April Fun

I'm so glad April is over.  It was the busiest month of my life!  I prepared my students to take the STAAR test and I accepted a new position at a private school.  More on that later though.  Sarah and I did the Color Run!  When I came home the girls could not get over how crazy I looked.


Squeaky Clean before



Colorful After



A rare night out sans kids- Edgefest!

My mom came to visit during STAAR week.

My tall girls helping dad update the playground.

St. Louis in August

Our (well my) main reason for going to St. Louis was to put on a shower for Colleen. That was Saturday night, and it was sooo fun. It was St. Louis themed, so we got lots of different food from vendors in St. Louis. Colleen is the cutest bride to be ever. I took no pictures (as usual) but here is a pic of the cute invite Shannon and Megan put together.

Chris' main reason for going to StL was to see the Giants play the Cardinals. Too bad they lost both games Chris went to! He took Gianna on Sunday.

The weather was seriously amazing the week we were there. I met my friend Angela at 2 different parks with her little one, and we went to the park down the street from my house quite a few times. That is cousin Austin looking cute.

We went to the zoo on Monday. It is probably about a mile from Shannon and Tom's house. So we parked a little ways away (for free) and walked across the highway to get there. We got there around 4:30, and the attendant let us in with the warning that the zoo closes at 5! It was the perfect amount of time and there weren't that many people there so there were no crowds to push through. Elia called everything from the hippo to the elephant "dog". Pretty cute. We actually didn't get outta there until 5:30, no one told us to leave!

Elia looked at the map to tell us where to go.

One morning we went to the library I always went to as a child. They completely gutted and remodeled it recently, and it is gorgeous. They had really cute chairs too! Grandma had tons of fun reading to the girls. They have been obsessed with reading lately, especially Elia!

My mom and I and the girls went to the Central West End for a morning to get a feel for all the wedding festivities. Gianna is calling it the Wedding Contest these days. We practiced walking down the New Cathedral's aisle (that church is freaking beautiful) and got to see where the reception is and the hotel block. Colleen's wedding is going to be so hip being in that area! We took a few pictures outside the cathedral, since you aren't allowed to take them in the cathedral.

My last day there we celebrated Aunt Colleen's birthday. We spent that last day outside as much as possible. Can't wait to go back for the wedding in December!

A Labor of Love

So the AWESOME playground is finished. And by finished, I mean ladders and siding is up and it is finally safe for G to play on. Chris still has plans to add a steering wheel or two, a roof and maybe even more levels. but for right now Gianna has a little house area to play in, 2 levels to climb on, and a slide to go down. Elia of course loves the slide too. Chris has been working on this playground nonstop for the past week- coming home and going straight outside, and weekends, etc. And Uncle Patrick helped a lot too! This is what my mom would call a "Labor of Love." Here are some pictures! Enjoy ;)

A month ago

Last Week

Up Close

View from the porch

And here is the view of the new picnic table: