Sick

I don't normally blog about every sniffle but I felt this was blog worthy. Yeah, we have been sick. Eden and Beckett were the first to get it last Wed. We took Eden in for her 1st hour of school to put away her school supplies. We went to Krispy Kremes with Penny, AJ and Madison and Bex was acting odd. After we got home noticed that Eden and Bex both had fevers-Eden's was 102.8 and she said she had a sore throat. I called the Dr. asap and took them in. I thought maybe it was strep (Faith is very prone to strep). Not strep. The next morning Sawyer has a fever so he and Eden home on their 1st full day of school. Friday morning everyone is better and all go to school. Friday night Faith isn't feeling well. Saturday is Old Settlers (in Cissna Park-will blog about later). We drag Faith anyways (next to "THE CAMPING TRIP") this is Kyle's highlight of the year. By that night she has a fever of 105!!! Call the dr. and are told to give full doses of both Tylenol and Motrin at the same time and it worked. Sunday-still sick. Monday-another missed day of school PLUS it is picture day. So, two years ago (in England) Faith missed her first few days of school due to strep. Last year Sawyer missed his first few days of school (plus picture day)----now this year all three have missed the beginning of school plus Faith is missing picture day. We are cursed. Next year I will just expect it.

First Day of School

I think I posted an entry on my blog right when school got out at the beginning of the summer somewhat complaining about the kids being home and it being stressful. Well, it ended up being a great summer that went WAY TOO FAST!! Once we got in a groove it was all good. I am VERY SAD that school has started up again so soon. However, the kids are thrilled. They came home from their 1st day (it was a 1/2 day) very happy and excited for the school year! Eden only went for 1 hour today with mommy and daddy to put away her school supplies and meet her teacher. Tomorrow she will venture out on the bus. I am SO HAPPY she has Faith and Sawyer to show her the way. I wanted to post some summer highlights for the kids and this is what they told me...

Sawyer- Kalista and Kara coming, Chuck-e-cheese, Camping with daddy, sleepover with Carson, going to Utah.

Eden- Spray park and Chuck-e-Cheese with Kalista and Kara, camping, staying with Grandma Donna

Faith-Softball, Going to Springfield, Utah and Kalista and Kara visiting.

I find the older the kids get, the more I enjoy them. I will ALWAYS love babies but I love doing "older stuff" with the kids now like playing wiffle ball in the backyard, going on bike rides and seeing movies and having them try on clothes at the mall and them actually enjoying it. Watching Eden enter kindergarten has been the hardest one for me yet. I thought it would get easier but it hasn't. I am really praying for a good school year for the kids-Faith getting prepared for jr. high and this is a big responsibility year for Sawyer in 3rd grade-he also starts getting letter grades this year-for Eden that she will like school since she will be spending most of the next 17-20 years there. Here are some photos from this morning. Oh,yeah-Eden has her friend, A.J., in her class this year so after the hour of school we went to Krispy Kreme for a donut....or two :)

Teachers

Well, Friday was the big day-the day that class lists were posted. The kids and I have been anticipating this day for weeks. I LOVE the kids' school. Sawyer got Miss Brawner, Eden got Miss Naeger and Faith got Mrs. Kalina. I know absolutely nothing about Sawyer and Eden's teachers and very little about Faith's. Eden already got a letter in the mail from her teacher and she was pretty excited. She has her friend, A.J. in her class. Faith has two of her best friends in her class. Sawyer has the two girls he is in love with from last year in his class-he was the first to notice. After we saw the postings, my mom and I took all 6 kids (my nieces are the extra two) to Chuck-e-cheese. My kids have been begging to go there all summer so we went and endured the torture. It actually wasn't that bad and they had a great time. I am very sad that summer break and all our freedom is over :( !!! It will be back to the gym, on a diet and having to entertain Beckett for me. I am also dreading the homework.

Happy Birthday Kalista and Teagan!

Since my brothers live far away we rarely get to celebrate birthdays together so we decided to have a little party on Saturday when Amy, Tyler and Teagan arrived to pick the girls up. Kalista is turning 10 and Teagan is turning 1. Kalista is (I think) the biggest Twilight fan on the face of the earth. If anyone ever deserves to meet Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart....it is Kalista. We got her a "Twilight" cake and lunchbox. I also got the kids a Spongebob pinata (they didn't have a Twilight one so I had to go for 2nd best. My kids love pinatas but they never have them for their b-days since their b-days are in the winter and it is sort of an outdoor thing. They had so much fun beating the crap out of Spongebob. Kalista was THRILLED with her cake-it tasted great too. I am also including some photos of the kids at a local spray park the night before. This ended our main activities from our 2 week kid-fest-extravaganza. We also saw "G-Force" in the theater-very cute.

Trip to Springfield

Although we live in close proximity to Springfield, I have never been to see the Lincoln Museum or his home. My parents and I took all the kids (minus Sawyer-he was with my in-laws to escape the girl power for a couple of days)this week to check it out. I was very impressed. If you are reading this and you haven't been then I highly recommend it. The museum was very interesting. I really loved it! After the museum we toured the home that Abraham Lincoln and his family lived in for 17 years-during this time he was a successful lawyer. When he became the President he rented the home out and put their furniture in storage so the home has all the original furnishings. The kids really enjoyed themselves too and were perfect angels! They really enjoyed the kids area where they could try on the period costumes.

Time at the Grandparents

My parents live fairly close but we have had such a busy summer that we haven't had much time to spend there. They have a very large yard and a very long, flat driveway. They are also on a cul-de-sac so the kids have a lot of freedom. They love it. The kids got to help grandpa drive the mower to pick up leaves.

Sleepover

I have a lot of blogging I need to catch up on. We have had my beautiful nieces (Kalista and Kara) visiting my parents and us for the last 2 weeks. Sadly :( they left today to go home. We have had the best, nonstop fun with them. The kids all got along PERFECTLY! I think there is just something really special between cousins. Eden and Sawyer both cried today about them leaving. So, Faith wanted to have a back-to-school sleepover and really wanted to do it when Kalista was here. There were 5 girls total and they did great and had so much fun. Faith has a really nice group of friends. They ate pizza, played with water balloons (which were torture to fill up), played in the sprinkler, played wiffle ball, ate brownies, played Rockband and Wii, did a lot of talking and went to bed. In the morning...more Rockband. I LOVED sleepovers when I was young so I can't deny my girls having them.

Disturbing

So, my niece, Kalista, is visiting (she is almost 10 but acts more like she is 20). I was driving home from the pool with she Faith and Sawyer and listening to their conversation and it went something like this...

Kalista-Do you know what I saw that was REALLY disturbing???

Faith-What??

Kalista-Well, there is this old guy in my neighborhood and he is really fat with a big belly and one day I was riding my bike and he was washing his car with NO shirt on. It was REALLY gross.

Faith-Well, the other day I saw this really old lady with a texting phone......and.....it was a REALLY nice texting phone. That was disturbing.

B-day, Chicago Trip, Misc....

In the hotel.


One of many scarey cab rides.


Sisters


This would be Amy's hair in the morning. Amy functions with a Blackberry so I doubt she will see this picture on my blog. Yes, it is naturally curly.


Amy and I out and about in Chi-Town after she got her hair under control.


Shana's ADORABLE son, Johnny.


Waiting for the train home with our goods.


Shana and I dressed like twins. We had to get a photo of this-it was not planned-really.


With Shana at the restaurant-I think it was called "Cafe Bob-Ba-Reeba" or something like that. Between the 4 of us we have 10 kids...ages 10 and under.


Shelly, Amy and I in our hotel


Birthday cookie from Kyle and the kids-MY FAVORITE!


The good 'ole self-portrait of me, Jenny S. and Amy M.


BEAUTIFUL b-day flowers from Jenny S. and Amy M. THANK YOU!!


I forgot to mention that Shelly's family had us out to State Farm park for swimming and grilling out-we spent all day there and had a blast!! Thanks, Shell (and Jeff)


Build-A-Bear

The last half of July has been a busy one. In 16 days school starts up again. I would REALLY like another month with the kids. Despite turning another year older, I had a great b-day. The kids gave me a "New Moon" t-shirt and bracelet, Faith and Kyle gave me a gift certificate to American Eagle (Faith even used some of her own money) and Kyle gave me money which ended up being spent on school shoes although I did sneak in a new pair of tennis shoes for the gym! I ended up making A LOT of money at the garage sale but between school clothes and signing the kids up for activities this fall, it is gone. I also ordered Sawyer a new bedroom outfit and put a down payment on it with my garage sale earnings. I ate out for my b-day a few times with friends, took the kids to Build-a-Bear and Amy, Shelly and I just took an overnight trip to Chicago. Amy and Shelly are my two best friends from high school and we always have a great time together with LOTS of laughs. My jaw is still sore from so much talking and laughing. Shelly's sister lives in Chicago so she took us to a Tapas-style restaurant and to some cute boutiques to shop. We took the train which was great. I was worried about leaving Beckett but he made it without me. I very much value my friendships with Amy and Shelly and am so greatful to have them in my life.