Make New Friends, But Keep The Old

One is silver, and the other's gold ;)

Spent the weekend with some of our "golden" friends, the Engles, friends from Notre Dame. They moved from Manhattan to Minneapolis around the same time that we moved from Chicago to Sioux Falls. We took turns doing grown-up field trips (mani-pedis, rounds of golf), letting the kiddies get acquainted and play, commiserating over the Irish football season, and swapping "transition" stories.

As a bonus, we were able to travel about 45 minutes away from the Engle's house to visit with another ND friend, Colton, and his family at his sister's house. It felt like a regular reunion!!!

Our hope is that this will be the first of many visits between us and the Engles...

Best Bug-Catching Team in the West

David and Michael wasted no time at all using their birthday gifts from their good friends, Cole and Elena: a butterfly net, a bug house and a magnifying glass. On our first expedition, we caught several grasshoppers of all different shapes and sizes as well as a moth and a ladybug. And that without even leaving our backyard! Michael's role, being that he is so close to the ground and all, is bug-spotter. David's role is bug-trapper. And me, I am the transfer lady - from the wild to the net, from the net to our bug house. What a team!

What a Party!

The boys had a FABULOUS time at their birthday party! Mainly, they just ran around the room, playing with friends. We had pizza, salad, fruit, and cake. We all participated in a group art project that may soon adorn David and Michael's wall. We played a bean bag toss game. And of course, there was cake, balloons, presents, and goody bags. They were so excited and had so much fun. Cute, cute, cute.

The Boys' Birthday Party

Bug Watching

We took an opportunity to enjoy a beautiful September day (reminded me of the days on which David and Michael were born) and to head up to Arrowhead Park. We had great fun watching the geese, exploring the hiking trails, discovering all sorts of critters including beetles, grasshoppers the size of Snickers bars, caterpillars, and spiders, and making musical instruments and conductor's batons out of pieces of dried prairie grass.

Birthday Bonanza

3 days, 3 birthday celebrations. It's just that time of year in the Guarraci Family.

Saturday - We drove out to Chitown to surprise Mamma for her 60th birthday. Somehow (kudos to Laura, Brian, and the Bud Man) they pulled it off! They surprised the woman who doesn't get surprised, the woman who, as a child, never received a present for Christmas that she didn't already know she was getting ;) What a great party we had with friends and family.

Sunday - Mamo's birthday. Renis and Dominic cooked us up a delicious hot breakfast and we all hung out at the park to enjoy a beautiful morning together.

Monday - Finally, and the Grand Finale (for now!) - Michael Patrick turned 2 today!!!!

My little boy is getting so big. Kind of. I mean, he still weighs less than 24 pounds. But he can jump, and dance, and sing all kinds of songs, and talk to you like he was a big kid "Mama, may I please get down now?", and play trains with his brother, and recite the Our Father. He is a smart little beggar and cuter than all get-out. And he's full of attitude. There is that, too ;)

We had a great day together. After we dropped David off at school we went to HyVee for all of his favorite treats - suckers, doughnuts, etc so that by 10 am, he was pumped full of sugar up to his ears ;) I made him some of his favorite food for lunch - Ramen noodles, asparagus, and bananas with chocolate syrup. We played and played all day together - with the pegboard, with his trains, in the bath tub, outside in the blustery wind with cars and baseball bats, etc.

When Daddy got home, we had more of Michael's favorites for dinner - mac n cheese, hot dogs, yogurt, and applesauce. Then Michael opened his presents. By far, his favorite gift was the Sodor Clock Tower, a Thomas the Train accessory, from his big brother David.

Finally, we sang the birthday song and Michael blew out the candles on his homemade forsted and sprinkled chocolate chip muffin/cupcakes (courtesy of his big brother, the pastry chef).

For the first time in a long time, Michael gave us a hard time at bedtime. Guess this was one of those days....so good you don't want it to end.

Happy Birthday, Michael. We love you like crazy, today and forever. May the rest of your childhood be as happy, healthy, and blessed as these first two years have been.

Shake-It

Well, we have a new pet. Shake-It, the tadpole. David and Michael are both very excited about him. Follow his transformation on his very own FROG BLOG: www.shake-itthetadpole.blogspot.com

Another Baby!

Yes, we are having another baby boy. But this time I will neither carry him nor deliver him. My good friend Liz is doing that part! We are going to be godparents (again! Shout out to Anthony!)!!! We are soooo honored and excited. This is the first picture of us and our godson. Hey there, Tiger - we loved you before you were born ;)

Labor Day Weekend

What fun we had!

The road trip to Chicago went more smoothly than last time. Having the video screen allowed us to keep the boys occupied for most of the trip and even provided Brian and I the rare opportunity to have a conversation while the kids were awake. Yes, a REAL conversation. Praise Jesus. Hallelujah.

However, we still found that the first half of our trip took soooo long (e.g., "Are we almost to Chicago, Mom?" Glance down at the odometer and see that we have travelled 77 miles. "Nope." You know the rest...) Also, the grown-ups kept needing to stop to eat, pee, and switch drivers. It's so annoying having to travel long distances with two adults ;)

Finally, we have yet to perfect the art of letting them watch enough TV to entertain them, but not so much that they miss the window in which they can most easily fall asleep. So, Michael had a ROUGH time falling asleep (which means that we ALL had a rough time.) Oh well. You live. You drive 560 miles with 2 kids. You learn.

On Friday morning and into the afternoon, we had the pleasure of visiting with the Levars and with Mamma and Pappa.

Then, Mamo and Papo came to pick the boys up and bring them to Notre Dame for home opening weekend. The boys had the time of their lives watching the players parade by, listening to the band, and tackling Papo on the quad.

Meanwhile, back in Chitown, Brian is back at Sidley catching up with friends and I am out on the town celebrating Andrea's last few days as a bachelorette! So much fun...

Saturday morning, we had the special treat of catching up with our dear friends, Melissa and Paul, who just happenned to be back in the Windy City (they now live in DC) visiting friends. Then coffee with Darren.

And then the wedding festivities begin. Rehearsal. Rehearsal luncheon. Dinner and ND game watch (GO IRISH!) with friends. And finally, last night out with the bride and groom-to-be.

Sunday morning we got to see Aunt Laura, Uncle Steve, and the boys before the wedding hair and make-up, etc.

And then the wedding. I have to be honest - I was a bit worried about the day. At about 11 am, the hair stylist was finishing up Andrea's "do." I think she was starting to feel rushed for time (she had to get over to do another bride's hair before she came back to do mine) and she accidentally dropped her mirror on the bathroom floor. "Don't you dare break a mirror in here today," I joked/warned. We all laughed. Until she walked out of the room, stepped on the mirror and cracked it a million ways. Andrea's mother (aka Mare-Dawg) and I looked at each other in shocked disbelief. Andrea said nothing until the stylist left and then pointed to the shattered mirror and firmly commanded: "Maria, get that thing out of here." Sir, yes sir.

But my worries were all unfounded. Even a broken mirror couldn't mess up this day. Andrea looked liked a true principessa. Gorgeous dress and jewelry that she had specially designed for her big day. Beautiful, thoughtful ceremony. Scrumptious Chicago menu of Lou's deep dish, Italian beef, Vienna dogs, and a scrumptious array of cupcakes. Not to mention the favors - a piece of chocolate-dipped bacon for each and every guest. Gotta love that Kavoosi girl ;)

We had a great time dancing and visiting with friends. And watching Andrea be so happy with her lover boy.

On Sunday, we had breakfast with Fr. Rog and then headed on back home.

Overall, the weekend was emotional for me. Not sure if it's because we were back in Chicago seeing so many old friends. Or if it was because it was a wedding weekend, and not just any one - the wedding of one of my dearest friends. That's always emotional. Or because I have been feeling old lately. Andrea is the last of our bunch to get married. I have to ask myself, "What am I now? Middle-aged? All of my friends are married..." On a related note, I worry about when I will see everybody again. Without weddings to bring us together, when will we catch up?? All of this leads up to one thing and one thing only........GIRLS' VACATION!!!! I'm sure I will fantasize about planning it and then let life get in the way, as it tends to do...