My Birthday

The night before my birthday, Greg told me he was sending me to get a massage the next morning (woo-hoo!). While I was gone, he and the girls were going to be setting up something for me.  Lucy and Ella really wanted to surprise me, so the plan was to tell them that I was running errands.  When I got downstairs in the morning, they said "Good morning, Mommy," with these grins on their faces that completely gave them away...it was adorable.  Then this:

Me: "It feels like a special day today."

Lucy: "Yep, it's half way until Christmas!"

Ella: "It's the fourth day of summer!"

Me: "Oh, I thought it was my birthday."

Lucy: "Mommy, you must be getting old.  Your birthday is tomorrow!"

Ella: "Yeah, Mommy you forgot!  You're silly!"

They were pretending it wasn't my birthday at all, snickering and giggling the entire conversation.  It was impossible to keep a straight face.  As I was leaving for my massage, I heard Lucy say, "Now can we set up the party?!?"  She was literally busting with excitement, and it was soooo sweet.

My massage was fabulous.  When I got home, everyone was hiding behind Audrey, who was sitting in her high chair.  They jumped out and yelled "Surprise!" and had the biggest smiles I've ever seen.  They had a Toy Story themed party set up for me....there were decorations and T-shirts:

...and cupcakes made to look like characters from the movie.  Here's my favorite one:

For lunch they made Pizza Planet calzones and pea pods, which looked exactly like my favorite little guys from TS3.  Lunch was served on TS plates.

Here you can see cupcakes with the green Army Men, the Potato Heads, Hamm the pig, and Jessie's cowgirl hats:

The cupcakes were totally impressive.

To go with the movie theme, the girls got me a popcorn maker and some popcorn seasonings.  Greg went all out and got me a Le Creuset dutch oven, which has been on my wish list for a long time.  I was completely spoiled!  Seeing the girls faces when they surprised me was the best!

That night we continued the celebration with my mom, dad, and Bill at Charro...we had a yummy meal and a great time!  Thanks to everyone for making my day so much fun!

Lucy's T-Ball

Lucy had some fans at her T-Ball game tonight...Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Bill, Auntie Gail, Christy, and Simon came to cheer her on!  She was proud to have such an audience!

Our 7th Anniversary

Here we are with our Wedding Tree--a tree Mark and Ellen planted the year we were married.  Every year we get our picture taken with it on or near our anniversary date. 

This year, we started off our anniversary with a romantic dental check-up with Opa the Dentist.  Then, we went back to Mark and Ellen's house, picked up Lucy and Ella, and went back to Opa's office so the girls could get their check-ups.  This was Ella's first time in the chair, Lucy's first time getting X-rays, and both girls' first time getting fluoride.  It was a big day, but they did great and were especially pleased with the huge bag of goodies--Princess toothbrushes, toothpaste, flossers, rings, bracelets, balls, and a sticky hand thing--that Opa and his staff spoiled them with.

Lunch was served in the camper that Mark and Ellen had set up for the girls to play in, then it was time to pack up and drive home.  Lucy had a T-Ball game that night, and afterwards, we went out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary and Greg's completion of residency with my mom, dad, and Bill.  Earlier in the week, we had our date night--Greg's graduation dinner at Westmoor Country Club.  Greg is continuing as a Musculoskeletal (MSK) Radiology Fellow--basically, it's another year of training that's more focused on one area of radiology.

It's unbelievable that this year marks knowing one another for 10 years and being married for 7!  Baby, look at all we have accomplished together--we are two very lucky people.  I love you!

Father's Day Weekend in Shawano

After the movie in Green Bay, we continued on to Shawano for the weekend.  We had a yummy dinner and just hung out on Friday night.  Saturday morning we got up and drove to Glendale Farms, near Clintonville, to pick strawberries.  It was a gorgeous day, and the girls had fun picking and sampling the berries.  Sunday was the Father's Day party at the farm...we spent the day in the pool and had a great time celebrating our dads!

Toy Story 3

A long time ago, when we first saw that there was going to be a Toy Story 3, I told the girls that the movie was coming out right around my birthday.  They never forgot that and talked about it all the time.  As we started to see TS3 merchandise in the stores, they would say, "Mahhhhmeeee...I see Toy Story Threeeeee!  It's for your birrrthdaaaay!" and it became a thing.

We were heading to Shawano for Father's Day weekend, and Greg and the girls "surprised" me with a stop in Green Bay to see Toy Story 3 in 3D.  We all loved the movie and had a great time...thanks so much to Oma for taking Audrey for us!

Eat, Play, Love

Lucy's 1st T-Ball Game

Lucy has officially started her T-Ball season!  She's in a league through St. Dominic's in Brookfield, and it's really well organized...Greg and I were amazed at how literally hundreds of kids all ended up in their place, doing what their coaches wanted them to be doing.  The first few games will consist of some practice time and then a game situation at the end.  They will progress throughout the season and end up with longer game scenarios.  Lucy really enjoyed herself, but was completely fascinated by the dirt on the field.  She liked batting the best, and reported that her favorite part of the night was getting a juice box and snack after the game!  We loved watching the kids in the field--whenever a ball was hit, every single player took off running for the ball...hilarious.  Lucy was funny during the high-five line-up at the end of the game...she didn't quite understand that you give high-fives to the other team and keep walking at the same time--she caused a bit of a traffic jam.