Neglecting the blog ... bad blogger

I've been neglecting my blogging here. I know in the past I've had sparse months with just a few posts, but never missed an entire month. The year is simply zipping by too quickly. April came and went and it's not that nothing happened, I just didn't take a few minutes to post anything, or attach a picture or two. We did have a wonderful zoo trip with Gracie and Clara Ann (but that was St. Patrick's Day weekend ...). Something surely happened in April. Think, think...

Well, in May we did the Walk MS 5k with Nikki last weekend (Mother's Day weekend). It was so nice to be able to be there and support her. The walk went very well. I think we had about 11 people walking with our group. Next year we'll be more prepared, and have it down. We did design our own team t-shirts, which was cool because there were a lot of teams out there with their own shirts, so we looked like we knew what we were doing. Jeni came up with the slogan, "We are Nikki King." Essentially, if she is going through this, we're all going through this. We designed a logo borrowing the Virginia Tech VT and colors.


The front...


...and the back.

We were so happy with how the shirts turned out. We're already looking forward to next year and the possibilities.

Nikki's baby shower

Nikki with the cute cake
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

A couple of weekends ago we went to Atlanta for Nikki's baby shower. We always have such a great time when we go down there. Suzanne did an awesome job with the shower and Nikki just glowed. Her little belly is so cute!

In addition to the shower we also helped get Brandon's nursery ready for his arrival. It looks so cute! I can't wait for Nikki to send us some pictures with bedding on the crib and the new dresser.

Map addict

I enjoy maps, tourist info and welcome centers. When we were over visiting Nikki and Todd, I learned that Evan has a growing fascination with maps. I was in his room with him and he switched the TV to the Weather Channel to look at the maps. So on the drive home, I got the idea to go online to the tourism sites and order maps to be sent to Evan. Well, I get carried away sometimes. Evan should be getting travel info and state maps from all 50 states. I remember being his age and getting so excited when I got mail, especially when I wasn't expecting it. So this should be fun for him. I just hope Nikki doesn't kill me for deluging them with mail.

Evan's new room

We went to Atlanta this weekend to visit Nikki and Todd. Evan had his first big-boy sleepover Saturday night, including a trip to the circus and a birthday party at Pump It Up. With Evan out of the house, Jeni, Tiffany and I helped Nikki and Todd move Evan into a bigger room and makeover his room into Preppy Guy Plaid.

Evan was thrilled with his new space.
Sorry about the dark pictures... Jeni managed to hang Todd's old Cincinnati Red's bat over the door (if I had hung it, someone would be getting a concussion) and I helped hang the cool shelves on the wall.
Rooms To Go delivered Evan's new dresser right on time as the room was coming together and the space was open. Now Evan has twice as many drawers. He checked his old dresser when he got home and wanted to change clothes and came downstairs to tell Nikki he didn't have any socks or underwear. He's such a good boy...
The blue panel curtains were an ordeal, but we found them at Target number three right before Target closed Saturday night. It was a full day. We started the room first thing, then took a break for a trek to Ikea, then two Targets (the other Target was Friday night), and then home to finish the projects. But it was worth all the effort because the room looks great and Evan was so excited. My favorite quote was from Evan as he came up the stairs. Lizzy the dog was in his way, blocking him from his room, and five-year-old Evan said, "Lizzy, I'm gonna kick your ass." Don't mess with Evan.