Tonight these two sweet little girls (Natalie and her BFF, Maggie)got to meet this cute little bus


and ride on this great big school bus

all in preparation for KINDERGARTEN!! I still can't believe my baby is going to school! I have 25 more days to love on her before sending her off with all the big kids. Please Lord, give me strength:)

What I learned from Kung Fu Panda

A quote from Oogway:

Nothing creative here!

But it makes me laugh:)

Dear Mother Nature

I had forgotten that I had taken this picture. In the top right window of Sydney's bedroom is a note to Mother Nature aksing that she please bring sunshine and Spring-no more winter. She put this there after we had a very late snowfall this year. I'm surprised she still has it there as she is ALWAYS cleaning and reorganizing her bedroom. She must like having it there as much as I do:)

What's behind those doors?

Here's a little peek...

And the finished picture!

The pictures aren't the greatest because this room gets so much sunlight. You get the idea though! I really like the fabric and think that it looks so much better. I'm happy to have the tv cut-out covered! Gotta love the glue gun:)

TV Cabinet Re-do

Before:
After:
I'm so bummed! I tried to line the back of the TV cabinet with scrapbook paper and it looks terrible! I had intended for this specific paper to line my corner cabinet but I got sick of how nasty it looked behind the TV and tried to make it work here. Problem #1 not enough paper and Archiver's didn't have anymore in stock. Problem #2 the aged paper. It needs a uniform color throughout so it doesn't scream out, "hey there's 42 pieces of scrapbook paper taped together back here!" At one point I was looking for fabric to staple back there. I gave up. For years I've tried finding things to balance on top of the sloped tv, hoping to hide back there. I've given up once again. Now what?! It's gonna have to be bargain friendly! And it needs to be done, like yesterday! I'm tired of the decor(or lack of) that is on those shelves too. So much that I just might boycott watching TV in here! Well, maybe not.

**UPDATE**
Fabric found! Now I just need to put it up there. Wish me luck!

Ear Wax and Earwigs

*Yesterday while leaving the house for vacation bible school we spotted an earwig by the front door. Sydney couldn't see what all the excitement was so Natalie yelled to her, "Oh gross Syd, it's just another one of those ear wax bugs!"

*A quote from Sydney: "Mom, I'm going to be outside swinging, FYI." FYI? Thankyouverymuch! She really is getting too big for her britches!

*Tonight while eating dinner out on the deck, I could really see Sydney pondering something. A few minutes later she tells us of her elaborate plans for when she is older. She is going to be buying a small house with her best bud and neighbor, Erin. They then will sell that small house, buy a mansion and move in together with their husbands. This home will have a chef and live-in maid. I then asked her what job she planned on having to be able to afford this lifestyle. Her response, "whatever it takes." That's my girl:) But do you really think her husband will go for that?!

*This summer Natalie has had her fair share of bruises, bug bites, and knee scrapes. The last two times she has scraped her knees was a doozie. After all the tears(and blood) were shed she asks" do you think anyone would think I was crying?" All the while she is furiously wiping her tears(and snot) away, putting on a big wide eyed face. Poor kid. She's a bloody mess but all she is concerned about is whether or not her friends will know that she had been crying.

Why do they have to grow up so fast?!?!

Blah...

Not anymore! I'm done! I'm crabby! I love my husband to death but this not working business is getting old quick. I'm not used to having him here all day. I like to be able to come and go as I please. I don't like having to keep the 900 neighbor kids who play in my house quiet. I want my computer back! I like to be able to google random things at any given moment. I like to read your blogs. I like to read my email. I like to be able to yell and embarass my children, not be hushy hushy quiet while he makes his 500 important business phone calls. In his defense, he really is looking for a job wholeheartedly! He is constantly perusing the internet for available jobs, talking with headhunters, speaking with former colleagues, just plain-ole putting himself out there. I just wish he could do it from somewhere else. No offense!

Lazy Summer Days

This is what I came home to yesterday. Well these girls and 6 others!!! While I was grocery shopping B invited what felt like the entire neighborhood to go swimming. 9 little girls=1 loud backyard and 1 cocktail needin' momma!

Alicen's Benefit

Saturday was the benefit for "the little girl." She looked so cute as the star of the show:) And of course she was an absolute angel the entire day! There was lots of people, lots of laughs, lots of good food and LOTS of donations!! When all was said and done, almost $4,000 was raised. I think even more donations are expected to come in as well! Thanks Christina for allowing us to spend the day with your special girl!!! We love you!!

Creating Memories

Since time is on our side, we went to the Dells for a few days and did a little of this...

We also visited Maria and Dave at the Seth Peterson cottage. They are huge fans of Frank Lloyd Wright who was a teacher to Seth Peterson. This cottage has some great history. So quiet and cozy out in the middle of nowhere.

We visited what was left of Lake Delton. A levy broke in June and washed away the whole lake. These pictures show lakefront property and a home that was split in two. It was really sad to see the destruction.

The girls passed out each night!

We got home last night and will be leaving again this afternoon. Our family is having a benefit downstate for my cousin's little girl. Wish us luck! We hope to raise lots of money to help pay some of her medical bills!

4th of July slideshow

Lollapalooza...Here we come!!!

The Raconteurs Radiohead Nine Inch Nails


My first experience with Lollapalooza was 1992(I think). It was one of the best times I have had in my entire life. I went with my childhood BFF, a college friend and several of her friends from her home town. Not long after we got there the group got seperated and weren't to be found until heading to the car at the end of the night:) We were under the consumption of, well, several substances. We didn't care. Good times! Good times!


Since then I have tried to go as many years as possible. Last year Bill took his 15 year old nephew for one of the three day passes. The only day I went was to see Pearl Jam, of course:)Bill and Louis had a lot of fun together. Someday he will think back to when his uncle took him to his first concert:) This year however, I think there might just be too many good bands that his aunt(ME!) wants to see. So, don't be jealous Lou! I'll tell you all about how great these bands were!!


The line-up was finally posted and these pics are just a few of the many I am looking forward to seeing!



Rogue Wave



The show is still 3 weeks away but I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Happy 4th of July!

!!GO WHITE SOX!!

My Grandma was a HUDGE Cubs fan. I happened to marry a White Sox fan. He never let on how much he loathed the Cubs until after my Grandma passed. 13 years he kept that to himself. 13 years! He even got awesome Cubs tickets for her one year. We had so much fun at that game. It tops up there with one of the best days of my life. I'm sure my Grandma wouldn't be dissapointed in me for being a Sox fan now, afterall she was married to a St. Louis Cardinal fan:)

Random Randomness

It's 9:45pm and I can hear little footsteps running around upstairs. I'm too lazy to go upstairs to settle them. So I yell. They can't hear because they are having a sister-sleepover. And they both have their ipods on. Calgon take me away.

I'd like to be with my man Eddie on the other side of that mic up there. Notice I said mine. I want him to be singing to me. I'll close my eyes and pretend I'm there and all those poetic words are written just for me, not his very pregnant, super model girlfriend. I think I'll just go sit with my hubby. He needs me more. I need him. He lost his job yesterday. He holds things in. I hope he is ok in that head of his.

My sister-in-law is in from California. Yesterday she came to our house for the afternoon and decided to stay over night. We cooked, we swam, we hot tubbed it. Lots of laughs. Lots of bug bites. I love her so much and wish she lived closer. Her hubby flew in tonight. We need a new family member to leach onto. He's good for that.

I got a message from my mom tonight. Her uncle passed away. I feel terrible for his daughters. I've been feeling that death is getting too close to me. Death go away. I'm not ready over here.

Bill is not feeling 100%. Wonder how much that has to do with stress? Syd is complaining of a sore throat. Please let us make it through to the holiday. The girls' are so looking forward to it.