• 30Mar

  2 down- 2 more birthdays to go…

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  So we’ve made it through our first two rounds of kids birthdays in our house this year.  The little kids are now just a little older… sigh.  Elizabeth had a birthday at home with the family.  She was so excited to be able to wear her princess dresses out of the house for the day!  She even managed to ride her new tricycle with it on!  Henry had a special event for his birthday.  The life-size remote control replicas of Disney’s Cars were stopping in St. Louis before going to the museum of transportation… on his birthday!  So we went up there expecting a quick look and a couple of pictures… only to find a line at capacity and a nearly 2 hour wait (in the cold!!) for the hopes of getting close enough to see… no garauntee.  So we braved the weather and played 20 questions while in line to keep the kids occupied.  It was so worth it though – all four of them absolutely loved being able to get up close to the cars!  Henry walked up and talked to each one.  Now that was a very excited birthday boy.

  

  Tags: personal

  
• 18Aug

  Little Annie Sneak Peek

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  Last week my newest little niece, Annie, was born.  She’s so incredibly adorable!!  Last night my brother brought his new family over for a late-night newborn session.  Late as in we didn’t finish until midnight… and today was the first day of school for my two oldest children today.    So it was a little hectic, but tons of fun!  Congratulations Anthony and Jordan!!!

  

  Tags: baby, newborn, personal, sneak peek

  
• 19Jul

  Cape San Blas – Our Family Vacation!

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  So this last week I was hanging out with my family.  My whole family.  A total of 21 of us fitting just barely into 3 vehicles with a UHaul taking everything (including the guy’s golf clubs… apparently they can’t leave home without them).    We all went down to the Florida Panhandle – Cape San Blas to be exact.  We’d worried for so long about the oil spill and as it turned out everything was absolutely gorgeous!  Clear beautiful waters and sandy white beaches greeted us when we arrived. 

  We had such a great time!  In the morning we’d take the kids to the beach to swim and you know what – the water was sooo great that they actually could swim in it!  And at the end of the week it was so calm that we could walk out quite a distance with the kids and let them swim with the little fish in calm shallow water.  It really was amazing and the little ones absolutely loved every minute of it!  And every night we each took turns cooking everyone a feast and we dressed up for dinner every night.  We didn’t eat out once the whole week and not one of us missed out.   Then in the evening I’d sing on the deck with my sisters with the sun setting on the beach behind us… OK.  So those of you that know me know that I personally didn’t sing toooo much (out of kindess to others) but it was great fun none-the-less.   

  My only regret was not taking my camera out more often.  But even that I don’t regret too much.  The time playing in the sand with my kids was priceless and I’ll never forget it.  Pictures or not. 

  

  

  I wanted to thank my sister, Gianni, for stopping on our walk down the beach to take this shot of my family for me!  I’m sooooo often not found in pictures… 

  

  Tags: child, children, family, family vacation, personal

  
• 27Jun

  Running in the Mud

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  Ok, yes, I did not in fact “run” the first annual Mud Run at Harrah’s to benefit the MS Society.  My brave husband however did.  And Saturday morning I stood out in the open sun, running through thorns, mud, water, hard and very uneven ground (in flip-flops!!  what was I thinking????)  in order to catch some of the highlights from his race.  But it was so worth it.  So much so that I am incredibly sorry I didn’t have the guts to sign up myself!  This gruelling course took the majority of it’s runners more than an hour and a half to complete and I doubt even one of them would regret a moment of it.  From the numerous mud pits (literally pits of watery mud), to the military walls, hurdles, tunnels and rope swings this was such an amazing event!  Sean kept a great pace throughout the entire race pausing only a few times to help others on the race and still came in 4th by only 24 seconds.    I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up his pace, but I’ll definitely give it a go for next year!!

  

  Tags: 2010 Mud Run, personal

  
• 12May

  Another Beach Boy is a year older this week

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  Yet another birthday in the Beach house hold this week.    My oldest boy, Will, turned 5 just yesterday.  Yes, so he is officially old enough to go to kindergarten.  A fact that he repeated… all… day… long.  That is when we weren’t defeating aliens with Ben 10 – his latest cartoon idol.  It seems impossible that he could really be this old!  He’s getting ready for school and carrying on conversations as though he’s 10 years old already.  I’ve become accustomed to this behavior from Emma, but now Will… do they ever stop growing up?  It’s exciting and I love that they are so mature.  I’m happy for them and so unbelievably proud.  It just seems like it’s all moving so quickly!  In the blink of an eye my little baby William with the beautiful curly hair has turned into a little man.  

  

  Tags: birthday, child, personal

  
• 20Apr

  My big-little girl’s birthday!

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  Yesterday was my oldest’s birthday.  My little Emma turned a big 7 and she’s so excited about it.  Her birthday has become quite the topic of conversation around the house… for the last few months.  Really I’d say since Christmas.    The countdown has been endless – calendars marked (yes, more than 1) to show the occasion and the excitement has been escalating.  For her “big” gift we went for something that she’s wanted for years now – a classic, “Just like Me” American Girl doll.  We made her wait until she had blown out her birthday candles to open the box and the result was priceless.  I think we picked the right gift for our new big girl.    A doll, but not a baby doll.  For my big girl… who’s not quite a big girl yet.  Even if she thinks she is. 

  

  Tags: birthday, child, personal

  
• 29Mar

  My little boy turned 3!

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  Yep, another birthday in our house!  Henry – my little crazy man that he is – is officially 3 years old now.  We had a birthday party for him yesterday and he had sooo much fun!  I made him a special chocolate cake with is favorite colors… And he couldn’t resist stealing little bits of it as the day went by.  By the time we sang “Happy Birthday” there was a whole section missing from one side!! Once the festivities were over my guy got to take a walk with his big brother and sister because he‘s a big boy now too!!

  

  Tags: birthday, child, children, personal

  
• 22Mar

  My little girl turned 1!

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  This weekend was my youngest very first birthday!  I can’t believe that Elizabeth is actually a full year old!  There are no more babies in our house – she’s now officially a toddler.  And a very, very energetic one at that.    We played it easy this year with home made cupcakes and lots of fun. 

  

  

  Tags: baby, birthday, personal

  
• 09Feb

  Beach Baby Sneak Peek

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  Yes, this Beach baby is related.    While we were in Colorado I had the privilege of taking the very first portraits of my new little nephew.  Emma was actually very excited to be able to not only see what I do when I’m “going to work” but also to lend a hand holding up the backdrop for me.  Which turned out to be really helpful since this little man was already wiggling around like there was no tomorrow!  My dear brother and sister-in-law will have their hands full in a few months once he’s on the go! 

  

  Tags: family, newborn, personal, sneak peek

  
• 09Feb

  Colorado Fun!

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  My family just got back from a trip out to Colorado to visit family and to… ski!!  I’ve never been skiing before and quite frankly am not sure I have any talent for it at all - it took me all of two hours to make it down the bunny slope… just once.     But both Emma and Will absolutely loved skiing down that same slope!  Luckily their Daddy is a good skier and so he took them up and down until their little legs could hardly hold them up any longer.  I was sooo impressed with them!  They’d just hold onto his ski pole and down they went laughing the whole way.  Are your kids supposed to show you up when when they’re still barely in school?   

  

  Tags: parenting, personal, skiing

  

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