The Fighter's

We are so thankful for all the men, women and families that have sacrificed SO much for us. So today we decorated our bikes, dressed up in some patriotic gear, and headed up to Main Street for the annual Memorial Day Parade to applaud some of our hometown veterans and to remember all who serve. The girls had a blast! Here are some shots! Uncle Rob & Doug even got to join in the festivities...driving our city council & trustees in the parade. The girls had fun cheering them on:-)

... into a great weekend!!  Grammy came up for a visit and long time family friends of Doug's family, Jan & Frank, invited us for a night out on their boat.  We had such a great time...and it was so much fun to see our city from a different perspective!  I think our town often gets a bad "rap" but really...there really is so much beauty around here.  If only we could wave a magic wand and make people and businesses see its potential...loads of natural beauty right under our noses.  It really was a perfect night for a boat ride.  Loved it! Thanks to Jan and Frank for a great evening!  Happy Summer! The girls had a blast with Grammy.  They played outside, planted flowers...and may have worn Grammy out.  They sure do love her!

Seems like just yesterday Ava was strapping on new shoes for her very first day of preschool! Today was her last day...school is out for summer! She was not so happy about the prospect of no school for the next 3 months (she actually got teary eyed - she loves school), but I explained to her that she would go back in the Fall and that we are going to do LOTS of fun things over the summer...swimming and art camp to name a few...and then her tears quickly turned into smiles. To end the year, her teachers hosted a cookout. The kids sang adorable songs, Doug reverted back to his 5 year old self on the teeter totter with the girls (and then tried to throw in some sort of engineering lesson by making Ava stand in the middle of the teeter totter to balance at the "fulcrum" - to which I yelled at him and took her off because I'm sure they probably have rules about kids standing up in the middle of the teeter totter), and the girls ran around the playground with some of Ava

Let me preface this post by saying I know I'm a dork...because I am now going to talk about how excited I am about pillows! Our family room needs some livening up. And...I don't want to spend a ton of money. So the girls and I went to the fabric store yesterday, got some cheap fabric, whipped out the $5 sewing machine my mother in law got me at a garage sale, and went to work as I watched American Idol. Whola! Here are my first two pillows ever. The green swirly one is completely brand new (stuffed with $1.50 polyester fuzz (I don't know its real name) from Hobby Lobby). The other pillow is a pillow cover, complete with zipper (I am so impressed with myself if you can't tell...hee, hee, hee. I think I need to get out more) and the inside is one of our old striped pillows that came with our couches 7 years ago. You would never know!! I have more pillows to make tomorrow...2 additional colors of fabric and a few more in the colors I made today. The pillows in this house

Ava and kate have been itching to have some friends over to help them break in their new swing set. So we had some of their best buddies from church over and they had a great day, complete with sprinklers, bubbles, swingset, hot dogs/mac & cheese, popsicles and friends! What more could you ask for to help kick off summer!

Today was a great day. I was so proud of my girls...their poor mom lugged them around to Hobby Lobby, Bed Bath & Beyond, stop for lunch, Costco and finally...the grocery store. And they were excellent and so much fun the whole way. They made me laugh...Ava and Kate with their side by side antics...and Olivia with her new found hobby...rapid head shaking! I got so many comments from people today..."Boy...you have your hands full" or "Wow! 3 girls" and my favorite from an older lady at Costco..."You're doing good mom! I had five that close together...and believe me when I say...enjoy it now because it goes by fast. Even on those days when you think you've had enough because you will have many of those days, find the moments in them to enjoy." So sweet:-) So enjoy we did! Now onto one of my most favorite Ava moments! I put the little girls to bed early (7PM...we had a long day) and Ava helped me make rice krispy treat cupcakes for preschoo

My mom, aunts, cousins & I headed out to Boston for a girls weekend and had a BLAST! I love these ladies so much. Kacy was a great host...showing us around town...we ate great food, saw the sights, went on a 3 hour food tour of Little Italy (glimpse of heaven) and just enjoyed each other's company. Here are some shots from our trip.... The Harbor... Dinner Friday Night... The Littlest Bar... 3 Hour Tour of Little Italy...."Heaven". Can't tell you how much fun this was. I am now making it a point to go on food tours whenever we travel:-) Maria's Pastry Shop - authentic Italian Bakery. I could have spent the whole weekend in here. Everything was delicious. Marzipan from Maria's...she made this on Giada a few month's prior to our visit. Yum! One of the markets we went to. Everything was so FRESH! This tour really opened my eyes on how good it is to eat fresh! Laundry in an alley in little Italy. Love it. Our gracious hosts:-) Two little Italian l