Time to Say Goodbye

My wonderful Gram passed away on Saturday, May 21st.

She was 83 years old.

A fiesty little Polish Grandma, she was known for her piercing blue eyes, her incredible independence as a widow for 26 years, and all of the little "Grandma-isms" that she gave us over the years that made us all laugh over and over again.

She loved her family, her friends, her beautiful condo in Dyer, Indiana, and particularly her great-grandbabies, Carson and Samantha. She played killer bingo and just won Carson and Sam some new stuffed animals in April as apart of her winnings.

It would take me forever to put down the exact number of things I will miss about her.

There are too many.

I enjoyed having her in my life.

She will live on in us for all of time.

Pierogis and fuzzy navels are flowing in heaven today.

Godspeed, my beloved Gram.

MozART

This morning, we painted and listened to Mozart. I thought my mom might like this one.

Nana, this painting was for you!

Boo Baa...

Here's Samantha from today.

Wearing her swim suit and drinking a "boo baa".

That is how she used to say "juice box" when she was smaller.

I thought it was so cute that we all call juice boxes "boo baas" now.

Sam continues to explode with words.

Yesterday in the car she said
"I see something in this car that's pink."

It's her longest sentence so far.

Obsessed with Art...

Carson loves art.

He has been really into painting.

He asks to paint....oh, I don't know.....100 times a day?

His preschool teachers told me that this week, he cried when art was over.

He didn't want to stop.

I love this about our boy because my Dad was an incredible artist.

I am hoping Carson inherited some of his artistic genes.

(I certainly didn't!)

It is fun to see some of my Dad in Carson in this way.

Also, monkey see, monkey do.

When Carson paints, so does another little someone.

It's a big mess, but what the heck!

Messes mean fun.

Happy kids happen when...

The ice cream man comes to your house, right after dinner!

It was Tweety bird ice cream for her....

And Dora for him!

We love summer.

Girls Gone Wild...

In honor of my sister-in-law's upcoming wedding, we all threw her a bachelorette party.

It was a weekend I am sure she will never forget.

Cheers to Jen and Ian and all of the fun ahead of them.

I was lucky to be apart of this fun weekend and can't wait for the next one!

A Happy Mother's Day

Today I spent the afternoon with these two....

Daddy was in Iowa today so we were celebrating Mother's Day this afternoon.

It was just us three

We laughed and danced and the giggles of our two beautiful babies filled our house.

I thought about how lucky I am to be a mother.

Especially to these two.

Life is good.

Every day is fun with our special babies.

This week, the kids have been enjoying their new water table that Carson got for his birthday.

They love to be out there, transfering water from one place to another.

It's amazing how much fun this can be!

Sam has been bruisin' it up in her tutu this week.

She has been enjoying climbing up onto Daddy's back and learning how to jump off of him.

Samantha had her 18 month visit to the doctor this week.

We discovered that she is off the height chart for girls.

Literally, she is not on the graph.

She is 24.75 pounds and 34.625 inches. She is slightly taller than Carson was at this age.

WNBA, here we come!

This week, Carson celebrated his birthday....over...and over....and over.

I can't blame him. No birthday should ever last only one day!

We are loving every minute of celebrating his life.

And Sam gets the perks - extra cupcakes!

This is a great picture of my amazing husband and our daughter.

They have a special bond.

They are two peas in a pod.

May 2nd

Carson had a fun third birthday today.

We hung out at the Springs Preserve per his request. We ate at the cafe, saw some animals, and saw Carson's favorite thing, the "bubbling brook". He loves to watch water rush down a hill over there.

He even had his magnifying glass with him today, so he could get an extra special view of things.

A marvelous day so far! And it's not over yet.

Soon, Daddy will be home and we will be having more cake.

Sam inspects a turtle.

Samantha kissing Papa.

Birthday boy and Baba.

We've been together three years, but we've known each other our whole lives. :)

Little man, as you turn three, let us make sure you know

Just how proud we are of you.

You are smart and distinguished.

You know artists and composers better than we do.

You are strong minded and kind.

Not to mention handsome.

You are the most brilliant son

We could have imagined.

And the fun is just beginning.

We can only imagine how many successes of yours we will be celebrating

In the years to come.

You have gone from a little stinky fish

To a brilliant, handsome boy with a bright future ahead.

And now that we are done with the terrible 2's

I am going to pour myself a big glass of wine.

Cheers!

Birthday Boys

We had two birthday boys in the house this weekend!

Jason - 33.

Carson - 3.

Let the games begin!

We partied at Hanks at Green Valley Ranch on Friday evening to celebrate Jason's big day.

On Sunday, we had some good friends over to eat, drink, and bounce in our backyard in Carson's honor.

It was a beautiful weekend of celebrating the lives of my two favorite boys.

Bounce House!