Catching up.....

I know, I said my next blog would not be as long, but I lied...I got behind again!

I'll start with last weekend. We were invited to Carrie's husband's (Matt) surprise 40th birthday party at Riverview Park in Eau Claire. I had thought the party started at noon so you can imagine our surprise when Steve, the kids, and I showed up at noon and no one else was there. I scrambled to find Carrie's neighbor's number and called them to see if we had the wrong day or the wrong time. Thankfully we found out that we were two hours early, but unfortunately that meant finding things to do for two hours in Eau Claire when we already had a busy day ahead of us (1 birthday party and three graduations). We ended up getting lunch and running errands and arrived at the birthday party with plenty of time to spare before the birthday boy arrived! The kids were very excited to see Matt and Carrie. Matt didn't have a clue about the party. It was a nice party and the kids had fun.

Matt and Carrie when they first arrived.

The kids at the birthday party were entertained by the dirt and worms.

Carrie and Brenna looking cute together. After leaving Matt's birthday party, we traveled to Levis for Cousin Katie's high school graduation party. The Brian Bethke band played at her party. She is singing a song with him in this party. Congratulations Katie! No pictures from the 3rd and 4th parties. Brenna and Brody chose to go home after this party and stay with a babysitter (cousin Heather). Brody said, "We've been to enough parties, mom."

Friday, my last day of work for the school year. Brenna was looking like I felt by then! Too much end of the year stuff! Happy last day of work to me!

Well, the end of the school year is a great thing because it means I get to spend more time with my kiddos! Since meeting Carrie and having her take care of Brenna and Brody, it has also turned into a kind of sad time. This is the last year that Brenna and Brody will be at Carrie's full time for daycare. Thankfully, they might get to spend Fridays with her next year, which made saying good-bye a little easier. Since Brody and Brenna began going to Carrie's at the age of 15 months, I have never felt like I was bringing them to daycare but more like I was dropping them off with a friend or family member. Needless to say, we were very lucky to have Carrie taking care of Brenna and Brody. Brenna and Brody have also gotten to know Carrie's neighbors, Brenda, John, Bob and Carol, quite well.

I gave Carrie a three-fold frame for an end of the year present. One side had a picture of her with Brenna, Brody and Oscar. The middle had a poem that I had written and the other side was a picture of Brenna and Brody. The poem is below.

We met you when we were “1”
Since then we have had a lot of fun
You’ve played with us inside and outside too
You took us to parks, museums, to the library, and school.

You made us nice lunches and snacks
You read us books and let us help you bake
You never complained when hugs or a kiss we would take
You made us feel loved when our mom was at work, which helped
Mommy feel like she wouldn’t go bazurk.

You helped us get rid of our “binky,”
Our bike skills you allowed us to hone
We liked talking to your family on the phone
Picnics and parks were sometimes part of our day
There was always time to run and play!

Now we are four and four year old kindergarten needs us there
We have learned so much from the one we used to call Care-Care
With all of the fun we have had, the time has gone by too fast
But we want to say thank you for making it a blast.

You’ve been like a mom so we can’t say good-bye
So we’ll say see yah later till the next time we say “Hi!”

Carrie gave Brenna and Brody a picture frame with the saying, "live, laugh, laugh" around it and a gift certificate to the new waterpark in E.C. Thank you Carrie for all of the love you gave Brenna and Brody!

Brody has actually cried a couple of times since Friday saying he is going to miss Carrie. He can be very sensitive. I assured him we will go visit her.

Onto the last bit of news that all started Thursday night after Steve played volleyball. Basically, he found out about a Weimeraner that was not going to be alive much longer because the owners did not want to keep it. Why they couldn't take it to the animal shelter, I don't know.. Anway, Steve has always wanted to get a second weimeraner, so he volunteered to take the dog. we thought we would keep him for a trial period. Friday, after staying at work until 7:00, I finally got to meet Cooper. He is a big, strong, fast puppy who needs some training. Tess is slowly warming up to him. He is hard not to love......
The top picture is Cooper. He is a 10 month old male. This is Tess. She is our five-year old female Weimeraner. Tess looks like she needs a diet. :)Aunt Jessie, and De-De came out to meet Cooper and have pizza Saturday night. Brenna and Brody LOVE their Aunt Jessie!
Have a great week!