Sunday, September 28, 2008

Best Friends or Mortal Enemies?


Best Friends
Originally uploaded by tracyg00
Our household is filled with peaks and valleys when it comes to the attitude of my children. We've captured a rare moment here where they can be this close to each other without pinching or punching. I have to say, though, that they have been playing quite nicely together. Megan has been showing Jake how to play doggies. They gather up any dog stuffed animal and feed it, put it in it's cage, rock it and punish it for biting. They also gang up on me when we're in the store (or any public place) and feed off of each other's energy. They laugh hysterically when I reprimand them for running around and re-arranging displays. Too bad it would look weird to bring your kids into a store in a straight jacket.

Then, on the flip side, they sure can fight. One morning (just like many other mornings), Megan woke up crabby and told me, "I don't like you, you're mean". Jake decided to defend my honor by replying, "Mommy nice". This banter went back and forth about 5 times and eventually, it came to blows over whether I was mean or nice. It's interesting trying to get out the door in the morning. Not sure how we're gonna handle it when Megan has to be at school by 8am next year.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

A Series of Unfortunate Events


Grandma
Originally uploaded by tracyg00
On Sept. 16, my Grandma Therese passed away. She was an unbelievabe woman and will be missed terribly.

This doesn't even compare to that, but on Friday of last week, I was taking Megan to school when I noticed that our garage had been broken into. The thieves decided to take my kids red wagon. What losers. I'm sure they took that so that they could carry my neighbor's power washer and bike. Again, what losers.

Then, on that same Friday (the 12th), it started raining in the evening and didn't stop until Sunday at 4pm. Our sump pump was running continuously and our backyard filled with water.

Rain, rain, go away.

Then, it seeped into our crawlspace and we had to get out the Shop Vac and keep sucking up the water every 15 minutes for all of Saturday in order to keep it from spilling over into the finished basement area. We were very fortunate compared to many other homes in the city and suburbs....so it really doesn't even deserve a complaint -- but what the heck, it falls under my "unfortunate event" category.

I think things will be looking up from here.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

School Follow Up


The artist
Originally uploaded by tracyg00
Megan's first day of school was good. She said they went out to the playground and the girl with the ponytail and the striped shirt and blue pants and white shoes stayed on the horse for a long time and wouldn't let anyone else go on it. Other than that, her day was really fun and she knew the words to the "Days of the Week" song, but some of the other kids didn't. This morning she got up and asked if she could go to school again today.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

First Day of School


First Day of School
Originally uploaded by tracyg00
Today was Megan's first day of 4-year old Preschool. She'll be going on Monday, Wednesday and Friday this year. She picked out some new, fast shoes for her first day. Yesterday she told me, "I want Debbie to take me to school, not you". When I asked her why, she said, "Because I'm not shy with Debbie and I won't cry when she drops me off". It turns out she was fine and was all smiles walking in the door. She got a nice greeting from Miss Riley and was very proud in front of the "new" kids who were obviously nervous. I'm heading out soon to pick her up, so I'll update more later!

Labor Day Weekend


Secret Swim Spot
Originally uploaded by tracyg00
We had a busy, busy Labor Day weekend. It started out Saturday morning when Darin and his Dad golfed at Water's Edge and I went for a long run with my group. The kids were treated to a fancy breakfast with Uncle Jimmy while we were gone. That afternoon we headed up to Wisconsin where we had a nice campfire and smores before getting the kids to bed nice and late. The Cleavelands were there too, and once everyone got up on Sunday, we took a ride on the pontoon boat, where Darin introduced the kids to their "Secret Swim Spot" (pictured here). The boys were happy to throw rocks into the water, while Lili became quite the accomplished lake swimmer. After the boat ride, we all went to the beach for a while. While the boys napped, Darin, Will and I took the girls for a bike ride in the trailer. It was definitely a workout pulling those two on the hills near Kettle Moraine. We decided to head back to Chicago on Sunday evening.

On Monday, we met Darin's parents at their boat in Hammond. It was a perfect day for it. The kids kept wanting to go back and forth between the back and front of the boat. We had a small window where they were both up front and got a photo:

Boating on Lake Michigan

We hung out at the beach for a little while since we were there. The kids loved that. And, then we headed to Judy's Labor Day BBQ for a short visit. Everyone was wiped out by then. Luckily, we didn't catch any traffic coming home from Indiana. Unbelievable!