Happy Holidays!

Wishing you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

She's a FLOWER GIRL!

Carly's big flower girl debut was at her cousin's wedding. Jen (our niece) and Matt got married on November 26 in Columbus, Ohio. What a magical weekend we had! The wedding was PERFECT - beautiful, romantic, wonderful. I even managed to make it through my assigned reading without shedding a tear. It was questionable for a while . . . but I did it! :o)

Carly and the ring bearer (EJ) became fast friends at the rehearsal and were pretty much inseparable the rest of the weekend. Very sweet to see. We hardly saw her at the reception - she was very busy trying to keep up with her new friend. What a fun, fun time we all had! A magical wedding we won't soon forget.

College Acceptance #3!

FINALLY - the long awaited, and much anticipated reply from Augustana!!!!! And the acceptance letter was accompanied by a generous scholarship offer as well. We are SO PROUD of our son . . .

Congratulations to Alex!!!

A Confirmed Catholic ... and Senior Pics

The newly confirmed Catholic is none other than our very own Nick! A big 'congrats' to him - he received the sacrament of confirmation on November 11. Alex was his proud sponsor. :o)








And, a couple weeks ago Alex had senior pics taken. . . . we've only seen a preview so far (we'll see the full package in a few weeks), but it looks like they turned out GREAT! Jenny Litwiller and Simply Charming Photography -- you ROCK! :o)

Next weekend (Thanksgiving weekend) we head to Ohio for our niece's WEDDING! Carly is the flower girl -- so it will be a VERY exciting weekend on all accounts. I'm sure to have LOTS of pictures to share! Check back soon!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

College Acceptance #2!

MIZZOU!!!

Woo Hoo! Congrats to Alex!

Alex's rankings as of 11/1/10:

#1 - Augustana (application submitted ..... waiting for results)

#2 - Mizzou (ACCEPTED)

#3 - St. Ambrose

And the excitement/anticipation continue to build! . . . . . Stay tuned!

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Well .........We're winding down our week in paradise . . .

We spent another lovely day on the beach soaking up the warm, south Florida sunshine. We finished off the day with a little island shopping, and then dinner beachside at a place called Stilts, just a short walk down the beach from the Somerset.

It's been a wonderful, rejuvenating week for 4 busy, stressed out Moms. Thanks to all of our husbands for holding down the forts in our absence this week. :o) Can't think of anything that would have made the week more perfect.

Our BIG, BIG, BIG Shopping Day!

It was a reasonably profitable day for the Naples, Bonita Springs, and Estero economies, but certainly not a record setting year. Our husbands are thankful for that, I'm sure. :o) 13 hours and 11 stores later, we arrived safe and sound back on the island. As we commented numerous times throughout the day .... what an AWESOME way to shop .... surrounded by "supportive" (or bad influence, depending on how you look at it - ha) friends, no one whining about wanting to go home, no one rushing us along .... well, it was just pure paradise.

Today we're heading to the beach - supposed to be a sweltering 91 degrees. Maybe a little more island shopping later this afternoon.

Having a GREAT time .... and enjoying every minute.

Another Day in Paradise

Not a whole lot to report for today . . . we spent much of the day lounging in the warm sunshine on the beach. Jealous? :o)

We headed out for a little island shopping this afternoon and rounded off the evening with pizza at Joey's (local joint). Our bodies are begging for a day off from the sun, so tomorrow will be our much anticipated and long awaited BIG, BIG, BIG shopping day! (Mike, take a deep breath - it'll be okay! ha) Gotta get some good sleep tonight because that constant "reach into the purse and find the wallet/credit cards" action gets very tiresome after hours and hours. Oh, and we can't forget our annual outing to PF Chang's -- we will definitely need nourishment during our BIG, BIG, BIG shopping day, so we'll have lunch at PF Chang's in Naples.

Having a great time here!

A Day In The Life . . .

. . . of 4 friends/moms/wives who managed to "escape" from reality for a week.

Sleep in

Go for a 3 mile walk/run on the beach

Enjoy a morning cup of coffee while gazing at the gorgeous gulf

Park the butt in a beach chair

Laugh, eat, drink, nap

Catch a movie

Have a nightcap

Get ready to do it all over again tomorrow

LOVE IT!! :o)

Some pics from yesterday and today:

Peace, Love & Marco!

Robin, Jen, Heidi, and I head out at the crack of dawn tomorrow ... first Air Tran flight out of BMI ... enroute to our favorite little slice of paradise.

Can't wait!

Football Player

Folks, we have ourselves a football stud!

Now featuring - Running Back Nick Miller #20:

Stats from last weekend's game: 15 carries for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns. Way to go, Nick!

The Cat Princess and . . . The Big Brother All Grown Up

I say "cat princess" because Carly's Halloween costume is Sleeping Beauty. But at a recent Children's Museum party, she chose to have her face painted like a cat. So we affectionately donned her our "cat princess". LOL. Beautiful, isn't she? :o)

And next is Alex. Looking quite dapper in his suit and tie. Special occasion = All School Mass at Central Catholic during homecoming week. He decided to go 'all out' for this one. Quite a handsome guy, huh?!

Have I mentioned lately that in just ONE WEEK I'll be plopping my butt into a beach chair? Heading back to Marco Island for the much anticipated "Great Escape" with my 3 dear friends. Can't wait -- paradise is just around the corner!!!

That's all for now!