New Year, New Blog

My New Year’s resolution? To make time to start blogging again.  I know I won’t just magically find time, so I sincerely hope to make time.  I have almost seven months of pictures and videos that have gone unedited, untouched, unenjoyed…that’s just no good.

So—here we go!

We had a (relatively) quiet New Year’s Eve with the girls at home.  They helped us make all kinds of appetizers earlier in the day, and we munched through the night while playing games like Zingo, Sequence for Kids, Pengoloo, KerPlunk, and Disney Scene It.  We made Mint Madness ice cream sundaes—peppermint ice cream topped with hot fudge, a mini candy cane and a peppermint patty.  YUM.  We changed the clocks so that Lucy and Ella thought they stayed up until midnight, and made sure to tell them that the noisemakers were only for after midnight!

Kids!

Jaeden and Audrey...they were so cute together!

Ella, Lucy, Cole

Jorie, Jaeden, Ava

Audrey

My godsons, Jaeden and Charlie!

T-Ball All-Star

Brewers Game

To wrap up what felt like the busiest weekend ever, Mark and Ellen took Julie, Patrick, Paul, Greg, the girls, and I to a Brewers Game--Audrey's first!  The weather was very confusing...on the way in, I was nervous that the girls were going to be cold.  A few innings into the game, the clouds broke and the sun came out.  If you ask Lucy, she'll tell you that we were "so hot we were melting," and I couldn't agree more.  It was fun to be at Miller Park and to take in the excitement of the game, but as expected, I watched very little of the actual game.  Lucy and Ella loved their kids' meal and the Brewers coloring book I made, and Audrey and I had fun walking around the (air conditioned) Team Shop.  We left before the game ended, but we also managed to leave before anyone had a breakdown...success!  All three girls were asleep before we got out of the parking lot, and we took the long way home to let them snooze.

Greg's Dinner

To celebrate Greg's completion of residency, his parents planned a dinner with the two of us, Julie, Patrick, and Paul.  Greg picked the restaurant--Hinterland--and knew we were getting a babysitter (thanks, again, Auntie Chris...).  What he didn't know was that Mark and Ellen were surprising him with a limo ride to the restaurant!  I managed to have Greg ready on time, and then suggested we get our picture taken out front.  As we were waiting for my aunt to come out, the limo pulled up.  Greg said (in his most sarcastic voice), "Look, our limo's here."  I said, "Yeah, it is!" and the look on his face was priceless!  All he could say was, "Shut. Up." 

We had enough time to take the girls (along with Lainy, my Aunt Chris' granddaughter) on a ride around the neighborhood.  Lucy and Ella thought it was Oma and Opa's new car...

The limo ended up being not only fun, but very convenient.  During the planning of this dinner, I had somehow overlooked that Summerfest would be going on--traffic and parking were crazy!  It was great to start the evening completely relaxed...we felt so spoiled.

We sat at the Chef's Table, where they brought us course after course of yummy food and wine.  We had the opportunity to have lots of uninterrupted adult conversation...it was the perfect evening, and a great way to celebrate Greg's accomplishment!

Audrey's New Trick

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!