24 is OLD!!!

So to finish off a ridiculous day of teaching certification tests....my two best friends took me out for a perfect birthday:-) Alli had asked me where I wanted to go for my birthday and I told her Hawaii....soooooo......

Marit and Alli took me to Trader Todd's, a bar not too far from home with a Hawaiian theme. I fit right in with my lei, headband and grass skirt:-) We had picked up our friend Eric on the way and then a couple friends from work showed up at the bar. Lots of surprises....my kind of birthday!

Food was soo good! Jerk seasoned chicken sandwich for me...and Marit I think!

This is Jen (pink lei), Tina (purple lei), and me of course! Jen and I are teaching together now... and having lots of fun with the little punks :-)

Tried to get Eric to model the headband after Alli but I think he was intimidated by how good Alli showed it off....beautiful!

After dinner, we headed back to the apartment and met up with a couple more friends for Alli's homemade cookie sandwiches....and maybe a couple more drinks:-)

A little cuddle time with Marit.

On Monday morning, my actual birthday, I woke up to daffodils and blueberry muffins. She also got me some candy to bring into school for my students (don't worry, I took my share before turning it over to the crazies). It was a perfect way to start my day:-)

Happy Pulaski Day!

So here in the wonderful city of Chicago, we celebrate Pulaski Day. Yep, you guessed it... teachers get the day off!! Anyway, Marit and I decided to throw a little Mayflower camp reunion on the Tuesday following Pulaski Day. Lots of junk to eat and a few good rounds of Twister:-)

My Marit...oh my Marit! Still not my birthday and she baked me a cake! Not being able to find candles didn't stop our crafty staff....Dan stuck a Dum-Dum lollipop in the cake and lit the wrapper. Gotta love memorable birthdays!

Steve and Marit...toughest Twister competition of the night.

Mom Visits the Windy City!

Well let's see....I don't think I captured ALL the things we did over the weekend that Mom visited but here are a few....

After meeting Mom and Dawn, Mom's friend from Wisconsin, for breakfast on Saturday morning we went straight to the Garfield Conservetory. These two pictures don't do justice! It was so beautiful and smelled so nice! I was completely ready for Spring by the time we left:-) Saturday night we did dinner at Yes Thai (soooo good!!!!) and then saw Pan's Labyrinth at the Davis Theater in Lincoln Square (a cute little theater much like the Colonial in Keene, which I know she loves!) The movie was different but interesting:-)

On Sunday, we went to church at New Community Covenant and then did lunch with Alli at Giordano's (mmmmmm). When we got back to the apartment we did a little early birthday celebration:-) Mom brought presents from home and made an ice cream cake on Saturday. If you know me, you would know how much I tend to enjoy having my birthday spread out over weeks...it's just more fun:-)I would like you to take a close look at what is in those books in front of me....

Yep....they're snakes! Mom gave me some books for my library and I decided to be brave and face my fears for a few minutes. Alli mentioned something about touching them....let's not get too crazy.

Sunday night was probably my favorite! We headed downtown and visited Navy Pier, had dinner in Watertower and then went to a hysterical play Putnam County's 25th Annual Spelling Bee. I highly recommend it! To finish off our night...Ice cream at Ghiradelli's on Michigan Ave. Yummy! Hmmm, just realized how many good restaurants we have here...I should probably start branching out:-)

Monday was museum day! We were originally going to go to the aquarium but I'm glad that Mom chose to go to the Museum of Science and Industry instead! I've been there once but it was a few years ago on a visit to see Alli in college. It's such a cool museum and we even did the Body Worlds exhibit...very cool!

The classic skyline picture! Thanks for coming Mom!

My Prego Sister...

As we have already announced Jennifer is pregnant!! We recently found out that it's a girl too! Although it may be a little more difficult to be #1 Aunt from across the country, I'm sure I can pull it off:-) Here are a few pictures of her so far....yeah, I'd have to say that she's going to be one of those cute moms:-)

3 months

4 1/2 months