yesterday....

... was CRAZY!!! We had so much going on... so many places to be.... so much to get done! But, we did it all without any glitches!

First of all... it was our water delivery day... no biggie... just another thing on the list. Then it was cleaning lady day so, of course, we had to pre-clean :-) We had to leave the house by 10 am since both kids had their yearly physicals that morning. We were out of there in 30 minutes... with both kids given a clean bill of health.

We grabbed a quick lunch and headed home for a little bit. Then we had to gather up our stuff and head out to the Nature Museum so Alex could present his science fair project to the judges. The actual homeschool science fair isn't until next month... but he'll be at camp, so he got to present early...

While Alex was in with the judges, they announced the butterfly release so Clara and I decided to go....


Here's Clara watching a blue morpho fly by, while a little butterfly clings to her dress....
After he was done, we headed back home to drop off some stuff and pick up Clara's dance bag and soccer bag.

When we went back outside, I couldn't resist taking a few photos of Alex... he looked so grown up!


We were home maybe 5 minutes and then we had to go to Clara's dance class. After dance she went straight to soccer practice with her friend.

Whew!!! It was a BUSY day! But with cramming almost everything into yesterday, we had a fairly restful day today (and I have a photo to post later!).

'nite!

a blustery day at the ballpark

On Monday we made our annual family trek to Wrigley Field for Jeff's birthday. It was chilly and rainy ALL day so we weren't sure if the game would even happen.

I made the kids take off their rain coats so they could show off their new jerseys they had gotten the day before....
A couple of crazy Cubs fans...

(can you see Clara's sock?.... little miss matched strikes again)

Here was the scene when we arrived at the ballpark...
Clara putting on a happy face :-)
Alex looking slightly crazed.... but warm under the blanket...
The view from our seats.....
The kids enjoying some Cracker Jacks...

We apparently didn't wear enough layers as it was pretty cold sitting there. The game was a long one so we ended up leaving around the 8th inning because it was already after 10 pm. The Cubs lost too. :-( But we still love going to Wrigley Field!

Today was a CRAZY day.... annual check-ups for the kids, Alex presented his science fair project, Clara had dance and she also had soccer practice. I have a few photos from today but I'm so tired that they'll just have to wait until tomorrow!

'nite!

found it!!

I found the cable so I could transfer the photos from the camera to my computer!! Now to put it back somewhere safe in case I forget to put the memory card back in again. :-)

Here are the photos Jeff took at Bike the Drive on Sunday....

Alex getting ready to start....

Random shot of the city and other cyclists....
They went south this year (they went north last year) and this was their turn around point...
... the Museum of Science and Industry.

I was very impressed, Jeff took some "action shots" while riding....

And finally, a couple from the end of the ride....

I hope to post again later as I have photos from last night... however, I haven't even downloaded them yet and today is one crazy busy day (and so is tomorrow for that matter... ugh).

our sunday....

I will start out by saying that SOMEONE really redeemed himself with the little camera Sunday morning. He took it with and took lots of photos... even some action photos of Alex actually riding down Lake Shore Drive during Bike the Drive. However, another someone (someone who should have known better) forgot to put the memory card in when they prepped the camera so now the photos are stuck on the camera until I find the cable so I can transfer them to my computer. :-) I'll post them as soon as I get them transferred!

So, we'll just have to make due with a couple of post ride shots...
If you look closely, you can see a scrape on Alex's left knee.... he had a little crash.
After the boys got clean, we decided that the dog needed to get clean too...
Poor Friday girl...
She doesn't like it one bit...
Finally time to shake...
She looks so sad here....
... poor puppy.

We left her out on the deck to dry for a while. We took off on a big walking adventure. We started by going out for brunch. Clara and I had already eaten so we weren't really hungry. Jeff order chicken and waffles and my oh my were they yummy!!! A fried chicken sandwich with big thick waffles for the bread... dipped in syrup.... sigh... so good. After that we we off in search of new Cubs shirts for everyone. Our first stop was Sports Authority. I found one there. Clara was insistent that what she really wanted was a jersey.... but they were $60 and there weren't many other choices for kids. So, we went across the street to Marshall's to pick up some last minute camp stuff for Alex. It was there that we found kids' jerseys for less than half the price of the ones across the street.

Okay... the family is back from Starbucks.... time to make breakfast!!

i have nothing...

... I really tried to come up with a good title for this post... but I just couldn't! :-)

Last night Alex and Jeff had a guys night out.... they spent the evening at the United Center for the Blackhawks/Red Wings game. They had an incredible time! Alex was so into it all... he came home practically beaming.

Since SOMEONE forgot to take the camera that I charged the battery for and laid out for them to take.... we'll have to make due with a couple of photos from Jeff's cell phone...
Clara and I went out to dinner with friends from her Friday dance class. Afterward we came home and watched a dance documentary that I had gotten from Netflix... we had a really great girls night.

Then bright and early this morning, Clara had a soccer game. She played hard (they all did) but they ended up losing 6-0. Oh well... they had a great time anyway and snacks generally make things all better....
After that we came home for a bit before Jeff and Alex headed out to Alex's swim class. We met them for lunch afterward. Then we came home and started packing Alex's trunk for camp. I can't believe that it is almost camp time! He goes in a week!!! He is almost completely packed now. I think most everything is labeled and in his trunk. I just have a couple of odds and ends to pick up. We were done quick enough that we even started working on Clara's stuff for camp. We made quite a dent in getting her packed as well (although she isn't going until mid-June).

This evening the kids had a birthday party to go to. It was a cooking party in a neighborhood that we rarely go to but always wish we would go to more often. We dropped them off to make their pizza, lemonade and cake and Jeff and I wandered around the neighborhood and had a little date night dinner of our own.

The kids had a great time and made some fabulous food.

They also made chef hats!

Here's Iron Chef America Alex...
and the competitor Clara...
If this is any indication of her performance in the challenge...
... I believe the Iron Chef will win this one!

And finally.... a common view out our back door (minus the chef hat)...
... the kids chatting with the boys two doors down!

We have another fun day scheduled for tomorrow with SOMEONE getting a second chance at manning the little camera.... so hopefully I'll have some pics to post!

'nite!

we're done!!!

... with testing that is!!!



These photos are from earlier in the week but we did finish up yesterday. After that we spent pretty much the whole rest of the day outside... we ate lunch outdoors at the thai place behind us, the kids played next door in kiddie pools with the neighbors and then finally, after dinner they were out in the alley riding bikes with the neighbors until bedtime. It was a really good day. I didn't get out my camera though. I've been bad about that lately.

Today kicks off the start to our crazy weekend! It should be a fun one but we sure have a lot going on... hopefully I'll have lots of photos to post!

Okay... gotta get started!

Happy Friday!

thursday

This week has been a crazy week... we haven't been *that* busy but it's still been crazy. We're testing this week so that always comes with it's own set of chaos (by the way.... chaos is Clara's new favorite word, she uses it constantly.... last night getting her soccer socks off was "chaos").

We also dismantled Alex's science fair project and recorded the last of our results.

Here's a photo I took that day. Not sure if I like the black and white best....

... or the color version....
Yesterday afternoon Clara had a photo shoot with her classmates at one of the places she dances at. The kids always have a great time when they get together. We ended up going out for a late lunch with one of the families.

We made it home just in time for Clara to get ready for soccer practice. It was a crazy evening. Thankfully dinner was under control... Jeff grilled out steaks and asparagus and I had baked some potatoes. I tried something new.... I baked the potatoes in the crock pot! It worked perfectly and so easy! Not that baking potatoes in the oven is hard but with all of our afternoon/evening activities I rarely have the time it takes to actually bake a potato for dinner.

Today is our stay-at-home day and I'm so in need of one. I feel like we're always running. Thankfully today we are not! :-)

oops...

I keep forgetting to blog!

This past weekend was a pretty busy one. Saturday morning Clara had her presentation for her ballet class. They do not do recitals at this place... only a end of year presentation of skills. I didn't think I would like it as well... but I loved it. I could really see what she had learned this year when it was free of the clutter of choreography and costumes. Don't get me wrong... I still love choreography and costumes... but it was amazing to see the actual skills she has learned/improved on this year. It was also pretty overwhelming to see what she will be expected to do next year as Level II also performed in their presentation section.

In each level, in addition to their ballet technique classes, they are required to take one "fun class". The fun class for her current level is Latin Dance.

Here she is in the Latin Dance warm up....
and dancing...
She loves that class and her instructor. She's a bit sad that Latin won't be part of her curriculum next year, but we might take a class with her instructor separate from the program she's in.

Next was ballet. I took only one photo...
I got so into watching her that I forgot to pick up my camera again. Not only was I most interested in seeing what she had learned in ballet class... but I was also watching her face... she had injured her foot right at bedtime the night before and at that time we weren't sure how badly she had injured it. I was watching her face for any signs that it was bothering her. (At bedtime she went running down the hall in the dark and got her foot caught under one of our door stops that stick out from the wall.... the top of her foot was dark purple... but it appears it was only a surface injury though.)

After the presentation, we went out for a long lunch with some of our friends from dance. The girls had a great time hanging out together someplace other than the halls of the dance school.

That night Jeff and I went out for our anniversary.... 12 years. This is what I love about being in the city... we just took out walking from our house. We had a fabulous steak dinner at a little place we had never tried before and then went out for a walk in search of ice cream. On our way to the ice cream place we walked past the TimeLine Theatre. We decided to go in and put our name on the waiting list for The History Boys (we had tried to get tickets before but it was sold out). We checked back in after we had our ice cream and we managed to get in. However, we had to sit on opposite sides of the theater since those were the only two seats left.

Sunday was church.... Alex sang in service with the choir and it was the last day of Sunday School until next fall. We ended up going out to lunch with the teachers of the class which Jeff had assisted in all year (Clara's Sunday School class).

Things are both winding down and spiraling out of control with the end of the school year approaching. Some of our activities have ended already while some are amping up for end of the year performances. We have also got to start getting Alex ready for camp as it starts June 1st... yikes! His shopping for camp should all be done... it's just a matter of labeling and packing it all. I seriously can't believe that he's going for TWENTY FIVE days this summer.

Okay.... I need to get moving.... it's testing week in our house!

simply amazing

I'm not sure if I mentioned it here before or not, but Clara is (was?) not a good sleeper. She was such a fabulous sleeper as a baby but then as she got older, she lost it. Her brain appears to not shut off at night... she's fine all day but at bed time she's worried about everything... people breaking into our house, bugs coming into her room, storms, every little ache or pain.... you name it and she's worried about it. She had to fall asleep with her light on... she usually passed out eventually while reading a book. She would wake around 2 am and turn her light back on (we had turned it off when we went to bed) and then would be up for good around 5:30-6:30. We were at a loss on what to do and I was about to bring it up at her next appointment with her pediatrician.

Well.... I was talking to the moms at Clara's Friday dance class about my frustrations and one of the moms said that she had a book of sleep meditations for children that I could borrow called Starbright. I wasn't sure about that idea... it didn't sound like "us", if you know what I mean. A few weeks went by and then she brought it to dance on a Friday night. I wanted to pre-read it first before I read it to Clara... but Saturday night we were at our second bedtime in a row where she was crying about her legs hurting... so I grabbed the book and just started reading. I would suggest pre-reading as I accidently read some of the "notes to parents" aloud to her... but it calmed her down and she forgot about her leg aches.

She was hooked and couldn't wait until the next night to hear another story (they truly are stories, not at all what I was imagining when I heard the word "meditations"). This time I was better prepared. We turned out the lights, turned off her music and I read to her by flashlight. She was sound asleep before I finished the story.... AND she slept for 10 STRAIGHT hours!!! We're now almost two weeks into this and she has fallen asleep before the story ends about 90% of the time and has slept between 9 to nearly 11 straight hours each night.... no middle of the night nightmares, no early waking.... just good solid sleep.

So... needless to say, I placed an amazon order right away and now own these two books...

Starbright and Moonbeam
both by Maureen Garth

Each night you read the same prelude about visualizing their own special star, then their guardian angel comes to protect them and take them to their own special garden. But before they enter their garden, they stop by the Worry Tree to pin all of their worries there. After entering the garden you then read one of the stories from the book. They are beautiful, imaginative short little open ended stories. There is no "the end".... the stories always end with an "I'll leave you now to explore" type of ending. Clara loves imagining the world that is being described. Her favorite story so far is from Starbright and is about a visit to the fairies in her garden. Since her brain doesn't seem to shut down at night... these stories give her something calm and peaceful to think about instead of all of the bad things she used to dwell on. It's just been simply amazing.

Anyway.... I've been so thrilled with these books that I just had to share!

Good night!

it was a long day...

... but it was a very good day! :-)

Yesterday morning we left our house at about 7:40 in order to go with friends on a pond study field trip (if you want to read more about that... click here).

I have more photos on my homeschooling blog, but here's one of the girls bringing in their net...
Once we were home, we were supposed to go to swim (Alex to stroke clinic with Jeff and Clara to swim lessons with me)... but we decided to stay home and rest a bit because Jeff had been given four tickets to last night's Cubs Game!

I'm not sure why I subject myself to the frustration of trying to get a decent photo of them together before we head out anywhere....
Well... perhaps it's because they occasionally cooperate...
My required shot of the scoreboard (I must take this shot every time, I don't know why)...
Alex checking out the program....
Clara being Clara....
and now she's showing off her bobble head Ernie Banks...
Mmmm...... a ball park hot dog....
and an "ice cold soda"....
The view from our seats.....
Clara making her case for switching seats with Alex and sitting by me instead of Jeff...
And finally... singing "take me out to the ballgame"....
The kids were WORN out so we left right after the seventh inning stretch. We had a great time though.... we love going to Wrigley Field.