Summer Fun

I am finally on my summer break and enjoying this time off!  Its been pretty busy so far since I spent most of the first week unpacking boxes and getting us situated into our new apartment.  We really like it so far- we have a lot more space and a washer/ dryer in our unit!! Dare to dream!!  Things are slowly, but surely coming along- I'll post some pictures once we have it a little more put together. 

Like I had said before in a post, June was quite an eventful month for us this year.  Below are some pictures of Miss Kayleigh's first birthday party that we went home for over Father's Day weekend.  We were so excited to be apart of this special day! 

 1-12 month pictures 

 Soo precious!

 Awesome cake that perfectly matched the invitations. 

Kayleigh is one!!

During the last week of school we had "Springfest" for all of the kids.  This year the school rented a dunk tank so the kids who met their end of the year goals could get a chance to dunk their teacher.  Well, that's me... a sitting duck!  The first one of my kids up... on his first throw... right on the mark!  It was a lot of fun- and they had a blast!

This past weekend Brandy and some of her friends she use to teach with came up for a weekend in the city.  I had a blast hanging out with them and getting to show them a few fun places we like to visit... and they showed me a few places where they like to shop... looking forward to my next birthday and maybe I can go on a shopping spree at Tory Burch.  Wishful thinking....
We had a blast and I can't wait for their next visit- I'd be happy to be a tour guide anytime they want!

We don't have too many plans this week, other than trying to still put the apartment together.  Next week I'll be heading home to participate and help out with Brandy's neighborhood garage sale.  I have several things I am ready to part with.

July will be a little more low key than June.  We have a trip planned to Nashville for the end of the month and then its back to school time....

My Brother's Big Day

Yesterday, we traveled to LaPorte to celebrate my brother's wedding.  It was a great day!  The weather couldn't have been any better and everything went without a hitch. 

I am so happy for him.  He has found his perfect match, and my entire family thinks the world of Shannon.  In addition to getting married and becoming a husband, he became a father to two of the greatest kids I have ever known.  I am so excited that our family has gained three more members and I'm looking forward to all of the wonderful memories yet to be made.  Alex and I are so thrilled to officially be "Uncle Alice and Aunt Wacky".  

Below are a few pictures from the day.  I hope to gather some more in the next few weeks. 

Uncle Dale, Aunt Barb, Aunt Deanna, and Uncle Glen

 My grandmas

 Uncle Jer, Grams, Mom, and Aunt Susan

 Most of the Slucter girls

My nephew Hunter

Congratulations Ryan and Shan!  Thank you for letting us be a part of your special day!

May

Here again is my monthly post...

Last weekend I went to La Porte to spend Mother's Day weekend with my mom and Grandma.  We stopped by the outlet mall and went out to dinner.  Mom and I stayed the night with Shannon and the kiddos and had some wedding talk, since it is now about 3 weeks away!  It was really nice getting to spend the weekend with everyone, since it had been so long since I'd seen them last.

Here are some pictures of the wreath I made for my mom.  And yes.... another Pinterest find. :)

 This was the most tedious step.. took about 25-30 minutes to wrap the entire wreath. 

 I drew these on scrapbook paper, cut them out, then rolled them to make the flowers.  I kept them in place under a light bowl for a few hours, which seemed to help them keep their shape. 

Alex spent the weekend with his mom here in Chicago.  They had a great weekend at the Shedd, the Rivers Casino, and a few of our favorite restaurants here in the city.  

I'm starting to get into the beginning stages of a panic over where we are going to be living here soon.  Our lease is up July 1st and we know that we do not want to stay in our current apartment, however we don't really know where we want to live.  We're waiting on a few things to see if that will help us make a decision, but the clock is ticking and the whole "not knowing what's coming next" thing is not my style.  Hence... the panicking that is beginning.  

Tomorrow is Alex's 27th birthday.  He picked out some new shoes and we've got a dinner planned, but over all kind of laying low.  This weekend was the NATO summit... so that has made things in the city a little more complicated.  We really tried to avoid downtown at all costs!  A lot of the streets are closed, like Lake Shore- so getting anywhere is even more of a hassle than usual.

With the wedding and a move in our near future...  I think June will be filled with some exciting events!

Visitors and More Crafts...

While I was on spring break I had some very special visitors!  Brandy and Kayleigh came up to the big city for the day!  I was so excited!!  It happened to be the day after my birthday as well, so that made it all extra special for me. :) 

We spent most of the day just hanging out at the apt and chatting, which is what we do best!  We did walk over to Michigan Ave to have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and then over to Watertower to check out the American Girl Store.  So fun!  

Kayleigh experienced a lot of first things on this day... 

• First trip out of state 
• Longest car ride so far 
• First time to Chicago 
• First time on an escalator 
• First time throwing food all over her mama's face during lunchtime... yeah I laughed pretty hard at that one! :) 

Just days before she was ready to start walking by herself. 

Two of my favorite people! 

You guys are invited back anytime!  What a fun day!! 

______________________________________________________________________

To tag along with my last post.. Pinterest has gotten me again.  I found a version of this sign on there, which actually came from Michael's Craft Store.  Their example used black and white, but our living room is has more brown and deep red... so I went with that.  

I started by going to JoAnn's to get the supplies I needed because I don't have a Michael's or Hobby Lobby nearby (enter sad face).  They didn't have everything I needed, but I was able to get all of the scrapbook paper I needed there.  We went back home a few days after that, so I went to Michael's and got the wooden plaques (4 inches), paint, and hot glue gun.  Unfortunately, they did not have letters small enough to fit on the plaques.  So, now to craft store #3... I went to a Hobby Lobby out in the burbs up here and I was able to find small enough letters.  

So this is it... 

I did about 3 coats of paint (mainly b/c I bought way too much).  I played around with the paper to get them in an order that I liked the most.  I painted each of the letters the same color as the plaques. 

Before gluing everything down.

I hot glued all of the plaques to thick ribbon and slipped it through a D-ring. 

Final product.  I got the wall hanger thingamajig at Hobby Lobby as well.

But, sadly... now I am back in school.  My crafts have been put on hold. :(  

The first week back was a little rough.. just getting back in the swing of things and of course waking up at 5:20 again each day is not easy for me.  When I think about how I've been getting up at this time for so long now.. I'm amazed!  I use to complain about 7:30 classes at Purdue... and I could go in my PJ's if I wanted to then... boy how the times do change! 

Have a great weekend everyone!!