Just one of those things

Although I am not a parent I have learned a lot from watching my sisters raise their darling little ones. One thing I've noticed is that kids tend to love the simple things. My sister and her husband are currently remodeling their bathroom and, therefore, have boxes laying around the house. My sister spent a good deal of money taking the kids to a special lunch and play day out on Friday of spring break. She said the kids had an absolute blast. When I saw Trey that night I asked him what he liked about the day assuming he would tell me all about the lunch and bumper cars. Instead he said, "Aunt Katie, we made a house!" They spent tons of money on lunch and games and his favorite part was the cardboard box! Of course! Typical.

I had to go over that night to see his darling creation.

Aren't they the sweetest? They allowed me to sit inside their little home :)

It's started!!!

The craziness has started. High school and college lacrosse season is in session. High school is just practicing but we had our first game last weekend. We lost in OT to Mount St. Joseph. Although I was hoping for a win it was a decent game and gave us a few things to work on. I am most looking forward to getting out of town on Monday. We have a game tomorrow against Fontbonne and Saturday against Tennessee Wesleyan before we actually get to leave... I think I might make it. Game updates to come!

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.