catching you back up...

friday may 9th
I got to babysit two cute little girls today. Kristin and Carlo had a funeral and I was just planning to hang out at home and get a few things organized so it worked out well. What really worked to my benefit was that Lucy took a nap 20 minutes after her arrival, and we had to wake her up when Kristin came back! Bella and I vacuumed, fed the bunnies, played with Theo, baked cookies and played grocery store.
Abby had another year-end dance: Senior Holiday. This dance is less formal than prom and is not a "date" dance. Only graduating seniors are welcome (sorry alex!). Abby had a grand time. The seniors just all really let loose. Abby asked to have a few friends over after the dance and it turned out hers was the only afterparty to be had. We had quite a crowd, but luckily Abby had presented it as an outside bonfire and we kept it that way. It was a bit chilly outside, but the kids didn't seem to mind. Abby really enjoyed herself being the hostess with the mostest.

saturday may 10th
I was invited to help a 5th grade Girl Scout troop with geocaching. It was a beautiful morning and I had met with the organizer a couple nights before finding some possible cache sites and going over particulars. With the girls that morning, we were able to locate 3 differents caches and planting one tracking bug. The girls were awesome with their gps devices (I've got to get one!). The event made me wonder what I'm going to do with my time when I don't have Girl Scouts next year...

sunday may 11th
Mother's Day! I didn't feel the best. Allergies I guess. Jeff and I went to purchase our chosen patio set and it was sold out. We were bummed and went back home where I took a nap.

monday may 12th
Paige had another track meet at home and where Jeff and I got to see her take first in the hurdles. Her 4x400 relay team also finished a strong 1st (that's her in the middle lane coming to hand off).

tuesday may 13th
The girls all had a special field trip to one of the schools to see Andy Hurley from Fall Out Boy (rock band). He is a Menomonee Falls alumn that is being honored in the MFHS Arts Hall of Fame. Paige brought a magazine poster and got his autograph!
Jeff went out to Brookfield Central to see Bryn run the 400M, 4x800M and 4x400M in the Outdoor Conference Track Meet. She ended up placing 7th in the 400M. Regionals are Monday in Oconomowoc. When Bryn finished her events, Jeff drove her to the high school band concert where he met Paige and I in the audience. Abby and Bryn played beautifully.I believe Abby supplied the majority of the pictures shown in the senior slideshow shown during the second-to-last song. Our personal favorite was Abby blowing into Kristin's French horn when Abby was 2 years old.

wednesday may 14th
Paige had no spectators as she finished first again in the hurdles and 4x400 relay. The meet was in Port Washington which is almost an hour away.
Abby opted not to attend the Girl Scout Gold Award ceremony at Country Springs (Waukesha) in order to receive academic awards at the high school that same evening. She was recognized for Student Council as was Bryn, and Bryn also was recognized for her academic achievement. We sat next to Sutherlands. It's so cute to see how much Alex's little brother loves Abby. Bryn stayed home because she had so much homework to make up from her busy night before.

saturday may 17th
We had to hire out for another parent today. Grandma Maggie was happy to oblige and served as Paige's personal attendant for the day. Paige won her first softball game this morning 6-3 with Grandma Maggie cheering all the way. Paige caught a fly ball, and got a hit! The day was perfect, even more so with doughnuts for breakfast and McD's for lunch! Thanks Grandma!
Jeff reviewed his Senior Design students' final presentations this morning at MSOE and was very pleased.
Abby volunteered with Student Council to help out and participate in the Zoo's Walk With The Animals walk/run.
And Bryn and I took part in a Bike Ride to benefit her mission trip for later this summer. All the mission-trippers were asked to participate with Father Art and gather pledges. I helped out as needed which ended up being designing the t-shirts, taking registrations and taking pictures. I had so much fun following the riders and snapping pics as they sped by. The bikers followed the Bug Line Trail from Sussex out to Fireman's Park in Merton. The park served as a turnaround point where the bikers broke for lunch (hot dog, chips, water/soda and cookies). I think this fundraiser will turn into an annual event.
And Jeff assembled our beautiful patio set. Looks like it's always belonged there. Also experienced our first test with the weather as it became very windy with a few showers. Unfortunately, the umbrella table blew over so we'll have to think how to resolve that...

As I left off last time, here's a pic from Bryn's last UWAY concert for the year. It was a stupendous concert and the group does a nice presentation to all the graduating high school seniors.

Paige's first official track meet was last Monday (Apr28th) and it was COLD!!! The kids were bundled up whether they were running or not. Paige ran the 100M hurdles, which is the first event, and the 4x400 relay, which is the last event. Poor kid! Had to sit outside in the middle of a windy field for 2 hours between events. Jeff and I couldn't even bear it! We went home in between. But Paige came in 1st in the hurdles which looked pretty effortless for her.

Bryn got to run in some fun relays at her Conference Relay meet on Wednesday (Apr30th). First she ran the Hurdle Shuttle, which is 3 girls running 100M each going back and forth - they placed 2nd! Then she ran the 3x300 hurdle relay and placed 2nd again. And finally she ran in the 4x800. The weather was a bit more cooperative - still windy, but a little warmer. Tougher on the spectators than the participants.

Paige ran the same events at her next meet on Thursday (May1st).

Then Jeff and I had to tag team the weekend.

Since I'm Logan's godmother, I got to go to Indy for Logan's First Communion in Indy. And because I was going solo, Kristin and Carlo invited me to ride along with them. In exchange for the ride, the rest of my family cared for their dogs, Pasta and Shadow. Kristin picked me up around 9am, and got Pasta and Shadow settled in at my house. We met Carlo, Bella and Lucy and off we went! We had fun taking a pit stop at an Oasis with a playland. I was just bummed I couldn't fit up the stairs to help Bella climb. We arrived at Meg's by 5pm and hung out with all the kids playing in the backyard for a while. Later, Kristin, Meg and I tried our hand at the Wii doing the long jump, swimming and table tennis. That is really fun! Saturday was the big event and little did we know how big. There were 142 First Communicants!! Mom, Dad, Bryce and I were sent to church early to reserve a pew. Good thing. I was also assigned camera duty with Meg's professional-style camera so I had research to do before mass. Bryce and I scoured the church for pictures. Everyone else arrived closer to mass time. Mia and Cooper suffered major separation anxiety (just ask Earlene and Mom!) as Meg and William had to sit up from with Logan. At the end of the 2-hour mass, only me, Dad and Earlene were left in the pew. Back at Meg's we had food aplenty and took a lot more pictures. Left Sunday at 11am, allowing Lucy and Bella to play with Cooper's new sand/water table before sitting in the car.


Same weekend. Back at home. Friday night Bryn went to Natalie's birthday party, Abby worked, and Paige went over to a friend's. Jeff had time alone! (Don't worry, he'll make up for it Saturday.) Saturday, Jeff got up early with Paige and took her over to the Little League Complex for Opening Day at 8am. Then Jeff dragged Paige over to Bryn's track meet where they arrived just in time for Bryn's 4x800. They left to take a break, and just missed Bryn coming in 1st in 400m. Bryn's coaches keep fighting about putting her in the mile (which Bryn hates), but luckily the head coach overrides it and changes it to Bryn's favorite, the 400M. Jeff ran grocery shopping as Abby announced that we were hosting Prom pictures at 4pm. Abby was running around all day getting her nails and hair done only to have the florist leave a message that her buttoneer for Alex wasn't picked up yet. It was 2:40 when Jeff got the message and they close at 3! It all worked out and Jeff was a perfect host. Prom is nice because it's a package with dinner, dance and afterparty all planned and paid for. And to top the day off, Paige had a friend sleepover.

I got home Sunday about 4pm and it was beautiful outside. I volunteered to pick Paige up from softball practice and was grateful they were running late so I could do a little walking after my long car ride. Jeff happily escaped for a while by mowing the lawn.

Bryn had another track meet in Watertown yesterday, Monday (May 5th) and didn't get home til 10p. And today I got to help out timing the races at Paige's track meet. No complaints today - it was beautiful!