Tuesday, April 29, 2008

weekend with the boys

For Shell's birthday, we got her a spa package and planned back in March to take the boys for an entire weekend. We thought it would be a better gift than pretty much anything else and she is such a busy bee that we knew some downtime would be welcomed. So this past weekend was the first time that we could fit it in with my travel schedule and Josh's work schedule. We got the boys on Friday night and had them until after church on Sunday. We had so much fun, but we definitely both zonked after church!! We were worn out!!!


So Luke and Kowe were excited for some visitors and they decided they needed to get groomed. Here is Lukey and as you can tell, he's a little unsure of what to expect.












Kowe Sue wasn't worried at all. She was ready to play and listened to the rules well. Aren't her little bows cute? Yeah, they only lasted about two hours...











So Friday night, I made homemade chocolate chip pancakes and after a trip to the neighborhood park, we built a tent for Griff and I to sleep in. They had a lot of fun building it with Uncle Josh.











Griff in the finished product.












We love our Uncle Josh!! The boys love playing with him. Things haven't changed, we still believe that I will be the disciplinarian in this family and Josh will be the fun one. Lucky me. That's okay though, it's still fun to see how much they adore him.






















But I got to be the fun one while Josh helped some friends move on Saturday. I took the boys to the zoo to see the animals and to the park to play. It was pretty cold so we just visited for a bit, but Griff was sure to give us our fill of the neighborhood park TWO more times that day. He loves it.

Here is Linc with a goat. There were babies there who were born 4 days earlier and he loooved them. He laughed and laughed!





Then Griff wanted to inspect the sleeper.














And we got to pet the tiny pony. Just their size!













We (and by we, I mean Josh, me and the dogs...not the boys!) were exhausted by the end of the day! We had such a full day of playing and the Kowe was up all night worrying about Linc who was in the office in his pack & play, so she didn't get much sleep. But she was such a cute little mommy. Then Saturday night, she slept with Griff and I in the tent and she was SO good. She literally did not move from this position ALL night. And Griff had his arm around her for hours. Normally she is a little grumpy when she's in bed and doesn't like to be moved or jostled, but let me tell you that he is a BEDHOG and he wollers, but Kowe didn't mind one bit. It made us feel really good about the fact that we might someday have a permanent sleeping buddy for her.

We can't wait until we get them again! I'm sure Shell and Dan will welcome it, too!!

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Happy Birthday Luke!

Lukey turned 2 on Friday!! Here are some pictures of his birthday celebration... Sweet boy to share his treats with his sister! I don't think she'd do the same.


He's so sweet.

Black Tie Dinner

CFS (the College at Purdue that I work for) is home to the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, which, if I might add, is ranked #1 in the nation. They have an annual Black Tie Dinner which is an entirely student run event, so that is how we spent our Saturday evening. This year's dinner was the 10th anniversary and we sat with one of the students who served on the board for the first 2, which was pretty neat. Let me just tell you that these kids did AMAZING things! I don't know as if I've ever been to such a fancy dinner.
The service was like a dance as they served in sync and the food was seriously out of this world! We ate and drank our little hearts out. We learned that we both like Rack of Lamb (whoduthunkit!) and I love Lobster Bisque...surprise!! They had a different wine pairing with each course, and add to that the several drinks we had at the cocktail hour, and let's just say that we felt good! I am going to get a menu from one of the students because we loved all of the wine, so maybe I'll post that once I get it.
It was really fun to get all dressed up. Mostly because I got to see this handsome guy all snazzied up!!...
This is my coworker, Wendi. One of my favorite people on earth. I somehow didn't get a picture when we took our office staff picture, but maybe I'll get it from one of the other girls. So Lora and Denise aren't pictured.
At then end of the dinner. Note that you can see a smidge of my tasty dessert!
Here is a picture of the centerpieces. The students went with a "Green" theme this year and the Horticulture Dept. helped them grow their own grass. They even sent some invites out in small pots of grass. Pretty impressive, indeed!
A picture of the students
After the dinner was over, there was a "coffee" hour, which involved Starbucks Liqueur. Josh obviously didn't partake (he hates anything to do with coffee, and more specifically, Starbucks), but I sure did have my fair share!! Below you can see the ice sculptures from which the liqueur was served.
Cheers!!

The evening ended with a great cookbook on pairing every kind of food imaginable with every kind of drink imaginable. The authors of the cookbook were keynote speakers at the event and they were kind enough to bring along some cookbooks. Then on our way out, we were each offered Starbucks Coffee Mugs, which, again, I was thrilled for and Josh made me carry both. :)

We are already looking forward to next year!

Friday, April 04, 2008

silly


Here is a picture of Josh being silly with the dogs on his lap. Kowe's yawning. Luke looks scared. But I think J looks so silly here...I think he might have been making fun of my "pose" that everyone likes to tease me about.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

cherry blossoms!!!

So I ended up just staying in DC for 2 days (1 night), but had all afternoon before I had to catch a flight, so I spent it being a tourist. I was so bummed that Josh and I had to cancel our trip. I'd never been to Washington, DC, so I was looking forward to seeing all of (or as many of) the amazing things that I could on our trip. Since that didn't happen, I decided that I'd try to get as much in in one afternoon...which involved heels and sore feet, but a ton of great experiences! The Purdue event the night before was at the Library of Congress, so it was a good first experience and I got to see the hustle and bustle right at 5:00 on my way to a dinner meeting. And then the alumna that I met with on Tuesday is a curator at the Smithsonian of American History (which is currently closed...bummer!), but in it's backyard (almost literally) is the Washington Monument. So after lunch at a fancy french restaurant, I headed to the Monument, the new WWII Memorial, the Reflection Pond & the Lincoln Memorial. Then I headed down to the Tidal Basin and sat in a nearby park to enjoy the gorgeous and abundant cherry blossoms!! They were literally everywhere, and I could even see them before the plane landed.

They were EVERYthing that I expected and more! I loved it. And best of all, I was there right in time, because they were in full bloom and some had begun to blow off the trees. There was wind expected Tuesday night, so I was told that a great many of them would be nearly bare by the next day or two. Phew!! I made it!

This was a closeup that will now become my desktop picture. I love it.


Tidal Basin pics...


I rounded out my trip with a visit to the White House and a quick trip through and around Georgetown...mainly to get to the shopping that is down there!

I am looking forward to next year when (hopefully) Josh can go with me! All I kept thinking all day long was how much I wished he'd been able to come. I would have loved to have seen Arlington Cemetary & the Arlington House as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Plus, next year maybe we can get a behind-the-scenes look at Dorothy's shoes when the museum opens!

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

ahhh, baseball season!

How excited are we (me) for baseball?!?! Here's hoping that we can make it to a few games this year! First stop: the Cubs!! Hopefully.