Memorial Day Weekend

Rain again.....

I was in desperate need for this weekend away from work. I traveled last week to the west coast and it wore me out. So glad to be home....

Rosie is out of school!!! She is now a 3rd grader. They had a 1/2 day of school on Friday, and so Anna & I picked her up promptly at noon. I gave her a big hug & spun her around because I knew she was so excited for summer! I am too!

We went to the hospital to pick up Jo at daycare & then met Dad for lunch in the cafeteria. It was fun & the food is not too bad. We came home & went to the park where I pitched & pitched to Rosie & Anna. They love hitting & Jo just walked around picking grass & rocks & yelling & pointing at us. It was really nice to just hang out & enjoy being with each other.

On Saturday, we had a game & won! We beat Immocalata - yeah! Technically, we don't "win" since it is instructional league but you can't help but keep score. They got a lot of outs too - I was so excited. It started raining right when the game ended - perfect. In the afternoon, we hung out with Madeline & Olivia (Christy & Don's grandkids). After it rained, the sun came out & we played softball & just goofed around in the yard & the park. They ended up "swimming" in Don & Christy's hot tub & then spent the night at our house. Don made his famous pancakes in the morning & then off to church.

I forgot to say that Pete was on call all weekend, so I was a one-man show with the kids. It was a bummer, but that's how it goes with his job. We went to Jessie King's graduation party on Sunday & then today, we just did some planting & chores. It was a nice day to get ready for the work week. Jessie is babysitting this week until SummerQuest (summer camp) starts. I wonder what Jessie has planned for them.....

Go Spa

All the women at the gelato place!
Aunt Kay holding Jo (that's her godmother!)
Debbie & Jo - the birthday girls!
Rosie took this picture - apparently she did not want me in the picture! Look at Jo's belly!!
My sisters with Debbie & Stephanie enjoying a treat.

This is the 2nd annual Go Spa day with my Mom, sisters, sister-in-laws & nieces (who are old enough to go to the spa). We all had 1-2 "treatments" and hung out, ate & chatted at the spa. It is great fun & relaxing.

Everyone goes out to dinner afterwards, but I ran home to the kids. We really needed to cut the grass, and so I skipped dinner. In a wonderful surprise, Jo slept long enough & the girls behaved, so Pete was able to finish the lawn while I was away. I asked the gals to meet us at the gelato place (Italian ice cream) up the street from our house & have an impromptu birthday celebration for Jo & Debbie. Jo's birthday celebration was "cancelled" on Mother's Day due to the weather. It was supposed to be outside, but then it was cold & rainy. My family celebrates birthdays once a month because there are so many of us!! Anyway, everyone sang happy birthday to Jo & Debbie & had a delicious treat.

Anna's "Graduation" to Kindergarten

Anna is second from the left - we sat to the right, of course!
A little better picture - aren't they cute with their graduation hats?
Anna has her official diploma. Samantha & Alexander are next to her.
The whole pre-K class!

Anna is officially a kindergartener now. It was the cutest ceremony, and she did great. They sang songs with their music teacher, showed off their Spanish skills, sang some more songs & then ended with their diploma. Ms. Casey put graduation hats on them, and they were dressed in their Sunday best. She said they were her best behaved class in all of her many years at St. MM. Wow! That says a lot! One girl got an extra special note because she never lost her sticker all year. That's amazing. I have to say that Anna only lost it a few times, so I can't complain!!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all! It was a cold & rainy day in STL, as usual. I feel like that's all I have written about - the rain! It started off a little rocky with my kids. Rosie & Anna were at it again, and I pretty much lost it & asked them if they could get along for one day for me! We went to early Mass & then came home to get ready to go to Einstein's (bagel place with the best coffee, in my opinion). Well, it took us too long to get out the door & you know how cranky I get when I need food. After nourishment, we were all better & decided to go to the Butterfly House. There are not too many options on a rainy Sunday with a 1-year old! It was fun, and we love the butterflies - especially Jo. My camera was full, so I hope to post a cute pic from that day off of Pete's camera. It was nice to get out of the house & away from the laundry & cleaning. We made a delicious dinner to finish off the day. It started rocky but ended well!

Rosie at "Paint Me Pottery" making a frame for Grandma Carollo.
Anna (with a sucker in her mouth) making a frame for Grandma Wilson!

Parish Picnic

The St. Mary Magdalen Annual picnic was on Saturday. We kicked it off with a short parade thru Brentwood. With the Hwy 40 shutdown, we had to go through the neighborhood vs. Brentwood Blvd (too much traffic). It was fun - I walked with Anna's class & Jo sat in her stroller enthralled with all the commotion.
It was then on to rides, rides & more rides. Rosie ended up feeling sick from riding one of them too much. She walked up to me with white lips, & so she promptly sat down with her head between her legs. She made it but she stayed away from that crazy ride the rest of the day.
Unfortunately, it rained from 5pm on, so the picnic ended early. It is so much work for the PTO, so it was a bummer to end early. The kids just love the picnic, and the parents have fun hanging out, chatting & drinking!

Before the parade, we are patiently waiting to walk & throw candy!

Anna with her pre-K pals, Taylor & Alexander.

Anna with Taylor & Bridget - the theme of the picnic was Summer Sizzle. They had sand buckets full of candy, and they were very excited to throw that candy!
Here are some of Rosie's friends - Paul, Drew & Ryan. We hang out with their parents a lot. Drew loves Jo and rode one of the kiddy rides with her - it was really cute! We are so happy at St. MM - the parents are so involved & are just good people. Pete & I have made some really good friends. St. MM is very much into helping out in the community, and I can really see what an impact a Catholic education has on the kids.

Happy 1st Birthday Jo!

Wow - I am having flashbacks to May 8th, 2007. What a wonderful year it has been. I visited Jo at her daycare today & brought cupcakes (see pic below). Unfortunately, most of her friends are 1st time mommies & won't allow their babies to have chocolate yet. Jo had to eat a cupcake with me & her teachers. Her buddy Jordan was salivating - poor thing! I made homemade cupcakes & frosting compliments of "Down Home with the Neely's." I'm a Food Network junkie. Anna & I watched this episode & she said that the cupcakes looked delicious. I thought so too & they are! The chocolate frosting is the best - cream cheese & butter & chocolate & powdered sugar of course!

Anna made decorations for Jo's room - so sweet of her. They were long banners with many different colors. Plus she made a sign that said "Happy Birthday Jo!" Rosie wrote the sweetest letter to her as well. I will copy it as it must be kept forever. It brought tears to my eyes (but then what doesn't?) They fight like typical sisters but they can be so sweet also. I'm more worried about Anna & Rosie getting along than with Jo. I shouldn't worry because I know how much my sisters & I fought! We took this pic right before we ran out of the house for school & work! We are always pushing the minutes every morning & today was no exception.

Jo eating her birthday cupcake! She is trying to give me some - what a good girl - I love cupcakes!

We are heading to Bandana's BBQ with Paul & Joan tonight to celebrate the 1st Birthday. I can't wait - we have been waiting patiently for Thursday to get here. It has been raining like crazy (seems like it hasn't stopped for months), so softball practice was cancelled. Now we can leave earlier for dinner. I will post pics later tonight.

The "partiers" for Jo's 1st Birthday Dinner!

Jo eating a rib - yummy! Caught Rosie with her eyes half-closed but we never get everyone perfect - who cares! Anna, of course, is cheesing it up!

Whirlwind as usual....

Time flies in the spring! We are always frantically trying to do outside work in addition to softball practice & just the normal busy week. I wish I could eliminate a few hours of sleep to do stuff, but I know I need sleep to function properly.

Softball with the 2nd Graders is going so well. They listen & hustle this year, and I am just so proud of them. We had our first game on Saturday. We played Annunciation. We did well, but I think we lost. I say "think" because it is 5 runs or 3 outs. An out can also be 6 pitches not hit. For some reason, it took a bit to get us hitting. We had some great hits though. Our last inning was not great, and we did not get the 5 runs. Oh well! The girls were pumped for the game. They had a lot of trouble with grounders in general. They will get about 75 grounders each at Thursday's practice!! I'm so mean! They knew where to go with each play (big plus) but needed to field the ball first. All in time....

Anna was my helper at practice on Thursday, and she did awesome. She wants to play so badly, but they did not have enough kids for a team. She is really going to be a good player. She is tough & aggressive (great combination in my opinion).

Jo got a new pair of shoes last week - her 1st walkers from Laurie's (Stride Rite). They are so small but she needs some real shoes - not Robeez any more. She goes everywhere now & is really walking well. Her birthday is Thursday!! I can't believe it. My little baby is going to be one year old. Not possible.....

Pete & I just keep going & going.... He is the walking man now. He has lost 20 pounds. I am so excited for him. He would probably work out more if time permitted. He is not a morning person, so he goes late at night. Unfortunately, there are times when he is too tired to go at night. He rarely misses though even when I know he would rather fall asleep on the couch. I need to get back into working out also. I have not done anything for 3 weeks!!