May

Sometimes I have expectations/ideals for myself that I don't always measure up to. One of those things is keeping up with posting on my blog... I knew it had been a while and I kept wondering why in the world it was taking so long to post again! I'm always thinking 'today's the day!' and here we are and I look at the date of the last post, May 4, over a month ago! So today IS the day, and as I started downloading pictures, I realized WHY it has taken me so long. It was one very busy month!!!

To begin, Grandma Kauffman came to visit at the end of April/beginning of May. Her arrival was much anticipated. Joshua just happened to be having his "author's share" at school, so Grandma got in on it! This is where they each wrote their own "All About" book, and then read it to the parents. Joshua's was "All About Dinosaurs". He did a great job!



One of the days mom was here we took a trip to the Philly Zoo. Supposedly there are 5 Lego professionals in the world and the Philly zoo hired one for the summer. The animals he built out of Legos were AMAZING!!! We had so much fun looking at all of them.



Also while mom was here, Nate turned 33!! We made his favorite lunch, roast and potatoes, and butterfinger dessert to top it off!

Grandma and Isaac hanging out on the front porch

The three amigos are all getting SO big!

I am SO tickled to have a daughter :). I can only pray she has the kind of relationship with me someday that mom and I have!

This is my 'small group' of girlfriends that I've been a part of. We've met every Wednesday night for 3 years now. We went out on the town for one last fling before they all leave. There aren't words to say how much they all have meant to me...

One Saturday we took a trip to our good friends that live on Long Island. Nate has been part of the same study group for the past 3 years as well. All of whom are also leaving. Anyway, we all spent the day together and had a great and relaxing time. This is Isaac's buddy, Anderson. They are almost exactly two months apart (my friend Kara's little one).

Here the kids are chasing James. James is the spouse of one of the study group members who just happens to be one amazing runner (currently training for an ultra marathon). It was funny to watch the kids try to catch him in Kate's backyard.

All the little ones enjoying the food and each other.

Happy Mothers Day! This is our attempt at a nice mother's day picture - funny, candid, and yes, real life.

Little Biddles!

Time to plant garden...well, sort of. We so miss having a garden, so this year we decided to try some 'pot gardening'. We planted tomatoes, basil, a pepper plant and flowers. Currently they all look amazing! Watching things grow in New Jersey is so fun. As we like to say, "they don't call it the garden state for noth'n!".


Uncle Rodney came to visit! The kids were super excited! He was out for more training stuff with his job and was able to slip away a couple of nights.

Then Grandma and Grandpa Jo came to visit!! It was Nate's big weekend and it was SO fun to have them here to help celebrate Nate's accomplishment. This was at the Commencement breakfast to which we were invited b/c Nate received an award - one that came with money :)! Always a bonus!

This was taken at baccalureate

And here we are at graduation! This picture was actually taken by Kim Schmidt, the school's photographer.

My Honey! Way to go sweetheart!

Then we scheduled Isaac's dedication so Grandma and Grandpa Jo could be there. (Note the typo on the screen. Apparently, we're there for the "Baby Deduction"...funny!)

Joshua playing 'tiny UNO' with Grandpa and Grandma

Isaac's first swim! He seemed to enjoy himself :).

And last but not least, Kelly, Rachel and Elaina came to visit!! Here we took a trip to one of our favorite spots, the Howell Living History Farm.




So there you have it! That is a ridiculously long post, but so it goes! It has been one VERY BUSY month. We are so thankful to have been able to spend so much time with family, especially seeing as we live so far from them at the moment. And after all that, I quit beating myself up over not being able to post sooner :)!!! Blessings.