lemonade stand

First, a little play date at twisty freeze...

Then we teamed up together in our purple to have another lemonade stand for our friend, Lily.

 

"All it takes is one bloom of hope to make a spiritual garden." ~Terri Guillemets

Swim lessons

I tell them it's the one thing they HAVE to do, well besides school.....learn to swim.  Miss Adelyn has no desire whatsoever.  She loves to get in the water, play in the water and then gear all up for lessons, only to peter out and come up with every excuse imaginable to get out of it....

E is doing swimmingly (pun intended)....

 

"The water is your friend.  You don't have to fight with water, just share the same spirit as the water, and it will help you move."  ~Aleksandr Popov

E's first lost tooth

elena's bottom right tooth has been wiggly for some time now.  she's walking around wiggling it with her tongue and it makes lovely squeaky sounds.  she has difficulty biting with her front teeth.  and she obsesses over it 24/7!  :)

we tried a few ways to get it out that were all on the safe side.  she definitely wanted it out, but wasn't willing to do anything drastic and frankly - neither was i!

one day as she was obsessing over it, i was looking at it again for the 100th time as she pleaded.  i noticed the tooth behind it was already up!  we just so happened to be going to the dentist the next day and i explained the dentist may just want to pull that tooth out since her permanent tooth already broke through. when we went to the dentist, the dentist actually just told her to keep working at it....que miss elena going ahead and asking for the dentist to just pull it out!  they yanked it right out and miss e was a happy camper!

sporting a new smile and a whopping $5 from her tooth fairy, tooth-e-taya!  the tooth fairies seem to have all gotten richer since i was losing teeth.  in fact one tooth fairy wanted to leave her $100!!!  thank goodness tooth-e-taya is her tooth fairy and reminded him that she is only 5 years old!!

"If you don't have a smile, I'll give you one of mine." ~Author Unknown

Pregnancy

this pregnancy has been wonderful!some headaches and of course a BIG 'ole belly, but it's been enjoyable and i'm feeling super lucky to have such a smooth sail the third time around!  "beanie" must know momma wants to enjoy every minute as one!

some ice cream is a must!

some lullabies for beanie....

and when i do have a moment where exhaustion and/or pregnancy symptoms take over - the girls are my little rescue team!  they bring me water and a string cheese and make it all better for their momma!

"There is no other organ quite like the uterus. If men had such an organ they would brag about it. So should we." ~Ina May Gaskin

father's day

They couldn't wait for daddy to get home from golfing and shower him with gifts on Father's Day...

Only a few hundred homemade gifts.....

And one very special personalized key-chain that the kids designed themselves.  We left room for baby's name...

Then some family time outside.  Our favorite way to unwind on Sundays....

 

 

"To a father growing old, nothing is dearer than a daughter."  -Euripides



Summer days

with swim hair...

naked naps...

and movies in the park...

with daddy as a worker bee and mommy pregnant, we're trying to live it up as best we can!

"It's a cruel season that makes you get ready for bed while it's light out". ~Bill Watterson

sisters

found these two girls rummaging through the closet....trying on mommy's shoes...

they wear them well...

don't they?!

found these two synchronize diving...

synchronize landing and synchronize laughing...

"A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double." ~Toni Morrison

3 girls

enjoying...

each...

other.

that's all.

"A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart." ~Author Unknown

Summer responsibilities

be sure to look cute in your winter (& santa) pj's...

attend gymnastics classes regularly...and pose where we're getting new steps...

make your own breakfast...

and lunch....

go in for a trim.....

and of course, exercise....

"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." ~Philip K. Dick

tony & katie's wedding

here it is!! tony & katie's wedding day!!

we had a nice big breakfast and then the hair and make up appointments started!

i loved my hair!  it was a big fat bun with a few braids through it!  up, out of my way and super cute!

miss e loved getting her hair done...

aunty steph....we didn't know what was going on during, but the after was perfection!!

miss ad needed some bribing and coddling to get her hair done....stinker.

the bride and her flower girls....

super jan (a reader) and gina and heidi (the greeters) were off to the ceremony early to assume positions!

adelyn messing around...

my girls and i....

ad and i on the bus.  she was soooo ready to walk down the aisle for her uncle t-bone...

flower girl elena...

flower girl adelyn...

another of me and my hunny....

after the ceremony - the adults of the wedding party headed out for some pictures, drinks and a ride around chicago....

JUST MARRIED!!!!!!

we landed several places for pictures and drinks....finally getting to the hotel for the reception.  i had the girls come down for cocktail hour, except they both were NOT themselves.  it had been a long day, lots of people and action and i chalked it up to that.

we sent the three little ladies off with my favorite 3 girls to babysit (yes, the kids i used to babysit are old enough to live on their own, be married and enjoy wine in my hotel room while now babysitting my kiddos - full circle!)....

my big bro and i ....

shane, heidi, me and j....

my brothers and i....out on the dance floor pausing for a pic....

the happy couple.....

aunty steph sang for t and katie.....and totally rocked it!!

the cousins....

gina, heidi and i....

reception was over, but j and super jan were enjoying the favors - homemade lemonchello!

when i got up to the room - miss ad had just woken up and was not feeling well.  :(  she had a temp.  we enjoyed some applesauce and wee hour hotel cartoons....

she fell back to sleep after about an hour.  then miss e woke up about 5am throwing up!  :(  it was a long long night and i felt terrible i didn't realize they weren't feeling good! :(

sunday morning j stayed with e, while ad and i headed down for some brunch with the fam....papa was exhausted too!!

super jan, sisi and adelyn....

gina, adelyn, me, steph, sisi and heidi....

I will be updating with more pics soon!

"Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end." ~Author Unknown