daily (okay, occasional) musings

in limbo again and the activities of Thanksgiving Week 09

Well here we are again in decision mode.  Seems like every few years or so we find ourselves trying to figure out what best to do with our lives, what's best for the kids, etc. etc.

I guess I never was the kind of person to stay put for too long or keep up with the status quo, so I guess I'm staying true to self!

Still haven' t heard anything back from France on the final offer, I guess we'll see what fate brings us!

As for the last week it's been crazy busy.  Last weekend we went downtown with the Schnackenberg family (Lukas' best friend Chris) downtown to the Mag Mile Festival of Lights which ends with the parade lighting Michigan Ave.  After the parade, we went to Gino's East for good old Chicago style deep dish pizza - yum!  We stayed overnight right next to the Rock n' Roll McDonalds and in the morning we went over to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  Thankfully, we were treated to nice warm weather on Sunday.  It turned out to be a perfect weekend, but we were a bit wiped out by the end of the day.

On Monday, we had to go retrieve Justus who was being babysat by Grammy in Rockford.  Tuesday was playdate heaven with Ben Castro and Chris Schnackenberg going back and forth between the houses.

Wednesday we went to see Planet 51, again with Chris and Peyton.

Thursday Thanksgiving at my Aunt Joette's house in Rockford with the rest of the family.

Friday, Black Friday 4:30am shopping frenzy with Pam Castro, then Christmas tree hunting at Oney's Tree Farm with Grammy, Grandpa and Max's family (we just ran into them there!), then the Crystal Lake Holiday Parade with Lukas in the Cub Scout Pack 347 float with the Grinch.

Saturday shopping at Nordstrom's for shoes for the boys, lunch at P.F. Changs.

Sunday, finishing up the Christmas decorating, yummy moules marinieres for lunch with red wine, swimming at the club, the bowling league for the boys at 6pm.

 

Do you think we kept busy enough during the Thanksgiving break??  I can only imagine what Christmas break will be like!

Now it's headlong into the month of December with tons on our plate.  Christmas cards, shopping, wrapping, Lukas First Reconciliation, Chris' birthday, Cub Scout Breakfast with Santa, holiday parties, visiting relatives, etc. etc.  never a dull moment :)

the kids of Lukas' second grade class meet the kids in Morogoro

Two weeks after returning from Tanzania, I had the pleasure of visiting Lukas' classroom to give a little talk to the kids about my trip.

They were absolutely fascinated with the images and videos of the children at ICT's Morogoro Project.  Seeing the Tanzanian students with their letters in hand made it all very real to them.

With this little presentation, I was able to give these suburban Chicago kids a basic understanding of how other kids around the globe live and learn.  Hopefully, I was able to open their minds to the fact that not all children are as lucky as they are in life.  They were shocked to learn that these kids had to struggle to be able to attend school and that sometimes they only get one meal a day.

Hopefully, before my children are too old, I will be able to bring them to a developing country so that they can see first hand what life is like in other, less fortunate parts of the world.  I think that this is one of the most important gifts that I can give them - an understanding and a respect for ALL the people pf our world.

 

 

yeah, it's been 10 days, remember this is called "occasional"!

Can't believe it's been 10 days since my last posy.  I swear to you that I had every intention of posting at least every other day, it just doesn't seem to ever happen!

Well in the last 10 days we went on our last hooha camping trip of the year.  We headed back to Wheeler's campground and Devil's Lake - we just really love this place.  This time around we met up with friends we had met on Memorial Day weekend.  It was fun to see the same family and kids again.  We also explored totally new things within Devil's Lake park.  This place just has so much to offer.  We went rock climbing up the East Bluff.  The trail was rated as "Difficult", but can you believe that Lukas was the fastest of us all?  The views at the top were stunning.  The weather was also perfect.  This was the first camping trip this summer that it didn't rain a single drop.  It was pretty nice to come home without mud on everything :))

 

 

 

 

Now we are back to school and into the swing of things again.  Full-on activities as well!  We have baseball (both boys) on Mondays, Boy Scouts on Tuesdays, CCD on Wednesdays, and baseball games on Saturdays - WHEW!  It's all good though, they like to stay busy. 

the end of Lukas' Preschool days...

Well, this week brought the end of Lukas' preschool career. On Friday he had his Pre-K Graduation. He was so cute and looked so big to me, I can't believe that he will be starting Kindergarten next fall. Here are some pictures from the day....

{the Procession}

{ the Graduating Class of 2007}

{receiving my Diploma}

{Lukas & Mrs. Nikitaides}

{Lukas & Ms. Bollinger}

{Lukas & Mrs. Keappler}

{the boys with the "girlfriend" Shelby}

{the end!}

It was also the end of out T-ball season :( We had soooo much fun this spring with T-ball, we are so sad to see it go. I got a chance during our last game this weekend to try out my new camera and zoom lens. I think I caught some good action shots. The new lens is really cool!

Now everything is wrapped up for the summer and all we need to concentrate on is wrapping up the house!

Go Sharks!!

Today was Lukas' first T-ball game and man-oh-man was it great! He was super enthusiastic despite the fact that it was only 36 degrees out. I had about 6 layers of clothing on him - I'm surprised he could even run. He batted like a champ and ran the bases like a pro! Lukas was so proud of his acheivement. He really loved the leadership star he won for his helmet. Those stars mean an aweful lot to him. All his best girlfriends were in attendance to cheer him on - Mia, Katie and Isabel. Our neighbor and Lukas' schoolfriend Ryan was on the opposing team. All in all it was just GREAT fun. What a rewarding experience to see my little man so grown up :)

Studio Thursday....on Friday :)

Well yesterday was our birthdays!  One more year under our belts...  36 & 37.  For those of you who don't know my hubby and I share a birthday. 

My Studio Thursday morning was spent gathering and organizing photos for a new custom scrapbook job, so not much creative went on, oh well - all part of the process.  The afternoon was spent coloring and playing....

We had a little family celebration with a cake and candles at home..nothing major.

Today is the BIG DAY though!  Lukas gets his cast off FINALLY.  I will post more later with smoe photos.  He is very excited - we all are!  More soon...

 

Busy Weekend!

Lukas the Cowboy.....

Sheriff Lukas...

Well... I have every intention of writing SOMETHING in my blog every day, but you now how life can get!  Friday started out our weekend with a Cowboy performance by Lukas at his preschool.  They were SO cute and Lukas just ate it up being a cowboy.  I was really proud of him!  At the end he said, "Mommy, I need some cowboy boots!".  Maybe on Friday when his cast comes off we can hook him up with some cowboy boots.  Later that evening, we went with our friends the Wjonas to the Halloween Hike at the Chatahoochee Nature Center.  It was really cute walking through the woods in the dark with the kids.  THey got an enornous kick out of it.  They had people dressed in woodland creature outfits along the way that talked about themselves.  Lukas kept saying "You know - that's only a costeroom"  You can't get anything by that kid!

Face Painting....

Noah's Spider...

The Wojnas...

The Bettichs....

Then Sunday night we carved the pumpkins in preparation for Halloween.  Once everything was quiet, I logged on ans took Ali's ABCs of Color online class, he is the cool LO that came from that.  Lots of fun with paint - I'm gonna work with paint more often!

All in all it was not a bad fall weekend.  Back to business today...it's a cold blusetery day.  Time to prepare for Halloween :)
 

Burt's Pumpkin Farm 2006

We had a great day today doing what has become our annual Burt's Pumpkin Farm trip. We love to go up to the North Georgia Mountains to see the leaves changing, have a fun tractor drawn hay ride and pick out some choice pumpkins to display for our trick-or-treaters. THe boys had a great time as usual. Noah got a great kick out of the talking pumpkins on the hay ride. Lukas engrossed himself in picking out some "baby" pumpkins. Great fun was had all around, even though I am fighting a nasty persistent cold. CHeck out our photos from today in the Photo Album links.