Win Some Women - (Mackinaw Island)

Okay so here it is: I have these great friends.. These friends that I know God has placed in my life.. Friends that I treasure. Friends that I prayed to come into my life. Over the past couple years they have taught me so much about God, mothering, praying, loving and running. But most of all they have taught me to just calm down and take a breath. They all have five children and they all are GREAT mothers. They homeschool all their kids and they are just beautiful.

 Aimee told us about this woman's retreat in the Grand Hotel. So of course we all headed up together for a cold raining retreat. We had some great food, great conversations and precious time. We had so much fun we decided we will try to go back up in the fall and Aimee and I would run the half marathon while we were there. 

Uncle Justin

As usual we never have enough time with Justin when he comes to visit. I was extremely lucky as I was able to sneak him out in the morning and share coffee and breakfast for him. Of course it ended up being about a three hour breakfast but I cherished every moment.The girls of course loved seeing him and eating their favorite flavors of ice cream.

Spring Dance Recital

In May, Cahill had her dance recital at Saint Francis. She had a blast and had so much fun with her friends. But one of the best parts of the night was that Uncle Justin was in town and we all went for ice cream after the recital.

First Piano Recital 2015

Cahill's very first piano recital ever. She did so good and worked so hard on her song. She has been taking lessons for 9 months twice a month. The song she played was called "Firefly". So far she has finished two books and is working on two books as we speak. Sometimes practice is hard and some times it is so much fun. I asked her if she wanted to take a break from piano lessons for the summer and she gave me the saddest look. So apparently we will play through the summer..

Track and Field day 2015

Every year TEACH puts on a track and field day for all the kids. This was the first year we attended and boy did we have a blast. Cahill did amazing as she placed 2nd place in every event except for the long jump which she placed 1st place!!! It was so much fun to spend the day with friends and a bunch of homeschooled kids.. (by the way can you believe I now have a 2nd grader)

Soccer

Cahill played soccer this spring and the best way to describe it is COLD. She had quite a lot of fun in the beginning but soon grew bored with the cold weather and wild kids. I was extremely surprised at the playing level of these 6 yr olds.

Ashlynns world

Apparently my tomboy has a serious princess streak. She has decided that she really really likes fancy dresses and shoes. When Cahill is not looking she sneaks into her room and steals her dresses to put into her own closet. She will rearrange her closet a couple times a day and wear atleast ten different outifits a day. The other morning when we were snuggling she says "mom, I really like your dress. Can I try it on and put it into my pile?". How do you respond to that? 

She thinks that she is a popstar and will sing at full volume through the day. Of course she is still rough and tough and can play with the best of them. At Track and Field day she had way too much fun with the tug of war. She loves her sister and has the sweetest heart. Cahill broke one of her little bracelets and was so sad and Ashy immediately gave Cahill her own bracelet. Yesterday I made popcorn for all of us and when I ran out she kept offering me hers. I love this about her so sweet and wild at the same time.

 I will post a video soon of one of  her first bike rides a couple months ago. Last summer she kept begging me to put her on her sister's bike without training wheels. She could not stand that she could not go fast with training wheels on her bike. I kept telling her to wait for next summer. This spring she went down to Mema's house and apparently convinced Cahill to help her on a bike at the end of Mema's long driveway. She just got on and started pedaling. Of course she did not know how to stop so she went into the grass, But you get the picture she was not waiting for me to be ready.