08.31.10

Today was the first day of Joy School Preschool for Peter.  A group of friends from church have started this program and today was the first day.  I was in charge of 4 three year olds.  It wasn't really as crazy I thought, the kids were good and since I didn't really have any grand expectations, I thought it was fun.  It is pretty neat that we have two girls and two boys in our group.  I think that as we go through the year the routines will make it easier and the kids will learn to follow directions better.  Like I said, I had really low expectations since this was the first time for some of the kids to be in a "school" setting.  I learned a few things and think that I will do better next time and as we continue through out the year.

08.29.10

We invited the Escobar family for dinner tonight and last night they showed up with this cute cake and a traditional Philipino  birthday food Pancit.  They couldn't come and so they brought us cake and food, umm that is backwards??  But not unusual. We decided to ask a couple of friends to come for dinner to help us eat the food, cake, and the chicken I had marinating.  Of course who is going to turn down San Pete Turkey and a cake from Sister Escobar.  The Camerons and the Parkers came and helped us gobble up most of the food and some of the cake . . . YUM!!

08.28.10

Meet the two newest VIDEO HEADS!!  Dad got an I-pod Touch as a prize from his work and as soon as he gets home from work there is a race to his lap and a hand in his pocket for his "phone" as Peter calls it.  It isn't a phone but our friend Linda has an I-phone and he always plays with it at church.  So if you watch them closely they can turn it on, find their game and start playing all without any adult help.  It is a bit crazy to me.  Peter doesn't even blink an eye when he picks it up.  He knows how to do it better then I do (actually I haven't really touched it much yet.)  I went today to the semi-annual swap at the church and Dave said he gave the I-pod to the kids and went out and mowed the lawn and they were in the same place when he came back. . . BIG SURPRISE!!!  Oh, well, I guess I have years of this to look forward to. . . ummmm. . . maybe it will have to become an incentive to do chores. . . .

08.27.10

A friend of ours dropped off 5+ bags of baby girl clothes and accessories last night.  I was off to a Relief Society function and didn't think much of it.  When I got home this is what I found.  So today we sorted and organized the clothes by size.  Kirsten couldn't believe how small the clothes and shoes were.  I love that I have a baby girl that will be fully clothed up until she is 2 years old.  We can't believe how many people are willing to give things to us to help us.  It really is fun to dig through clothes and see how cute this little girl is going to be dressed.

08.26.10

Today Kirsten wanted to get out the pool and fill it.  It was warm, but not that warm.  Next thing I know I hear the water going and see the windows being sprayed with water.  I look out and Kirsten is spraying everything in sight including her brother.  She was having fun and keeping busy and not really harming anything, so I let her continue.  They both were soaking wet and the yard was a bit soggier when she was done.  BUT They were having a great time!!!

08.25.10

We had a fun evening today celebrating Dave's birthday.  We made steak, shrimp salad, corn on the cob and CHERRY PIE!!!  I think it was a success!  Everyone walked away full and satisfied.  Happy 41st!!!

08.24.10

THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.

I'm not sure who was more excited - Kirsten or Mom.  The last couple weeks of summer I have really been excited to have Kirsten out the door and off to school.  She needs and loves the interactions and learning that goes on in school.  I am really grateful she is so excited to go to school.  My neighbor didn't have as easy time as I did.  Her boy did not want go into the school.  I hope it gets better as the week progresses for her.

We were able to go back to the school at 9:15 and watch the opening day ceremony that the school holds every year.  It was fun to see all the kids and to watch them as they said the pledge of allegiance and sang the national anthem.  Kirsten looked so little, especially next to the older kids.  But she is so ready for school and will fit right in.  She has two kids from her preschool class that are in her class and I think that will make the transition even easier.  Welcome to the craziness and fun of school.

08.23.10

Today was the unofficial first day of school.  Kindergarten only went for less then a half an hour, that way we saw the classroom, found where everything went and where a couple of other rooms in the building were.  Kirsten was pretty disappointed when she didn't get to stay at school.  She kept jumping around the house all evening saying "I want to go to school, I want to go to school, .  . . "  Dave suggested we record her saying it and replay it back when she doesn't want to go to school.  Either in the near future or in the far off future.

08.21.10

Yeah - this is going to be our new car!  We have been discussing the new baby and trying to fit the 3 kids in the back of the truck.  It isn't a impossible feat, but it always seemed a bit hard to figure out what would work best.  Then Dave started thinking about selling it (I know he loves it) and decided that we probably should sell it. 

SO, his work sells company cars from those who have been driving them after 3 years or 60,000 miles and at reasonable prices.  We began looking and then this weekend one with less then 40,000 miles and only 3 years old popped up.  We began a more serious thought process about it, the price is right, the timing is a bit off (we can't get it until around Nov 1st), and it just felt right.  We decided to purchase it - sight unseen.  I know that is a big risk, but it just feels right and with the sale of the truck (hopefully in October/November) we can pay it off and walk away with no loan.  It all seems a bit crazy to me and I kept having to remind myself that I am going to have a new car (new to us) just after the baby gets here.

08.20.10

The kids got some free bowling passes at the Enchanted Castle prizes from the Library Reading program at our library.  (Our library has the best prizes for their program.)  I decided to go after Kirsten had asked me about going and playing miniature golf again, as we passed by one this morning on our way to the grocery store.  I thought we could make a night of it and maybe get pizza there, too.  So I called Dave and he agreed to meet us there when he got off of work.  It was halfway between us. 

The kids had a great time, and I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.  Peter was so funny.  He would hit the ball, go get it again and then try again.  Sometimes he would hit it and hit it and nothing would happen.  He also swung like a hockey player sometimes.  The kids loved it and were a bit dissappointed when at the end it takes your balls.  Dad bought them some tokens and we played different video/arcade games.  It was a pretty fun night.  I had to laugh again when Peter and I found a game where you shot the clown heads with an air gun with a ball in it.  He was pretty facinated with it.  Of course, with games like that you win tickets and when we went to redeem them we waited and waited for Kirsten to decide.  Finally she figured out what she wanted.  But Peter was adamant that he was going to get the trucks on the bottom shelf (over 1000 tickets).  We barely had 120 and so we had to steer his thoughts to the upper shelf.  He finally settled on a bouncy ball - but he still wanted the truck.  Silly boy.

08.19.10

We are in the AM kindergarten!!!!!!.  We were able to find out today (school starts on Tuesday) what time she was going and her teacher.  I am excited for her to start but question the sanity of the teachers that make us label over 120 crayons with Kirsten's name on them.  Who in their right minds think it is that big of deal if a crayon or two gets mixed up?  Oh, well - thought I might do this today since we have to take all of it to school on Monday when we meet the teacher and see her class room.

08.18.10

Our annual trip to the Indiana Dunes State Beach with our friends.  I love this trip.  I was a bit apprehensive considering I am almost 7 months pregnant and knew there was some walking and carrying of beach stuff.  But it was like we ordered the day.  The beach was not that crowded, the temperature was in the high 70's, low 80's and the water was just the right temperature.  The kids loved it and by the end Peter was venturing a little more into the water.  Kirsten was like a little fish.  It has a long area where it is only 3 to 3 1/2 feet deep and so she went out much further then I liked.  Our friends all had a wonderful time and we all arrived safely home with out hardly any incidents.  (Helen decided to wander down the beach a little bit and we took a couple minutes to find her.)

08.17.10

I've been sewing and crafting lately.  I guess I am having a kind of nesting bug now that I am in my 3rd trimester.  I finished this MONGO HUGE Beach Bag for our trip to the beach tomorrow.  It can hold 4 towels plus other items inside and has multiple pockets for sunscreen, hats, water bottles, sunglasses and anything else you want to stuff in there.  I love the size and can't wait to use it tomorrow.

08.16.10

My first tomatoes in my garden.  I'm so proud of myself.  I ate the whole thing before I realized I hadn't taken a picture of it.  Here are two more just waiting for me to bite into them and enjoy!!!  I forgot how yummy fresh tomatoes from the garden are.  I have to admit that I'm am pleasantly surprised that I have any tomatoes considering that I am mostly neglecting my garden.  Even this picture shows that my tomato cage has tipped over a bit.  We also have a couple of tiny green peppers that are growing.  I guess I don't have a complete black thumb like I thought.

08.15.10

Sometimes they can be soooo cute. 

08.14.10

Today Kirsten and I took advantage of the 20% of coupon I had at Kohl's, the $5 off coupon and the no states sales tax.  We bought a bunch of shoes for everyone, some pants for Kirsten, some clothes for the baby and  other things.  It was a good back to school adventure and this time Kirsten didn't complain about it.  (Of course we were buying things for her - so she better not.)

08.13.10

I looked at the amount of yarn I had left today and determined that I was going to finish this crocheted blanket today.  I have been working on it since early in my pregnancy.  It is my go to project when I am in the car as a passenger, when I am watching TV or the kids playing outside. It is so soft and pretty.  It makes me excited for the baby to come. 

08.12.10

Today was a down day.  I had done waaaay to much the last couple of days and after a pretty rough night last night I decided it was better if I took it easy today.  So since I can't sit and do nothing I decided to sort through some brads and eyelets that I got in a box all mixed up.  Kirsten decided she liked the idea of helping sort.  We sorted for a good portion of the morning and Peter did his best to "help".  We finally got them all in the tins.  It was a real low key kind of project, all though a bit mindless.

08.11.10

This is now becoming one of my favorite craft/sewing group meetings.  Finish your unfinished projects day - funny thing is I started a whole bunch of new projects instead of finishing anything.  I loved it since I was able to cut out a bunch of different things that now when I decide I want to sew, they are sitting there ready to go!

08.10.10

Okay so these are the least flattering pictures of me.  I had Kirsten take them with my point and shoot.  It doesn't do that good at taking indoor pictures.  Plus I had been cleaning my house since early this morning.  Some how we have little biting bugs that have been attacking us for the last couple of days.  We have determined that it could be from our trip to Mooseheart on Saturday.  It has been extremely rainy and the area we were in was pretty woody.  We had also sat on the ground to eat our lunch and so some where in that mix of things we have picked up some kind of little (invisible) biting bugs.  I vacuumed everywhere but don't think that it got rid of them.  I went to the Depot (home that is) and bought some spray to spray the area that is affected.  We are truly hoping it will work because I'm getting pretty sick of being bit. 

08.09.10

Our pre-K class decided to meet at the park today to celebrate all the fun we have had over the last couple of months.  This has been great for Kirsten, something to look forward to each week and a little bit of learning, too.  It started off okay this morning but by the time we left it was starting to get WAAAAY TOOOOO HOTTTTTTT!!!  The kids were just fine - the drinking fountain became it's own splash park since it squirted a pretty good arch each time you pushed the button.  My kids came home soaking wet and were just fine with it.

08.08.10

The view from the top. . . where did my feet go???

(less then 3 months to go!!!)

08.07.10

It's that time of year again - the Chicagoland Emergency Vehicle Show in Mooseheart, IL.  We have made this pretty much a tradition at our house.  Every year we go and climb on the trucks, "drive" the backhoes and get on anything they let us.  This year we decided to watch the SWAT team get a hostage off a bus.  It all moved kind of slow at first but then once they sent off the flash bang we were all at attention.

Peter was in heaven every time he climbed on to a truck.  His smile tells it all.  I love how he can show so much expression and feeling in his face.  We love that this event always falls around the same time as Peter's birthday. 

08.06.10

Two of my helpers bringing in things from Sam's club.  I decided to take the whole family with me to Sam's tonight so that I didn't have to lift the 50 lbs of dog food, 25 lbs of flour and 20 lbs of rice.  Smart lady.

08.05.10

A playgroup to beat the heat.  The weather has been very unpredictable lately and so we decided to go to McD's for our playgroup today.  The kids loved it.  They played and played and we talked and talked.  LOVED IT!!