Trees for Earth Day

The 1st graders at Terrace Park Elementary with their trees for Earth Day.

A cherry blossom is now planted in our front yard :)

What a great program the Terrace Park Garden Club did for the 1st graders.

First Trip to Kings Island

We bought season passes to KI this year. We are so excited to be able to go whenever we want and spend as much (or as little) time as the day allows.

This past Saturday we went with the Gatlins and really had a great time. The parents took turns riding the rides and the kids all split up in their usual pairs (their oldest 3 are the same age as our 3 so it is perfect).

Here are a few pictures from my phone:

Riding the train

Jack and Laney flying

Ella and Emma

Look how cute this picture is!

Madeline and Matthew

Such a great day!

Mother's Day Questions 2012

I found this on Pinterest and thought it would be fun. I know I will never remember to do this again but here it is.... at least for one year :)

Questions about Mom Mother’s Day 2012 1.   Something mom always says to you?      Ella—I love you      Laney—To clean up our room      Matthew—There’s a bad guy 2.  What makes mom happy?     Ella—Our family     Laney—When we do things that are good (like making our bed)     Matthew—Bad guy 3. What makes mom sad?    Ella--I don't want to think about that    Laney—When we fight    Matthew—Bad guy (same answer after many attempts) 4. How does mom make you laugh?    Ella-She tickles me    Laney—Doing funny jokes    Matthew—Tickles me 5. What was mom like as a child?    Ella—She was an excited kid    Laney—she was a good girl and played dolls with Aunt Cindy   Matthew—You are a bad guy 6. How old is mom?    Ella—43    Laney—That’s too hard   Matthew--1 7. How tall is mom?    Ella—25”    Laney—80”    Matthew—Big, really big 8. What is mom’s favorite thing to do?     Ella—Exercise     Laney—Spend time with me     Matthew—Run (ok, that is hysterical…you all know I never run). 9. What does mom do when you’re not around?     Ella—Go out to dinner     Laney—Go grocery shopping     Matthew--Color 10. If mom becomes famous, what will it be for?     Ella—Singing     Laney—She would be in the circus     Matthew—Don’t know 11.  What is mom really good at?     Ella—Math     Laney—Love     Matthew--No 12. What is mom not very good at?     Ella—Nothing     Laney—cartwheels or bridges     Matthew—Not good at playing 13. What does mom do for her job?     Ella—AdvoCare     Laney—To take care of kids     Matthew—Bad guy 14. What is mom’s favorite food?     Ella—Bananas     Laney—Macaroni and Cheese (for the record, I am not a fan)     Matthew—Bad Guy 15. What makes you proud of mom?     Ella—She is special     Laney—Reading books     Matthew--special 16. What cartoon character would mom be?     Ella—Barbie     Laney—Not sure     Matthew—Bad Guy 17. What do you and mom do together?     Ella—Jump Rope     Laney—Play chutes and ladders     Matthew—Play bad guys 18. How are you and mom the same?     Ella—We have the same color hair     Laney—We both like to cuddle    Matthew—Bad guy 19. How are you and mom different?     Ella—Mom has big ears and I have small ears     Laney—You don’t know how to do cartwheels and bridges     Matthew—Blue eyes 20. How do you know mom loves you?     Ella—She gives me kisses     Laney—I can just tell     Matthew—(I am getting sick of typing bad guy) 21. Where is mom’s favorite place to go?      Ella—To school      Laney—To see me      Matthew—To the gym It is not hard to tell that I love my kids, I love taking pictures of them, I love being around them, and I just love being a mom. Now with that being said, these love bugs have caused me tears, caused me to question if I am a good mom and have made me wonder what was I thinking having 3 kiddos. But I know I am doing my best, I have 3 very happy children and I wouldn't trade my life for anything. I love that I can stay home with them and watch them grow. I love being their mom!

Love and Honor to Miami

Their new Miami Gear.

Yes, I believe in brainwashing!!

Group Therapy goes back to Miami

A few weekends ago my best friends from college and I went back to Miami. Gosh it is great to be with these girls again. We laugh so much and chat about the best (and not so great) memories of college. Kristi and Jess brought their photo albums and we sat around and looked at every picture. As always, we question our fashion sense and how we actually had friends (and boyfriends!!) with such looks :)

And a huge thank you to Kristi for taking not only her awesome camera but the tripod. As much as we joked about the tripod we got some great pictures with it!

But what shall we do first?

Um, eat! Gosh we ate all the time in college so it was tough to choose where to start.

Skippers Pub won and boy was it good!

We tried to recreate the same picture we took 10 years ago and had it almost perfectly!

Here is where it all began. 4 of the 6 of us were in the same Freshman Dorm, Porter Hall.

Across from our freshman dorm is the nice ice arena.

Beautiful, right?

This was an open field when we went to MU.

Miami still remains one of the most beautiful college campuses.

But none of this was here when we went to MU.

Here are the new business buildings.

Kat spent lots of hours at the credit union working so we had to make a visit back.

How ironic we saw a squirrel on the way to our sorority suite.

The AGD mascot is a squirrel.

The suite was recently updated and looks so nice!

It was our sorority alumni reunion but since none of us wanted to do the ritual, we snuck out of there :)

Kat and I grabbed a picture before our escape.

Luckily we aren't in school anymore or else standing on the seal would mean Kelly would fail her next exam :)

Our sophomore dorm..Brandon Hall

 Although Kristi did not live in our sophomore dorm, Kristi and Liz spent hours on these stairs chatting.

Ugg..me and Brill.

I spent way too many hours here. Yes mom and dad, I did study!

This library was much smaller than the MU library and it held all of the science material I needed so unfortunately I spent a lot of time here.

We always seem to have many pictures of Kristi and one of us while she is holding the camera :)

Our senior home.

Amazing it is still still standing!! 

But this is what is across the street now. CVS, Irish pub, tanning place, etc.

When we were there it was the elementary school

Going out to dinner.

Kristi's dad is a big man in the Alpha Delt world so we were able to stay at their International Headquarters (which was like a hotel). It was wonderful!!

At dinner

And what is a night at the bars without Bruno's pizza.

See, another picture of Held holding the camera.

I LOVE it!

What a great group of girls that I am lucky to call friends!

Buried Treasure

The year is 1995, and Jason and I thought it would be fun to bury a time capsule. We used a wood box that my Uncle Dale gave me and filled it with memories (pictures, newspaper articles, things, etc). We then buried it behind Jason's parents' shed.

This past weekend we wanted to try and find it. Find it being the key word as we didn't make a drawing of where it actually was :) Luckily it wasn't buried too incredibly deep and Jason was able to find it.

What we quickly came to realize is that using a wood box was not a smart idea. Although we wrapped in plastic over and over again, the box still crumbled.

Our box :(

You could see that I wrote Jason's and Leslie's Treasure Box 1995 (in puffy paint of course!)

Our treasures.

Pictures (many we couldn't actually see anymore as the color had faded or gotten wet)

An "I Love you" balloon

A small picture frame with a picture

It looked like I might have put in the program from a musical from high school

A cassette tape. 

The cassette tape was definitely my favorite. Jason and I dated throughout college but we didn't attend the same college. We saw each other on the weekends but not every weekend so being the young saps in love that we were, we missed each other a lot! Jason made a dedication on a radio station for me saying how much he missed me. Then cue in Somewhere, Out there.

It was really sweet and I always wished we could have incorporated this cheesiness into our wedding reception . It was very cute (yes, cheesy....but we were 19). Ok, I am still cheesy :)

We don't have a cassette player but luckily Betty's car does. Now to clean it to see if it will play.

January 15, 1995

Ok, really???? 

This is one of the pictures we chose???

Are you still laughing?

My eyes are closed, Jason looks hung over...this is just a ridiculous picture!

Let's hope we put this in for comic relief :)

So word to the wise, a time capsule is lots and lots of fun....just don't use a wood box...LOL

Mother's Day Tea

Since this was my first Mother's Day Tea I had no idea what to expect. All I knew is that Matthew needed to have a babysitter so it could just be Laney and myself but other than that I had no idea. I threw on a skirt and even some jewelry (!!!!) and was out the door.

Ok, I am glad I did change because once I showed up I realized this was really a big deal. The moms were all in dresses, some even with hats, cute shoes, etc. Usually we are all in yoga pants or PJs so it was nice to see the moms out of their "uniforms."

The children walked one by one to greet their moms, give them a flower and walk them to their seats.

A little blurry but seriously, how cute is she?

She gave me a huge hug and said, "Mom, Happy Mother's Day. I love you!"

Insert...emotional mom :)

As the other moms were escorted in, Laney and I had some good cuddle time.

I put on my tiara that she made, put my flower in the vase and was excited to share some time with just my little lady.

The treats were so yummy and well thought out :)

My hand made tiara.

Then the kids went to their cubbies and got their presents out.

Laney's card

And now for the inside.

This poem on the left (and below) gets me every single time!

Laney looked over and said, "Mom, why are you crying? This day is for you!"

Inside was a beautiful plate.

Each child drew whatever they wanted and Laney made a rainbow, sun and flower.

Thank you, Laney! I love it!

April and Jack Riley

He made an ice cream cone with mint chocolate chip ice cream :)

As if that wasn't enough emotional drama, the class sang a song.

Mrs. Heile said they have been working on this song all year! LOL.

It was great!

Next, the kids each drew a picture of their mom and said something about them on the back. The moms then had to try and guess which one was them. Laney said, "My mommy's special because she dresses dolls with me and we pretend the dolls are going to the beach."

When Laney gave me mine, I told her I loved how half of my hair is blonde and half is brown. Mrs. Heile said when she asked Laney about it, it was because she said sometimes my hair is blonde and sometimes it isn't. Um, honey....we don't need to tell everyone I get highlights...lol.

Mrs. Heile then read a book about What Mothers Can't Do.

It was really cute.

Oh Laney. Thank you for the most wonderful morning.

Your hugs are so powerful; they remind me how you have always been such a cuddly girl. From the moment you were born, you loved to be held, be cuddled and just smile. You still do! Yes, you have your fits that remind me you are just 5, but you are one happy 5 year old.

I love you, Laney Bug!