This & That

We have had a fun and eventful May so far!

I had a very special Mother's Day this year. I spent the day with my two favorites, Brent and Anna. We decided to stay at home this year and just enjoy each other. I had the whole weekend off of work - glorious!! My day started with surprise breakfast from Brent - pastry, strawberries, and hot chocolate. We went to 11:30 mass and Anna was a gem. Father called all of the mothers to the front of the church for a special prayer and blessing. Anna went up with me and she waved at Brent back in the pew. She is such a dear! Then we had a picnic lunch in the front yard and planted my Mother's Day flowers in my new pots for the front porch. We ended the day with grilled chicken caesar salad and cannolis for dessert, my favorite. A wonderful, special day spent with my girl. I am so very blessed to be a mother. And to have my own mother, who is my best friend. And my mother-in-law, who has the best son in the world.

I made a trip to South Bend with Anna the week after Mother's Day. We spent Tuesday through Friday enjoying being with family and seeing some friends. I love visits home! I love spending time with family. And we were able to see so many family members this trip, which was so great. Anna and I were busy bees. Joan and Jenna were in from Indy, we spent an afternoon at Jessie's with Alexia and Alaina, spent an evening with Uncle Scott, saw all the Shields at Jack's baseball game, had dinner with my in-laws, enjoyed a visit with my grandparents (Anna's great grandparents!), visited my mom at work, saw Rob and Ryan who was home from college, and visited my friend Jill and her son Brady. It's always hard to leave, especially my mom and dad, but it's great getting back home to Brent.


Brent took Anna to the zoo one afternoon while I was at work. They had a great time! Anna loves the zoo and the monkeys are one of her favorites! She calls them "unkeys". Joan and Jenna bought her a monkey stuffed animal named Bongo. And he is Anna's new favorite friend! She calls him "Ongo" and carries him around and evens sleeps with him. Ongo the Unkey. She took him to the zoo to see the real monkeys...




Anna loves to play outside at home. She loves the backyard and loves to go out front and sit on the front porch and walk down the sidewalk. Easy entertainment and we're outside A LOT! Here are some cute pictures of her today...