may 8

rain today meant that gavin got to break out his new pirate umbrella that aunt megan, uncle zach, jackson, joey and chase gave him for his birthday.  it's the perfect gift because gavin loves umbrellas.  the fact that joey has a matching one makes it that much cuter :)

may 7

days that end with family movie night are always good days :)

may 6

we packed a lot into today.  the kids spent the night with gram vicki.  kevin was up at the crack of dawn to run the first leg of a relay in the flying pig marathon.  i was up early, too (just not that early) so i could see megan finish her first half marathon!  i'm always in awe of all the runners and today was no exception.  i have enormous respect for anyone who can run for hours!  megan and alison did great, and i got to see them just before they entered the chutes leading to the finish line.  i also caught up with zach & the boys, hayden & kids and karen.  from there i walked through downtown to meet up with kevin for breakfast.  not only did kevin run a relay in the race, but he proceeded to run all the way back downtown, so he came pretty close to running the half marathon, too!  the only running i did was in my car to pick up the kids from my mom.  then we came home and spent the entire rest of the day washing my car.  oh, how it needed it!  i was more than a little embarrassed by how dirty it was but more than a little overjoyed at how much fun we all had getting it clean again.

may 5

cinco de mayo, derby day and date night all in one!  now that's some kind of day!!  we had a relaxing day at home since brooke's soccer game was cancelled for the second week in a row.  i sat in my office this afternoon with the window open, and i could smell a charcoal grill being fired up somewhere in the not too far distance.  it took me right back to my grandparents' house in the summertime.  they had a small patio at the very back of their yard, and it had a built-in stone grill (i think).  i can remember my grandpa grilling us dinner in the summertime.  mmm... that smell.  grandpa always used a lot of lighter fluid :)  i love how a smell can transport you to a very specific time in your life... childhood.  summertime. family.

this evening we dropped the kids off with mom and stopped downtown for dinner in OTR.  we walked into bakersfield as soon as the derby was going off (literally).  i was happy we got to see the race and even happier that there wasn't much of a wait for dinner :)  we sat in the front of the restaurant with the windows/door pulled up and enjoyed the perfect evening, perfect company and the perfect margarita!

may 4

what a fun friday!  we got brooke all dressed up for her ballet recital pictures today.  thankfully they were quick and painless and brooke gave them a great smile :)  this afternoon we made movie-style popcorn for our neighborhood outdoor movie night.  we haven't had one of these since the weekend we moved in, so the kids were really excited.  we loaded up the bags of popcorn in the wagon, and the kids rode their bikes down to the olson's driveway.  it was fun to gather with neighbors and see all the kids huddled together on the driveway.  they watched alvin and the chipmunks until it started to rain and then everyone ran home.  thankfully, the rain came just about when it was time to leave anyway so we didn't have to listen to any whining or complaining :)

may 3

today was a really great day.  gavin and i met up with heather, megan & kids at juilf's park this morning while brooke was at school.  the boys had fun being boys and playing in a big puddle of water down the hill from the playground.  i'm convinced they could have stayed there all day!  after picking brooke up from school we came home and had fun outside playing with water guns that i bought for gavin's party but never used.  we all had fun squirting each other.  i love this picture of brooke running to avoid being squirted.  we also rode bikes, played golf in the yard, cooled off with some fresh-squeezed lemonade and even had neighbors over for a short play date out in the driveway.  i am loving every minute of spring.

may 2

pretty day watching gavin have fun at soccer.  look at that smile!  gavin loves coach russell.  he follows him around for most of the hour-long session.  it's so cute to watch.

may 1

home sweet home.  the kids had so much fun while we were gone!  bob and kaye took them to the park and the aquarium and made them this giant fort out of cardboard boxes.  the kids were excited to see us and tell us all about the fun they had while we were gone.  and kevin and i can now say we've been to wisconsin...

april 30

kevin and i did a short run this morning through lawrence university, a small liberal arts school right in appleton.  it is the first time kevin and i have EVER run together.  back in the day we used to do our runs at the same time (first thing in the morning), but we always ran in opposite direction.  i've never liked having a running mate, but today i most certainly did.

april 29

i adore this picture!  bob and kaye came down today to stay with the kids for a few days while kevin and i take a quick trip to appleton, wisconsin.  the kids are so excited to spend a few days with ba kaye and bob bob.  i think bob bob was only in the house 5 minutes before gavin had a super hero costume on him :)  it's been a looooong time since i've left both of the kids for more than a few hours.  so, even though it's just a quick trip to wisconsin, i'm looking forward to spending some quality time with kevin.

april 28

i love lazy saturday mornings at home.  brooke was supposed to play soccer this afternoon, but thunderstorms rolled in and soccer was cancelled.  so our lazy morning turned into a lazy day :)

april 27

today was full of fun and games.  we purchased and played a new game that's inspired by Richard Scurry's book (which is a favorite in this house!), and we all really enjoyed it.  brooke also had soccer practice tonight.  i really jumped into this spring soccer thing with both feet!  gavin has soccer every wednesday at 1:00, and brooke is playing for two different soccer programs which results in practices on tuesday evenings, wednesday evenings and every other friday evening plus games every saturday.  so, our life is all about soccer right now, but that's just fine with me.  spring soccer only lasts 5 weeks.  after soccer tonight we went to uno's for dinner.  the kids had fun making their own pizzas, and brooke and i completed her first crossword together.

april 26

a little impromptu play date this morning.

april 25

gavin has an amazing british soccer coach named russell.  he is absolutely wonderful with young children.  at the end of every session, coach russell gets the kids in a huddle and talks to them.  they do a little "hammer" cheer, and then coach russell tells them to run as fast as they can to their mom/dad/nanny and give them a big hug.  my little superman running full steam at me with his arms open and ready to give me a giant hug?  thanks, coach russell!  it totally made my day.

april 24

gavin had the honor of being the birthday boy at school today.  we brought in munchkin donuts for everyone, and they were a big hit.  gavin was so happy to carry the box of donuts into school, and i know he felt very special wearing his birthday crown all day.  i think i can safely say that this is the last birthday celebration for gavin this year :)

april 23

sometimes there are small blessings found within unexpected circumstances.  carl, mercedes and london left for cleveland last night after finding out mercedes' dad was in the hospital.  we've all been very concerned for him, but we're certainly not complaining about the extra time it has allowed us to spend with pierce.  kaye and i took the three kids to the zoo today.  we had the entire place to ourselves!  not many people were at the zoo on a slightly chilly monday morning.  we had so much fun exploring the zoo, and it was nice to be able to let the kids run free.  brooke, gavin and pierce had big smiles plastered on their faces all day long.  especially when we treated them to ice cream cones at the end of the day :)