Baseball season is here....

It's baseball season for us....and that means watching Jacob play lots of ball. He is in his 2nd year of Little League and Chris is his coach again this year. Baseball is definitely Jacob's sport. He loves the game and knows so much about it. So far this year he has mostly been playing shortstop or 2nd base and occasionally will pitch for a few innings.

Chicago....

I have lots of photos waiting on my computer to be editted....baseball, dance recital, a fun birthday party, a wedding....but I just can't find the time to edit them. Hopefully this weekend I'll get all caught up.

In the meantime....just 2 photos from our girls weekend in Chicago. These were the only non-Jenna and Savannah photos I took the whole weekend.


The view from Nikki's sunroof as we were leaving our hotel.....

...and a quick view of the skyline taken as we were on the highway heading out of Chicago.

Butterfly fly away....

Last year Jenna and her best friend Savannah were asked to participate in a fairy photo shoot with Jodi. This year Jodi was offering butterfly whimsy sessions. Jodi was kind enough to let me tag along with my camera during Savannah's photo shoot. (Of course, Savannah wanted Jenna in a few photos too.) Jodi makes all the costumes and does an amazing job!!!

LOVE this photo.....

This is my favorite photo of the day. They had taken off their butterfly wings and headpieces by this point, but I absolutely adore this photo. They are so cute together and are truly the best of friends. I think this one will have to be enlarged and displayed in Jenna's room!

40 candles....

It's official....I had my birthday on Friday and turned 40. I have to admit, I was not really looking forward to it...but thanks to my friends and family, it turned out to be a great day.

I started my morning bright and early when the tornado siren went off at 1:30am and the four of us spent an hour in the basement. Not a great start to the day....but luckily it got much, much better!

• 
  Lots and lots of Happy Birthday wishes from the kids at school.
• Beautiful flowers from my mom and dad delivered to school.
• A colorful planter for my patio from my teacher's aide.
• An Archiver's gift card from my friends at school.
• A balloon bouquet from Becca and Ryan delivered to school.
• Packages in the mail from both of my sisters...with lots of bling, zebra stripes, and pink!!
• Cards (some with surprises in them) from my family and friends.
• Lots of birthday wishes via facebook, text messages, and email.
• A surprise get together with our basketball "family" and neighbors organized by Chris (and I was surprised!!) - lots of good food, laughing, and visiting!
• Finding out that Jacob made student council for next year!
• Finding out that Chris was selected as a "teacher who made a difference" by one of the top 5 students of this year's graduating class.
• Jacob winning his baseball game Saturday
• Delicious dinner and dessert with the Chiles' at Club Soda on Saturday night followed by a movie.

I have no pictures from the weekend....but I do have a few "flashback photos" from birthdays past!

1 year old with my Aunt Barb (we share a birthday).....

5 years old with my sister Brenda....

8 years old with my dad....

American Girls....

For several months we have been planning a girls trip to Chicago with Jenna's best friend Savannah and her mom, Nikki. The girls have been counting down the days....and this weekend we finally got to go. We got up bright and early on Saturday morning and headed to Chicago. The main purpose of our trip was a visit to the American Girl store for the girls. They both have been saving their money and were ready to spend it!!

Checking into the hotel....the girls still in their pj's....

Very excited BFFs at the American Girl store.....

Posing with "Laney" - the doll they both had saved up to buy...

Our American Girls....

We let them get their dolls ears pierced and hair done before lunch....


Jenna and "Marissa"....

Showing off her new t-shirt (Nikki made them for both girls and their dolls - she is so creative!!)...

Lunch in the American Girl Cafe....

Back at the hotel with their new "Laney" dolls....

Enjoying some pool time ....

Our hotel had an "American Girl package" which included some fun surprises for the girls like cookies and milk delivered to our room.....

and new beds for the dolls....

Dinner at the Rainforest Cafe....

After dinner we headed back to Water Tower Place. The girls had been planning for several months to get their ears pierced during our Chicago trip. I really wasn't sure Jenna would go through with it.

Waiting her turn.....and nervous as can be!

Savannah went first and made it look so easy....

Jenna's turn...the nervous tears were really flowing, but she was still so excited to be getting her ears pierced....

All done....and still crying! She kept saying "I can't believe I really did it"! She was so funny!!

I just got my ears pierced!!!

Telling Daddy all about getting her ears pierced....