Family Night--Putt Putt Golfing

January 5:  We enjoyed a family fun night at "Fore! Family Fun".  I actually purchased this groupon while we were vacationing in the Dells.  Sadie really wanted to go putt-putt golfing and we ran out of time... Macey also wanted to do bouncy houses but after checking into that we thought it was not the best way to spend our money.  This groupon happened to pop up while we were in the Dells... Unlimited Bounce time for 3, putt-putt golfing for 4, and a large pizza for $29. I bought it and told the girls we would get to do their activities at a later date...

 

We played in the bouncy houses for about an hour... There were 3 different bouncies and we were the only people using them--it was FUN!

 

 This was our first family putt-putt outing.  It went... ok.  Sadie decided to throw a HUGE fit (she does that from time to time...)  Luckily, it was dark and very uncrowded.  We survived.  Kinnick and Macey did rather well and golfed all 24 holes.

 After golfing, we enjoyed some more bouncy time while our pizza cooked.  We had dinner and ended the night with some air hockey in the arcade. 

 This was a first for the kids... and they loved it!

I love doing groupon--we enjoyed our date night and only spent (an additional) $10 for drinks/tip/arcade tokens.  Marc jokes that I'm addicted... he may be a little right. 

Oak Lawn Children's Museum

All right folks... get ready for lots of updates because I am going to get this blog updated (as quickly as possible!)  I'm excited to spend more time with it after my husband purchased us a new computer (that is SOOOO much faster) and a comfy new desk chair.

January 2:  During Sadie's last week of winter break we decided to do something fun.  Marc went back to work on this day so the kids and I decided to check out a local children's museum with our museum pass...

Fishing in the Water Table

Sand Table

Grocery Shopping--this checkout really "Beeped" when you swiped the food!

Dress Up!

Painting

Art Center--Always S's favorite!

 

Ambulance

Veterinarian Center

                                      

Sadie loved this listening tribute to 9/11--it had some actual pieces of building remains... She asked lots of questions!

 

We walked to dunkin' donuts for a treat to enjoy on the way home!

 The kids loved this museum!  Their favorite exhibit was probably the veterinarian clinic with life size animals & crates.  I loved the open layout--it was easy to see all the kids even when they were in different areas.  This museum also had a HUGE collection of dress up costumes and big theater area for kids to perform. 

We got to go back to this same museum on January 25th with our MOPS group.  Despite the yucky weather, 6 moms showed up--we had as much fun as the kiddos!

Work Shop

 

New Year... Resolutions?

Ok... maybe not so much.  I know I'm not allowed to write about New Year's Resolutions in MARCH (after all our year is almost a quarter over!)  However, I do have some reflections, and a few goals for 2013. 

I can't believe we've spent a WHOLE YEAR in our new house!!  It was a whirlwind--lots of changes, lots of firsts, lots of new!  We are loving our new church, our new friends, and our new community.  We miss our friends from Streator but I do feel that we've all adjusted nicely.  Sadie sometimes asks about her old friends but Kinnick and Macey don't know any different (Macey does talk about Wrigley regularly!)  We've made so many great new friends and become in lots of great activities.  If I can spend time and energy focusing on one BIG thing this year it would be to ENJOY every day for what it is and to give myself (and my family) permission to let go of perfection (this year's Hearts at Home Theme... more on that later).  I tend to expect perfection in every area of my life and frankly--it's never going to be possible.  I want to embrace the path God has for me--including all that He is teaching me. 

Some goals for this year:

• 1 date per month for Marc & I (at least!)
• Focus on keeping a better morning and nighttime routine
• Continue to have Bible time with our children on a regular basis
• Memorize Scripture as a Family
• Read at least 6 parenting books and 1 marriage book
• Work on speaking to my family in a soft, peaceful voice ALL the time
• Do a better job updating this blog!
• Create a more structured routine for household tasks (realistic & attainable)
• Get our kids involved in household routines (chores) & hold them accountable
• Establish a system for holding "family meetings" when needed
• Be intentional about dating our children (both Marc and I) and having regular family fun days
• Work on balancing my outside commitments (saying No when I need to)
• Read more books to my kids
• Be more intentional about doing learning activities with my kids (Sadie--during summer, Macey & Kinnick--during school year)

I am giving myself permission--right now--to not accomplish every goal on this list.  I know I will be more fully devoted to some than others.  These are the things that have been filling my mind recently--I wanted to write them down so I can check in with myself as our year progresses.  I know this will be a BIG year with even more change (can anyone say Baby #4?) but I'm ready to face it and do my best to make the most of each day. 

Happy New Year's

The Gorsch family had a very low-key New Year's this year... family night at the movies!  We took the kids to see "Rise of the Guardians" in the theater.  They had fun getting popcorn, candy, and soda.  After that it was home for baths and bed (before 9 pm!)  Marc and I may or may not have mad it until midnight this year... We had a very fun January 1st--starting with a big family breakfast complete with our "sparkling grape juice" toast that we did not have the night before!

Kid Quotes '12

As I am getting breakfast for the kids one morning...
Sadie:  Mom, let's pretend we're at a restaurant and you're the waitress
(Hmm... isn't that how it usually works?)

During the Summer '12 Olympics...
Me:  If you guys were in the Olympics, what events would you do?
Sadie:  Gymnastics and Swimming!
Kinnick:  Umm... I would be a Muppet in the Olympics

After we put the kids to bed one night...
Sadie (yelling):  Mom, I need to go potty!
Macey:  Mom, I need to go to potty too!
Me:  Sadie--go quickly and get back in bed.  Macey--lay down, you have a diaper on.
Macey:  Oh, I'm not potty trained yet?

Sadie:  Can we get another dog?
Me:  No, I don't think our family could handle that right now.
Sadie:  Are you serious?  A 2 year old, a 3 year old, 2-30 year olds, and an almost 6 year old can't handle a dog?  Seriously?
(Yes--seriously!)

Me:  Sadie, I'm not sure that outfit matches.
Sadie:  This outfit really does match--it's a mystery.  You just have to figure it out.

Kinnick fell and scrapped his knee--as he was crying we had this conversation:
Me:  Are you gonna make it buddy?
K:  No, I'm not gonna make it!
Me:  We could cut your leg off.
Kinnick (shocked):  No, Mom--that would hurt way badder!

Macey:  I'm so pointed Mommy... (disappointed)

Sadie wants to buy something, I tell her she doesn't have enough money for it...
Sadie:  Well, I would have enough money in my bank account to pay for it if you didn't make me save all my money for college!
Marc and I having a (private) conversation in the car about having another baby...
Sadie (eavesdropping):  Do you guys really want another baby?  Are you sure you can handle it?  You can hardly handle the kids you already have.

Kinnick was having a bath and found some strings from a washcloth in the tub.  He showed them to me and told me they were spider webs.  As I was drying him off after his bath, he said (very seriously):  "I'm not sure what's wrong with me mom... I think I'm turning into spiderman."

Macey:  I'm not afraid of anything.
Marc;  Macey, you are too afraid of things.  You're afraid of monsters.
Macey:  No I'm not.
Marc:  You're afraid of bad guys.
Macey:  No I'm not.
Marc:  You're afraid of aliens.
Macey:  No I'm not.
Marc:  You're afraid of Santa Clause.
Macey:  (Looking very sad) Yes, I am afraid of Santa.

A Few More Books from 2012

Haven't posted any book reviews for awhile...  these are some of my favorite inspirational/educational reads from 2012:

 This was probably my favorite book that I read in 2012!  I would love to be able to see Mary Beth Chapman speak... her writing was raw, honest, heartfelt, and inspiring.  Grab a box of tissues and curl up with a big cup of coffee for this one!

Kisses from Katie also tops my list of amazing stories!  I am so inspired by this young woman.  She is such an awesome example of what God can do if you REALLY trust Him with your life, if you are obedient to His word, and if you are brave enough to pursue the dreams He gives you.  This book will change your perspective!

I enjoyed participating in an on-line book study led by Jill Savage.  It was really fun to get some personal insights from her and to relate to almost 200 other moms from all over the world reading it at the same time.  This book puts a new spin on the life of Jesus as it relates his struggles to those that moms experience on a daily basis.  I love that she encourages you to read through a large amount of new testament scripture as you work through this book.

Another practical, inspiring read by Jill Savage... I enjoyed reading this book with my moms playgroup.  It was fun to work through the different ideas with some other moms.  It really helped me to change some of my attitudes about money.

Another awesome book by Angie Smith!  I loved reading I Will Carry You so I was excited to check out this book as well.  This book was much more "lesson" based then her first book (narrative) but she still includes many, many personal examples from her life.  She really ministers to women from her own struggles.

It took me several months to work thru this book, but it was a good read.  I enjoyed going through it with my sister-in-law.  The chapters are short and each chapter brings a practical take-away.  I loved some of her ideas... praying through your child's room and praying with other parents for all of your children.  This is a book I'm sure I will go back to.

Date Nights

 

At the beginning of last year, a couple of my friends talked about a challenge to do a date night each month.  I loved that idea.  Date night every week is too hard right now (and expensive...) but each month is very doable!  I kept a list of our date nights for 2012 and it was fun to look back and see what all we did.  We were able to manage at least one date each month (and we are off to a great start for 2013!)  I don't have pictures for them all... but here is what 2012 looked like for us:

 

 

• January:  We had a "New Year's Date"... we closed on our house 2 weeks before Christmas and had lots of fun painting with friends.  My parents took the kids for a few days over New Year's.  Our New Year's was nothing fancy but we had a lot of fun.  We spent the afternoon painting and cleaning.  We went to Ikea that evening for dinner and house shopping.  After our shopping trip we watched the movie "New Year's" then came home to finish the night with more painting and dessert.  We loved being able to "camp out" in our new house (no furniture yet--we slept on an air mattress!)
• February:  Our first date night in February was Valentine's.  Our small group did an adults only dinner--we had taco night!  We also had a surprise shower for one of the couples in our group.
• February:  We got to attend the YMCA gala with our friends Joel & Erica...

•  March:  Marc took a half day the Friday of Hearts at Home.  We had lunch together at Chili's and enjoyed some shopping time before I left.
• April:  We took advantage of Marc's sister visiting and went to see the Hunger Games... I had been waiting weeks to see it and Marc was sweet enough to go with me (he loved it!)  After the movie we went to Applebees for 1/2-price appetizers.
• May:  We got to go the Morning Star Mission Gala (one perk of Marc's job is free tickets to things like this--we just have to get a babysitter.  Last year the gala was the day before Mother's Day, also the same day we decided to do "Ride the Rock" with our kids... we were exhausted!

•  June:  We used a gift certificate to go out to eat at a Steakhouse.  Marc also took me to Old Navy to do some summer clothes shopping.
• July:  We had an amazing Anniversary "Date" Weekend!  My parents took the kids for 4 days for us.  We went to a movie one night (this night was great because we split a burrito at Chipotle, went to the dollar theater and used a coupon for popcorn/soda... so with no babysitting cost our date night was less than $15!)  The next night we went to eat at Panera and walk around the mall--with NO KIDS!  We also rented a movie.

• July:  For our "BIG" anniversary date we drove up to Michigan and spent the day exploring.  We loved driving through Harbor County and looking at the beach houses and fun places to stay.  We parked and walked down to the beach--it was gorgeous!  We stopped at a Farmer's Market and some antique shops.  We had a late lunch at a local place.  We walked downtown New Buffalo and stopped at lots of "touristy" shops.  We bought some popcorn.  We stopped at an outlet mall on the way home.  We had all the fixins' to make ourselves a yummy dinner (with fresh corn and veggies from the farmer's market) but we had to save it for another day because we were too tired!  

• August:  Marc and I had a lunch date on Marc's birthday.  His birthday was on a Friday this year and my friend Michelle and I traded babysitting on Fridays so it was fun to have lunch with no kids!
• August:  We volunteered at Royal Family Kids Camp for their "birthday party day".  Our small group decided to do this as a group project.  We drove to camp and helped behind the scenes to set up a HUGE birthday party for 50 foster kids.  We wrapped presents, decorated, helped pass things out, made sno-cones (my favorite part!) and popcorn, and cleaned up.  It was nice to have a day with no kids--we enjoyed some Starbucks in the morning and were able to stop at our favorite sandwich place (Obee's) in Ottawa on our way to get the kids from Ms. Jennifer's.
• September:  We had our annual "Homecoming" weekend at WIU.  My mom met us Friday night in Macomb to take the kids.  We spent the night at Lindsey's parents' farm.  On Saturday we enjoyed our ritual--breakfast & coffee, parade, lunch at Rocky's, shopping at Gumbarts & the Bookstore, game-guys & coffee shop-girls, and dinner at Aurelios.  It's always a perfect weekend! 

• September:  Our small group had a fish fry.  Our friend Joel goes fishing each summer in Canada and was generous enough to share with us (and cook for us!) fresh caught fish.  It was so yummy!  We had a blast laughing, talking, hanging out--as always.
•  October:  I purchased a Groupon for a local pumpkin farm.  While Marc's sister was with us for a weekend, Marc and I snuck out to go through a haunted maze (really fun and cheesy!) and a moonlight hayrack ride.  We of course had to have some coffee when we were done.

•  October:  Some friends of ours planned a murder mystery dinner.  We were a bit stressed choosing our "60's" themed outfits, but we had such a blast.  Biggest surprise of the evening... I was the murder!

•  November:  More dressing up!  Our church's annual gala was "80's" themed this year.  We had so much fun!  We went out for drinks afterwards with lots of our friends.  Another fun part of the evening--getting to announce that we were expecting!

 

• December:  We were so lucky this year to have 2 weekend get-aways with our amazing WIU friends!  We cooked up this plan during our Homecoming weekend.  We had an AMAZING Chicago weekend... shopping, lunch at Reza's, Christmas lights on Michigan Ave, downtown hotel, limo to dinner, dinner at Table 54, drinks at the hotel, and breakfast at Orange.  LOVED every second (except the Sunday morning part where Marc got sick.) 

• December:  For the last 2 years now Ms. Jennifer has kept the kids for an overnight in December so we could Christmas shop.  We are beyond grateful for this blessing!  This year we took the day to help with Ms. Pearl's toyshop--we delivered a HUGE amount of toys that our church family collected for her.  We helped set up and work at the toyshop--Marc was the cashier and I wrapped presents.  Afterwards we had lunch at Panda Express and finished up our Christmas shopping.  We ended the night with our small group White Elephant Party--always a complete blast!  

• December:  We got to sneak in one more "date" the last week of December.  We found out right before New Year's that our friends' (Joel & Erica) son Evan was diagnosed with Leukemia.  We were absolutely shocked.  You hear stories, but having it hit so close to home was a game changer.  We weren't sure how we could best love them but we knew we wanted to be there. He was taken to the hospital late on Friday and diagnosed Saturday morning.  We were planning to have our friend Sarah & Eli over for lunch Sunday after church...  they agreed to hang out with our kids so we could make a trip to Hope Children's Hospital to visit Joel and Erica.  We weren't sure if we would be able to see them but we just wanted to hug them and pray with them if we could.  They didn't know we were coming... we stopped on the way to make a goodie bag for Evan and pick up some treats for Joel and Erica too (I LOVE doing stuff like that!)  We also got Subway to eat in the car.  We had an amazing time.  It was a quiet afternoon for them and we were able to visit for over 2 hours (mostly just listening) and even see Evan.  This obviously wasn't our ideal "date" but I love being able to serve with my husband.  I love being the body of Christ together as we live out our lives...

WOW is all I can say after writing this post...  I feel SO blessed!  We're blessed by friends and family who love our kids enough to spoil them while we can get some one-on-one time, we're blessed with amazing friends (both new and old) who love to hang out and have fun together, we're blessed with opportunities to serve others TOGETHER, and most of all we're blessed with an AMAZING marriage.