Big Will's first baseball game.

Big Will and Miss M run around singing "Take me out to the ballgame" every day.  Andrew really wanted to take Big Willie to his first baseball game when he turned three.  He happened to turn three on Mother's Day and a White Sox home game day.  The U.S. Cellular center is much more kid friendly than Wrigley Field.  It's easier for parking/getting in and out/getting food/going to the bathroom/everything.  

They played the Twins and it was family day so there were lots of little kids at the ball park.  

Grandma D came to visit for Big Will's birthday.  She gets to stay for a few more days than usual since her normal responsibilities are on vacation.  

He wasn't quite sure about the statue. I think he thought the statue was alive and was going to get him.  

 Cater was into the game.  She would wildly clap when others clapped. She sat in her seat, ate more food, whined less and was generally easier to deal with than I expected/the other two.

An overall great day at the ballpark.  We need to work with the kids to understand that "take me out to the ball game" doesn't have the words "root root root for the Cubbies". It's not really appropriate at the White Sox stadium!

Big Willie is 3!!!

Big Will is finally three.  He's wanted to be three since Miss M turned five and realized there was something to this birthday thing! 

I told myself we would throw a party for him when he turned three b/c Miss M had her first birthday party with friends when she turned three.  I wasn't sure what to do or where to do the party but finally decided to invite our closest friends who have kids around Big Will's age.  

I didn't do party bags. I made a simple chocolate cake. We had a few streamers.  We catered in food.  And we called it a party. And it was a great party.  

It was even greater b/c the multicultural parade happened to be going right in front of our house.  We scored lots of candy and had front row seats when the fire trucks and floats went rolling by.

Blowing out the candles is serious business.

We managed to corral all the children around one table to feed them cake! Impressive feat considering there were 11 children five years of age and younger.

 Everyone playing in the yard enjoying themselves.  It just makes me happy.  The kids. The friends. The mess. The fun.

Big Will loved his ramp that we made him.  We brought it inside this week b/c there's so much rain and it provides a good deal of entertainment.

 Big Will told me he wanted a race car party.  I found some blow up race car tires. Miss M spent majority of the party trying to walk around in them and crawl through them.

Big Will also got to make his first trip to the dentist as a reward for turning three! They didn't yell at me for him chewing on a blanket or having spent most of his life being put to bed with a bottle. I call that a good day.

Pilgrim 50th Anniversary Gala

The kids' preschool hosted a 50th Anniversary Gala to celebrate the school (and make a few dollars). We got all dressed up and went to the Conservatory to dance the night away.  I didn't take very many pictures which I am sort of sad about but instead I spent the night talking to everyone, dancing and having such a great time.  

 There was a photo booth at the Gala which was so much fun.  I wish I would have thought to take a serious picture with Andrew but it never crossed my mind.  I thought the photo booth was more for silly.

My friend Beth and I.

 Big Will's teachers Karen and Alissa and I.

 My dearest Steve and Jill.  I am going to miss them so much it hurts to think about.

A teacher picture that makes me so happy. It's been a rough year but they've rallied and been the support beams of the school.

 Miss M's teacher last year, Big Will's teacher for next year, our neighbor and my friend, Nancy.

 The gang.  It makes me laugh that Blagica and Jessica are arguing about who knows what while Adam stands in the background just trying to get his picture taken like he's supposed to!

Too much fun.

The night went by so quickly. It was fun to get dressed up and go out with some of my best friends.  It's too bad we don't have a reason to do it more!

Handy (wo)man

I am a pretty handy person sometimes. I impress myself some days on what I can get accomplished while keeping three other needy human beings alive.  

I put together this dresser which I ordered from Amazon that arrived on my front porch. I didn't even have to drag any kids to the store.  A win for everyone involved.  

I took part of the sink apart to remove 6 paintbrushes which were stuck in the drain and not allowing water to drain.

 I also worked to create a rain barrel to catch water.  I removed part of the downspout but ended up putting it back up after going to the hardware store.  They suggested a different method of installing a rain barrel.

I changed two shower heads.  I made a car ramp, mock sandbox, and put together a digger truck to ride for Big Will's birthday.  Andrew came in to finish my ramp project.  He drilled all the holes and cut a boards for legs.

Trial stages.

 

I am sure I have accomplished a few other b/c I am just that awesome! I have more projects on the agenda but I really need the weather to be warmer and consistently warmer with less rain!

Our life in a nutshell

Lately I have been rewarding the children with a show in my bed before it's lights out.  We all snuggle in my bed and watch some Mickey Mouse. It's a happy time when there isn't much yelling/screaming/demanding/wrestling/attacking unless someone gets more than their share of the covers/pillow/bed space.  

We were playing outside the day after Big Will got his cast on. He was standing next to me on his scooter while we talked about the plants when the front wheels of his scooter went out from under him and he slammed his face into the concrete porch steps.  It was chaos.  He was screaming uncontrollably.  I was trying to get three kids in the house while ensuring one didn't have a broken face.  I called the pediatrics office and they suggested we come in immediately since the wound was near his eye.  They examined it and said that there was nothing broke rather it just looked nasty.  Phew.

I managed to run away from home for a little while and participate in the first Naperville Women's Half Marathon. It was a good race. I had a lot of thoughts/emotions to leave on the pavement so it was good for me.  I ran sub 2 hours which was a big deal for me.  I was happy.  I don't really want to run another half marathon for a very long time.  Today I signed up to run this race again next year...the joy of the chase to get a cheap race entry fee was too much to pass up!

Miss M had a unit on recycling and reusing and cleaning up the earth. I appreciate her desire to help clean up the earth until it involves removing my recyclables from the trash can and wanting to find ways to reuse them in the middle of the living room.  It was even more fun to pick up all the stuff I had already thrown away a second time!

Playing at Monkey Island.  It makes me smile when I hear our neighbors with children who are now graduating from college say their kids used to play on Monkey Island and that's what they called it. A neighborhood tradition!

We had a rough two weeks. My mental sanity was at risk. There was a lot of this.

And this...and I didn't think I was going to make it.

But we rallied and all came out on top with everyone still alive!

Why not wear our Halloween costumes in May? Seems completely reasonable.

We have a friend who writes children's books.  Well he's written two of them and the kids absolutely love them.  They are fun to read and even more fun since we know the man behind the book.  We went over to their house for dinner one night and before we left we caught Fred Herring (pen name) reading to the kids.