Catching Up!

I can't believe it's almost October already! Realized I hadn't posted anything all summer...

We had a nice quiet summer, nothing really happened. Rhianna got caught up with all of her specialist appointments since we finally had health insurance and was deemed healthy and growing like a weed. All systems are a go for her Urology adventures this Fall. Isabela spent most of the summer reading - imagine that! And Nick moved back in after graduating from college. Andrew is still training with the Army and having a great time.

School started mid-August with Isabela in 8th grade and Rhianna in 6th. They are both at the same school this year and that seems to be a blessing for my schedule (one drop off and one pick up) but the girls can't decide. Isabela is definitely "Mother Henning" Rhianna. As a matter of fact I can hear the daily fight from upstairs right now. It's usually something about Rhianna needing help/assistance with something small and Isabela over helping. Well, at least she's trying to help...

Both girls seem to like their teachers and classmates this year. Rhianna has had some huge adjustments entering middle school; changing classes, gym everyday, lockers, etc. We are in our 5th week of school and I think she's finally getting the hang of it. The school is making adjustments too; understanding her Latex and Nut allergies, her need for more time to do almost everything, transportation issues, her lack of organization skills and having to go to the nurse twice a day for cathing. My compliments to this school, the staff and administration! They have made the transition from elementary school to middle school very easy and are willing to go that extra mile! Wayne and I are very happy with their efforts and willingness so far.

Progress reports came out yesterday and both girls are doing very well. It's a little frustrating to watch Isabela pick a class and not like it or the teacher. She has all A's except for her Literature class and that's a D-. If you know Isabela at all you understand the frustration...

Nick is still job hunting and working on his portfolio when not bugging me. You can tell he's bored without his sisters home to pick on. The consequences are that I have gotten some furniture rearranged, walls painted and the grass mowed on a regular basis. Not such a bad deal when I look at it that way. I feel bad for him and this year's college grads. Not an easy task to find a job right now. Nick is open to working almost anywhere just to have an income. So if anybody hears of anything available in Northern Illinois or Southern Wisconsin let us know!

We haven't had the chance to hear from Andrew recently. I know he's busy with all kinds of training and learning. Last I heard he was at Fort Riley again but that seems to change at a moments notice. The last time we spoke he was getting his transportation licenses (you should see some of the trucks and rigs he can operate) and finishing training for heading overseas. I wish he wouldn't go oversees but I know that's the Momma in me and that he is thriving and successful in the Army.

Wayne and I have just floated along with the kids for the last few months. I've been working on redecorating a lot of the house and rearranging rooms of furniture. I know the trash men hate me as I have been purging tons lately. We now have our pond in the back yard finished and I will be making some landscaping changes in the Spring. It has been very nice sitting on the patio and hearing the water trickle and watching the wildlife. We discovered that Sara (4yo golden retriever mix) loves fishing and more so catching frogs. I don't appreciate it but her hunting seems to captivate her for hours. We also have finally set up our 125 gallon tank in the living room and it seems to be flourishing with 9 Cichlids we received from a fellow Freecycler. It's been nice to have some of these projects completed and enjoy having a home to just "be" in and not chaos from a project everywhere.

Well, as Fall has started we have added soccer games, band and choir concerts and more to the schedule. These tough economic times have had our lives changed and molded back into a more simpler style, something that I think was needed regardless of our financial status. We have new goals for the next few months and next year that are leading us in a very different direction. A family that is growing and changing with that growth. A hard thing to do. Next post I will add pictures and be less wordy, I promise. Hope you are enjoying your Fall and the changing of the seasons! Take care!

Dreams For Kids Extreme Recess

Hi I'm Rhianna the youngest of the Princes. I wanted to share with you a special day I had last week. I got to go to an extreme water recess put on by the Dreams for Kids organization.

I got to waterski






and ride on a jetski




Here's me getting some hair extensions

riding around Bang's Lake on a pantoon boat


riding in a kayak

eating cotton candy

more jetski riding


more hair extensions

and really good snow cones!

I had a lot of fun and hope to go to the next one. See the rest of the pictures from the day at http://picasaweb.google.com/PrincesRealm/ExtremeWaterRecess#

4th of July

Well folks believe it or not I didn't take any pictures of the fireworks the holiday weekend. Forgot the camera as we headed to the beach and didn't turn around for it - the whole two blocks away from the house that we were. :) A huge step for me!

We did have a visitor for the weekend. Wayne's friend , Mark, came to visit from good ole KC. He came in on Thursday and stayed till Sunday. Mark and Wayne headed into Chicago on Friday to walk around the Field Museum and tour the Taste of Chicago. Both Wayne and Mark were very disappointed with The Taste. I tried to warn them that it was a typical festival of overpriced food and lots of cranky people but noooooo they wanted to experience it. And thus they did and won't again. They can now honestly say they've done it. One thing scratched off the bucket list...

Wayne and Mark checking out the house next door to Frank Lloyd Wright's home.

Later Friday evening after grilling some hamburgers we headed to the beach for the fireworks. Wauconda's display was really great this year. We expected a lot less due to the economic times but got a whole lot more. Thanks Wauconda Parks Dept for the great show! I'm telling you it's a really nice set up to have a private beach as part of your homes association and be able to celebrate the 4th of July in a quiet style with a picnic, beer and fireworks. If you want to join us next year just give us a holler!

On Saturday we took a Sunday drive around the "suburbs" of Chicago. We toured some lovely older homes by Lake Michigan in the Lake Forest, Highland Park and Winnetka areas. We then headed to Oak Park to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright homes. I love this neighborhood! I love Frank Lloyd Wright! So of course, even in the rain, I stopped and took some pictures. Here are some of my favorites...

The side of the house. You can see the two human figure statues above the Stork columns.

One of two statues at the side of the house


The storks

Stork columns

Wayne and Mark walking to the front of the house

The front of the home

You can see the rest of the set here -http://picasaweb.google.com/PrincesRealm/FrankLloydWrightHouse#

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July - a safe one too. We enjoyed the company, food and comfortable weather. Mark couldn't get over how chilly it was. He didn't miss the hot KC weather. We don't either! Still can't believe we are knee deep into July and the average temps this summer have been in the mid-70's. Can't beat that! Enjoy your summer wherever you may be and how ever much of it you have left. School starts in 39 days and counting...

Graduation Celebration

(Nick's character Monty)

A rite of passage occurred in our family this week - Nicholas graduated from college Thursday night. We are so proud of him!

Nick had his portfolio show during the day where employers came to visit the graduating class and see their talents. The graduation ceremony followed later in the day. Nick was disappointed in the fact that there were only a couple of employers that came but he did pass out several resumes and demo reels.

I've included some pictures below. Feel free to send Nick your congratulations at nick@twist-of-fait.com and visit his website to see his work at http://www.twist-of-fait.com/. See more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/PrincesRealm/GratuationCelebration

Nick's booth

Nick dressed up and ready to graduate

His Demo Reels and business cards - all designed by him

Chatting with folks as they watch his demos reels

His mortar board... I thought it was funny that this was his graduation souvenir and said so.

Coming into the auditorium

Receiving his diploma

All smiles as he heads back to his seat!

Walking back all done!

A picture with his sisters

"It's just a piece of paper, Mom"

A picture of Nick and his favorite teacher, Kip.

More Kittens

No, I have not rescued anymore but we found some hiding in our neighbors tree a few weeks ago and I just had to share some pictures I took. Thank heavens for a really long lens I didn't disturb them at all just stood in my driveway and waited for heads to pop up. They are so cute!

This is Mommy wondering what I am doing...


Isn't she beautiful!


Two little black balls of fluff.



With huge blue eyes like their Mommy

It's been amazing watching her in this tree take very good care of her babies...

End of School Events

Finally getting around to posting about the end of school events... yes, I know school was out on May 29th. We've had a couple of busy weeks and are getting ready for Nicholas' graduation next week and a friend of Wayne's will be visiting over the 4th of July. Both of the girls had great school years and made beautiful progress in their studies, friendships and extracurricular activities.

Before school was done Isabela and I went on a field trip to the Brookfield Zoo, in the rain on a cold day. The kids loved it but mostly because they weren't in a classroom. I can honestly say I wasn't impressed with the zoo but they were doing a lot of construction and well the weather may have had something to do with it.

Isabela and her friend playing games on the long bus ride to the zoo.

Isabela and I have something in common - we don't like our picture taken.

Gotcha! Over the shoulder and upside down... my skills are improving!

The kids in my group. All wet, cold and tired. We were only at the zoo for an hour and a half but that was long enough for us all to get chilled and soaked to the bone. The kids had a science project they were working on (the reason for the trip) and I don't think I've ever seen a group of teenagers finish a school project faster than these guys. Nothing like a little motivation - a nice warm school bus!

Leopard

Tiger

Snow Leopard

Polar Bear

Baby Geese wandering with Mom and Dad (out of frame of course) by the picnic grounds. The kids in my group had a great time feeding half of their lunches to all the Geese, Pigeons and other critters begging for food.

You may not be able to see it but this monkey (can't remember it's name) was screaming at everyone. Just running from treetop to treetop screaming at all of us. Made an impressive noise and had even more impressive fangs...

Monkey lounging in a nice warm monkey house. If the smell wasn't so hideous I think we would have stayed a lot longer in there.

Kids checking out the pitiful Camel exhibit. Poor things were laying in the only patch of sand they had. All and all it was a fun trip amazingly enough. The kids were really good and I got to know several of Isabela's friends and classmates. Can't wait for when Rhianna goes in a couple of years!

Our other end of school event was the quarterly band concert. They did very well and as always had fun with it. Mr. Hunter picks some good music for them to play.

Getting ready...

Isabela is right in front of Mr. Hunter.

She not only plays the Flute but the Piccolo too. She's had a couple of solos in the last concerts and she really likes it. I think she really likes hitting the very high notes and watching the dogs go nuts.

Piccolos squeak worse then Clarinets did you know that?

Not a large band but a good one!

Rhianna's end of school year activities included a field day, an end of our elementary years party and getting all signed up for junior high. She will be in band next year too. She tried out for flute and clarinet - guess which one will grace our household next fall??? Nope couldn't have been that easy on our pocket book we have to buy a clarinet. I think we definitely have a full band of our own at home. Rhianna is really looking forward to it. Evidently she had a great tryout and Mr. Hunter feels she is very talented. Nothing like being graced with musically talented kids. Now, if they would just get their homework done!