End of the school year events

So, the weekend before Memorial Day, we moved out of our beloved house of nine years into our new house.  The best money we ever spent was on hiring a moving company.  We gave the movers five stars as they were awesome, courteous, and finished earlier than expected, saving us a ton of money over what we were quoted.  Again, life was still going on. For a few weeks, we had to commute to the old school to finish up the year.  It was bittersweet for all of us.  I had to say good-bye to my mommy friends too.  Thankfully, we have kept in touch with all of our besties and enjoyed many playdates.

Instead of professional pictures, I took this beauty to the church and snapped away.  This is my favorite.

April birthday kids went to Dodge Park for pictures

Cameron - 5

Alyssa - 8 

Mother's Day with my Grandma

Kids actually cooperating for a Mother's day picture

Like lunatics, Madelyn and I ran in the Girls on the Run race just two days after we moved.  My quads were so sore from walking up and down the stairs that I had to take a night off of unpacking in order to save my legs for the race.  It was a hot one!

Cameron graduated form preschool.  It was both great and horrible.  We are so proud of him.  I can't believe my baby is in Kindergarten!

Polish night at Comerica Park is always a fun time

Another 5K - The Dodge Park fun run

Cameron started t-ball last spring.  He loved it and can't wait to play again this year.

The girls said goodbye to Fillmore Elementary.  It was a rough day.

Summer began with Fathers Day - Dad and Grandpa lookin' good!

Best Dad ever!

2013 - Springtime

In the craziness of March and April which always bring us three birthdays, a dance recital, and Easter - we bought a new house.  It was a very difficult decision, and it was a very stressful time for our whole family.  After we got over the rough patch (which seemed to last forever), we finally settled in.  This move is something that we have been wanting to do for years and have not been able to do due to the horribly tanked housing market.  After a lot of discussion, we decided to go out of our comfort zone and buy a new house, and rent our old house until we are able to sell it.  So far, so good.  We have great neighbors who are watching out for our old house and letting us know if anything is awry (like grass that wasn't cut for a few weeks).  I think we will be landlords for another year, but the move was definitely the right thing to do, and at just the right time.

The new house - now a HOME

 Easter 2013

 Cousins

 In April, Alyssa celebrated her first communion

She finally got to wear the beautiful dress

At the same party, Cameron celebrated his 5th Birthday!

After the parties, it was time to get serious about moving and packing.

2013 year in review - Post 1 of ???

We spent most of our Christmas break at home.  I admit to feeling a little guilty for not going out and "doing things" with the kids.  But, in all honestly, that is all we ever do!  We are ALWAYS doing things - from gymnastics, piano, dance, hockey, catechism, and the just finished Lego robotics season, almost every evening is booked.  It has been nice to just be at home, not stick to a schedule, and enjoy new toys (and a new puppy too).  We have done a few things - saw a movie, went ice skating, and of course celebrated the holiday with our family - but we were mostly home...and it was great.

Here is what the Browns were up to this year (let's see if I even remember how to blog)

In January, the girls had their yearly dance pictures taken.

Dancing cousins

In February, the girls both played a piano piece in the schools talent show.

We went to Uncle Mikey's to skate on his backyard hockey rink.  Cousin Logan and Cameron had fun playing.   The girls watched and played in the snow since they didn't have their own skates (they do now :) )

In March, Daddy took the girls to the Daddy/Daughter dance.  They always have a great time!

The end of March brings us the Zajaczek Polish Dance recital.  Always a busy time, but I think the show gets better and better every year!

Madelyn on the left

Alyssa

Alyssa in her American Tarzan dance

Madelyn in the Adams Family

So proud of these girls

Cousins

After the recital, we came home to celebrate Alyssa's birthday.  8 is great!

November 2012

Never mind that it's January, we have some end of the year events still to document.  November was another fun month.  Madelyn completed her first 5K!  Although she could not participate in the program, she ran in the Girls on the Run race.  She trained with me a little while I was training for the marathon, so she was pretty prepared.  We estimated over 1100 runners.  She finished in the top 20, with a time to 27:30.  She beat me, and my eyes were pretty misty when she crossed the finish line.

Just four days later, we celebrated Thanksgiving.  It's always great to get together with family.  This year, cousin Logan's birthday was right on Thanksgiving day.  We all got to sing to him again.  We are thankful for all of our cousins!

Alyssa

Cameron

 Pretty girl cousins! 

Happy Birthday!