FOUR THE FUN OF IT! ! ! !

From his first day,

to 1 year old,

and then he was 2.

through his 2nd year and first day of being 3,

and now he's 4!

This past year was filled with so much joy. Some highlights include:

• attended his first year of preschool
• attended his first year of Sunday School and VBS
• chooses 2 prayers to say at meals
• blesses lots of people in his life at bedtime
• imaginative play with lots of language and imagination
• able to complete a 60 piece puzzle
• walks everywhere and barely needs to ride in the stroller
• continues to love his Daddy to pieces
• still needs Mommy
• and loves and adores his little Norah
• is a great, helpful, and loving big brother
• enjoys helping with household tasks
• still enjoys "Mommy's cooking show"
• loves books and sits for quite lengthy stories, and peruses books on his own
• has his own library card and pool pass
• rides a bicycle with training wheels
• bats a ball pitched to him
• walks up, sits through the children's message on his own, and finds us when done
• still needs and uses his "star blanket"
• lost his afternoon nap, but will still occasionally fall asleep during an afternoon rest/break
• has great ideas and makes good choices
• continues to pull the I-won't-say-anything trick when talking about an undesired topic
• has a strong independant streak

Happy, happy birthday to my busy, loving, and wonderful little boy! He brings us so much joy. Today's plans include, in "10 Items or Less" fashion:

1. the birthday turtle
2. a free donut (thanks to the library prize for the summer reading program)
3. a trip to the Brookfield Zoo (thanks to the free kids day and coupon). He really wanted to go to "our pool", but with a high of 66 I declared that too chilly!
4. a "picmic" at the zoo
5. dinner at Mickey's Hot Dogs with Grandma and Grandpa from the curvy street
6. cake back at home
7. presents
8. and play time with his new goodies

How could a celebrated and happy boy sleep after that?!?!?!?

Here is a glimpse of what I will hear all day today!

"Owl" wrapped up!

Ready to package and entice a little guy to open up on his special day! I went to my Jo-Ann's looking for a plain brown paper bag, which was not available! I thought out of the box and looked for other packaging. While browsing I saw a "nest" (a.k.a. a basket) and brown material patterned with "feathers" and "leaves". My second stop to Factory Card Outlet saved the day and had brown paper bags! Because birds of a feather flock together and need a place to call home!

And look what pattern I ordered from Delicious Crochet to make for Simon's birds and owl!!!

Caught

. . . with way too much shampoo. While dressing Norah after bathing I hear this declaration from the tub: "Mommy, I did my own shampoo."

Caught dumping cups. A new favorite activity in a new favorite place.

Too funny to not capture, and too funny to get upset.

a conversation

setting: lunch time. daddy home. after VBS

Daddy: What did you do in VBS today?
Simon: Jesus turned water into wine.
Daddy: Where was Jesus?
Simon: In my tummy.

Daddy's Days

We started celebrating Daddy's days last weekend. His birthday was this past Wednesday and Father's day today. Only once so far since children have both days been the same, and that was celebrated in Wrigley's bleachers! Last Saturday was supposed to be a bike ride. Total rain-out in the morning so plans were switched to the Garfield Park Conservatory. Driving into the city we heard the Cubs game and saw clear skies. Plans switched again to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Parked on the street for free with a playground across the street. After zoo-ing for free, we played in the park. A very lovely time. Since we were in the city and it was late afternoon, we headed over to Tufano's, one of our favorite restaurants. A very family Italian restaurant. Nothing has changed over the years and the chalkboard menu is always the same. Wednesday Eric enjoyed at the Friendly Confines for his first Cross-Town Classic (a.k.a. Cubs vs. Sox). Then enjoyed his annual-homemade-four-layer carrot cake. Super yum-ola! After that, we all watched Daddy at his softball game.

Today, we went to church and enjoyed the whole service as a family, very lovely! Then we enjoyed a quick breakfast and headed home for Norah's nap. We will venture to Oak Brook Mall for the classic car show and perhaps enjoy the pool later in the afternoon. A delightful dinner of shrimp pasta will be cooked to perfection!

Happy Father's Day Daddy, you are loved so very much! In the words of Simon "I need my Daddy"! In the words of Norah, "hiiii" with open arms and a running hug!

Me and my shadow, as our neighbors refer to Simon's imitation of all things Daddy!

Happily Captitated

Way, way overstuffed was the verdict. Just owl-ley underwent decapitation. Thanks to blogging, here is the photo journey.

Decaptitated

Partially unstuffed, relieved, and wow! Sort of like having a baby; that was inside of there?!?! Stretchy yarn I suppose.

Recapitated and well, critically crooked. And the presence of a neck, which is just not al-owl-able!

Re-re-capitated, re-beaked, straightened, and just plain adorable! The holes are now invisible. Softer and squishier just like a furry friend (a.k.a. stuffed animal) should be! Now that I've figured it all out, I am considering making an orange owl with the green eyes and wings for Norah.

Thanks to all my reader support. The deciding factor was thinking ahead to when Simon plays with it by tossing it up in the air and the possible landing on someone's head. A soft and squishy owl is much more desired than an overstuffed bullet-owl!

Just Owl-ley or Overstuffed?

Here is my first completed Amigurumi. The directions said "don't skimp on stuffing". So my question to my readers, (specifically to Just Jessica as she is an accomplished critter maker and crocheter) is this: Is this little guy just owl-ley or overstuffed? He makes me smile and will make my little boy smile when he opens him up on his birthday! I love his age where I can make his b-day gifts right in front of him and he has absolutely no idea! These days are soon over.

If determined that he is overstuffed this will be his fate. He will be decapitated, relieved, and then re-capitated. I would much prefer to declare him done!

Week One Fun

Just a lucky shot capturing our very happy girl!

Passing a rainy day with a friend by just being boys!

Norah's first dress-up!

Enjoying the park!

The longest ride of his life! Down to the pond to see the ducks, to the park across from Daddy's high school, back home, and then around the block. Because "I love to go around the block."

Being a boy, "making ant-food"!

Watching "the show". Our neighbor went to prom and 10 couples gathered across the street. Simon just watched from the front porch. "Those people are all decorated. They are in their decorated clothes. Those people (the parents) are in comfy clothes."

We made and ate delicious Jucy Lucy's! We attempted this recipe and had great success! Part of the succes was due to Eric's early birthday gift - Crate & Barrel's burger press. We highly recommend it with the use of parchment paper! (hint hint - great Father's Day gift)

Ooey gooey goodness!

Critterville continues. Eric captured this racoon on our garbage cans late one night! Simon kept asking about it the next day and declared "the racoon is sleeping in our garbage can".

A frequent reading spot.

Can Norah scooch any closer?

C

Proper Place and State of Grace

I have been home one full week, and it went amazingly fast and crazily fun! Each summer seems to be spent figuring out the difference between working part-time and being home. Not this summer! The idea is to clean just a room or do a task each morning, play the rest of the day, and by the weekend have very little to do! Of course this does not include daily tasks like emptying the dishwasher, making meals, cleaning up meals, sweeping the floor, and straightening up before bed. It felt like spring cleaning around here last week- from corners to closets! Here is what this week looked like and the intent for weeks to follow! Hopefully the maintenance cleaning will be faster and easier! So far this weekend has been filled with fun, fun, fun!

"Everything in it's proper place. Everything in a state of grace" - from Cat in the Hat!!!

This is what a typical day looks like in theory:

• wake up, get dressed
• have breakfast, clean up all of breakfast
• check if beds are made, pajamas and other clothes away
• Mommy's morning work: Monday - clean living and dining room; Tuesday - clean family room; Wednesday - clean bedrooms, Thursday - clean bathroom & shop at Caputo's; Friday - laundry & shop at Aldi; Saturday - straighten up the house; Sunday - mop kitchen floor (counters & sinks cleaned throughout the week)
• Play, park, swim, library, see friends, etc.
• Clean up toys and start dinner prep around 4:00 so the evening can be spent having fun with Daddy!

Worked well for week one! I celebrated with a small reward of orange roses for my kitchen! Will keep you posted for weeks to follow!

Swinging & 14 years

How do swinging and 14 years have any correlation?

Well, I will tell you.

We went to Glen Ellyn to enjoy a mexican dinner and 'ritas for our annual end of school-year and start of summer celebration. We told Simon we had a surprise for him after dinner, which was playing at a beautiful park not far from Eric's and my first home. This park is full of shade, has a "lake"/retention pond, lots of fun equipment, a great sand box and overlooks a high school.

What we did not know, was it was graduation night on the football field. I was pushing Norah in the swing as I hear applaudes for graduates walk across the stage and see the hats tossed in the air. I saw parents, siblings, graduates, and happy people throughout the park. I thought "in 14 years, I will be like that Mom. We will be in that group of people watching Simon graduate high school ".

And then I got choked up.

Here I am enjoying the time of my life pushing my daughter in a swing and proud that Simon is starting to glide across that glide-bar thing and wants to do the monkey bars and ride his bike with training wheels around the block and loves to read with us and is curious about tying his shoe

And in the blink of an eye, he will be on his way to . . . life. I know when each of our children were born, I made a mental note to start letting them go their very first day.

But holding them close and having them need me is just fine for now!

Sleeping babies . . .

. . . always melt my heart. Simon has become quite fond of his baby. This is his doll we gave him while we were waiting for Norah. He has recently become insistent upon dressing the doll in clothes every morning and putting pajamas on her every night. You know, to "get ready for bed". Of course this means that we are turning clothes inside out, stuffing limbs into the clothes, snapping, and making sure the clothes are not twisty wisty. Because we do not have anything else to do or anyone else to dress, more than once a day. He carries her, reads to her, and as you can see, snuggles with her.


And how could this be comfortable?

A sick car

Unfortunately the other day, Mr. Dickens our next door neighbor, who dearly loves our children had a heart attack or his heart stopped at his doctors appointment. He was immediatly admitted to the hospital and is still receiving care.

I made a meal for them and Simon eagerly helped me make the meatballs. I told him that Mr. Dickens has a sick heart and that we should pray for him and help out by making the family a meal. As he is mixing, he states "Mr. Dickens in the hostipal? His car is sick." What!?!?! Looking back, I realized I probably said "sick heart" quickly, and he did not hear the /t/ in "heart". Simon now knows Mr. Dicken's heart is not well, and his car is just fine.

We cannot wait to have Mr. Dickens back home looking out his kitchen window watching Simon and Norah play in our yard!

A bird in the house is worth . .

. . . blogging about in "10 Items or Less" fashion.

The garage door to the house was left open this morning, again. I wanted to check on Norah as she was napping and I heard and saw this weird fluttering. Very concerning and startling since anything that moves was either in a crib or out in the yard, I knew it must be a critter. Upon careful inspection, a bird was flying through our house! So what do I do?

1. First I ducked, because I didn't want to get pecked in the head by a beak.
2. Next, I made sure Norah's bedroom door was closed. I didn't want her pecked either.
3. Then I called Eric, at work. And for the first time he answered my request of assistance with "I don't know". So, together on the phone we rescued a bird.
4. I opened our windows the other way, so there was no screen. On the other side of the room I took the screens off and opened the windows.
5. I closed the drapes in the living room, so the bird would not see outside. Last thing I wanted was an injured or unconscious bird from hitting a closed window. (Fortunately Simon was in good spirits and not freaked out.)
6. Next I took a picture. (How else would you believe me?)
7. Then, I took our "lobby broom" and gently tapped the fan blade where the bird was sitting. The bird hopped to the next blade. Twice.
8. Seriously, I had to swat the bird! It flew out the open window so fast. Not even a moment to capture the event on video or picture. You would think we were done. But wait, more excitement follows.
9. Immediately after flying out the window, our neighborhood hawk/extra large bird (whose nest is in a tree a few yards down) swooped down towards the newly escaped bird. Right outside our window.
10. I scrambled so fast to close the opened windows. I did not want a hawk/extra large bird in my house!
11. Last, I wondered if there was any bird poo around the house, have yet to discover any!

Not the best picture of a brown bird on a brown fan blade against a brown ceiling and tan walls.
After this experience, I will bet that Simon will now close the garage door, all the time! As will I!

Before, During, & After

BEFORE - click here to remind yourself of our neighbor-induced-under-construction-yard that yielded a garden filled with clumpy clay!

DURING - Prior to these pictures, Eric worked hard on the property line fence, the garden surround, and the great clay dig out. He and I worked hard at scooping out the grass along the inside border in order to bury blocks to prevent rabbits from nibbling my harvest. Here we all are working hard (except I am not pictured) to re-create my beloved garden. We schlepped 1.5 yards of top soil and 1 yard of mushroom compost from our driveway to the garden. (Note Norah's contribution in the excer-saucer.) My garden has always resembled a kitchen garden, a yummy salad, a farmer's market, the neighborhood pantry, and an experiment. All wrapped into one plot of great joy! Can you tell I am excited to have my garden back?

Notice that Simon wore Daddy's ear muffs because he needed quiet. I think they helped; he stayed quiet when wearing them.

The ramp to dump the dirt from outside the yard into the garden.

An 8 foot by 17 foot plot of gorgeous, black dirt completely weed free and ready to plant.

AFTER - My garden, all planted and full of hope! I told Simon all my garden now needs is water, weeding, and talking. We said things like "come up green beans, we want to see you" and "it's okay lettuce, grow grow". Simon went with me to buy the vegetables and this is what we planted: sweet corn, kahlrabi (note to previous post of politician pass-out at St. Patty's Day Parade), carrots, green beans, tomatoes (3 varieties), cucumbers, white/green onions, red onions, green lettuce, mesclun lettuce, spinach, green peppers, basil, parsley, chives, cilantro, oregano, and thyme.

The view from the sidewalk.

We had plenty of dirt to fill my porch pots for annuals. Norah knew what to do with a trowel. Not one speck of dirt went into her mouth.

The remaining dirt after filling my garden and my porch pots - the perfect amount!

TO COME - Stay tuned for updates and pics of our growth and bounty!

Simon asks to check our vegetables daily and before departing our house. He always says good morning to them, talks to them and encourages them to emerge!