Happy 5th birthday Boston!

Where does time go?  Boston was only a few days old in this photo and now he is 5 and headed to Kindergarten this fall!  Happy birthday Boston!  We love you!

One month...

It has been a long and trying month since my dad passed away.  It has been a roller coaster of emotions.  I downloaded some videos off of our FLIP camera and I knew that there were some on there from Christmas.  I knew that dad would be in some of them.  I was grateful it was.  I have heard that while photos are a great way to keep memories, that videos are even better.  They are.  But, it is a very hard thing to watch a month after your dad passes away.  It is WONDERFUL to see him.  It is even more WONDERFUL to HEAR him, but at the same time, it is hear twrenching.  Carter saw me watching them - he got a little teary-eyed and said that he could not watch them yet.  Yet is the key word I told him.  Some day, he will be so grateful that they are around to watch.

I miss my dad terribly.  I want to talk to him.  I want to hug him.  I want to ask him about his day.  I want him to hug his grandkids.  I know that this year of "firsts" will be the hardest.  Memories are so important. Love you dad!  Miss you!

So pretty!

Jen sent me these a week ago. I have been meaning to take a photo of them as they are so, so pretty!  The colors are incredible and she wanted me to have something that would last to remember my dad by.  Here's to hoping I don't kill it as I would be incredibly sad if I did.

There are like little pearls in the middle of them.  They look like little jewels.  Not sure that I have seen that on my hydrangea.  So neat!

Uncle Tommy is finally in his 30's!!!!

Tommy turns 30 today, so why not celebrate.  With all that has happened in the last month, I guess that we need to as a family.  So, tonight, we head to Shamrocks bar in St. Paul (owned by one of the Runyans and a friend).  There was quite a good turn out and I think that Tommy had fun!  Happy birthday to my "little" brother though you have been taller than me for quite some time now!  We love you!

They made a cute banner out of old photos of Tommy along with us and some with his friends who he has known since they were babies!

 Mom, Gina and Tommy

Look, I am in TWO pictures!

 I said that I would make some cupcakes for tonight's event.  Heather suggested a baking party, but it did not work out.  So, I was still going to make some.  I get to the party, and Heather has made 2 different kids and mom made a peanut butter one.  So, there must have been close to 60-70 cupcakes at a minimum!  In honor of dads favorite treat, I made TWINKIE cupcakes!  They were pretty tasty though because of the marshmallow creme, the frosting got a little thick!  Because there were FOUR varieties of cupcakes, there was a little sampling and sharing going on!

Found this photo of Tommy and I from the State Fair in good old Machinery Hills!  He must have been 2 or maybe 3?

Happy Easter!

this is a BUSY day post!  Easter in the morning at our house and finding eggs & baskets that the bunny left behind for the kids!

Love this photo of Carter - the sun shining in and his shadow on the wall!

Kendall finding one of her eggs!

Reese and her flower headband!

Dawson finding one of his eggs on top of the fridge!

Easter at Grandma & Grandpa's house!  Hanging with the cousins - you would hardly know that there was snow on the ground not too long ago - kids were all ready to wear their more "spring-like" outfits!

After brunch @ G & G's house, we headed to Nana & pop-Pop's house!  What event would be complete without a little friendly game of bean bag toss?  food was excellent... the kids had a blast finding eggs and running in the sun outside!

Cousins!  I must have took 15 pictures of the kids and someone is either looking to the side, looking down, looking at one another, hands in their face, eyes closed or so on!  This was one of the best!  :)  And one of the best things about this photo is Uncle Joe's reflection in the storm door as he is trying to get the kids to look at the cameras and smile!  Love it!

Nana and Pop-Pop with the grandkids!

The "kids" and grandkids!  17 of us in all!

Family Photo!  Of course Carter really did not want to have his photo taken so unfortunately he is NOT smiling in out family photo but it is better than some of the photos that he did not want to be in where he made a crazy face in!  And...Cooper doing a little photo-bombing in the back!

All in all it was a wonderful Easter though I missed my dad on this first holiday without him.  :(  That is one thing that I don't like!  I just want him here!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

this photo was actually taken on Easter, but since Grandpa's birthday was the day before Easter, why not post it on Grandpa's birthday page!  Happy birthday to Grandpa (in Wisconsin) as the kids call him!  Thanks for all that you do for us!  We love you!

Coloring Easter Eggs!

The lady at Target thought I was crazy buying FOUR dozen eggs to color.  That's what happens when there are going to be FIVE kids dyeing them!  The kids had a fun time and they created some wonderful masterpieces!

I typically will decorate a few eggs.  I saw on a magazine that they decorated an egg to look like a chick.  There's was way more fancy, but I still love this egg!  

Daddy was really tired at the end of the day.  He was actually sleeping in this photo! 

When life hands you FRESH snow, make SNOWCONES!

Why not!?  This snow is getting a little ridiculous so why not have some snowcones.  All the rest of the year I am telling the kids to not eat the snow.  But this stuff was so fresh.  So perfect.  So much better than those hard, icy things that you buy from an ice cream truck or at the fair.

 Yup, that's right!  Almost 10 inches of FRESH wet snow on April 17th!  

So, found some snow cone syrup, some cute snow cone cups, ladled up some fresh snow and we were set to go for our snow cone party in the garage!

Hanging with the neighbor kids!  They had a blast and enjoyed the snow cones!  So much that they suggested that I freeze some snow for use at a later date.  Unfortunately, I don't think that they will be as delicious later!  I was told by Emma that the kids thought this was the "best snack EVER!!!"

3 year olds and naps... or lack there of!

Today is the 3rd day out of 4 this week that Reese has not taken a nap.  Trust me, she still needs one too or by 4:30 she is like that hungry, just-out-of-hibernation bear - cranky and mean!  Since we got the new bunk beds a few weeks ago naps have been relatively hard with her.  ARGH!  Momma needs the little break of kids having naps so that I can work on this blog or my photo albums (digital of course at this point cause taking out all my scrapping stuff is just too much!).  Why don't they see that naps are wonderful?!

I need a tripod and a photography class!

Dave noticed that the moon was so neat tonight.  He figured I would grab my camera.  It was similar to the blood moon that occurred a while back.  I believe that I am so steady until I see my pictures sometimes.  I guess that means that I need a tripod so that I can get better photos.  Maybe the next size lens too so that I can get closer to this beautiful moon!

I believe that the blur to the right of the moon is a planet.  Which one, I am not sure, but pretty sure it is a planet.

Missing my dad

Hard to believe that it has been almost 2 weeks since he died.  Seems like a LONG time, but then again, it feels like yesterday. It has been a rollercoaster of emotions and I am sure that it will be for quite some time. This year of "firsts" that he won't be here for.  Things that we were so grateful he was still here for last year. Things that we will miss celebrating with him this year.  It is not even the celebrating - I miss the calls we had over the past few months.  He used to call Andrew constantly at work, so I told him "give me a call instead!" We typically spoke a few times a day but in the last few weeks of his life, it was hard to talk to him even 1 time a day.  He was so sleepy he would fall asleep on the phone while I was talking to him.

I know it is normal - I wish for just one more hug.  One more I love you.  One more...one more.  It would never be enough.

One song that will always remind me of my dad is Crystal Gayle's "Don't it make my brown eyes blue."  I used to sing that song like crazy.  When I was younger I always thought that she really didn't want her brown eyes to turn blue.  Well, I realized when I was older that was not the jist of the story!

I don't know when I've been so blue
Don't know what's come over you
You've found someone new
And don't it make my brown eyes blue

I'll be fine when you're gone
I'll just cry all night long
Say it isn't true
And don't it make my brown eyes blue

Tell me no secrets, tell me some lies
Give me no reasons, give me alibis
Tell me you love me and don't let me cry
Say anything but don't say goodbye

I didn't mean to treat you bad
Didn't know just what I had
But honey now I do
And don't it make my brown eyes
Don't it make my brown eyes
Don't it make my brown eyes blue

There have been quite a few days where I am feeling such regret.  Regret that I didn't take him to the Leinekugel's brewery.  Regrets that he didn't get to make it out on the boat with us last year.  Regrets that our relationship wasn't always the best.  But, I know that we tried to make the most of everything the past 3 years.  Sometimes, I guess, in life, it is not always the BIG things that are the most important.  It was important enough to spend time with his kids & with his grandkids.  People have told us that he always spoke of us.  That he loved us so much and that we were the most important people in his life.  He was so proud to be our dad and Gramps.  He loved it.  The kids loved him.  They miss him.  I miss him.  I love you dad!

Como Conservatory

Haven't been here in so long and today was the perfect day to go!  Jen and her family were on their way down to Florida for a family vacation the day that dad died.  So today, on their way back from Florida we met them to go to the Conservatory.  It was the perfect way to distract me - the beauty of the flowers, the warmth of the Conservatory and good company!  These Calla Lillies were so gorgeous!  And the smells were so wonderful!

Reese smelling the Easter Lillies!

CHEESE!

Jen, Kelly and Jack

Along with Gerbera Daisies, Hydraengeas are one of my favorite flowers.  And the fact that these ones are pink makes them even prettier!