Violet turns on Clifford

One of Violet's favorite toys is Clifford, her big red dog that squeaks and provides endless amounts of fascination for her.

We're not sure why or when, but Violet turned on Clifford and we were surprised to find a good amount of his stuffing and one of his primary squeakers littered on our living room carpet.



This incident and the scale of its viciousness caused Heath to reflect on the state of Violet's soul. Join us in praying for her and Clifford. :-)

Okey-Doke

So that's it — we're caught up!

We're leaving Monday for the OC to celebrate Mackensey's high school graduation, so look forward to pictures Mac the graduate and Miss Madeleine (cutest niece ever).

Happy Birthday, John!

This past Saturday we joined a bunch of friends in celebrating the birth of one of our favorite people: John Decostanza. We watched the Sox cream the Minnesota Twins (sorry Ryan!) and then stuck around for a first-class fireworks presentation. We capped off the evening with a night cap at Skylark (of "The Breakup" fame — thanks, Vince Vaughn!).

Congrats Cristo Rey!

It seems like ages since Heath was teaching at Cristo Rey, but it's been only two years. He was fortunate to join the '08 grads and try to convince those attending UIC to take his "Religious Experiences in American History" class in the fall. :-)





It really is an honor to have been part of a program that does so much to make unimaginable possibilities a reality for this amazing kids. For more on Cristo Rey, click here.

Bye bye, Bessie

After 5 years of persevering through Chicago winters and many a bumper bump, Bessie, our Hyundai Accent, was on her last legs.

Luckily, mom was ready to part with her Subaru Forester, which Heath drove back from DC.

In honor of Bessie:



Once we name the new ride we'll be sure to post a pic.

Dena & Laura Get Older

While Heath was in DC, I was able to celebrate the birth of two dear friends: Dena and Laura. Lisa and Dena through a lovely party at their new home, served a yummy tilapia dish, and we were even treated to cool acoustic performance of Lisa, Dena, Micah and Dan's band (the name of which escapes me now!).

Happy birthday ladies!




(Pics courtesy of Lisa...Yes, she's that good...No, these were not taken at the party itself...)

Georgetown Class of '03

After NYC Heath drove back down to DC with my family to attend his 5-year reunion at Georgetown. He had the opportunity to see a bunch of friends including Andy and Andrea and the Galyen family, even in the midst of their packing to move to Spain.



The adorable Galyen kids!



Heath and Shawn


And here Heath is with Gilbert, Chris, Jesse and other sweaty '03 grads. :-)

Celebrating 50 in NYC

As many of you know, my dad turned 50 in November. Six months later, we finally celebrated in style in New York City. Heath and I flew in early and stayed with our friends Gilbert and Rachel at their great apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn. They took us on a walking tour of Brooklyn Heights that (while toasty) was beautiful and led to a fantastic out of the way cafe in DUMBO.




On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we met my dad, Aunt Renee and Tiara in Manhattan for various adventures including...

A trip to the Met where the superheroes and fashion exhibit was showing:










A Broadway show—Spamalot:





A Circle Line tour of the city:



(of course I noticed the Colgate clock in the harbor!)



Of course there was lots of food including (of course) great Italian food and great pizza.

As close as Carters get to farming...

In an effort to be more intentional about eating well, eating local, and being intentional about creation care, we joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) group through ResCov called Just Food.

For those of you are wondering what a CSA is, click here. What it looks like for us is that every other week we get a vegetable share of all sorts of yummy veggies and once a month we get a meat share of humanely raised beef, chicken and pork. This week, for example, we've been feasting on fresh lettuce, radishes, mustard greens, bok choy and more.

Our farmers, Mike and Claire, own part of a farm in Ottawa, IL. We went to the farm to —as Heath puts it—meet dinner and meet the people behind the CSA. Here are some pics.













There are plenty of other gorgeous images from the farm that the Daigles and Lisa took. Check them out!

When we were done at the farm, we went to the Cockrel home in Ottawa for a delicious BBQ. It was a fantastic day.

When the cat is away...

...the mouse will play. Or, in this case, when I travel Heath goes to Grand Rapids. :-)

This particular get away to visit Lisa Cockrel in idyllic GR, Heath was joined by Lisa Anderson and Matt Allison (a friend from Notre Dame). Violet also tagged along and was treated to some quality off leash time as well as first-class romping with a new dog friend named Dixie.






I had the camera in Vegas, so these great pictures are courtesy of Lisa Anderson.

Y-Me Race to Empower

This year, Modern Hygienist sponsored a team of runners for the Y-Me Race to Empower 5K race for breast cancer. Our parent team was Hu-Friedy, one of our biggest advertisers.

Despite it being a very rainy Mother's Day morning, almost our entire team showed up (9 of 12) and braved the elements for breast cancer. I was very proud of them all.


The Hu-Friedy tent.


Me and Renee.


Evita and Shuron.


Christine, her daughter Maddie and her mother-in-law Julie.


The entire MH team.


The starting line.