Wish me luck!

It is official... I bit the bullet and got it done!! 20 layouts, an article, and a HUGE supply list have been sent off overnighted to Creating Keepsakes... for the Scrapbooker of the Year contest.

I kept finding excuses, put it off, hee-hawed if I should do it or not... kinda decided not. My mom said "If $10,000 can't motivate you, what can?" I said well only 5 people are chosen as finalists. Good ol' Mom comes back with "And you have as good of shot as anyone".

Ya know, she's right (yes, mom, I admit it!) Why not me? If I didn't do it I would never know what would have happened. From here it is out of my hands... either way I feel like I accomplished a lot! But nobody is allowed to call June 27th (on or around)... that is when CK calls! :)

*Check that off my to-do list!!

Memorial Day cont.

Today we continued the festivities by attending Pioneer Days at Scott County Park. We were all looking forward to the neat petting zoo and pony rides they have each year. We were all disappointed to find out they thought it was going to rain today and didn't show up!!! Oh well, ya win some ya lose some :) 2nd best thing... horse drawn wagon rides. We stood in a LONG line and waited and waited and waited... next up... US! Just in time for the farmer to come over and say his horses were getting too tired and they weren't going to be giving any more rides. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Hallie & Reese were able to go and pet them for just a second, so I guess that worked for today. I think we were all ready for a drink after that second disappointment...Off to the saloon for some Sioux City Sarsaparilla (Root Beer). We toured all around the pioneer village, ate some very yummy fresh made kettle corn and "blew that pop stand"!

Next up, The Quad City Criterium Bike Race....

This was really neat to watch! I had never been to this before but evidently this is the 40-some odd year they have been doing it in Rock Island. So here is the low down... 107 racers ride SUPER close to one another through the downtown area, a 3/4 mile course for 50 laps. During this race 3 of the laps are sprint races and the winners get points= money. They have a "pit" for wheel changes and all that. People line the fences and cheer them on as they FLY by at 35+ MPH. 20 states were represented in the race. They had one "crash"... makes me so nervous!! Several bikers were pretty banged up, and scratched up, bikes damaged... but most racers were able to get right back into the race. If you ever have the chance to watch one of these races in person... GO!! It was an exciting event! The winner was from the Texas Roadhouse team... hmmmm, speaking of Texas Roadhouse, what's for supper?

Texas Roadhouse here we come!!

Memorial Day

Today we attended the Memorial Day parade in Colona, IL. It is a fun parade full of firetrucks, marching bands, tractors, and... cows :)

What's coming next??

A trip to the carnies

On Friday night we hit up the local carnival. Hallie and Ryan were ride-a-holics! Reese was content and amazed just watching. There's nothin' like a carnival on a summer night! (I think we are going to hit up another tonight- Sunday)

Celebrating the end

Thursday night we took Hallie out to Chuck E Cheese's to celebrate the end of her school year. We all had a great time. Hallie was so excited to see the new horse ride. Ryan and Hallie spent most of the night in a 4X4 vehicle shooting giant tarantulas, Mom & I couldn't get enough Deal or No Deal, and Reese was ALL OVER!!! She loved it this time! She played games, rode rides, and practically wore out the slide! Hallie's night wouldn't have been complete with out a visit from Chuck E. She told him all kinds of things... like they were long time friends trying to catch up. Reese on the other hand didn't want anything to do with him.

Congratulations Hallie!

She has officially "graduated" from 3 year old preschool! This morning they had their Promotion Ceremony. Mrs. Hayz told a little about each child, gave them a crown and "diploma", and we all had an ice cream sundae party! It was a fun morning, and a great ending to an exciting first year of school!

Bitten...

Okay, I am not usually one to post "medical" posts... (especially ones with pictures!) but I had to post this for those of you I told. If I haven't told ya, here's how it went...

Saturday my mom took Hallie and Reese to the park. Saturday night Hallie was complaining of a bug bite on the back of her thigh, I checked it out and it looked just like a bug bite and I told her it was fine. Sunday morning she woke up and it was really red, but I just figured she must have scratched it in her sleep. Sunday evening it was getting pretty big and red and hard... so we put some cream on it and she was good with that. By Monday morning it was HUGE (little did we know it would only get bigger!) and she was really bothered by it. So, I called the Dr to ask what to put on it. After describing it they told me I needed to bring her in... By time I took her to the dr at 2:45 he measured it and said it was appx 4.5 inches!!! She is now on Allegra and a suped-up antibiotic! She was having an allergic reaction to a spider bite!

These pictures don't show how red and swollen it really was! This was after icing and heat packs. (per dr orders)-- I put the quarter on for added effect :)

Relaxing wtih the heat pack...

I couldn't post with out a little Reesey picture...

Fishing Queen

Sunday my mom and I took the girls fishing. Hallie was so proud of her TWO fish she caught. (they were whoppers!)

Even Reese was getting into the action! (official worm holder)

Spring Sing

Sunday was Hallie's Spring Sing at church. Blessed Beginnings Preschoolers sang two songs during the service. They did a great job :)

Here are the two videos... (listen for Reese-- she was so proud of her sister! (she calls her "Ya-Ya")

Stephens Park

Today was Hallie's fieldtrip to Stephens Park. Even Reese got to join in the fun! We will be sad to see the year end... Hallie is already saying she doesn't want to be done for summer. (I'll save this and show it to her when she is high school) I didn't get too many pictures this morning... I was too busy climbing, sliding, and pushing swings!

CHECK!

Okay, I can officially check Josie's book off of my list! I got it all done with pictures and keepsakes and all the goodies we got that night! I will get it in the mail to you, Josie!! (It turned out really cute!!) Here are some pictures, as proof... but didn't want to spoil it for Josie.

Blogger overload

Okay, if your computer starts smoking... sorry! I was on a roll and just had so much to blog! Scroll all the way down, I posted and posted and posted!!

Mother's Day 2008

I am so blessed to be the mother of these two georgous, happy, healthy girls! They make me smile everyday! I am lucky to spend my days with them! There is nothing I would rather do than read stories, go to the zoo, play at the park, or just snuggle.

Triple Date

To celebrate our anniversary we decided to go to our old local "hangout"... The Ida Bowl (okay, you are allowed to laugh on that one!) :) We had a fun night with Jodi and Adam and Christi and Ross (two of my bridesmaids and of course the bestman)... my two sisters Becky and Jessie (maid of honor and another bridesmaid) came down for a little bit, too. It is always fun to hang out with Jodi and Christi and talk, talk, talk!!

FIVE years!

Can you believe it has been five years? Five years ago I would never have pictured myself today with 2 beautiful girls (and another baby on the way) living in Illinois. We have had a lot of fun, tears, laughter and ...reality tv in the past five years!! I can only see in the next five years getting happier. Happy Anniversary, Ryan... let's make the upcoming years the best yet!

(Bad hair day!! Just like 5 years ago... it RAINED all day on us!!)