Friendship

This weekend I met a few of my friends from college for a night away.  There were six of us that were very close friends all through college. 

Sadly, Katie had to cancel at the last minute because her little girl got sick and she had to change her flight from California.  And our other friend, Melissa, is about to have a baby so she couldn't make it.  We missed them!

It amazes me how we can go a long time without seeing each other and  pick up right where we left off. 

I loved catching up with these girls.  Lots of stories and laughs.  They are such special friends.

Tonight was Owen and Adam's last race for Healthy Kids Running Series.  It was fun watching the boys run!

This cutie came to most of the races to cheer on his cousins:)

And a few more pictures that I had on my phone...

This was from Mother's Day last Sunday.

 A couple weeks ago Adam learned to tie his shoes all by himself.  He was so proud.  We were proud of him too!

Life lately...

Has been crazy busy!  Between tball and baseball and swimming lessons and running series the boys have had an activity almost every night of the week for the past few weeks.

I can't wait for summer for a little reprieve from our busy schedule.  In between the boys' activities, we have been doing lots of yard work.  Mulching, planting flowers, stumps removed, planting grass, weeding, edging.

Luckily we both enjoy yard work.  Mike has been spending a lot of time in our greenhouse growing veggies and flowers too.

It has been one year since we bought our house.  This summer it will be one year since we have lived here.  We recently had our shutters painted and the rest of our windows replaced and boy does it make our house look a lot better on the outside!!

Eventually we will have our garage roof replaced, new windows in the garage, the garage painted and a new deck off the back of our house.  Maybe in the fall. 

The biggest news around here is we have kittens!  Back in January a very friendly stray cat showed up at our door (I'm sure I already blogged about her).  She's the sweetest thing and would cry for food in the freezing cold temps.  As much as I did NOT want another cat, I could not handle seeing her cold and hungry so we made her a warm bed and started feeding her.  She's a smart cat and was getting some love from our neighbors at the same time.  We never let her in our house, but we have enough little hide out places she could go to stay warm.  The boys call her their "side kick" because she follows them around the yard.  She is not the least bit afraid of loud, sword fighting boys.  When we had snow she would play in the snow with the kids.  So I had a vet come to our house and make sure she was updated on her shots and give her deworming medicine.  I also gave her flea and tick medicine.  While the vet was here I asked him if she was fixed.  He said he thought he "felt a scar" from her being fixed, but that we should call him if she has kittens and he'll fix her after that.  Chong (Mike named her that) had some signs of possibly being pregnant.  She definitely got fatter, but we were feeding her and so were our neighbors so I figured it was from that.  Two weeks ago I was doing yard work and I heard her let out a yell like she was in pain.  She wouldn't walk over to me when I called for her and I had not idea what was wrong.  I lifted her up and saw something coming out of her.  I had Owen take pictures of it with my phone and we sent them to Mike's mom to see if she knew what was going on.  I thought maybe it was a urinary tract infection.  A few minutes later she walked over to me with her legs a little spread apart and a kitten fell out.

Mike was on a run so it was just the boys and I.  Mike had squeezed her belly earlier that morning and jokingly said, "Do you have any kittens in there Chong?!".  I think he started her labor.  The rest of the day we all got to watch Chong deliver 4 sweet kittens.

Sadly, the first one was much smaller than the other 3 and didn't make it.

Chong was completely fine with everyone watching her have her babies.  About a week ago we started petting the kittens and she seemed fine with that too until we came home from work one day and she moved them.  She ended up moving them twice after that until Mike and I moved them back into the spring house, but this time we hid them so she feels safer.  So far she has kept them there and I am not touching them (although it's hard because they are so cute!). 

A few weeks ago we celebrated Caleb's first birthday.  It was such a nice, little party with his cousins and grandparents.

He is adorable and I love watching him grow up and experience new things.  So glad he lives only a few minutes away.

After Cal's party, Adam said "I miss Caleb."  We had only been home a few minutes.  Then Owen said, "I wish I lived with him.  I want a little brother."  Then there was a few seconds of silence and he said, "Actually, no I don't.  We don't have enough bow and arrows if we had another brother.  Nevermind."  There you have it.  The reason we are not having another little one.  Not enough bows and arrows.

Last Saturday we had our annual Cinco de Mayo party.  We have been celebrating this wonderful holiday for the past several years with our now neighbors and a few other friends.

I will never forget the year when most of the kids were still in diapers and they all took their diapers off and ran around naked.  It was the cutest thing ever and I hope to always have that picture in my head.  I didn't take many pictures this year.... having too much fun I guess:)

Sombrero hat cookies- courtesy of Pinterest

Last week Owen and I went to Tyler's 1st Holy Communion.  It was such a special day for Tyler and we were glad to be a part of it.

A few weeks ago was Bring Your Child to Work day.  Adam spent the day with me and loved every minute of it.  It was actually Owen's turn to go with me this year, but he didn't want to miss recess at his school so I took Adam instead.

He was exhausted after a day at school and came home and fell asleep on the couch.

That night both boys got a bath together.  If you want to know what my dad and his brother (my Uncle Walter) looked like as kids, just look at these two.  I imagine Ollie gave them baths together in this very bathroom (and possibly the same tub!) over 60 years ago.

 

Last week Adam had kindergarten registration.  He's very excited to go to school like his big brother.

Last night we had the Blouch's over for dinner and fishing.  Our kids have gone to daycare together for many years and Adam loves playing with Cameron.  He has been asking to have her over for a playdate for a while so it was nice to finally get together.  Chris had a lot of success with the princess fishing rod!