Last weekend some of my friends from high school came to visit. It's been quite a while since they were here, and now they brought kids so we were very excited. Nothing can replace getting together with the girls that know you and love you the most.

I clearly remember sitting around the lunch table in high school and each of us talking about what we were going to do with our lives. All of our plans....funny how things turn out. I had a plan--it was to go to school for business, graduate and live in a large city like NYC for a few years, live at least 1 year by myself, get married, have kids. I changed my major before I even got to college (and then 4 more times after that) graduated in Sociology of all things opposite of business and after visiting a friend living in Manhatten, wanted nothing to do with it. I also wasn't so keen on living by myself for any amount of time. I like having people around, especially after watching Fire in the Sky. But that's a whole other post for another time.

I'm sure that my friends' plans were different or similar I don't know--we didn't really talk about that this time around. I know that there are lots of things in all of our lives that we didn't plan for, but I think that each of them has handled themselves with grace and dignity and I hope the same can be said for me.

So here are a few pics of the kids, since I was threatened with bodily harm if I post any pics of the girls. We actually didn't get a group shot of us, which just goes to show you what life is all about these days. So here are the little punks:




No, we did not consult each other on the shoe purchase. Apparently, all boys this age love Lightening McQueen.


Do you know how hard it is to get 5 kids (well, not really Lexi--she's pretty stationary) to stay still in the rain?? I just cropped out Kyle and Lisa standing on the sidelines yelling at them to stay still :)

Krazy Kurers

Mother's Day morning we headed down for the Race. Tons of people everywhere...no parking...lots of love. I saw so many people walking with pink signs that said "in memory of" or "in celebration of" and the name of a woman who has or had breast cancer. And then I saw the pink shirts. Any woman with a pink shirt is a survivor--and there were lots of them. As we were leaving the tent area, I saw a young girl--maybe 6 years old. Her sign said "in celebration of my mom" and her mom was standing next to her holding her baby brother or sister. I just thought of all the struggles she must have gone through and what her daughter had to learn at such an early age. Maybe she had the cancer before her kids were born and now they get to celebrate her triumph. I couldn't stop looking at them as we walked by. I had to say a little prayer for her to stay healthy.

And then there's my Kristie. She is a trooper. And beautiful. And I had to hold back the tears because I didn't want to be selfish in my out pouring of emotion. But I love her and I'm so proud of her. I'm so thankful that she has such a wonderful man in her life. Kristie's husband Jimmy is loving, protective, smart, funny, and you can see his big old heart and shiny soul beaming through his eyes as soon as you meet him.

I'm excited and anxious to leave for Pittsburgh tomorrow. I think that I have only driven with the kids by myself once before and that's when they were a lot younger. This will also be our first roadtrip with Cam being potty trained--should be interesting. I will be picking up some pull-ups for the road!

I haven't seen my HS friends in a year--almost exactly. I think this is the longest that I have ever been away from Pgh. I do miss the city, but I just don't have family there anymore so it's difficult to get back. Lots of memories though...

The Susan G Komen Walk for the Cure is on Sunday. You know, I used to work out every day. I used to train, I used to walk with Stroller Strides, I used to...I was going to say "be more active" but really can you NOT be active with a soon to be 2 year old and 3 year old? Just try it, I dare you. How pathetic is it that I'm hoping I don't injure myself in a 5k walk?! Ugh. Can't wait to start working out again. (Next week!! yea!) See...now that I wrote it I will have to do it. Because all of you, my adoring fan (no "s" is not a typo) will be expecting me to talk about working out. So now I have to because I just can't let down my fan.

Fourteen years ago I pledged a sorority. Say what you will about Greek life, but some of those girls are still the best friends I have ever and will ever have. As with all of my great friendships, I met Amy and well, it wasn't love at first sight. She was fine, I didn't hate her, but it wasn't an instant connection. (She will say the same) I honestly can't remember when or how, but at some point shortly after meeting we did make that connection and we have been inseparable (at least in our hearts) ever since.

Amy and I just click. She is definitely my yin to her yang. We could not be more opposite in personality except for one thing: we LOVE to have a good time. You could drop us in the middle of the desert and we would have the best damn white girl sunburned time of our lives. Now that we are older and more mature (not really) I have mellowed out and she has become more confident and independent. We have shared motherhood, support, tears, laughs and everything in between. She is the person I can tell everything and anything and not worry about being judged. I hope she feels the same about me.

Amy is always giving and taking care of everyone else. She amazes me with her strength. Everyone, EVERYONE, needs a pat on the back once in a while. Everyone needs to know that they are loved and appreciated. Everyone needs to know that, on your birthday, it is YOUR day. You are the princess every day, but on your birthday you get to act like it.

Amy was sick for her birthday. Her kids were sick on her birthday. Her husband was sick on her birthday. It's hard to feel like a princess when everyone is puking around you. (This isn't her 21st birthday. And if it were, she would be puking peas. Of all things, peas. Why would you eat peas, Amy? That wasn't very nice. I hate peas. But I love you, so I forgive you. Even though it's been twelve years, I can get past it now).

Amy's best friend (that would be me) is, well, an idiot. And while I did make the best friend birthday call, I did not send out the carefully picked, pre-bought birthday card. I couldn't find my address book to save my life. Not even when my cell phone died on said birthday call and had to try to call back on my home phone. No address book. Had to dig out the charger. The things I do for my friends...JK. Seriously, I am (in Kyle's words) a dink and not only wanted to actually send a pre-bought birthday card on time, but wanted to write a lovely post with pictures about how much I love my best friend. So, here I am a week later with a belated (no picture, at least at time of publishing) post, birthday card waiting on the counter, but nothing but love and appreciation for my very best friend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMY!!

PS If you say Amy Anne really slow, it sounds like you are saying, "hey, man" go ahead, try it. It's funny. And I am so envious of the "e". I have just plain jane old "ann" for a middle name. She's so lucky.

Kyle had a play date with Shiny's husband today. They devised a scheme (ok, not really a scheme) to borrow a truck, go to a guy's apple orchard who was selling the wood super cheap, and start loading up. Both of our households have run out of wood for the winter, and although this batch isn't seasoned we are all hoping to get some use out of it this year and definitely next. They are looking at 13 cords of wood--at least. (don't I sound all rugged?) That's a whole lot of wood. Normal fireplace users burn about 2 cords of wood a year. We've already burned through 5 this year. Yep, that's a lot of wood.

While the boys earned their keep, Shiny and I had a breakfast play date that lasted all day. Listen, I knew I liked her before, but when she called me up and said, "come on over in your pj's" I wanted to tattoo her name on my butt. I explained how I used to crawl into bed with my college roomies after a long hard night of drinking. We would try to piece together the happenings of the prior evening, but pretty much it was all about laying around in bed all day having some girl time. I so miss that. Being a somewhat responsible adult, this is probably as close as I'm going to get to that while still tending to my children. Needless to say, we had a blast. What did we do? Nothing. What did we talk about? Not really anything, but everything. It was awesome.

Luckily, she puts up with my kids and I absolutely adore hers. I could possibly eat them up for dessert. And I think that I can say that the feeling might be mutual, as somebody saved some kisses for me as I walked in the door.

Shiny is a scrapper and she showed me her super cute handy dandy rolley suitcase supply thingy. (still getting a handle on the lingo). And her pages. Just seeing the cute stuff someone else has done inspires me to get working--again. So, tonight I fulfilled my obligation to scrap some of the current events. Unfortunately, my mouse wasn't cooperating so one page that I almost completed has a few finishing touches that need to be made, but I posted the other two on my family album slideshow on the right.

Oh! I think an email from Amanda just came through. A "Get it Done" night...I might actually get on a roll here!

Last thought: on the right hand side I added a feed from Twitter. I decided to use this as my toddler quote section. When I worked in daycare, the majority of time I worked with 2-3 yr olds. They were always saying the funniest things and I used to write it down for their parents. I vowed to always take note of the funny things my kids say, and this blog was to serve that purpose. Sometimes, there's just not enough there to write a whole post, so I figured this way I could get in a couple good lines but not feel committed to write a whole story about it. Anyway, I think that stuff can get kinda boring for other people who don't necessarily know how outstandingly cute, yet mischievous my kids are.

Wow, so...I have a friend who was just diagnosed with breast cancer. At one time in my life she was one of my very best and very closest. We've been through a lot together, and this hit me (is hitting me) hard. I think I am in disbelief. Maybe it's denial. I don't know if it's because I know how wonderful the medical care is now and how far breast cancer research has come, but I don't feel scared for her, just sad that she has to go through this. I know she will get through it, although I'm sure it's going to be a tough road. She has many plans and much more life to lead, and I have no doubts that she'll be able to experience all of her dreams. As she said, it just SUCKS.

I don't know why, but this song always makes me think of her. And I can't listen to it without laughing. Good times...And let me just say, yea for YouTube.