Slip N Slide

I thought I would be able to catch up long before this but summer has just been going full speed.  The kids have had tons of fun doing all of the fun hot weather activities! We had our cousins here over July 4 and they broke in the new race car slip n slide!

End of the School Year

 

As I said I am really behind.  I am just now getting to the end of the year activities, of which there were many amongst the five children. One of the highlights was Grandparent/Special person day at school. We had to divide relatives up among the schools to get everyone covered. So, Aunt Sarah, Tess and Nona split the day at Immaculate Conception with Isabelle and Gigi and Great Grandpa Walton and Mimi and Papu shared the day at Holy Angels. The day began with an all systems mass in the St. Francis gym and ended with the crowning of Mary at IC. Lunch was served by Chef Matt and everyone got to enjoy the yummy homemade organic soup and sandwiches. The kids are so lucky and so blessed that they actually had GREAT grandparents there!! Wow. It is not often that you get to have such a great relationship or even know your grandparents or great grandparents. Enjoy! Happy July!

Daddy/Grandfather Daughter Dance

Jaqueline called today to remind me that it has been too long since I have posted. I know, I know. I now have TONS to catch up on! Not to mention, my blog has been under construction and it is just recently finished. The end of the year was crazy as usual, with Scott gone 3 out of the 4 last weeks. Needless to say, the kids and I have attended MANY field trips, concerts, field days, the crowning of Mary, etc. One of the most special events was the dance. It was not just the daddy/daughter dance. It was also for grand daddies. The girls got dressed in their formal attire. They curled their hair and put just a touch of gloss on. Papu made arrangements to pick them up (along with their daddy) and he presented them each with a beautiful wrist corsage. Wow did they ever think that was the best. The event took place at the Knights of Columbus hall where they served girl friendly snacks and played music. Oh yes. And the stories that came home were those that brought back many memories for me. Papu and his dancing. The YMCA to be exact. The girls and their giggles trying to describe the "men" on the dance floor. I will not go in to further detail. Let's just say in a couple more years they will not think it is very funny for their dad or Papu to be at a dance. Lots of memories made and priceless photos. Enjoy!

New Design

I had someone working on the blog for the last several weeks and we are still tweaking. I wanted to do a test post to make sure the signature showed up, etc. I have MANY things to catch up on now. Ugh...but I do LOVE the design! Thanks to B's Design. You can click on her name down on the right of the blog and view all of her amazing work!! Happy Saturday!

Spring Break

I am just realizing that I never posted about our adventures over Spring Break. We decided to do a "stay-cation" even though we did travel downstate to Grandma and Grandpa J's house. We had a very eventful time and we were not lacking activities. We went to the Ann Arbor Children's Museum, Museum of Natural History and Jungle Java. The dinosaur exhibit at Museum of Natural History was a HUGE hit with the boys. Ollie is especially CRAZY over dinosaurs right now. He lives and breathes them. We tried to vary our meals as well. We took them to Whole Foods one day and they were gaga over the endless foods and the choices. Of course we had to get some Sushi for Amelia. I SOOO wish we had one of these stores near us.  The other day we had Olga's which is also a favorite!!! We had dinners that consisted of Middle Eastern food one night and Japanese Hibachi style the next. Kids LOVED their trip and it just goes to show that they do not need extravagance to be happy!

I am just realizing that I never posted about our adventures over Spring Break. We decided to do a "stay-cation" even though we did travel downstate to Grandma and Grandpa J's house. We had a very eventful time and we were not lacking activities. We went to the Ann Arbor Children's Museum, Museum of Natural History and Jungle Java. The dinosaur exhibit at Museum of Natural History was a HUGE hit with the boys. Ollie is especially CRAZY over dinosaurs right now. He lives and breathes them. We tried to vary our meals as well. We took them to Whole Foods one day and they were gaga over the endless foods and the choices. Of course we had to get some Sushi for Amelia. I SOOO wish we had one of these stores near us.  The other day we had Olga's which is also a favorite!!! We had dinners that consisted of Middle Eastern food one night and Japanese Hibachi style the next. Kids LOVED their trip and it just goes to show that they do not need extravagance to be happy!

Snow Day

Living in Northern Michigan can be very unpredictable as far as weather is concerned. At the end of April, I had taken all ropes off bushes and the tulips were beginning to bloom. Excitement filled me with the thought of opening the windows and going for walks WITHOUT bundling us all up. WRONG!!!! We actually had a SNOW DAY right before EASTER!!!!! Boy the kids were ever happy, but I, on the other hand, was not so keen on this idea. So, I decided to make the most of it and found some fun things to do with the children. I made a pancake breakfast, we made Peep wreaths for Great Grandmas Hooper and Walton for Easter and the girls made some darn cute signs for our house. I think I've opened up a whole new "bag of worms" so to speak: the girls learned how to use the hot glue gun. Yikes. But, they did a GREAT job! I think the good pics are on my phone but you can see the peep wreaths in the one photo just slightly.

40 Bags and Counting

Geez it's been a long time since I've posted. I feel like it's going to take me a month to catch up! There are so many things to post. First off, lots of you have asked about my 40 bags. Yes, well let's just say 40 bags went out of this house the WEEK before Easter and I STILL have the garage, craft room, Preston and Oliver's room. I feel REALLY good about this! Some people out there need that stuff WAY more than we do and the kids were so proud and happy to part with things. They even let go of many of their Webkinz. Yippee!!!