procrastinating

The end of the semester is here and the weather has been so great that I cannot bring myself to stay inside to finish my last paper. My dad and I spent the day over seeding part of my back yard and mulching my flower beds. We also did something I have not done in years... went to McDonald's for lunch and sat inside to eat. It's not that I don't eat there ever, it is just very infrequently and if I do then I usually use the drive thru! It was fun, though.

Empty bed means bad sleeping habits

It's so good to know we spent money on a comfortable bed for Emilia with pretty bedding and this is where Chris found her sleeping for nap time...

A laundry basket... are you kidding me?

Petting zoo

Today I took Emilia and her friend, Catherine to the petting zoo... the weather was perfect. I work with Catherine's mom, Caryn, and our girls are exactly 1 week apart. The girls had a blast, and by the end of the day, Emilia was informing me that I was not her best friend anymore, but instead it was Catherine. She also told me, "No be sad, Momma, Daddy your best friend." I guess Catherine is probably a bit more fun than me! We took a picnic and spent most the morning and afternoon there. I was hesitant to stay so long... 2 two year olds without naps, but they did great. The car ride home was very quiet, though! Caryn, thanks for letting me have your kiddo for the day... she was an angel!

Emilia "catching" Catherine

watching the baby chicks

HAPPY EASTER!

Easter Morning

Emilia's Easter Basket For my little gardener

Easter gift from Uncle Tom, Aunt Pam, Payton and Uncle Danny Pretty girl

(see slide show at the bottom of the posting to view how many "poses" she had to do to get this shot)

Easter Dinner at Aunt Tammy's Some of the Fam This was the 1st Easter I have had to work ever, so I was quite bummed to not be able to go to church with Chris and Emilia, but there is an end to working weekends coming very soon... July 12th to be exact... not that I am counting the days or anything! Anyways, when I got home late from work Saturday night Emilia was already in bed, so that gave me the chance to get her Easter basket put together and her clothes layed out for church. She wore a dress that my niece, Hannah, wore for Easter when she was three, so Emilia thought is was quite special that Hannah "gave" her that dress. Chris and Emilia went to church and then surprised me and came by for lunch... yummy cafeteria food for Easter lunch, but actually it wasn't too bad. Chris took Emilia home for a nap, then went to my family's Easter dinner and then to his sister's house for a bit. When I got home from work (late again) she was already in bed... bummer! This week I have high ambitions to get a lot accomplished. I have to convert my 7 page paper to 15 pages... not sure how! I thought 7 was sufficient since there was no length criteria posted, and then another student asked her how long it should be so last week she posted the criteria of 15 pages... seriously? I thought this one was done! For this semester I only have 2 other shorter papers and 1 final test to complete and I am looking forward to a couple week break before summer semester begins. This semester has been easier than last semester, but I think that has allowed me to procrastinate more... never good! Then my niece, Erika, is in town for a couple days so hopefully I will get to see her for a bit today. Her grandpa had a heart attack and is in the ICU at my work, but seems to be doing much better now. I think she is leaving town tonight or tomorrow. I am off to work on my paper, but I will post Easter photos later! I hope everybody had a wonderful Easter! Emilia posing for daddy.... she definitely loves the camera and has many silly faces... made me laugh!

Ready for Spring

I was quite disappointed when I went outside this morning and had to go right back inside and get my coat. I wore flip flops yesterday and a coat today. I am definitely ready for spring, not this crazy yo yo weather. Yesterday I had to go up to work to do some yearly validations for the transport team, which is basically where we run through mock scenarios, assemble necessary equipment, and go over any new equipment. I got out just in time to pick up Emilia from school right as she was getting up from nap. I also picked up my nephew, Garrett, and we grabbed ice cream and headed to the park. They both had a great time and Garrett taught Emilia how to go down the tornado slide head first. Thankfully, Emilia told Garrett, "Garrett, that not a good idea. You hurt your head!" It was quite amusing. Chris had yard work he wanted to get done last night, so it was a perfect night for dinner with the girls (plus Hudson). My sister, Heather, and her kids, Hannah and Hudson, Melissa, Lily, and Melissa's friend, Jen, and her 1 year old Sofie, and Emilia and I all headed to On the Border for quesadillas and tacos... yummy. Then we walked around the Chipman shopping center for a bit and finally went home when the stores closed! I know... wild and crazy girls night! It was fun and Emilia loves being around all the other little kids.

Funny conversations

My daughter has always been a bit silly, but lately the conversations have been quite funny and quite insightful on her part... here's a couple examples... I was sitting at the table talking to my mom and said, "I ran into Claire the other day." Emilia said, "on facebook?" I said, "No, at Target." She then wanted to know which Target and nodded knowingly when I replied that it was at the one in Overland Park. She simply replied, "OH.... Overland Park Target... you funny, Momma!" Then this morning we were in the car together and she asked me why she remembered the words to the song "God is so good." I didn't understand what she was asking me, so I said, "What do you mean... did you forget the words?" She said,"No, Momma, I sing..." and she proceeded to sing several songs she knows and she wanted to know the logistics of why she remembered the words. I then explained when we hear or sing a song over and over, then our brain remembers the music and the words. She seemed satisfied with that answer at first, but watching her in my rear view mirror, I could tell more questions were on the way. She then asks me, "WHY my brain remember? How it do that?" I then quickly explained to my 2 year old that there is a thing in your brain called the hippocampus that allows you brain to store information for a short time and you may forget those things, or it will put it into a special place in your brain that will let you remember it for a long lime, like remembering songs, people's names, where things are in your house... lots of things. She simply looked at me and said, "Momma, you too funny...I not a hippo, I a big girl." TOO FUNNY!

Rainy day

Emilia slept in this morning until 830, which was nice for a change. We had quite the lazy morning, and then my friend, Jen, came over for a bit. We went to a nearby Mexican restaurant, which is Emilia's fav. Silly girl likes to dip her chips in ice cream...mmmm! Then we came hung out this afternoon while Emilia was supposed to be napping, but instead we could hear her playing in her bed. She finally went to sleep after 2 hours of playing. This semester is finally almost coming to an end and I am looking quite forward to a break. This semester really has not been bad, I am just tired of always having something that needs done, especially when it is not the most exciting of topics to do assignments for. This summer will be good since I only have one class, and I will hopefully be coming off weekends at work... keeping my fingers crossed. My boss opened a part time spot after 6 months of me begging... and I am not kidding about the begging part! So I will probably be working mostly Mondays and Fridays, the every 3rd weekend. I have worked all weekends since Emilia was a baby, so it will be so nice to actually have days off with my husband. Off to do some homework before a nice online two hour class... wish me luck!

ST PATTY's DAY ROADTRIP

After work last Sunday night (at 10PM) Heather decided she wanted to take a road trip the next day at 6AM to Omaha to visit the ZOO. Not sure how it worked out that we could all go, but Melissa, Heather, my mom, and me... and kids were all able to go so we packed quickly and left the next morning! We stayed at the Embassy and got adjoining rooms. We got there around lunch and went to a yummy spaghetti place near our hotel. There were a lot of fun little shoppes to see including Emilia's favorite, the candy shop! We spent the evening ordering room service and going to the pool, and then headed to the zoo the next morning. Because of the lack of space in the vehicles, we only took my stroller, hence all the photos of 2 kids packed into 1 stroller, but it worked and Emilia didn't mind sharing! The zoo was awesome... much better than our KC zoo. Emilia's fav was the giraffes, hence the 3 foot giraffe she brought home!

Suprise 50th Birthday Party

For several weeks now, almost my entire family has been working on SOMETHING to help with pulling off my Aunt Tammy's birthday party and we did it! My Uncle Shahdad wanted to do something big, since you only turn 50 once, so he called me and we put together a a party with food, old friends, and old photos! Shahdad got a hold of her old bins of photos and I scanned them to make a digital scrapbook and then I recruited my older sister, Melissa, to assist with the display boards for the party.... my family room paid the price...

Samantha came over to help, too!

My Uncle Danny came in town from Tennessee for the occasion and him, Emilia, my nephew, Garrett, Chris, my mom, and uncle helped set up the clubhouse the day of the party...

The party was a lot of fun... she was shocked! The food was awesome... done by Tipps, the cake by Petit Four Bakery, and the karaoke by the kids!

Here's some of the old photos we stumbled across...

My Aunt is such an amazing person and one of my closest friends. She has an amazing life story including raising four children and surviving cancer among other life events... and yet still remains such an uplifting person loved by everyone she meets! We love you Aunt Tammy... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

P.S. Happy Valentine's Day and Happy 8th Birthday Hannah

This Valentines Day was full of fun with Emilia's 1st valentines party at preschool and the day ended with a home made dinner and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert!

Hannah's birthday party...

Catching up to speed

Chris's older brother, Danny, got married a few weeks ago. They were married at Marina Grogg and Galley, which is one of Chris's and my favorite favorite places to eat! It is a little restaurant on the lake with an incredible view and even better food! They rented a banquet room and had the ceremony and dinner there... lots of fun!

Tom and Payton

My adorable nephew, Hudson, turned 2 on Feb 1st. Here's a few photos from his party!

This past month has been so busy at work, home and school, so I will try to update more later!

Where have I been???

One might think, due to the lack of postings, that I may have fallen off the face of the earth.... okay not the face of the earth, but at least the face of the blogging world, but I am still here... just with no free time! Things have been busy... work, school, family birthday parties, weddings, and my newest addiction... PiYo (a pilates/yoga class.) Oh and I have begun bringing my work home with me... only a couple days a week, though, and only temporarily! He's sweet, though, so I don't mind at all... I just get nothing accomplished on the days I have him! Unless you count photo sessions getting something accomplished! Here's one of my fav's...

Emilia loves having him around and is quite the helper!

Hudson turned 2 last week and I have many photos to post of the festivities.... later!

I miss Thursday

Thursday was so ridiculously beautiful and now today it is COLD, COLD, COLD! I miss Thursday! We went to the park in the afternoon with 2 of my nephews and my niece. My nephew and I climbed a tree, which I have to admit was more difficult than it used to be... gravity seems to pull much harder now! Then we played soccer in the field for a bit. Actually my older nephew, Ty, and I played keep away from Garrett, Lily and Emilia... but the little girls called it soccer. Ty was so sweet with Emilia and followed her around the playground, helping her down slides. He's such an awesome big cousin!

Ty and Emilia

Garrett

Emilia teaching Lily how to wink!

Soccer