KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION!!

STOP IT.

Sydni graduated Kindergarten.. today. STOP IT. STOP IT. STAAAAAHP.

Already?!

syd & her class!

When I woke up and got ready this morning, it was hard for me to believe that I would have a first grader by the time the afternoon started. Rob and I met up with my parents at Sydni's school, followed eventually by Joe, his mom and Nikea.

We followed the crowd of parents and family outside [Sydni clearly had the biggest fan club], where Syd and her class had prepared this little number for us:


I mean... get outta here with all that cuteness!

action shots :) 

The celebrating continued, family style:

her dad's side

my parents! [aka nana & pappy]

my world! 

group shot

Syd's dad and mamaw had to leave, so that left us with my parents to enjoy the rest of family day and explore what Sydni's day looked like.

r: "what do you wanna do this summer?"
s: "um..... boat. and swim. and play in the park!" 

^^ Those two :) :) :).

making a tye dyed shirt! 

playing on the playground

Pappy, the patient observer: 

this guy... hahaha...

bubbles!! 

The playground time came to an end, so we headed inside to show Syd's classroom to Nana, Pappy & Rob:  

the book cover syd duplicated

the "clip" system - i love this! 

My heart was so happy today, watching Syd accept her certificate of kindergarten completion. As much as her dad and I have our differences, and likely always will, she looked so completed, and so content to have all of her close family there.. and that, really, is all I could've asked: for her to be this genuinely happy:

my heart. 

After the celebration, we grabbed lunch with my parents, then headed off on our own to return to our day at work, while my parents spent a few more hours with Syd. They eventually dropped her back off at her dad's before heading back north themselves, completing their daytrip. I am so thankful for them and for their willingness to make that journey.

Work finished with a big meeting, which was a great thing [I'll fill those blanks in later; it's a lot], before I finally made my roundtrip back to Rob, rendezvousing with him at the gym.

AND, we wrestled a Pinterest recipe into submission for dinner tonight, and it was pretty daggone good:

turkey & sweet potato skillet! 

nom nom nom!!! 

Whewwwwww! What a day! Life is good. Life. IS. GOOD.

xo | cmd

Scarfie Saturday

I. 

Have. 

Been. 

KNITTING.....

All. 

Stinkin'. 

Day. 

At least that's how it feels. My fingers felt like they were ready to fall off around 6pm, when I finally peeled myself away after about five straight hours of work. I'm not complaining, no, but to say I felt a little cross-eyed was accurate. Christmas presents are well underway, and we're not even to December yet ;).

We rendezvoused earlier with Rob's boss & a few of his co-workers for dinner, and he dropped me at home to nurse this headache I developed somewhere in the afternoon... I'm sure I'll be zonked by the time he's back.

I suppose I'll be curling back up on the couch for some Big Bang Theory and... you guessed it...

remember this, from 2 years ago?
..... get ready for 2014, haha.. 

[More.]

KNITTING. 

:)

See ya on the flip side, blogbots!

xo | cmd

Snow Day Saturday

Saturday morning met us with tons.. and tons.. of snow. FINALLY!
- What? How is she excited about this snow?!
Well, let me re-phrase that. I'm not particularly excited to have been hit with another knockout from Mother Nature, but, Sydni is here and today marked the first weekend that we've been able to get out and play together in the snow at our new house! We were suuuper pumped up about that.

But first.. breakfast, which ended with a last minute adventure to try and find sleds. We knew there was outdoor fun to be had today, but weren't exactly sure of what kind. When we couldn't find a sled, we settled on some plastic snow brick molds and headed home.

And the afternoon went like this: 

loved seeing her and her two helpers [not to be confused as any other way]

Sydni became a building contractor today. Who knew?


hands-on management approach
"mommy, stop taking pictures and work!"

The three adults busied ourselves with building the foundation for an igloo, only realizing halfway up the walls that we hadn't angled any of it, so putting on a roof likely wouldn't happen. Instead, we shoveld the yard up into piles around the outer base and turned it into a fort.


jesse & sydni - snow fort building!

Before long..

captain sydni! of the snow fort..
... & her "prisoners"

With our snow fort complete, we decided to build a guard for the property. Ya know, because you can never have too much home security, right?

i again appear to be doing nothing productive.. :/ haha

Rob's enthusiastic response to being drilled by Jesse with a snow block the size of a bucket...

yay, winter! ;)

We constructed our snowman using rubber tubs and buckets; today's snow was more powder than anything else and rolling a ball was just not happening. So we improvised, and then shaved them into spheres [sort of]. In the absence of the traditional carrot and coal, they entrusted me with spray paint to give our snow guy some features.

my job of decorating the snowman

Ok, so he looked a little creepy. That's what happens when you let me do things like this. Haha.

meet our 1-dimensionally-decorated snowman.. haha

Sydni agreed apparently, because within seconds of spotting him, she rubbed off all the spray paint that she could, leaving only the eyes and some grayish colored snow shavings. She named him Olaf [from Frozen]; we topped him off with a hat & scarf.. and he became our yard's new mascot.

jesse & me with syd & olaf!

We have no clue how much time we actually spent outside, but within 20 minutes of going back inside, Sydni and the dogs were both down for the count and napping away.

sweet dreams, meatball ♥

Fast forward through naptime to our second wind, which was visiting Kalyn at work down at Main Street.

main street!

Today's been one of the best Saturday's we've had in a while! It's great having Jesse in town; Sydni has a new best friend now [she's told me at least seven times now that he is her best friend and that she has more friends than me]. Jesse and Rob just left to go explore the town for the night; Syd & I are having some good old fashioned mama-Syd time with the pups.

 

This.. is.. perfect. (:

 

xo | cmd

Operation Pack Up & Eat Fried Green Beans ;)

Hello, rainy day in Illinois... Here we were hoping for half decent weather to get the bike out for a sping, but of course it had to be a dreary day. On the flip side of that, I realized by the end of today that we were meant to be confined to the house; Rob and I made some major headway in getting things packed up and sorted through at his place in preparation for the move.

But first things first, it was time for a haircut for Rob today, so before breakfast we stopped by and got that all taken care of...


holiday haircut lineup (:

From there, it was out to breakfast and then back to the house for what became a day of digging through boxes, furniture and all that other miscellaneous stuffffff that seems to materialize only when you're trying to pack up and move somewhere. We wound up with a giant truckload of drop off for Goodwill, and braved the steady rain to do it.

dreary drop offs at goodwill

I orchestrated my visit this weekend in sync of course with when my favorite staffmember of Bindy's would be working; my sweet Santa friend Alicia and basically the entire cast of Bindy's was on hand tonight for their Christmas party, and there really weren't any dull moments (:

alicia!!! ♥

we'll call it... Christmas spirt... vegas bomb style...

best friend.... && i love him so.

And that's that! I'm here through Christmas Day, so until then, we are tackling the oh-so-enjoyable task of staging Rob's belongings for their big road trip to Ohio. I'm happy to say that tomorrow morning I'll finish the last load of laundry here; at that point every single thing he owns will be clean. At the same time. Holy... record first. Hehe.

But for now, lights out. G'Nite!

xo | cmd

All Together ♥

First things first: BREAKFAST! [Rinse & repeat with us.. duh..]
* I think I'm losing the battle of favorites here....

"noooo mommy, i wanna sit with mr. rob!"

Well THEN. Haha. Luckily for me, I still have the meatballs [aka S&S Pups, Extraordinaire].. They never disappoint. Okay, maybe sometimes, but I love 'em all the same and was glad to have some time to play with my other two, very furry kids.


stella.. sasha.. sasha.. stella... ♥♥

Rob's mom & stepdad stopped by for a little while; I wasn't expecting it but it was great for Rob's mom to finally meet Sydni. Syd made sure to show off her superhero skill by flying laps around the yard just for them. And yeah, Rob & his stepdad rode the chopper through the grass.. don't mind the tracks ;)

Once they'd left, we realized that the pups had annihilated a stuffed animal [not Syd's, thankfully], leaving little beanbag pebbles scattered all over the floor. I'm sure this was an act of retaliation for us not letting them join the outdoor festivities. In our defense, we would've spent the rest of the afternoon chasing them around the city had they gotten out, unleashed.

You might call this chaotic, noisy or unorganized. I call this the absolute perfect way to relax, with my favorite humans and dogs, all under one roof. It's not often now that we are given these types of days, but when we get them, I celebrate that. This is [& they are] my life. I am so .. so blessed.

I finished off today with some fried rice for all of us, which I have to say paired up with the chicken Rob grilled juuuust perfectly. The littlelest of us all is the biggest food critic, and her plate was clean, so I'll call that a win (: 

easy fried rice!

What a Day.
I. Love. Them.

♥ words just don't cut it....

This didn't turn out to be a bad weekend at all...
Homeward bound now.
xo | cmd

✿ Saturday With Sydni ✿

This is how today started:

not complaining one bit.

& Then...
SOCCER PRACTICE!

soccer monster!

-- I felt like I was back in my childhood, except on the other end of it now. I've only seen pictures of me then, but they were not unlike the scene today: Sydni in her pint-sized soccer gear - cleats and all - and a t-shirt that even in the smallest size available drooped off her tiny frame. As much as I tried for the pigtail today, it looked unusually disheveled by the time we got there, which in a way magically available only to little girls, made her look that much cuter.

so cute. so. stinkin'. cute.

soccer kiddies

And some short but fun action I captured [*note to self, take an actual camera next time.]
 

^ My little [future] left-wing (:

^ Red Light, Green Light!

I just.. can't get enough. (: (: (:

Soccer practice off the checklist, we made a break for iHOP.. because it's Saturday, pancakes sounded amazing, and we had no agenda. We were already in Mason, so once breakfast was out of the way, we made a stop at Half Price Books and came out with a couple of movies, a book for Sydni, and of course: Insurgent. I couldn't resist buying it, but didn't feel like paying retail for the thing [proud consumer moment]. It's the second of the Divergent series that I started last week.

insurgent by veronica roth

And ok.. I originally planned to start the thing today, while Sydni napped or snuggled up for a movie at the end of the evening or something. No. Instead, I devoured it cover-to-cover before tonight was over. I'm still blaming Nikki for getting me hooked. It's. So. Good.

Between chapters [& Sydni's nap), we got outside for bike riding, bubbles into the sunset, and some hiking around the area. She's my little trooper!

bubbles into the sunset: i could literally do this every day.

& again, because we're spoiling ourselves today, Graeter's!

hahaha.. graeters!!!

.. And that is how we do it on a Saturday. Tomorrow we'll be on the river for a bit, but for now it's time to call it a day.

xo | cmd

Wuest Wedding!!

The Art of Marriage, by Wilferd Peterson:

the wuests | todd & donna

A good marriage must be created.
In the art of marriage the little things are the big things...

It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once each day.

It is never going to sleep angry.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.

It is speaking words of appreciation and
demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.

It is not only marrying the right partner...
It is being the right partner.

This is what Joe was asked to read during the wedding today. [He did it perfectly, too, for the record!] It was such a gorgeous wedding, even though the sun was both blindig and blistering.



More hilariously, this wedding is one I will never forget.
This is a true story:

Joe started the day with an 18-hole golf session with Todd and some other guys from the bridal party. I'm glad it wasn't me; it was sweltering out there today, and I'm not much of a golfer. They survived with no heat-stroke casualties, though, so that's always a good sign.

JB & his date Jess came by and picked me up around 5:30 and the three of us trekked up to West Chester to meet Eric at his sister's house. I hopped [literally, stupid dress] into his truck with him and we led the way for JB & Jess out to Northbend to the country club.



Did I mention it was h-o-t outside?? Todd & Donna craftily ensured that their wedding programs doubled as fans, but most guys our age don't jump at the option of sitting and, well, fanning. It seemed so unfair, since the boys were all in suits, and the girls... weren't. I did my very best to funnel as much air as I could on to Eric, since the poor guy had sweat dripping off his face by the end of the ceremony. A moment of cool relief finally crept over us when the sun disappeared behind a cloud and we no longer had to squint.

jess | justin | eric | cori | joe

CONGRATULATIONS, TODD & DONNA WUEST!!

The reception was everything a reception should be: food, friends, and plenty of dancing. And not just dancing, oh no, but the older adults dancing. Moms and dads and grandparents always make for the best duos at wedding receptions. Of course that didn't stop any of us from cuttin' up some pretty good rug to a well-constructed soundtrack.

Speaking of which:

Ooooone of us decided to not only cut the rug, but slide on it. I don't blame him, because that floor looked pretty slick. It wasn't. :( Eric attempted to slide across it into the worm [he powered through!], but unfortunately, the floor fought back and Eric ended up splitting his chin open. So, Joe, Justin, Jess and I all loaded up into our respective vehicles and set off in search of the nearest hospital.

First attempt = fail. GPS found Christ Hospital....... medical testing center. Ooops.

Second attempt = lesser degree fail. GPS found us Mercy Western Hills. For lack of a better term, that place is hood. Really.

So here we are, dressed like wedding yuppies [oh, and the wedding colors were bright pink & black; Joe was therefore sporting a bright pink tie and vest] at a hospital in the middle of the night, in the middle of a savory neighborhood. Thumbs up.

Justin tailed Eric back to the fixer-upper room to witness and photograph the stitches, leaving Joe, Jess and I in the waiting room to witness something I'm still unsure I didn't just imagine: 



wedding battle wounds | 8 stitches!



Roughly 45 minutes into our wait, a shirtless man comes waltzing into the hospital. By man, I mean likely some WWE has-been, standing at about 6'5" and impossibly weighing anything less than 300 lbs of sheer muscle. Scarier than his stature was the blood covering the entire left side of his torso. It didn't take us long to spot two holes, one in his chest, right above his heart, and the other parallel to it in his bicep.

Fast forward to when we're no longer freaking out about the bloody man to when we learned he wasn't shot, but he was stabbed. A lady not much smaller than he had accompanied him into the hospital and informed us that we "should see the other guy." No thanks, lady. No thanks.

So we leave, finally, after Eric and his 8 stitches emerge ready to go.
What do you do after an adventure like that?
You go to IHOP.

It's 2AM.

Yep.

Scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and pancakes will cure any crazy evening. Especially when the entire meal is spent reflecting on a journey that began at a country club and ended at IHOP.

I love my friends.

So, all in all, this was the wedding.

Quite the eventful evening.

Congratulations, Todd & Donna. We wish you the best and then some for this new chapter of your lives!

xo | cmd

P.S. - Yeah, I'm cheating on this one and backdating it to the latest possible time that I can so it'll post on the right day ;) Shhhhhh.

Memorial Day 2011



American Flag: USAF F-117 Nighthawks



Happy Memorial Day!

Today I want to pause and THANK, from the core of my heart, the men and women whose lives were and are dedicated to protecting our rights and freedoms. You are remembered, supported, and honored.

Today started fairly early for us. We had a 7:00 AM breakfast date with KP & Sam before saying tearful farewell-for-now’s [mainly just KP & I crying like babies]. I got another parting gift from my best:



handmade book :)

Joe, Syd, & I hit the road after breakfast for the mid-length haul to IL. Time to move!! I didn’t realize exactly how FLAT the landscape actually becomes when nearing IL.



nope, not ohio, but i gotta love the name ;)



The good thing about driving from Eastern to Central time is essentially gaining an hour’s time. So, we made it to our IL home around 1:00 PM, CDT. We unloaded the final cargo and wasted no time getting refreshed and ready to head over the base [Scott AFB] to visit the Sandven clan [Kyle, Amy, & Miss Tessa]. We took a group stroll to the park and let the girls romp around together for a bit.

base park near the sandven's

Not too bad for the first day in! The Dills are officially together as a family.

I love it <3

 xo | cmd