Just Janelle

a wild encounter

2012-01-31T15:02:00.000-08:00

The five of us spent last Saturday, the 28th (a cold, windy January day), at Brookfield Zoo. Many of the exhibits are indoors, so the cold didn't bother us too much, and we decided that January is an awesome time to go to the zoo! There were very few people (unlike summertime, when we usually go), and many of the animals that are sleeping or subdued (or hiding out in their shelters) in the hot summer sun were actually very active in the winter.

We arrived at the zoo EARLY, about an hour and a half before the zoo even opened. Nick had a ticket to a Wild Encounter, the Aviary Adventure, at 9am. (And since he's under 18, a parent had to accompany him ~ I went along and enjoyed it almost as much as he did!) We were a little surprised that they let us in at 8:30, but they did, so Nick and I wandered around the zoo for awhile, seeing no other humans except for zookeepers. That by itself was pretty cool!

We walked over to the baboon exhibit, and the keepers were just opening the door to their indoor enclosure. About 6 baboons walked out onto the rocks, sat there for about 20 seconds, then they all got up and left, heading back where it was warm! I couldn't really blame them....

Then we walked over to the pond and watched the pelicans that were rescued from the Gulf a few years ago.

We spotted this peacock hanging out in front of the Feathers & Scales building:

And I took this picture of Nick in front of the Perching Bird building, where his Encounter was to take place:

At 9am, the zookeeper met us at the door of the building and led us inside. We went right into an office where we saw Cookie, Brookfield's famous cockatoo, who has been there since opening day in 1934. We've seen Cookie before, several times, but he's been off exhibit for 2 or 3 years now ~ we were happy to see him again! And Nick got to prepare his food dish and put it in his cage. :) Cookie seemed very excited to have company and "talked" to us every time we walked in the room.

Nick helped prepare all the other food dishes ~ probably about 10 in all. Then he pulled on some zookeeper boots, and got to go into the free flight exhibit, to replace all the old dishes with the new ones. Guests are not allowed to take pictures during the Wild Encounter, but I did take these afterwards. This is Nick with the bird's zookeeper (I can't remember her name, ack!). Bernard and Cleo the macaws (brother and sister) are in the background:

This white-crested laughing thrush was so funny! He just whistled and whistled and whistled at us the whole time we were in there....

There are many other birds in the exhibit ~ teals, motmots, cape thick-knees, and bali mynahs, to name a few.

This shows part of the free-flight exhibit. Nick put that food dish there, and also one in the cage in the back:

Nick and "his" exhibit:

While talking with the zookeeper, I mentioned to her that Nick is a fan of ALL animals, and hopes to be a zookeeper one day. She then decided to take us over to The Living Coast, another building, and take us behind the scenes to show us some more animals. We got to stand less than a foot away from several Humboldt penguins ~ easily the highlight of the day for me! :) I was so tempted to reach out and pet them, except that the zookeeper had already warned us that they are bad biters....

She showed us the stingray tank, the diving tank (penguins, leopard sharks, moray eels, etc.), a young speckled caiman, some cool moss frogs, and some teeny tiny frogs (I forget what they were called), and a rubber boa that Nick got to hold! We also saw two Birds-of-Paradise that are temporarily being housed at The Living Coast while they are doing work on the Perching Bird house. Nick got to hand feed the female (she took waxworms from his fingers) and throw waxworms to the male (he's not hand-tame, but is a good catch when someone throws food to him!) It was a wonderful experience for both of us, and one we'll never forget!

Our Encounter ended around 10:30 (it was supposed to end at 10, but with all the extra animals she wanted to show us, it went over). Then we walked over to Tropic World, where we met up with George, Emm, and Ben. Among other things, we saw the tapir:

and some gibbons. We saw a gibbon baby, only one month old, with his mom... but I didn't get any good pictures....

In the Hamill Family Play Zoo, we had fun watching the lemurs and other animals:

and Nick pretended to be a zoo director ~ his dream is to be in charge of his own zoo someday!

We enjoyed watching the alligators in The Swamp:

In Feathers and Scales we saw this snake:

some chuckwallas:

and this cute Amazon Milk Frog:

We went back to The Living Coast:

where we saw sea slugs:

crabs:

a life-size replica of a sea turtle:

funny cowfish:

more penguins:

and Incan terns:

In the Great Bear Wilderness, we watched the eagles:

the wolves (which we rarely see... they were loving the snow!):

the polar bear:

and the bison, who also seemed happy with the cooler weather:

We also saw giraffes up close:

and these bactrian camels, who were actually frolicking in the snow:

By this point, George, Emm, and Ben were getting worn out. They headed to the car while Nick and I rushed off to see a few more animals before leaving. We saw an Amur leopard:

and then inside The Fragile Desert, we had a blast watching the meerkats! We were surprised because when they saw us walk into the building, they came running to the front of the exhibit! Some of them even put their paws up on the glass, and were looking up at Nick expectantly:

We stood and watched them for quite awhile before heading on. We saw this sleepy caracal and several other desert animals:

Then we decided to go back to the meerkats ~ we got there just as a zookeeper (standing right where Nick had been standing earlier) threw food into the exhibit for them. No wonder they were so happy to see us, LOL!

This black-footed cat posed for me on our way out!

We had fun watching this sloth bear playing with one of his logs:

Then we headed over to the sea lion exhibit before going to the car. Our friends Steve and Karen "adopted" a sea lion named Josephine for Nick for Christmas. (The money they gave goes toward her care.) Here he is, standing by a Share the Care sign:

We arrived at the exhibit right at feeding time!

We're pretty sure the one on the right is Josephine. We heard the zookeepers talking to her and calling her by name:

After the sea lions ate, they went for a swim:

and then relaxed (and yawned!) by the rocks!

Nick and Josephine... we think!

It was such a fun day! :)

a golden birthday

2012-01-24T09:50:00.000-08:00

Nick celebrated his "golden birthday" this year ~ he turned 13 on Friday the 13th! Even though he had to go to school, he still had a happy day. :) It had (FINALLY) snowed the day before, so after school Nick and Ben went out to play in it:

That evening, the five of us drove over to the Rainforest Cafe for a birthday supper. Here we are, at our table:

Checking out some of the fish:

And under the restaurant sign:

Then we went home for a family party. I like this cute photo of the two brothers!

Opening gifts:

A mandrill! (From Ben. Emmalie gave him a meerkat, and both siblings gave him a small bag of magnetite rock, which Nick had really liked when he saw it at the Rainforest Cafe.)

George and I gave Nick this shirt, and we also bought him another Wild Encounter at Brookfield Zoo, which he will attend in March.

George and Nick:

The birthday boy with his yummy cake! Nick had read about peanut butter pound cake in a book and requested one for his birthday. I found a recipe that used chocolate chips along with peanut butter, and we decided to use that one. It was delicious! :)

Since it was his golden birthday, I put up yellow streamers and bought yellow balloons. (And, since Nick's favorite color is yellow, anyway, it worked out well!)

Happy Birthday, Nick! Hope you have a wonderful time being 13!!

holidaze

2012-01-11T10:53:00.000-08:00

Our holiday season was packed with fun, and I didn't even have time to post pictures until now! Here are a few of the things we did in December of 2011...

On the evening of the 2nd, we went to Luminaria, our town's tree-lighting ceremony. Ben got to visit with Santa:

Emmalie and I performed several carols with the high school choir and our Community Choir:

All lit up!

Just a few of the luminaries around town that night:

On the 3rd, Emmalie and I attended the WELCA Christmas luncheon at church. The theme was "Come to the Manger":

Once again, the Palatine High School choirs performed for us, and once again, they were incredible!

Later that day, the five of us went to Home Depot and picked out our Christmas tree, a frasier fir this time:

That evening, we decorated it:

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the tree when it was finished that night. Just a few days later, one whole string of our lights stopped working, so this is how it looked the rest of the month... not nearly as bright as it had been!

Our nativity set... after Nick added a hyena, a panda, a koala, and a giant squid!

I did my annual photo shoot with the kids, and ended up sending this photo in our Christmas cards:

I really like this one, too, though:

On the 15th, the high school hosted its annual Seasonal Serenade, with performances by the orchestra, the band, the guitar choir, and both vocal choirs. They were all very good! For this number, the orchestra played while the Chamber Choir and the Chorale sang. Emm is standing in the back, just to the right of the middle tree:

The Chamber Choir. Emm is in the front row, second from the right:

Emm after the show, standing by the sleigh that she painted for the occasion:

That night, Emm and I finished up some teacher gifts. She painted these clipboards:

And I painted one for Ben's teacher. (Ben and I also bought some new glue sticks and dry erase markers for the classroom.)

On the 16th, I attended the Kindergarten class holiday party. One of the students gave everyone a new coloring book, and they all had fun coloring in those!

Playing Duck Duck Goose:

Ben with his teacher:

On the 17th we finally got a little bit of snow. (We did get a dusting one other day before this.) Nick and Ben went out to play in it before it all melted away:

On December 18th, the Youth Drama Team performed during the 9 and 10:30am church services. It was Ben's first speaking role ~ he played one of the innkeepers, and had this one line, "Sorry, we're overbooked! Everyone's in town for the census." He practiced it so many times, and did an awesome job during his performances! :)

That afternoon, we returned to church for the Gingerbread House Event. We had a great time making ours! Nick fashioned a toilet out of a marshmallow and put it inside the house, LOL:

The finished product:

Emm designed and created the chimney, using bits of caramel and Tootsie Rolls:

That night, we surprised the kids by taking them to Brookfield Zoo for their Holiday Magic event. There were lots of cool lights!

We saw a few animals, too. The kids loved petting this snake:

A laser show:

We saw some pretend animals, too. (Emm had painted her face at the Hamill Family Play Zoo.)

On the 22nd, the kids helped me make snowball cookies and painted eggnog cookies. (And also some fudge and marble bark!)

That night, they left some cookies and eggnog out for Santa (plus carrots for the reindeer), since he was coming to our house a few days early!

Dec. 23rd... Santa came!

Santa even brought gifts for our pets, Icarus, Gilbert, and Cella:

Beef jerky!

A bunny!

Emm with all her gifts:

She now has the complete Hogwarts ensemble:

Ben and his presents:

Nick with his gifts:

George:

Me:

Later that day, the kids covered big pretzels with chocolate and sprinkles, to give to their grandparents, aunts, and uncles:

On the 24th, we drove to Iowa. We spent Christmas Day at Mom and Dad's, along with Christine, Leah, Fran, and Nathan:

Ben with one of his favorite people, Leah:

After a delicious Christmas dinner, we went for a walk around Ada Hayden Park:

As you can see, it was pretty much a brown Christmas... but we did find just enough snow for a snowball fight!

Later that day, we played a trivia game, and Mom gave out prizes:

We also gave Nathan his gifts:

The five of us:

On the 26th, we opened gifts with Mom, Dad, Christine, and Leah:

Then we spent the rest of the day playing games:

We spent the 27th of December with Fran. She took us out to eat for both lunch and supper, took us to see "The Adventures of Tintin", and we also opened gifts with her. (She gave us more presents, even though she'd already given us some at Thanksgiving!)

Then we spent several hours putting together a puzzle:

All finished!

On the 28th, we went for a hike in Munn Woods with Dad. It sure didn't look like December! I didn't get a good picture, but while we were there, we spied five deer!

We headed back home on the 29th. Then, on the 31st, we drove up to Grayslake to celebrate New Year's with our friends Steve, Karen, David, Timothy, Jason, Tracy, and Rosalie. (Plus some of Steve and Karen's friends.) As always, we had a wonderful time!

Emm with David:

Timothy, peeking around the corner at Nick:

Ben and his buddy David:

Timothy and Nick:

Rosalie and Nick and some reindeer:

Jason and Tracy gave Ben a Cars 2 Wii game:

Steve and Karen gave him a Lightning McQueen Pillow Pet:

Jason and George:

The little kids (and Karen) play Just Dance on the Wii:

Timothy and Karen:

Clink! Happy New Year!

Me and Ben pull a "cracker":

Me and Ben:

Happy 2012, one and all! :)

Feeling thankful...

2011-11-27T10:05:00.000-08:00

I have many blessings in my life to be thankful for, especially family and friends. We were all happy that my mother-in-law Fran and brother-in-law Nathan were able to drive out here for a few days and spend Thanksgiving with us! We had a good time with them, as always. :) Here we are at dinner on Thanksgiving Day, November 24th...

Ben, Fran, and Emm:

Nathan and Nick:

George and me:

A sampling of our feast, which turned out yummy, if I do say so myself!

We had dinner AND a show. Ben regaled us with a puppet/stuffed animal concert after we ate:

Ben and Nick and the wishbone:

Snap!

Ben gets to make a wish:

Later that day, we had our first Christmas celebration of the season! Fran had brought along gifts for all of us. Ben was the first to open one:

A guitar! (A Cars guitar, even!)

Cool! Thanks, Grandma Fran!!

Emmalie's turn:

Nick opens one:

Train books for George:

Nathan's turn:

We all received wonderful gifts from Fran. Among other things, she gave me two new penguin figurines for my collection ~ one an Isobel Bloom and the other made from blown glass! :)

We played lots of games when Fran and Nathan were here, including Apples to Apples and Five Crowns:

And we put together this K'Nex rollercoaster set that Fran gave to Benjamin. (Okay, there's no "we" about it ~ I didn't help at all, just watched!) George and the boys worked on it off and on all Friday, and finally finished it around 11pm. It's fun to watch!

Yesterday after lunch, Fran and Nathan headed back home. We miss them already, but hope to see them at Christmas!

apples, pumpkins, and dinosaurs, oh my!

2011-11-07T12:48:00.000-08:00

October was a busy, busy month, and I'm just now getting around to sharing photos from the second half. (Now that it's almost the middle of November!)

On the 15th of October, the five of us went apple picking at Royal Oak Orchard. Here's Ben, Nick, Emm, and George on the hay wagon ride out to the apple trees:

Many of the good apples were high up, so Nick stood on George's shoulders to reach them:

Got one!

We ended up picking half a bushel of yummy apples:

The Royal Oak:

It's a big tree!

When we'd finished picking apples, we visited the petting zoo:

and the playground:

and we also sat in front of a roaring fire and enjoyed some apple cider and apple cider donuts, yum:

All three kids conked out on the way home! (I couldn't get a good shot of Nick from where I was sitting, however.)

The kids and I had fun decorating our house for Halloween. Here are just a few shots of our spooky decor:

I got this idea from a book on decorating for Halloween. I used vellum to make "masks" for the kids' pictures:

On the 23rd, Ben performed in his very first play, along with his Drama Team at church, "The Fruits of the Spirit". He played a judge at a county fair:

On the 27th, Ben made lollipop ghosts for his classmates (I helped tie the ribbons.):

That evening, we all went to a choir concert at Emm's school. The Community Choir that both Emmalie and I are in sang two songs:

And the high school choirs (including the Chamber Choir that Emm is in) sang several songs, as well. (She's the one in the peacock feather mask.):

On the evening of the 28th, I took the boys over to Ben's school for their Halloween Spooktacular event. Both Ben and Nick wore costumes from two years ago:

Ben had a lot of fun playing games:

and making crafts:

Nick liked this monster that one of the classes had built in the hallway:

On the 29th of October, Christine came to visit ~ yay! We were all glad to see her again and to celebrate Halloween with her! :) We were also excited to see the very cool dinosaur costumes that she had made for Nick and Ben!

That evening, Emmalie had a Halloween party with several of her friends. We made cupcakes for it:

as well as meringue bones and a Jello brain:

The kids and I also created a mini haunted house in our back hallway:

Emm dressed up as a fairy, using a mask she painted, a dress we bought at Salvation Army, and wings from the Dollar Store:

I was a witch:

Christine, the scary jester:

Ben the T-rex with Tori the cat:

Nick, trying some brains:

George the zombie... "Braiiiiins!":

Emmalie and her friends played some games, like "Murder":

and bobbing for donuts:

(Ben discovered that it's very difficult to bob for donuts when you don't have any front teeth!):

The girls also told some spooky stories and then watched the movie "Sweeney Todd".

The next morning, we went to church. All the Sunday School kids were wearing their costumes. Here's Ben the T-rex with his friend, Ben the stegosaurus:

After the church service there was a special Trunk or Treat event out in the parking lot. Emmalie and I had a Harry Potter-themed trunk:

while Christine and Nick had a zoo theme going on:

George took Ben Trunk-or-Treating:

T-rex in the bouncy house:

When we got back home on the 30th, we carved pumpkins:

Emm with her Trick or Treat pumpkin:

Nick and his Cyclops pumpkin:

Christine and her cobra pumpkin:

Me and my vampire pumpkin:

Ben and his witch pumpkin:

All the jack-o-lanterns:

That night, we watched the movie "Little Shop of Horror", and got ideas for next Halloween! :)

On the 31st, Christine and I walked Ben to school:

Later, there was an all-school costume parade. Here is the Kindergarten class:

After the parade, Christine and I attended the Kindergarten Halloween party:

T-rex plays BINGO:

T-rex practices writing words:

Ben and the crossing guard after school:

T-rex in the graveyard:

T-rex in the foliage:

Posing for Aunt Christine:

ROAR!

Nick the velociraptor. This costume is even more incredible in person!!:

Don't let the friendly pose fool you...

Velociraptor vs. Baby T-rex:

Baby T-rex didn't stand a chance...

The boys with their amazingly talented Aunt Christine:

Me and my dinos:

Christine:

Witchypoo:

Spooky sisters:

Dinosaurs trick-or-treating:

T-rex and his candy haul:

Pumkin bowling:

Emmalie (who missed much of the Halloween festivities, due to play practice and homework) with Christine:

That night, we had our traditional Batwing Soup supper and watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas". It was a fun Halloween, and we were all so happy that Christine got to spend it with us! :) Now we are looking forward to seeing her again this month, along with my parents, Leah, Fran, and Nathan!

october days...

2011-10-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's the middle of October already! Where does the time go?

I took the following pictures at a high school football game on Sept. 30th. Emmalie and other members of the SHS choir sang the national anthem that night:

The small SHS marching band:

On the 1st of October, we headed to Hoosier Grove Park for Pumpkinfest! The day began with the Kiddie Run, which Ben participated in. (He's in the back, with the blue hood.) :

He did very well, getting 4th place! I'm sure he would have earned a medal if he hadn't taken a tumble at the very beginning of the race. He got a big scrape on his knee, but stood right back up and took off....

After lunch, we spent some time admiring all the pumpkins, gourds, etc. that were for sale:

Ben received a free small pumpkin for running in the race:

The boys decorated pumpkins in the barn:

Then we headed to the petting zoo:

The boys did some pumpkin bowling. Ben started out with this big pumpkin, but decided it was too heavy!

He used a smaller one instead, and got a strike!

All three kids took turns hitting balls:

And the boys took turns playing this game:

We watched a juggler (that's a glass of water on top of the blue "bricks"):

Three spooky characters:

Later on, the juggler was walking around the park on stilts. He walked right over Ben!

We each had a yummy snack:

Nick, Ben, and Emm:

Emm and Ben in the Spook Tunnel:

The last event of the day was Penny in the Haystack. Here are the 5- and 6-year-olds, racing to the haystack:

Looking for candy and coins:

The big kids get ready for their turn:

Hay was flying everywhere!

Ben's finished Native American pumpkin:

On the 3rd, the Kindergartners received their first Bibles at church. Ben was very excited!

Later that day, this katydid jumped onto my leg. Nick took him off, and moved him over to some vegetation:

Last week, Ben brought home a dry erase board, marker, and practice words from school. He and his classmates are supposed to practice their writing for 15 minutes or so every day (in addition to reading for 15 minutes). Ben LOVES working on it, and usually spends at least half an hour writing. He is very particular about his letters, and will immediately erase any that don't look the way he wants them to, and start over:

He's got better handwriting than his dad or his big brother! ;)

On the 7th, I headed over to Aledo, IL and The Slammer for a weekend crop. We had a 50's theme this time, Crop Around the Clock:

Door prize time on Saturday night. I won a whole bunch of cool Halloween paper and embellishments!

"The Golden Girls"... Mandi, Dawn, Tammy, and me:

The leaves have been just beautiful this month! I'm glad that I took these photos when I did, because many of these same trees are bare now, already:

And here are 3 gourds/pumpkins/whatever-they-are off of our mystery vine that grew behind our shed all summer. (For awhile, when they were still growing, we thought they were acorn squash. As you can see, they're not.) There are several more of them still on the vine, ripening:

Hope you're all having a wonderful October so far! :)

a beary fun party...

2011-09-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, the 25th, we celebrated Ben's 6th birthday at Build-a-Bear, along with 5 of his friends (and one of Emm's). We all had a beary fun time! :)

The birthday boy:

Ben decided to build a dog instead of a bear:

Getting ready to go make their new stuffed friends:

For the first half hour or so, only two of Ben's friends were there. (Then the other 3 showed up, all at the same time.)

Ben stuffs his new dog, Spots:

Fluffing Spots:

The boys all chose ribbons to put on their new friends:

The whole group ~ Taylor, Emm, Nick, Dominic, Ben's friend Ben, Xander, Jasper, Ben, and Nicolas:

Promising to take good care of their new friends:

Ben and Spots:

When we were done at Build-a-Bear, we all walked downstairs to the Rainforest Cafe, for cake and presents:

We got two volcanooooooo cakes, yum:

Ben didn't like the smoke coming from the sparklers!:

Gift time! A toy car!

Another new dog!

Hot Wheels!

Ben loved all his presents, the yummy cake, and spending time with his buddies ~ what a great party! :)

school spirit, six years old, and sedum!

2011-09-24T13:04:00.000-07:00

Today's blog post is brought to you by the letter S. :) First, we have School Spirit. Last week was Spirit Week at Ben's school. Monday was Luau Day, and since I spent the afternoon volunteering in Ben's classroom, I got dressed up, too:

Tuesay was Pajama Day. Ben thought it was great fun to wear his pajamas to school, and to take HopHop!

Wacky Wednesday... one orange sock, one blue sock, shirt on backwards, a scarf made by Aunt Christine, and wacky, gelled hair:

Thursday was Rainbow Day. Each class was assigned a color to wear ~ obviously, Kindergarten was red:

And Friday was School Spirit Day. Luckily, we had this sweatshirt (that used to be Nick's):

On Saturday, it was time for Emmalie to show her school spirit! This year, her high school is having a Haunted Homecoming theme. All the choir kids were invited to help decorate the choir room on Saturday ~ Emm went, and spent several hours decorating:

Monday was Pajama Day for the high schoolers:

Also that day, Ben helped me make birthday cupcakes!

Tuesday, the 20th, was Ben's 6th birthday! (I can't believe how fast time has flown!!) He helped me make his cake in the morning:

In the afternoon, we took the cupcakes to school, and Ben's teacher invited me to come in for the mini party at the end of the school day. The kids were so excited that Ben brought treats!

Also on Tuesday, Emm's school had Super Hero Day. Emm made use of the Polaris costume Aunt Christine made for her several years ago:

That evening, the five of us went to Portillo's for supper, Ben's choice:

When we got home, it was time to open presents!

Ben was excited about all his gifts: a new bed (not shown here), Cars 2 sheets, a Cars 2 blanket wrap, a Cars 2 toy, 3 new Trucktown books, and a tiny cat that Emmalie knit for him:

Ben talking on the phone to his grandmas, who called to wish him a happy birthday:

The birthday boy:

Time for cake and ice cream!

The new 6-year-old in his new bed with the new sheets (he told me that they were the best, coolest present ever!):

Wednesday was Decades Day at the high school. Sophomores were supposed to dress up in 90's clothes. Emm says that's what this is, though it didn't seem "90's" to me:

Thursday was Haunted Day... spoooooky...:

Friday was Black and Gold Day at SHS, but I didn't get a picture of Emm before she took the black stripes off her face! (She also wore black and gold/yellow.)

Last of all, here are some pictures of our sedum in bloom. Some of our plants bloom hot pink:

And some are a more muted pink:

suddenly september

2011-09-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how it happened, but, here it is... September, again. Over Labor Day weekend, we headed to Mendota to see my grandma and my parents, who were visiting her. We had a good time, and played several rounds of the card game Golf. Ben has inherited his love of games from his great-grandma, I think! :)

Emm, Nick, and Ben with their great-grandma:

With Mom and Dad... showing just how tall the kids have gotten!

While we were there, Emm worked on her latest knitting project ~ little sachet animals. These bunnies are filled with lavender:

And so is this cat:

After spending several hours at Grandma's, and going out for supper, we headed to a nearby hotel. The kids swam in the pool for awhile, and then we went up to our room to watch movies and sleep.

The next day, the 5th, we drove down to Starved Rock State Park and hiked for a few hours. I had to go very s...l...o...w...l...y, but I survived. :) The scenery, as always, was beautiful.

The Illinois River, as seen from the top of Starved Rock:

The Illinois River and Plum Island:

A bit of fall color in the forest:

The kiddos, taking a break:

Heading back down Starved Rock... lots of steep staircases there!:

Goldenrod... pretty, but, oh, it makes me sneeze! Achoo!!

Along the trail to French Canyon. There was not much water there this time of year:

George and Ben, walking through French Canyon:

French Canyon (sometimes there's a waterfall here):

The crew in French Canyon:

More stairs, on the way to Wildcat Canyon:

Boardwalk trail through the forest:

Damselfly:

Looking across Wildcat Canyon from the overlook, to another overlook:

A very fuzzy caterpillar:

Wildcat Canyon... we'd like to see this when there's a waterfall sometime!:

The kids in Wildcat Canyon:

Wildcat Canyon, looking up at the overlook where we'd stood a few minutes earlier:

George and the boys along the River Trail:

Ferns along the River Trail:

Beehive Overlook and the Illinois River:

Pretty flowers by the Visitor's Center:

We got back home around 3:30pm, and later on George grilled us some Labor Day hamburgers, yum. :) All in all, it was a good start to September!

back 2 school

2011-08-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

Today was the big day! I set my alarm extra early (for me), so that I could see Emm ~ and take pictures ~ before she left for school. She has to be to her bus stop by 6:20am. Here she is, all ready for her sophomore year of high school (notice the Gryffindor ID lanyard that she bought this summer):

And at the bus stop with her friend Samantha:

Their bus was late, but did eventually arrive. (The same can not be said for after school ~ Samantha's mom ended up driving over to pick them up after they'd waited about 45 minutes!) Thankfully, the rest of her day went well.

Around 8:20am, it was Nick's turn to head out the door. Here he is, ready (or not) for 7th grade and a new school:

Ben and I walked him over to his bus stop:

We waited and waited, but, fifteen minutes before school was supposed to start, the bus still had not arrived, so I drove him to school, with a few minutes to spare! He did find all his classes okay, and saw a couple people that he knew from elementary school, but otherwise was not impressed with middle school! There were more bus problems after school ~ he never found the bus he was supposed to be on, and I didn't have the car to go get him. In the end, they sent him home on a bus of his own!

About 11:45am, Ben and I walked over to his new school. Here is my very excited Kindergartner:

In front of the school sign... a yearly tradition!

On the way to school, we ran into Ben's buddy Xander from preschool, who is now in his Kindergarten class. They were very happy to see each other!

High fives! (Actually, this was taken during the "on the side" part.)

I was a little disappointed that the parents didn't get to meet the teacher or go into the classroom or anything, but Ben went in with a smile, and came out 2-1/2 hours later with an even bigger smile! He LOVED his first day! :) He talked and talked about Kindergarten all the way home, and for about 20 minutes after we got home, as well, LOL.

I made some special back-to-school brownies, and when all the kids were finally back home again, we had them for our afternoon snack. (It's supposed to look like a blackboard, but the icing was not cooperating real well!):

Hope tomorrow will be better for them all, especially Nick!

it's that time again...

2011-08-22T17:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's back-to-school time again (the kids start back on Wednesday), and time for me to be nostalgic once again about my own school days. :)

Ben will be starting Kindergarten this year, and he is SO excited! I remember being excited to start school, too. I had kind of a chaotic Kindergarten year, however, moving several times and going to three different schools.

The summer before school started, we moved from Madison, WI to Aberdeen, MD, so that my dad could attend army training. I began Kindergarten while in Maryland, at Hillsdale Elementary, and Mrs. Richardson was my teacher there. I was very nervous about riding the bus on the first day. I got to school okay, but when it was time to go home, I couldn't find my bus and ended up in tears! I remember a teacher walking me to the principal's office, and then waiting there for my mom to come pick me up ~ very traumatic! ;) The next day, Mrs. Richardson made sure that I got on the right bus home. I remember liking my teacher a lot, but the rest of my memory of that time is pretty hazy!

In October, we moved to LaMoille, IL, to live with my grandparents for a couple of months. We started out with my dad's parents, and they lived right across the street from my new school, Allen Elementary. I was very excited to find out that my cousin Michael would be in my class! :) Mrs. Serr was our teacher, and I quickly made two new friends to hang out with, along with Michael ~ Jill and Jimmy. My very first school picture was taken at Allen:

Cute and casual!

(My mom would want me to tell you that she didn't realize it was Picture Day when she sent me out the door that day. If she'd known, she would've made sure I looked more dressy! :) )

After about a month at my dad's parents', we moved to my mom's parents' farm, and once again I rode the bus to and from school. This time, though, I rode it with my Uncle David (who was in high school), my cousin Jackie (who must've been in 2nd or 3rd grade), Michael, and Jill... and I thought it was great fun!

In January, our family moved again, this time to Ames, IA. We lived in a rental house until the summer, and I began attending Crawford Elementary (which is where I went for the rest of my elementary years). It was only a few blocks away from our home, so I was able to walk there. My teacher was Mrs. Koester, and I absolutely loved her! :) I also made some new friends, including Tracy (who lived 2 doors down from us) and Jayson. Despite all the changes, I had a great Kindergarten year!

On Wednesday, Nick will be starting middle school, 7th grade. I remember being very nervous before 7th grade started! (I'm pretty sure Nick is, too!) For me, it was junior high, not middle school, but still... it was a new school, a big school, with all kinds of things to remember ~ my locker combination, all my teachers' names, where all my classrooms were, etc. Luckily, it didn't take long before I had it all figured out and felt comfortable in the school.

I attended Welch Jr. High. (Go, Welch Wildcats!) The school was about a mile away from our house, and I either walked or rode my bike with friends to get there. I had Mrs. Mohr for Reading, Miss Wilson for English, Mr. Clinton for Social Studies, Ms. Quint for Music, Mrs. Boyd for Gym, Mr. Heinen for Art, Mr. Little for Math, and Mrs. Rassmussen for Science. (And also Mrs. Pier for homeroom.)

Oh, so fashionable in velour!

My best friends that year were Tara, Abby, Inger, and Lisa. I also had two boyfriends (not at the same time, LOL) ~ Dave and Andrew (a 9th grader!) I was in the 7th grade chorus, and was also a Dogpatch citizen in our school musical "Li'l Abner". I ended up enjoying 7th grade ~ all of jr. high, actually ~ quite a bit.

Emmalie will be starting 10th grade, her sophomore year this week. (WHERE did the time go??) It will be her second year of high school, and she'll have several of the same teachers she had last year.

For me and my classmates, 10th grade was our first year of high school. I remember being somewhat nervous about it, but not too much. Mostly I was sad that I'd be away from many of my good friends who were still back at Welch, in 9th grade.

I went to AHS (Ames Hi Aims High!), and could've ridden the school bus there, but chose to ride the city bus, Cy-Ride, with my friends, instead. Mr. Hansen was my (very wacky) homeroom teacher. My first semester, I had Child Development with Mrs. Schepers, U.S. History with Mr. Daddow, Honors English with Mrs. Bauske and Mrs. Rowley, Swimming with Mr. Bailey (1st quarter), Health with Mr. Wittmer (2nd quarter), Geometry with Mr. Johnson, French II with Mrs. Schonhorst, and Sophomore Mixed Chorus with Mr. Wiser. In 2nd semester, I had the same classes and teachers except for Interior Design with Mrs. Hassebrock, Introduction to Dance with Mrs. Kautzky, and I now had Mr. Duea for U.S. History.

Preppy... and over-tweezed!

My best friends included Tara, Inger, Jim, Joe, and... back at Welch... Kevin, Sean, Mike, Jonathan, and many others. I did not have a boyfriend that year, and spent much of my time mooning over Mike, who'd broken up with me on the last day of 9th grade. Other than chorus, I didn't really participate in extra curricular activities that year. (However, we did go on a Choir Tour to St. Louis that spring, which was a ton of fun!) I did enjoy my classes and new friends in 10th grade, but for the most part, it was a melancholy year for me. Luckily, the rest of high school was much better!

Here's to (hopefully) a great year for Ben, Nick, and Emm! Wishing you lots of wonderful days to look back on and remember when you're old and nostalgic, like me. :)

august fun

2011-08-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't been feeling very good this month, but we've still managed to have some fun. :) On the 3rd of August, I took the kids and Emm's friend Annie to Brookfield Zoo for the day. It was a really warm (hot!) day, but Nick made sure we saw every exhibit there, LOL.

Here's Ben and a sleepy snow leopard:

This seal had the right idea ~ it was fast asleep under the water, keeping cool!

Ben, Annie, Nick, and Emm:

This raccoon didn't want us to leave! He came right over to get attention....

Ben and Nick pet some goats:

All ready for the dolphin show! Ben, Emm (with her face painted), Annie, and Nick:

Dolphins!

Giraffes!

Ben... not quite as tall as a grizzly bear!

Right after I took this picture, these bears (who are brothers) started fighting over a bone ~ they are very loud when they growl!

Annie, Nick, Emm, and Ben:

Annie, Emm, and Ben cooling off under the giraffe mister!

Penguins!

Hippo!

On the 6th of August, the five of us drove over to my Uncle David's farm, near Van Orin, IL, for a family reunion of sorts. My mom grew up on this farm, and my grandparents lived here until I was 10, so I have many wonderful memories of the place. We were there for lunch and supper, picnicking in the front yard:

The kids and I spent a lot of time on this, the best merry-go-round ever. :) It goes up and down and around! Here George is pushing it for the kids.

Nick on the rope swing:

The merry-go-round and the farmhouse:

Nick and Ben in the corn:

My cousins Sandy and Keith, Keith's friend Kim, and my Uncle David:

Ben, playing beanbags:

Kim, Aunt Jeanette, and Sandy:

Me and Grandma:

Uncle Chuck, Grandma, Uncle Ron:

Nick and Emm, trying to learn how to jump onto the merry-go-round when it's moving. (Like George said, "If you get hurt, then you KNOW you're having fun!" LOL)

Uncle David, Austin, Hannah, Braydon, Amanda, Bella, and my cousin Bradley:

Uncle David pushes Ben and Austin on the merry-go-round:

Uncle David, Bradley, and Braydon:

Throughout the summer, Emmalie has been volunteering at the local library, 2 hours every Monday. While there, she's helped to create this origami castle (the teen summer reading program theme this year was "A Midsummer Knight's Read") and she has also been teaching origami to others. On the 10th, there was a "Final Feast" party for all the volunteers and teen readers. Ben and I dropped Emm and Nick off there ~ they really enjoyed all the snacks and the medieval weapons demonstration!

On the 15th, the kids decided to camp out in the backyard. George started a fire in the chiminea so we could make smores, yum:

while Emm and Nick put the tent up in the dark!

Roasting marshmallows:

Ready for bed!

Except, then, Ben's 4th tooth came out! He came inside to clean it off and to put the tooth next to his bed, "because the tooth fairy might not be able to open the tent zipper!" :)

Later in the week, Ben modeled a hat that Emm knit for him earlier this year. It's a very fuzzy hat!

This week, I took the kids school shopping. Ben was SO excited to pick out items for Kindergarten! :) Can you tell he loves "Ka-chow" (Cars)? He now has a Ka-chow backpack, folder, and 2 new shirts!

Nick had a HUMONGOUS list of supplies he needed for middle school, whew! Tons of folders, notebooks, 4 binders plus a Trapper Keeper, a flash drive, a special kind of calculator, PE uniform, and much, much more!

Emm didn't need quite so much for high school, thank goodness! I think she especially enjoyed picking out 2 new outfits, complete with new earrings. :) She got new shoes, too, but we forgot to put them out for the picture:

On the 18th, I took Nick over to the middle school for Open House. He got to find his locker, figure out his lock (we ended up exchanging it for a brand new one because his original lock was VERY hard to get open), and find all of his classrooms. Here he is at his locker (he looks thrilled, huh?):

And in front of the school:

We also walked around the school's "prairie", an area that's only about 10'x10'. It's crammed with prairie plants, however!

I've been taking pictures of my gardens, as well. Luckily, all the weeds haven't killed off my flowers. Yet. (It's been way too painful for me to bend over for any length of time to take care of them all.) Anyone want to come weed for me? LOL

George spotted this cicada in our maple tree one day:

My asters are blooming:

As well as all the coneflowers that I got from my friend Kirstin last year:

And the hostas:

The liatris:

The Russian sage:

And zinnias in various colors. :)

At the end of May, we had to cut down our redbud tree because it had died over the winter. :( Several new shoots were popping up, however, and some have gotten quite big! Hopefully they will keep on growing:

Our little vegetable garden:

This was the first cucumber from our garden, yum! We've picked 2 others since this one, and have several more growing:

We've also had several tomatoes:

And we have two tiny watermelons growing. Not sure if they'll grow big enough before the cold comes, but we'll see....

And then there's this. A surprise vine by our shed. We did NOT plant anything back here, but somehow, among all the weeds, this vine appeared and has grown quite large. (I took this picture about 2 weeks ago, and the vine is probably at least 7 feet longer now, plus it has also grown around the corner you see here, along the back of our shed.)

We *think* that it's an acorn squash plant, but don't know for sure. If anyone recognizes it, please let me know! The fruit starts out looking like this:

Then like this:

And now like this. We have TONS of it growing on the vine!

After all the pain I've been in this summer, I finally went in for laparoscopic surgery yesterday and got some answers (and solutions). Hopefully I'll be feeling better soon!

a summertime project and more...

2011-08-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

Ever since we moved into this house 6 years ago, I've been wanting to make a walkway by the gate on the western side of our backyard. For all those years, we've just had this weedy, muddy patch instead. It was annoying to mow, and everyone hated having to walk through here whenever we'd had any rain:

Finally, near the end of June, we started working on a walkway! I say "we", but it was really mostly George, with some help from the kids, and a tiny bit of help from me. (Lugging bricks does not help my abdominal pains, that's for sure!)

George, standing on a layer of paver base and sand:

At last! Bricks!

The project was finally completed on July 16th, yay! I love our new walkway! :)

On the 17th, there was a special VBS service at church. Ben had a great time singing all the songs he'd learned during the week! (I know it's hard to see him here, but I didn't want to use a flash, so couldn't zoom in. He's in the very front, in the middle, wearing orange. And sunglasses.)

Ben loved the SonSurf Beach Bash theme! :)

Later that day, our friends Don & Cathy and Dan & Connie, plus their four girls (two each), came over to our house for a pool party. We all had a great time cooling off in the pool, and then eating pizza later on:

Our bird Ickie had a little adventure of her own in July. While Nick was getting her some new seeds, the door to the food dish opening fell down, and Ickie decided to escape! She flew right into our dining room window, ouch! Luckily, she didn't even appear to be dazed ~ she just started walking around on the floor, then flew up to the table:

Emm fed her some millet, hoping Ickie would climb onto her hand, but I could tell that was never going to happen, LOL. I finally threw a towel over her, picked her up gently, and took her back to her cage. Silly bird!

I forgot to share this photo earlier, but Benjamin started reading this summer! This book, Chicken Said, "Cluck!", was the very first book he read (with a little help from Mom).

And here he is, at the end of July, with his completed summer reading program sheet from the library. He was so proud! :) (Me, too!)

Emmalie was lucky enough to go on a mini vacation with her friend Tori's family, traveling to Michigan July 25-27th. She had a wonderful time, seeing lighthouses, relaxing at the beach, and picking blueberries! Then Nick went on vacation to Wisconsin with his friend Jordan and Jordan's mom. They were gone from the 27th to the 31st ~ Nick had fun swimming and going to a Harry Potter Adventure near the Dells!

On the 29th, I took Emm and Ben to our town's Summer Celebration for awhile. They both enjoyed painting on this big poster:

Ben received this cobra balloon from a clown:

Both kids slid down the big slide:

Emm was a *little* dizzy after her ride on the Graviton (shown behind her):

Ben thought it was great fun to "drive" this little train:

and also this truck:

On the 30th, George and I took Emm, Ben, and Emm's friend Samantha to the Summer Celebration parade. It was quite warm, but we had fun and collected a bunch of candy, too!:

Afterwards, Emm and her friend went to another friend's for a sleepover. That night, George, Ben, and I went back to the Summer Celebration. This time Ben rode in the "caboose" of the train:

And he rode on the big slide again. (I didn't have any luck getting a photo, though.)

Then we got ready for the fireworks, which were awesome!

One evening last month, we spotted this big toad on our patio:

And our venus fly trap bloomed! (None of us even knew that venus fly traps would get flowers on them ~ surprise!)

Our zinnias started blooming, as well:

Also in July, I went through all kinds of testing to get these abdominal pains figured out, but my doctors still don't know anything for sure. Maybe in August??

jumping through july

2011-07-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe *I* haven't actually been jumping through July, but the days sure have been going fast, as if I'd been jumping through the calendar.

Emmalie has been taking a driver's ed class three days a week this summer. On July 1st, she and I went shopping at the mall for a bit while the boys were at camp, and afterwards, I let her drive around the deserted part of the parking lot. It was her first experience behind the wheel! (Note: in the first picture below, the car was in PARK. Actually, it was parked for both pictures, since I didn't want to distract her with the camera while she was driving... but I didn't want anyone to think I was letting her drive alone in the car while I stood outside, taking pictures!)

The 1st was also Nick's last day of camp. He spent a week at Volkening Heritage Farm, 9:30am to 2:30pm, helping to take care of the animals there. (And also doing other camp-y activities, like games and arts & crafts.) He especially liked being with the animals, of course. He and the other kids fed the chickens, horses, cows, and pigs, searched for eggs in the chicken house, and got to milk a cow, among other things. These photos were taken after camp, as Nick introduced me to all his new farm friends. :)

By the end of June, we finally had our pool pump working correctly (it had to be taken in twice to be fixed), and July brought us the hot weather to encourage us to use it! Here are Ben and Nick on the 2nd, trying to keep cool:

Also on the 2nd, my mother-in-law Fran and brother-in-law Nathan came to visit us! On the 3rd of July, we took them into the city for awhile. We started out with lunch at the Taste of Chicago:

And chocolate-covered cheesecake on a stick, of course!

Then we walked around Millennium Park. We stopped in Lurie Gardens to cool off our feet a bit...

then continued on to the "Bean". Benjamin couldn't believe his grandma had never seen it before!

We stopped at Crown Fountain, too, and the kids had fun splashing around there for awhile:

On the 4th, all of us but Fran jumped into the pool for awhile. The kids and I even talked Nathan into playing our version of Pool Quidditch. :)

We all enjoyed red, white, and blue popsicles:

George grilled us a special, yummy holiday supper, and then we headed over to the park for the fireworks:

As always, they were very good!

When we got back home, it was time for sparklers:

and homemade ice cream, yum:

On the 5th, the kids played in the pool some more, while the rest of us watched:

Fran and Nathan headed home on the 6th. Later that same day, I picked up my friend Jackie from the airport. Flying from Las Vegas, she'd come for the PAWS scrapbook retreat, which was held in the Chicago area this year. My friend Mimi and I hosted it. Jackie ate supper with our family, and then we drove her down to the hotel in Lisle. I stayed at Mimi's house that night.

On the 7th, we picked Jackie up, then headed to the airport again, where we picked up Heather and Judi. (They flew in from Canada!) Then we drove into the city, and met our friends Jeanne and Katie (from Indiana) under the Bean. :)

Next, the 7 of us headed to Navy Pier. We had lunch at the famous Billy Goat Tavern, and then we went on an architectural boat tour on the Chicago River. Though the sky looks gray in my photos, it was actually a beautiful day, sunny, but not too hot ~ perfect for the tour and walking around the city!

After the tour, we walked around Navy Pier some more. We also rode the ferris wheel and the swings!

(Jeanne decided once we were on the ferris wheel that she didn't really like being up that high.)

That evening, Mimi picked up our friend Katy from the airport (she traveled from Maryland!), and then the 8 of us went to Las Palmas Restaurant for supper:

The actual scrapbook retreat began on the 8th, at the store Memories & Beyond in Downer's Grove. Other friends (Sue, Angie, Glenna, Stephanie, Tammy, and Kim) drove in for it. We had a lot of fun scrapping, telling stories, and laughing! :) That night, we had supper... authentic Chicago-style pizza, of course, at Giordano's.

We scrapped some more on the 9th and got a group shot of everyone:

We had lunch at Portillo's and then supper was catered in from Brown's Chicken. I think we succeeded in providing everyone with a taste of the Windy City! :)

On the 10th, it was time for everyone to head home, unfortunately. Those retreats always go by way too quickly!

VBS started at our church on the 11th. Ben, Nick, and I went there every day, but Emmalie could only attend 2 days due to driver's ed. Ben had a blast with his kindergarten class, Nick loved helping out in the nursery, and Emm and I enjoyed our chaotic but fun hours in the craft room!

On the evening of the 14th, Emm, Nick, and I headed to the theater to watch the premiere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2". We dressed up, of course... though Nick refused to wear a cape:

Ben didn't go with us that night, but he wanted to join in the fun of dressing up, and had Emm draw a Harry Potter scar on his forehead, LOL:

We arrived at the mall just a little after 8pm. (Yes, four hours before the movie!) We got a few pictures by the movie posters:

Then got in line. There were only about 15 people ahead of us.

We all had the Deathly Hallows symbol drawn on our hands:

Emmalie took out her book, "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", and began reading it to us:

Surprisingly, we only had to sit on the hard floor for about an hour before we were let into the theater! I was really glad to have a more comfy seat for the next 3 hours, especially since I wasn't feeling well that day. The three of us thoroughly enjoyed the movie when it finally came on after midnight!

We still had to get up early for VBS on the 15th, and I took a few pictures while we were there. This year's theme was Son Surf Beach Bash:

Emm shows off the surfboard bulletin board we made in Crafts that day:

Despite all the sizzling heat we've had this month... with no rain... my plants have still been doing fairly well, mostly thanks to Nick, who's been watering them for me. Our clematis is huge, as always:

The day lilies have been blooming:

as well as the lavender:

more of the bee balm:

the phlox:

and the tiger lilies:

Our vegetable garden, though planted late, is also doing well, and we finally got to enjoy our first 3 cherry tomatoes the other day:

It's hard to believe that the summer is half over already!

just june

2011-06-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

June has been another busy month! Between doctors' appointments and resting when I haven't been feeling well (something that happened way too often!), I still managed to keep up with the rest of the family and take pictures, even if I didn't feel like doing much else!

On the 3rd, I took the boys over to Nick's school for a special end-of-the-year event. They played games, won prizes, and we all had some ice cream, too. Ben jumped in the bounce house:

With the animal hats (fish and monkey) they won as prizes for one of the games:

Later that evening, Emmalie and I drove over to Rosemont. We had a yummy supper at the Chili's there:

And then we headed to the Allstate Arena to watch Glee Live! It was a great show, and we both really enjoyed it! Here we are, a couple of "Gleeks":

On the 6th, George, Emm, Ben, and I attended the Sixth Grade Recognition/ Graduation Ceremony at Nick's school. Here he is (second row, middle), with his classmates:

Getting his diploma from the principal:

For receiving straight A's all year, Nick got his name on this permanent sign in the school hallway:

We are so proud of Nick!

The 7th was the last day of school, and even though we'd been having some troubles with the pool pump, Nick wanted to take a quick dip, to celebrate:

Nick spent the first few (hot!) days of his summer vacation digging a garden for me! I've wanted a garden all along this fence ever since we moved in almost 6 years ago now. There's no way I would've been able to do it this month, feeling the way I have, and Nick really wanted to plant a hummingbird/butterfly lover's wildflower seed mix I'd bought, so he dug and dug until the garden was finished!

Ben helped transport the worms to another area of the yard, so that Nick wouldn't accidentally hit them with the trowel.

All done digging!

Planting the wildflower mix:

The 11th was George's birthday. We took him to Stir Crazy for supper, then came home for a little party. Ben couldn't wait for him to open his presents!

We had chocolate chip bars instead of a cake. As you can see, George is 7. Or maybe 43. :)

The 13th was my birthday. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling too great that day. We did go to Panera for supper, yum! And then we came home for angel food cake, homemade ice cream, and berries:

I received 3 movies from everyone, and 4 quarters from Ben. He thought I should get some birthday money. :)

The 17th was a big day for Emm ~ she got her driver's permit and her very first checking and savings accounts that day! (She started driver's ed classes on the 13th.)

On the 18th, we attended our friends Don & Cathy's annual picnic at a park in Elmhurst. George helped Don grill while the boys had fun at the playground. (Emm and I mostly rested at a picnic table.)

On Father's Day, the 19th, the five of us went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, then had supper at Red Robin. When we got home, the kids helped George out in the backyard for awhile:

Later in the week, Ben was VERY excited to find this four-leaf clover in the backyard. What a lucky boy! :)

On the 23rd, Emm and Nick headed to Indiana with a church youth group, to go camping and canoeing for 3 days. On the 24th, George and I took Ben to see the movie Cars 2 ~ he had been counting down the days till it opened for over a month! We all thought it was a fun movie!

I haven't been able to do much in the way of caring for my gardens so far this summer. The kids have helped me weed a little, and Nick helps keep things watered. Despite the weeds, my flowers are growing and blooming beautifully. :) We have several self-seeded plants of alyssum in the front yard:

Astilbes of all colors are currently blooming:

As well as our red bee balms. (The pink and white ones are still budding.)

Bellflowers:

Darker purple clematis in the front yard:

And pinkish purple clematis in the backyard:

Daisies:

Foxgloves and salvia:

My wild geraniums have gotten huge! I had no idea the plants could get that tall (probably at least 2'):

Hydrangeas:

Lady's mantle. These have gotten huge, too... very wide!

Hot pink petunias:

And these striped ones. When I bought them, they were completely purple... I was quite surprised when they developed the stripes a few weeks later!

Pincushion flowers:

Queen of the prairie:

Spiderwort:

Wild rose:

I don't really want this yarrow in my yard because it spreads like crazy, but I can't get rid of it fast enough, especially this year! It IS pretty, though:

And, yes, I know this is a weed. (Fleabane, I think?) But, like I said, I haven't done much weeding, and we have it everywhere now. The flowers are cheery, at least!

Besides flowers, we've also had bunnies in our yard. Lots and lots of baby bunnies! When I took this picture, this baby was about four inches long. And soooo cute! He (she?) had 6 other siblings ~ several nights we watched them out in the yard with their mama, and we even saw them all nursing a couple of times. They are all weaned by now, and much bigger, of course, but still very, very cute. :)

Can't believe it's almost July already!!

something new and exciting!

2011-06-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

No, it isn't more pictures. I realize that I haven't posted any for awhile, and I WILL do that soon. Besides not feeling well (still), I've been very busy lately, working on something new. I've decided to create a new blog. (Don't worry, I plan to keep this blog, too.) It is called Blue Sky, Big Dreams, and I'm hoping it will be a way to help me focus on my dream of being a children's author and to stay excited about writing.

I hope that you will check it out! And, if you like what you see, please bookmark it, "Follow" me if you can, post comments on it, and recommend it to anyone you think might be interested in it. Thanks! :)

more may memories....

2011-06-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

On the 26th of May, we attended Nick's (final) band concert. He has decided not to continue in band next year, but I'm really proud of him for trying out the clarinet this year and learning so much! This is Nick, warming up before the show:It's amazing how much improvement can be made in a relatively short amount of time! The band was able to play much more complicated songs... and play them better... than they could at their winter concert in November. We were impressed!

At the end of the concert, the director handed out certificates to each of the students, for all their hard work this year. :)
With help from George and the kids, we finally got all the front gardens weeded and the lawn mowed, so our yard looked pretty by the end of May! (It had been REALLY overgrown with weeds. Not feeling well, I just couldn't do all the yard work I normally do.)
Ben and I bought some petunias and marigolds, then planted them in the barrel. It looks a bit sparse now, but I know from experience that it will fill in over the summer:
We also bought some verbena:
My peonies were just gorgeous last week!

Ben and I also bought a bunch of petunias to plant:
Mom and Dad came to visit us on the 28th. The first two days they were here, it rained (and rained) and stormed. We still had fun, though, playing lots of card games and watching movies. On the 30th, Memorial Day, the sun came out! We enjoyed the beautiful weather all morning. Mom and Dad brought some fun things for the kids... bubble stuff:

A hula hoop... go, Mom, go!

And this variation of "catch" called Zoom-O:

We retreated to the air-conditioned house for the hot afternoon, and played some more card games. Then George grilled us a yummy holiday supper:
We had burgers, brats, corn-on-the-cob, grilled sweet onions, broccoli slaw, pasta salad, baked beans, a relish tray, watermelon, and more! Yum!
Then we went back outside for some croquet:
We're so glad Mom and Dad were able to visit, and we miss them already!

more from may

2011-05-25T08:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it through the week, despite not feeling very well. We had a lot going on, so I was really glad that I was able to attend all the special events! :)

On the 17th, Nick took a sleeping bag and duffel bag to school. That morning, he and the rest of the 6th graders rode a bus up to East Troy, WI, to a YMCA camp there for "Sixth Grade Camp". They were there until the 19th, and had a lot of fun exploring the great outdoors! :) Here's Nick, all ready to go:
The evening of the 18th was Benjamin's preschool graduation ceremony! The little grads were all so cute!! Here's Ben with his buddies Adam and Jasper:
The whole class:
The kids sang several songs for us:
And then received their preschool diplomas:
Then they sang one last song, The Kindergarten Song. :)
Ben with his teachers after the ceremony:
Ben and Emm:
Ben and his proud parents. :)
The glad grad!
On the 19th, George left work early and the two of us drove into the city. We had an early supper at Bernie's Pub and Grill:

Which was right across the street from Wrigley Field:
And about 2 blocks from Metro, where we headed after supper:
The Airborne Toxic Event put on an AWESOME show! (As always!) I took a whole ton of pictures... here are a few....

Steven: Anna:
Mikel. :)
Mikel, Daren, and Noah:
Noah:
Noah and Anna:
Daren:
Mikel, down in the crowd. He also body surfed right over us!
Anna and Noah:
Mikel, again:
The 20th was Ben's last day of preschool. He decorated these flower pots, then helped me plant the pansies in them, and then made cards to give to his teachers:
The kids spent their regular class time at the park, for a picnic and playtime:

Ben misses all his buddies already!

On Sunday we went to church. Emmalie played handbells at two services, and then afterwards, we attended the end-of-the-Sunday-School-year event. We had hotdogs, chips and brownies, then the boys played some carnival games:
All 3 went in the bouncy house for awhile:
And we all watched a cute puppet show:

There was a prize drawing after that, and Ben won the basket he'd had his eye on ~ it was full of toys! :)

When we got home, George and the boys decided to start on our vegetable garden. We'd planned to do it several weeks ago, but I haven't been feeling up to it. It's not real big, but it's a start!
More of my flowers are in bloom now. :) Here are some ajuga plants in the backyard:
Columbine, also in the backyard:
Dianthus along our front porch:
The lobelia plant I bought to hang on the front porch:
Mini dianthus around our maple tree:
Pansies on the porch railing:

And some thrift in our garden by the street:
Now we're getting ready to have some company over the weekend! Looking forward to seeing Mom and Dad again! :)

may flowers and more....

2011-05-16T09:20:00.001-07:00

It's the middle of May already... how did that happen? I've been enjoying all the May flowers. My bleeding heart plant is finally in full bloom: We have lots of forget-me-nots:
And carpet phlox:
My tulips have been blooming, too. This one was bent over, so it was hard to get a good photo:

These double tulips are my favorites:
Speaking of flowers, on May 5th, Emmalie and I attended the Floral Fiesta WELCA Spring Dinner at church. Someone had made these pretty tissue flowers for every table:
There were almost 100 women at the dinner:
There was so much yummy food!
And then Joyce Grattoni from Tablescapes entertained us by showing us how to create beautiful tables for special occasions:
A Cinco de Mayo table:
A tropical table:
At the end of the dinner, different items were raffled off, and Emm won four margarita glasses with gerbera daisies in them! The 8th was Mother's Day, and my kiddos presented me with breakfast in bed that morning. Ben gave me this flower magnet he made at school (after tracing his hand):
George and the kids also gave me some dark chocolate, yum:
And this pretty fern for the backyard:
Then the 5 of us went to Brookfield Zoo. We had not been there in two years, so it was fun to see it again!

We enjoyed the new Bear Grotto:

And all the other animals, too!

"Wild" goslings with their parents:

We had tickets to Stingray Bay, and got to pet some stingrays. That was Ben's favorite part, and he is still talking about it! :)

After several attempts, we finally got a decent Mother's Day photo of me and the kids. (I wasn't feeling the best, though, and it kinda shows.)
On the 14th, George, Nick, and I attended the school district's "2nd Annual Healthly Lifestyle and Wellness Gala and Award Ceremony". Apparently there was some confusion, and we never received the invitation we were supposed to get, but someone called 2 days before to tell me about it and see if we were going. Luckily, we didn't have anything going on that evening, and we were able to find a babysitter for Ben at the last moment (Emm already had plans).

Nick was invited to the gala because he'd won the Healthy Lifestyle and Wellness Rap Lyrics Contest in the fall. We are so proud of him! :)

The gala turned out to be a very fancy affair, much fancier than we'd expected. We were treated to an orchestra performance and hors d'oeuvres at the reception, and then a delicious meal complete with entertainment like a Chinese dragon parade and salsa dancing. It was an international theme, and there were several photo ops set up, including this American exhibit: and this South African exhibit:
Nick was presented with this award after the dinner:
I didn't get a picture of him actually receiving it, because George and I had to go up with Nick. There were two professional photographers there all evening, so hopefully at some point we will have access to the photos they took.

This is another big week at our house... Nick has 6th Grade Camp this week, Ben graduates from preschool, George and I have tickets to see The Airborne Toxic Event, and then there is a special end-of-the-school-year event at church. I just hope that I'll be feeling well enough to enjoy all of it ~ I'm still dealing with some health issues and will be having some tests done this week, as well....

april shower (of photographs)

2011-05-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

Not surpisingly, the second half of April was just as busy at our house as the first half! And I took a bunch more photos....

On the 14th, I went to the 4th showing of Phantom of the Opera. I sat closer to the stage this time, and got some better pictures:

Christine, singing "Think of Me":
Phantom's lair:
Masquerade. Emmalie is 3rd from the left here:
"Notes":
Curtain call (Emm is in the middle, in white):
I went again on the 15th, and sat even closer ~ front row! This is the opening, Hannibal scene. Again, Emmalie is in the middle, in white:
She is 3rd from the right here:
The ballet dancers and John Buquet:
The Il Muto scene. Emm is on the right:
A closeup of the phantom and Emm's gargoyle:
Masquerade, again. Emm is on the right:
Raoul and Christine:
Rehearsing Don Juan Triumphant. Here Emmalie's on the left of the group:
On the 16th, I took the boys to church for a special Easter activity. The older kids went on a treasure hunt, but the younger kids had an egg hunt. It was raining that day, so all the eggs were "hidden" inside. Ben had fun looking for them!

After that, we had a snack, made some crafts, and listened to the Easter story. The boys also got to dye 2 eggs each:

That night, George and I attended the finale of Phantom. We were so proud of Emmalie and all the kids who participated ~ they really did a fantastic job every night!

After the show, there was a cast party at CiCi's Pizza. Here is Emm with her friend Lidia:
Emm convinced some of the other girls to do their dance from Masquerade in the middle of the restaurant with her:

We were all quite surprised to wake up on the 18th to snow! Luckily, it didn't stick around too long....
The Easter wreath I put on our door:
On the 22nd, the kids and I headed to church for the Crosswalk passion play. We came home for lunch, and then I took the boys over to the Egg Dive. Nick was too old to participate this year, but he came to watch Ben and to swim afterwards.

The staff released eggs into the water before each age group: The 4- and 5-year-olds wait their turn. (Ben is on the far left, next to the slide.):
Gathering lots of eggs!
His "basket" (colander) was literally overflowing with eggs!
Ben and his haul:
Let's see what's inside.... (Lots of cheap, plastic toys, LOL!)
Nick swimming in the big pool:
Ben, playing after the Egg Dive:
Ben and Nick:
On the 23rd, we dyed and decorated eggs:

Ben lost his 2nd tooth at lunch that day, so I told him to smile big and show off his jack-o-lantern grin! :)

We filled up another carton with decorated eggs, too:
Nick and his multicolored eggs:
Emm shows off her Phantom egg and her Japanese egg:
Ben with some of his eggs:
Among other things, I made a penguin egg:
On Easter morning, the kids were very excited to come and see what the Easter Bunny left them in their baskets! They each received a DVD, a stuffed bunny, seeds for the garden, and candy. In addition, Ben got some Hot Wheels cars, Emm got a book of Suduko puzzles, and Nick got some more Triops eggs:

Then the kids went on their egg hunt:
Emm found one in the pantry!

After breakfast, we all got ready for church and I took a few pictures. Here are the kids in their new outfits, holding their new bunnies:
Another one by the forsythia bush:
After church, the five of us went to Walker Brothers for lunch. Yummy!

This is the lily I bought through church, in memory of Grandpa Bear & Granny, Grandpa Fischer, and George's dad, Harold:
Benjamin Bunny with his new friend, Crisp. :)
On the 27th of April, I helped chaperone the preschool field trip to Cosley Zoo in Wheaton. I'd never been there before, so was excited to go! It was kind of a dreary day, but we stayed mostly dry, despite a few sprinkles toward the end. Here's Ben on the bus:

Ben loved this old caboose that's been converted into a building:

I loved this raccoon:

and this fox!:
The farm animals were fun to look at, too:

And Ben thought this water wheel by the duck pond was very cool:
Even though April hasn't been as warm as it is some years, there are still signs of spring everywhere! :) And I've been photographing them!

This is Nick's pot of clover he received on St. Patrick's Day:
Periwinkle in bloom:
Forsythia:
I have lots of grape hyacinth scattered throughout the front yard:

The little magnolia tree that we bought last year is beginning to bloom:

Lungwort in the backyard:
More daffodils:

And some bleeding hearts:
Welcome spring!!

april 'appenings

2011-04-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy, busy month, and it's not even half over yet!

I started April in the Slammer. :) My friend Mandi hosted another wonderful scrapbook retreat there April 1st-3rd. (Unfortunately, I had to come back home on the 2nd because we had to be at church on the 3rd so that Ben could perform with his choir and Emm could perform with her handbell choir.) On the 2nd, Mandi threw herself an "unbirthday party", Alice-in-Wonderland style. :) This picture shows a few of the goodies we had:

Kirsten dressed up as the Queen of Hearts, and Beth was the white rabbit: Mandi was Alice, of course. She had some teenage girls at the retreat to help out with things, and they were the March Hares. I was having a lot of neck problems again, but was so glad I could go and see my friends Mandi and Tammy for a little while! April is also "Phantom" month! After 6 months of practice and set-building, it is finally time for Emm and the rest of the cast to perform Phantom of the Opera. Each of the round windows in Emmalie's school is displaying one of these mask tarps, to help advertise: On opening night, the 7th, I went early to take a few pictures of Emm with her gargoyles. She was solely responsible for their creation, making them out of chicken wire, plaster, and plywood for the wings. She also painted them. Here she is, with the two Graveyard Gargoyles: (This is the one that was at our house for awhile.): And here she shows off the Rooftop Gargoyle: Grandma Fran sent Emm this beautiful bouquet to cheer her on: George, Nick, Ben, and I gave her these flowers: On the 8th, my parents, my sister, and Christine's friend Leah all traveled here to attend the Friday night show. Nick, Ben, and George (not pictured) went to see it, too: Leah and Christine had these flowers sent backstage to Emm that night: Grandma Bev and Grandpa Rick gave Emm these flowers before the Sat. night performance: Phantom Phans... Leah, Christine, me, and Emm: Here Mom is modeling the shirt Leah bought for her brother: The 9th was a beautiful day, and we all decided to go over to the park for awhile. Ben rode his bike: We looked for ducks and geese at the pond, and threw them bread crumbs: Christine and Leah play a little frisbee: Everyone enjoyed the Friday night performance so much that they went to see it again on Saturday night! :) (Except for George, who stayed home with Ben. We didn't think a 5-year-old would sit so quietly through it a second time, LOL.)

I took a few pictures during the show, but could not use my flash (and we sat pretty far back), so they didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. I'm planning to sit closer tonight and see if I can get some better ones. This is from the Hannibal scene. Emmalie (part of the Ensemble) is 3rd from the left. Raoul and Christine, the dressing room scene: Phantom's Lair: The Il Muto scene. Emm is on the far right: The rooftop scene, starring Emm's gargoyle. (Oh, and Christine and the Phantom, too.) Masquerade! Emmalie is 4th from the left, in the yellow mask. The graveyard scene, with Emm's gargoyles front and center. :) Curtain call. Emm is on the far left: Nick, Leah, Christine, Dad, Emm, and Mom after Saturday's performance. (Incidentally, the left side of that bulletin board shows photos from 2009's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Nick is in a few of them!) After the show on Saturday, there was a cast party, and families were invited, as well. Christine, Leah, Nick, and I joined Emm for awhile. There were two yummy cakes (and lots of other food!): Cool decorations on each table: Emm with her friend Lidia: A silly Nick: When we got home that night, Ben was happy to cuddle up next to one of his favorite people, Leah! :) On the 9th, our company had to leave and return home. We wished they could've stayed longer! Nick and I spent much of that afternoon finishing up his display board for school. Each 6th grader had to pick a country to research. Nick picked Namibia because he found out that it is one of the few countries that specifically states in its Constitution that it will protect its wildlife. :) We've been having some gorgeous weather lately, and my daffodils are in full bloom! :) I *love* daffodils!!