the clock is ticking.....

The weather was so gorgeous this weekend that we went outside and took a few pictures. Sadly, the one above was the best I've got with Gloria and the kids...but i guess it does capture our life :)


For fun we polled the kids to find out their thoughts on miss g's arrival. Here's what we've got....


Austin- a boy named Oliver Nov 20

Sydney-a boy named Tommy Nov 19

Dylan - a boy named Hudson Dec 3

Tim- boy Nov 26

Myself- girl Nov 29

So, lets start a little poll shall we? What's your guess?

A little background....my official due date is Nov 28. All 432 ultrasounds i've had have placed my due date at Nov 20.
Austin was 8 days late, Sydney 3 days early, Dylan a medical mystery, and Stella 3 days late.

let's recap fall, shall we?

This fall has once again passed us by in a blur of busy. I can't believe the month of November is already well underway!

To recap....six weeks of soccer is officially done! The kids improved greatly throughout the season, and will gladly tell you they scored many goals. They did really well, and had a blast....but is SO nice to have our 3 weeknights and Saturdays back again!

Dylan was hysterical to watch play. He would run back and forth down the field as fast as he could, chasing whoever had the ball at the time....not necesarily making it his goal to have any contact with the ball :) Sometimes he would get running so fast and change direction that he would trip over his own feet.

Stella, the faithful cheerleader A meeting of the little people, as they try to decide how best to tackle their chore of raking leaves :)
a rare photo of dylan actually looking at the camara and smiling!

Halloween 2009

Belle, CheerBear, Luke Skywalker and Jango Fett

After 2 hours of searching, the blue lightsaber was no where to be found...so Mr. Skywalker had to carry a gun. Since Halloween was on Saturday this year, the kids were able to go to our church's Hulaballoo, and also trick or treat! Good times....lots of candy.

pumpkins were carved..........applesauce was made

Tim took the 3 older kids duck hunting.
I couldn't convince him to take Stella too :)

we got our skates on .....well the kids did.
many Saturday afternoons playing football.

foto flashback....

May17, 1995

The night before i was to make the big move back to Chicago for the summer. Our relationship had been official for about 3 weeks and we were quite enamored with each other....okay, maybe it was just me :)

Since we had conquered laundry that year, my roomate and I decided we would try our hand at cooking. We thoughtfully and lovingly planned out a fantastic evening for our new boyfriends. Chicken and rice was the main dish, and candles were on the table.

We slaved over that meal, trying to get the timing of it all just right! We primped. We had so much electricity going we blew a fuse! We worked REALLY hard to make it absolutely perfect!

The guys came over and we were giddy 19 year olds who had just cooked our boyfriends dinner for the first time.

Fastforward. We sit down to eat, and I'm talking Tims ear off as usual. When I take the time to actually notice him, I realize that he is eating really slow.... which is really quite uncommon for him. I politely tell him if he doesn't like it he doesn't have to keep eating it....tho i'm certain this is not the case.

His response? "Oh phew!" and puts his fork down and shoves his plate aside.

Yes indeed, the last time I cooked for him till I became legally bound :) I've come a long way!

klacklicious

We made our annual trek to Klackles last weekend, topped with our annual trip to the Ponderosa for some all you can eat boofay on the way home. You gotta love when kids 7 and under eat free! Once again good times, good memories .... tho much, much colder than years past!

Favorites of '09...

Austin- the dirtbikes

Sydney- feeding the animals

Dylan- being in jail

Stella- the endless supply of apples to eat

Tim- the family togetherness

Myself- the buffet of course!

A few pics I managed to snap when i took my gloves off .....

fall field trip frenzy

Nothing says "back to school" and "welcome fall" better than seeing a field trip scheduled on your calendar every week until the weather turns ugly :)

A few pics from some of our recent trips... thankfully the weather was beautiful for all!

Dylans class visited the apple orchard....

....and then Sydney's class visited an apple orchard. Ask me anything, I am an apple expert!

Dylans class visited a local farm with exotic animals. He was FINALLY able to see the famous ring taled lemurs that he has been telling us about non-stop since pre-school began. They were surprisingly really cute!

Austins class visited Binder Park Zoo. I was not able to go along on this one, b/c it was a long day to be away...but he was in a group with all his best buddies, so I'm pretty sure I wasn't missed too much :) Thanks for the pictures Cara!

got grass?

If you read my blog, you know that we began an addition on our house about 19 months ago. Well it is now complete, minus a few....ok several, finishing details. One such small detail is our yard. In the process of it all, we tore up the grass in our backyard....not that we ever had nice grass anyways since we live on beach sand.

Well, no time like the present to move the playset and garden to a better location, and install the underground sprinkling we have been talking about for several years now.

4 kids plus 1 dog and a few random extras playing in dirt all summer long makes for a ridiculous amount of cleaning and laundry.

I am pleased to say that after many Saturdays of preparing, we FINALLY got the lawn in! It is the most beautiful sight you have ever seen! I did the happy dance when i watched that truck pull up to spray that beautiful turquoise green goodness everywhere.

when you live out in our parts, the best way to start grading a lawn is to flip over the old teal hot tub that used to have a home on the deck that doesn't exist anymore, and attach it to the bag of the bobcat. works like a charm!

Austin caught a case of "pokemon fever" this summer, and consequently has become obsessed with finding pop cans and saving his money to buy more of those precious cards. Well, we realized we really needed to crack down and do a much better, consistent job of giving the kids allowance, and teaching them the value of money. They now have separate little envelopes for spending, saving and God, and the system is working very well.

Well, on one particular Saturday, Tim told the kids they had an opportunity to earn some extra cash- he would give them 1 penny for every rock they picked out of the dirt. Oh the joy of picking up rocks when you would rather play with your friends! Well, hours later when Austin finally reached his goal of 1000 rocks, he retired and graciously accepted his ten bucks after a hard days work. That night we went out for dinner and made a quick trip to Target so the kids could buy something with their money.

Ha Ha, the next Saturday they had to pick up rocks just b/c they are a part of this family... the productivity slowed down a bit :)

The new task at hand...keeping 4 kids, 1 dog, and the few randoms that still show up off of the lawn. A bit trickier :)

it's true what they say...

what goes around.....

comes around :)