Friday Night Lights

Friday night at 5:30, exactly 10 years to the hour, Kate and Tim renewed their vows. It was beautiful.

Can you tell we've got them beat by a year?

The Grands

We were so excited last week when Grandmommy (GM) and Granddaddy (GD) arrived for a visit! We quickly got them to work, planting flowers and driving around for school pick-up. When we got to Mary's classroom, she lept (almost flew) in GM's arms. It was so great to see!
We all sat down for a lovely dinner in the dining room and then poor GD defended against the onslaught! Nona and I quickly escaped to the Mall for a little work out!


Thursday was another busy and fun day! GM and GD took us out to a lovely meal at Sea Salt. The kids had fun running around and we even ran onto 2 different neighbors! It was a perfect evening to eat outside


Mac and GD played like this a lot!

Michael is one cool dude!


Friday we all went to Addie's school picnic- the only picture I got was Mac eating ice cream!

Day at the park!

Its starting to feel like summer 'round here. We had a great time at Bryant Lake park and can't wait to get onto the beach!

Party at the neighbors!

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Go Blue!

BFF

I am able to admit it. My kids just don't fight yet! I know its coming, but these days Mary and Addie could not be better friends. They got up Saturday morning and just started playing together in their room- didn't even come to see if we were up yet (sweet!). The day was full of outfit changes (enough to fill a laundry load!), shows, and running in and out of the house a dozen or so times. They know how lucky they are to have each other- I often tell them how lucky I am to have Aunt Kelly as my sister. They get it- at least for today.

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Michael isn't a big talker- yet. He does, however love his signs. This one seems to be very popular!

Smooches

The bus brigade.

I know that I have said it before, but there is something special about this little boy.
Every morning as Clint and the girls are off to school, Michael and I sit on the couch and wave good by. Then we wait...
One bus.
Two buses.
Three, then four school buses come rumbling down our street.
Michael can hardly contain himself. Here he is waiting, lining up his own buses...they make him laugh out loud. Some days we go outside and wave. The bus drives LOVE him- and so do I.

Best friends make the best moms!

For Mother's Day this year, I go to go see my friend Katie and her family in Milwaukee! Our trip was uneventful, except for the pink elephant somewhere along I94, and Addie's questions, "Do there have minivans in Wisconsin?"


Katie was my roomie at UD and for the last 8 years has been living in Greensboro, NC. Lucky me, she and her family decided to move home to Milwaukee where both she and her husband Sal are from. Katie and Sal have 2 beautiful daughters, Mia (7) and Maci (1) and a fiesty little terrier named Reggie, or Wedgie as Mary pronounced him!

Katie and have never met each others kids as we've only see each once in the last 7 years on a girls weekend. Hard to believe. Anyway, I was so excited to meet her girls and or course Addie and Mary were in love with them right off the bat! Friday night was a giggle fest in Mia's room 'till about 11:15pm!

Katie and I are those kind of friends who may not see each other for a couple of years but as soon as we do, its as though it was yesterday. How lucky am I?

Katie's mom took us all down to the art museum on Saturday. The kids played and had a really nice time!





The room with all the chairs was Mary's favorite :-)

We had a really nice lunch at a pub downtown- Michael and Sal had quickly become buddies as you can see!

We spent the rest of the day hanging out and playing! It was so nice and comfortable and easy- the best kind of visit.

Sunday morning, the girls set up a Mother's Day Spa for me and Katie! We had out hair, nails, and makeup all done. Somehow, I've misplaced those "after" shots ;-)


On top of that, Katie's parents, who have always been more than kind to me and my family, brought out brunch to celebrate Mom's Day with us. Each of my kids had a homemade card for me; it was a perfect day.

The time to leave came too soon. Addie was devastated to leave her new friend and her new favorite state ("Mommy, do they speak English in Wisconsin?"). She cried all the way out of the driveway until she fell asleep.


I don't think Reggie wanted us to leave either!

Thanks again to the Bando's for their hospitality and friendship. We can't wait for you to come visit us!

Glitter!

Yesterday was a big day for me! I wen to the Dr. to get my cast off, remove the stitches and get a new walking cast for the next 4+ weeks. Not sure that Clint felt so good when we finally got to see what was under the pink monster.
There were 2 ports from the arthroscopic part of the surgery and then a 6" incision up the outside of my ankle. The doc said it looked great- I thought it looked like a dried up caterpillar. The weirdest part was that may ankle scar was gone!! I've had that scar since I was little, maybe 4 or 5? I remember it - which says I lot because I don't have too many of those. I've always had- and now I don't.
Here is a picture of my new cast. Amy cried because she wanted it to be orange with pink dots. I didn't want to look like a traffic cone, so I opted for green. What you cannot see, is that it is covered in glitter :-)