The Summer of Baseball

Karli looking as cute as ever!
I just can't give enough kisses!
The cousins! Kiley was a little tired of GG taking more pictures!
Us getting ready to go into the ballfield.

Papa and Emily watching the game!
We were so close to the field it was great!
Emily got on the scoreboard, come on smile Emily!
There is half of Jason's head and Kiley waving with Karli right below.
Mommy and Kiley getting a picture taken by Emily.
Uncle Jason with nephew Lukus.


Well, I think we have done it all...John playing T-ball, Cubs games, White Sox games and now Jackhammer games! We still have the Cubs vs. Brewers game at the end of September which will definately be a GREAT one to be at considering they are 1 and 2 in their division!!! Anyway, for my dad's birthday last year we wanted to take him to a Jackhammer's game (a minor league team that plays in Joliet, where they are from). We took him and had a blast! It ended in a rainstorm, which we had all the kids have to run back to our car, but it was such a great evening. I do have to comment on how proud I was of the kids though, they ran 1/4mile in a thuderstorm, with the lightening (there was not a spot to pickup at the stadium) and they did not complain they just ran, and they get really scared of being in thunderstorms...so kudos to them!!! Great job little ones!!! Those little legs did good!!! Here are some pictures from the night! All these pictures are thanks to my mom, I got them off her facebook! Thanks mom!

Snowcones and Lemonade

"Get your snow cones and lemonade" was all the neighbors heard from my kids mouths all afternoon! We had a lemonade and snow cone stand. On this HOT, HOT day the snow cones won! John could not get his mind around why people would spend 25 cents more on a snow cone than on lemonade, which was only 25 cents. He kept asking the customers why they would want to spend more? I kept telling him, it is because people like snow cones more than lemonade! He didn't buy that! It was a great afternoon, the kids made about $20.00...go kids! Of course, because they are so cute people gave them tips. To be young again....8-) So now they have saved $320.00 in their efforts to go back to Disney World. We might just get there yet!

Pokagon and an Ohio Wedding

Well, we are back! We left last Wednesday for Pokagon State Park Campground, which we have now deemed the BEST camping place we have experienced so far! We set up camp on Wednesday night and enjoyed a nice meal of hot dogs and mac 'n cheese! We then headed to check out the surrounding area on a family bike ride. Well, actually the three older ones biked Jason and I walked and Karli rode on Jason's shoulders. 8-) The bike trail was beautiful and we went and checked out the beach, not a far hike and it was beautiful (see picture from previous post). (NOTE: I will not be able to add our pictures until I get a new computer as my computer barely loads the pictures without shutting off from overheating!) The fun thing about the first night of sleeping was that there were a few squirrels who thought they would have fun racing around the roof of our camper! 8-)

Quote from Thursday: Karli: "Mommy, look at those men, they are naked!" (in a really loud voice...they were a couple of men running without their shirts on).
Funny thing that happened: Emily was talking with GG on my cell phone and she was sitting in her camping chair. She fell over backwards and with her legs in the air kept on talking. It was very funny and cute all at the same time, she never missed a beat!

The kids did a great job waking up and just sitting and coloring quietly while Jason and I "slept in". We woke up and had blueberry muffins that I had made prior to the trip. Then we headed to the beach, at a picnic lunch at the beach. John was so excited that he finally put his face under water for 1 second. Emily and Kiley got more comfortable swimming in the water and Karli finally worked up the courage to walk in the water by herself! After lunch we went over and rented a paddle boat. All of us on one! Emily was not too excited at first, but then finally at the end of the hour liked it. We were very proud of her! John and Kiley sat at the back and stuck there feet off the side, Emily finally did at the end! Karli wanted too, but she will have to wait until next time. We ended the day with a family bike ride.
Our thankful event of the trip: GOD WAS WATCHING OVER OUR SWEET KILEY, while we were on the bike ride we took a turn on the path that was close to the main road. We shouted, "Be careful, don't go too fast we are near a main road and they are going fast!" Without thinking, Kiley went to the right, like she ALWAYS does to slow down or get out of the way (they don't have brakes on their bikes), but this time it happened to the ONLY place that the path and the grass met up and it went straight down the hill into the street. This is the MAIN street into the campground, it was dusk and right before a bridge. Normally, people are speeding through there. All of a sudden when she turned she went down the hill. At first, it thought the curb was going to stop her, but realized that it wasn't. I screamed, because there was a car coming down the road pulling a trailer and about to go under the bridge. She rolled out into the street and across both lanes to the other side. I grabbed her before she could slam into the other curb. THANKING GOD that the person driving was an older man who was going under the speed limit. The ONLY one the entire time we were there going that slow (later that night we were walking back through and I saw all the cars and kept saying, if it had been that one, that one, that one...she probably would not be here. Thank you God for sparing her! It was very hard to go to sleep that night I kept picturing it over and over...

Shocking event of Friday morning: I woke up and went to put my shoes on and saw a cidada emerging from its shell on the inside of my shoe. It was not the red eyed ones we had seen so many of last summer, but a beautiful aqua color. We watched until it totally "deshelled" and safely put it on a tree.
Other animal facts: we had six silk worms come and join us for breakfast. Three had to climb back up the tree because their silk was not long enough to reach the ground yet.

Friday we woke up and hung out at the campsite. We took the kids on a bike ride to the Saddle Barn and paided to have them ride a pony. Kiley's dream has always been to ride on a horse. She loves horses! So she got to ride on a pony named Penny. She couldn't wipe the smile off of her face. We are definately going to have to see how we can get her on another horse, she could stop talking about it and can't wait until she is eight to be able to go on the trail with the big horses. She was already picking out which one she wanted! We then headed back to eat lunch at the campsite and then off to the beach!!!! We spent the whole afternoon lounging in the water and swimming. John worked his way up to 8 seconds under water. Now we can't stop him from trying to make it longer!!!

Most special moment of the day: John was out with Jason in the water and they were coming back and he yelled at the top of his lungs, "Hey everyone, Hey everyone listen to me, I have the best and most awesomest dad EVER!" You couldn't wipe the smile off of Jason face! John was so proud that Jason was his dad!

Saturday we were able to attend our friends Tyler and Amy's wedding. It was so excited to celebrate with them! The girls had always mentioned that they were going to walk downt he aisle and steal Tyler away from Amy. Thankfully, they did not try!!! The kids felt so important being asked to come. The girls got to dance at the reception and they felt so old and then Amy AND Tyler danced with them...they felt so special! It was a great day. Then we drove the four hours back home while the kids slept in the car. It was a great week!!!

And we are off...

We are headed to the wonderful Pokagon State Park to enjoy three days of camping! We can't wait!

I love the Library Elf!!!!

Have you ever heard of the library elf??? The little thing has saved me money already! My library has an online renewal system and placing things on hold...that was not enough. Library elf actually emails me a few days before letting me know that library books, cds, etc. are about to be needed back at the library. Check it out...www.libraryelf.com

I thought you were a Cubs fan????

Don't worry we haven't changed our allegence. 8-) But, yes we are headed to the White Sox game tonight! I just put the kids down for a mandatory nap and thought I would take a few to write. Partly because I don't want to go clean up lunch...yes, it is true. Flylady would be disappointed. But, only a couple of minutes...no worries!

Last Friday a friend from church sent me to an hour massage and watched the kids too. Then on top of that she added strawberries to my cheesecake as she watched them longer so Jason and I could go out to dinner...of course, we decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory. It was such a great time to talk and catch up. Thanks Ramona for the great birthday present (it took me 7 months to finally use it!).

Saturday we just hung out at home. Enough said! It was great!

Pool = Rain

So why is it whenever we put the pool up it always rains?

Now it is the BOYS turn...

So the boys get the sleepover tonight! A couple of John's friends came over for the boys slumber party. Much different than the girls'...no nail polish, no girly pillow fight...instead boys lifting weights and playing air hockey and fusbol and, the ultimate favorite, Mario Kart! I made homemade taco shells, unknowing that one of the boys does not like them, and we had tacos and chips and salsa, as requested by John. His favorite. It was a lot of fun! I think next year we will just have it be a game night, that seems to fit it a lot more!

Fun in Joliet while Jason is working hard...

So Jason is in summer school these past couple of weeks so I decided to break it up for the kids and I and take them down to my parents house in Joliet (see note on speeding ticket!). We had a blast hanging out with my nephew Lukus and of course my parents and my sister Leslie. On Monday I found out that the library near them was having story time so we decided to head over. They had a great children's area with a HUGE tree to curl up under to read some books. So we did that while we waited for story time. Then "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" story time began. We had fun singing some songs and hearing a librarian read some baseball stories (I LOVE baseball!). Then they had a fun craft for us to do, making baseball fans. The kids had fun coloring their baseballs and waving them around to cool them off. It did happen to be a hot day!

Tuesday we headed to the nature center near my mom's house. We love going there. We get to pet turtles (which we hope to own someday) and look at all the different bugs and animals they have. We even got to help a big beetle flip back over on its right side so it could walk. A cool thing we found was that you could rent a backpack and poles and do a pond study! Yeah, a science lesson for school and I didn't even have to plan it. YES! We had fun collecting the water and looking a microinvertabres and then identifying which ones they were. We saw tiny, tiny mosquito larve, baby damselfly, etc. It was facinating. The kids had fun. We then went for a nature walk, but remembered to watch out for the three leafed inching machine!

I have found this summer some exciting new things to take advantage of that are FREE just around the everyday places that we go. It has been fun and the kids and I have had some great experiences fun and learning too!

I would have never guessed!

Kiley is a joy to have. She is adorable and cute, but recently she just HAS to know where I am ALL the time. She has to tell me EVERYTHING about what is going on. She has to be talking to me NON-STOP! At first it was cute, now I am annoyed. Then I realized the other day she is me! I was just like her when I was little. I have already appologized to my mother as I know now what she went through. I wanted her to know EVERYTHING all the time etc. I also am trying to put my self in her shoes because I know how special I felt when my mom REALLY WANTED to listen to what I had to say. I do find it funny that the one child that is the most like me annoys me...:smile:

Speeding ticket...thanks mom!

So I was following my mom today to see where my dad works. She was speeding, I was following and I wasn't paying attention to the speed limits....there was a police man and I heard the sirens. Yep, I got pulled over. The funny thing is I didn't know where I was and my mom didn't realize that I wasn't behind her anymore. The police told me to call her and tell her to come back because she was speeding too and he would give her a ticket too. While I was waiting for him to write out my ticket my mom came back. She pulled off onto a different road and waited. The funny thing about all of it was, we took the back roads so i didn't have to pay the tolls because I didn't have an i-pass. The other funny thing was my mom had turned off on the wrong road. At first I was upset at my mom because she was speeding, but then I realized I was the one that was driving so I was responsible. It ended up being a great teaching lesson for the kids. Although a $75 ticket was not my idea of a cheap lesson. Oh, well!

The girls unslumber party...and the boys at the carnival~

So last night the girls threw a un-slumber party and we had tons of fun! Jason took John on a date while we threw the party...of course, because it was a GIRL ONLY party! Every month one of the kids gets a date with one of us and we rotate so this month it worked because it was the boys time. So we kicked them out, they were planning on going to the park and then to Chili's. It is funny, because just like Jason and my date it never happens to end up what we plan. They headed to the park and there happened to be a carnival going on, so they bought enought tickets to go on the ferris wheel and had a ton of fun, then off to the ROCKETSHIP park and then ended up eating at McDonald's. McDonald's was the choice because John loves Happy Meal toys, enjoys the playland and wanted to make it back before the girls left to go home. 8-) Which he did and had fun then played for a bit with them. But, that is not all of the story...there was still the UN-slumber party itself!

The Un-Slumber (GIRLS ONLY) Party put electric energy in the air! The girls were sooooo excited every neighbor knew of the party before the guest even arrived. We were outside on the front stoop waiting for the girls to arrive and neighbors were passing by, with so much excitement they explained all the events planned for the evening. Once the girls arrived there was jumping up and down, screams of excitement and we hadn't made it inside yet. 8-) Finally, they all arrived and we headed to the dining room table to make our own heart shaped pizzas. (Sorry all real pictures will be placed on my Facebook page for only friends to see....until I get a better computer). While we were waiting for the pizzas to bake I painted fingernails and put special pictures on them of different flowers. They were all excited. We ate the pizzas while watching Buzby and then headed outside for a "scavanger hunt" that John had put together for the girls (what a GREAT big brother!). We headed inside for a game of "Popcorn" and "Musical Sleeping Bags". We ate Mickey Mouse brownies while I read a "bedtime" story. While we waited for the moms to arrive we played Hullabaloo on the front lawn. Of course, once the moms arrived we talked for about another hour while the kids played around us. It was the perfect summer evening. More fireflys made it into the house for a wonderful "bug fest". I love the summer!

Mommy Time...don't they get enough of me????

My kids are with me literally 24/7, so one would think that they would get tired of me, right? Well, today proved that wrong! Kiley has been very needed recently and I sensed that she really just needed Mommy and Kiley time. I KNEW that to be the case when she came and asked me for it this morning. Of course, I said yes and we picked a few books and snuggled in my bed to read...just Kiley and me. Not two seconds later Emily and Karli arrived at the door, "Mommy, it is MY day, so I get to have mommy time" said Emily, "Me too" said Karli (they rotate whose day it is everyday and whatever decisions for the kids have to be made, any special things go to whomever day it is). I told them that they would get there time too. "There goes getting the laundry done," my mind quickly thought, "oh well." After about two checks to see if we were done I told the two eager sisters to wait and not bother us anymore till we were done. After reading three books I told Kiley it was now Emily's turn. She wanted to spend more time "Legos, playing house, I want to do that too!" she said. My mind started to get overwhelmed...adding all the time multiplyed by four. Nothing was going to happen today.

I ended up spending time with all of the girls reading and John wanted to color (which is so relaxing to me...much rather do that then fold clothes anyday). And it was great. The whole morning was spent with just them. They kept asking for more one-on-one time. To be honest I was shocked. They are stuck with me ALL the time, why would they want more of me. Then I decided it really didn't matter and to just sit back and feel loved. And I did.

If an Elephant can paint...

So if an elephant CAN paint, I can too...at least that is what I tell myself. 8-) Today I went there with a couple of girls from church and we had fun getting to know each other. I haven't done that in a LONG time. It was very exciting and relaxing. We are thinking about starting to have a girls' night once a month...that should be fun!!

Running...you have to hold me to it!

So it is up to you...yes, you...I am planning on TRYING, yes, TRYING to run the Chicago 1/2 Marathon next year. NOT this year, next year. So I started this morning. I usually work out in the morning, but today I thought I would see how I did running around the park. It is only .7 miles. I know it doesn't sound long, but I am not a runner, so to me...LONG. I totally did it and was not even out of breath. I came home and John wanted to go running. So my wonderful husband continued to get ready for Summer School and let me and John run it again. So I ran 1 1/2 miles this morning...NO PROBLEM. It has made me excited that I could possilbly do this. So I am saying it on here. I am going to plan on running the 1/2 marathon next summer...Anyone want to join me?????

Showering in the front yard

Yep, we did it. Showered in the front yard yesterday afternoon. And yes, I do live in Chicago, we were not in the middle of the woods. 8-) So the kids were running through the sprinkler. We had two choices: end early and go take baths OR stay out longer and just wash hair in the sprinkler....hum, if you were a kid what would you choose??? It was fun. The kids loved telling everyone that was walking down the street what they were doing. It made for a great time and no fussing to get to the bathroom. I didn't even have to clean up the bathroom after them...maybe this was a better idea than I thought. 8-)

The Beginnings...

So I have wanted to start a blog for a long time, just because I really just like to talk and remember what has actually happened in my life. It seems like it flys by so0000 FAST!

So here we are. I will be putting everyday stuff on here, RANDOM stuff...hence the title of this blog. Good? Yeah, I know.

So what happened today you say, I am so glad you asked. McDonald's. My mom took us there for lunch. Thanks mom! The kids were placed in a situation that they have not occurred yet. There were these two bossy girls that were blocking the entrance into the bubble play area on the McD's playland. The main one could only have been four or five. She was telling my kids off. My mom and I could read her lips. They stopped and told her that she needed to do what the bible said and to share. Her response, "I don't know about the bible." They ran down and asked what they should do. "Keep being nice to her and ask her nicely to move", I said. She would not budge. They kept being nice to her (except for the short time when emily got fed up and started pulling the girls arms and dragging her out of the way...oops! john ran to her and reminder her to stop...but you could tell it took everything in her not to be mean.) and at the end of the time they had become "friends". I was very proud of my kids. And hopefully, the girls will start asking what a bible is!