too much sadness

It is with the most sadness that I have learned, my dear friend Stephen J. Viviani has passed away. He died Wednesday, November 5, 2008. My friend leaves behind a beautiful wife, a 5 year old daughter and a 2 year old son. He was 41. My thoughts and prayers are with the entire Viviani family.
Steve, I have known you my whole life - You have overcome so many obstacles and I will forever miss you!
I love you Steve... until we meet again. Erica

Too much Minnesota...

... and not enough Wisconsin. We spent nine days in MN with Paul's family. It is hard for me to be so close to home and not be able to see my Wisconsin Peeps. So here's a shout out to my fellow Badgers!

Actually we had a great time. Jack learned to say,"Yeah sure", thanks to Papa and Ellis... well she's still Ellis. She did show Nana and Papa why our neighbor calls her Yellis. We spent time at the fair, went to Como Park and Zoo and Nickelodeon Land at the Mall of America. As you can tell from the picture, the kids discovered rides. My life may never be the same. Ellis is saving her pennies to buy tickets, so they can go on more rides. We also attended Paul's 20 year class reunion. It was great to see the old friends I knew and even more fun to talk about the people I didn't know - thanks Stephanie and Jeanie for the funny conversations! I did get to spend a great night on a boat, on a lake. There is one difference between "boating" in MN and "boating" in WI, in WI when you go boating you drink beer, while ON the boat, ON the water.

It was great to see our family. We miss and think of them all of the time.
We love you and keep you in our thoughts and prayers!

There's no place like home

It's Wednesday and we have been home for four days and this is the first quiet moment I have had. First quiet moment with out doing laundry, making beds, vacuuming floors, sweeping, mopping, cooking or doing dishes - oh yeah and lets not forget childcare - normal life stuff. We were in Taos last week at Dawn and Bill's special house. We had a great time swimming, fishing, going on hikes, playing on the tire swing, playing games, eating s'mores and all kind of general hanging out. It was a great time had by all. Bill came up with a new nickname for Ellis, 'Yellis'. Her normal voice is two or six octaves above all else, so she just sounds like she is yelling EVERYTHING.

Paul is in Cali and then it's off to Idaho for a Bachelor party - should be fun. Congratulation John and Sarah. We can't wait to see you and everyone else next month! Unless someone comes up with another major life event, I'm not sure when all of us old friends will all be in Boston again at the same time. Kind of sad.

Well, I have to get back to my normal life (see above).
I miss everyone!
Erica

A moment of silence

It's Sunday afternoon and I have a moment of silence and time to myself. Jack and Paul are at the Colorado Rockies game and Ellis is taking a nap. I had a second to pee by myself and add some mulch to a garden bed - it ruined my manicure, but oh well.

We had a great 4th of July. We saw the fireworks in Louisville. I had to keep reminding myself, "We aren't in Boston anymore". It was a good time. Jack kept asking when are they going to start and the moment they did, he wanted to know when it was going to be over. That's a 3 year old for ya. Surprisingly the booms didn't bother either one, once they got the glow in the dark necklaces - you know the ones I swore I wasn't going to buy. The ones that cost $5 each, the ones you can buy at Target for $1.

Tomorrow Paul heads to Washington, DC and Wednesday the kids and I are off to Taos. Everyone's G.I. track seems to be getting back to normal.

What can I complain about? I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Clean bill of health...sort of

Well we haven't had a sick kid since Friday. The weekend was spent at home trying to have some family fun. Friday night Jenn, Evan and Anna came over for dinner and sparklers. The kids had a great time while the adults enjoyed some libations. Saturday we played in the basement (where it is cool) and then headed to Boulder and the Pearl Street Mall. The kids had ice cream cones and watched the street performers. The big hit was the Cat in the Hat, who we chased down the street so the kids could say, "Hi". Jack also loved the city break dancers. He said, "They have tricks". When we got home he came up with a few trick himself. Sunday was a quiet day in the backyard on the swing set and in the pool. The night ended with a visit from Dawn and Bill and a few more sparklers.
This morning at 4 am I rolled over and noticed Paul wasn't in bed. Guess what, it's his turn to be sick. Hope for a speedy recovery!

The kids are at a class and it is time for me to go get them.
Happy Monday!

Happy Birthday Daddy

Happy Birthday Daddy. I miss you more than you could ever know. I wish you could see your beautiful grandchildren - they are growing up so fast. I know you would be proud of them.

I love you daddy! I'll see you another day.
Tiges

Thursday

Another 'clean' day. Thank the Lord for small favors!
We are getting back to normal. I think the kids and I have a bout of cabin fever after being cooped up in the house for so long, but today (more than 24 hours after the last bout of sickness) we are off to the park with our friends Luke, Charlotte and Avery. Hurray!

The rest of our lives has been spent fixing sprinkler...

CANCEL EVERYTHING, Ellis just got sick again!
SH*T, SH*T, SH*T!