School Conferences and Keylime Cove

Elena's School Conferences went very well, so we celebrated with an afternoon at Keylime Cove! Elena was very excited about winning rubber duckies and finally earning enough points for a stuffed animal prize!

Party Favors

Elena's Birthday has been celebrated in two parts...family and otherwise...we decorated the table for the family portion...we had cake and had an evening out at Chuck- E-Cheese...and Elena made a friend or 3 along the way! :)

Nooooot Happy....

Yeah..the dog does not like baths...

Workin'with Daddy...

Eric is doing some amazing things to the ceiling in the front room...and Elena is helping!

Hot Time in the Cold City!

Renee and I spent the day in Chicago after our Friday night event celebrating her new job she started Monday! She has been working so hard and this has been a huge blessing! So, admiring the River turning Green for St. Patrick's Day weekend, shopping, perusing Navy Pier, and eating were on the "menu of the day" so to speak!

More Photos of SGK Dancing!

Zoraida Sambolin of NBC Chicago

wins the Celebrity Dance Championship Award for 2011!

Dancing With Celebrities 2011

The Sixth Annual Dancing with Chicago Celebrities was held this past weekend again at the illustrious Hyatt Regency Crystal Ballroom in Downtown Chicago, and I was fortunate to go with not one, but two, lovely ladies this year, Loni and Renee!

The food was even tastier, the dancers "sparklier", the prizes even bigger, and the best yet?!?! The most successful year to date in raising funds to support Susan G Komen!!!

Highlights of the night were winning some great prizes ourselves, watching Renee's smile get bigger and bigger with excitement, and listening to the inspirational stories. I would like to mention TV personality Dina Bair, who has been a part of this celebration for a few years, and for a good reason. Last year, she delivered an amazing story of triumph while this year she expressed sorrow that her test results that very same week were not good. Still, she is a fighter and a survivor and she is going to keep on going, large in part due to the giving of SGK and it's supporters.

I'll have a few posts for photos!

Race Car!

Elena had a race car designed for the Wednesday Night Kids Church Derby...I'm trying to decide who had more fun with this...Eric or Elena...hhhmmmm...

Some more MN Photos

Mmmmm...some of the best omelette's! That chef rocks! He even remembered us from last year! :)

On the road again...I just can't wait to get on the road again!!!

Loni having dinner with us before going back to Chi-town! Thanks for a great weekend, girlie!

Some Pictures from the Pageant

Carl and Faith Schway are some of the nicest pageant directors (and people in general ;) ) I have ever met. They always treat me as if I were one of their formers when I come for a visit. I've known them now for about 5 years, having met them the first time when I attended Mrs. America to cheer Julie Rinehart on, and working with them and others for pageant prep a couple years ago at the Midwest Pageant Expo they held in MN. The last two years attending their pageant weekends have been some of the best times and biggest highlights for me being in the Mrs. America System for many reasons. I am really thankful for them. They also put together one of the most stellar pageant productions I have ever seen - which is televised in MN, by the way! - from the venue, to the talent, to the overall show, this is one worth traveling to see! Thank you for a great night!!! :)

Pictures of Formers - That's JUST MN!!!

WI and IA Formers - LONI!!!! ;)

Contestants for WI, MN, and IA

Queens!

Getting Ready for the Big Night!

Next Day in MN

We had a good amount of free time on Friday, so Loni treated me to some of her old stomping grounds, going to a fun lunch place, getting to finally see Bessie's Boutique - one of the best places to shop, and not just for pageant wear! We also went to a "hole in the wall" with the best deals on clothes ever, and then onto our favorite restaurant in St. Paul...W.A. Frost! Some

Funnies were:

When we were hanging out talking to Mrs. Georgia, her director, and Bessie, they realized that I was standing perfectly under Bessie's sign, making me look like I had a crown on my head!

Driving from one place to another, we found what we call "the Bank of McDonalds"...the McDonalds was in an old bank building...HILARIOUS!

While enjoying our dinner at W.A.Frost, we spotted the MAN Purse!

That night in our hotel, I ordered a bottle of wine to be delivered up, and the concierge asked me if I wanted a glass...I repeated that I was ordering a bottle and he said, "yeah, do you want a glass, too? " As Loni would say, "OH GOOD GRAVY!!!"

Mrs. IA, MN, WY Pageant

This past weekend was spent trekking to and from Minnesota to enjoy a girls' weekend full of pageantry fun with my dear friend and fellow pageant class of '09 sis, Loni. We had some great laughs being ridiculously tired from car travel, great times spray tanning and makeup, making some new friends, reconnecting with old familiar ones, and enjoying some amazing food and even more amazing shopping! I'll have several posts to share our weekend, and some true funnies! Enjoy!

Photos are of the hotel, cute duckies, and a truck we followed for a VERY long time...can't decide if they knew the way, or if it was all about the cheese...