Thursday, May 31, 2012

Memorial Weekend Visit

Nick's Mom came to visit us for the long holiday weekend. We hung out around the house, played outside in the bright, hot sunshine, walked around an enormous rummage sale (successfully purchasing a couple things for Baby Steve's room), barbecued at a neighbor's house and celebrated her birthday with chocolate cake on Memorial Day. We all had a relaxing and fun weekend and were sad to see her leave. Happy Birthday, Memaw!


Twins - Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito


Fun at the park.

Our monkey.




Underdog!


Max practicing for his 1/2 mile race this coming weekend.



Waiting for the Memorial Day parade to begin.


More fun at the park.

Another attempt at a family photo. 

Celebrating with cake and ice cream.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Graduation Day Videos

Max's class signing the ABCs. 

A Cedarburg Preschool tradition - all the kids march out past their cheering parents for one final hoorah. Max is the second to last kid.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Graduation

Max received his 3K Preschool Certificate this morning on his last day of school. Through my teary eyes (oh, these hormones), I managed to capture a couple pictures of his final day.

A confident smile on his last day. Here was his first day back in September.


The "ceremony."

Our graduate!

A celebratory Key Lime Pie. His new favorite dessert after vacationing in the Keys.

Seconds, please!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Busy Weekend

Last weekend was a little busy in our house. Friday and Saturday we participated in our neighborhood's annual rummage sale. We realized it was quite the event when our entire block was filled with cars at 8am! Since we have a new baby coming, I wasn't able to purge as much as I would have liked, so next year will be a big one for us.

After the dust settled and we cleaned our garage out, we started our planting for the summer. The kids helped out by slinging mud most of the time, so we had to finish earlier this week.

Welcoming customers to our sale. The only catch was that she wasn't ready to let go of some toys.

Her gardening gloves.


All finished and ready to bloom.

In the backyard, we planted zucchini, raspberries (courtesy of Nani for Mother's Day) and red peppers. Hopefully the family of rabbits living in our backyard won't interrupt our garden!

On two posts of our pergola, Nick planted honeysuckle vines in hopes of them attaching and providing shade for the summer months. I'll be happy if they just attach to the posts. Nick expects it to climb half way up. We'll see at end of summer who was more accurate.


Under Construction

We have a couple projects to finish before Baby Steve (the kids' nickname for him) arrives. After getting an expensive quote to finish off the ceiling in our basement, Nick got the itch and decided to do it himself (at least most of the work himself). He started framing last Thursday and finished on Sunday. Drywallers are here now to complete the ceiling and paint. When it's all said and done, we will have saved at least $700! Thank goodness Nick is handy! 

I was amazed at how quickly this all went up. 


The kids helped by "dressing" the part. But of course, Violet accessorized with a purse and necklace. That's my girl!

While under construction, the kids have been forced to play in our storage/exercise area.

First day after drywallers.


Another a couple more visits from the drywallers, we'll be ready for new carpet. 

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Week in Photos


Max finished another soccer season last week. From our observations, he's not one for drills and learning new skills. He'd much rather be running around just kicking balls into the net.

Mother's Day breakfast at Poor Phil's.  

After breakfast with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Kelly.

Celebrating Big Nani's 85th birthday (she'd curse me for "publishing" her real age) on Mother's Day!

Holding Baby August and making a wish.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Welcome Baby!

Early Saturday morning, April 28, Natalie and Rory welcomed their second son - August Anthony Hart Draper. We stopped over the day we got back from vacation to meet the little guy and instantly fell in love. Violet was none too happy with mama holding him, so Nick took over for most of our visit. But, that won't stop me from snuggling him when I see him next!

It's amazing how you forget how tiny they can be. 



Vacation

We're back from our week long vacation to Florida. Despite the torrential downpour the first few days, we still enjoyed every minute. We explored Key Largo with a resort scavenger hunt, had fun at the hotel pools, and met lots of unique characters in Key West! Nick and I even managed to have a date night to celebrate our 6th anniversary, courtesy of Nani. We flew back on an early morning flight and arrived home in Wisconsin by afternoon. Our last vacation as a family of four was full of good times and fun memories.

Watching our airplane arrive.

Since the rain spoiled our chances of enjoying Ft. Lauderdale outdoors, we ventured to the local discovery museum.




Our first hotel night. In the morning, Nick was asleep on this couch and I was at the foot of the bed, sleeping horizontally with the kids snuggled up against me. 

Scavenger hunt in Key Largo.

Violet collected all the wrist bands from the hunt. 

Celebrating finding our last clue.


First dip in the ocean. 


On the way to our final stop - Key West. 


The lighthouse we ALL climbed.


Climbing up the lighthouse. This is why she was carried - her whole body could fit through!





It's amazing how much fun you can have playing in a tree!





While Violet and Nick napped, Max and me ventured out on the town. 

A little drink at Margaritaville.

Sharing a Key Lime Pie on a stick - heaven! 


A neighbor in our condo complex was growing pineapples. Not sure this plant would harvest in WI.


 
"You talkin to me?"

A day at the beach.


Bikini babe hanging at the pool.

Some new shades for Violet.

Nick and I took a short boat ride to Sunset Key to celebrate our anniversary. With this view, we were tempted to stay there for the rest of the trip!



Six years and almost 3 kids. Hard to believe how time flies when you're living a crazy life. 

This was supposed to be the only sunset we would see, but unfortunately, it was too cloudy.