Life is good. And that's the way it should be.

Last week was a whirlwind of such good things and I'll be so mad at myself if I don't make an attempt to record some of it!

 

One week ago on Sunday was Cece's birthday party. Hard to forget that!

 

After returning home from the party, unpacking, and refueling, my siblings and I went out together for the first time in, oh, years? It was such a treat to be together, to reminisce, and to listen to people speak with mannerisms eerily similar to my own.  With our dad's birthday and the two year anniversary of his passing both occurring in the same week, he has been on our minds a lot. And although time continues to pass, I know none of us miss him any less. How could we? But what we have continued to do is focus on the good times, the great times, and what lucky kids we were. And still are.

 

 

OBVIOUSLY, this meant we each had to get tattoos to remember the good times, just as a back up. Thank you Steady Tattoo!
 

(Can I smile through anything or what???)

 

 

 

On Monday we had a low-key day at our house, played outside in the spring weather, and eventually went grocery shopping. It was a chicken enchiladas and sangria sort of evening and everything I hoped it would be. Plus, the bro graced us with his presence once more and even brought dessert.

 

 

On Tuesday morning I had to go to the eye doctor since I managed to scratch my cornea. This was a drag and I was very bummed that this cut in on my sister time.

 

 Fortunately I had "recovered" enough to still do some wedding dress browsing in the afternoon with Robbyn. Wedding dress shopping may be one of the most fun things you can ever do with your sister. At least in my opinion. But seriously, I totally forgot about my owie eye while she modeled dresses (and looked exquisite in every single one.) Thank you for fitting us in, Flutter Boutique! Post dress shopping, the two of us went out to dinner and jabbered excitedly about sisterly things. This is going down as one of my favorite sister days for sure.

 

 

 

On Wednesday I attended Cece's preschool class with her as they celebrated her birthday and she got to be star of the day! Her duties included (but were not limited to) ringing the clean-up bell, being the line leader, presenting some items for show and tell, and, of course, wearing a crown. I loved seeing what a full school day is like for her and I had many proud mom moments!

 

 

 

 

After school, we met up with Lianna and Trinity at Play & Learn Café which is a fun new indoor play ground. It is also a treat for grown ups with the delicious food, coffee, and convenient seating. Even though we weren't there very long, the girls enjoyed themselves and so did we! We will definitely have to return soon.

 

From there we had to drop Robbyn off at the airport, so my heart broke into a million pieces. I also had to go to the dentist that night for part I of my root canal retreat. Not cool, but necessary. So. Wednesday didn't exactly end on a high note as I couldn't feel half my face for most of the evening.

 

 

On Thursday, birthday week continued as this beautiful girl turned four years old for real.  I made sure she awoke to presents, decorations, and cards. Since there had been so much excitement earlier in the week, we decided to just lay low, put our house back in order, and enjoy the good weather. We asked Cece where she wanted to go for dinner that night and without hesitation she decided BURGER KING. The heart wants what the heart wants. So after eating and having fun in the play area, we returned home and made a trip to the park to make sure we got an adequate amount of playing in for the day. I think we did.

As you can see, Cece wasn't the only one who got a new bike last week! After several years of being motorcycle-less, and a good chunk of time spent shopping, Joe is back in the game and looking a whole lot like Nicholas Cage in Ghost Rider. Acquire motorcycle and tattoo in same week? Yes, we did.

 

 

As you can see, this past week was certainly busy, but also a time to enjoy the beautiful spring weather, be grateful for the time spent with our loved ones, and get excited for the future. Thank you again to everyone who made last week so special!