So Many Reasons to Smile!

We've had a great week with a lot of fun and smiles so I thought I would share some of the reasons why!

1 - My little brother, Kyle, surprised us with a visit so we have taken the opportunity to drag him along and do a couple of fun things like - -

Brookfield zoo - I'm trying to justify the membership I purchased so it is going to be our summer hotspot! The kids act like it's the first time everytime! We even pretend we are afraid of the animatronic dinosaurs!

2- Seriously, do I need to explain? This little guy is the happiest, funniest little thing I have ever seen. He has finally decided that walking is cool, his blue eyes could melt you, I'm starting to get used to his slobbery ways, he teases his sister like crazy, he's always up for an adventure, AND he LOVES kisses. The big, wet, slobbery, cover-your-whole mouth kind! He's a keeper!

3 - Katelyn officially made it through her first year of preschool. YIPEE!

4 - The kids have BOTH been sleeping through the night - enough said!

5 - HOLIDAY!!! We have a holiday with THREE daddy days in a row. Patrick is awesome about getting us out of the house and making memories. We went on a little Saturday trip to Starved Rock state park and did a little hiking and sight seeing. It was great.

Tomorrow (Memorial Day) we are off to Six Flags. We'll see if we are still smiling after that!

One Fine Sunday

I'm going to interrupt my monthly recaps to post some pictures of the fabulous Sunday we had yesterday! The weather was PERFECT and we spent the entire afternoon outside. Patrick even cooked up some salmon on the grill for dinner. It feels like we have been waiting for this for several long, cold, dreadful months!

February

February was a fun month! We began the month by celebrating my big 32nd birthday. It was a great birthday. We took the kids to a fun bowling alley. After coming home and getting the kids to bed, Patrick and I enjoyed sushi for dinner and a little Rock Band with our band members.


Katelyn talked me into letting her have a Valentine party. We had some of her friends from church over for crafts, games and cupcake decorating. What cute girls!


My little Jake just gets more and more handsome! I can't believe a year has flown by since we welcomed him into our home. I am grateful for every single day of that year. He is a very special little guy and we adore him.


Patrick wasn't able to make it home from work on Jake's actual birthday (ssshhh, don't tell Jake!) so Katelyn and I celebrated with him the best we could. We got pizza and had cupcakes. I think Jake just enjoyed the attention.

When the weekend came and Patrick was able to be home, we celebrated it all over again. Jake was actually a little hesitant about the whole candle thing and we practically had to force his hand into his cupcake, but once he got the hang of it I think he quite enjoyed it.

December & January

Blogging isn't for people like me! Ok, I freely admit it. Of the gifts that I was given (I'm still trying to find out what they are), being organized and finishing projects definitely don't make the list! Those of you who do possess these strengths would gasp if you saw my closet of unfinished projects. SO, blogging is one of those things - the more behind I get, the more overwhelmed I get, and so for my sanity - I quit!

I keep saying I will get better, but I don't so maybe I will just relent to posting a broad update every now and then and lay my guilt to rest!

In my defense, I have already got my 2008 Yearbook completed and it turned out awesome. You can view it if you want by clicking here!

DECEMBER - was a very busy month! Busier than I would like any other December to be. The first weekend, I went on a girl's weekend to a spa in Wisconsin. The next weekend, we took the kids to Wisconsin Dells for a little getaway. The last weekend before Christmas was all the last minute preparations for what turned out to be a great Christmas.

We were excited to have my parents and Kyle come visit for Christmas. We had a great time!


JANUARY - was filled with snow, snow, and more snow! I became quite handy with a shovel as Patrick worked long hours.

Finally at the end of January, we got away on a little vacation. The kids and I went to Idaho to see Grandpa & Grandma's new house. We had a great time in Idaho and suprisingly, they had a lot less snow than in Chicago!


We ended our trip in Boise where we were able to catch a couple of Kurt's basketball games before he hung up #44 and got a real job! (JK Kurt!) Katelyn even wore a #44 jersey to the games and sat right on the front row to scream and cheer on her boyfriend/Uncle Kurt.

Excuse #1 (More to follow)

Many of you have been asking when I'm finally going to get my act together and update this blog. I'm flattered - really - that you care about the mundanes of our lives! It seems like I spend each day cleaning, cooking, running Katelyn around to her various engagements, and cleaning the mess that I could have sworn I just cleaned! We do take time for fun and we do have some cute pics so I will try to be better about updating!

Among my various excuses for not keeping up on the blog, here is excuse #1! Jake - aka "Trouble". It's a good thing he is so good natured because he is ALL boy and ALL trouble! He has no use for toys. There are way too many cupboards to be unloaded, garbages to be tipped, and he has a sister that squeals (much to his delight) when teased!

Last night I walked out of the kitchen for 2 seconds and came back to find this (sorry about my voice in the background!) -

It's a good thing he is so happy and good natured!!!