Father's Day Hunt and Hanging Out

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Sunday was a great Father's Day for Heff (I hope) We went to 9:15am mass at St Nicholas and Francie did NOT earn a donut after mass- wow she was TWO. Then Heff went out to the King's Mountain Archery Range with Francie to shoot his bow which he hasn't been able to do for awhile. Francie got a new bow and had fun out shooting with her Dad. I got to go to the "big Target" and stock up with just Maisie while they were gone, pretty exciting Sunday :)

her Dad's favorite archery shirt- the real test will be when it starts bearing her belly will Dad choose modesty for his baby girl over the coolest shirt ever?

We just hung out around the house all afternoon and let the girls play in the creek and get as wet and dirty as little feral children

splash is coming

too busy to ever look up at mom


France, France, France of the Jungle

Shark in water

real happy kid her mom picked her up to hug her

A happy father on Father's Day watching his girls play with a cold beer in hand :)

then we BBQ'ed up some burgers for dinner (and used some weird smoke charcoal that probably had our neighbors ready to call 911 with the smoke) and played a new board game together before baths, books and bed... oh wait, bath's came first- they were REALLY dirty kids

Happy Father's Day!

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to the Dad in our family- we love you Heff!

Francie says "I think Daddy is like- such a great Dad because he like takes me on special adventures and we do stuff together. Also he is fun to have pillow fight with." (my 2 year old valley girl :)

Maisie says "DA-DA!" more enthusiastically than any other word, pushes out of my arms into his whenever he is around, cries when he leaves a room and just loves snuggling into her Daddy.

Heff, you are such an incredible Dad. I don't know how you do it but you handle two girls so well and make it look too easy (what am I doing wrong?!) I love that you let the girls tag along most places you go and that you even take Francie to work (reporting you still operate at 85% efficiency with her "working in your office- pretty impressive). You wash the piled up sippy cups and bottles without complaining, you change diapers, dress your girls, take them on walks and bike rides and even camping! Thank you for being my partner in parenting and teaching me patience :) WE LOVE YOU DADDY!

you sure are good at what you do :)

Blackberries for Sis

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This morning the girls and I went to a U-Pick Berry Farm at Webb Ranch. One of the mom's in our Friday playgroup invited everyone to meet there for some berry picking fun. It turns out it was "opening day" for berry picking and it was crazy busy! Plus for some reason it was really windy and kinda cold today so the little berry bubble suits the girls had on had to be paired with black leggings and fleece's! And it was so crowded we ran into some friends along the way (more non-playgroup friends than anything) but never really gathered up- so the girls and I really had a nice time just the three of us in the berry fields. That and the pony rides sure made for a fun day!

who needs berries? We found dirt. (sitting in the parking area while I gathered up our bag of stuff- seriously should have brought the wagon on this one)

and a playhouse in the fields!

Francie told Maisie "Maisie! I didn't know picking berries was such a great day!"

busy eating berries (I had to pay extra for the berries in the bellies)

"Want some mom?" oh wait, none left

so serious

can they stuff their faces any faster?

the evidence

ALL gone!

diligent little worker

and happy to find stragglers on the ground

and then we found the Petting Zoo!

and pony rides

Where's My Sister?

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"Where's guh-guh?" (Maisie's nickname for France) For some reason- Francie is still waking up 2-3 mornings a week 5 minutes before Heff's alarm goes off in the FIVE's range and gets herself ready to go to work with him. When we tell her she should get some sleep she looses it. So Heff packs her up, takes her for warm chocolate at Peet's and lets her hang out in his office until BB opens at 9am. Sometimes she pretend she is a teacher at BB and goes back and forth over there sitting at the snack table by herself with stuffed animals and goldfish crackers to go around- and thinking she runs the place. I'm not complaining about the quiet mornings since Maisie usually sleeps until 9am but she sure misses her sister when she wakes up to an empty house.

Bottle Baby- nothing like 6 ounces of Whole Milk to make you happy in the mornings

nothing to do but sit and pine over my missing sister (yeah right)

we usually go get her when we get moving- it's lonely without her :) And somehow Francie still makes it until 3-4pm for naptime without getting too cranky but she sure falls right to sleep.

Projects

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This time of year there is always so much to do! I love the warm weather and evening plans that are just easier to make when it's nice out. I've also been busy at work with two new hires at AT and BB and working on a new little project too. But it seems like all I want to do lately is come home for the girls naptime and work on some organizing/setting up project around the house. The construction stuff is almost there- we are painting a bunch of rooms next week and then we'll move the washer dryer down to the new laundry room and I can set up my craft room and really unpack into organized storage!

this was last week's project- actually printing out pictures and putting them in frames and on the wall. Heff calls this wall the "Best Of Blog Wall of Fame". I was pretty proud of myself for taking the time to use a level but don't look too closely, still not all straight

The playroom is waiting for a new coat of paint but I've been setting it up little by little and changing things every time I think I've decided how I want it set up. There is this neat little alcove under the stairs we made a "school class" for now. Francie LOVEs being teacher and bossing Maisie and Ollie around!

I got a PBK table on sale as a floor model and set it up with my flea market chairs near the window

and everything else in the room is still up for redoing and figuring out but for now this is how it looks!

and today's project was tackling the girls' closets! Suzi T. passed on another amazing bag of matching dresses and skirts from Molly and Megan. I told her I feel like they are art in the closet :) I had to majorly reorganize all the clothes to make it easier for Heff to dress them in something cute in the mornings. It was getting a little out of control.

New Tub

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The new jack-and-jill bathroom between the girl's rooms was done enough last week to try it out for the first bath time. It's all covered in plastic and tarps again to finish the ceiling and some drywall but it should be done this week. I had a few bright, colorful bubbly tiles picked out for the back wall after I decided I wanted this cool oval tub- but Jannie and Christian talked me into white, white and carrera marble- I'm glad they did. This bathroom used to be two rooms- a tub/shower and toilet in a small square room within the big room and we were going to just open it up but of course it turned into a bigger project! There was much deliberation on the layout (I wanted it symmetrical, tub in the middle, two sinks and had Heff talked into two toilets, one on each side! but probably good we went with a double sink and ONE toilet!) It's a nice big open space now- can't wait until it's ALL done.

i love this tub because it has a flat bottom (no sloping sides) so it gives a lot of room without taking up a ton of space and if they do stand up it's not so slippery

the lighting was off on my camera settings but you get the idea- it's white!

too bad this one is blurry and a hairy leg is in the way- Francie and Ollie both licking their lips!

you can see the drywall corner that needs to be finished (it's almost done now) and the light that needs to be hung.

all clean

no chance of a cute sisterly picture in towels after bath- I tried!

Campout

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Monday afternoon my crazy husband called me from work and said he really wanted to take the girls camping... tonight! He was all fired up to head out to the Portola Redwoods where he has camped with Francie before but he wanted to take both girls this time. He even gave me a hall pass to stay home but I decided it sorta-kinda sounded fun so I rallied and packed up some snacks and warm clothes and Heff packed up all the camping essentials. 

Stopping at Safeway for beers and ice! 

arriving at Portola Redwoods after we found our campsite (and I realized I brought my camera without the card! iPhone pics are all I got :)

Maisie in her camp chair and new-hand-me-down cool boots

Big helpers. Heff setting up our tent (his new fancy four man hunting tent- we all fit but I'm not sure how having two others who don't weigh under 35 pounds would work!)

snacks on the picnic table. most road trip staples except the crunchy Cheeto's I couldn't resist from the safeway run!

hot dogs on a stick for the girl's dinner

yummmmmy. Francie was very intent on managing the fire. and alerted us "PARK RANGER!!" every time the truck drove by down the road

always fun to play in the dirt

what a great dad. I love that he was willing to take these girls to the middle of nature by himself to sleep overnight! But I was glad I went :)

Shark sized chair!

 

waking up early Tuesday morning in our little family tent

"WHY did you guys make me sleep out here all night?!?"

 

right back in her boots (she loves shoes and always tries her hardest to put them on herself)

a little morning scoot while dad packs the provisions away

BIG stuff

just hanging out (poor Maisie was a good sport for a camping 13 month old BUT she got carsick on the 45 minute/15 mile really windy drive home and puked twice! Her eyes were all glazed over and I knew it was coming... then Francie almost puked smelling it! We were a scene on the side of the road half way home)

headed home.  I look tired!! (Maisie kept smacking me and I was worried she was too hot/too cold all night so I was wide awake until 4:30am. a little out of my element without wireless internet or words with friends to zone me back to sleep!! But it was fun and I'm glad I was invited to tag along. Heff says that is all he wanted for Father's Day- for me to come camping and maybe even actually enjoy it! (or just fake it really well :)

 

Saturday Night at the Carnival

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Saturday we were back at the Nativity Carnival for more Tri-Tip BBQing. Oma and Opa came to visit us this weekend so they came with us and helped entertain the girls. It was a HOT weekend here so we tried to find some shade and fill up on cold beers, lemonade, fried carny food and lots of tri-tip. Luckily we went home with a few stuffed animals and no live fish :)

tickets from Oma for the first Carnibal ride

thanks Oma!

the new choo-choo ride was a big hit. Maisie was 1 inch too short but we snuck her in :)

Francie picked the "shooting ride" three times. Hummmm.

Jannie and the girls

taking a break from BBQ'ing

the only picture the girls are looking at the camera- Heff and I aren't! looking awky :)

Daddy and the Doo

The grandmas and babies

playing games after the BBQ! Francie with Jannie & Grampa and her first winning prize

water guns

heff got a little competitive with Maisie's water shooter- but he got her a prize too she's been carrying around ever since

another fun year at the carnival :)

Carnival Night 1

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Friday Night at the Carnival was a success! Thanks to John, Jannie, Michelle, Katsy and Dr. Durando we BBQ'ed a lot of tri-tip for sliders and steak dinner. My brothers and Christian came with cigars and champs and we almost closed down the place. Heff had the girls with his parents for the first part of the evening then came to get me around 9 and we got to date night at the Carnival! Lots of Pan Game (love gambling on school grounds) and Carny games. Jerry and I both won fish Christian took home so they would have a chance at living past tomorrow. Back to Nativity tonight with the girls!

Farmer's Market

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Farmer's Market Thursdays! We walked downtown Thursday afternoon for some more fun at the Los Altos Farmer's Market. We met up with Cat, Cella, Josephina and Anne, Sergey & B and ran into a bunch of people we knew- so much for feeling like the new kids in town :)

our new cute neighbors! They are restoring their house next to us and not living in it yet but were over to play today so we got to tour their cool house and backyard- they have a sandbox on the "horseshoe island" behind our house we never even knew about! They are 7, 6 and 3 and Francie is already following them around everywhere.

ummmm fresh bread

Facepaint! Cella, Phina, Francie and Maisie (sorry Maise missed out!)

dancing in the street


Maisie just wanted to walk around with a half-eaten ear of corn. She put it down on the street to dance for a minute and when she went to pick it up I swooped in and took it before she ate it (usually I don't care, but it was pretty dirty!) and the musician guy gave me a shout out for a good catch in the middle of his song

JUMP!

contemplative butterfly

love from Shark Attack!

just lounging- Francie wanted a tomato at the end of the market so I asked a guy cleaning up his stand how much for ONE tomato, half thinking he would just give it to me, and he goes "$1.00" For A tomato!? But I couldn't exactly put it back so here is Francie the Queen in all her glory eating the most expensive, organic, tomato ever.

and how cute is this girl. We told her mom she was extra nice to go for chocolate, I would have given vanilla for sure!

fun with my girlies

Heff walked down after his run but next week we are making him leave work early to come for the whole thing!

Is She 12?

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Sometimes she acts like it!

Francie is cracking us up lately. Yesterday she came in my bed at 7:15am right and goes "MOM- Dad left without me and I wanted to go to work today!" I told her maybe he was still in the family room on his computer and to go check (figuring I could buy myself a few more minutes of sleep) and she pounds through the house, comes back 5 minutes later and says "He is NOT here and even his truck is not in the driveway." (wow- she unlocked the front door and went to check!) so I told her to call him. She knows how to call my favorites on my iPhone and then convinced Heff to come back and get her!! Pushover :) He was already almost to his office. What a lucky girl.

waiting for her daddy

she got dressed herself and insisted on wearing a "pretty scarf" (my pashmina)

and packed her Francie purse with snacks... including a lemon

she jumped up and down when she heard the Diesel engine... this is her whole world right now, little Daddy's girl!

Just lounging around eating pirate's booty.

and this week Heff and I were asking her about her day at dinner and asked about a new person (let's be vague about this one!) she met and how she was and Francie goes... "she was fine." we said "fine? I think she is very nice" and Francie goes "wellll.... she's a little.... awkward." Heff had to explain to her that was not a very nice thing to say about people!

Grad Party

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Saturday was a great day at the beach for a party for my cousin Connor graduating St Francis Central Coast High School and Emmy graduating from San Jose State University. The Kreefts hosted at their house and there was good food all around- wouldn't be a party without cheese puffs and spicy artichoke dip! We are proud of you Con and Em!

The Twins with The Shark

with my Great Aunt Marge and Jannie

My Dad brought down his BBQ-

but was pretty close to a huge disaster in doing so! He hauled it (wiht my mom, James and Em in the car) all the way over Highway 17 and on the off ramp to Mimi and Andy's house the hitch broken loose AND the safety chain snapped off! The BBQ was headed downhill, faster than the car with no way to stop it. Luckily the group of bikers on the side of the road had just passed by and the BBQ made its way off the road into a pile of dirt. Here is what the ball from the trailer looked like after sparking it's way on the asphault.

didn't stop the BBQing though! and good thing we had Uncle Donald there, he knows how to carve some meat!

Johners- proud brother and cousin, they couldn't have done it without you right J?!

Kat and Heff

"Aw why the lame hat mom?"

Emmy and her entourage

Francie being silly and lifting up her dress- the big girls were cracking up saying "her underpants say Mary on them!" (The Frances part was hidden under the bum :)

Mimi showing us "her doll" she got for Christmas that looks just like their old neighbor Mika. We made fun of her for still collecting Cabbage Patch Dolls for herself of course.

Emmy modeling the amazing plastic grocery baggie bag my Aunt JoAnn crocheted

and Drew made it home from his baseball game just in time to entertain us all

Great Aunt Marge with Francie and her namesake

oops, baby with a beer

tired girl with her aunties

the beautiful Lasich girls

The Heffs

Claire Elise getting attacked by cousins Molly and Caroline

UJ and J

good work Dad- despite the rocky start!

heading home

CONGRATS Grads!

Flea Market Finds

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Here are the treasures I brought home from the Alameda Antique Fair. Heff told Aunt Kat as we left- "ask Mary two questions before she buys anything. "Do you love it? and will you still love it in 30 years?" I thought I kept myself in check pretty well!

a set of four little school chairs for the playroom. They had 8 and Heff actually couldn't believe I didn't buy all of them. I love shopping in bulk :) But if they had all fit in my wagon it might have been a different story.

This old preschool cubbie restored and painted turquoise. I was going to use it for dress up in the playroom but it is so useful to catch the shoes, jackets, diaper bags and STUFF next to the front door

And I wanted a bunch of A-Z letters to make a wall of "spelling" with magnetic paint but I think these ones will go better on the wall in the playroom for a permanent home. Just in case we forget what we are supposed to do in a playroom.

and I got a few smaller ones for here and there

and these old wooden stacking blocks that reminded me of the great upstairs sunroom/playroom we had growing up on Palomar Drive. A lot of time spent in PJ's and LL Bean sleeping bags on the giant green couch and shag carpet playing with blocks... then soon enough Super Mario Brothers on Nintendo and dodging flying blocks like these when Luigi fell off the magic mushroom on the last life.

My mom created such a fun and organized playroom for us- I hope this room turns out half as good!

What A Week

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Wow- I think this is the first time I have sat down in a week. It was a short week but a busy week and an even crazier weekend. Here is the quick version.

TUESDAY
It is Academic Trainers finals week which is always nuts and my manager who has worked at Academic Trainers for two years moved to Southern California last week so we spent some time at the office on Tuesday getting things ready for summer session

and they were rewarded for being such good sports and putting up with Mom "checking emails" so we walked our wagon to the park and met some friends for late lunch

and then hit Safeway for grocery shopping. I need saddle bags for this wagon!

and Francie helped me cook while Maisie napped- I made not one but TWO dinners in the slow cooker with our piggy meat this week! Tamale Pie and Peachy Pork Chops from "The Best Slow-Cooker Cookbook Ever"

WEDNESDAY
I took Maisie to the East Bay for some sample sale furniture shopping. I found this cool Oly "hair on hide" chair for the living room- Heff had been wanting one like this but the ones he found online weren't quite what you want to put in your living room :) this was the perfect compromise! We came home with a few things for the playroom too- it was a looong day of shopping.

oh yeah and we closed on our house Wednesday too!

This was our last trip to the house as a family. Heff worked sooo hard on getting all the not-so-fun-stuff done this week. It was so sad to turn over the keys but also a relief

THURSDAY
A little work and lots of working on the house! The girls helped me organize the playroom Thursday morning- it's still in the "getting there" phase but it's a work in progress and fun to do with Francie and Maisie tearing it up as we go along

We got this cool baby blue chest on the sidewalk when our old neighbors put it out "free"! It has wheels on it and works great for toys

and we walked down to the Farmer's Market in the afternoon. I can't wait to go back every Thursday all summer. Good food, lots of kids dancing to music in the street and delicious samples :)

FRIDAY
The girls bathroom has been a work in progress and I've been up early all week getting the tile guys and plumber guys and electrician in to get in whipped into shape. Francie watches them and says "good job" all day

and we turned part of the downstairs storage area into a laundry room and craft room-
here is the craft room with walls and a sub-floor Friday morning

and the laundry area and craft room all checkered out by Friday afternoon!

but we've still got plenty of storage along the sides for all my crap

the people who sold us their house might have a heart attack if they saw we were using the wine cellar they built for our storage (just while the floor was being put down :)

Friday we went downtown for lunch and to run some errands- Maisie tried out the new baby rocker at Le Cirque

"I'm not a baby anymore!"

and came home to find some trouble- Maisie is a climber!

we went to the park with friends on Friday afternoon

Then went to Costco Friday night to stock up on food for BBQ'ing, wine and snacks

and when we got home Aunt Kat and Donald had arrived to stay with us for the weekend!! We were soo excited to get to spend some time with them, see Kat's cute 23 week baby belly and finally have a guest room for them that didn't involve blowing up an air mattress and then not being able to walk around it in Maisie's old room. They were great to make the trip down and hang out with us. (Kat's friend's Lauren and Jason came by to hang out Friday night too!)

we had an impromptu "lawn party" Friday night with our new neighbors!

"I looove crackers" Then we BBQ'ed Friday night but my camera was finally set down in a corner for the day :)

SATURDAY

Heff and Donald took the girls on special adventures to the irrigation store to get the sprinklers in the front yard moved since the fence changed the grass watering area. So Kat and I walked down for bagels and coffee after her run (she is still a running machine even with her cute belly!)

Then Chad brought the boys over in the morning to play while Lindsey was teaching her Dailey Method class at the Los Altos studio down the street, then while Kat and Doanld went to meet friends for lunch Lindsey came over and we all walked down to the park for a mini-lunch picnic and roadies :)

Francie and Issac "working on things" in the office

then after lunch we drove down to Aptos to celebrate Connor's high school graduation and Emmy's college graduation. It was a beautidul day at the beach for a Kreeft lawn party! (but this party and a crazy story about the escapades of my Dad's BBQ will get their own post!)

and when we got home our friends and old Willows neighbors came over for a BBQ! We all walked the nature preserve then relaxed by the BBQ while the kids played in the playroom and Will reported any unnecessary roughness to the adults

Heff did the potatoes on the BBQ with the tri-tip in a huge cast-iron skillet and they were so yummy

Francie and Anna were playing dress up all night and Will finally convinced them they needed to serve up the cake the Ryan's brought over- they were in heaven

SUNDAY
Heff and the girls ran in a 5K Sunday morning with Chad, Isaac and Wyatt at Oak Knoll school. They were the 1st and 2nd to cross teh finish line with strollers!

while I got up EARLY and drove over to Alameda with Aunt Kat and Emily for the Alameda Antique Fair- it was insane, basically an upscale flea market and only happens once a month. There were 800 booths and we walked for almost 5 hours! But got some good stuff :) I saw this tractor Heff has been looking for online but it didn't fit in my wagon so I just took a pic to show him

we got home from the flea market at 1:50, quick changed at our house and then went to Rosewood for Emily's birthday brunch Anne and I had planned at 2:00!

Maisie being silly on a brunch date

Happy Birthday Emily! (her littlest friend gave her a goood birthday present!)

then we came home and the girls napped, we had to get a few things done around the house before Monday morning and then we went over to my parents house for...

JERRY's BIRTHDAY party! It was a really fun crab feed with a bunch of their friends and Allison and my mom did a great job planning it.


"Jerry says... Getting Old Stinks!" (haha :)

We always love when Big Jerry is here to visit. He has a seat in the World Series of Poker this summer! I couldn't be prouder ;)

I found a poker chip at the antique show that said "SMILE" for Jerry to take as him lucky card holder

The girls were riding trikes in circles around everyone after dinner being crazy!

marching in to Jannie's-

and then off to BED! I've never slept so well in my life after an action packed week :)

Happy Hollow

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Last Monday we went to Happy Hollow with some friends. Yes it was Memorial Day which means two things, I am a whole week behind on my blogging after a crazy week/end and we were crazy enough to go to the recently renovated Happy Hollow Park & Zoo on a holiday!

We went with some friends and did some stroller swapping

"let's go"

we could only keep them corralled so long...

watcthing the big kids on the huge climbing jungle

water break

We found a ride with a line that wasn't too long and Francie jumped on

Maisie was so mad she didn't get to go!

"COME ONNNN Mom!"

so we went on again and Francie took Maisie along in her bug

another ride we are tall enough for...

the police cars and fire trucks... Maisie wanted to drive on outta here and Francie tried to give the ticket taker kid a TICKET!

More Tahoe

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more pics from the lake and the wedding. Remember when a 36 roll of film was a LOT? I filled up my 8gig card in a weekend and got the album down to 321 pictures. I'm so glad I live in the digital age.

pretty lake

I don't think Maisie stopped waving

one of the dad's from the house next door offered to take a picture of all of us so I was forced to brave the freezing water myself

my silly little Doo

hummm. silly? more like GROSS and kinda weird

"OMG. Is she... is my sister licking dirty pinecones again?"

Heather had taken the big chore to arrange babysitters for us at the house while the three couples were at the wedding about 45 minutes away. She used an agency she had also used for their wedding almost 3 years ago in Tahoe but we were all a little surprised when Patricia and Betty showed up and were a little "older" than we expected. I kept telling Francie she was going to stay with some really fun babysitters while we were gone and when they showed up she turns around and goes "where are the babysitters?" but she was a trooper and took on her "big helper" role to keep the other three happy while we left. I told them she might stay up until we got back (the words no babysitter ever wants to hear) but they said when the other kids went to bed at 9 she stayed crying for mom and said she wanted to go to bed too. But they all survived!

at the wedding at the new Highlands Ritz at Northstar. It was a beautiful wedding ceremony outside in the sun

our table - the five guys have all been friends for a long time and had way too much fun making fun of each other all night



Heff and Erik switching jackets for some reason- Heff wants to wear a seersucker like this to Baby Ann and Pat's wedding. I told him ABA might agree except her wedding is in October!

Bride and Groom at the cake

my cute husband. at the bar?! shocking.

Kevin, Heff and Johnny with the Groom Eric

the girls... someday I'll teach Heff how to get one in focus... or maybe we can blame the bud lights and high altitude :)

Heather was our DD for the night thanks to this little guy due in 6 weeks!

and waiting for our car to go check on the kids... and those babysitters!

and back to hanging out in PJ's monday morning...

and look at these two trouble makers... born 9 days apart Maria Margurette and MaryMarjorie!

so she basically has the Italian version of Maisie's name AND she is also named after her own Great Aunt Marge!

"What? what's so weird about that?"

attempting a picture of all the kids. I think this is when we asked Francie to hold everybody down and she said "But I only have two arms!"

NOW she's mad (I think I must have the same look multiple times a day :)

Stolen Sophie

Daddy's girl- she throws a fit lately when he walks out of the room or comes in and doesn't pick her up right away. Drama queen but I'm not complaining!

and then we headed home... with an urgent potty break requested soon after we got on the road. Heff says he is still learning how to hold a girl outdoors for a squat. sometimes this means the pants have to come off for replacements!