the beginning of the end

Today was Matt's last day of school at Timothy...ever.  It seems weird to say it.  This last day marks the beginning of the end of our time here in the western suburbs, and with it will come a whole lot of transition.  I'm not one to like final good-byes, so hopefully starting the process now will help me out.

Summer also means that I'm done babysitting.  No more tshirt batman capes and masks...

...and Lilia will have to play with her ol' dad instead of her usual playmates :)...

...but we are excited for more time with Matt, cause our little girl is growing up like crazy right before our eyes.  Already 9 months, she loves to walk with our help, make fishy faces, read her flip books, and talk like crazy.

Bring on summer....we are ready!

first twins game

Over Memorial Day weekend, Lilia was able to experience her first Twins game at Miller Park. She was a trooper the whole time, even took a nap for innings 1-3 so she could be awake to see the Twins win!  I think Lilia may be a good luck charm for them :).

Now that she has mastered the nose scrunch, this is her new smile she loves to flash.

This just melts my heart no matter how many times I see it...

Rainy, cold tailgating doesn't stop these two from having a good time!

And just because... happy belated Mother's Day to me :)

all grown up and graduated

Few things have made me realize how fast life speeds along as seeing my little sister graduate from college.....COLLEGE?!?!  Wasn't it just a few years ago that I would force her to let me braid her hair, teach her volleyball so I had someone to pepper with, and stare up at the same glow-in-the-dark stars in our bedroom talking about my wedding plans?  Ah yes, time races on.  I could not be more proud of my sis and so happy I could be there for her big day. 

Lilia was excited to be there too :)

tulip time

Last time it was "April showers bring a flood."  This time, it's April showers bring May snow.  Lilia and I went to Iowa for her first Tulip Time, and I was excited to be back after a 9 year absence from the food and festivities....but let's be honest, I mainly missed the food.  But what do you do when over 2/3 of Tulip Time gets cancelled because of snow coming down sideways, temperatures hovering around the freezing mark, and weather you wouldn't call decent even in the dead of winter? 

Well, first you snuggle under the blanket in the easy chair with Papa to watch a little Gunsmoke...

...hang out with big D...

...look out the window in disbelief of this May snow...

...sit on Nana's lap...

...and use uncle Ben as a booster to look out the window some more.

And when the weather finally clears enough to make a quick Tulip Time appearance, we donned the wooden shoes (thanks to Aunt Bailey!)...

...found some of the few tulips in bloom...

...and watched an afternoon parade together....

...to see the best part of the parade, by far - cutest little Dutch boy I've ever seen!

april flood

April showers bring...a lake!  I don't know if I've ever seen a school cancelled because of flooding, but we enjoyed having Matt home for the day!  We got our cars out of the driveway to higher ground about an hour before our driveway flooded over.  We also were able to get everything that we wanted to spare out of our cellar before 3-4 inches filled up that space.  I've seen some devastating floods before, but this is the closest I have ever experienced it coming up to our house.  I was sure glad to have my trusty rain boots from good ol' Theisens!

Looking south from our house.  The intersection was flooded at least 1/2 a block going both ways.  Two cars were stuck there already at 6:00 am, at least over their headlights at the worst point.  

From our driveway, looking towards the street.  Someone's pallet and trash decided to make our lawn it's new home.

Our backyard...the water didn't quite make it to the house.

So we've been having a groundhog problem under our shed....I guess this is one way to fix that problem!

This walking path usually goes under St. Charles Rd - no so much anymore!

The park in our backyard - can't even see the swings!

 From the bridge next to the park looking at our house (we are between the yellow and blue houses).

high fives

joy

these two just loved each other!

 my (only) Northwestern loves :)

I heard the cupboard door banging shut and this is what I found...

...and the face she gave me when I asked what she was doing. 

favorite way to sleep