pictures from mother's day

we started our day very early... after russ and the kids presented me with their gifts -- a lovely pair of earrings and shirt that they personally picked out and some handmade cards-- we went to 8:00 mass. we normally go to the 12 noon mass but we had a special brunch planned with russell's mom and dad that morning.

later that afternoon, we went to my parent's house to celebrate mother's day with them.

the kids made these buttons for grandma:

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR MAKING MOTHER'S DAY SO SPECIAL FOR ME!

happenings...

russell was invited to a bowling birthday party for charlie, one of his soccer teammates. it was his very first time bowling. daddy took him while mommy stayed home with natalie.

you'll have to excuse the blurry pics -- russ was behind the camera ;)

very slowly rolling down the lane...
the kids bowled with the ramp for extra guidance most of the time.

russ said he loved waiting for the ball to come out of the return:

i think it's safe to say he had lots of fun!

we recently went to another birthday party...this time it was for [mr.] charlie, one of russ's childhood friends. he turned 40 this month and his wife decided to throw him a nice little surprise party. they rented a house in st. augustine that overlooked the water and we got to watch the beautiful sunset later that evening. the kids behaved so well and we all had a great time.

this was a dream house:

(natalie was enjoying her birthday cake in this picture)

AND NOW,

I PRESENT TO YOU,

MY CRAZY KIDS: