happy Birthday to you ! happy birthday to you! happy birthday dear alyssa! happy birthday to you!

we have a standing rule in the house that when it is your birthday you get to decide how to spend the day ( however that usually doesnt work when i say " lets go to hawaii " ) Anyway alyssa chose to go swimming and have mint ice cream at Baskin robbins . She had cheese pizza for dinner and opened her gifts !

Today kevin took a private jet for work - moving on up! He was really excited about it! He said it would have taken them nearly 12 hours to do what they had to get done today but in the jet able to do it in 6 .

A layout that i did yesterday is the featured layout on - http://scrappaydivas.blogspot.com/ check me out !

Back to the daily grind! I just got a wonderful job offer ! Will be heading back to the working world soon! I am the new Events coordinator/ Lead instructor at the brand new Archivers store that is opening in Raleigh in September! So excited!

Yeppers ...... It's official ! She's 5 ! Happy Birthday Aryn!

today we went to the movies and had cheese pizza . (at Aryns birthday request) . We Also had some pretty purple cupcakes and opened the remainder of her gifts !

Today was the big birthday shopping day - we went to toys r us, old navy, cold stone (for a treat), target, build a bear and limited too. Aryn got her ears pierced. (and although she doesn't look really thrilled in the photo she is happy with them now) The girls had a wonderful time "being big girls and picking out their own stuff"

we all went out for dinner at a Japanese steak house and they sang happy birthday to the girls in Japanese .

And to my hubby ! i love ya baby!

Sometime photos really can say it all ! Yeah Canes!

Hey look at my blog - I have finally have a slider - (thanks dawn !) :D I look real official huh !? OK, maybe not official but a lot more fun!

Now, I have gotten some emails from ya'all commenting on the blog - don't be afraid to leave comments on the blog - there is a button at the bottom of each post for you to leave your comments . (I know you are out there!)

Well lets see today Andrew had baseball camp. He had a good time and new almost all of the kids there (imagine that - future politician in the making! ) They are heading up to the neighbors in awhile ...... Oh did I mention where I was going tonight ? Oh, hmmmm must have slipped my mind!


Game 7 Stanley Cup playoffs ! wohooooo ! Our seats are right in front of the OLN networks booth - maybe I will make a sign that says "HI MOM!" Now lets hope the home team "brings it home ! "

Do you have your dancing shoes on????

today was the girls recital - everything went smooth the girls and dads were real troopers - such a long day ( they had to be there at 12:30 and the recital was not over till almost 6 ) very exhausting day . ALyssa is looking forward to taking more classes in the fall , Aryn on the other hand is ready to try soccer .

Want to add Kevin did a wonderful job and he appears to have had a good time ! and not to forget andrew - he sat thru a 4 hour presentation with out a peep -what a trooper!

Kids say the funniest things .....




I did a scrapbook page 2 nights ago (one of the first I have ever done with a black and white photo ) showed it to Aryn when I was done and asked her what she thought. Her response " I hate it ! I don't have any color on me !" I guess she has never seen a black and white photo before.



On one of the last days of school I was driving the kids and we were listening to the Buzz 85o (sports talk) they has a French Canadian Hockey announcer on . Some how we got into the discussion about taking a foreign language in high school. I commented to Alyssa that she should take French , a lot of times the French classes will go to Paris ( and of course they would need adult chaperones, got to plant that seed in them while they are young ) She said " mom, I think I will take Spanish. Mrs Myers has already taught me some Spanish" Andrew chimes in, " You know Alyssa , mom is right , if you take French you can got to Paris. If you take Spanish ............. You probably go to Texas or Something" too funny !

Happy Flag day .....



well really the day after . We had a power surge yesterday ( due to Tropical Storm Alberto) and the USB cable on my camera got fried so had to go buy a new card reader last night . Yesterday we flew this flag , not being un-patriotic , just hoping the Lord Stanleys Cup would make its presence known in Raleigh last night ( dratts!)


Tropical Storm Alberto dumped about 8 inches of rain on the Raleigh area between Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon. A lot of streets( including highways closed) as were malls, schools, churches. Our little "swamp" was probably the highest I have ever seen it . And when it rains of course I grass greens up . I told Kevin last night that it appears that the grass grew over a foot over night !

Sorry we haven't updated in a few days -
Sunday we headed to the beach . Kevin and I both commented about how it seems every time we go we are able to stay longer and longer . The kids are beginning to not need as much entertainment and we find that we are able to relax a little bit more . They had a great time . The water has been unusually clear this year ( maybe it is due to the lack of storms so far )


Yesterday was the girls formal sittings for recital pictures . I think they each had their picture taken about 30 times plus then they had them taken together too .

Today I ordered a photo backdrop - so I can start taking the kids pictures "formally" myself . The cost if photos and sitting fees is outrageous anymore . Cant wait to get it and start playing around - who knows maybe this will venture out into a new business opportunity .

Schools out for Summer !

Well it's official we have a 5th grader, a 2nd grader, and a kindergarten in the house ! Who!

Well Andrews baseball season is over . His team lost Wednesday night , after leading most of the game they started to slip in the last inning . Andrew did get to pitch , he was put in after the other pitcher walked 6 runs and gave up the lead. ( no stress right !) but he did a great job. He threw only 4 pitches and struck out the batter to end the inning .

Today we went to see the new Disney movie "CARS" kids really enjoyed it . We have a wonderful new theater that opened about 5 miles from our house. I think it is safe to say they will be getting a lot of our dinero this summer!

I stopped by Paper playground today to pick up my leftovers from their yard sale. Most of our goodies sold, I donated some of the remainders to charity and now I have a wonderful $200.00 store credit ( good for about 1 visit ! )

The absolute highlight of the day came when I surprised the kids by stopping by Cheeburger Cheeburger in Apex . Andrew has been talking about trying the 1/2 pound Cheeburger. He was so funny - Kept saying " Look at me , I am doing it ! Hey , does everyone in here know I am doing this !?" - I think they will by the time you are done. So he did do it ! His picture is up on the wall of honor! ( and of course they announces " attention, attention everyone - Andrew just ate the WHOOLLLLLLE THING ! " he was so cute ! Talked about the whole way home !


tomorrow (Saturday) we are running errands , catching up on our to do list, and watching our Hurricanes ( win game 3 - aghhhh can you say SWEEP!)
Sunday we are heading to Topsail Island for the day- Love being only 90 minutes from the shore !

6/7- Greetings from the Bench

well greetings everyone - trying this blog thing out - thought it would be a great way to keep up with our family and friends in Chicago and the rest of the country .

Tonight our beloved Hurricanes are playing game 2 in the finals of the stanley cup - Kevin and i were fortunate enough to score tickets to Mondays night game and in kevins words " it was the best damn game he has ever seen ! "

Andrews baseball team ( the white sox , coached by kevin) won their one and only baseball game on Monday night ( while the coach was at the hockey game!) they went from being the last place team to being in the top 4 ! Anyway another game tonight ! Go White Sox!

Andrew and Alyssa's last day of school is tommorrow - Bitter sweet , last day at Cleveland Elementary . Next year they will be attending the West View Elementary which is a new school that is still in the process of being built !

well that about it for our first post - thanks for stopping by !