My World Right Now....

I wish I could say it was my daughter Abigail, my husband, or my church calling. Unfortunately, it can be summed up in this picture:

I like to refer to this room addition as "The Fountain of all Stress." One example I would like to give is a 20 hour period from last Friday night to Saturday afternoon. Friday around 8:00, Adrian sends me to Lowe's for some reciprocating saw blades, and I had to "hurry, hurry" because Lowe's closes at 9:00, so I get in the car and go. Lowe's is about 25 minutes from my house. About halfway there, Adrian calls me and tells me that he called Tractor Supply (which is much closer to my house), and they have what we need. I ask him "and they are still open?" He assures me they are, so I turn around and go to the tractor supply. When I arrive at Tractor Supply....guess what? They are closed, and I have to turn around and go to Lowe's anyway, but now I only have 30 minutes to get there. Then, on Saturday morning, he sends me on another trip to Lowe's. Then....not two hours after I get home, they want me to go back!!! Argument ensues, and I return to Lowe's for the third time in 20 hours.

I can't wait for this to be over!!

Boys and Girls

You can't teach this stuff. On Thursday, we had some friends over to play. There were two girls, Abigail & Holland, and two boys, Stone and Lucas. They played together and had fun...but at the end of the day--this is the way they like it:

Boys on one side, and girls on the other. No touchies.

And, unfortunately, Abigail likes to scratch her butt. And, yes, immediately after removing her hand from said diaper, she stuck her hand in the plate of bug cookies. Sorry, Holland and Lucas.

It's a Done Deed

This past weekend was hectic and wonderful. My older brother, Patrick, was married at the Louisville Temple. Toni is very nice, and I wish them great happiness.


Abigail looked adorable. She wouldn't stand still for a picture, of course. So, I had to immobilize her.


Adrian hates his "monkey suit," even though I tell him he looks hot in it.

Abigail made two new friends on Saturday--Roxanne, my brother Mike's girlfriend Catherine's dog (or gog, as Abigail says) ....

and Tannis, Toni's son.

It was wonderful to see so many extended family members we never get to see. I love weddings.

Swimming Lessons

Our four weeks of swimming lessons are finally over. Abigail had so much fun with her friends Holland and Lucas (red-head in the background). But, did Annie have fun?

Isn't this an funny picture? I didn't realize that Whitney was taking one, I guess. I look miserable, Holland is crying like I'm getting ready to drown her, and Abigail is just hanging out.

I don't know if these lessons were the best idea. Prior to these lessons, Abigail had no real fear of the water, but now she is FEARLESS. She tromps around the pool, sticks her face in, jumps off the side, and goes down the Shamu slide like she is a water lizard. And yet, these lessons didn't teach her how to swim......thank you YMCA.

Chicago!!

This past weekend my friend Whitney and I went to Chicago. It was so much fun! We flew in Thursday afternoon, and took the "El" from Midway to our hotel. I am saying that so casually, but it was a big "discussion" on how to get to the hotel. I didn't want to waste my money on a taxi. Whitney, however, is afraid that serial killers and rapists are around every corner, so it was quite a big deal to use public transportation. We made it there is one piece and un-raped, as I suspected we would.

Our hotel was just one block off the incredible "miracle mile" shopping district. It was almost overwhelming. Every major department store you can imagine --Barney's, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom's, Sak's, etc. And every other store you can imagine. On Thursday, we walked the shopping district , went to H&M, and ate at Grand Lux Cafe

Did I mention that Whitney and I were by ourselves--children and husbands were in TN. It was amazing.

Friday was our major shopping day. I was determined to find a dress for my brother's wedding. It is a gorgeous navy and white linen dress from Banana Republic. The Banana Republic was three stories high! After that, I found some matching shoes at Aldo's, and we just shopped around the rest of the afternoon. That night we ate some authentic chicago-style pizza at Lou Malnati's. It was delicious, and that night we saw Wicked. It was fantastic. The stage props, the costumes, the effects, the music--it was wonderful.


On Saturday, we woke up early and went to the Art Institute of Chicago. It was amazing, and amazingly big. We spent about two hours there. We saw "American Gothic," among other beautiful things.


We were there for a couple of hours. Then our friend, Shaulee, picked up us. The three of us ate at this cute brunch restaurant called Hot Chocolate, which was delicious. The rest of Saturday, we shopped, and by that night we were exhausted. We got some PF Chang's take away, and crashed at the hotel. Sunday morning, we flew home in time for Mother's Day. It was a great weekend. Just long enough to start missing your kids. I meant to take more pictures, but I just kept forgetting. Maybe next time.

New Sister-in-Law

My brother, Pat, is getting married in two weeks. I guess there will be another girl now at family parties to steal my spotlight--er, I mean to talk to.

This past weekend we went to KY for Toni's bridal shower. It was fun, even though I didn't win any shower games....

Jerry Seinfeld

Last Thursday we saw Jerry Seinfeld in Nashville. He was really hilarious. That was the first time I had ever seen a real comedian do a show. He kept me laughing for two hours. I will have to say he was pretty clean, too. A few cuss words, and that was about it.

I would try and explain some of the funny stuff, but I am afraid I will sound like Michael Scott trying to do a Chris Rock routine.

One funny thing he said was that a lot of his friends ask him what it is like to have three children, and he tells them it is like having a blender without a lid.