A Moment of Silence, please

I am having a moment of silence right now as I contemplate two near-miracles in our home, on the SAME day, no less!

1. Matthew did NOT work AT ALL... Except for Sundays, I do not know when the last day was that Matthew didn't do work-work, including any vacations we might have had. So, I want to note this here, so that I have a record that this can actually happen.

2. Matthew bought some clothes for himself by himself. This is a FIRST in his lifetime. He has always had a personal shopper--first his mom, and then me. He has NEVER gone into a store, decided he needed clothes, looked for some and actually bought them by himself. And he had FOUR kids with him. Taylor wanted to get a new tie and I suggested that he ask his father to take him. So Matthew took Michael, Taylor, Kristen and Ryan to Kohl's where they bought Taylor a tie and himself some new work clothes.

A banner day for our family!

One Month from TODAY....

One month from today Elizabeth will be living here....


Going to school here....


Attending devotionals here....


And, hopefully, studying A LOT here...


GOOOOOOOOOO COUGARS!

Taylor's Family Picture Album

A few weeks ago, Taylor had an school assignment for his spelling words. He had to take 5 of his spelling words, take pictures, and then make a "family album." He came up with some fun ideas and took some good pictures. Here is what he came up with:

1. DEFIANT: Kristen is being defiant by not practicing the piano.
(Note: Taylor just happened to walking by and saw this occurance. It's what really inspired him to do the family album....Fun times...Fun times...)


2. RELUCTANT: I am being reluctant about getting off of the computer.

3. ENVIOUS: Ryan is envious of my scooter.

4. CURIOUS: I am curious about this piece of paper.

5. ADVENTUROUS: Ryan is being adventurous climbing the basketball hoop.

Getting a Sunburn at a Freezing Baseball Game

Last Saturday was a very pleasant day. By afternoon, it had warmed up nicely so I thought capris would be a very nice apparel option for Taylor's baseball game.

The first 15 minutes of the game were rather lovely. After that, I thought we were back in March. The wind was blowing so much, one would think we were at the bottom of the Grand Canyon -- or any canyon for that matter. But Illinois has NO canyons. It's flat as a pancake. The biggest hill is a speed bump.

Nonetheless, I thought I was going to FREEZE. (And I wasn't the only one.) After about 45 minutes, I could stand no more, and went to the car and pulled out my winter jacket and blankets (notice the plural ending to that word.) In Illinois it is manditory to carry winter coats and blankets in your car year round---even in July--so you are prepared at all times for the weather abnormalities.

Later that evening, my arms hurt......I GOT A SUNBURN AT THE FREEZING COLD BASEBALL GAME.

Only in Illinois.

P.S. Taylor took one for the team at last night's game. The pitcher from the other team slammed him in the head with the baseball when Taylor was at bat. OUCH! He recovered, and went up to bat his next turn and hit the ball very hard!

Father and Son's Outing with Pedicures

Ready for some F.U.N.
Michael's friend, Jason, came along too.


Friday night was the annual Father and Son's outing at Blackwell Forest Preserve. It is a highly-anticipated event by all who participate. In the six years we have lived here, it has rained the night of the campout, which makes for terrific sleeping in tents on mushy, soft ground! Well, this year---NO RAIN!

Inspite of the disappointingly clear weather, they enjoyed all the usual activities--BBQ dinner, nighttime hiking, smores and ghost stories at the campfire, and the Saturday morning trek to Mt. Trashmore.


Elizabeth, Kristen and I also engaged in our usual Father and Son's outing as well---Dinner at Chili's, followed by pedicures at Foxy Nails. We love the Father and Son's outing.

A fun weekend for the whole fam!

Open Ketchup Bottles

My life is filled with problems that never seem to get solved---no matter how hard I try. For example, take my ketchup bottle problem. No matter how hard I try, we always end up with multiple open ketchup bottles in the refridgerator. At the height of this problem, we had 4 (four) open ketchup bottles at various stages of used-upness in the refridgerator.

This takes up valuable space for other things that need refridgeration---like all the left-overs I want the kids to eat during the week. (But probably won't, even if it's smothered in ketchup....)

I think the real issue at hand is the amount of work it takes to move a few things around in the refridgerator to see if there is an open bottle of ketchup ready for use. NOOOOOO---that is too much work for all the little nibble fingers here! It is sooooo much easier to take a cursory glance around the perimeter of the fridge and, when ketchup is not in plain sight, within easy grasp, run five steps over to the pantry and grab a BRAND NEW bottle of ketchup, open it, and use 1/92nd of it. Then shove it in the refridgerator (in front of used ketchup bottle #1.)

Our House is THE fun house in the neighborhood....

I don't care what you have heard....our house IS THE FUN house in the neighborhood. EVERYONE wants to be here because they see the joy radiating from the children's faces. The happiness, peace and contentment they feel is picturesque.

Bliss at every turn.

Scholarship and excitement every waking minute.



I'd like to write a book and share my thoughts and secrets of raising productive, healthy children with the world. Maybe Oprah will invite me to be on her show to share my book---she wouldn't even have to pay for travel or lodging expenses being that we live in Chicago.

A Birthday to Remember

Matthew is now the ripe, old age of 44 years and 6 days old. (He looks pretty good for his age, doesn't he?) His birthday was last Tuesday. I would like to say we had a rip-roaring party.....I guess we were lucky to have birthday cake together with the way the day went.

I wanted to try to make a nice dinner for his birthday. I knew that was something he would like. So I chose a new recipe, Citrus Chicken with rice, and then cake. As I was trying to decide what time I needed to get everything started to get it done on time, I realized he wasn't even going to be home to eat it before we had to go to Ryan's baseball game. He had to work late! So....we all (minus Matthew) ate the birthday citrus-chicken dinner (which didn't end up tasting very citrussy) and went to Ryan's game.

Ryan had a baseball game at 5:45 p.m. (which meant leaving the house by 4:45 p.m.). We got started on the first inning right at 5:45 p.m; however, as Chicago weather would have it, we got two batters up, and lightning strikes. The game was then put "on hold" until we had 30 minutes without any lightning. So we wait...15 minutes...more lightning....10 more minutes...more lightning and then they ended up calling the game. We got home at 7:00 p.m., no game played.

Matthew got home about 7:30 p.m.---earlier than expected, and he got to eat his re-warmed, non-citrussy Citrus Chicken, Then we had cake together.

It's probably not exactly what he imagined his 44th birthday to be like when he pondered it as a boy! ...Oh, wait, he probably never pondered it as a boy.....

Quirky, Quirky Me

My sister, Kristina, (bless her soul) tagged me. The task: to narrow down my quirkiness to just six items. That is such a challenge. But because Kristina is such an avid commenter on my blog, I will try to do as she requested.

1. Books. I love books. I have books ALL OVER. I probably have more books than some small town libraries. And I can't bring myself to part with any of them. I have spent much time pondering my issues with parting with books. I actually think it stems from my time overseas. We lived in Taiwan and China for 6.5 years before the age of the internet, cheap long distance calling, cell phones or text messaging. Long distance phone calls only happened once a month with family. My only solice came from letters I received. (And Linde wrote me EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK.) I had very little access to information from people or books (at least that I could understand). I couldn't just go to the library and get something to read or head on over to the local newstand and read People. There was no TV. And there was only one English radio station in Taiwan. In China, there was 0. I think it left me with a deeply instilled fear of being without beloved books. Therefore, I cannot part with any of them. I never want to be without books again. EVER.

2. I can't just read one book at a time. I always have AT LEAST four books going at the same time---all of different genres. I usually am reading something about health and/or fitness, something fiction from an LDS author, a non-fiction Church book, something on the pop-culture list, and something on scrapbooking.

3. I never wanted to be done with college. If they would have let me, I would have stayed in college for three or four degrees. Matthew could never understand this until he went back for his MBA. His undergraduate was a double major in Chinese and Engineering and he never veered from the required classes. I told him that was the difference with my experience. I took all sorts of interesting and fun classes. (And my major was a ton easier, mind you....) He loved his MBA.

4. Speaking of college....I'm going back this fall, after 20 years! I just signed up for some classes at the local community college, Joliet Jr. College. I am taking a semester-long photography class, and three month-long classes---Fundamentals of Graphic Design, Fundamentals of Photoshop, and Advanced Techniques in Photoshop. I can't wait!

5. Sundays used to be my favorite day of the week. Since moving here, it is my hardest day of the week.

6. And last, but definitely, not least, I can't eat sugar in the morning. I can (and unfortunately do) eat sugar in the afternoon and at night (what's better than a big bowl of ice cream while watching "The Biggest Loser"????) I can't even really eat breakfast cereal any more. It just does not make me feel good. (After 12:00 noon, sugar ALWAYS makes me feel GREAT.) In the morning, I have a lovely shake that I make that I love. It's got rice protein powder, ground flaxseed, Omega 3 and 6 oil, almond butter, agave nectar, frozen berries, almond milk and water. I wish my morning sugar adversion would last all the day long and into the night. I would be so much better off!

7. One more for good measure....If there are any typos, mispellings, or bad grammar in books, magazines or newspaper articles, I will find them. Most books have at least one error in them.

I now tag any of my cousins who are reading this, as well as Julie W. and Julie B.

The Best One-Liners

Michael has the best one-liners. At Scouts/Young Men's on Wednesday night, one of the leaders brought Golden Oreos. The boys were ruminating on why the company felt compelled to add these to the Oreo lineup.

Michael figured it out! He told them, "They were probably being sued for discrimination."

Dreaded Chicago Winters and the Joys of Springtime

Ryan has written a lot of essays in second grade this year. Last month he brought an essay home that sums up how a lot of people probably feel about Chicago winters. Here it is:

"I hate winter in some ways. I hate it because it is so cold. We have to stay inside. When it is winter I have to dress up in warm clothes! It is hard to move too. Another reason I do not like it is because I have to go to school. Most stuff is boring like math. All you do is think. Those are two reasons I hate winter so much."

Another essay he wrote recently expresses his feelings about what a teacher SHOULD do:

"If only my teacher did this thing. Let us not go to school. School is very boring. You can't chew gum. You can't even wear a HAT!!!! All you pretty much do is work. You do it for almost half your life. Another thing is to have a longer time at recess. And teachers to have a longer break. We work so hard. That is what I think."

Top Ten Percent

Elizabeth has always worked very hard in school and tried to do her best. She has taken honors and AP classes throughout high school and has done well. A week ago, Matthew, Elizabeth and I were able to attend a "Top Ten Percent" dinner sponsored by the Plainfield Rotary Club for the graduating seniors in the top ten percent of their class.

It was held at the Bolingbrook Country Club (very lovely) and the dinner was YUM! Each person was served two pieces of chicken, which was too much to eat at one sitting. Because it was SOOO good, and I hated to see it go to waste, I was SOOO tempted to ask them to box up the extras to take home. (One less meal I have to cook!) Elizabeth was mortified that I would even consider this idea....in deference to her and her nice evening, I didn't embarass her and ask to take home the leftovers....Anyway, back to the evening....

Each senior was introduced, told what they had done in high school, where they were going to college, and given a certificate and medal for their efforts.

I think one of the best school assignments Elizabeth did was in first grade. That year her class read a Scholastic News article on the President and she had to write a sentence to the President of the United States on how he could do his very best.

At that time, Bill Clinton was the President. In her neatest writing, Elizabeth wrote, "Don't make bed decisions." Touche'!

Baseball, Baseball, Baseball

We are in full swing with baseball season. Ryan is on the Red Sox and Taylor is on the Twins. Both teams are doing very well. Taylor is an excellent first baseman, pitcher and catcher. Ryan loves pitching as well and is so much happier this year with his coaches compared to last year.

It can get more than complicated trying to get everyone where they need to be on time. Both of them play two (sometimes 3) games a week and then they both usually have one practice session, usually on the same night. I really think I need an assistant, if not a wife, to help me!

I'm not choosing favorites with these pictures---I will post pictures of Taylor from his game tomorrow....

Ryan's School Program

Ryan's school program had to do with the Ocean and Fish. Ryan LOVED learning about this. In fact, when he ordered a book from Scholastic a month or so ago, he chose to get an Ocean Dictionary. He knows so many interesting facts about fish and the ocean. I think he is ready to be on Jeopardy!

Kristen's School Program

Each year at Walker's Grove, each grade puts on a school program based upon a unit they study. They do classroom display, art work and a music program based on the topic. Kristen's program this year was about the 50 states. She and 4 other students worked on a presentation about the state of Idaho. For one of the assignments, they took a coffee can and filled it with facts, pictures, and items that represented Idaho. Kristen originally wanted to put the DVD case to "Napolean Dynamite" in the can, but her teacher nixed that idea. She didn't know what Napolean Dynamite had to do with Idaho. It has EVERYTHING to do with Idaho!

School Concerts

This year with Kristen being in Walker's Grove Dynamic Choir and Taylor being in the Walker's Grove School band, I have been able to attend several concerts. (Fourth and Fifth graders can be in the choir and Fifth graders can be in the band.) Kristen participated in the school district's first annual "Choir-a-Rama" on April 23. At this concert, all five elementary school choirs and three middle school choir that feed into Plainfield North High School, participated with the high school choirs in a "Choir-a-Rama." It was very nice. Each elementary school sang a song, followed by a song by each of the middle schools. Then the high schools three choirs each sang a song. The concluding song was a combined number done by all the choirs. It was really interesting to hear how the kid's abilities increased from the elementary school to the middle school and then to the high school.

On May 1st, there was a band and choir concert at the school. The band had a concert at a PTA meeting in October, after only being together for about 3 weeks. I was blown away by the difference between October and May. Taylor's favorite song they played was the theme from "Star Wars." I agree, it was a great song.

I hope Kristen and Taylor keep up with the choir and band next year.

Happy Mother's Day to me....

Portrait of me by Ryan

Some very nice things happened at our house for Mother's Day. First off, I got the two things I REALLY, REALLY wanted--and then some.

I REALLY, REALLY wanted 1. All of the windows cleaned and 2. The garage at least straightened. Matthew rallied the troups and accomplished all of that. It was a joyous, wonderful thing! And it's JUST WHAT I WANTED!!

Sunday was a nice day. First, Matthew got me some beautiful flowers. (Kristen helped him pick out the assortment.) Matthew also had NO meetings. We actually all went to AND came home for church in the same car AT THE SAME TIME. I think Christmas was the last time that happened. We had two of our favorite elders, Elder Howard and Elder Price, over for dinner as well. Elder Howard served in our ward at the beginning of his mission and is now back in our ward to finish off his mission. Plainfield is the first area for Elder Price.

Second, Elizabeth made a wonderful dinner for us. She planned it, shopped for it, and cooked it all herself. And it was FABULOUS. We had Swiss Chicken, a delicish pasta salad and a yummy Angel Food Cake for dessert. Everyone wanted seconds, which is more than I can say for most of what I fix for dinner. (Maybe Elizabeth should cook from now on.....)

Third, the dishes were done without complaints or reminders from me. What could be better than having dinner made by someone other than yourself and then the dishes being "magically" done afterwards??


Fourth, I got some great cards.

Ryan made a great card, patterned after a quilt. Under each "quilt square" he had to fill in a word(s) that he felt best described me. He is very creative!





Finally, AS IF ALL OF THE ABOVE WERE NOT ENOUGH....Taylor, thinking of my peace and safety, took a flashlight, climbed under my car, and found all the "dates" on the tires of when they were manufactured and wrote them down for me. He watched 20/20 a week ago when they had a segment on car tires and how many of them are old before they are even sold. Taylor even learned how to read the dates on the tires. (It's a bit complicated as they put the date on the tire by the week of the year it was manufactured and then the year.) Taylor discovered that all is well---my tires were all made in 2006.
Thank you everyone for making Mother's Day a really nice day!