More than just survive...

So, my friend Cathy watched the boys for the 3 days that we were in Florida. Almost everyone at the conference asked me who was watching the boys and they all seemed a bit surprised when I told them that we left them with a friend. Almost everyone responded with "wow, she must be quite a friend". Yup, she is!

Cathy was the first friend that I made at freshman orientation at Aquinas College. It is unbelieveable that it was ...OMG...almost 19 years ago. How could it be that many years? Anyway, Cathy happened to live 20 minutes away from my house in Illinois, but we met at college 3 hours away from home. Cathy transferred to a different school after 2 years, but we have been great friends ever since. She is the kind of person that will do anything for you and always knows how to brighten a day. She is also a bit nuts, but that is definitely a good quality and makes a fun friend. ;)

AQ ~ October, 1989

Anyone that knows Cathy will be able to tell you that two of her best qualities are her organization skills and her love for children (and their love for her). I don't know about you, but I realized early on that these 2 skills together make a great babysitter!!! ;) If you add her degree and experience in photography, she is like a babysitting angel from heaven. LOL! When the boys were very young, Cathy had no problem taking care of 3 infants by herself. If you have never done it, it is probably not as easy as you think. I remember the first time that my dad watched the 3 of them by himself. The boys were about 6 months old. My mom and I were gone for about 2 hours. When we got back, my dad was wearing one of Spencer's shirts and was sweating profusely. Too funny...ummm Dad, Cathy doesn't look like that when we get home. ;) When Cathy babysat for us, by the time we got home, the boys were asleep, the house was clean and there would be pictures of her evening with the boys already loaded onto the computer. Amazing!!

July 2003

Needless to say, Cathy was a top person on my list of people to call when I needed help taking the boys to the doctor, or to get pictures taken, or really anything else. So, when this trip to Florida came up, we knew that it would not be right to call my mom and dad because they babysat for us for 4 days in November (I know, we're spoiled) and of course they are busy with the cousins. So, we called Cathy.

She did awesome. As usual, the house was clean, the boys were ready for bed and there were pictures on the computer that detailed each of the days that we were gone. Everyone was very happy when we got home, including Cathy! My pantry doors were even decorated with a Cubs and Sox schedule that the boys can fill out with wins and losses....she even had time to do a craft! She did agree that mornings were a bit crazy, but it wasn't as hard as she thought it would be(!!). As parents, that was such a relief and joy for us to come home to.

Thanks Cath!! You are awesome and I have learned so much from you!

Taken by Cathy at Kiddie Kandids in Schaumburg 06/07

Go there, she's awesome!!!