Father's Day

My dad loves fishing. Besides baseball, fishing was the only other thing he really liked to do when we were little, even though he didn't get to do it that often. My sister's husband loves to fish, too; he has his own gear and everything. Steve, on the other hand, is kinda iffy about fishing; he'll try it if everyone else is doing it. I think his dad is the same way, too.

So, to give it a try, we went to the Lake View Nature Center in Oakbrook for Father's Day. We met everyone after church and a quick lunch as Tom's. My dad and Joe caught some small fish, but no luck for the kids. I guess you can tell who the real fishermen were!

The center usually has paddle boats you can rent for $3 per half hour, but they weren't renting that day. So, we hung out in the nature center for awhile....

....and then took a walk around the pond, a run down the hill and ended up at the playground.

Before saying goodbye to Steve's parents, we gave his dad our gift to him - some lights for his backyard and a new grill top.

After leaving the nature center we went to my mom's house for a chili dinner and dessert.

I am so thankful for my wonderful husband. I've never met another man who spends as much time with his children as Steve does. We're very blessed to have him.

Cantigny Park on Memorial Day

What a better way to celebrate Memorial Day than to go to Cantigny - a 500 acre park that houses two museums: the Robert R. McCormick Museum and Cantigny First Division Museum.

Before going to the museum, we climbed a few of the 11 tanks dating from World War 1 through Desert Storm.

Then we took a quick tour of the First Division Museum - a museum that presents the history of the 1st Infantry Division from its pre-Revolutionary day to details about its role in wars since then through Desert Storm.

For a free museum (you only have to pay $5 per car to enter the park), it's absolutely phenomenal. You walk through scenes that make you feel like you are on Omaha beach or walking through the jungles of Vietnam.

After our tour, we drove back home and Steve cooked some BBQ ribs. We've had non-stop rain around here, and the back yards are starting to flood. Our neighbor's yard was so bad that day that it was like a mini lake. The kids didn't mind, though. They put on their swimsuits and splashed through the water while we looked on, took pictures, and reveled in their laughter.

Easter

This past Easter was very unusual for us. Usually we get together with extended family for a big dinner after church, the grandparents hide Easter eggs and give the kids baskets. This year we all got sick except for Steve. So, we were holed up at home by ourselves.

To kind of make up for it, we colored Easter eggs for the first time. I couldn't believe we hadn't done it before. All the other years Easter seemed to just creep up on me.

I guess I stretched the truth a bit when I said we didn't celebrate with anyone else. My mom came to our house and hid eggs for the kids in our backyard. Then the kids came out to find them while my Mom stayed as far back as she could! I hardly have any pictures of the kids looking for their eggs, since I was taking pictures from inside the house, but I was so glad my mom did something special for the kids. She even brought over treats for Steve and I too! Thanks, Mom!

Christmas Day

I had thought for sure this year the kids would be bouncing on our bed by 6:30 in the morning, but nope, we didn't start unwrapping presents til closer to 8:00. I know they didn't get to bed til close to 11:30 the night before, but still, it's Christmas morning!  I guess I shouldn't complain though. Most parents would be ecstatic to sleep in more.

I can't believe I'm including a picture of me first thing in the morning with no makeup, but there it is. Alexa took this of us, so I really wanted to remember that.

I had to buy them on Ebay, but I was finally able to find a complete set of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Jared. He asked for them forever. He was SOOOO thrilled.

Alexa's favorite present of the season was by far her kids pottery wheel. She had been wanting one, but almost all the ones I saw were at least $80 and that just couldn't happen. Then I saw this one for $25 at Michael's. At first I passed it up because I figured it'd be too cheap to work, but she and Steve had a blast with it. It worked perfectly for what she wanted out of it. You won't be making a real bowl or cup with this kit , but she just loved it.

These next set of pictures will be different because Steve bought me the camera I had been dreaming about!  It's a Canon T1i Rebel. I had been drooling over DSLRs for months but thought we'd never get one because they are really expensive (almost $700). But Steve surprised me for Christmas. I was bawling my eyes
out. We never, ever get presents like that for each other. I hope to learn more about photography and start posting pictures on the microstock sites to earn a little extra money.

We drove over to my sister's house early afternoon to celebrate with my parents, grandma, brother and sister's family. Jared loved his Batman mask and accessories.

Grandma?  I'm not too sure.

I think she had a better time opening presents with Alexa.

Uncle Andy brought lots of laughs with his new teeth.

Pre-Christmas Celebrations

We had an awesome Christmas Eve this past year with everyone on Steve's side of the family meeting at his parent's house. The kids were so, so, so excited before we arrived to see all their cousins.

We have a tradition every year of lighting a candle a day the twelve days before Christmas. We usually read some part of the Luke version of the Christmas story and sing a few carols while we light one candle. I should have taken a better picture, but the candles are all places around a five-pointed star. We all did our "candle time" together on Christmas Eve.

Then it was presents! Jared was thrilled with his spinosaurus

...and also loved his puzzles, legos and games.

Alexa's favorite presents were painting kits, games....

....watching Jared open his Batmans Trio cave...

....and her absolute favorite....her GeoSafari Talking Microscope.

Jared ended the night on a high shooting nerf bullets with his cousin.

Christmas Season is Here!

It was a cold, cold, day the day after Thanksgiving when we bundled up to pick out our Christmas tree. I'm still not prepared for the 20 degree weather we've had this past week. BURRRR!!!

This year, we went to Menards, which we did last year, too, but I think the cold made us choose our tree a little bit faster. Even though we choose the second tree we saw, I still think it was one of our most beautiful ones yet.

The kids were so, so, so excited this year about decorating the tree. They helped last year a little bit, but this year they stuck it out until the end. In fact, before we even brought the tree home they had all the ornaments and decorations scatted all over the living room.

Jared liked hanging up the ornaments the most. I knew because of what a detailed, precise boy he is that he would. Both kids were also excited about the electric train we have running around the base of the tree.

I felt so sorry for Steve, though, because he bought several new strands of lights for the tree and, in less than an hour, one of the strands went out. He later discovered we needed to get stronger extension cords and spread out the cords and plugs, but he still had to make an extra trip to the store.

We listened to our favorite Christmas music while decorating, including the wonderful
Charlie Brown Christmas CD. 

Then we watched most of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (with some creative editing from mom and dad at strategic points!).  I'm so excited about this time of year. Not about the cold. Definitely. But I am excited about the stories, caroling, baking, and great, great memories to be made.

What are you most excited about this season?

Thanksgiving Day

When I was thinking about how I would describe our Thanksgiving on this blog, I thought about sharing how wonderful the dinner was with the rolls, mashed potatoes, dressing, green bean casserole, turkey and the rest of the food.

I thought about how much fun we had playing Telephone Pictionary and all the laughter.

I thought about how wonderful it was when Steve's sister's husband showed Jared how to shoot rubber bands to knock off figures from blocks and how much he loved doing that all evening long.

But the memories I'll most remember came from our Thanksgiving circle sharing time. We all sit in a circle after dinner and go around sharing something we are thankful to God about. We do this three times. When my turns came around, I shared how I was thankful that Steve and I can still be crazy silly together after 8 years of knowing each other. I also shared how I was amazed how we need to be thankful about the hard things in our lives because they're there for a purpose we might not even be able to understand for a long time.

But the thing I was most thankful for, the thing I felt most passionate about, was that God has blessed me with the ability to give my children the gift of time and freedom. They are four and a half. I'd only have another 8 months with them before they'd be gone from home a good chunk of the day. They'd not have time to pursue those things that excited them for large blocks of time, and they would constantly be compared to others, tested continually and not living to the fullest.

I thought about the day, how Alexa took the camera from me and followed everyone around, taking silly pictures. I wanted to remember this Thanksgiving as a time of freedom and joy, of unbridled learning and unending adventure.

Here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving day as seen through Alexa's eyes.