Happy Halloween 2009

I absolutely love that Halloween fell on a Saturday this year. It was wonderful being able to spend the day just hanging out as a family until it was time to get ready for trick-or-treating. I love not having to rush around. ;o)

We haven't ever lived in an area where there are a lot of trick-or-treaters so when Brett was very small, we started trick-or-treating on the street that my Mom and Mark live on in Pekin. Then for the past 2 years, we trick-or-treated near the Dea's house outside of Peterborough, England. (People in England don't really celebrate Halloween so it was nice to be able to go to their house as the people in their village would be prepared for all of the Americans and would have candy on hand to pass out.) This year, we have moved to an area where there are lots of trick-or-treaters. The kids and I headed out around 6 p.m. to one of the streets nearby and then about 7 p.m., we went back to our house so I could switch places with Mike (since he was handing out candy) and he could enjoy watching our kiddlies trick-or-treat on several other nearby streets. I loved listening to our kids say "trick-or-treat" as well as "thank you" to every house they went to. (They knew if they didn't that we were heading home.) All of the children that came to our house to get candy were also very well-mannered...love it! The kids had an absolute blast and we now have so much candy that we will probably be eating it for the next few months. ;o)

Brett dressed up as Harry Potter this year; Kendall dressed up as Supergirl; and Kameron dressed up as Batgirl. (Spray-painting Brett's hair black was a bit frightening to me as I wasn't 100% sold on the fact that it would come out with a few washings. In the end, it took about 6 good shampooings to get all of the color out. I would have washed it 100 times if needed to get it all out ... as our babies are definitely supposed to be blonde! ;o) )

Kindergarten field trip and activities

I am thoroughly enjoying my flexibility in being able to help out at the children's schools whenever they need me. I volunteer every Thursday for center time in the girls' Kindergarten class and then a couple times a month I help out in the office at both the Elementary School (where Kendall & Kameon go to school) and the Intermediate School (where Brett goes to school). On October 16, I attended the girls' class field trip to the Germantown Hills Fire Station. There are 17 children in their class and all of them were very well behaved. We rode the fire truck to the station and then were able to walk back to the school after the field trip was done. The fire chief explained to the kids what all of the things were that they use on fire/emergency calls and two of the firemen put their gear on in front of the kids which was great so the kids could see what the firemen look like and what they sound like with everything on so they don't become frightened if there is ever an emergency at their house. It turned out to be a great field trip!

The kids having story time as we wait for the fire truck to arrive.

All loaded up on the fire truck ready to head to the station.

Kendall enjoying being up on top of the fire truck.

Kameron wasn't as happy to be on top of the truck. ;o)

Class photo after the field trip (missing is the girls' teacher, Mrs. Stivers, who was taking the picture)

Mrs. Stivers took this photo of the girls in the class after they returned from the field trip. ;o)

I know I mention this very often, but Brett is really enjoying third grade and is getting wonderful grades. We are extremely pleased that this year is going so much better than the end of last year. ;o) Once a week, Brett continues to take a Tae Kwon Do class in Germantown Hills. He enjoys taking the class and is doing very well. In the picture below, he was receiving a new "tip" on his belt for accomplishing a task that Master Kurtz had set for him. ;o)

Birthday celebrations

With Brett's birthday being in the beginning of the week, we decided to have his family birthday party on Sunday, October 18, and his classmate party on Saturday, October 24. We had a great turnout and a wonderful time at both of them. Pat's (Mike's dad) birthday was on October 17, so we celebrated with him at the family party. On Brett's actual birthday, we took Brett to Carlos O'Kelly's for a birthday dinner. He was a good sport about it -- but wasn't real pleased when the servers came and put a sombrero on his head while they sang Happy Birthday to him. ;o) Brett's friend party was held at Riverplex Aquatic Centre in Peoria. There were about 13 kids in attendance with several not being able to attend because of JFL games. Needless to say, the kids had a great time and Mike and I were exhausted by the time the party was over. ;o) I am very thankful that all of the parties went well -- and I'm also very thankful that they only occur one time a year. ;o)

I made the Spiderman cake just like I made the girls' birthday cake -- but will definitely admit that the princess cake was quite a bit easier (as I'm sure you can tell by looking at Brett's cake) ;o)



He was happy after everyone was finished singing Happy Birthday to him!

Happy 9th Birthday, Brett!

I know I mention this every time I create a post about our children's birthdays...but my goodness, where in the world did the time go?!?!?! Brett turns 9 years old today -- when to me it seems like we were just bringing him home from the hospital. It amazes me that I can forget what I did yesterday but can remember every single minute leading up to the birth of our children. They all amaze us every day and bring us so much happiness. We love you so much, little buddy, and hope you have a wonderful day!

Brett blessed us on October 21, 2000 at 3:01 p.m.



We had Brett's family party this past Sunday, are planning to celebrate with dinner out this evening, and are having his classmate party this upcoming Saturday. I'll post pictures from all of these after the party on Saturday so I can get them in one blog entry. ;o)

Columbus Day Weekend Trip

Since the children had Friday off school for teacher's institute and Monday off school for Columbus Day, we decided to head out of town for the weekend. We decided to go to the Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells. With having driven past the lodge on previous trips and reviewing the website, we decided it looked like a good place to go for a weekend getaway. The lodge has a great indoor waterpark as well as a ton of different activities for children of all ages. We were very pleasantly surprised with all it had to offer!

We really didn't have much "down" time throughout the weekend which was great ... the kids played a scavenger hunt game with electronic wands throughout the weekend; they selected their own pumpkins from a small pumpkin patch and then decorated them; they enjoyed games in the lobby as well as story time before bed; they dressed up in their Halloween costumes and participated in the lodge's costume parade; and they enjoyed participating in trick-or-treating through the hotel at various stations that were set up by the hotel employees.

In addition to all of those activities, we all had an absolute blast in their indoor waterpark. The hotel has three separate rooms with various waterslides/pools in them. We found out on this trip that we have at least two daredevil children -- Brett and Kameron. Brett loved the tornado ride -- that he went on with Mike -- as it was a 6-story foot drop down a tube into a funnel as well as the competitive mat racer slide (that you ride on headfirst). That boy is all about speed and heights! So we already knew about Brett's adventurous side from this past summer at our pool as well as at different waterslides and park rides; however didn't really know about Kameron's extreme adventurous side until this weekend. Once we were able to get her on the various slides and she knew they went fast but at the end she didn't get her face too wet, she was good to go and didn't want to stop. And while Kendall isn't as adventurous as Brett and Kami, she still surprised us by walking up to the top of one of the large slides and just coming down it on her own. Kendall enjoyed most of the slides but wasn't going to force herself to go down some of the larger, faster, darker slides like everyone else was doing. (She is definitely MY daughter!) I did fairly well on riding most of the slides; however I will admit that I was "talked" into going down the mat racer slide alongside Brett. I waited until almost the last day we were there and decided that I was going to have to go down it if I wanted to stop Mike and Brett from talking about what a chicken I was. ;o) Brett was supposed to help me get down the slide by riding alongside me ... well ended up that he went flying through the tubes and was probably most of the way down the humongous slide before I even left the starting area. Speed, heights, and water are not by favorite things in the world -- but I at least went down the slide one time. I closed my eyes on the last huge drop (4-stories!) and felt like I was going to lose my lunch after I reached the bottom -- but I did it. ;o) Kameron was begging me to let her go down the slide, too, and was even measuring herself against the statue by the slide but I told her that she needed to grow just about one more inch before she could ride it. (In all honesty, we didn't think she could hold onto the mat handles as tight as she needed to in order to get down the slide without letting go.) At least that saved me another few months before we have to discuss her going down that slide by herself.

As you know, our family isn't one that can normally stay in a hotel and not venture out to see more sights; however this lodge was fabulous and we had a phenomenal time together hanging out in the hotel.
















Yes, that is Brett standing underneath the huge bucket of water being dumped from the sky.




The girls standing in the wave pool wondering when the waves are going to come and knock them down.


The kids playing MagiQuest (electronic scavenger hunt game)



After storytime, standing with Wiley Wolf. ;o)

Snuggling up to watch a movie. Love this photo as they are all getting along... ;o)

September/early October updates

It has been a busy couple of weeks with the kids. I have been volunteering at both of the kids' schools (elementary and intermediate) which I absolutely love. I help with Center times every Thursday in the girls' class and I'm helping out one to two times each month in the office area at both schools helping out with whatever the teachers need done. I've attended one of Brett's field trips to Glen Oak Zoo (unfortunately, they don't need parent helpers in 3rd grade that much) and am planning to help out on the field trip to the fire station with the girls' class in just a few weeks. In December, I will be helping plan the girls' class Christmas party and in February, I am the "coordinator" (yikes!) of Brett's class Valentine's party. I really do feel blessed that I am not currently working right now so I can help out at the schools whenever the kids need/want me to.
Brett's 3rd grade class at Germantown Hills Intermediate School

Brett enjoying the Africa exhibit

The afternoon/evening activities haven't been too busy, yet. Brett is enjoying his Tae Kwon Do class on Tuesday afternoons and the girls are enjoying their Ballet class on Wednesday nights. In a few weeks, Brett will start basketball practices and then games, and the girls will be beginning their Daisy status for Brownie/Girl Scouts. Should be nice and busy by the end of the year! ;o)






On September 24, we celebrated my Mom's birthday. It is so nice being back in the U.S. so we can celebrate in person rather than over Skype. While she had to work during the day, it was great being able to spend time with her in the afternoon and evening. Happy Birthday, Mom!


On September 25, the kids got out of school early so we attended the Metamora Homecoming Parade. Thanks, Tina, for telling us about the parade and letting us join your family. We had a blast!

Kendall, Jade, Ian, Brett, and Kameron


The pool is finally closed for the year -- yahoo!!! I had the Pool & Spa Doctor come to the house on Friday, October 2, to close it up for us. I was going to try to close the pool myself; however figured with my luck, I would do it wrong and we would have to pay big bucks in the Spring to have it fixed. So we decided it was much easier to have an expert do it for us. We enjoyed swimming in the pool the very few times we were able to this summer and are hoping that next summer is extremely HOT so we can enjoy it for several months. ;o)

I was the guest reader in Kendall & Kameron's class on October 2 and finally remembered to take my camera with me. Here they are sitting at their Kindergarten desks. ;o)



We are now getting ready for Brett's birthday parties later this month. Will post more on these later...

Here are a few pics from the past month...

Me with Tina, Jade, and Stacey


Tina, Jade, and Stacey at Jenny's house for Max & Dan's birthdays (we couldn't catch Jenny to get her in the pictures with us)