Taking it easy this weekend

Well, life has been slowing down a bit by necessity. I'm just getting too darn tired to do much other than work, be a mom and sleep. (It's going to be a LONG August and September.)

This weekend, we went out to a BBQ at my co-workers house. Luke was simply thrilled to be playing with Riley (the 4 year old)... He copied everything and they had a blast together.

In other news, I prepared the baby's room for our upcoming arrival... getting baby diapers, new crib sheets, receiving blankets, etc. I'm going to rummage through Luke's old 0-3 month old stuff to see if we can re-use anything with the new child.

I also managed to do some decorating in Luke's room. I got him this cool canoe oar with engravings of Lake Minnetonka to go over his bed. Then, I got this painting on wood of some ducks in flight. It has a very rustic feel to it and goes with the Big Bear Campground theme. The coolest thing so far though is that I got Luke a personalized wood sign to go in his room from Cabelas. It is a bear theme and will say "Luke's Room Chanhassen, Minnesota" on it instead of the Lake Tahoe thing. See it here:

Anyway... there are still a few more things that I need to do to continue decorating the room, but it is starting to look like a nice North Woods themed place. :)

Next step, work on the little girl's room. I am thinking that we are going to get some butterfly and dragonfly wings and such for the room. I'll work on it though...

This weekend, Al went out golfing and managed to get below 100 on his score... so, he is thrilled- congratulate him the next time you chat with him.

Other than that, Luke is officially a big boy and now fits into the Lederhosen that we sent over by our long-time family friends, the Kopeckys (and Ohandjanians). The pictures were just too cute to pass up. I'm sure that Luke will look great in his Christmas pictures with these Lederhosen on, but here is a pre-view:

I'm planning on getting Luke's "big brother present" this weekend if I have the energy so that everything will be ready for the little girl's arrival. I'm planning on packing my hospital bag this weekend too because things are going to be crazy over the next few weeks until the end of August!

Hope everyone is well!

Well, there is never a dull moment with the Minnesota Lentinis. I got back from DC and into the flurry of our shareholders meeting. Then, Al and I headed out to Boca Raton for the National Convention of the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals. Nana came out to take care of Luke and they had a grand old time.

While at the convention, I experienced what I can only describe as a career highlight. The Director of Corporation Finance announced in his speech at the convention that the SEC had reconsidered their position and were changing their interpretation to be almost verbatim what I had advocated for 2 weeks earlier in Washington DC. Let's just say that there were lots of high fives and pats on the back for me at the conference. I'm guessing this is something that will not necessarily be replicated during my career. Anyway, Al and I came back with a little more tan and a lot more rested.

When we got back, we had a few days of work and then the July 4th weekend was upon on. Micholle, Jeb and Gigi came to visit, stay with us and help me celebrate a baby shower for our upcoming arrival. Cassandra was able to make it all the way from LA to spend time with us as well. It was a great weekend... gorgeous weather, time to have campfires with my "Smores-travaganza" gourmet S'mores festival, visits to the lake, shopping, etc. We packed in a lot of fun to a relatively short time. Luke and Jeb formed the "Cowabunga Boys" band. It's easier to show pictures than to explain all of the fun... so see the attached link.

http://picasaweb.google.com/bettychessin/MinneapolisTripJuly2008?authkey=X2-le-PQdwE

I really think it was one of the best weekends ever. Then again, how can you go wrong with a S'morestravaganza and a special delivery of charcuterie from Zingerman's?

I'm now try to convince Micholle and crew to move to Minnesota... I think Jeb already has his bags packed.

Life should slow down a bit now. We are going to be taking it easy this weekend. Going to a BBQ at the LaBahns next weekend and then maybe heading to the farm in Wisconsin for the last weekend in July.

August is already starting to fill up actually as we have a Thomas the Train trip, a Minnesota vacation to the Duluth area and a visit from Al's parents. We are also going to have a tour of The Birthplace where Luke's baby sister should be born in September.

All in all, we should stay somewhat busy for the rest of the summer, but not nearly as crazy as we were before.

Hope that everyone is doing well!