Dum Dum Da Dum...

After 14 years of dating, my brother Jim and my now little-sister-in-law have tied the knot. phew! He had to travel the world to win back her affection and boy did it pay off.
Trinity graced the bridal party (with cousins Aria & Violet) as flowergirl and Everett brought some class with his dapper self as ring bearer.
It was a precious day.

We became desperate to keep Reeve quiet during the hour long ceremony. I was smart enough to load some of his favorite shows on my Ipod the night before. Even if it meant letting him crawl on the floor. If he was quiet, I didn't care a bit. We did lose two buttons off his vest sometime during the day. Now I know how that happened.
dancing machines.

Me and sister Jen resting between the ceremony and reception.

RMHC

On June 5th the family set out to support my neighbor's time/energy and passion she put into The Ronald McDonald House Charities. We, of course, always love to support a good cause especially when children are involved. Last October I ran the Chicago Marathon for the charity. This year I ran a 5k. LOL I think I did have the best 5k time for pregnant ladies. Although, I may have been the only insane one out there.

Trinity ran the quarter mile race while all three ran the 50 yard dash. Reeve still likes to proudly display his medal while going topless. I don't quite get it.


(Not sure who looks more weird in this picture, me or Ronald.)
Trintiy with our our neighbor girls.

We cooled off at my aunt's pool where Reeve perfected his signature cannonball jump. It doesn't matter if you were there to catch him or not, he was jumping in. We quickly realized the danger of swimming pools and fearless 2 years olds.

This video captures our kids' personalities perfectly. Reeve flips out crying (much like Everett last year) which he does often, especially in a setting that he is not comfortable with. There is mama trying to encourage him along.

Everett takes off first but quickly slows down to make sure his siblings are close behind him. He doesn't want too much distance between them but also makes sure he wins.

Trinity tries to wait for Reeve and comfort him but once she realizes that isn't working she runs to the finish but is shy about it perfectly placing her hair behind her ear which she always does when she is nervous. or when strangers are watching her.

rmc rae from Leslie Campins on Vimeo.

Sacrifice

A soldier from our town was recently killed in Iraq. His wife and mother work at our library so it hit pretty close to home. I wanted to pay my respects and also have a lesson about sacrifice and what this country is about to Trinity and Everett. They were pretty moved about this soldier giving his life to fight for freedom. It was very sad for all of us. My prayers go out to his family, especially his wife who has to celebrate their one year wedding anniversary a widow.
Waiting for the funeral procession to go by.Everett made a poster of a soldier.Trinity made a poster that says Thank You!

Mama is having...

another baby. Baby GF (grand finale) will make her (according to Trinity) this Christmas!

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

Saturday we zoomed to get Everett's t-ball pictures taken, zoomed downtown for a great Charlie show with Eddie, T and E (Emerald City Theatre is my *favorite* entertainment for the kids in the city while I zoomed to Logan Square (with Reeve) to visit Miss Sarah and "old" moms' group friends (love tank FULL) and then we zoomed to Schaumburg for...
Miss Ruby's 1st birthday party!

Trucks

My kids love climbing, driving and jumping. Even more so when it is on construction equipment, emergency vehicles and farm gear. We love touch-a-truck season!
detained...

Jasie's Day.

Our nephew turned one and we celebrated big time.
Perhaps he was sad because he was tired, didn't like the attention, the rain, he doesn't like getting older but he had lots to smile about. His mama gave him the most detailed elaborate party I have seen, complete with candy buffet, GIANT balloons, vintage airplanes on the cake, cupcakes, party favors, banners, labels, signs, toilet paper (just kidding). It was all just gorgeous.
Happy O-N-E Jason!

Summer is Clearly Upon Us.

starting to feel like summer!

Soul Sisters

I love to relive this friendship about once a year. trinity and emma are so darn cute together. Emma stayed the night at our house this past weekend and we then spent the next day at emma's house catching up and relaxing. These two will go months without seeing each other and it is like no time has passes between them. It is the sweetest friendship I have witnessed.

On a side note, emma's sister josie and everett may be crushing on each other...or they just really love each other's company. :)

Summer 2006

Summer 2007
Summer 2008
Spring 2009 Fall 2010
Summer 2011

Choo Choo...

Choo Choo, Reeve turns Two!
Trains were his theme since it one of the few things he loves and gives a shout-out to. Not that he loves little but he talks little.
Loving his choo choo cake.I am also loving the decorations I made. I usually buy such things on Etsy but thanks to my handy Cricut machine and some patience, I whipped out some cute stuff myself.The morning came with a tornado warning and the inability to put up a jumpy house due to the soaking wet ground but I was happy that the weather cleared up so he could play outside with friends.This is his happy face. He is happy he just got a bunch of candy from the pinata.He got a rockin big wheel which has been taken over by Everett. But, Reeve's feet cant quite touch the petals yet. His most favorite gift, courtesy of mama and daddy, is his motorized truck which he drives.all.over.the.house. like a retiree in Pasadena.
His happy cake face!