got a 2 bedroom condo near lake michigan, ate fancy shmancy meals (ha!),

 

stayed up waaaay too late, and just enjoyed some r&r together....

 

after a eh-night sleep in a full bed BETWEEN my 2 girls, the next morning we headed to the beach!!!

 

 

they were MORE than excited!

 

 

miss e was the most excited....

 

so much so that i had to do what any good momma would do and tell her that there were sharks right out there (pointing a little ways out)!

 

 

they met a black and yellow butterfly on our way that chased circles around them...

 

we settled on a spot and got our beach gear on....

 

 

and got right into building a sand castle...

 

 

uncle t-bone was extra helpful...

 

the water was 56 degrees....

 

ad loved playing in the sand...

 

and sitting in the sand....

 

elena loved posing for pictures...

 

and teasing the idea of going under....

 

adelyn wasted no time destroying our sand kingdom....uncle t-bone was not happy....

 

she got over it with some juice...

 

 

 

 

we could only handle so much time in the heat and sand, so we headed back to the condo for baths and a much needed nap!

 

we woke up and had snack....

 

and colored....

 

and stole snacks - check out that "what i didn't do anything" look....

 

the girls got mani's from katie....

 

and gave me a pedicure...

 

adelyn did the left, elena did the right!

 

with our nap and our nails done - we were ready for some more of lake michigan! stay tuned...

"The only reason why we ask other people how their weekend was is so we can tell them about our own weekend." ~Chuck Palahniuk

elena graduates preschool

her attitude lately is probably more as if she just graduated the 8th grade. :( but, on may 18th, our baby girl graduated preschool. miss elena jae has demonstrated everything necessary, and then some, and we're told she's definitely ready for kindergarten. ::cue tears::

 

they've been practicing for their program for a good month and she claimed to be kinda nervous, despite singing her heart out at home.  she walked out definitely nervous - holding on to her dress for dear life.  ;)

 

she warmed up quickly and they got right into a prayer, the pledge of allegiance and several songs.

 

her favorite song was the last one, which was a silly one.  :)

 

then all us mommas got to go sit up front and they sang "you are my sunshine" to us and gave us a flower.

 

my big girl...

 

elena jae after she received her certificate from the principal...

 

her graduating preschool class....8 girls, 16 boys!

 

we're so proud!

 

my parents came, jason's parents came and great grandma betty came to see miss e....

 

 

what a big day!!  we're so happy and proud of you, elena jae!

 

(i have lots of video and am having trouble uploading it here.  :( )

"Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures."  ~H. Jackson Brown

mom's day

this mother's day was so special and unique....in that i got the stomach flu. :( we made the best of it nonetheless. i was showered with homemade gifts...

 

elena told me mother's day was her favorits holiday all because she got to make and surprise me with gifts...

 

 

unfortunately jason had the stomach bug as well, so we spent the morning either in the bathroom or laying down. the girls watched a lot of tv and read to us....

 

by the afternoon, we mustered up the strength to sit outside and watched our beautiful babies play...they made me a wonderful mother's day brunch of rock...which definitely HELPED my flu.

 

 

 

mother's day and every day, i am thankful for my beautiful girls that God gave me. it doesn't take this day of honor to remind me how lucky i am. but i do remember to honor all those mommas i know and love. i've learned so much from the other mothers in my life about nurturing, sacrafice and love. and i am so thankful for that. especially for my mom, but all the mommas in my life. love you all.

"God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers." ~Jewish Proverb

thank dank

a couple of weeks back we had the Thank Dank 5K that we not only attend, but do what we can to help with the event, as it's in honor of our late friend, slim.

 

ready to run...

 

j, the girls and the grandmas walked the "fun walk"...

 

or played around with ducks and whatnot...

 

while i ran...

 

and then came to the finish line to watch the runners and wait for me to finish...

 

trail run + rain all week including a downpour 20 minutes before the race = mud

 

i think it was the mud that helped me score first in my age group...

 

but way more importantly honoring a good man and his memory...

 

 

"The guardian angels of life fly so high as to be beyond our sight, but they are always looking down upon us." ~Jean Paul Richter

big spenders

saturday the girls got to cash in their piggy banks. it was a whopping $87 for miss adleyn and a whopping $102 for miss elena. they took all their coins to the bank and put them in the machine and we watched them total up. they also had another combined $43 from random things like easter eggs.
the girls were allowed to keep any amount under $10 to take to target and get whatever THEY want! they chose $9 and we headed to target. we "shopped" for no less than 35 minutes. it took a l.o.n.g. time, but they each settled on a lip gloss set that came with 5 lip glosses and a case for them ($5). being that they still had more money to spend, they hit the dollar bins. elena chose a wand that lit up but didn't work and a pink glitter ball. adelyn chose a lion puffer thingy and a green glitter ball. each of their totals came to $7.51, meaning they have $1.49 to start all over in their piggy banks. the lion survived about 33 hours before it "popped" and the wand survived about 76 hours before the top broke off. both have since been picked up by mr garbage man.



"The safe way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket." ~Frank Hubbard

wordless wednesday {well, kinda}

"The child supplies the power but the parents have to do the steering." ~Benjamin Spock

we pray

on of my favorite times of day is our prayer before dinner. the girls have taken it over and are rocking it.

'our' prayer is simply, "thank you, lord, for the food before us, the family beside us and the love between us." and then we'll sometimes add things on. elena says is correctly every time, but often changes up the order. she often adds on "thank you for the wonderful day, that we're all safe or healthy, etc."


adelyn usually mumbles the prayer and we catch a few words and then throws in what she's thankful for. in this video she's thankful for the easter bunny and santa. last night was the color red and crayons and tonight was crackers. she definitely mixes it up.


"Prayer may not change things for you, but it for sure changes you for things." ~Samuel M. Shoemaker