10 years.......

15 years ago, I met the love of my life...I was 13, he was 17...the summer before my freshman year of highschool, the summer before his senior year.

I remember smiling ALOT. I knew he was something special.

Over the next 12 months, we endured alot, (and bickered alot).....he moved 4 hours away for college. NO ONE thought we could make it work.....I KNEW we could.

I remember the $300 phone bills.....worth every penny. Somehow we made it through.

11 years ago, he proposed. I remember smiling ALOT! :)

and

10 years ago, I married the love of my life!

the man who puts up with my constant sarcasm

who understands all of my quirks and craziness

who has always supported me in anything I wanted to do

who has always taken care of me

who has always given me anything that I want

who shares my love of everything Chicago Bears

but most importantly

who gave me my children. The loves of my life.

Rick,

I consider myself so lucky to have you in my life everyday. Thank you for being such a great husband and such a great father......You mean more to me than you will EVER know.

love....

-a

1 decade down....hopefully we have 6 or 7 more to go.

Time Flies........

This summer has FLOWN by. I feel like everything has been going twice as fast as it should.

I am going to miss the kids so much when they go back to school.

I know alot of parents look forward to school starting, but I am not one of them.....

-a

My newest obsession

In my quest to work a little less this summer and spend more time with the kids, I have planned a few outings this summer. One of my favs was heading up to Champaign and painting pottery at The Pottery Place!

You go in and pick your piece(s) and then pick a table and paint (tons of colors to pick from) and then you just get started.........

Heidi chose a teapot and teacupsRJ chose a canister for Snapshots snacksWorking hardWe were there for 6 hours and painted so much stuff.......3 cereal bowls, 2 dog dishes, a dog canister, a teapot, 4 teacups, and a turkey platter (that's what I painted!)Here is RJ's canister. He painted it red and brown and wrote Woof Woof and added some paw print stamps to it. The paint dries chalky and dull and then they fire it in the kiln and it comes out beautiful and shiny!My turkey platter......with the kid's handprints. And they signed their own names......My kids have always called their hand and foot prints, pawprints. ever since they were toddlers....Hence the PawprintsOne of snapshots dishesHeidi's teapotOne of our cereal bowls (with fruitloops on the inside)And a few of the pieces after they were completed!

I LOVE my platter.....seriously, LOVE it!Heidi with her tea setand RJ with his canister.

We've already been back a 2nd time and I suspect it won't be the last!

;)

-a

Zoo Fun

About a month ago, I got an itching to go to the St Louis Zoo. Rick was in Pittsburgh for work and so the kids and I packed a lunch and headed to St Louis with my friend Rebekah and her 3 kids.

After we had a picnic lunch, we headed in to see some animals.But not before everyone had to pose for a picture!The kids (especially Dawson) loved the snakes.There was some guy letting the kids touch crocodile skulls....gotta admit that was pretty cool. RJ and Dawson were super impressed.We bought Safari Passes that allowed us rides on the RailRoad, the sea lion show, a 3-D dinosaur movie etc.....We headed to the Sea Lion show firstI have to say that I loved this show. Not only was it super cool with all the tricks, but also it was a nice chance to feed the kids a snackNotice RJ trying to crash my picture by sticking his finger behind my headGrowing anxious waiting for the train.......Miss Rebekah and Miss Payton on the train......RJ, Cooper and DawsonMe and the HeidsterWaiting to go to the 3-D movie. This was pretty much a favorite of everybodyMy favorite in the whole zoo is the penguin house. (Last year I grabbed a Puffin.....it was just so tempting.) This year I refrained.Cute little Puffin. I wish I would have grabbed itEverybody picked a stuffed animal in the gift shopEveryone except RJ. While we are standing there watching Heidi pick 2 $6 animals.....he just looked at me and said, "Can I just have the 12 bucks?"

Okay, deal. He's his father's son!

:)

-a