Future Cheerleader?!?!

Kaitlyn really wants to be a cheerleader when she is old enough to be on a squad! All of the neighbor girls cheer and she looks up to them so much! Here are Lauren and Maddie teaching Kaitlyn some of their cheers! Kaitlyn was on cloud 9!!!

Way 2 Go Kaitlyn!! I see cheering in your future:)

Teamwork!

Kaitlyn and Colin were quite proud of "working out" this problem. There was only one yogurt left and they were trying to figure out what to do. I ran upstairs really quickly to grab something and told them to try and work it out. Now don't let this cute pic fool you...there are plenty of times when having only one thing causes an all out blowout argument:) But I was proud of them for this one... here's what I found when I came back downstairs. They were proud of their "teamwork" as they called it:)

1 yogurt + 2 straws = 2 happy kids!!!

Going for a ride....

Yesterday Grandma came over and the girls went to Micheal's to shop. When we came back Kaitlyn decided she wanted to go home with Grandma and have dinner at her house. Colin thought that would be fun too. So they both hopped in Grandma's Mercedes and they were off:) First convertible ride without mommy in the car! Hands up.....and they're off!!!

We all ended up going to Nick's Pizza for dinner. Many of you know that Nicks has the BEST pizza. Here's the funny part. Kaitlyn ordered a salad and that was it. She didnt want any pizza. I am SO proud of my kids for the healthy eaters that they have become. They LOVE veggies, salads and fruit! They could live on it if they had to! They do not drink any juice, havent had chocolate milk....they only drink milk and water. I hope that their healthy eating sticks with them as a lifelong habit! Way to go K & C!!

My Buzz Light Year!

Colin has quite the imagination!! Cam and I love to see the things he thinks of when building whether he is using KNEX, Lego's or whatever he can find to build with! Last week he built a "jet pack" all by himself and was SO proud of his creation! Here is my Buzz Light Year! :)

Look at how detailed this is!

He was running around with his jet pack on making flying noises. It was too cute:)

1st Day of 4yr old Pre-School!

Last Monday was the kids first day of 4 yr old preschool! They now go Mon/Wed/Fri from 8:45-11:15am. Cam and I could not be more proud of Kaitlyn and Colin and the smart, beautiful, amazing kids that they have become!!! We love you both oodles and oodles!

2 sets of twins:) Katie and Maddie came to wish the kids good luck on their first day!

This is my favorite pic from their first day! Holding hands...so sweet!!

The 3 amigos ready for school!!

Best Friends Forever!!

The kids teacher Ms Maureen. She is amazing and the kids love her!! They have the same classroom, teachers and kids so it was a smooth transition!!!

Ms Debbie helps out in the classroom with Ms. Maureen and is so nice!!!

This is last years pic and this years pic of the kids hanging their backpacks up. Look how little they were last year and how they could barely reach their hooks!! Now they are so tall and can easily hang up their backpacks:) Makes me sad how fast they are growing up!!

Maddie, Hailey and Kaitlyn

Colin, Braedon and Reese

They could have cared less about Cam and I and were ready to play, socialize and learn!!

After school some of the kids from the class went to the park.

Madi, Kiara, Ryan, Quentin, Kaitlyn, Coco and Colin

We started a tradition last year that after the first day of school we would get together for a special lunch. The kids had fun chatting about their first day!!

Its so hard to believe my "babies" are going to be 5 yrs old in November!!! Where is the time going?!?!

Swim, Swim, Swim

The last week before school started we spent a lot of time in the water!! Here are some pics from 2 different days that we went swimming. We went to the water park one day with Madi, Makenna and all of the neighbor kids. I only took a few pics right when we got there and only the 4 kiddos were there.
Then we went to visit our friend Alivia and her apartment complex has a pool. We had SO much fun!!!

Being silly:) I was so proud of the kids and how well they swam that day! They were swimming in the deep end all by themselves with no swim gear on!

Cannonball!!!

Alivia and Jake:)

We went back to Alivias and let the kids play while we got lunch together.

The kids loved their Lovin Ovens cookies for their treat!!!

Thanks for a fun afternoon Alivia and Jake!!

Michael P Savoca Kickoff Dinner

Did you know that as many people are diagnosed with breast cancer a year the same amount are diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis?

Saturday night we attended the MPS Foundation Kickoff Dinner. As most of you know my dear and longtime friend Heidi lost her father last September to Pulmonary Fibrosis. At the same time she gave birth to her 2nd son Connor. Seeing the family experience such a huge loss and also experience the birth of a child was indescribable! The Savoca's are so strong and such a solid amazing family!!! Mike's 6 children decided to start a foundation in his memory. The kickoff event was a huge success!! They were able to raise around $25,000 that night!!!! Plus they will be having a 5K event in Long Grove on September 11th to raise more money for the foundation. I will put their foundation website at the end of this post so you can check it out. Cam and I will be running in the event so thanks to all of our family and friends who have donated money to our team!!!

The event was outside in the Savoca's backyard. There were over 150 people! That just shows you how wonderful of a guy Mike was and how many people loved him!

There were 2 huge tents. One was where the dinner and dancing was held and the other had the raffle prizes and silent auction in it. They had an awesome band playing too!

I took this off their foundation website. Here is a picture several years ago of the Savoca family on vacation in Mexico. Their family has grown even more to include another son in law and 2 more grandchildren.

Heidi, Steve, Cam and myself.
Heidi and I grew up together and have been friends for so long! Same with Cam and Steve. We introduced them and the rest is history:) They are married with 2 adorable boys!

My dad with Cam

My mom and myself

Aren't they so cute:)

My parents with their best friends Gigi and Lee.

The live auction was a huge success! Their was a signed Kane Jersey, 2 sky boxes for the Blackhawks game, trips to Mexico and Hawaii and so much more!

Please check out the foundation website so you can educate yourself about pulmonary fibrosis!! If you are interested in making a donation or participating in the 5K event here is the link:

http://www.mpsmemorialfoundation.org/