Thursday...

Kris is in the finals! I'm so glad the one season I decide to watch American Idol, my fave makes it to the end! Hopefully he can pull out the win next week, but either way I can't wait to hear his first album.

I am into the third book in the Twilight series--Eclipse. I honestly didn't think I would get into these books but I am loving the story! I have been waking up early just to read more! I can't wait for the New Moon movie to come out in November. If you haven't read these yet-do it!

Any mini vacation ideas? I have a long weekend coming up for Memorial Day and Ryan will be at Summercamp. We aren't able to go to Sarah's cabin since someone rented it-bummer. We thought about going to Chicago -- Emma's favorite place, and there is plenty to do, not to mention free lodging at Rach's. The only thing is we'll be going up there in a few weeks to see Mary Poppins so I would be up for something different. I don't want to go too far since Ryan won't be with us. I guess I should make a decision since it's only a week away!

Mother's Day and More

I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day! Emma and I celebrated twice! Her school hosted a Mother's Day tea for the Kindergarten classes. It was so cute-I got there and Emma took my arm and led me into the music room where all the children put on a little concert/play. Then she took my arm again and led me to our table and pulled out my chair. She was so sweet-she really got into the role of hostess! We had fruit and cookies with our drinks-very ladylike. I am so glad I was able to go but it reminded me how fast she is growing up. She is almost a 1st grader! On Sunday we went to Springfield with my family. We visited the Abraham Lincoln museum and then went to New Salem. Emma loved it-she is so fascinated by history and museums in general. I don't know where she gets it! We had a picnic lunch and walked around talking about how different life used to be. It was a very relaxing and fun day together!

Emma didn't want to sit and have her picture taken with Abe until after we went through the museum-he was a little intimidating. When we were walking to the car she said "I'm ready to sit by Abraham". I guess she felt like she knew enough about him by then-though she still didn't want to sit too close!Emma has really missed her aunts lately. We didn't get to see Rachael since she spent the day with Ryan and their mom but she had a great time with Aunt Alli. I need to spend less time behind the camera -I am really sad that I didn't get any pictures of me and Em together on Mother's Day. I need to remember to pass the camera to someone else once in a while!We ended up rescheduling the photo shoot for this weekend but it was a little windy and chilly. The kids did great anyway and we ended up getting several great shots! I think we will try again when it is a little warmer-and sunnier!

Everyone that has been around me lately knows I have been going crazy keeping a secret! My friend Cari graduated from ISU on Saturday. We threw her a huge surprise party and I can't believe it but it was actually a surprise!! She knew that her family was taking her out to dinner after graduation so they were able to get her to the restaraunt without tipping her off. After dinner we had an after-party at our house and celebrated all that she has accomplished. Cari was so grateful and kept saying how much it meant to her. The turnout alone was a testament to how much she is loved. There were over 70 people there! She is a wonderful wife and mother and was so happy to be going back to school even though it meant juggling everything else. I have always admired her ability to stay positive and enjoy the moment--she is a great example for everyone and an amazing friend. Congratulations Cari-we love you!!!

Anticipation

Em's class has been talking about caterpillars and butterfly's for the last month or so. They built a little habitat and got 5 caterpillars for class pets and last week they went into their chrysalis' just in time for the school's education fair. Emma was super excited to show them off for us. Everyone is eagerly waiting for beautiful butterfly's!The caterpillars are the brown blob on the back wall. Everyone contributed to the habitat and Emma made the American Flag (minus the stars!).

I will be taking pictures for a family with two adorable kids this weekend. We will be outside so hopefully the weather cooperates--we don't want a muddy mess! Hopefully the shoot goes well and I can share pictures next week!

And yet another shout out for my favorite American Idol, Kris Allen! This week he sang The Way You Look Tonight which is one of my all time faves-my dad and I danced to it at my wedding! I loved his version and I think he just keeps getting better. He was in the bottom 3 last night and had me a little worried but he made it through. I can't wait to see what he does after the competition is over!

Words

We had another very full weekend around here. We had game night Friday night (which turned into the guys watching the baseball game downstairs and the girls chatting upstairs most of the night). It was a lot of fun and awesome weather so we took advantage and played a few games in the garage. If we had to lose the guys to the game at least the Cardinals won! Ryan and I were sooo outnumbered on that one! I think that out of 16 people, only 4 of us are Cardinal fans.

Sarah and the boys came down for the weekend and the kids played great. Ethan kept calling Emma his cousin and Emma really misses him already! I can't believe I didn't get a single picture the whole weekend! I hope we are able to make it to the cabin for Memorial Day this year! Sarah's family owns a cabin in Wisconsin but we don't know if it has been rented for that weekend yet. We should know by this weekend so Emma and I are keeping our fingers crossed!

Emma and I went to watch Heartland play today. We haven't been able to catch any games this season so I was glad to finally make it out there, especially on such a nice day. It was super windy but the warm temps and the sun made up for it. They split, losing the first game and winning the second but they were good games to watch. Their record was 25-3-1 as of last week.

I decided to start reading the Twilight series since I have so many people telling me how much I am missing. I'm not sure what I am getting into-I don't usually like that kind of fiction-but I figure it's worth a chance! I'm going to start this week so I will let you know how it goes for those of you who are as reluctant as I was to read them!

Easter

I have never been an American Idol fan-in fact I could count on one hand the number of times I had watched it before this season. After hearing everyone talk about it I decided to give it a try. I have been DVRing this season and I am a little hooked. I love watching the performance night but I really don't care much about the results as long as my two faves stay in. I loooove Kris Allen (a few of my faves are in my playlist!) and I like Danny too. I really don't get what everyone likes about Adam. Obviously he can sing but I am way more into the singer/songwriter groove. Idol rambling over. But, did I mention I looooove Kris?

Easter was lots of fun. We packed a lot into one weekend so we are a little tired around here. The Easter bunnies (at home and at the Nana's) were very good to Emma and she is having fun playing with all her new goodies. She got a few new webkinz, a new DS game, and lots of art supplies. She really enjoys drawing so we got her a sketchbook and colored pencils and she has taken them with her everywhere!

I was dropping Emma off at school today and trying to say goodbye. She was talking to her friends and ignoring my request for a hug. Finally she gave in and hugged me (no kiss) and I said "I love you". She looked at me, mouthed the words I love you, and then shooed me out the door. I hoped this day would never come. Just wait until you are a teenager, my dear daughter. That's when the real embarassment begins.

Etc. . .

TGIF! This week has dragged on but unfortunately the weekend is gonna fly by! We have an egg hunt to go to tomorrow plus two birthday parties and then the Hannah Montana movie (been using this one as a bribe all week!) and then Sunday we have church, Brunch with my family, followed by dinner with Ryan's fam. I love that we will get to see all of our family but I know Monday will come too soon.

Emma has been sick this week with a cold/ear infection. I thought she was feeling better Thursday so I had her get ready for swim lessons. Ryan and I were talking upstairs when he asked, "are you sure Emma should go?" Then I heard the snoring.


Poor thing. She went to the doctor today and is already feeling much better so it looks like the weekend plans will work out.

I never knew what a little prankster we had. Emma played a few jokes on Ry and I on April fools day. She hid Ryan's coffee maker in her closet so he didn't get any coffee and then she hid my new DS game, which of course I didn't realize until I sat down to play later that afternoon. She was at school so I couldn't have it until she got home. Then Ryan woke me up when he got home from a game asking where the remote was. She had gotten in one final prank and hid the remote! She thought she was pretty clever. Payback's not so fun my dear. Just wait til next year.

As most of you know, Ryan is an assistant coach for Heartland Community College's baseball team. They are having an awesome year which almost makes up for the time he is gone! Their record is 19-1 and they are undefeated in their conference. I haven't been able to watch them play yet this year but it sounds like they are a great group of guys. You can check out their schedule at heartland.edu

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter. We will be spending it with family--hopefully not getting sick off of candy. Most of all we will concentrate on remembering what we are celebrating.

Catching Up

I hope you haven't given up on me. We have been without a computer for a few months. Thanks goodness for the blackberry and email access! After dealing with the laptop and putting off having it fixed for months, we finally sent it in and, of course, they couldn't fix it. We went and picked out a new one last night--happy we had the extended warranty--and I am up and running with a shiny new desktop. Can't say I don't miss the laptop but we will hopefully have far fewer problems this time! I have lots to catch you up on!

We went to the Science and Industry Museum with Alli, Matt, and Nana. We had fun but not so sure Matt was in his element!

We had a great time celebrating Cari's birthday in Feb. We went to a local bar for dinner and festivities. Emma wanted to take pics of mom and dad all dressed up. Doesn't happen too often!The Birthday Girl!Cari and her Hubby, Andy.Blue Steel...I think.Emma and her Grandparents had a great Grandparent's day at school. Emma drew a very realistic picture of everyone. Papa had chest hair in his picture so he is going to be sure to button up his shirt all the way from now on! Sorry dad--Emma likes details!Couldn't get this pic to turn the right way but notice Lenny the Crab has a band-aid. He was bit by a shark! The nana's had to empty their purses for this project!We went bowling for Alli's birthday. Emma beat my score (which doesn't take much) and even got a few strikes--notice the high five. Emma is definately papa's girl!
Emma went a birthday party at Backyard Adventures and had lots of fun until...

A few too many times around on the tire swing. Can you tell she was a little green? It's not a party 'til someone pukes! She snapped out of it pretty fast and was able to enjoy the pizza and ice cream!Emma lost one of her top front teeth! The permanent tooth is almost in now and the other front one is loose. She looks so different now, I wonder what happened to my little girl.

We had a girls night a few weekends ago and had sooo much fun. We went to a Tapas bar first and the bartender was so nice and bought us all this amazing shot called a Rainbow Bright. I already loved it because of the name and how pretty it is but it tasted so good. I have been searching for the recipe but no luck so far. We just may have to go back ;) It was a great night and a very interesting cab ride home! We are all going out again this weekend but this time the guys are invited. I'm sure they will keep us in line! Felicia, Me, Jen, Jess.