Visit From Gramma

One can not partake of certain delicacies just anywhere, but to indulge is simple.

Kid Costumes

A neighbor with my boys and my own little version of the American Girl, Kaya (we call her Purple Feather).

A fun time was had by all. Even after a visit to a friend's church where there were games and candy.  A lesson about Reformation Sunday and Martin Luther was included.

Labor Day Weekend Family Activities

Tennis lessons with Daddy, Home Depot make and take, new duel flush toilet, lunch at IKEA with thousands of other people (it pegged Mommy's crowd meter big time), Bike ride in Busse Woods, Forest Preserve of Cook County IL (7miles on a windy day), a last swim at the pool to say good bye for this year. Time for Autumn :-)

Kayaking Lessons

Independence Day!

Church, brunch there and then sailing with the Daddy! Soon, Fireworks nearby

Corn mazes and Farm Visits

" Mom, you really want us to go into that corn field that is the largest corn maze in the world? I'm not sure it's a good idea Mom." So, I led these two all through 14 of 24 spots in this maze without getting lost. They forget so easily my geographic positioning system brain. It helps that I've gotten lost so many times in the past on Midwest gravel & dirt roads. They were much happier when they looked at how many more spots we visited versus how few spots their sister and the Daddy visited.

So, of course we had to experience the pedal go-carts and the thrill of going as fast as these legs could pedal. What a wonderful autumn Sunday afternoon family outing all the way up to McHenry County Illinois where the trees were BEAUTIFUL colors and the smell of homemade donuts wafted from the vendor sites near the corn maze.

Our Indian Princess: Purple Feather

She climbed a 25 foot rock wall. She climbed the stairs and more stairs to the, get this, zip/zap line tower. AND got down by the appropriate lines VERY FAST and shrieking quite loud. Then she took a peaceful canoe ride with her friend and the Daddy.

What a wonderful holiday!

Have returned from time with the extended family and heavenly weather in Iowa. We are yet to pick up G#1 from the airport as it was way to full to get him and Gramma back from SLC via the stand-by mechanism. We'll try it tomorrow, but are anxious to hear all about his trip to Utah and Disneyland (CA). I thoroughly enjoyed my reading time with books like The Mystery of the Periodic Table, The Prophet from Ephesus, and The Man From Pomegranate Street. I was able to prepare 3 gallons of fresh tomatoes for the salsa effort (canning is best done in the later Fall here) and found a gallon of fresh jalapenos for that effort also. I enjoyed my nieces high school band performance during the half time at her small Iowa town. And we got to hear/see my sister perform in the pre-game activities with the University of Iowa Marching Band. Fantastic!

Sunday Beef Roast & Gravy!

Yes, that's correct! I've made my own beef gravy without my gravy mentors or mom on the phone to walk me through it. My kids ate the beef roast without complaining. It was tasty. I've not baked one for over 2 years because of all the whining and moaning from the table of hungry people before. It's about time considering that I'm 40+ years old and it's my very favorite side dish at a meal with a decent baked potato handy.

I've also signed up for facebook and I'm really not sure if I like it or not. A bit addicting I must admit, but didn't keep me from getting through a bit of schooling on Monday with all three Gs doing well. We're listening to A door in the wall on tape from the library because it will have so much to do with our history lessons very soon. Today we finished talking about medieval India and will move on to the rise of islam tomorrow. Mars is going well so far and all the rest, spelling to math, didn't cause huge wailing and moaning today.

The little girl is enjoying a lesson from Draw and Write. She didn't even know that she is doing a lesson in art. I'll post it when she is done.

Bike Riding at Fullersburg Woods

It is a beautiful day to ride bicycles as a family. The leaves in the forest at Fullersburg Woods weren't quite right, but the breeze was just right. Everyone went round the paths without complaining. The little girl may even be getting better at peddling... ;-)

Two out of three isn't bad

The sign says, "Please keep off rail."

Hyde Street Pier is a magnificent location for history, science, math and FUN! We took the daddy on a cable car past Lombard Street and Chinatown too Ghiardelli Square and Transamerican pointed tower.

A Sunday in San Francisco with Daddy

Not a painting, but a good day showing Daddy what we've seen and what we needed to see. Here the Gs are in Chinatown at the corner of Grant and Clay.

CORN FIELDS!

We got to do the first soccer game on Saturday morning and then drive to the Iowa City area. It's good to see corn fields! High lights for the weekend were riding bicycles in the culdesac at our uncle's house, enjoying all kinds of activities at the Iowa Children's museum benefit called "move it, dig it, do it" and visiting with maternal grandparents on Sunday for grandparents day. Thursday we get to visit with our paternal grandparents. It's good to get away and drive to the country every once in a while.

We didn't get away for the weekend, but...

My goal was to get in the minivan and drive away from Chicagoland, but we didn't. Friday we ate Mexican that was ok. The menu was fish-based and there weren't many choices, but what we ate was not fish and very good. Our little Eeyore finished a goal card and was rewarded with his choice in the Lego section of Target. The little girl decided she would finish her goal card and get an Easy Bake oven. Well, Saturday we still didn't drive away, but did get to the lumber liquidator store for, yes, the dining and living room floors. The decision was easy, but the move was labored. It will get more difficult to finish the payment and pick up the 17 boxes of pre-finished handscraped wood floors, but exciting. I get to rip up carpet! The 30 year old carpet is going the way of all things!!!

We stopped by a packed IKEA only to disappoint the children and find an even more packed kid's play place. They had to shop with us. We quickly found the pot rack, paid and got out. They were rewarded to play with their neighborhood friends once we returned home. Sunday we got to church and then later I accompanied the family to the pool. It was a bit disappointing that I still didn't drive away from the city, but got to watch my kids play blissfully in the pool. Eeyore did a belly flop from the high board which taught him a world of wisdom instantly. The little Pooh girl is holding her breath for at least 7 seconds each time she goes under water to play. AND Big brother is constantly looking for more adventures (wonder where he gets that from?).

Monday we stopped by the 1/2 price book store sale and found a cd-rom chess game with Lego characters, a recorder for one, a castle book for another and I just enjoyed the romp even though we didn't drive away from the city. BTW, I'm praying about spending next June and July on a farm somewhere. Anyway, I got to witness something amazing after returning from Target with the little girl. She did finish her goal card and did request an easy bake oven. BUT, I got away with granting her request for baking mixes and promising her a toaster oven she can take away with her to her own home some day. So, she did make her own 1.25$ cookie last night in the grown up oven and enjoyed it very much. I've promised her the mixes from the baking aisle at the grocery that cost less per serving for her next baking adventure. Wow, she'll be grown up soon!

The Sound of Music

The Dupage county fair did themselves proud by including Jars of Clay and Steven Curtis Chapman. My children enjoyed themselves with the fair activities, pigs, goats, sheep, poultry & the bovine class. I've seen so many 4-H projects and ribbons in my time. I've also seen Steven Curtis three times now and finally, I've enjoyed this third time. I don't remember much from the Omaha performance. The Kansas City performance was overshadowed by the opening act from Mercy Me. I still feel the impression that opening act made on me a few years ago for the Mercy Me Christmas sessions album. But, Thursday night, I got to enjoy Steven Curtis so much. And, my kids knew all the songs due to K-LOVE 94.3 on all the time. However, my youngest son fell asleep on the bleacher during the "Cinderella" song.

So, come Friday evening we usually spend dinner in a restaurant. But we'd spent so much at the fair on Thursday and the attachment of a hitch to the van meant breakfast for dinner at home. We set the children to a part of the movie, Sound of Music. They'd not seen it before. We promised that they could watch the rest tonight and so we have.

Today was a day for finishing the stairwell painting. The extension ladder was used safely and the daddy helped. Who says that a wife and husband can't paint together? "Not dead yet..." And, now we've done dinner with an ending note of strawberry shortcake & whipped topping. Time to say so-long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen!, good-bye because I'd like to see the rest of Sound of Music.

Hmmmm....

School pockets are hung and filled with folders and curriculum materials. The children thoroughly enjoyed their daddy's birthday trip to the planetarium aboard the METRA train and the free green triangle trolley. The best part was watching my kids enjoy the last stop at the planetarium. We ended our tour learning about travel to the moon with Jim Lovell's collection of artifacts. My husband asked as we left why the airport in Chattanooga was named after him, but we are yet to answer that question. A rainy trip to and fro, but an excellent way to spend the day.


Sunday we enjoyed our first new church picnic. It was wonderful for the kids to play and win starburst candies while I visited with people I usually see once maybe twice a week. We got home for the kids to play with neighborhood kids and then took a few to the pool for an hour.


I continue to plan our studies on ancient China and the Olympics as well as the journey journal at the beginning of the school day and materials for devotions at the end of a school day. I want to make sure that I know they know what's important some day. That is, I love them. And, God made them special and loves them very much.

This weekend ... in Kansas!

What, might you ask, are we doing this weekend? Well, we, me & 3Gs, got on the 2nd flight we tried out of ORD on Wednesday for MCI and our dear friend was able to pick us up from the airport and drive us to another friend's home for the weekend. A third friend lives just around the corner and she is lent us the extra vehicle for the weekend and now we're playing in the back yard ecstatic for play with old friends. What a blessing! I drive to pick up the daddy as soon as he can get here too. We've an appointment to visit with my coach/consultant homeschooling family tomorrow that I'm so looking forward too. We'll get a good visit with all our small group friends this weekend too. What a visit!!! This is the first time that the daddy has been back in over a year and a half since we moved 2 Christmases ago. I hope/pray to watch him relish this time too.

Independence Day Bike rides & more

I love my new bike. It's an old lady Amsterdam bike like I saw on our trip in March. It has 7 gears and I sit up straight on it with a wonderfully comfortable seat. It has a kick stand too. Priceless... AND there is a new lift to park it at the ceiling of the garage. Yep, they don't make garages big enough in Chicagoland, but the ceiling is high enough to park the mommy's and the daddy's bike with pulley mechanisms for easy and quick use/ storage. After lunch on a beautiful July 4th day, my kids and me AND the daddy got to ride over from our home to Mallard Lake Forest Preserve which was a 7 mile round trip. Well, it was fine for everyone except the little girl who is still struggling with training wheels. She got to have her training wheels all the way down on the trip back.



The next day we enjoyed our first visit to Kline Creek Farm, also a section of the DuPage County Forest Preserve. Our tax money is well spent on these activities for the family. We toured most buildings, played children's games from the 1890s, heard the Declaration of Independence read aloud, and watched a home made small hot air balloon fly off into the air. We then enjoyed a drive to the local pump it up business for a friend's birthday party. It was such a good day. The kids also got to put together birdhouses at Home Depot as the first Saturday of the month activity. I love visiting the home store and only buying one thing on our list. I'm getting better at not lusting after all the conclusion of all my house projects.



There are more important things to do with what God gives us. And then the sermon on Sunday had a message on Matthew 16:24-25 which is continuing to challenge me on what I can give up in order to enjoy what God wants for me. That's hard for me to explain though.

G3 & the Great Salt Lake at Antelope Park

We were instructed to stay out of site once we arrived in SLC last Thursday, and that's what we did. I drove the kids to Antelope Island to explore a habitat that I'm still struggling to know. Lizards sunning themselves, desert flowers, plants and animals surround us and we still can see mountains! It was truly awesome! God makes all things - I have no doubts in that. I'll post pictures later, but for the real reason we headed to SLC last weekend... We surprised our most favorite people out that way for their 70th birthdays and a spectacular accomplishment of 45 years of marriage. I shake my head in utter disbelief that they can work through that many years and challenges along the way and still stay married. That's something my 3 Gs need to see and remember. We definitely made some memories. I taught them some lessons too. The questions kept coming like, "why didn't Grampa meet us at the gate?" "why can't we go to their home?" "why why Why WHY MOM!!!" Well, at 6 & 7 years old, they are beginning to understand about surprises. It was a joy to see the true surprise on our favorite couple's faces and to know that we do love them enough to interupt their lives (although gardening tasks are important) and ours to recognize God working through them and in them for so many years!

So, it is beginning to sink in how incredible raising these 3 Gs is in this life and how spectacular it is to be married to my partner in this effort. I can't do it alone and don't have to, because God and a hard working husband carry me when I'm not able to do it.

First time fishing, Soccer & Travel

I certainly did surprise my kids when the Friday night family outing began with a stop at Subway for sandwiches on the go. They couldn't handle the suspense. Daddy drove to Churchill Forest Preserve for a beginners fishing clinic with bait, hooks and live fish for the catching. When I opened the back of the van in the parking lot for them to collect what was there for them - their fishing poles that they've had for 2 years from the helmet store that starts with a W after we saw Uncle Jack ice fishing on the pond - the idea of fishing slowly dawned on their faces. We saw deers eating in the forest on the short walk to the lake and some native forest plants that I've just learned about. But the kicker was Ranger Marty who took the plastic fun weights off their kid poles and placed hooks, bobbers and weights AND then bait. Well, needless to say, we all had a good time, I even touched a fish and took one off the hook. Each G caught at least 5 itty bitty sunfish each. Reeled them in by themselves even! There were no mosquitoes and the May evening was perfect in Chicagoland.

Saturday, we rushed from big brother's soccer to little brother's soccer and still had time to stop by the house for lunch before heading out to ORD for the half-empty flight to OMA. My folks picked the four of us up in the rain. We got the kids mud sloshing galoshes for the summer and nature hikes (might keep some nasty itch weed from messing with them some) and then introduced my kids to Chinese food cooked in front of them by white guys yelling like Mongolian warriors. It was fun to watch the kids' reactions to making their own combinations. Perfect! We got to go to church where I grew up and had beef roast, mashed potatoes, perfect gravy, cream peas, frozen garden corn and Gramma's homemade crescent roles for Sunday dinner. Yeah, she had to work pretty hard for her Mother's day feast, but I tried to help and stay out from under her bum knee traffic as not to make it worse. I think that Dad cleaned up, maybe. The boys got summer haircuts high and tight from their Afghanistan war veteran uncle. IT was a wonderful visit, but couldn't get out of Omaha on Monday for nothing. And got a very good visit with some friends who rescued us for the night only to deliver us to a early morning departure on Tuesday. We finally got back and I fed my brave airport warriors MacD's inside the airport waiting for the work shuttle to our van.

Now, it's Wednesday. We're moving very slow today. Boynton's songs and stories are enjoyed, breakfast is lasting until after weather time. We need to send our drawings of the robin's nest and egg we found yesterday afternoon to Grampa in SLC yet, but it's a good day to stay in pjs and not get rained on in Chicagoland. There are some happenings on the weekend front, but can't get into right now. Now is time for some pictures...