During the Last Three Weeks..

During our last three weeks in Streator, we've been busy...

*Took a trip to North Avenue Beach in Chicago with the Shinkey's.

*Went to the pool in Ottawa with Mikenna--Sadie went off the high dive!

*Volunteered one last time in the toddler at church.

*Played outside ALOT!

*Looked at Lots of houses (on-line & in person).

*Packed boxes.

*Cancelled our cable (been without for 3 weeks now).

*Sadie had Mikenna for a sleepover--they ended up in bed with me at 6am. *Went swimming at Aubrey & Alayna's house.

*Ate at the golf course (where Liz waitresses on Tues nights).

*Went to a party for a play group we've been a part of.

*Had Alayna over to play.

*Marc had 6 softball games--we went to three of them.

*Went to a garage sale.

*Closed a bank account.

*Went to the grocery store three times.

*Stressed out over moving.

*Had a playdate at Emma & Eddie's house (and swam in their pool).

*Sadie went to the beach with some friends.

*Packed more boxes.

*Went to Zumba 5 times.

*Had date night--Miss. Alyssa babysat before she left for college! *Did LOTS and LOTS of laundry!

*Went to four birthday parties!! (1-2-2-6)

*Sadie slept over at Mikenna's house.

*Took Wrigley to get groomed.

*Packed some more boxes!

*Had two visits to Grandma Shirley & Grandpa Joe's.

*Went for many walks.

*Got ice cream at Time-Out (twice!)

*Sadie & I got our hair trimmed.

*Kids had two playdates with Lauren (while I packed!!)

*Went to our last playgroup. It was at the Dance Center.

*Had a garage Sale (and sold several big pieces of furniture!)
*Went to Burger King Playland.
*Went swimming at Ms. Jennifer's three times.
*Decorated & delivered cookies.
*Had dinner with friends.
*Put in an offer on a house (it's a short sale, still waiting to hear from bank.)
*Played at our favorite park.
*Cried about leaving friends.
*Went to the library two times.
*Marc (and friends) worked on a plumbing repair.
*Finished filling up "Box #1" (with lots of our stuff.)
*Went to a going away party for friends.
*Hosted a HUGE cookout as our going away party.
*Had a playdate with Simon & Landon.
*Mowed our yard for the final time.
*Enjoyed a visit from an old teaching partner.
*Cleaned my house and made treats to host a party.
*Hosted a Mary Kay party (and got LOTS of free makeup!)
*Took a shopping trip with all three kids to Target/Mall.
*Celebrated Marc's birthday.
*Read The Help (and going to see the movie tonight!)
*Decorated a Hawkeye Cake.
*Cried some more about leaving...

Feels Like Home

I can't believe in 4 days this house will officially NOT be ours anymore... We have loved living in this house... so many great memories, so many "firsts".

Love playing t-ball in the yard, Love watching the kids play in the driveway, Love running in the sprinkler, Love picnics outside, Love seeing our Christmas lights each December, Love watching for the trash truck on Wednesdays (my kids are obsessed), Love our big garage...

Love planting flowers each spring, Love watching the kids walk by on "back-to-school day, Love grilling out, Love cook-outs with friends, Love playing bags in the driveway, Love carrying three new-born babies through this door for the first time...

Love our make-shift "coat closet", Love seeing little people sit down and pull shoes off, Love welcoming friends into our home, Love coming into a warm house in the winter and a cool house in the summer...

Love my cozy little kitchen, Love baking with my kids, Love entertaining with my husband, Love decorating cakes, Love "yummy" smells, Love art-work decorating the fridge...

Love trying new recipes, Love having a dishwasher (we didn't for the first year!), Love listening to music while I cook, Love putting away groceries, Love it when Wrigley lays on the red rug right in front of the vent (summer or winter!), Loved making lots of baby food...

Love family dinners around the table, Love filling our house with family & friends, Love watching Macey walk under the table without ducking (she's the perfect height), Love doing art projects and playing games, Loved feeding babies in a hair chair...

Love my red china hutch (painted it myself when we moved into this house--it used to be white), Love my collage wall (notice the empty spot, one broke during a game of nerf basketball), Love hosting Thanksgiving dinners, Love the wood floors throughout the house...

Love family movie nights, Love building duplo creations, Love rocking with babies snuggled on my chest, Love playing the wii with Marc & the kids, Love watching three chubby babies take first steps, Love seeing Wrigley sitting in his spot looking out the window (like in this picture!)...

Love our hidden toy corner, Love sitting and playing with my children, Love when the kids have friends over and they get out every toy we own, Love the big picture windows on the front of our house...

Love having guests come stay with us, Love the quilt my Grandma made for a wedding gift, Love the trunk that came to the United States with Marc's great-great grandpa and the bedroom set from his grandparents, Love storing my wrapping paper & scrap booking stuff under the bed...

Loved having an "office" for the first 3 years of living here, Loved decorating a little girl room for Sadie, Love listing to her sing and play for hours during nap & bed time, Loved letting Sadie have her first sleepovers, Loved moving Sadie to a big girl bed, Love the way Sadie spies on our neighbor Jenny...

Love giving LOTS of baths to our kids, Love my palm tree pictures & green walls, Love when our whole family is in this tiny bathroom (3 kids in the tub and Marc & I sitting on the floor talking)...

Love getting ready for date nights, Love the quiet of the morning before the kids are awake, Love tooth brushing time every night, Loved all the times of being sick and knowing that there was a baby growing in my belly (well--at least I can appreciate them now!)...

Love my "devotion" chair, Love when one of the kids climbs into my lap to read the bible with me, Love my quiet morning times, Love snuggling with the kids and reading books, Love my vintage raggedy ann doll...

Love our "home office/library" area, Love listening to the kids play Starfall or listen to songs on the computer, Love watching the kids yell at people out the windows, Love the natural light in the middle of the afternoon, Love Saturday morning dance parties and Sunday morning worship music...

Love our "getaway", Love playing cards in bed, Love bringing new babies home, Love night time snuggles & morning smiles with my new babies, Love our walk-in closet, Love reading in bed, Love Saturday morning snuggles with one or more kids in our bed, Love thunderstorms when Sadie shows up in our room, Love Christmas morning with everyone on our bed to read the Bible...

Love our little nursery--started girlie-turned all boy, Love getting grinning bouncing kids up from nap time, Love seeing a "trashed" room after nap time (even though I have to clean it all up!), Love hours spent reading and doing puzzles, Love snuggling with my little boy in that tiny bed...

LOVE OUR LIFE!!! So blessed.. sad to leave this home but excited to make a new home.

My BIG Boy

I'm always calling Kinnick "my little boy" to which he ALWAYS responds "I'm not yittle, I'm BIG!" He does so with a little grouchy face! To me he's still my "little boy" and will be for some time. I love that he always wants mommy to put him to bed and that he likes me to snuggle and sing songs with him. One thing we've been working on for awhile now is getting himself dressed. Sadie wanted to do this on her own so it happened pretty easy. Kinnick hasn't shown much interest. You can imagine my surprise to come in first thing in the morning and find him fully dressed and putting on shoes!

He picked out his outfit on his own from his dresser. He took off his dry pull-up and threw it in the closet (???). He put on clean underwear. He put his pajamas in his dirty clothes basket. What a little man!! (No need to point out that he had his shirt and shorts on backwards!) After I finished praising him he looked at me and said "I wanted to wear my basketball shirt, but then I just put on this plain brown one instead." I smiled and showed him that the basketball was on the back. I helped him turn it around so he could see it. He laughed with me and said "Silly Kinnick!" I just love this BIG boy so much!

Beach Day

After we went to the beach last year, I knew I wanted to go back... and I'm so glad we did--this year was much easier! We invited our friends the Shinkeys and made a day of it. The kids had a blast!

Checking the weather ahead of time we knew that there was a 30% chance of rain. As we made it into the down town area it was raining and very dark looking. We decided to take our chances and by the time we made it out onto the beach the sky had cleared and we were able to enjoy a sunny (but not so hot) day. The water was cold but the kids didn't mind--they spent a lot of time swimming and playing in the sand.

The kids were happy digging in the sand with all the sand toys we brought.

They also liked playing at the water edge--Megan & Sadie made a water hole.

Clayton & Macey had a blast. Clayton (not quite one yet) got braver and braver as the day went on!

Kinnick and Carson had a blast digging and building!

Macey was so much fun to watch--she loved putting her hands and head into the water...

She loved digging in the sand...

and of course loved eating snacks!

Kinnick loved building... he loved filling his bucket and dumping it. He also loved rolling in the sand.

Sadie loved swimming. She put her goggles on and swam around a lot in the water. She is becoming such a confident swimmer!

She also had fun writing her name in the sand!

Marc and I helped Kinnick build a sand castle. He LOVED it! Marc helped him make a moat with a drawbridge. The water ran into the lake.

The kids buried Ryan--he was a good sport!

We packed a lunch and lots of snacks and ate our picnic on the beach.

After lunch we got to lounge for awhile while the kids played in the sand... loved every minute of it!

Of course the hardest part was getting everyone changed and all of our stuff to the car, but it wasn't too bad. Even though we had a car full of sand, I'm pretty sure we will make this a yearly event--especially now that we will be even closer!!

VERY tired kids--all three were asleep within minutes of leaving. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner and enjoyed some time in the rocking chairs afterward... it was a perfect day as summer nears its end!

Grandpa & Grandma's House