The Baxa’s

My boy plays in the band. He plays the French Horn. He was one of two French Horn players in the 5th grade band. We will see what 6th grade bring, but he likes it!

A few pictures from his end of the year concert.

Turned seven years old while we were on vacation! What better way to spend your special day than on the beach? I think my smiley, happy boy had a great day.

We started off the day with a gift from us.

Then we got our swimsuits and cover-ups on, and Grandpa Baxa and Grandma Barbie took us to Jungle Gardens. Where Quinn got to hold a real, live allligator.

After that we stopped for lunch, and headed out to Venice Beach to look for shark teeth. Everyone found some, and Quinn even found a really big one, even though it was broken.

When we were done at the beach, we went to Sharky’s for dinner. It is right on the beach, and we got to eat outside. I don’t know about you, but I love eating outside in Florida! It’s the best. They even sang Happy Birthday for Quinn. Notice his big smile.

Finally, we ended our day back at Grandpa and Barbie’s place. With more Happy Birthday, a little bit of cake that Grandma Barbie baked, and some ice cream to top it off!

My baby boy is seven. He’ll be in 2nd grade next year! I think it was a pretty fantastic day, and would love to spend my birthday that way. Quinn however, maybe he would have liked to have been at Chuck E. Cheese. No matter what, I think it’s a good birthday when you get to be at the beach!

Ok folks. I want to start posting again, and I’m intimidated because of how far behind I am! So, we are going to catch up. We’ve had a lot going on around here.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of pictures from Christmas!! No one was manning the camera. Well, Christmas was awesome as usual. I get caught up in the excitement just like the kids. On Christmas Eve, the boys had a lot of fun with the beverages…

And the kids just had a lot of fun.

Jeff built a kitty condo over the break. The Kitties LOVE it. It is like a playground for them, and it is so fun to watch them.

We had a birthday in January. My baby girl turned 8. I can hardly believe it. We celebrated with family, and her “friend” party is this weekend. She’s just getting too big, too fast!

We said goodbye to another beloved four legged family member. Sam was Jeff and I’s other baby. We had gotten her about a month after Emma and she was fifteen years old. It was a hard day, but she was sick.

And later on that afternoon, we went out to get our mind off of things.

And last, but certainly not least, we have the blizzard. It did indeed turn out to be a crazy amount of snow! It was pretty cool. Now it is literally pretty cold!

And I think that about brings us up to date! I can feel free to post at random now. I do have some new pictures of the kitties to post. They are getting so big. I can’t believe how little they were when we first got them!

So, for all of you that are anxiously awaiting to see Jeff’s finished tattoo, this is for you.

He went Saturday night to get in completed. It turned out pretty great.

So now we just have to decide what we will do next!

On Jeff’s tattoo. For all you impatient ladies out at the Will County Courthouse!

It is looking really good! The color adds so much. I can’t wait till the rest is done.

He’ll go back in about a month to get it finished. Mike said he could finish it up next time!

Well, not really. But I haven’t even taken those photos off my camera yet, and I have more exciting news to share with you! Jeff and I went to get tattoos yesterday. It was Jeff’s first, and my second. It was cool to go together. It still hurt BAD. For me at least. My new tattoo is much bigger than my first one. Jeff designed it for me, and I love it. It took about 2 1/2 hours, and Mike did a fantastic job. Thanks Mike!!

Jeff said the pain factor was about what he expected. It hurt more in some places than others, but overall it didn’t bother him as much as it does me. I do NOT have any tolerance for pain. Jeff’s tattoo was super ambitious for his first one. He went to Mike with some print outs of things he likes, and a general shape he was looking for, and Mike took it from there. Jeff sat for 3 1/2 hours today, and probably has about 8-9 hours left to go. I have to say, Jeff’s isn’t done, he has two more sittings to go, but when it’s finished – it is going to be awesome.

I can’t wait to post more when Jeff goes for his next sitting. Stay Tuned!

We recently had the pleasure of enjoying a day with the two of them. The kids love the undivided attention they get when Grandpa Baxa and Grandma Barbie come over. Unfortunately, they were here to say good-bye, before they head back down to sunny Florida. We sure do miss you guys when you are away!

But on this sunny day, the boys threw around the football. Madeleine and Quinn had fun playing legos and house with Grandma Barbie. Then they headed outside and pretended they were on a boat!

I managed to snap a few good pictures.

Grandpa Baxa and Grandma Barbie, have a safe trip!

Well, I’ve been away again. I just haven’t been snapping many pictures lately. I’m jealous of April’s new camera and the awesome pics she gets I just feel like mine aren’t up to par. But, I forgot about some of the ones we did take.

Like this one. We were babysitting for April and Greg, so they could go out to dinner for her birthday. The cousins were all cozied up to watch a movie. I love that these cousins are so close, and love each other so much! It makes my heart happy. I only hope that they stay close as they grow up.

And this? Is my new Cub Scout. He is loving it, and looks so handsome in his uniform, yes?

Coming up…

A fun day with Grandpa Baxa and Grandma Barbie, and a trip to the pumpkin patch! Stay tuned…

I’ve been a total slacker. Again. My days just seem so hectic. Once I finish my work in the morning, I don’t seem to get back to the computer. So here it is. The post to get us up to date!

Quinn had his first sleep over at our house. His cousin Myles. They slept in Madeleine’s bed, since she was sleeping over with Ella. And she didn’t know about it till she saw this picture. Oops!

And as you read on April’s blog, we had a get together to make blueberry jam. It turned out fabulous. And it gave me such a sense of pride to make something of my own, instead of just eating the stuff that April makes! Here is Quinn enjoying some of Aunt April’s peach jam. It got a big thumbs up.

And with all the other goings on around here, we had the first day of school. The kids were ready to go back, and so was I! My baby is in first grade this year, can you believe that?!? And him and Madeleine ride the same bus. I love it.

Sorry, I couldn’t get a picture of the big fifth grader. He goes out for the bus all by himself now, and heaven forbid his MOM should be seen out there!

And finally, we went to a birthday party for Jake and Luke. It was huge fun playing soccer!

And with that, we are up to date. I will try harder to stay caught up, I really will!

With the big wedding behind us, we’ve just been up to some regular old summer fun.

We went blueberry picking. 26 pounds of blueberries to be exact. So far we’ve had blueberry pancakes, and April baked fresh blueberry pie. It was hot out the day we picked.

We also spent an afternoon at the local carnival. It was darn hot out that day too. But, the kids had a blast.

Quinn has learned to ride a two wheeler!

We did a little bit of school shopping. These are two of the things that Josh picked. I think he was meant to be growing up in the 1980′s. Jeff asked me if we were shopping at a resale shop, because he thinks he once owned this shirt:

And this is just a random picture of Ella and Madeleine. They were trying to trick the boys into thinking they were someone else. It didn’t really work.

So, that’s what has been going on around here.

The kids are ready for school to start. Especially Quinn. He asked me today if school starts tomorrow or 2 days? I said 18 days. He told me he hates 18 days!

*all the above pictures were taken with our phones (except the last one), please forgive the lack of quality