Mia Time

I took off Thursday and Friday to help Cyndi out with Mia and Lily while Todd was working. I spent some quality Mia time, and we had a lot of fun. Friday morning I took her to Monkey Joe's which is a cool place for kids that is just full of bouncy castle stuff - lots of slides and tons of stuff to climb on. She was in heaven! I was impressed by her climbing skills and her adventurousness and she only got stuck twice (I had to climb in and rescue her). I definitely recommend this place for St. Louis folks with kids. They had a wide range - there were a couple that were made for kids under 3 and a couple that were huge for bigger kids and lots of in between ones.

http://www.monkeyjoes.com/walkinplay63366.aspx

I did learn that hanging out with a 2 1/2 year old is exhausting!!

Some pictures of Mia & Lily:

Catch Up

So much has happened since my last post! First and foremost, our new niece was born! Lily Grace arrived on Thursday, August 14th and 8:05am. She was 8 lbs. 2 oz. and 20 inches long. She required oxygen as a special precaution for the first night, so she had to hang out in the NICU. By Friday afternoon, all was well and we all got to hold her!

Two of the friends I grew up with also had babies this week - Angie's daughter Amelia Reese was born on Wednesday, August 13th and Lindsay's daughter Samantha Paige was born on Sunday, August 17th. Babies, babies everywhere!

Also since my last post I got a promotion. I'm very excited, but it's also going to be a challenge.

My coworkers and I volunteered at Habitat for Humanity last Wednesday. It was a lot of work, but we left there feeling like we helped out. Lots of heavy lifting!

I went to Dallas for a couple days for training and just got back late last night. We got to go to a Texas Rangers game, so that was kind of cool. I think that brings my ballpark count up to a measly 5 stadiums.

Phew - I think that about sums it up. I'll end with a cute picture of Mia and Uncle JJ - I watched her while her mommy was in the hospital and we met Jason for lunch.

No More Gate!

We can finally use our back door! There was about a 2 foot drop-off from our back door, so all this time we've had an ugly wooden gate blocking the doorway. Nevermore! Yesterday, Jason built steps out of the remaining stones from the wall, and also finished cutting the stones for the steps leading to the yard. Yay!!

We also had a dump truck full of dirt delivered yesterday, so I shoveled for 5.5 hours! Phew, I'm sore! I filled all of the landscaping beds, but I still need to add more today. We're going to use the remaining dirt to put all over the back yard, where the grass is not good. I guess he's going to re-seed and basically start over and try to get the grass looking as good as the front and side yards. It's going to be a fun day, we have a LOT of dirt to move!

My Dad Retired!!

My dad retired Thursday after 35 years of working for the same company. Isn't that amazing? That just doesn't happen any more (the one company thing, I mean). His work had a nice party for him Thursday evening, and we had a huge party with family and friends on Saturday. Despite the almost 90 degree temperatures, I think everyone had a great time.

These are pictures from his work party - we found the exact same tie he was wearing in the picture and hung it up: My dad has been saying for years, "when I retire, I'm never wearing a tie again." Therefore it was only fitting for us to have a tie-themed party. The invitations had ties on them, we decorated with ties and many of guests showed up wearing ties (as a joke, of course). My dad's favorite part, though, was having each guest at the party cut a tie in half! He was adamant - you weren't allowed to leave unless you cut a tie. Funny stuff.

Then & now:

Throwing all the cut ties in the air!

I wish I was on the verge of retirement. Guess I have 28 1/2 more years of work to go. And I'm already on my 3rd job, so I guess I won't be accomplishing the 35 years at one place thing. Ah well...

More pics from the party:

(notice the ties hanging in the background):