Annie has always been a busy body, always moving and grabbing everything in sight. She is our "human vacuum" and we have to keep all garbage picked up all the time. I'm not surprised that she picked this up so quickly. You should see the kitty run away from her!
One of the best things about Chicago is the food. Local food that you don't find anywhere else. Like a hot dog from Portillos or a pizza from Giordanos. YUM!
The shopping was also fun.
My mom and I experienced a local quilt shop in this cute little house that if you blinked you would miss it. It was amazing, called Quilter's Heaven, and it was!! 
And when you're downtown Chicago, American Girl place is a MUST. I think it makes me just as excited as my girls who have never been there! But they love their dolls and on this trip we brought Josie back Lanie.
We also got to ride the train downtown to the Lyric Opera House where my brother's graduation was. It was an awesome experience to be there, we are so proud of him and his wife for their hard work. All the graduation pictures are on a different camera, so I have nothing to show, but it was awesome.
I got to spend a lot of time with my niece and nephews and I'm so grateful for that! They live so far away that we haven't really had time to BOND. They were so sweet and we had such a good time and I really miss them like crazy. I wish I had more pictures!
We also spent a day at Six Flags. I am the biggest ride wimp ever. I don't like them one bit, being scared is not fun to me. I go for the refillable mug and popcorn. And to play with the kids. And try not to woof my cookies on the kids rides.
We're grateful to John's parents for taking our kids, flu and all. They had a great week, let me tell ya ...... I missed out on cleaning up a bunch of throw-up, from all FOUR kids! So extra blessings to my Mother-in-law!!
So this has been my theme for awhile now. I keep making flower earrings, flower corsages, I used it for my kids' teachers this year and last. I've had the most fun making headbands and pins and rings from cabochans I order online, and I made these cute pins out of fabric for my sisters-in-law for Mother's Day. They've worn them on their sweaters, purses, and would even be really cute on a headband. Anyway, I have this incredibly talented cousin, Allison, who runs this blog: http://www.cluckclucksew.com/ where I got this tutorial from. She is pretty darn amazing and smart and inspires me every day. We used to talk about being neighbors and I wish that was possible, but don't think it ever will be. For now I'm grateful for when I do get the chance to see her and until then, I'll keep copying everything she does.
