34

We spent my birthday weekend at the lake with Nancy & Denny. Nolan got in a lot of lap time with Papa Denny. And added "papa" to his vocabulary. Now whenever I ask him where papa is - he walks around the house yelling "Papa?....Papaaaaa?"

Tyson and I escaped for a nice, quiet, adult only lunch...we drank Zombie Dust beers and then returned home to a really special BIRTHDAY FORT...built exclusively for ME by Jack & Josie. The Zombie Dust must have caught up to Tyson because I think he took a little snooze in there.

Nancy knows the way to my heart. She got me a Betty's Cake and it was SO AMAZING. Seriously. This is my official allegiance: Betty's Cake Shop in Warsaw WINS - BEST CAKE. If you know a better one, please share because I've lived in a lot of different places and she is still winning.

I'm 34. Age is a crazy thing. I don't love getting older - but it's inevitable - so I tell myself to age gracefully. I hope I'm singing the same tune in 6 years.

Read to me

One of my personal goals for 2016 is to get my items into a few local shops and boutiques. My "read to me. please." shirts are now selling in the Northville Public Library's gift shop. BIG moment. Super excited.

And my "model" was there to help me celebrate the occasion. We were going for the "extra enthusiastic" look. Nailed it.

Jack is 6!

Last Friday Jack turned 6! He took some birthday treats to school and we donated a book to his classroom.  Then that night we had a couple soccer friends over for pizza, cupcakes, and then we took them to Chuck E Cheese. It was a fun and exhausting night!

At 6 - Jack is energetic, lively, and eager to please. He loves soccer - well, all sports, really.  He's a team player on the field - giving high fives and praise to his teammates (and the other team). He plays hard and almost always has a great attitude.  He loves video games (because he IS his father's son), Minecraft, and Pokemon cards. Jack is learning so much in Kindergarten (and at home with mom). We are starting sight words. He is a caring kid - who adores his brother and sister. We all love him. Hope year 6 is a GREAT one for him!

Happy belated birthday, Jack!

The Lake with Agnes

We spent a few days celebrating Christmas and ringing in 2016 at the Lake with the Idaho Beckers. Nolan broke in the new farm sink - by letting Grandma Nancy give him a bath in it!

 Coop's big butt was there. Tucker's too. And that dang dog jumped in the lake. More than once.

 Josie modeled Kristin's Wonder Woman apron.

 Tyson and Devin smoked some delicious chicken...We are in for some really good meat this summer!

 Agnes and Nolan spent some time catching up.

Early morning meet-ups were popular. Sleeping arrangements with 6 adults, 4 kids, and two dogs can get dicey. We all left the lake a little more tired than we were when we arrived.

And Jack proved he's worthy of being the big cousin. Both Jack and Josie were excited to help feed Agnes.

Looking forward to many more weekends at the lake! Maybe next time warmer temps will make everything a little better.

Merry Christmas and HAPPY New Year!

Annual Christmas Morning stair pic

We ha da whirlwind Christmas break! We left Friday before Christmas to go to Warsaw for Christmas with my family. Jon and Cassie were here from Florida...and it got super cold to welcome them back. Gina was smart and scheduled some babysitters so we could have a really fun adult dinner on Saturday night. That was genius and will be happening again. Don't get me wrong - we all love our kids - but some adult conversation was a great way to spend time with my family.

After that we headed to Fort Wayne for Becker family Christmas. Always nice seeing everyone and watching the kids play together. Unfortunately, while we were there Nolan spiked a fever and was out of commission for a couple days. Then, just as we thought everyone was on the mend - Jack puked. I mean, what are the holidays if you don't have a puker??!?!

We returned to Northville in time for a visit from SANTA and everyone was healthy again.

 The kids were pumped with their new gifts! Nolan got a car that he has been obsessed with. Jack got a Powerwing scooter and Josie got a new PINK bike - as their big gifts.

 The aftermath of the morning.

 Christmas afternoon Nancy & Denny came up and the kids showed them all of their new toys! Then Saturday morning we headed to the mall for some craziness.

And Jack - in an effort to convince Grandma to buy a new couch for the lake - pretended to nap at Restoration Hardware.

That night - I took a page from the "book of Gina" - and hired a babysitter so we could have a fun night out with Denny and Nancy. We were all drowning our IU bowl loss sorrows...but the food was delicious and the drinks were strong.

More to come...