That's the Olympics. That's Life.

I love the Olympics.  I love "sport".  I love the concept that on any given day, any given competitor has the opportunity to win or lose, no matter what the circumstances.

Case(s) in point:

• Stanford upsets USC in 2007
• App State upsets Michigan in 2007
• USA Hockey defeats the Russians in 1984
• The Little Giants defeat the Little Cowboys in 1994 (remember that movie??)
• Nastia Liuken defeats Shawn Johnson in the 2008 Olympic Women's All-Around

And adding to this list, Aly Raisman knocks Jordyn Wieber out of contention for the 2012 Olympic Women's All-Around.

My goodness...I love sport =)  If you didn't have a chance to watch this last night, I strongly suggest you check out any news website and read the story.  It's pretty incredible!

I also thought I would quickly share the fact that I believe it's utterly ridiculous and unfair for anyone to be complaining about how things shook out in the qualifications last night.  That's how qualifications work.  That's the Olympics.  That's life.  You have a bad day - you don't make the cut.  Period.  End of story.

What a shame that Aly now has to listen to everyone complaining about how unfair the rules are, how they should change everything, all because the reigning champion had a bad day.  Don't cheapen what Aly has accomplished.  Let's cheer on Team USA's representatives and actually act like a team.

Let's Go,  Team USA!  Best believe I will be watching and cheering and happy when all the medalists earn what they deserve.

Sneak Peek...

Just a sneak peek at some of the beauty I got to experience last weekend.  Stay tuned for more!

The dress.  Wait until you see it ON her!

I was a teeny, weeny bit obsessed with her hair and the veil =)

Also obsessed with her centerpieces.  And...are you taking note of the bundt cake???

Annie was such a beautiful bride - can't wait to share more with you!

Goooing to the Chapel and we're...

...goooonna get maaaarried =)

Two of my favoritest people ever are getting married this weekend.  To each other.  And I love it =)

This is the only pic I have on my phone of me and Annie right now.  But I assure you, I will take note of all the insanely amazing festivities this weekend.

Love love love you, Annie!!!  Eeeep it's wedding weekend!!!

Ramblings from the Hubs

After we watched the most epic, 80's tough movie ever - Flight of the Navigator: 

• Me:  giggling excitedly ...Okay...so what did you think???
• Marc:  silence
• Me:  C'mon - it was amazing!  Don't even act like you didn't love it.
• Marc:  ...Honestly...I think you're probably the only person to request that movie from NetFlix...ever...

Whatever.  Maybe the movie is way too deep for him to appreciate how amazing it is.  If you haven't seen Flight of the Navigator, you should totally NetFlix it and let me know what you think.  It's right up there with The Goonies, Never-Ending Story and Stand By Me.  Totally awesome and helped shape my childhood.

First Birthday - El Final

Alrighty - my last update on Dominic and Renata's birthday.  Just wanted to show you some of the fun activities for the kiddos (and, let's be honest, the grown-ups) and share some pictures of the guests!

The Indiana Felices had just made the transition to their new home about a month before the birthday party.  Insanity - I know.

That being said, they had a pretty awesome turnout of friends and family, considering they were a few hours away from their original home in Bloomington.  Here are some highlights:

Miles, Marc and Jim - enjoying the Indiana sun on the back porch.

Gram and Dominic - all the way from Pennsylvania

Some of their college friends with their little ones!

Dave and Rach had an amazing set-up for the other kiddo's attending the party - I definitely took a few notes!

They had an amazing ball pit!  I'm not gonna lie - I may or may not have gotten in this and tried to bury myself so I could scare grownups as they walked by...

Cute little bouncies!!!

The kids had so much fun playing with Dominic and Renata's toys =)

I think they did a great job of having enough stuff for the kids to do, as well as having enough grown-up stuff for the adults (aka...booze).  Lots of things I need to think about for when we're on the hook for a baby's birthday party =)

...okay and because I don't really have a way to wrap this up, I'll close with a fun picture that we took in New Buffalo, MI - a fun little "beach" town right off of Lake Michigan.  Since we stayed the weekend, we took a fun little day trip to check out the town and go to lunch - it was such a great time!

Dave and Rach - thanks so much for a super fun weekend and letting us join in the fun =)  And, of course, Happy Birthday to Dominic and Renata!!

The End.

Oh, by the way...

...kids love me.  Just in case you didn't know =)

Yes - note the series of events when Aunt Nicole tried to comfort little Renata upon our arrival.

And in case that's not evidence enough, here are a few little gems of when I went to visit my girlfriend, Sarah, and her sweet girl, Anna, this past February:

All's well.  Mommy is in this picture

Starting to get out of hand...

Aaaand meltdown.

At least one of us has a sense of humor about it...

Yes.  I'm a natural and kids love me.  *sigh*

First Birthday - Round Dos

Alrighty!  Now on to the grown-up part of Dominic and Renata's First Birthday Extravaganza - the food and decor =)

Dave and Rach are pretty fabulous entertainers (it must be a Felice thing...hehe), and they went all out for their sweet boy and girl's First Birthday party.  They used the "Uno" theme and carried it throughout the house, food, invitations and even their outfits!

They had a HUGE banner hung up in the living room...

...I needed to take two pictures of it, since it was so big!

And they had these fun "Uno-colored" lanterns hung, and streamers coming from all the lights.

I think every First Birthday needs baby pictures, so Rach made a cute little feature wall with pictures of Dominic and Renata from each month.

 

And then there was the food.  Oooh the food...

"Before" the food...

A little pre-party prosecco?  Surely!

If you don't know, Dave is quite the culinary genius, and Rachel isn't too shabby in the kitchen herself, so the food was in.cred.ah.ble.

On the menu:

• Mini-slider burgers
• Mini grilled cheeses
• Dill cole-slaw
• Award-winning homemade salsa =)
• Grilled and sauteed corn on the cob (to DIE for!)

Mini grilled cheese!  I ate, oh, about half a dozen of these =)

And then there were the desserts =)  One of Marc and Dave's cousins own a bakery and made this super cute cookie platter...

Tell me that's not adorable!

...and then the cake.  Sweet Lord in Heaven, the cake...here is a primo example of Dave's prowess in the culinary arts:

Yes.  Dave MADE this cake.

...just to give you an idea of how massive this cake was compared to a person...or a one year old (or two one year olds!)

I'd heard rumors of Dave's amazing cake-making capabilities before, but this was the first one I'd seen in person.  I was quite impressed, not just with the "Uno" decoration on top, but with the detail that went into assembly!  Check out the layers...

Who wouldn't want a piece of this cake???

Awww...proud parents - seriously how massive is that cake????

...yeah.  That happened.  And I ate a few slices and it was delicious =)

Overall - we definitely did NOT go hungry last weekend.  I basically used any excuse possible to eat another slider or mini grilled cheese.  "Oh we're opening presents?  Well, I must have a grilled cheese in one hand and a glass of wine in the other in order to watch this..." =)

And that wraps up the food portion of the Uno Overview.  Coming up in Round Tres' - kid activities.  Stay tuned!

...

...mmm...okay, and now I want some cake =)

First Birthday - Round Uno

I have decided - I LOVE childrens' first birthdays =)  It's not only a celebration of their actual birthday, but it's also a celebration to the parents for surviving that first year of child-rearing.  And, even though I'm not a parent, I recognize that that is a HUGE milestone and accomplishment!

This past weekend, Marc and I headed to Granger, Indiana, to celebrate our niece and nephews FIRST birthday, and check out the brand new Casa de Felice.  I'll break this update into a few highlights, but today we'll start with the cute tot pictures =)

Enjoy!

Dave and Rachel went all out with the "Uno" theme and had these adorable onesies made for Dominic and Renata.  Their names were also printed on the back.

Dominic!  It's your birthday - look a little more excited, mister!

Renata just having a little snack from Gram before the first party guests arrived!

 This was my first First birthday, and I absolutely loved watching the kiddo's attempt to eat birthday cake for the first time!

Renata!  You're ONE today!

 

I loved this - they were so enthralled with the balloons!

One of my favorite parts was watching Dominic and Renata during "Happy Birthday".  They were so confused as to why the grown-ups were making so much noise!

I love Dominic's face in this one - he's like "Hey!  Quiet down over there!"

And time for their first birthday cake!

"...ehhh..."

This pretty much sums up how popular the cakes were - not so interested!

Hey happy boy!

"Mother - promptly remove this messy thing from my high-chair immediately!"

We were in town for three days total, so I took a few other action shots of the kids.  I have also decided that I officially hate my camera - so if anyone could suggest a good "point and snap" camera, that would be great.  I have a Nikon from a few years ago and I hate the way it takes indoor photos!

Renata playing in her new "ball pit"

Happy Girl!!

 Dave and Rach had a house full of guests, so in addition to me and Marc, Rachel's sister, Natalie, husband, Miles, and brand new Baby Boy Blake were staying there too!  I must say - I felt extremely guilty about sleeping past 9 with two mommies in the house...but I was on Mountain Time!

Sweet Baby Boy Blake - 4 months old!

"Feed me, Gram!"

I was slightly obsessed with their new basement.  They had this awesome play area "caged" off for the kids, and I thought it was brilliant!

One of the highlights of Marc's trip - his Godmother sent him that shirt for his birthday =)

LOVE this pic of Renata - looking so playful =)

Dominic and Uncle Marc - too cute!

Renata on her new Stride and Ride from Aunt Nicole and Uncle Marc.  She's seriously days away from taking her first steps - we were really hoping she would while we were there!

Baby Blake - you are just too cute =)

I'll provide another update on the food and decor, but first wanted to share the baby pics =) 

Happy Birthday, Dominic and Renata!

The Felices