my girls

A couple weekends ago I met up with my college roommates for a wonderful weekend in Bayfield. We get together each fall. No matter where it is we meet, we always manage to have a great time. Lezlie invited us to stay at her brother-in-law's lake cottage. It was so gorgeous...4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a beautiful view of the lake, complete with spectacular sunrise each morning. We went to Madeline Island for lunch, enjoyed the scenery and met some interesting locals. Back in Bayfield, somehow we talked right through the dinner hour...well Lez napped a little too (she doesn't do well when we feed her vodka before noon).

We stayed up late, talked non-stop and Sunday morning enjoyed our books in the cozy living room. I love these girls so much. Love that we can pick right up where we left off the last time without hesitation. Love that we can practically predict each other's behavior and typically finish each other's sentences. Love that they are so easy to be around. I am so blessed to have these beautiful, sweet, funny, caring, humble, thoughtful, crazy, charismatic women in my life. Thanks for a lovely weekend girls. One that was so good for my spirit and my soul. I love you all and can't wait for the next one!

big picture

I have so many pictures still in my camera...end of summer, back to school, birthdays, girls weekend...but here I am again posting another picture from my phone of our house. This project consumes our lives right now. Hopefully soon I'll be able to get back to my camera and add variety to my posts. For now, if you even care anymore, here's the big picture of the remodel. This is what you see when you drive in our driveway. The parts that are in blue, along with the entire back side are still unfinished. Slowly but surely it's coming together. We are so thankful for all our friends who have given up time with their families to help us out. They are more ready for this project to be done than we are, I'm sure. Thanks for sticking with us guys! This couldn't have happened without all of you! (The hilarious part is I'm certain not one of them reads any blog, ever. I just keep feeding them in hopes they will come back.)

remodel update

How do you feel about red siding? I wasn't sure how I felt, but that's what Joe picked. I know, so weird that I'm letting my husband make this kind of choice. After all, isn't color a "girl thing"? He's been very involved in the exterior design of the house. I think he's doing pretty good so far. What do you think?

my baby is 7 (updated)

For the record, I did not forget my daughter's birthday. Unfortunately, I had to be out of town for work that day, which absolutely killed me! She's seven now. I cannot believe it myself. I barely remember that chubby little baby. She's so grown up, but she'll always be my baby.

Dear Ava,

From the moment your dad said, "it's a girl!" and I said, "SHUT UP!" I knew we were really lucky to have you. Life has been so much more fun with you in it. You are an incredibly special little girl that I would be utterly lost without.

Ava...funny, fun, dramatic, quirky, weird, lovable, girly, helpful, outgoing, spirited, sweet, ruthless, relentless, crazy, cute, curly, cuddly... These are just a few of the adjectives I can easily use to describe you. I love being your mom.

Love,
Mom


Update:
I finally got around to getting Ava's birthday pictures off my camera. I completely forgot to mention the highlight of her party. She wanted the spanking machine...15+ people, grandparents included, lined the hallway so Ava could scoot through. HILARIOUS. No picture, but trust me it was very funny. I love that crazy kid. And I love this picture. She's so happy and a little embarrassed with everyone singing to her.