Makenna Turns 2!!!

Makenna when she was 1 day old

Makenna's first day home from the hospital

Makenna is always getting into something!

Makenna turned 2 yesterday! On Friday, Kimmy, Diane and I went to the park together and we had a little celebration for her last night. Eli made the best ribs and his cheesey potatoes put mine to shame. Auntie bought Makenna this huge canvas play set thing that took up the whole downstairs and kept the kids busy most of the night. Makenna did really great sharing all her new toys with her sisters, cousins and her best friend Marina.
Makenna is growing up so fast and keeping up with Erika and Olivia. Watching Makenna and Marina interact with each other the past few days has been so fun! They love each other and call each other by name now, have conversations and give each other hugs and kisses.
Last night after everyone left, Eli and I sat back and watched Erika and Makenna play together and it was such a precious moment (Olivia actually fell asleep on the couch in between Eli and I and was too tired to play). They were dancing, singing, and giggling. This is what I live for. My family makes me smile. My children make me smile. Time is going way too fast! If I could've pressed pause last night, I would have.

Here are pictures from the park and Makenna's birthday celebration.....

Makenna's 2nd Birthday 2007

Here is a little video when we sang Happy Birthday and Kenna eating her cake. It's a little long, but cute ~ Eli decided to take the video of her until there was no memory left in the camera.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A little stressed!

This was me last night! I think Eli was a little scared.

Better late than never!

The Girls

The Boys

Kevin and Cathie

Eli and I

This is from our trip with Kevin and Cathie, oh about a month ago. I've been waiting for the pictures from Cathie and she finally decided to get them onto Picasa so I could download them. Our vacation was so much fun. The kids were whooped by the end of the day. They were in the water from morning till dark. We had a fire every night.....we even got to have adult time because the kids fell asleep pretty early. Feeding 10 people for breakfast, lunch, and dinner became an assembly line. The weather was perfect and it started to rain when we were pulling away to go home....perfect! What a blast!

You can see all the rest of the pictures here.......

Lake Odessa

For all the Dog Lovers....

Jeffrey Animal Hospital, my favorite place to work, is sponsoring a vaccine clinic tomorrow at Hines Park in Livonia from 12 - 4. I will be there with Dr. Demetriou and Jeannie doing what we do best. Good prices on vaccines and it sounds like there will be a lot to do with you four legged friend. Eli is planning on bringing the girls to see all the fun. I love to do vaccine clinics. It's great to get out of the office, do something different, and see new people, and it's also fun to people watch. Pray that this one goes well......for Dr. Jeffrey's sake.

Last Weekend

Cathie's Birthday Celebration!

Eli and I spend a night out together!

Last weekend Eli and I went out to celebrate Cathie's Birthday. We went out to Zuki Lake Tavern for dinner and then went to 2 bars afterwards. The first bar was like being a gentleman's club, well to be honest, more like whore house, anyways we left there and went to another bar after we dropped some of the couples home. We had a lot of fun and those nights don't seem like they come as often as they should. You can read more about the evening here and here and see the pictures from Cathie's birthday celebration and day at the pool here.....

Celebrating Cathie's 37th Birthday ~ 2007

The Agusti and Marshall Family Reunion

Dad and Uncle Oscar

Olivia and Lauren having some fun in the water!

Last Sunday, we headed out to Irish Hills for the Agusti and Marshall family reunion. Irish Hills is a beautiful area! We drove through Saline and I want to move there. The Agusti's are not blood relatives but were a huge part of my life when I was growing up. I think of my Aunt Mary and Uncle Oscar as true family. Our families did everything together. Kathleen and Diane are still very close. Peggy and I have drifted a little, but alway have a great time together when we see each other! We all have children now, except for David. It was nice to get all the kids together. Interesting that the oldest and the youngest child belonged to Eli and I. We are also the couple with the most children. David informed me that Eli and I are the reason for overpopulating the world. Still, sad to say, David was the only one that couldn't make it, and was missed.
Peggy is a teacher in Livonia and is married to Curt and together they have 2 year old little girl named Megan. Kathleen is a social worker and is married to John and they have 2 year old twins, Dillion and Katie. All the kids had a great time. They went jet skiing, played in the lake and sand box, and made s'mores. Erika loved playing with the little one's. Interesting the our parents left on the pontoon boat and were gone for over 2 hours. Maybe all the kids were too much for them. You can see more pictures here......

Agusti ~ Marshall reunion 2007

And they're off!

Erika's First Day of 2nd Grade!

Olivia is in the Duck Room! She's a big "kindergartener!"

Erika and Olivia off on the bus! (Makenna in the background, yes she is still in her pjs, at least she has shoes on)

Is this totally selfish to say? I'm excited for my girls to be in school. There were people sobbing at the bus stop and sobbing at kindergarden orientation. Oh Please!!! I was ready to get out the pom poms and start cheering. (Yes I was sad when Erika started kindergarten and I may have shead a tear or two, but I am so over that, plus I was pregnant and hormonal!)
It is really cute watching Kenna scream "bye bye ka ka, bye bye bia" and wave to bus all the way down the street. Then her and I run back home as fast as we can and snuggle on the couch and watch Finding Nemo together.

You can see the rest of the pictures here.....

School Days 2007

Makenna in her "Big Girl" bed!

Eli set up Makenna's bed today. It is sad to think the next time we set up the crib it will be for our grandchildren (wipe the tear). Makenna was so proud and she layed down for her nap right away and said......."GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO", and pointed to the door. Now I just have to get that stinkin binky away from her. Baby steps.

An Inside Barbeque

We had a welcoming party for Bill. It was crappy outside but we managed to hang as a family. The boys played cards, Bill learned how to play euchre, the kids played dress-up and musical instruments (which is great for the ears) and the girls, well we just talked, caught up and played ref. Eli and Bill are watching 300 and I'm off to bed, I have an 11 hours shift tomorrow.

Click on the album for the rest of the pictures!

A Schultz Party

You know your parents are getting old........

...when they start buying outfits for your children that look like this! Wow!

A gift!

Bill had borrowed this picture when he was here last year so he could scan it. Well, while it was in his hot little hands, he had it professionally framed and matted for me! I LOVE IT! Thank you Bill! I will cherish it, what a thoughtful and wonder gift, I am speechless!

The David Crowder Band

If anyone knows me I am a huge worship music freak! It's just how I roll and I probably know every song! My children listen too and it's always playing in my car and I sing randomly at any given time or place. My friends and family have repeatedly made fun of me and I'm totally proud of it! Chris Tomlin was one of my favorites. When I went to the Captivating Retreat with Cathie and Sherry, I was the only one without an iPod and Eli was nice enough to buy me a portable CD player and I took some worship CD's with me. At the airport Cathie gave me a worship CD that Dave had made for me (which nobody has ever done for me before, Thank You Dave). The first song on that CD was "All I Can Say" by The David Crowder Band. That was the first time I heard that song and it helped me the entire weekend deal with some of my issues. When I got home I had Eli listen to it and we used to play it and sing it in the kitchen during dinner time. To make a long story short, The David Crowder Band helps me connect with God in such an awesome way. I love their newest CD, "A collision". My favorite songs are "You Are My Joy, He Is Our King, Foreverandever etc, and Wholly Yours".
I had foreverandever etc on my myspace page and Diane now likes them too! She can now no longer make fun of me because she listens now too!

Glory, Glory

Erika joined the girls Worship Dance Team at our church this summer. Today was her first time dancing on stage at church and she was a little nervous. Eli and I told her not to be nervous and that she was dancing for God and thats all that was important and not to think about all the people. She did great and I am so proud of her and ALL the girls, they are like little angels all dressed in white! A good friend of mine, Jen, was the choreographer and she did a great job!

This is the dress rehearsal before church this morning.

Papa Schultz has arrived!

Makenna already loves her Papa Schultz!

Bill has arrived safely, without his luggage, it is somewhere in Chicago and hopefully will be arriving soon. Right now we are drinking "dressed up" corona's (corona with salt around the rim and a lime in the bottle). I'm not a huge beer person but it's not bad! Bill is telling Eli all about the new Harry Potter book he is almost finished with and about to pick up dinner at Mancino's.

Papa Schultz Is Coming To Town

We are all excited for "Papa Schultz with the big truck" to come and visit. It's been an little over a year and is much needed. I am curious to see Makenna's reaction when she see's him. Erika and Olivia are giddy and are hoping he'll take his teeth out for them again. The girls and I are gonna get his room ready for him today. This is my email from him this morning.

"It's thursday night and I can't wait. You are going to have to put up with me for a whole week! I'll try to be a good boy, Ha! Better clean that house Dana. I'm going to do an inspection. See ya soon."

Love Papa Schultz

My email back to him informed him that he will be doing all the cleaning and laundry while he is here. I love that my father in law is the biggest smart ass I know and I am is favorite (and only) daughter in law. We always have a great time when he visits and we eat like royalty. Did I mention that Bill cooks too! Almost better that Eli.
Eli is able to take a few days off the hang with is Dad. I have to work on Monday and start school Thursday night. My summer vacation is coming to a screeching halt. Wow that was fast!

We are outta here!

I was all set to go to the Toledo Zoo and stay at this awesome hotel, reservations were made and Cathie and Kevin called around 2:00 and said that they were free and clear of their unfortunate incident that occurred and begged for us to come. I'm trying to do laundry and pack and get ready to go so we are at Lake by at least 10:00 for some campfire time, it's about 1 1/2 hour drive. Eli is going to call work tomorrow and try to get Wednesday off, so we can at least have 3 days of sun! We are taking Titus because I don't have enough time to drive to work to kennel him and Diane's gonna come over and check on the cats for me. I'm going through my cupboards and fridge for food and Cathie I will make a run tomorrow to the grocery store. The weather forecast for Lake Odessa is sunny and in the mid 80's Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I totally need this! I just need to get away and be with Eli, my girls and great friends. I'm praying we will stay free and clear of the "incident". Pictures will come soon. LATER!!!!!!

Don't want to do that again....

The garage sale is complete. The final total including my Mom, Diane, Bridget, Cathie and I was $442.75. My total was $195.75. Friday and Saturday was pretty slow. Saturday the Brighton Art Festival was going on so I think that had a lot to do with turn out, because Saturdays have always been busy the past 2 years. While I was packing it up, a lady came by, I gave her 2 boxes of crap for free just to get rid of it. I then packed EVERYTHING up and headed to the salvation army. I'm done with it. There was not going to be anything left in my garage and was not about to bring anything back in the house. My house is now clutter and junk free.
Now that most of my baby stuff and all my baby clothes are gone (or will be gone after I take the last 3 bags to consignment this week) from now on it will be off to the salvation army. Garage sales are a ton of work and I just don't think I will have another......at least for a couple years!
Diane and I work so great together and it was fun to go through stuff and be together, but stressful too at times! My sister is now know as the "Sign Nazi". She was obsessed and checked on them frequently, buying new ones and analyzing the proper locations. Kudos to her, we had a great turn out on Thursday....considering we didn't advertise. We only lost Ryan once and for the most part the kids got along....especially for being together non stop from Wednesday to Saturday. Thanks Diane for all you help and doing this with me even though you didn't really want to!

It's 1:15 am, our garage sale starts in 6 hours and 45 minutes. Diane and I are exhausted. We have everything priced and ready to go. It was a long day. I'm still downloading some of my CD's so I can sell them. Wish us luck! Goodnight, or shall I say good morning!

Stanley

Stanley is not one of my favorite cats. Reason being.....he is a dirty cat. When I say dirty, it means that he is too fat to reach and clean very well in certain "areas". The only reason why I like this cat is because he is the most lovable with the children. The girls use him as a pillow and love to cuddle with him. Except Olivia doesn't like him on her bed.
Makenna and Stanley lately have had a pretty special bond. She loves to lay will him and pet him. She gets a little carried away and hits him and pulls his fur, but he takes it.
Kenna has a new scream and isn't afraid to use it and she was "screaming" and being ornery, Stanley rubbed up against her and she started petting him...About 5 minutes later I went to check on her and this is how I found them. Watching t.v. together. Just being lazy. Stanley has the touch. And yes Makenna is only in her diaper. Her new thing is to take off all her clothes. I'm just happy that she is leaving her diaper on, we've had a few accidents.

I'm Bummed

Eli and I were suppose to take the family up north with our "Livonia" friends (as Dave and Cathie like to call them). Well....the vacation fell through and I am so sad! Sad because it would have been an awesome time! The kids always have a blast together and it was a great way to get the kids away and to get to be with great friends as well. What was also a bonus was all we had to pay for was food, gas to get up there, and gas for the boats. Erika was crushed when we told the girls we weren't going on vacation and got all teary eyed. I felt so sad for them, they were totally looking forward to it!
Eli and I both still have the time off work but no where to go. We started thinking about camping at Camp Dearborn and going to the Toledo or Binder Zoo. Anyone know anywhere cheap and fun to go that I can plan in 5 days?

My grades are posted!

I've been checking the LCC website about 10 times a day for the past four day. Totally nervous about my grade in my Psychology class. I was right on the boarder for a 3.5 and 4.0. It all depended on the department final. I was feeling ok about the test, but not sure. OH YEAH!!! 4.0 !!!! So my GPA is still a 4.0.
All my hard work paid off and I am having a proud moment!

What a pain in the neck

I am just trying to enjoy my 3 weeks off of school. This morning I woke up and couldn't move my neck or my arm. The pain in so horrible and I just can't get comfortable if I lay down, sit, stand or anything. I took 2 darvocet before my doctors appointment at 10:45 this morning and then realized I was so drugged I couldn't drive. My wonderful and loving sister came over to pick me up and take me there and drove around Hamburg with 5 kids in the car while I was at seeing the doctor. I guess I am having some muscle spasms and a nerve is being pinched, I am now taking percocet and soma every 4 hours. Diane took the girls and I back to her house and helped me with the girls and took care of me. I felt useless and trashed. I am so blessed to have Diane, there's not many people I could be around in that much pain and acting so stupid on drugs. Erika snuggled with me tonight and read me a chapter in her book, she loves the Majic Treehouse books. Miss Maddie and Emily prayed for me and my awesome husband gave me a massage for an hour tonight and can turn my head a little more now.
Needless to say, I had to call in to work and my garage sale will have to be postponed for a week, which is OK since I heard Thursday and Friday it's going to be in the high 90's.
I'm just glad that Makenna is feeling better today. She was running a 102 fever yesterday and was not feeling good. Yesterday she was kinda ornery.