Addie and Kim

Let me just put a face with a name for all of you who don't know Kim.

This is one amazing woman and I am so blessed to know her!

Check out her photography site - although you see her work everyday on this blog!

Buck Creek Festival

Was it just me or did the rest of you wish that we could hang on to the weather of this past weekend forever?

Oh, it was fabulous!

We stayed outside as much as possible and had a fabulous weekend full of events!

We started Saturday by going to the Buck Creek Festival and watching the DUCK race.

This was the first year that we attended the festival since I was pregnant with Addie.

It was a bit tough venturing out knowing that we would see so many people and not knowing what kind of responses we would get.

It turned out that we met people that we had never met before - nice, nice people (thank you for stopping and saying "hello"!) and I only had one minor occurrence with one person and I completely ignored it.

There was no reason to let one person put a damper on the day!

The entire festival is lots of fun with live bands, vendors and food.

The duck race is the best though, it is a fundraiser to benefit a local charity.

People can sponsor a duck or as many ducks as they choose.

The ducks are all numbered on the bottom and the first three sponsors whose ducks go over the falls and get to the finish line wins a monetary prize, with the rest of the funds going to charity.

It is a really neat event.

~As a little side note - Addie is in love with ducks right now - loves, loves, loves them! She is just so darn proud of herself for being able to say, "duck" and she can spot one a mile away. She finds them on packages at the store, when walking by other classrooms at school and when we take her to the park, she is in duck heaven! So we were not about to miss the big race!~

(remember our falls two months back?) Of course I didn't order Addie a dress from Etsy just because it had ducks on it...sheesh...who does stuff like that?

Waiting for the big race to begin.

We opted for the parking lot of The Depot so that we could have an unobstructed view of the race.

We took a break from the festival long enough to run home and let Addie take a nap before we came back out for the race and wow - she sure does look sleepy time in this picture!

The perfect Mother's Day card

I bought my Mom this Mother's Day card a while back and tucked it away for the big day...and completely forgot to give it to her until today.

I absolutely adore the card and just had to share.

:)

Leeds Theatre and Arts Center

You all remember my dear friend Patti...don't you?

Of course you do....she is the beautiful Mother to Bergen and Baby B, she is the perfect party planner, volunteer to many Honor Flight veterans (amongst tons of other events) and always manages to have perfect make-up no matter the occasion (how does she do that?).

Well, in addition to her many talents and traits, Patti is blessed to have Frank Lewis as her step-father.

I have known Frank for almost as long as I have known Patti and he is one amazing man!

He has achieved many accomplishments in his lifetime with the most recent being the beautiful art that he paints.

He began painting when he turned 80!!!!

In honor of Frank, the Leeds Theatre and Arts Center is hosting his gallery through the end of May.

We were in attendance at the opening reception back on May 2nd and we were beyond impressed with Frank's work.

You still have time to stop by and take a look at his work and to purchase one of his paintings!

Happy Birthday Case!

WOW, WOW, WOW!

We attended Case's Birthday Party back on May 1 and what a party it was!

Case had a Big Top Birthday Party with horses, the most talented clown I have ever seen (although she was a clown and totally freaked out my child), a jump-jump, a cotton candy machine, a popcorn machine and all the related goodies!

I was beyond impressed with the details involved with this party, but if anyone deserved a Big Top Party, it was Case!

Thank you Leslie and the entire circus crew for inviting us, we had a wonderful time and were honored to be a part of Case's big day!

Addie was content to sit in the ball pit and hold Case.

In fact, she caused quite a ruckus when she was removed from the ball pit and was not happy when Case was removed from her arms! Always the best big brother!


Case loved the pony, but Addie wanted nothing to do with the pony or the big horse!
Case and his beautiful Mommy! (May 1, 2010)

More recital pictures

I love this picture!

This picture is just the best!

As you can see, Addie stepped way up in front of her classmates and was just looking at everyone in the crowd.

She was smiling and just so happy...it was her moment!

(Yes, Julien needs a haircut. I am allowing him to grow it out a bit since summer is coming. As Mom's, we know when to pick our battles and I have bigger battles to fight right now!)

Official Disclaimer Ahead

~Please pause the music at the bottom, right hand side of the blog~

I have been asked by several of you to give a disclaimer when tissues, the underside of a shirt or the back of your hand are needed.

Now is one of those times.

Have you ever felt that there are people that you could never repay for their generosity?
I feel that way with Kim.

My heart is so unbelievably thankful for her that I don't know how to make her understand that I will never be able to repay her for the love that she has shown my family.

This slide show - created by Kim - is absolutely beautiful.

(Unfortunately, I had to split the slide show in half because the blog wouldn't allow me to upload the whole thing at once, but the majority of the video is present. I will have to work on getting the second half uploaded.)

I sat here watching the slide show and thinking that I am the most blessed Mother in the entire world.

How is it that I was chosen to care for an angel - for this angel?

I am honored to walk this walk and I am honored that you all are right here with me.

This slide show is incredibly emotional and the song is one that I can hardly listen to - it is the song from the slide show at my first baby shower for Addie. The song that no one had any idea would be so fitting for my baby.

I hope you guys enjoy the slide show, I think it is a stunningly awesome view into the beauty I witness every day!