A Special Surprise!!

This week has been so, so long. It was my last week of two nights a week night classes as well as the week before my first game. I had a lot going on at work, school, and home. Today was my least crazy day at work. To my great delight my bro in law, Dave, text me to let me know he was in town getting Baby Dane some shots. I was able to escape for an hour and see this little cutie at Qdoba. It was so great. Just look how sweet he is!

This picture was taken shortly after he spit up on my nice white fleece and brand new purse...eek. Good thing I really love this little man.

Pre-Season Lacrosse Clinic

Last Monday was my team's preseason clinic. We hold the clinic two weeks before the high school season starts in order to meet some potential recruits, offer the high schoolers an opportunity to get their hands on the stick before try outs, and raise some money for our team. The clinic was, despite some snow, a huge success. My girls were pretty helpful... most of the day!

Abbie, Me, Liz, and Amanda

Justine, Lauren, Vanessa, Kahlyn, and Jessie

Amanda instructing

Eli instructing

This is when they start to lose it... I asked them to take pictures of the clinic. The rest are the photos I found on my camera at the end of the day!

Needless to say the were only helpful for some of the day :)

Claire turned 1!

My sister asked me if I would get some 1 year old pictures of my sweet baby Claire. Here's a little sneak peak. Her birthday dress is a surprise so I couldn't include those adorable pictures yet. We took her to the Botanical Gardens and I just snapped pictures as she strolled around. I think she had a blast doing it... maybe she should be a model.

Happy One Year Baby Girl!

Steve and Charlene's Engagement... and some birthdays!

A couple of friends who I know through Heather got engaged a couple weekends ago. Steve was all kinds of tricky as he planned a surprise engagement during their trip to San Francisco. It was fun to join them for dinner at Tani to celebrate their engagement + Steve and Kendra's birthdays. Below are just a few snaps from the evening.

the happy engaged couple! Congrats!

My little man

My nephew, Trey, is one special little dude for a number of reasons. The first of which is his absolute obsession with Santa Clause. If you ask him what he wants to be for Christmas he will say Santa. When you are at his house his obsession is quite apparent as still even in this second week of February he is making everything into a sleigh for Santa to fly around. Below is a picture of him with his favorite Santa and sleigh of the season. His reindeers fit perfectly on his pig and wahlah the pig got the job as Rudolph. As if that's not enough to love this little dude something huge read this story:

On Sunday night I stopped by the Frost's to pick up my laundry after Super Bowl. They were still at their party so I hung with Taylor for a minute. When they got home Trey came running in the door yelling, "Aunt Katie!" He was quickly ushered into his room as it was way past bedtime. I went in to say goodnight, but in his cutest little voice he said, "Aunt Katie, don't leave". My sister let me know that as they turned on to the street he saw my car and yelled, "Aunt Katie is here, Aunt Katie is here!" I agreed to read a book and put him to bed. This was our convo when the book was over:

T: Aunt Katie, will you be here when I wake up?

K: Not tomorrow, buddy, I need to go home

T: Will you spend the night later this week?

K: Sure buddy

T: How about Tuesday?

K: Ha! Well we will see. Why were you so excited when you saw Aunt Katie here?

T: Because I love you!

LOVE HIM! He is seriously one of the greatest, sweetest little people I've ever known.

Girls' Weekend!

What was supposed to be a girls' weekend away ended up being a less than 24 hours away, but it was great regardless. My friend, Lara, got together a few of her good friends and we headed to her uncle's "farm" for the weekend. Since there was snow on the ground I was wondering if it was worth it as no swimming or hiking would be had, but decided getting away was worth it regardless. I was right, it was a blast. All we did was eat, drink, play games, and chat. But good food, fun, friends, and conversation left as all eager for the next trip... maybe next time we will leave the house for more than five minutes.

Walking to the house from our stuck car

A little pushing was necessary as the farm got way more snow than St. Louis did

a little towing with other vehicles was also necessary

Diana, me, Claire, Aven, and Lara- the whole crew

breakfast... for some reason this meal was soo soo difficult for us to figure out,

but it ended up being delicious

The view from the house

Our five minutes outdoors

Don't know how to turn this pic

Wine, games, and photos- good times

It was a great, great weekend and I can't wait to go back. Thanks, Lar!