Now I'm a Mom: Marvelous May......chock full of birthdays!

We began our month of May by attending a surprise 21th birthday brunch for my niece Kim (my first baby!;) It was a wonderful day spent with all of my family celebrating this remarkable young woman!

What an amazing day! :)

The following weekend was Mothers Day and Mackenzie's birthday so we decided to celebrate both those occasions as well as Ryans birthday too! It's not always easy to get everyone together for these celebrations so we try to pack as much fun into these gatherings as possible!
Here's a shot of the cousins (minus 3 of them) taken on the little roller coaster! When the hell did all these babies grow up so fast?!

We grown ups enjoyed ourselves too!

After everyone left that evening, the kids gave me their Mothers Day gifts (after putting the birthday crown on my head! :) I loved reading all of their handmade cards,

and then was blown away by the handmade pillow that Kelsey made for me!

Mackenzie's actual birthday is May 9, so Grammy came back over for cake and presents! How is it possible that my baby is now 6?!

In addition to her busy soccer playing, she now also plays baseball!

Much to my dismay, she likes playing catcher!

Next up was Ryan's 12th birthday......yes, I did say 12TH! HOLY MOLY!!! REALLY?! Time needs to just take a chill pill if you ask me! ;)
Here's one of my favorite posts about Ryan's birthday, if you want to take a little walk down memory lane ~ http://nowimamom.blogspot.com/2008/05/happy-birthday-ryan.html

The morning of his birthday we were all set to check out the brand new Dennys that recently opened in town! Grand Slam brunch, here we come! But no, our boy decided it was Friendlys or nothing! So off we went with Grammy joining us, of course!

We knew it was going to be a beautiful day weather-wise so we decided to attend a very special fundraiser. Please check out this link and donate to this amazing charity if you are able to - http://blog.hancefamilyfoundation.com/2011/05/11/family-fun-day-update/We all had a fabulous time, what an incredible tribute to these 3 beautiful girls who are so dearly missed.

The kids got to meet up with SPARKY the Dragon from the NY Islanders ~

and practice for a hula hoop contest ~

but none of that compared to going on the "BIG SLIDE!"
Here's Kelsey climbing up while Mackenzie is going down ~

and here's Kelsey coming down as Ryan is climbing up ~

The fact that he climbed this towering slide by himself was a huge accomplishment for him, (in the past, he's been terrified of heights and would usually go up 2 or 3 steps and then change his mind) But not this time, it was HIS idea to go on this slide in the first place. We were so proud when he got to the top! And then I freaked out a little when I saw how he decided to come down it! LOL Damn boys! ;)

While the girls decided to go check out the adorable treehouse ~

Ryan decided to try out the jumbo slide once again (this time coming down the way Mommy said, on his hiney! saving me from having a 2nd heart attack! ;)

When we got home from the awesome family fun day, we asked Ryan what he wanted to do for his birthday dinner. His answer of course was a picnic in the living room! So we ordered a pizza and had at it!

Finally it was time for presents - he loved the homemade cards his sisters made him!

It was really a magical day!

Then after we got over my May bookends birthday festivities, we've been busy up to our eyeballs in Miss Kelsey events. First attending her chorus concert ~

and then her band concert where she rocked out on the flute giving Jethro Tull a run for their money!;)

Yesterday, we attended a first communion celebration party for our sweet friend Riley. It was another fabulous day spent with dear friends having a blast, while dancing the day away!

Ryan was having such a blast, he couldn't contain his happiness!

Here he is asking my mom to dance - please be sure to keep her in your prayers as she is going in for knee surgery which will insure she has many more years of boogieing down with Ryan! ;)

And now, as we look forward to seeing our sweet Kelsey marching tomorrow in the Memorial Day parade with her school band, we can't help but to remember my Dad, and Marks Dad, and all of the other brave heroes who have fought for our freedom!