Happy 4th of July

Yesterday we went to a BBQ party at one of Chris's friends house. Emilia had a great time swimming and eating the oatmeal M&M cookies. We then stopped by my Aunt Tammy's house for a cookout for my cousin, Aaron, who was home for the weekend from basic training. It was awesome to see him and the rest of the extended family. I had to work the 4th this year, so Chris took Emilia over to my family's get together at my Aunt Carol's house. When I got home from work I had a ton of last minute packing to do, so I put Emilia to bed. Of course the neighbors were shooting off fire works (which we never do), and I caught Emilia out of bed watching them out the window.... I ended up letting her get out of bed and go outside with Chris to watch them while I finished the packing... The place we are staying is a cabin that belong to a family member that lives in Denver. It is right outside Winter Park, and there are 8 of us going... kind of an odd combo also! It was originally going to be Chris and I and Emilia camping in Colorado, then my dad called his cousin, Donna, and she said the cabin was available if we would rather stay there. My mom was off that week, so we invited her. My Uncle Danny (my mom's older brother) just moved in town and loves the outdoors, so we thought he'd enjoy it, and then last but not least, we figured Heather and her kiddos would have fun going, so there makes our group of 8. We are driving half way Tomorrow when I get off work, then staying in a hotel room for the night. We will finish the drive in the morning, and hopefully arrive at Donna and Pat's for lunch in Denver. Pat is then going to have us follow her to the cabin to make sure we don't get lost! Since we are leaving straight from my work, I have some last minute cooler packing that I am going to have to leave for my husband to do... with lists in hand! I planned all the meals for the week and am taking most the food with us to make things a bit easier. I also went shopping and bought Emilia some car ride goodies to hopefully keep her occupied... we'll see!

Where do I start?

I don't think I will ever catch up on my blogging because of lack of time, but I have 5 minutes now, before I need to clean the above mess, so here's the last 3 weeks in a very quick summary... June 19th, Chris and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary... how time flies. We actually celebrated a bit earlier that week, though, because Chris had the day off. We, minus Emilia, spent the entire day together which involved yummy lettuce wraps at PF Chang's, some window shopping on the plaza, and a movie. It was fun, relaxing, and a bit weird to be celebrating without Emilia there, but we were in need of some just "us" time! Okay, whats next... Oh, Father's Day! Unfortunately I had to work on Father's day, so we celebrated it on Friday, which was actually our anniversary! Emilia and I took Chris to pick out his new lawn mower... no joke... it's what he asked for! Emilia was quite disappointed it did not come in pink, although I am sure Chris was not too upset with the black one he picked out. Emilia also had made him a present at school, so he opened that Father's Day morning when they got up. They then went to breakfast together to enjoy some yummy belgian waffles and gelatto (I know... weird combo). Happy Fathers Day, Chris! Blueberry picking on the hottest day of the year was fun, but very tiring! I did not take my camera that day, hence the lack of pics, but we went with some friends from work and picked for about 30 minutes, then bought some of the pre picked ones in the store! Nothing else too exciting... work, school, and fitting a little playing. I am busy this week trying to get next weeks assignments complete so I will not have them hanging over my head during vacation. We are going up to Colorado the week after the 4th for a little family vacation... should be fun!

a full house

Today Emilia and I were watching our little buddy again when I received a phone call from my sister, Melissa, to watch her kiddos also. The more the merrier, so they all came to my house for lunch and naptime. I was putting laundy away in my room, with the little guy playing on the bed when Garrett asked to sit on my bed to play his Gameboy. I said sure, then here comes Emilia wanting to play it also, and before I knew it, Lily had joined them as well. My niece, Hannah arrived a bit later. The kids were amazingly well behaved, but it was definately a busy and exhausting day!

Garrett showing Emilia how to play his Game Boy

Party in my bed!

One of Chris's friends, Justin, is coming over tonight to look at our AC. We replaced our furnace this winter, and knew our AC wasn't running efficiently AT ALL, so we figured we should do it before the hottest part of summer arrives!

already?

Somehow time flies when you are having fun, and it is already time for classes... again! Unfortunately I am feeling very unmotivated and that is never a good way to begin a class that begins tomorrow. Its only 8 weeks long and I can do anything for 8 weeks... this will be my motto for the next 8 weeks. This fall should be easy, and then the fun begins next spring and I will at least be learning interesting things. Last week flew by, but one of the highlights was a fun filled day of shopping with my Uncle Danny. We began the day with a yummy breakfast with Emilia and Chris and then when Chris went to work, we headed off to Nebraska Furniture Mart for all new light fixtures and ceiling fans. I did not bother checking to see what time they opened, though, so when we arrived at 8:45, we were quite surprised to find they did not open until 10:00! OOPS! Luckily Cabella's opened at 9:00, so we walked around there for a bit then headed to Nebraska. As much as I love to shop, lighting is not my specialty. After a couple hours walking around staring at the ceiling, we finally decided on the ones we had spotted when we first walked in! Very simple ones. I ended up getting such good deals, that we added some patio furniture to our purchase... without thinking of how we would get these things back to my house! (I am very impatient and don't like to wait for delivery!) My Uncle Danny has a large truck, and with some crafty packing, it all fit. I did however fear the safety of those following to close behind... a chair in the windshield cannot be a good thing! Thanks for being such a good sport, Uncle Danny... next time we will go fishing instead of shopping! I just have to get Emilia a pink fishing pole! :) Cheers to a productive week!

Day out with Thomas

To prepare for our trip to see Thomas the train, we went to the library and picked out Thomas books so Emilia would know who he was. She has been so excited for the past several weeks and keeps asking when we are going.... today was the day! We went with a friend from work and my sister, Heather. The kids were beyond exhausted by the end of the day, but the weather was perfect and everybody had a great time!

We sat on the caboose!

Myles found Emila to be quite funny!

Emila thought Myles was so nice because he shared his napkin!

Meeting Thomas

Sir Topham hat

Hudson

Myles

Getting so big

Emilia attended her 1st "non family member" birthday party today. Her friend, Myles, turned 3 and had a Thomas the train birthday party. The cake was so cute because each of the kids got to decorate a train car, then they were placed on a train track (made out of a flat rice crispy treat and licorice for the tracks.) Believe it or not I was camera-less (unheard of, I know), but Myles mom promised to email me some that I took with her camera. It was fun and the kids had a great time!

Sleep over

Since Chris was out of town this week, we had a girls night with my niece Hannah, as well as Emilia's 1st sleep over. We spent the evening painting bird houses that Emilia had picked out to hang in our garden. We also had a picnic on the living room floor and watched the Velveteen Rabbit. Rather then sleeping in my king size bed, they wanted to make a bed on Emilia's bedroom floor and sleep in there, which I thought would have not been a problem... wrong. Emilia was up several times though the night and I ended up on the floor sleeping with two girls who both steal the covers! It was fun, but I am exhausted and cannot wait for Chris to get home tonight!

Memorial Day

It is so easy to take for granted the freedom we so easily enjoy, but today is not only a day to remember those we have lost in war, but to also remember those who have fought and our still fighting for that same freedom. Thanks dad, Uncle Danny, and my still-in-bootcamp cousin, Aaron, for being our own family heroes!

Jiggle Jam

Chris took Emilia to Jiggle Jam this weekend while I was stuck at work. From the pics, I could tell they had a great time... wish I could have been there!

You look so pretty, Markus!

Birthday Blessings

The big 29... already? From 24 to 29 has flown, probably because time flies when you are having fun, and I have to admit these have been the absolute best and most fulfilling years of my life. Five years ago I married the most wonderful husband and almost 3 years ago we added our little sweet but ornery addition, Emilia. I am quite the planner (big surprise) and thought I had my life perfectly mapped out to the number of kids I would have before I turned 30, and have come to the acceptance that as much as planning is fun, things don't always turn out the way we plan. They turn out better. I absolutely love my life. I had thought at this point in my life I would be working full time, have 3-4 kids, and be anywhere but Kansas City. Lets take a little review... 1 daughter, work 2 days a week, and live in Lee's Summit (might as well be Kansas City), and I wouldn't change a thing about it. While I would love to add 2-3 more kids, I do not plan to have these all in one year to full fill one goal by the age of 30! All bets are off at this point, though! :) I am so thankful for where my family is at in this very moment, and look forward to the many years to come. And actually I don't plan on turning 30 next year, either... I think I will just continue celebrating 29 over and over again!

My birthday celebration began with a knock on my door a little after 8am, and my sisters (and thousands of children) showed up with Starbucks to start the day out right! The kids all got to play and we hung out drinking yummy coffee... every day should begin so nicely! Oh, and Emilia slept in until 8... gotta love it! Heather surprised me with the necklace pictured above... in remembrance of many fun nights spent singing karaoke while we were in Paris! We all hung out for a bit then headed to downtown Lee's Summit for lunch and a bit of shopping then back home for nap time. Chris had planned dinner reservations with a bunch of my family, so that was lots of fun. Emilia was the only little one there because my sisters left theirs at home (not alone, though!), so needless to say she enjoyed being the center of attention. The food was great... we all ate too much... and I was glad that so many were able to come! Thanks also for all the birthday wishes.... it couldn't have been a better birthday! And thank you, Chris, for planning such a fun get together and making today so special!

some of the family Aunt Tammy and Heather Chris, Emilia and I Emilia before she spotted the camera...

you can only guess what happens next!

A little posing, any one? pose #1 #2 #7

#13

#19... thanks for encouraging it, Melissa!

#28... by this time she had an audience from the surrounding tables

which did not help the situation!

and mixing it up with a bit of theatrics!

my little actress

world's coolest umbrella!

the girls

Gardening Buddy

I had the best little helper on yesterday while planting my veggie garden. Not only did my mom and sis, Melissa, come over to help, but my 2 year old niece, Lily, joined us in the dirt digging. Luckily, my nice next door neighbor had tilled the area for us, so planting was made much easier!

Notice the dirty hands and face... and she doesn't mind! Very unlike her mama who requires gardening gloves! :) We love you anyways, Melissa! And thanks to all their help, we should have fresh veggies all summer... as long as the fence holds up to its job and keeps the deer out!

Our veggie garden

Me and Emilia's shade garden

Pansies are the happiest flowers

Happy Mother's Day

I think this year was by far the best Mother's Day I have had, and although it was a busy day, Emilia was an absolute angel. I was a little nervous of how the day would go since we had church plus my niece's 2 hour ballet to sit through (during nap time), and although we tried to plan the day out exactly... planning only goes so far when there is a 2 year old involved. I had taken the day off, so we all went to church together in the morning, then grabbed a quick lunch after church. Luckily, Emilia was quite predictable and fell asleep after 2 minutes of foot scratching, which allowed us to run a few errands before the ballet and allowed her to have an almost 2 hour nap (in the car.) She actually loved the ballet and sat quietly through the entire performance. Hannah, whose 8, was only in about 5 minutes of the performance, but Emilia swore the main ballerina was Hannah, which I thought was so sweet. I enjoyed watching Emilia's reactions to the ballet as much as I enjoyed the performance. Hannah looked so grown up out on the stage, and I still cannot believe she is getting so big. It seems like she was just Emilia's age, and if you look in the posted photos, Emilia is actually wearing a dress that use to be Hannah's. Here's some photos before and after the performance (photos were not allowed during the performance.) My own Mama and EmiliaAnd the posing begins... and continues... This pose bought her a " no dating till she's 30" from daddy...

a bit too sassy!

Daddy's sweet girl again

beautiful Hannah

and sparkly shoes

After the performance we went to Chris's sister's house to hang out for a bit. It seems with Paytons's busy school and sports schedule that we don't see them often, so it was fun to see them, and Emilia and Pam baked some cookies. They were very yummy!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there!