Relay for Life 5.21.10

Mom and Tina
Me and Tina

Mom, Jolene, Craig, Karen and Brett on the "Funny Hat" lap.

The Survivors!

For the third year in a row, I had the joy of participating in our local Relay for Life walk. After raising money with our Cow Pie Drop, I was very excited to actually do some walking. And this year I was determined to keep track of how far I'd walked. So, once the great opening ceremonies were completed and the survivors lap (which always gets me) was accomplished, Mom and I head out. Because it's a local event, we were able to see so many old friends and catch up along the way. Mom made luminaria bags for Papa and a friend of theirs that had recently passed away from cancer. This year the theme was "Celebrate more Birthdays" and it was so hopeful and encouraging. Every year I am reminded how important it is to fight this deadly disease. The event was very successful. Kim and Shaneo showed up later in the evening so we all walked together for a couple hours. Karen, Craig, Brett, and Jolene were also there so it was fun to walk with them as well. By the end of the evening, I had walked 7 miles. I can't wait to do it again next year. Life is good.

Mother's Day 5.9.10

Mike, Jeff, and Kim
Mom and Grandma

Logan and I

Dad and Shaneo

The mom's!!!!!

Oh how I love Mother's Day! I love everything about it. I love that it's a day to honor the mother's in your life. I love that it's a day where it really doesn't matter what you do, it matters who you spend your time with. I love that it happens in the Spring so 9 times out of 10 we get to do something outside. I love that it reminds me how lucky I am. That I have such an amazing mother and that I was blessed to be Logan's mom. It's just a great day no matter how you slice it. This year, Dad, Mom, Grandma, Jeff, Kim, Shane, Mike, Logan, and I decided to head to a quaint town close by and do lunch and then check out the local shops. It also happens to be right on the water so we were able to see boats, seagulls, and the boys had a great time peering over the edge of the dock (making me incrediably nervous in the process) to look for fish. Lunch was delicious and since it was a special occasion we all splurged on dessert. We were all able to get together and with our family that just doesn't happen every time with work schedules and life schedules. And there's just something magical that happens when the whole family gets together. Everyone was just on (if that makes sense). Thanks everyone for helping to make my Mother's Day absolutely perfect! And to all you mom's out there...cheers! You all amaze me. Life is so good being a mom!

The Great Cow Pie Drop 5.8.10

Craig, Logan, and Karen at the lemonade stand.
Drop that cow pie!!!

Come on girls, you can do it!!

Karen and Brett

These boys had such fun!

So for the past three years I have participated in Relay for Life; a fundraiser/walk to support research and finding a cure for cancer. It has been a very rewarding experience and I look forward to doing it for years to come. This year as we got closer and closer to the Relay, Karen and I wanted to find a fundraising activity to do that would bring in good money and be fun. Well, Karen and her mom came up with the perfect idea. You see Jolene (Karen's mom) lives on a diary farm. So their thought was, take a field, divide it into squares, sells the squares for $20 a pop, then let a cow loose in the field and wherever the cow "dropped it's pie" would win. The winner would get a third of the pot and the rest of the money would go to Relay for Life. It was brilliant. So, after selling all the squares (and then some), we all got together today to watch the big drop happen. It was hoot knowing that 20 some odd people were all standing around waiting for a cow to poop. :-) What fun! Karen even put together a little lemonade stand so Craiger could sell lemonade and chips. I hope this was the beginning of a new fundraising tradition. Life is good when you raise money for a good cause and have a blast doing it!

Happy Birthday Shane and Jeff 5.1.10

Shaneo reading his birthday card.
Logan and Shaneo were having a tissue paper fight!

Logan and his present.

Which led immediately to reading. :-)

And then it was on to Logan's favorite part about birthdays.

Today we gathered at my parents house to celebrate Shane and Jeff's birthdays. We had great food (thanks Kim), wonderful visiting, and got to see some very excited guys opening gifts. Kim had gotten her guys a Wii. They were so excited to play that they set it up right there at Mom and Dad's. It was so fun. We Wii bowled and raced cars. Logan was SO into it. Logan got a couple new books from Grandma as well. What a lucky little boy. We also had some delicious ice cream cake and lots of laughs. What a fun day. Here's to Shane and Jeff. Happy Birthday guys! Life is good.

Superhero Dinner 4.21.10

Karen, Craig, and Brett stopped by today for an imprompt visit and stayed for dinner. The boys were all superheroed up and of course did not want to unmask themselves for dinner. So, it was superhero dinner time. What fun these boys have together. Life is good.

What we do when we stay home sick 4.14.10

We watch the garbage man do his thing.
We play on the computer.

We color.

We nap.

We read.

After a fun-filled Spring Break, Logan apparently was partying it up too much and got sick. He's had a darn cough for about a month now and last night it got really bad. Neither of us slept much at all, so I called in sick so we could stay home, get better, and sleep. It's so hard to size up in the middle of the night if Logan is sick enough for me to keep him home. Today I was really glad I did because even though he played and seemed good, he desperately needed sleep. He was still coughing a lot by the evening so I called in sick again and as it turns out we had a great night sleep that night, so it really wasn't necessary. Oh well, live and learn. Life is good when you can stay home when you're not feeling well.

Tulip Season 4.11.10

I had to get the purple and gold together for my Vikings!
Grandma and Mom

Logan, Mom, Grandma, and Shaneo

These dark purple one's are some of my favorites.

Kim and Shaneo in a sea of red!

It's a tradition. One that I hope will continue for years and years and years. Grandma, Mom, Kim, Shaneo, Logan, and I all gather at our beautiful tulip fields and smell, see, touch (no, no Logan), and marvel over these beautiful flowers. Every year I'm amazed at the colors, the sheer amount of flowers, and the farmers who mastermind the fields. It never fails to be very crowded, which is fine, everyone should be able to enjoy this sight, but it still makes it a bit difficult, especially with Grandma's walker. Nevertheless, we not only toured the beds that were arranged, but we also headed out into the fields (Grandma too)! The boys always have so much fun running around the fields and trying "not" to get dirty! Oh boys! Honestly, the pictures don't do it justice. The fields really are quite amazing. One of these years I would love to take a helicopter tour of the fields. Can you imagine? Good times. Life is good.