The Mann Family

We are so proud....

2010-06-11T06:25:00.011-05:00

I know it's been a while since I've updated, but it always seems like we are so busy. I just can't seem to find the time. AJ and Ashleigh's last day of school was on Wednesday. I don't know who was more excited, AJ and Ashleigh or Rick and I. We all love the summer time. Here are a few pictures the morning of the last day of school. Can you tell they are excited?

During the last day of school, the school held an awards ceremony. AJ was so excited because he knew that he would be getting his "Monkey Award"! Let me explain...... A few months ago, when Rick and I had a parent/teacher conference with AJ's teacher, she mentioned that they would be working on their times tables and that she tries to make a contest out of it, so it will appear to be fun for the kids while they learn at the same time. Each children was created into a monkey and they would swing from the trees of the times tables they mastered. Each tree represented a number from 1 to 12. On the day of the times tables test, each child had 3 minutes to complete the times tables. They started with 1's and went all the way up to 12. For every times tables they completed, the children were able to move up a tree. AJ mentioned, at the very beginning, he wanted to win the contest so he could be the times tables master. So, Rick and I had him practice, practice, practice everyday. He would get so mad somedays, but the end result paid off. You are now looking at the 2010 3rd Grader Monkey Award Winner. AJ was so happy and we are so proud of him. Way to go, AJ!

Ashleigh has been busy too. We have been trying since last summer to get Ashleigh to ride her bike without training wheels. She would pitch a fit almost everytime and cry and whine because she was always so afraid she was going to fall. Finally, Rick and I gave up and decided she would learn when she was ready. A couple of weeks ago, she decided she liked riding bikes and would ask to ride her bike everyday. After a couple of days of riding, Rick bent her training wheels a little so she could learn to balance better. Together as a family, we would go on bike rides in the evening and Rick and I realized that for the most part, Ashleigh was not even using her training wheels. The training wheels were there, but because they were bent a little, Ashleigh was able to balance on her own. So, last Sunday, Rick and I asked Ashleigh if she wanted to try riding without the training wheels. At first, she said No! And then she changed her mind. I think it only took a couple of times before she got the concept and she hasn't stopped since. Here are some pictures. I think the smile on her face says it all! Here is a video of her first two wheeler bike ride. We are so proud of Ashleigh. She's such a big girl!

Hope everyone is having a good start to the summer. I know we are!

Beach Days are here again....

2010-04-03T21:33:00.003-05:00

It's not very often in Chicago that the temperatures reach 80 plus degrees in April, but when it did, we had to get out and celebrate. We had a picnic at the beach on Wednesday and Thursday.

AJ & Ashleigh are always so excited to spend time at the beach.

We had a great time playing at the park and kicking the soccer ball around.

The beach at this time of the year is pretty much deserted, so the kids could run

anywhere they wanted along the beach front. Chasing the seagulls, picking

up sea shells or chasing each other around. They always have a great time!

I can't wait until summer time when we can spend the weekends at the beach!

On the second night down at the beach, Diamond got the enjoy the beach too.

She loves to splash through the water. She never seems to get tired!

It's just too bad the warm weather did not last. Today, the temperature did not get out of the 50s with some rain. Hopefully, the warm weather will be back soon, so that we can enjoy more time outdoors.

A little Mommy/Daughter time

2010-03-28T19:30:00.003-05:00

I have been wanting to take Ashleigh on a little Mommy/Daughter outing for awhile now, but hadn't quite figured out what I wanted to do, when Rick suggested taking her with me to get our nails done togehter. Now everyone knows how Ashleigh loves to have her nails painted, however, during school she is not allowed to have her fingernails painted. It is against school policy. Well, since this coming week is Spring Break, what a perfect time to do Mommy/Daughter time. I did not tell Ashleigh where we were going, only that she had to be a big girl or she would not be able to go again. Once, she realized what was going on, I don't think her smile left her face the entire afternoon. When we got to the nail salon, an older lady took Ashleigh with her to pick out her color and of course she picked pink. I sat down to get my nails done and Ashleigh sat down to get hers done. She was amazing. She sat completely still and was mesmerized, by the whole process. This is her right after the lady finished painting her nails. She sat underneath the dryer and allowed the nails to be completely dry. I think every couple of minutes, she had to take her hands out from underneath the dryer just to take a look.

She was so proud. Ashleigh could not wait to get home to show Daddy her nails. I promised her that I would take her this summer to get her toes done. I know she can't wait to do that! I loved spending time with just her! She is becoming such a big girl!

Trying to make it Spring

2010-03-21T19:37:00.006-05:00

So even though day was offically the second day of Spring, it certainly did not feel that way in Illinois. With temperatures, looking like this.

It still did not stop us from trying to enjoy

the nice sunshine day

outdoors doing something

both kids now love to do!

It was cold and windy as

the bikes raced up and down the sidewalk and even through the snow!

Hopefully, we will start to see a lot warmer temperatures, so that AJ and Ashleigh can enjoy doing things outdoors again! They are really looking forward to being able to play outdoors without the winter jackets, hats and gloves!

A Blast from the Past

2010-03-14T09:38:00.005-05:00

Rick and I have been talking about trying to find some different things to do with the kids during the winter months because it's either too cold or too wet to be outside. Yesterday, we decided to take AJ and Ashleigh roller skating. I remember going to the roller rink when I was growing up and just having a great time. I remember the music, the games they would play and just how much fun it was. Rick and I had a hard time actually finding a roller rink near us, but we finally found one about an hour away. We weren't sure if the kids were going to like it or not, but we thought we could at least give it a try.

Once we got to the roller rink, we walked inside and it brought back all of those memories from my childhoood. The loud music, the concession stand, all of the kids and their friends and the disco lights! It was great!!!!! When we got to the place to rent the skates, you could rent either roller skates or roller blades. We decided to rent the skates and for us we rented roller blades. You should have seen the AJ and Ashleigh's faces when they first stood up on the roller skates. They were smiling from ear to ear. We decided each of us would take one of them around the rink for awhile until they figured out how to do it on their own. I don't think I realized how hard it is to teach someone to roller skate. I think for the first hour or so, AJ and Ashleigh spent more time on the floor than on their feet, but they were still smiling even when they fell. Finally, one of the other parents came up to us and said that he thought it was easier for the kids to learn on the roller blades than the skates, so we traded in the roller skates for the blades. After awhile, AJ really seemed to get the concept, but Ashleigh on the other hand still struggled a bit, but did do much better with the roller blades. I think we ended up skating for about 2 hours and had a blast. It was so great to see the kids enjoy something that I used to enjoy as a kid. In fact, this morning when we woke up, the first think AJ and Ashleigh asked was if we could go skating again. We had so much fun doing it that we are thinking about buying some roller blades for the kids to use at home too. We have so many Forest Preserves around here that we could get a lot of use out of them during the summer.

As you can see from the pictures below, they had a great time!

Pancake Breakfast and Open House

2010-01-31T15:29:00.011-06:00

Today, we all volunteered at AJ and Ashleigh's school for their annual Pancake Breakfast. The last two years, we have gone and eaten breakfast at the school for the Pancake Breakfast, but this year we decided to volunteer. We had to be at the school at 7:00 am this morning. So, it was like a normal school day for us. When we got to the school, we were among quite a few other parents and teachers volunteering for the day. It didn't take too long before someone put AJ and Ashleigh to work wrapping forks and knives in napkins.

Rick and I were busy in the kitchen pouring drinks and helping make sure the tables were set for the breakfast. All in all, we had a good time and felt good about volunteering for the school. AJ and Ashleigh were able to reap some benefits from their hard work as you can see below.

Now only was today the Pancake Breakfast at the school, but it was also an Open House to the public. The kids have been hard at work doing different art projects to display during the Open House. AJ's diorama was on display along with the entire class's "Diorama Town". The entire class did a great job and I know AJ was so proud of his diorama. They also displayed some little short stories and some decorated light bags to light the hallways of the school. Some of Ashleigh's artwork was also on display. It is always so easy for us to spot Ashleigh's artwork among her class because she likes to use all different colors and shapes on her artwork.

We were so proud of AJ and Ashleigh's accomplishments today; not only in their artwork but their volunteer services, as well.

Report Cards....

2010-01-24T18:54:00.004-06:00

In our house, the day report cards go home is generally not a good day for AJ. Not that he doesn't try, he just struggles in school. So as Friday, the day report cards when home, approached, Rick kept telling AJ, "I hope your report card is good because otherwise, you loose your Nintendo DSi!" Which of course, would be like the end of the world for AJ because he enjoys playing it so much. Ashleigh, on the other hand, we generally don't have to worry much about her school work; it's her attitude we have to worry about. So, Rick was telling her the same thing.

Rick picked the kids up from school on Friday right after they got out and when my cell phone rang, I wasn' sure it was going to be good news. But boy was I surprised. Not only did AJ get some really good grades, but he also improved in almost every subject. Needless to say, I think Rick and I were both speechless. We could not believe how well he did. AJ said he looked at his report card before Rick picked him up, so he knew he was not loosing his DSi! He was very excited about that! Ashleigh's report card was also very good. She got all check marks or check mark plus in everything except "listens with interruption". Imagine that! :) I think Ashleigh will always be that way! :)

Unfortunately, AJ has had a really bad cold for the last couple of days and so we weren't able to go out and celebrate this weekend. But we plan to celebrate next weekend. We did, however, we get them both huge cupcakes from this bakery down the street. The bakery is unbelievable! Both AJ and Ashleigh really enjoyed eating their cupcakes.

I needed to run out to Sam's Club today for a few things for school next week, so I was able to get them both a new Nintendo DS game and AJ a new "Wimpy Kids" Book. These books have really changed AJ's attitude on reading. He really enjoys reading this series. I think this will be his fifth book.

We couldn't be more proud of AJ and Ashleigh! Way to go AJ and Ashleigh!

It didn't last long.....

2010-01-20T05:34:00.003-06:00

We can generally tell what kind of day Ashleigh is going to have on whether or not we have to wake her up in the morning to get ready for school. If we have to wake her up, then most of the morning is a struggle because she is still tired and does not want to get moving. Then the most of the day, she is irritable and grumpy. However, if she wakes up on her own, then the morning runs very smoothly and she is very agreeable to everything. Yesterday, was a morning where we had to wake her up and it was one struggle after another. Hence, the results in school.

When I got home, Ashleigh was quiet and Rick said to her "is there something you need to tell Mommy?" She was so upset. I think she really tries hard, but she just can't stay on green. Although, she did tell me that she just needed to "finish what she was saying!" Leave it to Ashleigh to think that what she has to say is more important than what the teacher has to say. We talked to her about using her manners. Hopefully, the rest of the week will be better!

We knew they could do it.....

2010-01-15T18:24:00.007-06:00

We all know that Ashleigh has struggled just a little bit in school this year with following the rules and not just doing what she wants, when she wants. Sorry, Nicki, but I swear she must be your child! :) So when she brought this home today, you can imagine our excitement!
She was so proud of herself. I don't think she stopped smiling about it. And she got to go to the treasure chest. This is a small chest full of small little toys and tokens for the kids, who have been good, to choose a toy. We hope Ashleigh continues to do so well. We know she enjoys school and is very eager to learn how to read.

AJ is also doing well in school. He is learning a lot of new things and gets a little discouraged at times when he doesn't quite get something, but overall really seems to be enjoying it. Last week, he had to write a story about what he wants to be when he grows up. He said he wanted to be a person who helps rescue and train dogs. His company would be called The Dog Hero! He is now making a diorama of his company to display for the entire school. He is working really hard on it and can't wait to show it to everyone. I will take pictures once it's complete. We are very proud of him.

Hope everyone has a nice relaxing weekend.

New Adventure for a New Year!

2010-01-09T21:52:00.010-06:00

Rick and I have talked about taking AJ and Ashleigh sledding for quite some time. But it always seems that something or someone gets in the way. Either we have too much to take care on the weekends or someone is sick. Today, however, was a different story. We decided to take AJ and Ashleigh sledding for the first time. We figured a new adventure for the start of a New Year was a great way to spend the afternoon. A year ago, the snow sledding hill was completed in our neighborhood, however, it was not opened until this winter. The kids were so excited to go. They could not get bundled up quick enough and when I say bundled up, boy, do I mean it! It was only 19 degrees today and we had a pretty decent wind, so I think AJ and Ashleigh each had on about 5 layers of clothing plus their jackets, snow pants, hats and gloves. As we got to the hill, I figured that one of the kids would decide that they did not want to do down, however, that was definitely not the case. Rick went on the first run with the kids. AJ and Ashleigh on one sled and Rick on another. I was down the hill to take pictures, of course. I could hear the screams of laughter coming from the two of them. They absolutely loved it!!!!! I could not believe it! The first words I heard were "can we do it again?"

We spend spent about an hour and half at the sleddding hill -- too much longer and we were afraid Ashleigh might get sick. Everyone took turns going down the hill. After about the 3rd or 4th run, AJ was riding one sled by himself and Ashleigh was riding the other sled by herself. They had such a great time! Rick and I said we should have taking them a lot sooner since they enjoyed it so much. The first words we heard as we were getting back in the car to go home were "can we go again tomorrow?"

This is AJ and Ashleigh after the last run! I don't think the smiles left their faces all afternoon. Now they are just hoping for another big snowstorm to dump all more snow for them to go sledding!

Vistors

2009-11-12T07:06:00.003-06:00

This past weekend, Mom and Dad came to visit! We all decided it would be really fun to surprise the kids. On the day Mom and Dad flew in, I picked them up at the airport while Rick picked the kids up. Rick made sure the kids were kept occupied while Mom, Dad and I snuck into the house. Then Rick called the kids downstairs for something and they were so surprised. The look on AJ's and Ashleigh's faces was priceless. I don't think they stopped smiling the entire time Mom and Dad were here.

Rick and I were able to take some time off work while they were here, but AJ and Ashleigh had to go to school. Ashleigh had already missed too much school when she was sick. On Friday, we took Mom and Dad to this delicious burger place in Chicago called Kuma's Corner. If you are ever in Chicago, this is definitely the place to go. Rick and I saw this place on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives a few months ago and knew we had to try it. The burgers are huge!

After the kids got home from school, we stayed around the house and they kept Mom and Dad entertained the entire night. On Saturday, we ran to the mall and shopped for a little while. On Sunday, everyone went to the Racine Zoo in Wisconsin. It's a very small zoo, but really nice because everything is at the kids level. We saw lots of animals. I think everyone enjoyed it.

On Monday, we decided wanted to do a Thanksgiving dinner since everyone was together. I can't believe it has been 3 years since we have had Thanksgiving together. It was so delicious! I think everyone over ate. On Tuesday, Rick and I had to go back to work, so Mom and Dad had some time to themselves and took a drive! Everyone was sad to see them leave on Wednesday, but it will only be 5 weeks until we are all together again! Thanks Mom and Dad for visiting! We had so much fun! Can't wait until Christmas time! :)

First Day of Soccer

2009-09-28T19:12:00.005-05:00

Tonight was AJ's first practice for soccer. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate! It was 58 degrees and the winds were gusting at 20 miles per hour. Needless to say this is how AJ was dressed for soccer practice.

He is very excited about playing this year. AJ has practice on Mondays and Wednesdays and then games on Saturdays. The season is only about 7 weeks long which is kind of nice. At least it will go by quickly. I am sure Rick, Ashleigh and I are going to be freezing on the sidelines, but we will be there for every practice and every game. Even if we have to sit in the car to get warm. I guess we will be layering up and learning how to stay warm. Here are a few more pictures of him at practice today.

You know it's cold outside when Ashleigh and Rick are bundled up together!

We will take lots more pictures throughout the season! Pray that it won't be freezing cold for all of us that are sitting on the sidelines!

It's been a while

2009-09-27T19:14:00.004-05:00

I know it's been a while since I last posted. Now that AJ and Ashleigh are both in school, it seems like Monday thru Friday, I don't have any time to sit down to post. We are always so busy with homework, reading and starting tomorrow soccer. It's pretty crazy in our house from about the time I get home from work until 7 o'clock or so. It's so rush, rush! If someone was looking in from the outside, it would look like chaos, but it works for us!

AJ is enjoying the third grade so far. He has a great teacher this year and he seems to be really striving to do his best. He is still struggling a little bit with reading, but it's better than last year. AJ is starting soccer on Monday. He is really excited about playing. I am just hoping it goes better than last time. For those of you who don't remember or don't know, AJ played soccer when he was 4 years old and did not do so well. In fact, I am pretty sure you would not technically consider it playing, if you run away from the ball which is what AJ did if the ball came near him. His practices will be Mondays and Wednesdays and then his games will be on Saturdays. I will definitely take lots of pictures.

Ashleigh has had a little bit of a hard time adjusting to kindergarten. I think the fact that she does not take a nap and a few new rules have really thrown her for a loop. She has gotten a couple of notes sent home from school, which of course is just devastating for her because she does not like to get caught getting into trouble. Most of the time when Rick picks the kids up from school, Ashleigh falls asleep in the car on the ride home. So, we know she is exhausted. But of course, she won't admit it. She is learning quite a bit so far. She is also really excited about learning new things. Over the last couple of weeks, Rick and I have both tried working with Ashleigh on getting the training wheels off her bike, however, I think those training wheels will be on her bike until she's 10 years old! Ashleigh wants nothing to do with learning how to ride without training wheels, as you can see from the scowl on her face in the picture below. Although, she was very excited the other night when she lost her other front tooth. So she is now toothless in front which is so super cute!

Hopefully, I will do a little better about keeping everyone up to date! Hope everyone has a great week!

Re-enlistment and a Fun Weekend

2009-09-07T15:22:00.007-05:00

This past weekend has been packed full of fun and excitement. On Tuesday, Marcus flew in for a visit! AJ and Ashleigh were so excited to see him! As I tell everyone when the come to visit, forget your privacy while you are here. The kids talked his ear off for the entire visit and I don’t think he got a moments peace, but Marcus said that he enjoys it! The reason for Marcus’s visit was because Rick re-enlisted in the Navy for the last time! This will be a 6 year enlistment and will take him out to his 20 years and then he will retire! It was an exciting day not only for Rick, but also for the kids. AJ and Ashleigh got to attend his re-enlistment. They were very excited for their Daddy! Rick’s XO did the honors of re-enlisting him. I am so proud of Rick!

I’m pretty sure that Marcus and Rick ate their way through Marcus’s visit here. Every time I turned around they were eating something else. (Don’t worry Dad, they ate your share of White Castle for you!) Rick and I were really excited to take Marcus to Kuma’s Korner which is this really great burger restaurant in Chicago. We saw it on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives a couple of months ago and knew it was a place that we had to try. All Marcus kept saying was “this better be worth it!” before we got there because you have to get there at least ½ hour before it opens so that you don’t have to wait for a table! Afterwards, I don’t think I have heard him be that quiet before! We were so stuffed when we got finished, but Marcus said it was more than worth it! This is definitely the best burger place ever!

On Saturday, we all went to the Lincoln Park Zoo and had a blast! We walked the entire zoo, went to the farm inside the zoo and then the fresh market outside the zoo. The kids had a blast. We packed a picnic lunch and spent most of the day there. We saw so many different animals! It always amazes me how much AJ and Ashleigh remember from the last visit. Each of them have their own favorites for the animals and we always make sure they get to see their favorites.

We also did some picnics at the park and took a walk on the beach. I am not sure who had more fun – the kids, Rick or Marcus! It’s always fun to watch all of them play.
Rick and Marcus fished almost everyday! And everyday, the kids would ask if they caught anything. Most days the answer was NO, but on the last day the answer was YES! The kids were so excited to see what they caught! I think AJ and Ashleigh were expecting something much larger!

Marcus flew out on Sunday and everyone was sad to see him go! Now it’s back to school tomorrow.

P.S. – Is this a sign that Fall is coming soon? Are the leaves really changing already????

First Day of School

2009-08-24T19:19:00.007-05:00

Today was AJ and Ashleigh's first day of school. I think they were both pretty excited. Although, I think Ashleigh was a little nervous. We have been talking with the kids for the past few weeks about school getting ready to begin and how to help get them prepared for the changes the school year brings. We had their orientation last week and they got to meet their teachers and see where their classrooms were going to be.

AJ already knew who his teacher would be because she is the same teacher who taught third grade last year, so it was no big surprise for him. He was a litle shy during the orientation, I think mostly because he knew the summer was ending and he was going to be starting school. He was very excited to see his friends from last year and meet a few new ones today.

Ashleigh got to meet her teacher for the first time during orientation. Her teacher is new to the school this year. I was a little disappointed when I found out she did not get the other kindergarten teacher, but I am sure all will be fine. Ashleigh was very excited about school starting, she has been talking about it for weeks. I think she was mostly excited about going to the same school as AJ. On the ride to school this morning, she got a little quiet and Rick and I think she was getting a little nervous. Once we got to the school, Rick and I helped the kids carry in all of their school supplies. We first went to Ashleigh's classroom and dropped off all of her stuff and then she went with us to drop off AJ's stuff. We left AJ in his classroom and then went back down to Ashleigh's room and she sat down at her desk and said "goodbye"! She was ready to start the day!

When Rick picked the kids up from school, both of the kids said they had a really good day and enjoyed themselves.

Here are som pictures from this morning of the kids!

Hopefully they will stay this excited about school! I doubt it, but I can always hope!

Guess who's.......

2009-08-15T19:31:00.005-05:00

riding his bike again?????

AJ got back on his bike for the first time since the accident today. He went pedaling away without a second thought this afternoon. Rick and I were worried he wasn't ever going to ride again, but looks like that's not the case. Rick inspected AJ's helmet before he went out and there was one small little dent that must have occured when he fell the last time. Thank goodness for the helmet! AJ's mouth is still sore but seems to be getting better. He did show us this morning that he has a big lump on his hip that we think most be related to the fall. We are going to get it checked out at the doctor's on Friday when he has his school physical.

Ashleigh has been busy learning how to write her name. She knows the letters in her name, but not necessarily the order in which they go in. She can recognize her name on a piece of paper and if you point to the letters individually she knows then, but when she goes to spell it for you she gets all confused. Ashleigh gets so frustrated about it. She really wants to be able to read. I think that's why she is really looking forward to school.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

I know it's been a LONG time.....

2009-08-09T20:31:00.006-05:00

I haven't been very good about keeping this blog up to date over the summer! But we have been busy with summer camp, work, getting ready for school and so many other things! I promise to keep this blog updated from now on!

We are getting ready for the kids to start school in two weeks. AJ will be in the third grade and Ashleigh will be starting kindergarten! AJ and Ashleigh are so excited about starting school, but not me! I will probably be the one crying on the first day of school! I can't believe how quickly they are growing up!

Since I have been terrible about updating the blog, here are a few some pictures from the summer of AJ and Ashleigh!

Hope everyone enjoys the pictures!

Trip to the Botanical Gardens

2009-05-03T20:02:00.006-05:00

Today was a beautiful day in Chicago, so we decided to take a trip to the Botanical Gardens. Rick and the kids have been there before, but today was my first trip! I can now understand why everyone loved it and got very excited when we said we were going there this morning. The Gardens are huge! I am pretty sure that we did not get to see all of the different gardens today! Amazingly, both AJ and Ashleigh remembered some of the different names of the gardens, even though they had not been there since November. Their memories always amaze me! Here are a few pictures from today!

In front of the water fountain

Fountain Garden

Tulip Garden

On Spider Island

Ashleigh and Daddy enjoying the view

Ashleigh and Mommy having fun

AJ and Daddy enjoying the day

Smelling the Tulips

Relaxing at the end of the day

What a great day! Definitely wish it was this nice more often here! Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Have a great week everyone!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2009-04-24T19:27:00.009-05:00

Happy Birthday, Mom! We wish we could be there to celebrate with you! We are sure you are going to enjoy your new golf clubs! AJ and Ashleigh wish they could be there to help you blow out "all those candles" on your cake! We hate to be apart especially for the birthdays and holidays! Wishing you lots of fun and love on your birthday!

Here are some pictures to show you just how much you mean to us!

Mom, you wiped away many tears,

And even calmed many fears.

You have kissed all sorts of parts,

You even somehow healed broken hearts.

You gave your love without a second thought,

You gave lectures when our mistakes you caught.

But you also gave hugs for no reason at all,

You held us tight whenever a tear would fall.

You gave us the courage to walk alone,

You gave us the love of a real home.

You endured many things just for our sake,

Your love was genuine so much love would be hard to fake.

You are truly a gift from God above,

Only He could've made you with that much love!

Happy Birthday Mom! We love you!

Pancakes and more

2009-01-25T14:49:00.010-06:00

This morning, before church, we went to AJ's school for the annual Pancake Breakfast and Open House. AJ has been reminding us for weeks that the pancake breakfast was this weekend. Originally, I told AJ we would go to the breakfast after church, but AJ was adamant that we needed to be there at 8:00 am when it started. So we got there this morning at 8:00 am to find this in the parking lot:

Apparently, they must have a small fire or something in the kitchen this morning before everyone arrived. The fire alarm was still going off and there was still some smoke in the school when we arrived. All of the workers from the school were so apologetic, but it wasn't too bad. It was all you could eat pancakes and sausage, along with fruit cocktail and orange juice. The older students in the school actually served us. It was very nice. Both AJ and Ashleigh really enjoyed their breakfast, they both almost eat 3 huge pancakes themselves. Then off to church we went.

AJ got his report card on Friday and he did not do to bad. There are still some areas he needs to improve in like: reading, handwriting, and listening in class. Those were all of the areas we knew he needs a little extra help in. It was nice to see he improved in other areas like: art class, religion, science and math. Both Rick and I were really impressed with his report card this time, however, we still have a few questions to ask the teacher about his progress.

Ashleigh enjoyed her time outside on Friday with her classmates. Her teachers said all of the kids were so excited to be able to go outside to play in the snow. They only spent about 20 minutes outside, but nobody complained because everyone had a good time. Ashleigh's teachers said it took them longer to get everyone dressed in all of their snow gear then the time they spent outside. I am sure it was a nice break for the teachers to have the kids run off some of their energy. I can only imagine what it's like watching 20 four year olds and not be able to go outside. Her teachers said they would forward me the pictures when they get a chance. I will post them once I get them.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Kind of crazy

2009-01-23T08:50:00.002-06:00

It's kind of crazy that we get excited when the temperature reaches.....

This is the first time since the beginning of January that the temperature has reached above freezing. It's nice to see the snow finally starting to melt, even if it's just a little bit! I am really looking forward to being able to see the green grass even if it's months away. :)

AJ gets his report card today. I don't think he is very excited about it, but Rick and I are anxious to see how he did! I just hope that he is improving. He seems to be doing well with understanding his homework, but he still likes to rush and be the first one done with his classwork. I guess he takes after me on that one! :) I will let you know how he did on his report card!

Ashleigh's class is actually going to venture outside today. They have not been able to go outside since almost the first week in December. Her teachers have been talking about how bad the "cabin fever" is with the kids in her class. So, this morning, I had to pack for her: snow pants, snow boots, hat, gloves and a scarf. Talk about a lot of stuff to carry. And of course, if we did not pack the stuff, she would not be able to go outside. I know she wanted to be able to go when she reminded me three times this morning about her "snow stuff"!

Hop everyone is enjoying a warm up like us! Have a great weekend!

On the mend

2009-01-20T18:35:00.003-06:00

AJ is on the mend. He is feeling much better. He even went to school today after having 6 days off. Although, his appetite is definitely not there. He did not eat anything for breakfast, not much for lunch and even less for dinner. I am sure it's probably going to take a couple of days for that to return to normal. I was sure that he would come home from school with a ton of homework and I was pleasantly surprised that he only have a few pages. I feel bad to say that I am glad he did not have a ton of homework, but sometimes I think it is just overwhelming for him. I am sure it's tough after being at school all day and then having to come home and do more schoolwork. Sometimes, I think he just gets frustrated because he does not really get a break.

Ashleigh is also feeling a little better. She is still coughing and congested, but it does not seem to be getting any worse. Let's just cross our fingers that it stays that way. Ashleigh also went back to school today after being off for 4 days. She was all excited today because they worked on the letter "H". She said to me, when I picked her up, did you know I have 2 "H's" in my name? Ashleigh was very excited and very impressed with her "H". I love seeing how excited she gets about learning new things. I hope it stays like that for a long time.

Well, I am off to give baths, medicine and then get the kids to bed. Hope everyone has a great night.

Most of the time it's one, this time it's two

2009-01-18T19:24:00.005-06:00

Most of the time when the kids get sick, it's generally just one at a time. However this time, we were not so lucky. This morning, Rick and I awoke to, "Mommy, my tummy really hurts!"; followed by running to the bathroom. The next thing we find is this:

Poor AJ! We knew he must not be feeling well, when he did not argue about having to stay in his room. He barely had any energy at all. He laid in his bed almost all day long. He sure takes after me when he gets sick because getting him to drink was a challenge all day today. He has been running a fever all day! He took a 3 hour nap today and still went to bed at 6:30 tonight. I always feel so bad when they are sick.

Ashleigh, on the other hand, has been coughing up a storm and is so congested. Her voice also sounds really funny, almost like she is getting ready to lose her voice. She is not running a fever, but you can tell she is not her normal self. She even stayed in her pajamas all day today and did not argue about not getting dressed.

I am just hoping the two of them do not pass each other's cold/flu on to the other. Hopefully, they will both start to feel better soon. It's a good thing they are both off school tomorrow.

This is definitely not a good way to start the week!

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse.....

2009-01-16T08:47:00.003-06:00

Need I say anymore........

No school for both kids this morning. And the wind chill this morning is -27 degrees!

Only one thing to say......

2009-01-15T19:39:00.002-06:00

FREEZING

That was the actual temperature here today. That does not include the wind chill which dropped the temperature to a balmy - 17 degrees. I don't think I have ever felt cold like this. Just step outside takes your breath away. AJ's school was even cancelled today and tomorrow because they say it's just too cold for the children to be outside waiting for the bus. It does not help that we have about 14 inches of snow on the ground and everything is still frozen. It's just crazy cold. It's so cold, the power door on the van is frozen shut. Tonight is going to be one of the coldest nights on record! It's days like this that I am thankful for a roof over our heads. I cannot imagine not being able to stay warm. The forecasters say the tonight and tomorrow will stay below freezing and then we will start to see temperatures above freezing this weekend with some snow. Just what we needed, more snow.

Hope everyone had a great week! We are definitely looking forward to the weekend!

Snow, snow and more snow

2009-01-10T13:35:00.008-06:00

It has been snowing here since yesterday morning. We probably have about 8 - 10 inches on the ground! It looks so beautiful coming down. But what a pain it becomes when you have to drive in it or have to bundle the kids up in it. Here are some pictures of the front and back of the house with all of the snow.

I must say the rest of our week went pretty well considering how Monday was! AJ is getting back in the swinging of things with school work. He had quite a bit of homework this week and also some make up work from things he has missed in the last couple of weeks. His report card will be coming home, I believe, at the end of January! Rick and I are hoping to see him improve in some of the areas he has been working so hard on. I will let you know when we get it! Ashleigh is also back in school this week and is enjoying it. The artwork and letters she is doing in school is getting some recognizable and she is so proud of herself. She is now recognizing most letters when she sees them. It's so great to see how much she has accomplished this year. Although, some things she is still working on things, like this picture from this morning. We let her pick out her own clothes this morning. Rick and I did not have the heart to tell her that polka dots and stripes don't go together. Here are a few pictures from the week!

Hasn't she gotten so big???

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Has it always been this hard?

2009-01-05T18:21:00.004-06:00

Has it really always been this hard to get back in the swing of things? Today was AJ's first day back to school and Rick's first day back to work. Needless to say, things did not go as well as I planned. Let me first start off by saying, the day before AJ was supposed to be off for Christmas break, his school closed because of the snow. So, I guess when we got home that night, the only thing we (meaning AJ and I) were thinking about was the fact that were was no school for 19 days and there was plenty of snow coming down. For both of us, homework and everything else was "out of sight, out of mind!" So this past weekend, we finally "dug" AJ's bookbag out and realized that he in fact did have some homework. We spent Saturday and Sunday catching up on the homework. Over the Christmas break, AJ did do some reading on his own, which Rick and I were really impressed with. Then last night, we finally got everything straight for school:
* lunch box with lunch made (check)
* homework completed (check)
* reading calendar (check)
* homework folder (check)
* homework assignment notebook (check....or at least I thought! Found out this evening, it never made it into his bookbag!)

After getting everything ready for school including the uniform, I really thought I was ahead of the game. Then Rick got a phone call that he had to be at work 4 o'clock in the morning (there went my help in the morning). Whenever Rick leaves that early in the morning, I always have a hard time falling back to sleep and I am always scared I am going to over sleep, so I kind of feel out of sorts. As I am getting ready in the morning, the kids normally are eating breakfast, however, this morning, Ashleigh decided to sleep in and did not want to wake up. It was a struggle to get her out of bed and then get her to eat breakfast. After eating breakfast, AJ was getting dressed and he can't find his belt. We must have looked everywhere and then some. It took us forever to find the belt. I won't tell you that we found it in the bottom of his toy bin! :) How it got there I will never know. And of course, Diamond would take forever to go the bathroom and then she decided to she wanted to explore the backyard, which seemed like it took forever. By the time, we left the house, we almost missed AJ's school bus! Finally, both kids are in school and I am on my way to work, when I realized I forgot my check card at Ashleigh's school after paying this morning. The only good thing was I had not gotten very far when I realized it!

So again, I must ask.......has it always been this hard to get back in the swing of things?

Hope everyone else had a good start to their week!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

2009-01-03T13:18:00.012-06:00

Happy Birthday, Dad! We wish we could be there to celebrate with you! It's bithdays and holidays that make us miss you guys so much more! We hope you had a great birthday celebration, even if we could not be there with you! AJ and Ashleigh wanted to help you blow out your birthday candles on your cake!

Here are some pictures over the last year or so to remind you how very much you mean to us!

Just wanted you to know, you mean the world to us.

Only a heart as dear as yours would give so unselfishly.

The many things you've done, all the times you were there.

Helps us to know deep down inside how much you really care.

Even though we may not say, we appreciate all you do.

And we hope you know, the best father is you!

Happy Birthday, Dad! We love you!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T19:10:00.004-06:00

Happy New Year Everyone! We wish we were there to celebrate with everyone. Last night, we decided to let AJ and Ashleigh stay up for the New Year. Needless to say, they did not make it! They both got extremely tired about 10:30 or so. I think they were both disappointed they did not get to stay up! I guess we can try again next year!

Hopefully, 2009 will be lots of joy and happiness to everyone. Here are some silly pictures from last night!

Hope everyone has a happy and healthy New Year!

Pictures from Christmas morning

2008-12-25T16:40:00.007-06:00

Here are quite a few pictures from Christmas morning. We wish you guys were here to experience it with us. AJ & Ashleigh had a blast opening their gifts. Thank you guys for everything. The kids absolutely loved the gifts. You guys always know just what they like.

Even Diamond enjoyed her Christmas present. We hope everyone had a great day! Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T10:27:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas Everyone! We wish were together celebrating with everyone! Hope everyone has a great day!

We love you guys!

Fun in the Snow

2008-12-24T11:14:00.007-06:00

It has been snowing here for the last couple of days. I am not sure how much we have actually gotten, but my guess would be at least 14 - 18 inches of snow. I know I have never seen anything like this and neither have the kids. AJ and Ashleigh have been so excited about being able to go outside in the snow. But as I have said before, I am a little hestitant because everytime they went out in the snow last year, they ended up getting sick. But this morning, we could not say no to them playing outside. What could be better than it being Christmas Eve and having so much snow on the ground. They had a blast and of course, Diamond was right out there with them. Here are some pictures from this morning.

The front of our house

Trying to build a fort while Daddy shovels

Enjoying the snow

The snow tastes good

Eating the snow

White wash

Trying to build a snowman

Having fun in the snow

AJ & Diamond sledding

The side of our house

Wish you guys could be here to see this! It's amazing!

We also let AJ and Ashleigh each open one present this morning. They have been dying to see what the presents are under the tree. We put all of the presents sent to us by Grandma, Grandpa, Missy, Nicki, Uncle Joey and Aunt Sue under the tree. Each day, AJ and Ashleigh would ask if "ALL" of those presents were really for them. It was really cute to see their faces as they realized that just because we are here does not mean that they don't get presents from our family. Here are a few pictures after they opened open their present.

Thanks Aunt Missy! I love it!

Thanks Aunt Nicki! I already started to watch it!

We will post more pictures tomorrow! We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! We love you!

Unbelievable

2008-12-21T19:06:00.004-06:00

Today it was unbelievably cold here! The high temperature today was -2 degrees and the wind chill was -34 today. I don't think I have ever seen anything like the weather today. We even debated this morning on whether or not to go to church this morning because of the cold. The wind is blowing so hard that it is causing blizzard like conditions as it blows the snow all over the place. We have snow drifts around our front door probably 3 to 4 feet deep. We even had a hard time getting out the front door because of the snow drifts. AJ and Ashleigh wanted to play outside in the snow, but it is way too cold to be out for even a few minutes. Rick and I shovelled the driveway this evening and almost froze to death. When we came in, I was making fun of how red Rick's face was and he was making fun of me. It looked like we got a really bad summer burn on our faces. We also realized how truly cold it is outside, when Rick got a soda from the garage and it was almost frozen solid.

Every Sunday, AJ likes to say "hi" to the priest from his school if he is presiding over mass. So this morning, when AJ was talking to him, he asked us if we would like to light the fourth candle of the advent wreath during the mass. AJ was very excited about being able to do this. So, right after the mass began, the priest called us up onto the altar to light the advent candle. AJ was so proud when we finished. Ashleigh was a little bit scared about going up onto the altar, but then when she realized everyone was going up, she was okay. She is probably the only little kid I know who jumps (not softly either) off the altar when we finished. He understands a lot about what happens during the mass and is very excited about receiving his First Communion later this school year.

Here are some pictures of the snow today. Although, I really don't think in these pictures you can really tell how deep the snow drifts are.

Pray for a safe, smooth and not long commute for me in the morning. I will let you know how it turns out. Hope everyone has a good week.

Brrr.......it's freezing here

2008-12-15T19:47:00.003-06:00

Last year, I know I said this quite a few times, but it's freezing here in the winter time. Yesterday, the temperature was 50 degrees, but it rained all day long and melted all of the snow on the ground. However, over night, the temperatures plummeted and we had freezing rain. This morning, when we woke up, the temperature was 7 degrees and the wind chill was -10 degrees. Yes, that's right MINUS 10 degrees. This cold weather is definitely not for us. As everyone who knows me, knows I hate wearing a winter jacket, gloves, scarves and hats. This morning, no matter how many layers we put on, it was still freezing! The kids were all bundled up, but were still cold as well. I normally warm the car up before I leave, however, this morning the layer of ice was so thick that Rick had to scrape the windshield for me as well. You know it's cold when the windshield wiper fluid freezes as you are driving down the highway. The temperature did not get above 15 degrees today and tomorrow the forecast is for snow. At least, if it's going to be cold, I would rather see snow.

AJ is very excited because this is his last week of school before the Christmas vacation. He just can't wait. I am not sure if he is more excited about being out of school or the fact that Santa is going to be here in less than 10 days. I love to listen to him talk about Santa. I am pretty sure he still believes in Santa, but he knows enough to know that the Santa in the mall is not real. He thinks it's one of Santa's elves. He told me this is how Santa can be at the North Pole making toys and still know what everyone wants for Christmas. I will be very sad the day that he no longer believes in Santa. I really hope this is not the last year he believes.

Ashleigh, on the other hand, still believes in everything about Santa. She was very excited today, because Santa came to her school and she got a present and a candy cane from him. I just hope that when AJ stops believing in Santa, he does not ruin it for her. That will be a very sad for us when she does not believe!

I will post some pictures later this week! Hope everyone has a good week!

Christmas Program

2008-12-11T19:54:00.007-06:00

Last night, AJ had his Christmas Program at his school. He was so excited about going and participating in it. For those who have been to his school programs before, you will not believe it, but he actually sung the songs. Rick and I could not believe it. In fact, before I got home from work last night, Rick was teasing AJ that if he did not sing Rick the songs, we would not be going to the program. He really just wanted to see if AJ would sing for him. At first, AJ kept saying he did not know the songs, but after a few minutes he started singing. This, of course, surprised Rick because AJ never sings for these programs. The entire school participated in the program, so it was a bit long and of course, Ashleigh and Rick lost interested after a while. I am not sure who was acting more like a kid last night, Rick or Ashleigh. :) The two of them are like two peas in a pod! We are so proud of AJ! He did a great job!

Here are some pictures from last night!

Here is a video of his class singing last night. They sang the song "Christmas Don't Be Late". The song is from the movie "Alvin and the Chipmunks!". You know AJ really enjoyed singing the song. You will probably need to turn the volume up a bit because the kids were not using microphones throughout the songs.

Hope you enjoyed the song as much as we did!

You know its cold when....

2008-12-07T18:59:00.004-06:00

I have forgotten how bitter cold it gets here in Chicago. I can truly understand why they call it the "Windy City". I hate having to get the kids all bundled up just to go from the car to school. They end up wanting to shed their hat, gloves and scarves as soon as they get in the car. Rick and I were laughing too about signs you know its getting cold in Chicago:

1. There are icicles hanging from you car.
2. The car wash water freezes as you enter the car wash (it happened to us today)
3. The 5 gallon water bottles stored in the garage are frozen solid
4. The only cars out on the road first thing in the morning are snow plows
5. You are still cold outside even if you are bundled in layers and have a hat, gloves and scarf
6. The windshield wiper fluid freezes as you spray it

I hope this winter is we have a little less snow than last year. Although, I guess the forecasters are saying it is supposed to be a very cold winter. I just hope they are wrong. Otherwise, it is going to be a long winter for us.

We did not end up doing much today because of the cold. We went to church and Wal-Mart and then spent the rest of the day nice and warm inside.

Hope everyone has a nice week. AJ has his Christmas Program at school on Wednesday. We are really looking forward to seeing him sing.

Snow days are here again.....

2008-12-06T08:08:00.007-06:00

Over the last couple of days, we have gotten about 4 to 5 inches of snow. Last night, it snowed most of the night, the kids were so excited about the idea of being able to play in the snow again. Not only are AJ and Ashleigh excited about the snow, but Diamond goes crazy in it also. She is like a lunatic out in it. She dives, eats and throws snow all around. This morning, Rick and I went out to shovel the driveway and we let AJ, Ashleigh and, of course, Diamond come out with us. Here are some pictures from this morning. Look at how much fun they had.

Nobody wanted to come inside but everyone was starting to get really cold. And we know from experience that the kids would stay out all day if they could.

Yesterday, I had my Christmas party at work. We generally have an afternoon party and it always a surprise to the employees where we are going. Yesterday, our Christmas party was at Chicago Indoor Racing Company (http://www.chicagoindoorracing.com/). The entire staff went go karting. We were split into 7 teams and we raced against each other. We have a pit crew and everything. We had to dress up in the racing suits, head sock, helmet and neck brace. It was awesome. Everyone had a great time. Although my team did not win, we still have fun racing. Everyone enjoyed themselves! When I got home, I told Rick this was definitely a place to go back too, especially for him. They even have a junior area for kids 7 - 17 years old which is great for AJ. If I can get some pictures from other people at work, I will post them.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend! We are getting ready to go out Christmas shopping!

When it rains, it pours (literally)

2008-12-03T19:46:00.005-06:00

I have said this before and I will probably say it several more times over the years, when it rains, it pours in this house. It is always something with us. The last couple of mornings, Ashleigh has decided to sleep in and this morning was no different. So, I took AJ to school and Rick stayed home to wait for Ashleigh to wake up. Rick was planning on going to medical, anyway, because he has been having problems with his neck and migraines again. So, Rick finally woke Ashleigh up at 7:00 am (which is actually very late for our house). Of course, this morning, she decided she wanted not one, but two bowls of cereal which took her forever to eat. Rick finally dropped her off at school and headed to medical. Once he got there, he realized he had forgotten his medical record at home, so he turned around to go home and get it. On the way back to medical, he was driving the van and it started to make a funny noise and did not seem to be driving right. So he pulled over and realized that he had a flat tire. Luckily, it was not one of the tires we just replaced in the front when I got a flat tire. Rick was able to change the tire and then get to the dealership. Originally, the guys at the dealership said they thought they could patch the tire, however, after further examination, it was not repairable because the tire had a 2 inch gash in it. So, now we have two brand new tires on the van. Just another thing that goes on in our house that is totally unplanned.

However, the story does not end there. After working a little later today, I get home and we notice the sky light in our living room is leaking. So we called the housing place and they came out tonight to take a look and of course, they could not really do anything because we got 3 inches of snow this afternoon. They are going to come back out tomorrow and see if they can figure out where the leak is Can you believe that?

It is always something.........

Just pray for a nice quiet rest of the week for us. I will let you know how it turns out.

Who can resist?

2008-12-02T19:11:00.004-06:00

Whenever I pick Ashleigh up from school, her teachers always comment on how she is always smiling and so happy to see us at the end of the day. They even talk about how AJ is always smiling and seems to be in a good mood. AJ and Ashleigh always find a way to brighten our day. I mean who can resist these kind of smiles at the end of a long workday????

Thought I would share these smiles with you to brighten your week. Hope it works! :)

The First Snowfall

2008-12-01T14:03:00.004-06:00

Last night, we got our first snowfall of the season. I think the first snowfall is beautiful! I love seeing everything covered in white. After a couple of days, I would be okay if it all melted and did not snow again! The kids are excited about being able to go out and play in it. Although, I am not sure they are going to be able to do that tonight because it is very wet outside right now. Yesterday, it rainied all day and then changed to snow late last night. I know AJ and Ashleigh will be disappointed, but I don't want to see them get sick. Seems like each time they went out in the snow last year, someone was always sick the next day or so. I am not looking forward to that again this year. I must say that the roads were not too bad this morning. Hopefully, the commute will continue to be good. Here are some pictures from this morning. As you can see it was still snowing when I took these pictures this morning.

Hope everyone has a good week!

And so it begins....

2008-11-29T18:02:00.005-06:00

I hate to say that I hate anything, but every year I am reminded about why I hate Christmas shopping. I swear I would doing all of my shopping online if I could! Unfortunately, I never seem to be able to find exactly what I am looking for online. Rick, the kids and I went out yesterday on Black Friday for just a little while. Once we realized how long the lines were, we decided it definitely was not worth it. The line in Kohl's was almost 2 hours long. Yes, that's right, 2 hours! How crazy is that!!! So we decided to go home and then I ran out to the exchange and there was probably 1 other person in the store. I was able to buy the last few things for the kids for Christmas! At least I feel like we accomplished something. I still cannot get over how busy all of the stores are now! And so begins the long lines, the crowded parking lots and the rude people!!

On a happy note, we did put up our Christmas tree yesterday. It looks absolutely amazing! Every year, it seems like we find a little different way of putting on the ornaments and the bows. AJ and Ashleigh love to pick out their favorite ornaments and find just the right place for them on the tree. Of course, we all know that Diamond cannot leave the ornaments alone. Twice now, we have caught her with an ornament. It's like she just cannot help herself. I swear she is Chloe Jr!! (Sorry, Nicki, but we all know how much trouble Chloe was as a puppy).

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days of the kids. Believe it or not, I was actually able to get a few pictures of Rick and I also.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Only one word.......

2008-11-27T15:43:00.010-06:00

D E L I C I O U S!!!

That is the only way to describe our wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Rick's turkey was amazing! He started brining the turkey yesterday. For those that don't know what brining is, it is soaking the turkey in a salt/sugar water bath for 24 hours.

This was the first year we have done that and it was truly delicious! Along with the turkey, we had mashed potatoes (which AJ peeled and cut himself), stuffing, sweet potatoe casserole, biscuits and fresh cranberies. I still can't believe it took us 5 hours to prepare everything and only about 30 minutes to eat until we were ready to explode.

Before Dinner

After Dinner

Last year, we let AJ and Ashleigh eat on glass plates for Thanksgiving and also drink out of a glass cup and of course, AJ (who does not forget anything) asked if they were going to be allowed to do that again this year. I can't believe he remembers that stuff. We also bought sparkling grape cider for everyone to drink. AJ at first thought it was wine and he told us he was not allowed to drink "that stuff" because he was "only in 2nd grade!" He is too funny sometimes. Ashleigh eat a ton of cranberries and we were teasing her that she was going to turn into a big cranberry. She did not think it was too fun. When there are cranberries around, she could eat the entire bowl. AJ, on the other hand, does not like cranberries at all. We still have dessert (apple pie) to eat, but none of us can even think about that right now.

Yummy!

Here are some pictures of AJ and Ashleigh today!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T20:15:00.005-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our family and friends! We wish we were there spending Thanksgiving with our families. During the holiday season, we realize how much we miss being able to spend time with everyone. Not that we don't miss everyone during other times of the year, but the holidays are definitely the worst! Rick and I will be busy cooking dinner tomorrow. We always make way too much food, but who doesn't enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers??? Don't worry Dad, we will be making plenty of mashed potatoes just so we can have leftovers.

We are also going to try and put up the Christmas tree this weekend. I am not sure if Diamond will end up leaving it alone or not, but I guess we will see. I always enjoy looking at the tree once it is all decorated, but I definitely do not like the process of putting it up. This year, we are going to let the kids help decorate it. Hopefully, there will be no fighting over where the ornaments go. We will take some pictures and post them once the tree is up.

Rick and I are both off on Friday and we are debating about there are not we want to brave the stores on Black Friday. I think it is doing to be one of those spur of the moment decisions if we decide to go or not. We were hoping to find some good deals for presents for the families. I hate the thought of going out on Black Friday, but some of the deals are too good to pass up!

So, before, I sign off for the night, just a few thoughts on things we are thankful for this year:

1. Rick being home and not deployed for the first time in a long time

2. AJ and Ashleigh (for the most part) being healthy this year

3. Family and friends -- even if they are far away and we don't get to visit often (just remember you are always just a phone call away)

We hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving! We wish we were able to be there with everyone tomorrow! We love and miss everyone!

We did it!

2008-11-23T18:21:00.009-06:00

We finally did it! The Christmas lights are up on the house. And if I most say, they look awesome! Rick and I both worked on them this afternoon while the kids were napping. Although I still cannot figure out how when we put the lights away last year all of the lights worked and when we out them out this year, we had 3 sets of lights that only half of them worked! How does that happen?? So, Rick decided this year that we would BOTH put the lights up on the house! So, we both were on the roof hanging the lights up. Needless to say, you can only imagine what a sight we were on the roof fighting (not really) over how to hang the lights. The end result turned great! What a team we were! AJ and Ashleigh are very excited about the lights! Here are some pictures!
Rick and I were talking about what Diamond would think of the big blow up Santa in the front yard. We soon found out! When Rick let Diamond out to go to the bathroom, she was so scared of the Santa but at the same time very much intrigued. Rick made the Santa move and we thought Diamond was going to jump out of her skin. She is such a scaredy cat!

Here are some pictures of AJ and Ashleigh today as well!
Hope everyone has a great week and a nice Thanksgiving!

Here comes winter and a new car

2008-11-20T19:13:00.010-06:00

Not too much is going on around here lately. The kids are starting to get excited because winter is coming and that means that snow is right around the corner. I, myself, am not looking forward to the snow. I think the first snowfall is beautiful, but after that I am ready for summer again! AJ and Ashleigh are already talking about building snowmen and making snow angels! All I know is that it's terribly cold and windy here. AJ and Ashleigh are also getting excited because Rick and I have been talking about putting our lights up on the house this coming weekend. I know you guys probably think we are crazy, but we have to think about the weather here when we are putting up lights. We, obviously, cannot put lights up with snow and ice on the roof. There are a couple of houses in the neighborhood that are already decorated and AJ and Ashleigh talk about how our house will look so nice with the lights and the other decorations. We will definitely take some pictures once we get the lights up.

Here are some recent pictures of the kids!

Rare pictures of AJ not hiding from the camera!

Ashleigh is always smiling for the camera!

AJ and Ashleigh loving on Diamond!

Rick and I have been talking for a while about trading in our 4Runner for something a little more economical and gas friendly! We found that we really did not need four wheel drive up here in the winter time and also found that we really were not driving it as much because of how much gas cost to fill it! So, we went this past weekend to look at the Toyota dealership in town for some different options for us. Originally, we said we were just going to look, but that never seems to happen with us. So we ended up buying a Toyota Scion XB! After doing some research and looking at a couple of different vehicles, we found that the Scion would be the best option. Rick and I were actually very surprised at how roomy it was and how nice it was to drive. The kids love it! Here are some pictures!

Hope everyone has a good weekend! We will post the pictures of the decorations once they go up!

Homework and a Dilemna

2008-11-11T18:11:00.005-06:00

Seems like all we do is homework, homework and more homework. I swear AJ ends up having at least 4 to 5 sheets of homework every evening plus 30 minutes of reading and also reviewing spelling words. It normal takes AJ at least an hour, most of the time more, to complete everything. The bad thing is he tries to rush through to get his homework completed, so he can play with his legos (I remember rushing through my homework when I was younger also), but he just ends having to do the same homework sheets over again. He ends up getting so frustrated because of having to do things over again. I hope he learns quickly that he just ends up making more work for himself! Somehow, I don't think it will happen anytime soon!

Ashleigh has been doing well in school. She is currently learning how to write her letters and also recognize written numbers. She seems really enjoy it and is a quick learner. Her teachers say is doing great expect she just has to learn that she can't be the boss of everyone (sounds like someone else I know :)! Apparently, she likes to be the leader of the group and ends up bossing everyone else around. Not our Ashleigh! :)

Rick and I have run into a dilemna here recently and wanted to see if you guys have any suggestions for us! Seems that we have a little trouble with the kids telling the truth. Let me explain, one of them will tattle on the other about something (most of the time it's nothing really big) and the other telling us that it's not true. We are having a hard time telling which one is actually telling the truth. A couple of times, we could clearly tell who was telling the truth and who was not, but lately, we cannot tell. On a couple of occasions we have punished both of them and on other occasions we simply have tried to talk with them and explain why it's not good to not tell the truth. We have even tried telling them the "Peter and the Wolf" story. But we are still having this issue. Anyone have any suggestions to help us?

Botanical Gardens

2008-11-02T19:39:00.004-06:00

This past Saturday, Rick took AJ and Ashleigh to the Botanical Gardens while I worked. I was disappointed I missed going with them, but they had a wonderful time! They have not stopped talking about the Gardens since then! Rick said the place is so big and has some many different types of Gardens that they did not get to see everything all in one visit. We are talking about going back there next weekend. The Gardens are open year around and have different events for all of the different holidays. We are going to buy tickets for their winter wonderland. It is a train ride through the Gardens while they are decorated. AJ and Ashleigh are very excited about it! Here are some pictures from the Gardens!

This is definitely a must see when you come to visit! I don't think they will ever get tired of going!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend and a good week to come!

And the decision was

2008-10-31T20:28:00.010-05:00

So, Ashleigh finally decided to go trick or treating and she had a wonderful time. AJ and Ashleigh ended up with so much candy. I cannot believe how much they have. Needless to say, Rick and I will end up eating some of the candy too! (Not that we need it!) Both of the kids had parties at their schools today. AJ had a big party and was able to dress up in his costume! We baked chocolate cakes for the party and AJ could not wait to have one. Ashleigh had a Halloween parade at her school along with a party as well. I think they both enjoy their days at school! Once I got home from work, the kids got ready for trick or treating around the neighborhood! Here are a few pictures from this evening.

Here's a message from AJ and Ashleigh to everyone!

On a final note, for those who always say Ashleigh has me wrapped around her little finger, I have now figured out she also has Rick wrapped as well. This evening when Rick was scolding Ashleigh for getting up so early (4:15 this morning!) and asking her why she got up so early. She looked at Daddy with her big brown eyes and said "I just wanted to give you a hug before you left for work!" What do you say to that?? Neither Rick or I could look at each other because we were having trouble containing our laughter! I just want everyone to see that it's not just me anymore!

Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Amazing......

2008-10-29T20:06:00.003-05:00

I am always amazed at what AJ and Ashleigh can remember and what they can't remember (or maybe it's that they don't want to remember!). I have not figured that one out yet. Every holiday, AJ enjoys watching the Charlie Brown specials on TV. Up until this last year or so, AJ always looked forward to watching the specials with MeMaw and Pop-Pop! Last night, "Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin Patch" came on and the first thing AJ said was "I want to call Pop-Pop to see if he is watching it! Remember when I used to watch this with them when I was little!" I can't believe he remembers that! It truly is amazing how much they can remember! Now if I asked him something about cleaning his room or homework, somehow, he can't remember anything about that! I really don't understand it, but he is hardly ever wrong about remembering when things happen. In fact, Rick and I generally don't tell him if we are going to go somewhere special or doing something special with him because if for some reason we don't end up getting to do it, we end up hearing about it for quite some time. Or there is a countdown to the number of days until the event occurs. We have already started the countdown to Christmas! :)

Ashleigh had a little accident at school today. When I went to pick her up today, the first thing she told me was that she had an accident. I asked her what happened and her response was, "some little kid pushed her down"! Now mind you that all of the kids in her class are all the same age! But according to Ashleigh that other kid was little compared to her! I think it is really funny how she does not see herself as a "little kid", but other kids her age are "little"! She ended up with a big scrape across her forehead, but not too bad. But of course, it caused drama at bath time. The scrape did not bother her the entire time she was home, but as soon as I was trying to wash her hair, you would have thought I was trying to hurt her. Needless to say, she is completely fine, but a little sympathy goes a long way with Ashleigh.

We are getting ready for trick or treating on Friday. I am going to be leaving work a little early on Friday because last year, by the time I got home, we almost missed the time for trick or treating! Trick or treating around here is from 3 pm - 6 pm! I can't believe it's that early. I think we are also going to try and go the Halloween Party at the Youth Center on base. Ashleigh says she is going to go trick or treating, but she isn't going to any houses that are "scary"! I will let you know how it all turns out! I guess we will have to wait and see! Wish us luck!

To be scared.....or not to be scared!

2008-10-26T14:54:00.015-05:00

That is the big question for the kids as Halloween approaches. Both kids are a little bit apprehensive about the different decorations and sound effects of Halloween. Ashleigh has changed her mind daily as to whether or not she is going to go trick or treating. Each day, she has to think about it! Today, she said she will be brave and go trick or treating, but she says she will not go to any houses that look scary. I am sure tomorrow she will decide she is not going. AJ, on the other hand, is to the point that he thinks he is old enough to go into the haunted houses, but is still not quite sure he wants to go. On Friday, AJ went to work with Rick (because he did not have school) and some of the characters from the haunted house on base visited Rick's work. AJ was freaked out, but at the same time was a little bit fascinated as to the "hows and whys". Listening to him describe and talk about what he saw is interesting. I think he understands that most of the stuff is fake, however, he still is a little bit scared of the characters. Rick and I are probably not going to take him to the haunted house because we are afraid that even though he says he wants to go, he will probably change his mind once we got there. Plus, the nightmares that would follow would not be good. :) Nonetheless, the kids look so cute in their Halloween costumes. I think AJ changed his mind a million and one times before he finally decided on.... Ashleigh, on the other had, decided in just a minute that she wanted to be....
Yesterday, the base sponsored a little Halloween party for the little kids. AJ and Ashleigh had a really good time. They got to make little crafts like spiders, pumpkins and some others. They played games and each of them won a prize. AJ got to wrap Ashleigh in toilet paper like a mummy which she enjoyed. AJ did "diving for worms" which is a game where they put gummy worms in the bottom a bowl and top it with whip cream and you try to get the worms only using your mouth (I know you would love that one, Mom!). AJ really enjoyed it, but Ashleigh wanted nothing to do with it. They definitely have different personalities when it comes to enjoying different things. Here are a few pictures from the party.

As you can see, the kids had a great time at the party and got lots of candy!

I will let you know how Halloween turns out. Hopefully, AJ and Ashleigh will have a good time trick or treating as well.

Rainbows and Smiles

2008-10-22T19:27:00.015-05:00

Yesterday, right after I picked up the kids, there was this beautiful rainbow in the sky. In fact, at one point there were actually 2 rainbows side by side. The kids were completely taken by how big it was and that they could see both sides of the rainbow. They were talking in the backseat about the rainbow. I always love to hear them talk to each other because it's so interesting to hear their thoughts especially when they don't think I can hear them. AJ said to Ashleigh, "did you see the rainbow in the sky? It means there's money somewhere in the sky that's going to fall!" I think what he was trying to tell her was that there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Of course, Ashleigh would believe just about anything he said. So Ashleigh's response to AJ, "no that's where the little green man from Lucky Charms is". I think she was explaining the leprechaun. I was trying not to laugh, but I was having a very hard time with it. Below is a couple of pictures of the rainbow. I wish there was a way I could have capture the entire rainbow in one picture, but like I said it was so big. It was incredible!

AJ has really gotten into building with his Lego's. He spends most of his free time building and rebuilding vehicles, houses and anything else he can think of. I can't believe the table was bought by my parents 3 years ago for Christmas and he is still getting good use out of it. He really enjoys it as you can see.

Ashleigh has always been one to hate wearing hats in the winter, so fighting with her every year during the winter is getting a little old. This year, Rick and I thought it would be a good idea to let her pick out her hat! Wrong idea!!! She tried on quite a few hats, but could not decide which one she wanted. We did end up buying a hat, but not necessarily the one she wanted. It's just a little frustrating! Of course, the thousand watt smile she gives you makes you forget all of that!

Hopefully, they will always have those carefree smiles!

Zoo Time

2008-10-14T21:18:00.016-05:00

This past weekend, Rick and I took AJ and Ashleigh to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. I can only think one word to describe it....amazing. We spent 4 hours at the zoo and still did not see the entire thing. The kids had a blast. When we first got there, Rick and I debated about whether or not to rent a stroller or wagon, but decided that the kids were old enough to walk. The weather was beautiful and we walked our legs off. We got to the Zoo right after it opened and there were already a ton of people there. I guess that's what we figured since it was 80 degrees in Chicago in OCTOBER!!! Anyway, we had a great time! We got to see lions, tigers, polar bears, monkeys, gorillas, giraffees, zebras, etc. We were a little disappointed because we missed the dolphin show, but were still able to see the dolphins swim around in their pool. It's always so interesting to see through the eyes of the kids because they always have an interesting way of looking at things. They so smart and know alot about the animals. We packed a picnic lunch and eat at one of the picnic tables in the zoo and needless to say we had some visitors while we were eating. I was a little scared that one of the kids might get bit but the geese, but we all survived without any bites or bruises. It was funny to see AJ's and Ashleigh's faces as the geese approached. What a great way to spend the day! We are definitely going to have to go back and see some of the animals we missed.

We also found a great Fresh Market down the street from us. The produce prices are so good and you can find just about any vegetable you can imagine! The kids love the Fresh Market because of the bakery goods. They make the best and freshest bread we have found and the kids love the homemade donuts! As you can see in the pictures. They can't get enough!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Nice, Quiet Week (for a change)

2008-10-05T15:31:00.005-05:00

For once, our week was nice and quiet! It truly was a miracle! I don't think we have ever had a week where there wasn't some form of chaos! And the kids each did well in school this week also!

AJ still has a lot of homework during the week, but seems to be enjoying school. His teacher from last year, Ms. May, whom Rick and I both loved, has been having AJ help out in the school garden afterschool. AJ loves doing the gardening. He really seems to understand the hows and the whys of how the garden works! He has been harvesting potatoes, carrots and cucumbers! It's amazing to listen to him talk about it!

Ashleigh has been working on the letters B and C. She is writing both letters now and knows to recognize them on paper. She is getting pretty good about remembering what day is show and tell because Rick and I struggle somedays to remember what day it is! Ashleigh is also very interested in learning how to read. We are going to start working with her to help her read. She has started using AJ's Leapster to play learning games and seems to be doing a good job at understanding everything. We are going to buy her a Leapster for Christmas since AJ's is on its last leg!

Diamond is recovering well from her ordeal also. She is going to get the staples removed this week. I am sure she will be so glad not to have to wear that E collar anymore. She looks pretty pathetic with it on. Although it does not stop her from getting anywhere or anything!

On a sad note, Rick's grandmother (Joe's mom) is not doing well and they don't expect her to make it much longer. She has had Parkinson's Disease for awhile, but was diagnosed with bone cancer a few months ago and was unable to undergo chemotherapy because of the Parkinson's Disease. It's sad, but we are just waiting on the phone call. Rick is going to drive to New Jersey to the funeral. I can only imagine what they are going through! Please say a little prayer for Joe and his mom!

I will keep your posted on what's happening!

This to shall pass......

2008-09-28T21:10:00.007-05:00

This is going to be the new motto of our house. Because if it's not one thing it's another. I can't begin to tell you how many times we have said what else can go wrong. In fact, now we never ask those questions.

Tonight, Diamond, who had be recuperating nicely from being spay, ruptured her sutures and we needed to race her to the emergency vet. I guess when Diamond ran up the stairs, her sutures opened up and she started bleeding. I called the AntiCruelty Society and the person I talked to on the phone probably thought I was a lunatic. The clinic closed at 5:00 and this was a little after 5:00 and she was trying to take my information so someone could call me in the morning. I kept asking where the doctor was on call and that our dog could not wait until the morning. The lady kept telling me that someone would call in the morning. I started yelling and tell her they better find someone. Finally, Rick found a number in the phonebook and I called the emergency vet. We got into the car and sped off to the vet.

When we got to the vet, they took us back into the exam room and Diamond was still very excited. However, because she was so excited, she started bleeding again. Soon the tech vet came in and took a look and said she would get the doctor right away. The doctor came and took a look and said her was going to take her into the back to take a look because she would not calm down. So, we went out to the waiting area to wait. Soon the doctor came out and said that her internal sutures were still intact, but the outside wound was completely opened. They were going to clean it out and then staple it back closed. He asked if we wanted her to have an injection of a medication to basically knock her out so that she would be calm the rest of the night and we agreed. Pretty soon, they brought Diamond out to us and she was a pitiful. They put an E collar on her. Rick and I always thought those collars were pretty small, boy were we wrong. It's huge. As we were walking out of the vet, they probably thought we were terrible people because between the E collar and the medicine, Diamond could not hold up her head and it sounded like a bull dozer going across the parking lot where the E collar was dragging on the ground. See our poor baby below.

On another note, AJ, as always, finds a way to keep us on our toes. Yesterday, I worked in the morning time and Rick was home with the kids. The kids always have a good playing down in the play area and watching movies. However, when Rick and I went down to see what they were doing, they were watching Speed Racer. Now, we don't have the Speed Racer movie and we at first were were confused as to how it was on TV. So we asked and AJ turned and said, "I ordered in on the TV". Yes, people. our 7 year old son is ordering movies on demand. We could not believe it! Needless to say, we now have put the parental controls on all of the TVs. It's always something!

Hopefully, since all of the drama happened over the weekend, we will have a drama free week! I guess we will see! Hope everyone has a great week!

Somethings are hard to explain....

2008-09-25T19:17:00.007-05:00

On Tuesday, we took Diamond to the Anti Cruelty Society of Chicago to have her spayed. It seemed to be a very dramatic experience for her. All the way to the Anti Cruelty Society (which is in Downtown Chicago -- 35 miles away), Diamond barked the whole way there. I am not sure if she was excited to be riding in the car or if maybe, she knew something was going on. Needless to say, by the time I made it there, I was going crazy. She was actually very good in the clinic, a bit excited, not that I could blame her! As the vet was getting ready to take Diamond, she gave me this look like "what's going on and I don't want to go with this bad man"! I felt bad, but knew this was something that needed to be done. We don't want any little "ones" running around the house!

I was able to pick her up later that afternoon. When I got to the clinic the vet technicians went over all of the instructions and then brought her out to me. As soon as I saw her, I almost cried. She looked so pitiful. She was all glassy eyed and definitely was not her normal "happy go lucky" self. The ride home was the exact opposite of the ride there, I had to keep looking back to make sure she was okay! When we got home, Rick came and helped carry her into the house and had a nice bed ready for her. Now here comes the interesting part....how to answer the 101 questions from AJ and Ashleigh. Of course, they wanted to know what happened and why and how....you know all of those good questions you sometimes don't know how to answer. So we explained the best we could about the hows and the whys, but somethings are just too hard to explain.

Poor Baby!

AJ has been doing pretty well in school! Although, he seems to have a lot more homework in 2nd grade! Last night, he worked on homework for about 1 1/2 hours! Craziness! AJ seems to be enjoying school and has made some new friends. Hopefully, he will continue to do well!

Ashleigh is learning how to write her letters and recognize them on paper. She is doing very well with it and seems very eager to learn. Although, her teachers do say she tends to be a little bossy! (Not Ashleigh! :))

Hopefully, we will have another relaxing weekend! We will probably try to do something outside. since we know that there are only a few more nice weekends left before the dreaded winter comes!

Hope everyone has a nice, relaxing weekend also!

Not Much Going on This Weekend....

2008-09-21T20:40:00.007-05:00

We did not end up doing to much this weekend, which was kind of nice for a change. Yesterday, we went out to breakfast for the first time in a long time. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, both AJ and Ashleigh said "we've been here before -- we came with MeeMaw and PopPop!" (and that was last summer!) It's always amazing to Rick and I how the kids end up remembering things like that, but can't remember to pick up their rooms or put away their toys. Breakfast was delicious! (Just like last time, Mom and Dad!) Way too much food, but it did not stop us from stuffing ourselves. After breakfast, we went grocery shopping which is also fun! We always end up spending more money on things we did not really need, but bought anyway. I always hate coming home to put away the groceries!

Today, we laid around the house most of the morning because it was really foggy and very misty! It finally cleared up late morning and we ran out to blockbuster to get a few movies and ran to one of the local grocery stores!

Late this afternoon, we took the kids to one of the many Forest Preserves in the area. The kids love to go to the park and also to the lake to feed the fish. They had a great time and ran off some energy as well!

Here are a few pictures from today at the park!

Hope everyone had a nice relaxing weekend!

Not enough hours in the day.....

2008-09-18T19:50:00.005-05:00

Have you ever felt like there was just not enough hours in the day to get things done? Boy do we feel that way after this week! Between homework, school, work and everything else, I am amazed we survived the week.

Today when I picked AJ up from school, the afterschool program director talked to me for a little while because AJ has not been doing his homework or does not want to complete his homework while he is there. AJ's teacher also had to come to the afterschool program and talk to him about his homework because he has been hiding his homework in his desk at school instead of bringing the papers home to work on. The last couple of days, I have asked AJ if he had homework and he would tell me he finished it in class. So yesterday in his assignment notebook, I wrote his teacher a note to see if this was really the case. And of course that was when we found all of the papers in his desk. So needless to say, it took us 2 1/2 hours to complete all of his assignments tonight. We had a long talk with AJ about his school work and responsibility about getting his homework done. Hopefully this will help, but I am not going to hold my breath!

Ashleigh is doing well in school! She is learning how to write her name, however, she can't seem to get all of the letters! She writes her name like this: A S H G H. I guess that's a start! She is also starting to recognize letters in books and on paper which is really neat! I think she is going to have an easier time in school than AJ! Hopefully, she will enjoy school!

Now on to making lunches, ironing uniforms and getting ready for tomorrow! Have a good night! Thank god tomorrow is FRIDAY!

Some recent pictures

2008-09-16T19:53:00.005-05:00

Quiet week so far.....

2008-09-16T18:58:00.005-05:00

So far, this week is nothing like last week. Hopefully, it will stay that way. I guess we will see. Although I was not so sure after my commute to work yesterday. It took me 2 hours to get to work yesterday morning!!!! After all of the rain over the weekend, some of the rivers had flooded causing some of the major roads in Chicago to be closed. I told the girls at work I was not really sure how I ended up at work because all of the roads I normally would take were closed, so for me it was detour after detour. However, my commute home was much better! Thank goodness!

We have gotten used to doing homework with AJ everynight, but now Ashleigh comes home from school today and now she has homework too! Since when do preschoolers have homework!!! The homework is to bring something that starts with an "A" to school tomorrow for show and tell and also to wear a red shirt tomorrow! It's easy to do, but the hard part is remembering in the morning time. We have very little time in the morning because we don't want the kids to get up to early, but still need time for breakfast and getting dressed. And believe me, AJ and Ashleigh can take forever to get ready in the morning!!! Seems like we never have enough time.

Speaking of school things. I will be sending out an email for everyone in the next few days for a fundraiser for AJ's school. He is selling pizza, appetizers, cookies and other holiday stuff. You can order online and AJ will still get credit for his school. We need all the help we can get! Throughout the year, he will have a couple of fundraisers and we have to sell at least $250 worth of stuff or otherwise we have to make up the difference. It has to do with the booster fees for catholic schools. We appreciate all the help we can get!!!! Let me know if you have any questions!

Hope everyone has a nice quiet week!

Interesting week.....

2008-09-14T19:44:00.005-05:00

I know I said I would be good about posting, however, this week was kind of crazy and I still had not finished the setup of our blog. I think I have now finally finished changing the setup of our blog. So many choices.....

So on the crazy week. Started off on Monday when I got ready to leave work, I had a flat tire on the van. I had to call someone to change the tire because I have no idea how to do that. When the guy put the "donut tire" on the van, he said it was not advised that I drive home on the tire, since it was such I long distance. Ok, so now I am stuck in Chicago and need to find a tire place to see if they can patch the tire. Unfortunately, the tire was not repairable and I am now stuck waiting on the new tire to come from the warehouse as I am watching the time tick by on the clock. Normally, this would not be a problem except that Rick was stuck in Milwaukee doing some security work and there was no one to get the kids. I was stressing OUT!!!! Once, the van was finally done, I was praying that I would not hit any traffic on the way home. Rick and I got back to our town about the same time and we were able to get both kids with time to spare. I don't think it could have worked out any better.

Once we got home, we were trying to get dinner started and Ashleigh comes downstairs complaining about a bug bite. Rick and I both took one look at her arm and could not believe what we saw. Her arm was twice the size it should be been and there was definitely a huge mosquito bite on her arm. We put a little bit of heat on her arm and it seemed to help. I ended up calling her pediatrician the next day just to see what to do. They told me to put hydrocortizone cream on it. How crazy is that.

Next, when AJ went to get his homework out of his backpack, we got the next big surprise. Apparently last week, AJ got some tomatoes from the garden at school, however, he never took them out of his backpack. Do you know what rotten tomatoes smell like? The smell was terrible and it was all over everything in his backpack. Needless to say, we ended up putting the backpack in the washing machine and that seemed to do the trick. What a crazy night!!!!

The next few days were to a little crazy with getting the kids and the normal evening things we go through every night. However, Thursday night was something else. On Thursday, Rick had guard duty and I worked all day, so Diamond was in the cage all day. When I got home, as I pulled the van in the garage, I told the kids, I was going to run inside and let Diamond go potty. The kids and I got out of the van and I ran in the house. I was out back with Diamond when Ashleigh came running out of the house, shaking and screaming for me to help AJ that his hand was stuck and I needed to help him. I knew just by the way she was acting that something was really wrong. I ran back into the house and could hear AJ screaming from the back door. Apparently, he had gone back out to the van to get something and had shut the door on his hand. When the van door shut, it was locked. I had to run back into the house to get the keys. Once, I got his hand out, I took one look and knew we needed to go the ER. We spent 2 hours and 45 minutes at the ER and the doctor said she thought the hand was broken in one possible two spots, but was not sure. They put his hand in a splint cast and wanted us to follow up with his pediatrician the next day. When we went to the doctors the next day, they looked over the xrays and decided that it was just severely bruised! Thank god! He is doing much better now!

What a crazy week! I just hope this coming week will be better and less eventful!!!

First Post

2008-09-07T15:53:00.003-05:00

We figured since everyone is into this blog thing, we should probably create one as well. This way it's a little easier to keep everyone updated on what's going on with us in Illinois. Rick says that I should get a hobby or start a blog and I figured the blog thing was probably easier to do than to start a hobby or something. Although I am sure in the winter time, I will wish I had started a new hobby. But I guess we will see.

The kids have been busy with the start of school and all that it involvesl. Somehow, I think we forgot how hectic the weekdays are while AJ is in scool. Seems like there is never enough time in the evening to get eat dinner, do homework, baths and then get to bed at a decent time. Since, AJ's bus comes at 6:15 in the morning (yes, that's what I said), we have to make sure he gets to bed early because he has to get up so early. So the evening times are really a time crunch in trying to get everything accomplished and still make an early bed time. At least this school year, Rick gets home by 6:30 instead of 11:00 like last year; so I will have a little bit of help with the kids which will be nice. AJ seems to really enojy 2nd grade class. Most of the kids were in his class last year, along with a few new kids. We have Open House on Wednesday. So it will be nice to meet his teacher face to face.

Ashleigh just recently moved to the "big kids" class at school. She is now in the 4 - 5 years and is truly in her element. The teachers say she is doing really well and enjoying learning new things. I am sure that is the way she will always be about school. She is really getting into writing her name and recognizing different letters as she is looking at things. It's really amazing to see how much AJ and Ashleigh have both grown over the last year or so. We look at them now and ask where the time went! Seems like just yesterday, they were so little.

Well, hopefully, I will be able to keep up with updating the blog. I will try my hardest. I know how I am about reading other blogs and get a little disappointed when it hasn't been updated in awhile.