Backyard BBQ

We started summer out with a fun bbq with our good friends, the Bieglers. It's always an adventure getting our families together. Lots going on with eight kids between both of our families!

I'm not sure what Marissa is thinking here...crazy Jack! Nicholas, Marissa, and Patrick on the seesaw.

Ella Jane all stripped down to her pull-up. Christine and I take any chance we can to get together.

Marissa considers the sprinkler. Jenna on the rings!

Kevin and Christine have a beautiful peony garden in their backyard. It inspired me to come home and plant a couple in my yard!

My beautiful flowers....Jenna and Rissa.

After eating a delicious dinner, we roasted marshmallows. But these weren't just any old marshmallows....they were HUGE! Have you ever seen a marshmallow this big?! They were a big, sticky mess. The kids loved them! Here's Jacob and beautiful Isabelle double dipping!

Kevin helps Nicholas with his marshmallow. Everyone went home filthy and tired...we had a great time!

Jenna's BFF

Meet Stephanie...Jenna's best friend! Jenna and Stephanie met in kindergarten and quickly became friends. I've never seen Jenna act as silly and goofy as she does when she's when Stephanie. I took this cute picture of them together at a school dance. All smiles when they're together. :)

School's Out!

The end of school was bittersweet for our family. While we were excited about the fun summer ahead we were sad to be leaving the Turtle Room at our preschool. We've decided to move Nicholas to a new preschool starting this fall, so the last day of school was hard for us. We just love Miss Hollenbeck and the Turtle team and plan to stay in touch with them.



Three Martin turtles and their teacher, Miss Hollenbeck. She's the best.

Mrs. Chandran and Mrs. Christopherson were aides in the class and loved by all of my kids.

Here's Jacob and Jenna on their last day! Jacob is now officially a 3rd grader and Jenna's headed to first grade!

Pink Ponies

Jenna recently wrapped up another season of soccer! This time the girls chose to name their team the Pink Ponies. Jenna was a little disappointed that they weren't the Pink Raptors! Maybe next time. Here is she with her friend/teammate Mallory.

While she still spent some time goofing around on the field, Jenna was a bit more focused than last year and did score quite a few goals!

Why does Tom look like he's 7 months pregnant??? He's playing a game of "meatball" with the girls! They're supposed to try to take their meatball (soccer ball) all the way to the oven (goal) before Tom gets to them and "eats" it. Tom was an assistant coach for the team.

Happy Mother's Day

As I recall, I had a great Mother's Day! We met my parents, sister, brother, and Yia Yia at Cantigny Park for a picnic. It was a relaxing, fun day with my kids and family.

Me, my mom, Melissa, and Michael

We thought this tree was really cool!

Blooming Daisy

Jenna has completed her first year as a Daisy Scout! She has now earned seven Daisy petals and will continue to earn the remaining three this upcoming fall. Also pictured above are the four participation patches she got this year. Jenna also received her membership star. Each star represents one year of registration as a Daisy Scout. She loved being part of her troop and cannot wait for school to start so she can go back.

Here's a re-cap of the fun activities her troop did and the petals/patches Jenna has earned so far:

The girls went on their first field trip to the Naperville Animal Shelter to earn the yellow petal (Friendly and Helpful). They toured the facility and learned all about how to care for the animals. They also earned their Pet Care Patch. They had a great time together and Jenna was especially happy to get to hold a kitty!

The light blue petal represents being "Honest and Fair". The girls were divided into groups and given a handful of conversation hearts which they had to divide amongst themselves in an honest way. Each group was left with one heart and the girls had to figure out (honestly and fairly, of course) what to do with this lone heart. Some decided to give it to a troop leader and others decided to smash it up and each take a tiny piece. They earned this petal around Valentine's Day so it was the perfect activity!

The orange petal stands for "Being Responsible for All I Say and Do". The troop earned this petal by learning about how what we say can hurt other people. The troop leaders wrinkled up a sheet of paper to represent what happens to peoples feelings when we say or do hurtful things. Then they smoothed the paper back out to show how we can make it better with a genuine apology. They also planted sunflower seeds in a flowerpot and had to show they are responsible by watering and caring for the seed. So cute!

The troop took a field trip to Aurora Fire Department Station 8 to learn all about fire safety. They had a great time touring the station. They earned their magenta petal to show that they "Respect Authority" and also a participation patch.

To earn their violet patch (Be A Sister to Every Girl Scout) they meet with a cadet Girl Scout Troop and did some fun activities together. Each girl received a handmade bracelet from these older Scouts and in return our troop gave them each a pin. How sisterly!

The red petal is my favorite one so far! The troop went to Bouncetown to climb a rock wall to show that they are "Strong and Courageous". How fun is that?!?! You have to be very courageous to tackle that rock wall! The pictures tell the story! Jenna absolutely loved this outing. They also got a Fitness participation patch.

Finally, to earn their "Using Resources Wisely" petal (green) they made pinecone birdfeeders...how green and resourceful!

It sounds like the troop has another fun year ahead! After earning the four remaining petals, the troop will move on to Journey books. There are two Journey books for Daisy's: It's Your Planet - Love It and It's Your World - Change It. Each Journey book reinforces living by the Girl Scout Law and its three awards recognize each girls progress in applying the Law to their lives. They will also be getting bucket hats to spice up their uniforms...cute! Friendship Pins are on the agenda, too. Jenna has made one Friendship Pin so far...a kitty. The girls put them on their bucket hats and trade them with other Girl Scouts. Kinda like Silly Bands!

Stay tuned for more updates on our blooming Daisy!

The Fine Arts Festival

Each year our school district has a Fine Arts Festival where the community can come to see special pieces of artwork made by the kids during school. This year both Jacob and Jenna had artwork on display!



"J" for Jacob! This is his third piece of artwork to be acknowledged.



It's a dinosaur (of course!). This is Jenna's first masterpiece to be at the fair. She was so excited!

Happy (Very Belated) Easter!

We hope you had a happy Easter!