Shedd Aquarium - October 8th

Ever since establishments started opening up after the pandemic lock-down, Lillian has been begging to take a trip to the Shedd Aquarium in downtown Chicago.  We finally made this little girl's wish come true on a day off from school on October 8th.  That morning she danced out of bed and already had her outfit picked out, what hairstyle she wanted, and even knew what rings she was going to wear!

Lillian was also determined to get a picture with a Beluga whale because her preschool teacher mentioned that was her favorite animal.

 

Hylie giving some serious fish quite the stare-down--they were some pretty fierce competition!

It was a gorgeous fall day and we loved eating our lunch on a balcony of the aquarium.

Thankful for all we can learn and experience near our home

Summer 2021

On Memorial Day we finally got a grill and enjoyed trying out new recipes all summer long!

 The Summer of 2021 proved to be a HOT one, so we were grateful for a local pool --for a local OPEN pool!  It was nice to have COVID numbers drop enough to get out more, have Primary classes again, and feel a little more normal...before the Delta variant came in and reminded us that life is unpredictable and fragile.

We got to visit a local zoo that featured animals native to Illinois...plus a giant turtle statue!

Not going to lie, we had some growing pains with this little dude.  He showed us a pretty stubborn side--if he didn't want to do something, he wouldn't.  He sat here in the hot, hot sun for an hour at the pool while his sisters played in the water simply because he wasn't the one who decided to go to the pool.  Eventually I wrestled him into his swimsuit and after he screamed for a bit, he was happy as a clam in the cool water. 

Our local Library had classes and events that we loved participating in.  Here's Lillian dunking the Youth Services Director, Will Savage.

Hylie's Activity Day Leader at Church, Amy Anderson, hosted a Day Camp for these girls--complete with crafts, a scavenger hunt, and s'mores!

Geoff's 45th Birthday

On September 13th, we got to celebrate the man of the house!  The girls let him know that if he picked a fruit salad for his treat again, they were ready to boycott!  Geoff did not disappoint anyone when he picked Snickers Fudge to ring in his 45th trip around the sun.

 

Geoff certainly knows how to love, laugh, and roll with the punches.  He's a fantastic husband and father and we are so thankful to call him ours.

Kyron's Perfect Day - September 11th

 On September 11th, we got to let Kyron call the shots for the day.  His day was full of outside playtime, mac and cheese, and chocolate milk!

Summer Flowers

For the longest time I was convinced I had no ability to keep a plant alive unless it was made out of plastic.  When I was living in my townhome in Colorado, my visiting teacher was so kind and brought me a beautiful potted plant AND a watering can to bring some color and warmth to my porch.  In less than a week it was dried out and dead and I was so embarrassed that it was long gone by the time she visited again.  While we lived in Morton Grove, I made attempts to grow many different types of flowers and bushes with minimal success.  Determined to overcome this terrible weakness, I continued to do research on gardening and I think I may have finally turned a corner!

 

Our landscaping is most certainly still a work in progress, but the good news is I'm making progress and absolutely loving the successes!

The kids, birds, and squirrels especially loved these vibrant sunflowers.

These two-toned dahlias made my heart so happy this summer...now if only I can figure out how to successfully store their tubers over the winter...

First Day of School - August 18th

The day after Hylie's birthday, these two girls packed up their backpacks and headed to school!

Hylie has Mrs. O'Shea for fourth grade and Eliana has Mrs. Pupillo in first grade.  The schools require masks to be worn unless you're eating and they continue to practice social distancing.  We are grateful for the steps being taken towards a more normal setting and hope that we can continue to move in that direction.  It's been a smooth start to the year for our family, but I admit, I'm holding my breath for when we'll have to deal with quarantining or other protocol!

Lillian started Preschool on September 8th.  I was super nervous about how she was going to handle this new setting.  When Primary at church started separating into classes, she had a pretty big meltdown, but thankfully her sweet teacher helped her feel safe and welcomed.  On September 2nd they had a meet-your-teacher day where parents and students got to go into the Preschool Classroom.  Once Lillian saw the shelves and shelves of toys and books, she was sold on this whole Preschool deal.  At the end of the event, I asked Lillian if she would like to come with me to thank her teacher and Lillian turned to me and said, "I want to go thank her by myself."  Oh, how my heart swelled with joy!  It was beautiful to watch this shy little girl go up all by herself to talk to her teacher.  When I dropped her off for her first day, she was bubbly and excited, didn't look back as I drove away, and greeted me with a huge smile when I picked her up!

Her teacher, Mrs. Staib, was super kind and took pictures of their first day adventures.

Lillian reported to me on the first day that she was the tallest kid in her class...I hope she gets used to this being the case!

This kiddo could color all day...and anytime there is a free-choice time at preschool, you will find this little thing coloring away.  She has easily colored over 100 pages in the first 2 months of preschool.  When I got her progress report, it showed she didn't interact much with her classmates, so I decided to talk to her about trying other activities besides coloring.  Lillian was SUPER hesitant to agree to this request, but the next time she attended preschool, she was proud to report to me that she didn't color the whole time, but that she also dabbed with dot markers, ha!  I felt bad that I couldn't hold back my laughter when she reported this to me...but the next time at preschool she did pick a different activity and has pretty much been putting coloring on the back-burner since.  I'm so proud of how brave Lillian has been in trying new things and pushing herself out of her comfort zone!