been a while

At the hotel in WV. Interesting...

Attempting to get a family pic. It was a little windy

Mia chose not to be in the pic

The whole fam at the Crab Pot. Worst lemonade EVER! and unfriendly bartender!

Sparklers

He has some good pouty faces

Everyday he took a nap on the beach. We just laid him down and told him to take a nap and he did! All that fresh air and sound of the waves

Daddy and Dane

Proof I was actually on the vacation.

So i am really behind with the blog. We just got home from a week long stay in Topsail, NC. It was so nice and relaxing. We didn't do much but sit on the beach during the day and cookout at night. We went with my parents, sisters, John and Vicki, and Terri, Mike and their 3 kids. Everyone got along great and it was a nice change in scenery. The seafood was awesome. If you see She-Crab soup, give it a try. My dad has a knack for ordering whatever the restaurant is out of that night. Makes for a laugh or two. The first day we got there, there was a shark at the beach, not far from where the kids were playing. Thank goodness i didn't see it, or i might never have gotten back in the water. Mom and I were at the local IGA (where they still hand ticket everything and manually enter in prices when you check out) during the shark visit. One day we went to an aquarium just north of us. The kids really enjoyed it and it was a good way to spend a rainy afternoon. The big kids worked on sandcastles everyday on the beach then my kids played in them. The tide usually destroyed everything by the end of the day which saved us a little work (there was a rule about digging deeper then 12 inches, turtles could fall in the hole and get stuck.) A couple nights we went crabbing which was really fun. After dark we got a bunch of flashlights and went down to the beach. All the crabs were out and running around, of course the kids loved chasing them around.

Tomorrow is tie-dying day at our house. I think we should have a good group to do it. My p's leave Friday for the Brickyard and Matt leaves Saturday for it. He will be back Monday and then I am leaving with the kids tues or wed for Overland Park, KS, for softball Nationals. I am going to get to visit Summs while i am there too! The Burbon 5 is working hard in the month of July! Mia is going to Vacation Bible School when we get back and that should be a good testing of the waters for preschool in the fall. FALL, I can't believe that it is right around the corner.

I am still busy sewing up a storm. So if you have placed your order, I am playing catch up right now and hope to have everything caught up before I leave next week. Thanks!!

R to an F

Rach got married!! I am happy to have another friend join the married club. The entire weekend was great. The rehearsal dinner was at Rizzi's on State. Ceremony at St. Mary's in Metamora. Reception at the Par-a-Dice. Rach was a stunning bride (not that i didn't expect that). From getting our hair done to the end of the night at Steak n Shake, there wasn't a thing that went wrong. I danced all night long, even got Matt out on the dance floor! Dane was falling asleep out on the dance floor dancing with me and Mia just wanted to jump up and down. She definitely has my love of dancing. Every time i tried to sit down she asked me, "Mom are you ready to go back out and dance?" Of course, I couldn't say no. They went home with my p's. It was so nice to see everyone. We ended the night at Steak n Shake with Matt and Katie. The casino shuttle took us, don't worry. Now Scott and Rach are in Jamaica and I need to get back into the normal routine of things. Ahhh humid IL.
(I didn't have my camera with me b/c I had a bag full of Rach's stuff so once I round up some pics from others I will put them up.)

This saturday

I am excited to participate in a St. Jude Open house this Saturday. While I am in Rachel's wedding that day, Andrea has been nice enough to be my sales lady! So stop by and say HI. There will be something for everyone.

You Are Invited…
St. Jude Open House

Hosted By Amanda Nauman
715 S. Prairie St. in Metamora
Saturday, June 6th 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Items available from:
Discovery Toys
Lia Sophia
Longaberger
Mary Kay
Signature Home Styles
Simply You Purses,Sunglasses, and Handmade clothes
Tastefully Simple
Tupperware
Uppercase Living
Usborne Books

Proceeds benefit the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the St. Jude Midwest Affiliate

Bring a friend, or two, or three….

busy as a bee

Life goes by fast when you are busy. I actually have orders backing up and LOVE IT!! I just got a shipment of material in so i have a bunch of dresses to make this afternoon. I am also experimenting with an apron that is reversible, headbands for kids and adults. As soon as Dane's head hits the bed, off I go! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!!

Feel free to add to the order madness...

Graduation and more

Kaitlyn graduated from 8th grade last week. Hard to believe. Time is flying by! She was 1 of only 3 that got straight A's all year, smarty pants! She is one of those girls that makes you crazy: smart, athletic, and pretty.

I went up to Chicago for Rach's bachelorette party last weekend. I had a blast. It was great to hang out with Rach and Anne and get to know the rest of the girls better. Of course, we ran into some people that we knew or where from Peoria. How is that possible?

We went shopping on Michigan Ave, had dinner at Sangria, then off to Spoon, and finally to Rino. I managed to stay out way past mommy time and danced up a storm. For those of you who have seen me dance, you know I had a blast. Rach wasn't feeling so hot the next day but she was a living it up Saturday night! I will try and get some pics of the weekend. I didn't take my camera because I was in charge of using Rach's camera that night.

I have been whipping up some new sewing projects. I am doing an open house for St. Jude in a couple weeks. My newest creations are a tutu and an apron. I want to make a cape this week or next. Something for the boys out there.

what happened

I was trying to change my layout. Tried following the directions. Don't have the 'layout' tab everyone keeps saying should be there. So frustrated!

I got it fixed. Not sure how but I am sticking with this layout for a while.

A little of this, not much of that

As the weather has been getting nicer, the inside of my house is getting less and less attention. The kids want to be outside, I want to be outside and there is the problem. And the messier the house is, the more I want to be outside. See the maddening cycle. I am also in the middle of a few sewing project for a St. Jude fundraiser. So don't be alarmed if the next time you are at my house. While the yard and flowers will hopefully look good, the rest is a different story.

Matt just finished up the new playset. Kids can't get enough of it. Pics soon!