Mother's day part 1:

Mike has to work on Mother's day so he took today to celebrate ! It worked out perfectly because the necklace that we had made for me came in the mail.

This is my mother's day present. It was made by a small business owner I found on e-crater.com. She was so kind and she designed this around my needs/request.It turned out just how I imagined. I LOVE it! She even said that , when we add another "M" to the equation, she's got several ideas in mind on how to reflect the addition. ( http://silverdiva.ecrater.com/)
And I got a new hair cut:
Back view:
Later that day, we headed to Ann Arbor. Seems I needed to pay a visit to the secretary of state so I could take care of my reverse birthday present ( I needed to buy my new tags and registration). Then we headed over to Noodles and Company ( a family favorite) before going to Borders to spend the gift card my sister sent me for my birthday. It was such a fun day spent with my family. I feel very, very blessed to have such sunshine in my life.

We are looking forward to more celebrating of the mother's on Saturday when Mike will cook dinner for Mary, Meg and me before he goes to work. More to come....

Josie

A month before I found out I was pregnant, Mary gave me a doll that she made herself while visiting Shipshewana. Not only did she make the doll, but she made 13 different complete outfits to go with her. I secretly prayed for a little girl then so that I could one day pass " Josie" down to her.

Now that Mackenzie is 2 and has shown interest in dolls, I couldn't wait any longer. Here are a few pictures of their first REAL introduction ( she's played with a little before):

Picking out an outfit:
A drink for you....
and one for me:
And now a stroller ride:

It's raining, it's pouring!

The last week of April has been cloudy and rainy but that doesn't stop Mackenzie:

And look what it does to her hair! I sure hope these curls stick around!

A whole lotta nothing in particular

I wish you could taste some of the food Mike has been making lately. But since you can't, I shall just tempt you with pictures. He is such a natural in the kitchen!

I finally gave in and broke in my replacement pair of running shoes. Last summer, I was treated to running shoes and wanted to make them last. I've been wearing the old pair for about 6 months. By my approximation they've carried me for about 600 miles! You can certainly see it when they are next to the new pair:

The Village

Mike , Mack and I made our first trip of the season to Greenfield Village. It's fun to watch Mackenzie noticing different things each time we go. Last year, she was a new walker and was constantly a " flight risk" . This year, she walked with us and took the time to explore things she was oblivious to last year.

It was bitterly cold, barely out of the 30's, the day we visited but we still had fun!
A trip to the Village isn't complete until you nearly lose your picnic lunch on the carousel:

Mx3 bed and breakfast

After a really busy week where we were rarely home, I treated Mack to "breaskiss" ( breakfast) in bed.

" Let me tell ya 'bout my best friend"

After two years, the cats have finally accepted Mackenzie into the family. In fact, I think they may prefer her! Or perhaps they just realized that she isn't going anywhere so they may as well get over their "Cat-itude" lest they find themselves cold and alone. In any event- here's visual evidence to support my theory:

You can see why cats are so grouchy. Their life is extremely stressful.