Let's Getaway...

jeff and i were able to getaway to Chicago for a few nights this weekend while my parents are here watching the kids. We stayed at the Inter-Continental on Michigan Avenue, which i would highly recommend. We had stayed there once before (both times using priceline) so we new it was super classy and the breakfast is amazing. In the 3 days that we were there i think we experienced every season, but despite the wind, rain and snow we had so much fun.

Friday night we ate at a Tapas Bar (when i told this to my sister over the phone she thought i said top-less bar, you can imagine her shock....hahahah) anyways- it's a Spanish Restaurant where they serve Tapas and Sangria, so that night we celebrated Andres and Nuria (our foreign-exchange student brother and sister from Spain)

Saturday Highlights:

• Running on Lake Shore drive 

• Shopping, shopping and more shopping (of course)

• Museum of Science and Industry (such a cool place, definitely will take the kids there someday)

• Hailed a bus: yes, jeff and i got quite a comical self-tutorial on the chicago transit system, not to mention hailing a cab was one of my other goals in life (i know i really strive high) i figured a bus would be sufficient.

• Giordano's (despite the hour plus wait on any given night, this is a MUST-HAVE authentic chicago-style pizza

• The Dueling Piano's at Howl at the Moon

Sunday Highlights:

• Breakfast at the Hotel (we had the same waiter both days, talk about life experiences- he was originally from Bosnia, a business-owner until the war then fought in the war and eventually came to the U.S. - he had a bullet hole scar through his hand... makes you realize how incredibly blessed we are.

• Strolling in the snow for coffee at Borders to redeem a coupon i left back at the hotel...

more Shopping :)

• Broadway Play - The Jersey Boys.... featuring the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Season's, the seats were great and the show was incredible, i would definitely recommend it.

• Coming Home - that is until we got home and the kids had all evidently conspired to throw temper-tantrums about going to bed.... arghh.... :)

(Note: i did not take these pictures)

Mom to the Rescue....

My mom and pops are out for a week and a half....i love it when they come. Pops is helping out on my brother's house while mom is helping me with babysitting so i can edit my cousin's wedding. Very sweet. I feel very blessed. The kids love it when they come too....i believe we found the Play-dough recipe that my friend had used and had soft play dough a year later (you don't have to refrigerate)....fun stuff. 

(sadly i didn't take any pictures while they were here)....here's a shot of my dad from the wedding i am editting.

Marathon Mama's

....i'm not sure really where the idea came from, besides having a goal of someday running a marathon. well, evidently this is to be the year and i am so excited. There's a little group of us running now who all have kids so appropriately we call ourselves the "Marathon Mama's". Now we just need shirts :) I guess i should clarify that we aren't running a full marathon- just a half, but at 13.1 miles that sounds marathon enough for me. We have a 10 week training program that we've tentatively scheduled out which we start Sunday- July 5th and that will take us all the way up to the race on September 13th at the Glen Oak Park in Peoria. So up until then we are trying to get in some base mileage of at least 5 miles per week. We're all newbies so if you have any tips please let us know. - Let's Go Run!!!!

(Note: i didn't take this picture- it's from Running Central, but i do want to get some shoes from there. :)

who dun it?

We had a "Murder Mystery Dinner" tonight and it was hilarious...everyone came dressed accordingly in costume and was in character the whole night. Good times ........ Jeff ended up being the guilty one....but then again are you suprised? It's a type of game you can really only play once with the same set of people so if anybody is interested in swapping games for a bit, let me know. 

Baptist Bunco...

...so tonight i went to my neighbor Laurie's house for a Mops "Mom's Night Out" and played Bunco...baptist style- that's right...which basically means there is no money involved but definitely food, fun and prizes. It went over really well that i think it might be a monthly thing....if your interested it's going to be at my house next month (April 21st - the third tuesday of the month) - 7 pm....i'm in.

Book Club...

Our book club met again today and are going to start reading "The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs. I'm really excited to start it.....maybe it will inspire me to knit something. :)

Review by Book-Club-Queen....

Georgia Walker became a successful business woman by mistake. When she found herself at 24 pregnant with no husband she thought her life might be over. The thought of returning home to her stern mother and quiet father was enough to drive her crazy. As she sits on a park bench in New York City, crying and knitting a baby blanket for the little life already growing inside her, she meets Mrs. Lowenstein and her whole life changes.

The story of Friday Night Knitting Club really begins 13 years later. Georgia has opened up a shop below her apartment, Walker and Daughter, a knitting boutique. Dakota, her daughter, is spunky, smart, beautiful, and half-black. Georgia's heart was stolen by James all those years ago and because his mother told him "never to bring a white woman home" he left Georgia and his baby without a word.

Anita, Mrs. Lowenstein, is Georgia's financier, mentor, friend, and stand-in mother. Anita has lost her husband Stan to a sudden heart attack and, with no actual need for money, she works at Walker and Daughter because she thinks of Georgia and Dakota as family.

Enter Cat, Georgia's estranged best friend from high school who has become a total socialite in an unhappy marriage. She "left Georgia at the alter" of friendship so to speak and is back trying to reconcile their past.

Finally, James. Dakota's father and love of Georgia’s life returns one day to "fall in love with his family." Georgia's reaction is cautious at first but can she really help it if she still loves the father of her child?

There is a large cast of secondary characters who have their own endearing stories and what results is a group of women who meet every Friday night at Walker and Daughter to knit and forge everlasting friendships. Hold close to your box of tissues because in the end this story is definitely a tearjerker.

Kevin Leman...

here's a quick blurb of Kevin Leman about his book "New Kid by Friday"

Hearts at Home Conference...

this weekend was the annual Heart at Home Conference in Bloomington, so my friend Laurie and I decided to head up there for the Saturday conference. If you've never been to one of these, I would HIGHLY recommend it. They have great, great speakers - i always come home feeling like i have such an amazing job and that i'm going to implement all these amazing tools and techniques, which i end up never doing-.......but even just getting refreshed and refocused is definitely worth it. Kevin Leman was the featured speaker this year. He's the author of "New Kid by Friday" and "The Birth Order" along with many other books, those were just the two i bought. He is HILARIOUS!...and to top off the day away from the kids, Laurie and ate at Cosi's afterwards. I believe it is now my new favorite restaurant (which changes quite often...but amazing all the same).....think starbucks/panera urban style. Very yummy. Think we could get one in morton? 

Tee-Time...

So, it was another "Friend Friday" today with amazing weather. We spent most of the time playing outside and got a kick out of the boys playing golf. There's so much that i love about this picture.... 

one - the body language, it must have been a nail-biting putt.

two - the"golf" towel

three - the batting glove of jeff's that jaden is using.

four - that the "utility flag" looks like it's being used as the hole marker. 

...love days like this

Craft-Time....

so, today it just poured buckets and buckets of rain. It's amazing how it the weather can single-handedly affect your energy. All i wanted to do was curl up in a blanket, lay on the couch and catch up on my DVR'd shows. So while the girls went down for naps and jaden had his quiet time that's exactly what i did. It was absolutely exhilerating. My neighbor popped over with a yummy drink from starbucks- the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate.....so sweet, love her!

After the naps, i was feeling a little guilty that i hadn't done anything productive so we had craft time and made a few shamrocks to decorate the windows in the kitchen. i think the kids had fun....

the sparkle of my eye...

so today i had one of those moments of "i cannot forget to write this down". Jaden and Josie were in the dinning room playing with the mound of legos sprung all over the table and i heard them start to argue, which is nothing new, but then i hear Jaden, so excited....

"hey mom, i see Josie in the picture of you, me and daddy"

"oh really?, where"

"i see that sparkle in your eye, Josie's the sparkle"

"NUH-UH JJ, I NOT SPERKLE,... humpf"

it made me laugh...

Tulips...

my sister in law stopped by friday and brought these beautiful tulips for my birthday. i've been enjoying them all weekend....so excited for spring! :)

the perfect day...

so today was friend friday and it was the PERFECT day!... the weather was amazing, so we just sat outside knitting and chatting over doughnuts, caramel pecan rolls and coffee while the kids played in the sandbox, they did awesome.... once the boys got home from school, it got a bit crazier... they decided to build a sandcastle and needed water, which ended up turning a portion of the yard into mud and everyone was dirty. Josie went through probably 4 different outfits before she decided to scrap clothes altogether, oh my....meanwhile, the telephone guy stopped by and had to be thinking "what kind of group is this, ....it's 2 pm and they've cracked open a blue moon." ....summer has officially been christened. 

...BIG NEWS

so yesterday i received this text from my brother Chris....

E. Hartter vs. 4.0 coming ~9/17

well, when i first read it, i was rather confused- cause my mom is E. Hartter and her birthday is in September, but she's already past 40, i thought...is this another big year? did he just get the age wrong? and why is he so on top of this already- it's MARCH!... so i texted back

40? you mean (blank) I'm confused.

well, obviously i was COMPLETELY off-based, cause i found out that I'm going to be an AUNT again!!!! yayyy! .....so fun.

Body Pump....

so i've had a membership to Gold's Gym for probably 2 years now and hadn't done many of the classes, until a friend told me about Body Pump. the first day we went i hurt for the next week, muscles hurt that i didn't even know i had, but oddly it gets very addicting--- hard but fun.....definitely worth checking out! Josie even asks now "can we go to gym, mommy and i see riley?" she also gets to see "miss Jenn" there which she thinks is pretty cool too.

the big 2-9

that's right, today was my birthday, and what a great way to start the day but with breakfast in bed. Apparently, jaden had come up with the idea the night before and was so excited about it that he woke up at 5:30 this morning to start. Jeff had to coax him off until 7 am- and in they came with french toast, eggs, a muffin, tangerine and coffee.... i wasn't feeling well the night before and had went to bed with a piercing headache around 7 pm and didn't wake up until they serenaded me with a great rendition of "happy birthday"....my heart melted. 

And for a perfect ending we ordered in Basta's for dinner, yummy, yummy, yummy.....and opened up a gift jeff got from him and the kids....LOVE IT!