Donuts with Daddy!

On April 10th, Madelyn's school had "Donuts with Daddy". Tommy was leaving out of town that day but was able to make it to his girl's school!

She loves her daddy!

McKinney Triathlon

I did it. Over drinks and a hockey game with a customer (who is in to "Iron Man" races and the like) in March; Joey, my boss (Howard), and I mentioned we'd done adventure races, marathons (not me), etc IN THE PAST. Our customer suggested we all do one together and apparently we all agreed! Of course, when we agreed, we assumed (bad idea) that he would mean sometime in the future - far far future. Not so. He e-mailed two races to my boss mentioning that if I didn't do the race - how could he ever trust me! Not fair. I had no choice but to do it! Now, the first race was April 27th and my boss chose that one. Oh - and it was the Sunday after an entire week of traveling for "Sales Training". Let me just set this up for you: I haven't been in the work force for 4 years and now I'm the rookie sales person at "Sales Enrichment Week". Needless to say, it was a long week. But . . . we did it!!

It started at 7:00 am and I didn't want to wake up at zero in the morning to get out to McKinney, park, get my gear all set, etc. So we stayed at a Marriott (using points) and made it a fun night for the kids. Howard had us (and the Herridges) over for dinner! It was a great evening!

It was swim, bike, run. The weather could not have been worse. It was freezing cold and raining and I thought my legs were going to fall off at the end. But who's complaining . . .

My family (including Mimi) came out to watch me and braved the yucky weather! After the race, Howard giving Marek a high five. . .
At the end of the race! So glad to be done!

Mavs!

When Mimi and Dziadek were in town, we invited Paul Westphal and his wife, Cindy, over for dinner. Tommy was so upset that he was out of town - he's been wanting to see Paul for quite a while now. His wish came true! Paul was nice enough to get us tickets to the Mav's game. Daddy, Madelyn, and I had great seats, of course, and Madelyn LOVED it! It was a little too late for Marek so he stayed home with Sofia.

We had to do it right - popcorn and soda!

If her eyes got any bigger they'd fall out of her head!

A man behind us was nice enough to let Madelyn have his noise maker!

There's Paul!
I think the smile says it all . . .
Looking on . . .

There are Dirk and Mark Cuban!
After the game, we went "backstage" with Cindy to see Paul. The Mavs won and it was a great time had by all!

I hope Madelyn doesn't expect this royal treatment every time . . .

Cooking with Dziadek

Madelyn loves to help cook and bake anything. Dziadek made her day by letting her help make dinner for us one night while they were visiting . . .

That's our Au Pair, Sofia, on the left! She was enlisted to help,too ;)
When Dziadek told Maddie to wash the chicken, Mads said "my mommy does this all the time". Sofia got a kick out of that - so did I!! I cook a lot of chicken!

Houston Trip

We took a trip to Houston in early April for Brian and Jessica's second engagement shower. The trip there was our best trip with the kids so far! Sofia drove with the kids and me early since daddy had some meetings in Dallas.

Marek loves when Brock is in the car - he thinks it's silly . . .

Upon arrival, Brock jumped into the pool immediately. He loves Mimi's and Dziadek's pool!

Madelyn showing Marek how to use the adding machine . . .

Madelyn, Mimi and I got pedicures . . .

It sprinkled on Friday but it didn't phase my kids at all. They would have played in the rain all day if I let them!

We went to the Butterfly Exhibit at the Houston Natural Museum of Science and History . . .

The kids were enthralled with the frogs at the beginning of the tour - it was the very first exhibit!

"Let's take a picture on the giant caterpillar" . . . Marek loved it, I swear . . .
So many bugs to see, so little time . . .
The butterfly exhibit was amazing! They were everywhere . . .

If you look closely, there was a butterfly that I caught on camera that was fluttering all around Marek (circled in red below). His response was to scream! Oh wait, that's his response to EVERYTHING!
On Saturday, despite the pool being subzero - the kids wanted to take a little dip . . .
Even the dogs joined it - Brock fetched the ball before the Retriever did!!
ALL my kids . . .
The engagement shower was at Tony's in Houston - it was beautifully done. Great food and great people!
Djan and Marek . . .

Thanks, Mimi and Dziadek for ANOTHER great weekend!