School Days

School is in session! I think all my kids have been pretty happy about it so far, which makes things easier. Madison and Noah started a week ago Wednesday. Sean surprised us on Tuesday by announcing that he was going to skip work and spend the day with us since he didn't have any meetings. We had fun!

We started by going to Denny's Doughnuts for breakfast and then to Ewing Park for some quick play time. We decided to go on the little trail near the park and the kids found a little tucked in area with larger branches that were torn down from tress and had fun climbing on them.



We had a great time together that morning. And the weather was great that day as well.

The next morning everyone was up nice and early. I think we left for school earlier than we had ever done last year. And as a bonus, everyone was willing to smile for pictures. I love how Summer cuddles up to Noah in the picture on the right :)



Then this past Monday Summer started preschool. She has been waiting for this day for awhile. She wants to be just like her big brother and big sister. And once again, everyone had gotten up early and was ready to go ahead of time so I could get some pictures in.

Here's a picture of Summer getting to school and finding her name tag.

It was such a beautiful day that after dropping Summer off, Mason and I started our first of many "one on one" mornings together by hitting Starbucks for goodies :)



To make the day more special for Summer, we grabbed some lunchables to take to the park after we picked her up. We had a lot of fun!

It's been a crazy week with three of my four kids off to school, but it's also great to be back into a routine. Each time one more goes to school, I'm reminded how quickly time flies and that I don't get that time back. I need to make the most of my time with the kids while I can and enjoy life as much as possible with them!

"To be in your children's memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today." - Anonymous

 

Maddie Moo is 5x2

Maddie Moo, you say. It all started when she was little and her Uncle Jason would call her "Maddie Moo Cow." As she got older, she hated being called it, but now she loves the nickname. Strange!

And now our oldest daughter is in double digits. My how time flies! She has changed so much over the last year. For her 10th birthday, she decided she wanted to do a Birthday Bash at the Cornbelters game. She invited her two closest friends and allowed Noah to invite a friend as well.

Part of the birthday bash package allowed her to go out and throw the "first" pitch of the game (along with three others that had b-day parties). Madison thought she needed to pitch underhand like she did in her softball games (yes, her form is a little off).



After a few innings, the girls decided to get their face painted by the Zoo Lady. Summer thought she needed to go everywhere the girls went and she had hers done as well.

The picture below is the best group picture I could get with everyone.

It was a riot listening to the girls as I was taking them home. Oh, how I remember those days. They have so much fun and get so giggly!

The next day we decided to go to the McLean County Museum of History. It's something both of the older kids had been wanting to do for some time and there was so much more there than I expected. We had a lot of fun checking things out.

Hanging out with good ole Abe!

Time to go to court.

Playroom time! Here Madison is checking on the stew while Summer is sweeping the floor.

Boys playing with all kinds of toys.

Summer was intrigued by the porta potty for some reason. I can't imagine having to use these back in the day.

Maddie churning butter. She loves playing the part. Key word: playing!

Madison's favorite part of the day was stopping at Target to get her iPod touch. She had been saving for awhile and with our portion going to her gift, she was ready to buy! I have never seen her so excited :)

And to finish off the day we had spaghetti with meatballs for dinner and cake/ice cream for dessert. Yes, you are thinking right and that is a last minute cake pickup from the store. Madison picked it out and she added "Moo" to it (for her nickname) and we had one candle which she later added a "0" behind it so it looked like 10.

We can't have a birthday w/out a sibling picture :)

We love you to to the moon and back, Madison! - Love, Mom & Dad

 

Chicago Cubs/Family Visit

It was so awesome to have some of my family up here over the weekend! We don't get too many visitors being six hours away from most of the family so it was great to have them here to see where we live and our new house we've been in the last 10 1/2 months.

When Rod, Lori, Jackie and Kurt pulled in around 5 or so on Friday afternoon, the fridge had been stocked and Sean already had the ribs going on the grill. Sean LOVES grilling when people come. Lizzy, Jeremy and my mom made it up around 7:45 - just in time to eat!

Rodney always has fun with the kids. Summer and Mason were all over him, literally :)

Mason decided to get sick in the middle of the night, which made it hard to leave him the next morning. I knew he was in good hands with my mom though so we headed out and I called to check in a couple of times.

We checked into our hotel early so we could leave our bags and then hopped onto the L train to get to the game. We had a little bit of time so we hit the bar, Cubby Bear, for a quick beer.

Then it was across the street for the game!

If Sean didn't have to get a scorecard, we probably would've scored free t-shirts on the way in. They ran out when we were fourth in line or so. Oh well. Maybe next time.

What a great experience we had at the game! Just being at Wrigley Field was so fun. The weather was perfect for a ball game, too.



Group picture! We had one a little better, but Sean liked the one where he was barely in the picture. If you know Sean, he likes to sneak into pictures frequently.

We headed back to our hotel after the game and got ready to head out for the night. Once meeting in the lobby, we found out someone broke out Lizzy & Jeremy's driver side window to steal their GPS and iPod. Not cool! That put a little damper in things, but after getting things situated, we headed out.

Dick's Last Resort was the restaurant of choice for the night. Sean didn't have the exact address in his maps app on his phone so we took the long way there. I left my camera at the hotel thinking we were only going a few blocks, but wished I had it after taking the route we did. There were some pretty photo opps on our way around the city.

So forgive the quality of the next set of pics, as they were taken with my iPhone without the best lighting.

Below is a view we had while eating out and some "couples" pics.

Rod & Lori

Jackie & Kurt

Jeremy & Lizzy

Me & Sean

The next pictures we took of siblings (left) and of the OUT-laws (right). They turned out fuzzy so I will replace them once I get better ones from Jackie or Lizzy from their cameras.

After heading back we decided to hit a piano bar we saw 1/2 block down from our hotel. It was nice, but I was getting ready to fall asleep at the table. I think the combination of Mason having me up most of the night before, dim lighting and drinking throughout the day (although it was spaced out plenty) hit me hard. I am definitely getting old!

Sean was motivated the next morning and went out for a run. I was somewhat awake and thought about going with him, but then got smart and went back to sleep for a bit.

After eating breakfast with everyone at a diner nearby, we hit the Garrett popcorn shop. We walked by it many times while there and there was always a line down the street and the aroma walking by was irresistible! Since it was sprinkling, the line wasn't too bad so we stopped at it before leaving town.

Before leaving, Lizzy, and I got a quick shot together in the parking garage.

Lizzy, Jeremy and mom stayed one extra night with us so we just hung out the rest of the afternoon when we got back. We ordered pizza so no one had to cook and got to visit. And Lizzy was nice enough to use some of her getaway time to cut all the boys' hair. Thanks Liz!

I had to get a shot of mom in here so she's below with Summer and Mason. The weather has been so nice in the evening lately that we sat outside for awhile.

And here's one of Summer and Godfather Jeremy.

I can't express how wonderful this weekend was. It was so much fun to hang out with family and for Sean and I to get a night away together without the kids (it's been almost three years). Thank you mom for watching them for us!

Summer is 4!

I'm a bit behind on this post. I was holding off until I could get a few pics from Sean's phone, but we keep forgetting to load them on the computer so we'll use what I already have.

Summer turned 4 last week (Monday, July 25) and we've been celebrating her birthday here and there. We let the kids choose where they want to eat on their birthday and she chose Chuck E Cheese. We decided to go Sunday after mass since we had VBS all week at night and wouldn't have time to go until the weekend if we waited.

The next day on her actual birthday we had birthday cake and ice cream after we got home from VBS. She chose to decorate it with Princess colors and candy items. Below Summer is getting ready to help me mix the batter :)

Summer with her cake and with her siblings.

I had Sean surprise her with some balloons when we got back from VBS since she had been asking for some. He was supposed to go to the party shop next to Jewel-Osco so he could get a princess balloon, but he must have tuned me out half way through because he went to Jewel-Osco and got a plain "Happy Birthday" balloon (they didn't have princess). On the positive side, at least he remembered the balloons.

And Summer was happy with them!

I had ordered Summer's birthday gift a little late so we didn't have a gift for her to open that night, but we did get it in time to take with us on our getaway to Springfield last weekend and brought it with us. It was a definite hit!!!



She already had the Bitty Baby, but we got her the diaper bag (with diapers, sippy cup, etc. inside) along with another outfit for her baby. She loved it!

Summer has been such a joy to our family. She is turning into quite the independent girl, and is so funny and loving. She is a definite keeper! We love you Summer!