happy birthday carrie!

Carrie is my very best friend. You don't see a lot about her here because she lives so stinking far away (and I miss her all the time!).

Carrie and I met our freshman year in high school in English class. I'd like to say we never had an argument in all that time, but, along with a lot of fun, we had pleanty of falling outs. We made our way through high school, mended our friendship just in time to get our request in to be roommates at UW-EauClaire.

In my entire life, I have shared more laughs and tears with Carrie than anyone else. She has been the closest thing I've ever had to sister. She has an amazing sense of humor, is fun loving and outgoing yet incredibly grounded and is an all around good person. She is the God Mother to my first born, and after a great weekend visit, has been pronounced an honorary aunt to my kids. Carrie has always been there for me, even when she's been far away.

I promise to post better pictures soon, Car (she's going to kill me for this one...5 years ago, girls weekend cruise, after several cocktails). I had to get a birthday wish out quick during a break at work, I'm sure she'll understand, this is all I could come up with. Have a great birthday! Love you!!!
Is that a napkin on your head Carrie...or perhaps your birthday party hat?!?!

me and t

If you don't already know Tara personally, you've certainly read about her here. She is one of my best friends. She comes to my house and cooks, cleans, plays with my kids, puts them to bed and reads them stories. She snowboards, loves to fish, makes jewelry, and has become a self-taught photographer, learning more with her camera in a matter of months than I have in years. She's the type of person who can do anything she sets her mind to, and at times I'm completely jealous of that. She's ambitious, fun loving, energetic and outgoing. She kicks butt and cribbage but sucks at scrabble. She'll finish off a bottle of wine with me any day of the week, no questions asked.

So why am I posting all of this? It's not Tara's birthday, we haven't done anything significant together lately. In fact, we've seen very little of each other, and most of the time I miss her like crazy. But Tara has been on my mind. She is going through some tough times these days. She's experiencing a lot of difficult change. I have a hard time showing how much I really support her, because frankly I don't do well with change at all. At times I feel like the big sister, shaking my head a little while she jumps in with both feet to find out if she will sink or swim (which I truly admire that she can do by the way). And most of the time, she does swim.

XOXO my good friend, keep swimming!

happy birthday carla!!!

A bit belated, but I know she'll forgive me. Our friend Julie and Carla's mom put together quite the fiesta in Carla's honor this past Saturday night. The food was outstanding, and, no worries, Carla didn't let any of the tequila slush go to waste (thank goodness for straws or this could have gotten ugly). Carla is a truly beautiful person inside and out, and I feel so lucky to have her in my life. I had an awesome time and felt right at home in her circle of crazy (and I mean that in the nicest way) friends and family. Cheers C, see ya soon (like Friday, when I drop off my kids!)

Julie...salsa dancing???

grandma's weekend

A couple weekends ago Joe's cousin Jennifer and her friend Stefanie stayed with us for Grandma's Marathon. The silly girls ran the whole thing on the one day of the summer that temps reached 90! Stef's blisters were ridiculous, but she never complained. And get this, they offered to just take our kids for a drive to the beach and out for ice cream after they ran 26 miles! Needless to say, the kids adored the girls (even before the ice cream). That night (yes, after the 90 degree day that they ran 26 miles, took our kids to the beach and out for ice cream) we took out the hot air balloon. I was doubtful that with such little manpower (it was just Joe and us girls) we'd be able to manage the balloon, but it went up without a problem. It turned out to be a gorgeous night for ballooning. Apparently I was having too much fun to take any pictures. Thankfully Jen pulled through and sent me some of hers. Can't wait to see you guys again!!!


Ava & Jen with their medals (Ava's is her ski medal...)

karate kid

In May Gabe started Karate. It has been really great for him. He's learned some core skills with a big influence on self-discipline and respect. We love the instructors. They have high expectations of the kids, but a the same time are fun and encouraging. Gabe got his yellow belt about a month ago. Way to go, Gabe!

flower children

Tell me you don't want to be 5 years old in the summer time again...

on 2 wheels

Ava learned how to ride her bike without training wheels, two summers ago. She promptly threw a fit and refused to ride without training wheels the entire last summer. We've finally got her back on two wheels again. Every time she gets ready to go she repeats her "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it" mantra. I think she's on to something.

Gabe has been extremely encouraging throughout the bike riding lessons. He tries to give her tips and helps her get started. Most of the time she's too stubborn to appreciate it and ends up yelling at him "I don't need your help, Gabe!"

Oh well, his heart is in the right place. And that's just one of the things we love about Gabe.