New tradition

POSTED BY TODD.

Rich Shapiro hosts a bonfire every Friday night starting at 10:00 p.m., and over the last 6 months I have attended frequently and caught up with a lot of people from the old neighborhood. Anyway, Rich inspired Melinda, and last Friday we started a Friday night pool party tradition for families with kids. Melinda sent out an e-mail to several people, and gave Cole and Ella notes to give to their friends, but we didn't really expect much the first (Memorial Day) weekend. To our pleasant surprise, we had about 25 people show up for the inaugural event. It was a blast, and several people said that they will plan on coming every week unless they have a conflict.

Come join us if you can sometime(s). We start at 5:00 and go to about 8:00. Dinner is served.

Kristin's Stitches

For the first time in 13 combined years, one of our kids’s ended up in Urgent Care for stitches.

After gardening with dad, Katy and Kristin decided to take a shower. Mom and dad came back into the house as Katy was yelling that Kristin had been hurt. Usually this means a small cut or bruise but this time Kristin came down the stairs with blood streaming down her face and chest. Apparently she slipped and did a face plant on the shower floor while reaching down to pick up the soap.

The doctor at Urgent Care proclaimed that if they gave out awards for stitch bravery Kristin would win. She was a real trooper and did not cry or protest as she received 3 stitches on the outer lip and 5 stitches on the inside lip. The doctor told her that a large, heavily tattooed man had been in for stitches earlier and cried like a baby.

They are the Dancing Queens....

Ramona, Kallie, Mark and Stephanie spent the morning of Saturday, May 12th at the Rockford High School auditorium watching Katy and Kristin perform the dances they have been working so hard on since September, 2005. Kristin performed her tap routine first to the song, "Banana Phone". How adorable they looked tapping across the floor, swaying their hips, in their little yellow outfits. Next was Katy, dancing very beautifully to the song, "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You." Stephanie got tears in her eyes! Kristin finished with a very cute ballet performance. The group looked like little baby chicks in their fluffy, yellow tu-tus. Both girls did a fabulous job, and Mark rewarded them each with a bouquet of eight pink roses afterwards.