pass level one. check!

I am excited to announce that after the third time around, Ethnie has passed the level one swimming lesson!!! She has come so far and has worked very hard to get here! She really conquered a fear she had of water and I am so proud of her. She got a card and treats for passing. Level two, here we come!

Ethnie's teacher telling her the good news.

i love family.

I have been thinking a lot about genealogy lately and am very interested in it. On St. Patrick's Day, I decided to start a formal pedigree chart online. Why not do it on a day where I celebrate my ancestry, right? I started my pedigree chart with my dad's family first because my aunt and uncle made everyone in our family a genealogy book that is amazing! I have read that book cover to cover a couple of times and I am amazed at some of the impressive things I now know about my ancestors. I feel like I have gotten to know them and now have a connection.
For example, I discovered that I live just blocks away from where my great great grandparents lived. Blocks away! I have discovered other family members who lived very near to me and have taken a little drive to see the homes in person. The same houses as in the photos still stand! Houses that are 100+ years old and still hold their memories. I've thought about knocking on the doors of these homes so I can peek inside, but I don't want to look like a creeper...
I am excited to continue to work on my pedigree chart and get to know even more of my ancestors.

Matt's mom made this traditional Irish meal. We get to enjoy this yummy food every year! 

There are many perks of being Irish. ;)

snapshots of the week.

We had a decent week. It was busier than usual. We also had a few visitors, including Nana(my mom)! She stayed with us Friday and Saturday and we had a blast! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures with Nana and the kids. I wasn't very on top of things this weekend.
Here are some cute snapshots from the week.

Emmett put his Mr. Potatohead together all by himself. He only needed help with the mustache and glasses.

We are still taking care of the turtle. Ethnie can't get enough.

Emmett can always turn girlie toys into boyish ones...

Emmett fell into a toy basket and couldn't get out.

Ethnie and I have been playing with her American Girl dolls quite a bit. They are so cute! (I secretly enjoy playing with them.)

thank you, readers!

I am happy to announce that my blog now has over 10,000 hits!!! I know that's a drop in the ocean to many fellow bloggers out there, but it's a first for me and I am excited! It's so hard to keep in touch regularly and stay up to date on everyone's daily life so I created this blog for those reasons. I feel it's important for family and friends to stay informed on how we are doing, especially if we live apart from one another. Personally, I love reading loved ones' blogs because of think of all of you often!

Thanks for stopping by and please continue to do so!  

hey, that's me!

Last month, my friend Amanda and I went out for dinner at Bar La Grassa. My brother was working there at the time so we got a spot at the bar in front of the kitchen so we could watch him.
Shortly after we ordered, a photographer approached us and asked if we'd mind getting our picture taken. She was shooting for the March issue of Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine. After we obliged, she took a few pictures and went about her business. But then we had that feeling like we were being watched...and we were.
For the next hour she kept popping up in different places capturing every move our silverware made. All we could do after awhile was laugh because we were so distracted!
So when I stopped at Kowalski's yesterday to grab a couple things I noticed the 'Best Restaurants' issue and immediately remembered that night. I flipped through the pages and there Amanda and I are, on page 60!

 

there we are!

 

 Fabulous food; I highly recommend it!

Also, check out Burch in Uptown. This is where my brother is working now. Burch is owned by the same Chef, Isaac Becker. Get the pork shoulder!