My Grandpa

Grandpa caught me secretly aiming the camera at him and probably wondered what the heck I was doing! :)

Grandpa Blise is one of the sweetest men I have ever met. He is always happy, kind, and has a great sense of humor. He loves this family so much and seems to really enjoy it when we bring the great-grandkids for a visit. I'm so glad that they are able to have these memories with him. We had such a wonderful time in Kenosha spending time with my grandparents- it was especially nice that we were there over Father's Day!

we're BACK!

Obviously we've been gone for awhile(12 days!!!)- we went on vacation to visit my parents in Wausau, WI, my grandparents in Kenosha, WI, and we also spent 4 days in Chicago! It was sooo much fun and I will be sharing lots of pictures in the next few days so get ready!

The first leg of the trip was Kenosha- we spent one of the days at my uncle Mike's parents house lounging and picnic-ing at the pool. Lucky for my aunt, uncle, and cousins- this house is right next door to theirs!

The kids thought they died and went to heaven. A WHOLE day of swimming all they wanted! I even spent 3 hours in there- it was warm water(just the way I like it!)

My sister Sarah and her daughter Julia were there too- they drove from Ohio to meet us. My parents came alone from Wausau- it was so fun having us all together! The only person missing was my sister Amy.

What a fun day... I know the kids will always remember it.

Well, it's 1am and I am not the slightest bit tired since I slept during the car ride home today. Darn it! It's good to be home and getting back into the rest of our relaxing summer. Traveling is fun but it's always nice to go home again.

dino hobo sack

Mary Beth had a birthday party to go to today. Since the little boy's mom said he liked dinosaurs a lot I thought it was a perfect chance to try out making a Hobo Sack I've been eyeing over at MADE. I used some dino material I had on hand and pieces of a t-shirt to make the pull strings.

The dinos on the fabric appeared to be both upside down and right side up so I didn't worry about paying attention to which way I was cutting it. Unfortunately it ended up that only the upside down dinos showed up on the bag- oh well! It was super fun and easy to make! I plan on making more for my kids and extra for gifts.

Of course I filled it with some cute dinosaurs to complete the theme! The birthday boy seemed to like his present- I think all kids love little sacks to put their "stuff" in...

love this

I love this post by Sarah today over at Cloverlane: http://memoriesoncloverlane.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-things.html
go read it if you have a minute.

Can someone PLEASE teach me to create a shortcut to something????? Like this- I just wanted to put the title of her post here but it put the whole address! HELP!

nonna & nonno

Here are some pictures I have been meaning to post from when my parents were visiting last month...

It looks like my Dad is smiling in this picture!! We are always yelling "SMILE" at him and then he always says "A-L-R-I-G-H-T..." not in agreement, but as if to say enough already, just get on with it. Same scenario every time every time we take his picture- it's tradition!The kids LOVE it when Nonna and Nonno come visit but Mickey especially gets VERY sad on the day they leave. He always wants company to stay forever he says.

I'm not positive- but it looks like Mickey and Jeffrey are holding hands in this picture. They are so cute- they always call each other "best friends" and "bug buddies"(this is from a song they used to love from Miss Spider's Sunny Patch- a show they watched when they were little). I hope hope HOPE they will always be close.

beans

Oh my gosh- you have to try this- just because. It's the beans game. It's funny for adults and kids will be in a fit of giggles(at least mine were).

{this moment}

a friday ritual (inspired by soulemama) a single photo capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. a moment to pause, savor and remember. if you're inspired to do the same, share a link to your 'moment' in the comments!

a baptism

Here are the pictures from Seth's baptism a couple weeks ago. It was such a special day and we were so happy to be part of it! Seth is such a beautiful, sweet little angel...

Seth cried during most of his baptism and when it was over Mickey turned to me and said "Mom, Seth isn't sad- he's just crying tears of joy because we was baptised!" That was so cute. I told him to go and tell Katie that. :)

10 years ago today...

I married my best friend.

Happy Anniversary Honey!

A poem for you:

i carry your heart with me
by E. E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)

i am never without it(anywhere i go you go, my dear;

and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet)

i want no world(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;

which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

painted ladies

I'm about 20 posts behind... so I better get going! Things have been so busy around here lately- sorry for the days that go by without anything.

A few weeks ago I sent into insectlore and ordered 5 caterpillar larvae. They ate and ate and grew and grew and then they made their chrysalises. Here is what emerged awhile later:

Painted Ladies!
The kids had a great time letting them go in the backyard.

The butterflies seemed a bit sluggish so the kids were able to hold them.

I love this picture of Feffers.

Once the butterflies finally flew away they kept coming back to our yard over and over again.

Of course this led the kids to believe that the butterflies loved them and

wanted to live at our house forever. And they may have been right!

To this day we still see painted ladies flying around our yard!

What a happy morning!