Opening Day!

Today the good lord begat another blessed year of Cubs baseball. Only 161 games to go, well 'til playoffs anyway. It is our family tradition to eat hot dogs and cracker jacks, and drink PBR while watching the first Cubs game of the year. I wish I could take sole credit for this creative idea, but I stole it from Dave Moore. When we all worked at American Century he would always bring in hot dogs and throw them in the crock pot on opening day.

Unfortunately, after two separate rain delays, the ace pitcher left the game with forearm cramps, then the highly celebrated newly appointed closer allowed 3 runs in half an inning and the runner up to the closer spot allowed the losing run in the 10th inning. Luckily there were some highlights...Zambrano was on his game. He pitched 6 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. And Kosuke Fukudome hit a game-tying three-run homer in the ninth to tie it up, but they still fell a little short and lost 4-3. It was a bummer, but we are glad baseball is back!

"Camping"

So this weekend my sweet and funny husband had a big surprise for me. He was so excited to tell me that we were going camping. Now if you have ever traveled with children you know this isn't a very exciting thought because by the time you pack, load and unpack all the crap you need to travel, let alone camp with kids, you are exhausted. So I was quite pleased to see the tent in my backyard! What a great idea! He even pumped up the air mattress for me! So we played hot tomato, looked at shark books, and ate popcorn. We even slept...a little :o)

Family Reunion 1985ish

My friend Miranda does a regular "Flashback Friday" post on her blog and I am going to steal her idea for this week only. My Aunt Betty recently emailed these photos of a family reunion to my cousin Ken (who I actually met and became friends with years later by seeing his name in the phone book) and he sent them to me. So I couldn't resist posting them on my blog, even after my sister Kristin's death threats when I mentioned my plan. The 80s really were a rough hair and fashion era.

My Dad, Aunt Betty, Cousin Steve, Aunt Nancy, Beulah, Amy
Uncle Jim, me, Grandpa Marty, Kristin

Maybe Ken or Aunt Betty could help me out with all the names on this one :o)

Morgan's First Insta-Care Visit

So last Friday (Good Friday) we were in the middle of preparing a yummy dinner and Morgan was standing on a stool trying to reach something on the counter. Then that something fell and she turned to go get it and ran out of stool. She landed hard on our tile floor. Then when she stood up she wouldn't put any weight on her right foot and it was starting to swell. So it is 10 minutes to 5:00 pm on a Friday...I pick up the phone to try and catch the doctor for recommendations and I get the after hours line. So they page the doctor on call and he says I should take her to the insta-care place just down the street. So we put dinner on hold and Morgan and I race off. When we get there I can't even tell what foot it was. I call Ben to be sure I should still take her and of course we decide yes. I go in and she is running, literally running around the waiting area. Are you kidding me? So I still see the doctor, knowing full well that I am wasting her time. I catch Morgan and she wiggles her foot around and confirms that she is just fine. So fine in fact that when we get home she requests to wear a pair of knee high boots with a one inch heel (that we got from my sweet friend Mary). Are you kidding me??????

Spring has Sprung!

This post is a few weeks over due, but I am still pleased that Spring has sprung! The trees are beautiful, the weather is pleasant, and I think all the leaves finally fell of my tree so I can rake for the last time! The South really is beautiful in the Spring. There are so many different types of blooming flowers and the azaleas are especially beautiful. I wish we had more in our yard. Speaking of our yard here are a few photos.

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful spring day! We have had several Easter related events that I will combine into one post.

Last week at Nora's preschool they held an Easter egg hunt and included Morgan. Ben and Grandma were able to attend and it was a very special day!


Then yesterday we decorated eggs. Morgan turned a little yellow...it would turn out that she wasn't quite ready for the egg decorating, but she loved splashing. So I just refilled her color bowl with water and she was just as happy.


Today the girls woke up to find the Easter Bunny had delivered baskets and eggs. They were so cute finding the eggs. Nora found 19 of the 28 we hid...Morgan will get there.

Nora's First Movie

Today Nora and I went to see Horton Hears a Who. What a fun movie! The previews upset her a little because they were so loud, but once the movie started she really seemed to enjoy it. She ate her popcorn and little bag of Skittles, well what was left after she spilled them. When we were leaving the theater I asked her if she had fun and she said the "Princesses" were more fun. Well at least we are making memories!

Crazy Weather

So here in the south we are used to having to prepare for hurricanes, but tornadoes???? What the heck. So we spent our Saturday night in the closet playing Elmo's hot tomato game. It really looked like both storms coming had the chance to hit us straight on, but everything seemed to pass us over, thankfully! Ben was very sweet to secure everything in the yard and round up the pets (even the cats...and they weren't pleased). My Mom was here, but she doesn't really like tight spaces so she hung out in the hall and said she would jump in when she heard it coming.

Photos courtesy of Grandma!

Greasy Hair

So Morgan has a scaly head and the doctor recommended putting some baby oil on it when she got out of the bath. But now she looks like she could audition for the Outsiders.

Savannah, GA

My mom is in town for a visit and she helped me take the girls to the GI specialist in Savannah on Wednesday. Mom has wanted to go to the Lady and Son's restaurant for a while but you have to get in line really early to put your name on the list for the day. So we got down there just in time to get our name on the list and get to the doctor by 10:00.

The doctor visit went really well. For those of you that are wondering why we went to a GI specialist, the girls have a little trouble pooping. So it turns out they need to take more of the medicine they have been on. Hopefully this will make it all better.

After the doctor we headed back to the restaurant for lunch. This is not the place to eat if you are looking for something healthy, but if you want tasty this is the place. Mom's favorite was the crab stew. The girls liked the mac and cheese, of course. And my favorites were the sweet potatoes and banana puddin'. It was even better than mine.

Chuck E. Cheese is the man!

We went to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time today with our new friend Krista and her cute baby Carolyn. I have avoided it for some reason, either I thought it would cost too much or be too busy. It is a beautiful day here today so it was really slow. I am still a little worried that they will ask to go back often, but I know it won't be because they loved the pizza! They had so much fun playing and riding all the little toys. Of course I didn't take the camera today, but they have two different "rides" that take your picture. So here are a couple from the excursion.

Parenting

I have been working on this post for months and I finally decided today to just post it. My Grandma Fran passed away last week and it made me appreciate my parents again. It may not be worded just right for as strongly as I feel, but writing really isn't my thing. So here goes...


So there is this weird thing that happens when you have your own kids...you learn to appreciate your parents in a new way. It is hard for me to believe that my parents could love me as much as I love my own kids, but they must have. How can you look down into the sweet innocent face of your baby and not fall in love. I'm also certain that I drove them crazy. I'm sure Ben drove Anita crazy because he quotes her as saying "Because I'm the Mom, that's why!" Nora is in the the "Why not?" stage...need I say more on this topic. (Since writing this Morgan has moved into it to)

I have also learned that nobody is perfect and they did the best they could, just as I am doing the best I can with my girls. There was a funny line it the new show Samantha Who? recently, about this very thing. The mom said, "Your lucky I'm not perfect, you'd have nowhere to go."

My goal is for my girls to laugh at least one time everyday. I wish I could also let them learn from my mistakes, but I know they will have to make some on their own. Just like I do.

The point of this post is to tell our parents that we love and appreciate you in ways you may never know. Thank you for being wonderful parents!

Ben and his mom Anita at our wedding

Me and my mom Katie at a fundraising event she was helping me with

My dad Marty and step mom Mary

Ben and his dad Mike at commissioning