14 Wonderful Years...

So back in March, I was watching the WGN morning news (I love them because they don't take themselves seriously just like me), and Dean Richards was announcing that the Ravinia had released it's list of artists for the summer season.  I listened to him read off the names just to listen.  I had been to a concert at the Ravinia a long time ago when a co-worker and friend of mine had an extra ticket at the last minute (for free), and it was a great experience, but expensive.  Then, I heard him say, "Josh Groban".  Now, if you haven't heard Josh Groban sing, you must be living under a rock (just kidding), but you need to listen to some music, because you are missing out!  Even my kids like to listen to him.  Their favorite song right now is Brave.

My conversation with Ryan went like this, "So...I have an idea of something we can do for our anniversary (we usually just do dinner and a movie if we do anything)."  Ryan: "Oh yeah? What?"  Me: "Josh Groban is coming to the Ravinia to do a concert.  We could get tickets.  Not to sit in the pavilion, because that will cost like a bazillion dollars, but to sit on the grass and listen and have a picnic dinner."  Ryan: "That's an idea."

Later at work, I got an email from Ryan that said the tickets were reasonable for the lawn, but they didn't go on sale yet and how about asking my parents and sister and brother in law if they wanted to go.  They were all in.  The morning that the tickets went on sale, Ryan got up early to order them.  He was able to get us 6 lawn seats, and the concert sold out quick.

On August 10th, we met at my Dad's work to head to the Ravinia.  All of us had packed food to share.  We had received an email saying arrive early because they were expecting a crowd, so we did.  We were lucky and found free parking close to the Ravinia and were like 12th in line to enter the park (yep, you had to stand in line to stake out your piece of lawn).  About 15 minutes before the gates opened, my dad told me to turn around and there was a sea of people behind us.  Bill (my brother in law) was pulling this wagon that had a mind of its own, and I worried that he might get trampled.  The gates opened, and my long legged sister took off weaving through people with my mom behind her.  I gave the wagon a push to get Bill a start and followed after them.  Jaime found us a good piece of lawn, whipped off her chairs and started staking out our territory.  My mom followed suit and when I caught up to them I also helped.  Bill made it to us unharmed and we set up our camp and began our evening of gluttony. 

Hummus, meats, cheeses, fruits, veggies, strawberry shortcake, cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies = evening of gluttony

As the evening continued, people flooded the park and the sea of people really turned into a sea of people!  At one point, I looked behind us and I was like, "hey, I know that guy!"  It was my friend and co-worker who had taken me to the Ravinia for free the first time and his girlfriend (what are the odds that I would run into him there?).  He told us that one of the security guards said that there were over 13,500 people there!


This doesn't even begin to show how many people were there!



Finally, the time for Josh to come on stage came.  He is one of those performers whose voice isn't changed in the studio.  It is as amazing in person as it is on my iPod.  We did weave our way through the people to the Pavillion to "see" him before it got dark, and he was really there :-)

 

It was so cool to sit there an listen to him!  He is a big goof ball, funny and down to earth.  He ran out into the audience to give a hug to one of us "lawn people" hanging out by the Pavillion who had a sign that said: Josh, can I have a hug?  He also answered questions that we could post on facebook. I took some videos, but the only ones I'm using were taken by the people who sat under the Pavillion, because mine you can only listen to him (which I'm fine with).  He ended the night with his best known song, which if he hadn't sang, Bill would have cried, I think. 

Anyway, it was a fantastic anniversary present from my wonderful husband of 14 years.  Thank you, Ryan!

Bill and Jaime

Dad and Mom

We were tired-that's all I can say, ha ha

No More Fatties...

Back in July, my sister Jaime, and I decided that we were tired of not being "in shape".  We really wanted Ryan to be our trainer and tell us, "Don't eat that, fatty!" because we love food.  Ryan said that that was a bad idea.  So then Jaime said, let's just do it through My Fitness Pal.  I agreed, and then we got our mom in on it too.  The 3 of us have been working out and logging our food for just over 20 days now.  I haven't stepped on the scale again, because I really don't want to, but I can see a difference in my body.

Jaime has gotten me addicted to 2 workouts: Insanity and TurboFire. I also have added into the mix, Bob Harper's various DVD's, and he enjoys kicking my butt as well.  1 or 2 days a week, I also run.  Yesterday I ran.  It was a really good run.  I stretched first and then I ran.  I was faster than I was last week, so I ran just a tad further than my usual 3 miles- not much further, just a little.  I stretched when I got home, and then I iced my low back like I usually do.  After my shower, my low back had this ache in it, like the last time I hurt it.  I stretched again and iced again.  Then, we went to the campground where Ryan's parents are staying in their 5th wheel to hang out with everyone.  My low back was hurting more and more.  By the time we got to lunch and had finished, I needed help getting up from the picnic table.  I knew that was a bad sign.  Ryan drove me back home & dropped me off and I called our chiropractor who was able to get me in.

After he examined me, he determined that I had herniated a disc in my lumbar region and that I had sprained my SI joint, which was why I was having difficulty getting up to stand.  With all of this, the muscles around the disc were in spasm, so he hooked me up to a machine that stimulated my muscles for about 15 minutes.  I'm not going to say it was enjoyable, but on a scale of 0-labor pains, it was about a 5.  After that, he adjusted my sacrum and hips for about 15 minutes, and when he was done, I was able to stand without pain.  He then showed me a couple exercises to do at home until I returned the next day (today) for another adjustment.  He also told me to "ice, ice, ice", which I had expected and had some ice packs sitting in a cold bag ready for the drive home.

Today, everyone is going to Starved Rock to hike.  He told me not to go, as that would be bad on this injury.  So I get to stay home and do my cobra exercises and leaning against the wall stretches (that one makes me want to put my fist through the wall because it hurts a lot) and ice, ice, ice in between.  Sounds like fun, doesn't it?  Not really.  I'd rather be hiking at Starved Rock- Ryan and I love to go there.

Hopefully, today's adjustment will go well so that I can go out with them tomorrow and maybe be back to working out later this week or this weekend, because I'm a bit twitchy today.

Why I Do What I Do...

People have asked me why I teach, and I don't really know how to answer.  How do you explain something that you love to do?  I teach because of the kids.  I love being around my kids.  Yes, they are my kids.  Sure they belong to someone else, but during the 56 minutes that they are in my classroom, they are mine.  I get the privilege of watching them grow and learn.  Teaching them that if they just push themselves a tiny bit further than they think they can, they can accomplish more than they thought possible.

I do it for moments like this:

Nick, Ryan, myself, Kristen, & Amanda

I had all 4 of these kids at different times (kind of).  On the far right you have Amanda, she was the first one I had.  She was a cheerleader, now she's a Marine Corps Boot Camp Drill Instructor, and she just had a baby boy who is sooooo cute!  Keep Amanda in your prayers, she's a new mom, and Caleb's dad (also a Marine) is currently deployed.

This is Amanda- In case you didn't think that smiling sweet girl was really a Drill Instructor



Next to Amanda, you have Kristen.  I had the privilege of having Kristen twice- as a sophomore and as a junior.  As a Sophomore, I had Kristen in Chemistry and she had a rough start to the school year when she fell and broke her finger and I believe part of her hand and required surgery.  We were able to use her x-rays the following year when I had her again in my Honors Anatomy class.  Kristen is currently a very successful college student at NIU.

On the other side of me is Ryan.  I had Ryan only for one semester, and I didn't even get to have Ryan for the full semester, because I went into labor with Noah.  He did work hard for me while I was there and he was great for my maternity sub.

At the end is Nick, and he is the reason we are all together.  On Saturday I was invited to his graduation party.  Nick graduated from high school.  Here's the funny thing: I NEVER had Nick as a student.  Why were you at his graduation party then, you might ask?  When Nick got to high school, Kristen was also still in high school.  Kristen made sure Nick knew who I was.  Nick visited me almost every single day, especially his junior and senior years of high school, even though I was NEVER his teacher. 

Can you tell that this family is extremely special to me?  All four of them are amazing people, and you should meet their parents!  This is why I do what I do. 

The Big Sleepover...

So, Ryan and I had this idea of having Jaime's 3 kids come down and spend the night before Rori's birthday party so that Jaime and Bill could get their house ready for the big bash.  The night before, Jaime called and warned me that Liam (6) and Brendan (3) were having second thoughts and may not come, which I totally understood, because Noah is also a huge Momma's boy and homebody.

Friday morning, Jaime called me and told me the boys were a "go", so Ryan picked them all up after he finished summer hours and drove them down to our house.  The first 15 minutes was pure chaos with children running and yelling all over the house.  It was insane!  Then, we packed snacks and water and had all the kiddies put on their swimsuits and sunscreened them up, we were headed to the splashpad.

The kids played at the splashpad for over 2.5 hours.  I think the other people at the splashpad thought that all 5 kids were ours and that we may have had 2 sets of twins (Noah & Liam, Juli and Brendan).  Of course there were injuries- poor Liam tripped and fell, skinning his knees and 1 elbow.  Then he slammed his face on the slide.  Good thing I always keep a first aid kit in the van!

After that, we took a walk, and they ran around some more, playing and dancing on the stage that was there, Ryan decided, "Hey, lets do ice cream before dinner!" So, we headed to Mickey D's for ice cream cones.


Yes, I know we forgot to lower the head rest on Noah's booster after Rori sat in it
 

From there, we picked up a couple of pizzas for dinner and headed back to our house.  The kids didn't eat much- I think due to the excitement of the day and the ice cream.  The 3 big kids then played some Lego Star Wars on the Wii, and the 2 bubba's went outside to play.


Later, we sent all the big kids outside to play and Ryan filled the kiddie pool and set up the sprinkler for them.  They ran around like crazies and played for another few hours.  Of course there was another injury- poor Rori fell off the swing and hit her chin on the ground.  Then, we did sparklers and made S'mores in the fire pit.

All the kids smelled a little smokey from the fire, so we decided to give the big kids showers, and the little kids a bath- because Rori's birthday party was the next day.  Rori is self-sufficient, so we just had to turn on the water and she took care of herself.  Ryan bathed Juli and Brendan, and I was the lucky recipient of Noah and Liam's shower (holy cow, 6 year old boys are crazy!).  By then it was well after 9 PM, so Ryan and I set up 5 beds in Noah's room for the kids, while the kids watched a movie and had some snacks, and then we joined them. 

 

A sea of beds

Around 10, we called Jaime and Bill to say goodnight, brushed teeth and headed to bed.  They settled down fairly quickly (Ryan gave up around 10:15- he needs sleep, or it's not pretty), except for Noah and Rori who were coughing.  After some cough medicine, and a call to Jaime to see what else I could try for Rori's cough, I returned to Noah's room, to find Rori sound asleep and curled up next to Noah in his bed.

Noah and Liam slept until 6:30, Rori and Brendan slept until 7:30, and Juli slept until 8:30.  Ryan cooked them a delicious pancake breakfast, and then we started getting everybody packed up and ready.  Of course, Juli said to Brendan, "Come on, let's be naughty!" (That's what the 2 of them do), so we had to keep one eye on them while we were getting ready to leave.  And then we headed up to Jaime's house for Rori's birthday party.  Her party consisted of water balloons, the cup game, and lots and lots of swimming.  Everyone had a great time.

When we left their house that night, it didn't take long for our kids to conk out, and they slept until 9:45 the next morning.

It was a good time and we look forward to many more sleepovers like this one :-)

Why So Silent?

I have been silent on here, not posting much this year.  There are a few reasons- losing Finchy so soon after Chili Dawg hurt quite a bit, our family has been plagued with illness (I haven't had ear infections or sinus infections since I was a little kid and a teenager and then pink eye hit our house...), but there's a bigger reason.

Have you ever done the right thing?  I mean, you KNOW in your heart of hearts that you have done the right thing.  You've prayed about it.  Been up thinking about it because it's constantly on your heart.  You know that when you do this right thing that it may cause waves, but it's the right thing to do.

Yeah, that happened to me.  I did the right thing.  TWICE.  The first time, I watched and nothing happened, so I went one step beyond.  Nothing happened.  The people that were supposed to change the thing that was wrong didn't fix it.  There was no where left for me to go from there.  I will admit, it devastated me for a long time.  To know I did the right thing twice.  Not once, but two times, and nothing happened! NOTHING!  I was angry.  Very angry.  Ask my friends and family, it wasn't pretty.  But then, other people stepped up and said something as well.  Because they saw how angry and hurt I was, they said something.  Nothing has happened still, but more people have spoken up.

Will I still do the right thing again, knowing that this will probably happen to me again?  Of course.  That's how I was raised.  That's the example I want to set for my kids. 

Pumpkin...Horsie...

I was sure that Juliana would be the first child to go to college in diapers (sorry, Jaime, I kind of stole that from you), or at least Kindergarten.  She had no desire to be potty trained.  I have been trying to potty train her since last summer when she was 3.  That was a disaster.  Then we tried over Christmas break.  Disaster.  Spring break?  Not interested.  I won't get graphical here, but let's just say she was happy being wet and stinky.  So, the last month of preschool, Ryan and I talked up potty training big time.  We told her "potty training boot camp" started the first Monday of summer vacation.  We even came up with a lame chant that she picked up and started to say as well.

Sunday night (the night before boot camp), Juli was having "second thoughts" about boot camp, but we told her there was no going back.  Right before bedtime on Sunday, she told Ryan she wanted to sit on the potty, so he put her on the potty and she pooped.  That was a big surprise for us, and I was like, well, maybe this week won't be so bad after all if she has one of them down already.  Oh, silly me.  I spent the next several days cleaning up accident after accident.  No matter how often I put Juli on the toilet (every 15 minutes) she still managed to pee all over herself and the floor, which resulted in tears.  Wednesday, after cleaning up the 2nd accident, I said to her out of frustration, "Juli, if you pee in your Cinderella underwear, the fairy godmother is going to come and turn you into a pumpkin", and Juli said, "Oh no!"  About an hour later, she comes running into the house saying, "Mom, pee is coming! Go potty now!"  And it has been that way (most of the time) ever since. 

On Thursday, Juli was talking to Grandma on the phone and she told Grandma, "If me pee in 'rella undies, 'mother is gonna come and turn me into Punkin Horsie!"  Then, I had to explain what that meant to Grandma.  Of course, Juli has had a couple little accidents here and there, but for the most part, after 4 days I can say that my 4 year old is finally potty trained for the day time.  Now if we could just get her off her high calorie beverage we could be done with diapers/pullups at bedtime, but she would have to eat in order to do that.  I wonder if the fairy godmother has anything for that...

My Ladybug Girl Turns 4 Today...

My ladybug girl turns 4 today.  I am so proud of how far she has come since we brought her home from the hospital.  She rides the bus like a big girl, 5 days a week ("I ride bus!" "Bus driver, take me home!") to and from preschool.  She loves her teacher, Ms. Julie, and all 3 of her therapists: Ms. Ryane, Ms. Jackie, & Ms. Karen.  She loves her classmates, especially her little friend, Nina, who is her school version of her cousin "Bubba"- they get into mischief together (Ms. Julie, you are a saint!).

She sings songs.  Some of her favorites being: "If Your Happy & You Know It," any song from the show Doc McStuffins, and just like her brother, Noah, she is a TobyMac fan.  I didn't realize that Juli was as into TobyMac as Noah was, until we were driving home from some place and the music started up for one of his songs, and Juli just started singing along with him.

She loves animals.  She has recently made the realization that we have "one gog-(dog), Buster".  Before that, she would ask when Finchy was coming home from the vet ("Finchy bery sick").  When we walk to and from Noah's school, if anyone is out walking a dog, Juli insists we stop and ask if we can pet him/her.  She loves to get out Noah's doctor kit and "take care" of Buster (he is so good with her) or anyone else.  She loves to take care of her baby dolls, too.

She loves to look at books.  Especially the ones that have flaps to lift.  She also has started to sit and listen to the Ladybug Girl stories and brings those out at bedtime as well.  Her favorite movies include: The Lorax, Horton Hears a Who, and Cinderella (grandpa bought her all of them for Christmas). 

While Juli is still on the small side, she makes up for her size with her voice, her spirit, and her determination.  As Shakespeare said, "Though she be but little, she is fierce".  I have no doubt that whatever this little one decides to do, she will get it done.

Happy Birthday, my ladybug girl!