Big Day at the Zoo

 

 

 

Richard took the kids (little girls plus two neighbors) to the zoo last weekend. He said he wanted to take the kids to the zoo, I didn't really want to go, they only wanted to go if their friends could go, and that's how it happened. On days like this I don't ask questions, I just go with the flow and wait to see if it really happens and this time it did. I really needed/wanted a break and he was willing this time.
They did everything there was to do there. They got the Safari Pass which gave them access to most every ride and show. They stayed for 3 1/2 hours and came home. It was perfect for everyone. AND Lauren caught the frisbee from the seal. What could be better. Thank you Richard.

YW Girl's Camp

 

 

 

 

I just found these photos that Emma took at camp this year. Unfortunately Maddie was unable to go, but Emma had a great time. She is really turning out to be the adventurous type. I'm so happy. Maybe we can start doing more outdoor family activities. Their camp was full of fun things to do including swimming, horse-back riding, rock climbing, and more. The weather even cooperated which was nice because the day before they left there was a huge rainstorm which made a muddy day for the leaders who went early to get things set up.

Balloons Overhead

 
 
 
Several of our days during the late summer have gifted us with the unexpected surprise of hot air balloons flying low directly over our house. We must be in the path of a balloon training course or something. I'm not really sure why they're there, but it sure is fun when we see them. It makes me want to get in one. I'm imagining being inside and then just jumping out into "our" pool. Then I'm waving up and calling, "Thanks for the ride."
Wow. That's kinda weird now that I write it down. I must be in need of some excitement in my life.

First Day of School - 2010

And these are the obligatory "first day of school" photos. Maddie was NOT able to get her cast off in time for the big day. She had to wait until Friday. But she's lovin' the boot. Lauren is just as thrilled as usual.
Here's hoping for a great school year. The big girls are already anxiously talking about the school productions. We're sure to be very busy for the next nine months. Wait, we just got done being busy. Oh yeah, we're always busy.

Humanitarian Dolls

The dolls are done.
I'm going to have to start this post with a little story. It's an analogy.
When I was teaching, one of the projects we used to do was a "World's Fair" where every child picked a country to do an in-depth report on. Well, I had one student who just loved the movie and music of Evita and was almost obsessed with Argentina because of it. So naturally she chose Argentina as her project. As the days of research, note-taking, fact finding, etc. progressed she became less and less excited until, in the end, one of the parents who came to the final World's Fair report day asked her, "So, Megan, what did you learn about Argentina?" Her reply was a vehement, "I hate Argentina!"
I have to admit that I have had a few days of "hating" these dolls. And here's why.
6 years ago I found myself in a position of being a brand new stay-at-home mom; something I had never been before. Yes, I had 4 young children and ran a daycare from my home, but I felt like I really had a bit of extra time and was feeling that I wanted to continue to contribute to the world and stay productive. So, I got on the church website and looked through the humanitarian projects available. This little doll pattern just caught my eye. They looked so cute and simple. Surely I could whip out a big bunch of these in no time. The date of the print-out is 12/11/2004. Now, I'm sure I didn't start until a few weeks after that, but it started out great. I got all the pieces cut out and the initial sewing done. That was the ONLY machine sewing to be done on these cuties. Let's just say I really underestimated the length of time all the hand sewing would take. And guess what? I HATE hand sewing. So the project got put away for a few, uhh, years.
With renewed energy and after moving them to our new house, I got them out again and worked on them until I was quite sick of them again. And away they went. And we moved again.
And again I dug them out, determined to finish them up. Made some headway. Moved again.
When we moved into this house and I saw the box that held them (and a few other unfinished projects) I was determined. My New Year's resolution this year was to finish all the projects in that box. I have already put together a quilt top (I'll post it when I quilt it) and can say with a huge smile on my face, that I have finished the dolls. Do not check the website. They are no longer on there as a project. But guess what? I'm sending them anyway. I wrapped each one with a cute little silly band (are you all experiencing this craze? My house is overrun with silly bands) and am shipping them away. I figured that each doll took about 1 1/2-2 hours to complete and there are 54 of them. I did most of the work while watching movies. I haven't watched a movie since the completion yet, but it will feel strange not to be sewing during it.
Humanitarian Dolls----check
It might take me a while, but I'm a finisher. Anyone need a size 2 little girl's dress? That's the next project. Started for Lauren. Shameful, I know.

The better to SEE you with

 

It's official. I'm old. We were shopping the other day when we came across a good deal on reading glasses and Richard said, "Why don't you try them just to see if they make a difference." Well, I did because of course I wouldn't see a difference. Why in the world would I need reading glasses? I can see just fine. So I stood right where the words were just starting to get blurry, put them on, and viola. . . it made a big difference. I could see quite a bit better. So, there it is. I'm wearing glasses and using the scooter when I shop. I'm old.

Dance

 

Ellie finally had her dance recital, which they do right in the middle of summer here, which I think is strange. But she loved it and did a great job. Her ballet dance was to Once Upon a December and I have no pictures of it. Dang! Her tap dance was to New York, New York. It was adorable. Yay for Ellie!

Swim Team

 

My three youngest participated in the swim team this year. We didn't come away with any blue ribbons, but it was a great experience. Here's why:
*they all became much better swimmers
*it got us up and going routinely during the unscheduled summer
*girls got great tans
*we all met fun, new friends
*we all experienced the thrill of competition during the meets
Emma wanted to quit the first day and was sure she would never return, but after a while we decided it would be worth it to try again. Here we are at the end and if she doesn't win "Most Improved" for the season they didn't get it right. She has gained soooo much from this experience. I thought the whole thing was great. Thinking about year-round swim team.

Foot Trouble

 

Okay, here is the story of our feet.
A few months ago (early May I think) I started doing Insanity workouts with a few friends from my ward. We did it 5 days/wk at 5:30 am. It felt great. I loved it, and of course I hated it too. But I was feeling good. Then a few weeks later another group started training for a half marathon which will be in Oct. The training schedule required running 4 days/wk with a long run on Saturdays. I figured if some was good, more would be better, so I started that too. Then, another lady in our ward teaches a really good water aerobics class 2 days/wk and it's actually a pretty good work out (for water aerobics) so I decided to do that too. I was feeling great, but my legs were kinda hurting. Then they were really hurting. And then, the Chicago trip with the heels and all the walking and stuff just did me in and my left foot rebelled. It was not going to do anymore and it was letting me know in no uncertain terms. Swelling, pain, aches, limping. . .arghhh! So, I limped around for about a week and a half and it just wasn't getting any better and I just didn't know what it was, so I relented and went to the doctor. Diagnosis=Severe tendinitis. Treat it like a broken foot. Stay off it for 3 weeks, ice, elevate, etc.
Well, I tried. I stayed off it for about 5 days as much as I could when one day I was upstairs and started hearing moaning from Maddie's room. So I went in there and saw Maddie laying in the middle of her room wailing about her foot. What??????? I was totally confused. How did she hurt her foot? Could it really be that bad? Is this just overly dramatic Maddie again and she really has a cramp or something? She seemed as confused as I was and could not provide any real answers for me, but then I noticed it starting to swell up and went to get her some ice. She was still pretty dazed, but started to tell me how she fainted and then her foot hurt when she woke up.
So, away we go to the doctor to get an x-ray and there it was. . . 2 broken bones in her left foot. (That's her picture up there.) She got a splint and a cast the next day. Well, after running and carrying her around all day, my foot was not being treated very well and it really started flairing up again.
So, we have been off our feet as much as possible. My foot is finally starting to feel okay, but now I'm a little gun-shy and am wondering just what this old body is capable of. I do NOT want to go through that again.
Maddie will hopefully get a boot right before school starts. And poor Emma is feeling like she's carrying the load. Don't worry folks, I think she's going to be okay!

Fun Stuff

Oh, what do you do in the summertime when you can barely walk?
I sew American Girl clothes and make ice cream. The American Girl dress didn't turn out great even though I followed the pattern perfectly. For the next one I will modify the pattern to cover the width of the body better. But other than that it was a fun way to use some remnant fabric. The price of that dress really beats the $30 they charge at the big store.
Then the ice cream. We made peach and peanut butter chocolate. Yumm! I still have a bunch in my freezer if any locals want any.

Chicago Summer 2010

 

 

 

A few weeks ago we all tagged along with Richard on a business trip to Chicago. We had such a great time. I really wanted to make sure we did NEW things. And so we did.
We dropped Maddie off in Plainfield to spend the day with her friends and then headed for Des Plaines. Richard had a meeting there, so the other girls and I spent some time in their beautiful library reading stories and playing in their cool jungle themed reading area. When Richard was done we went for a walk to find some lunch and happened upon "Choo-Choo Burgers". It's an old diner and was totally packed. Richard didn't really want to wait, but I was thinking that anything with a 20 min. wait on a Thursday afternoon must be worth it. So we waited and we're so glad we did. Not only was the food great, for burgers and fries, the food comes to you on a train. The kids LOVED that. We will probably always remember our lunch there. So cool.
Then we went to the movie just to kill some time. Richard and the little girls saw Despicable Me and Emma and I saw Toy Story 3. We all thought the movies were great. I love the fashion show part of Toy Story. Hilarious!
Then kill time, kill time, kill more time, and finally pick up Maddie. We wanted to make sure she had her fill of fun. Then it was off to Chicago. We stayed at a nice hotel in the city with a great view of the river. Woke up early to take a walk in the city and happened upon the filming of the new Transformers movie. They had one of the city streets looking all torn up with crashed cars on fire and stuff. No, we did not see any of the actors, but they were there somewhere. We missed Shia Labeouf by "that much".
Then we headed up to Northwestern University to see a production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown". The kids didn't really love it. I just think they aren't familiar enough with the characters to really understand why some of it was funny. However, Lauren really picked up on the entire meaning of "New Philosophy" and has been using that line regularly since then. eg. "Lauren, it's time to get out a book and do some reading." "Why you telling me? That's my new philosophy." Then we were going to go to the beach there in Evanston, IL and they wanted $8/person to go to the beach. We just couldn't see doing that, so away we went with two crying kids.
Then it was back to the hotel room to get ready for the big gala event for the painter group. We took a cab and he let us off at the top of Navy Pier. Well, of course our event was at the very end of Navy Pier. I don't know exactly how far that is, but I'm guessing at least 1/2 mile, walking, on uneven boardwalk, in heels. Well, we made it and stayed a while at that thing, but that is when my already painful legs started really hurting and swelling.
Next day we walked to the beach in Chicago(free of course), to let the girls play. I limped all the way. We walked to an art show. We walked to the American Girl Store on the Magnificent Mile, and my foot was swelling more as time went on. Yikes! More on that later.
We ended with Chicago style pizza at Exchequer. Love it!
Everyone got to do what they wanted. Success!