A Very Special Announcement

“Our house, is a very, very, very fine house.
With two cats in the yard,
Life used to be so hard,
Now everything is easy 'cause of you.

Come to me now, and rest your head for just five minutes,
Everything is done.
Such a cozy room, the windows are illuminated
By the evening sunshine through them,
Fiery gems for you, only for you…”

Our house is now for sale!

1105 Monroe Avenue

Wauconda IL 60084





Visit our property detail page for more info!  Or you can see more pictures here

Yup we have decided to move... a big family decision so that we can be closer to family!
We are headed Southward towards Northwestern Arkansas or the Kansas City area.  As of right now we've packed up tons of stuff, gotten rid of even more (nothing like the thought of moving it to incite purging), and living in an almost empty shell so we can SELL THIS HOUSE!!  ;)  Know anybody who would want a great house! 

We'll keep you posted on our progress - wish us luck!!

May Field Trip

In May the girls and I headed to The Field for a field trip for school. We had a great time and looked at what we'd seen before through different eyes this time. We focused on the dinos and new Mammoth display. The Mammoth display was really neat but of course, I couldn't take pictures...

Here are a few pictures from the day.


Yes, the Blackhawks were at it again. Some of you may recognize this pair from another photo of mine that I entered in the "Capture Chicago" contest and had chosen to be in the book. Just a different angle this time...


Here is where we spent most of our time as this is what we were studying. We've been through this exhibits before but rally looked and read everything this time and came away with lots of great information!



The girls being silly standing in a dino footprint


It did, didn't it...


Rhianna was exploring some of the footprints a little closer


Isabela imitating a dino "ROAAAAAR"! Too funny.


We also explored the African exhibit for the first time. Lots of neat stuff here!


Of course I took pictures of the fish! They are Cichlids and look just like the ones we have.


More fishies.... Sarah would love to chase these!




This was a beautiful wall that I would love to some how incorporate into my home. Well, maybe not the one we are in now...

Andrew's Visit

So Andrew had the opportunity to drive up from KS to visit before he headed to final training and overseas. He came up February 4th just before the big snow storm hit KS. He stayed until Monday before heading to Omaha to visit his Dad and then back to Grandma's house in Olathe. Nick decided to go with him to say "hi" to everyone and that meant that Andrew had to bring him back at the end of the week. They brought Claire, Andrew's girlfriend, back with them on Friday, February 12th, for a quick visit over Valentines weekend. Andrew and Claire left Sunday for the long drive back to KS. He then had to leave for a training base in Oklahoma (I think it was that one) for special final training before heading overseas. He leave within the next month and we all will miss him terribly! I am so glad he had the chance to visit! It was wonderful seeing him and meeting Claire again. Below are some pictures from both visits...


The kids all in Nick's temporary bedroom (the guest room) playing games and having a great time!

Yes, I was busy distracting them...


Nick giving me the usual response when trying to take his picture.

Nick usually has several games going at once on the dual computer screens, laptop and TV. Kids and their technology!

Isabela taking pictures on her phone and Rhianna hanging in the background.

OK so since I had all 4 kids in the same place at the same time I wanted to get a picture - something nice. Ha Ha !! As usual I took more than 40 pictures and I think I only got one decent one. Reminds me of the pictures I took at the lighthouse the last time Andrew visited Illinois...






As you can see I didn't get one of the 4 of them and the atmosphere disintegrated dramatically! Went from bad to worse... I guess I'll have to use the goofy ones for the Holiday cards and pictures on the wall.

Did get a halfway decent one with Claire and the kids. She's such a sweetheart and bravely ate the breakfast I made before they left. She ate the fried egg even though she doesn't normally eat eggs. Brave child - Nick told her! I love my children!

Then the boys got goofy!

And tried to drag the girls in...

Took a couple of shots of just Andrew and Claire. These turned out well I think! Especially with their siblings being ornery behind me!



Well that's all she wrote for the Valentines holiday. I hope you had a great one and were able to celebrate the love in your household! We sure did and the minute Andrew and Claire left we all missed them terribly. Sarah, Andrew's dog we adopted, was the most heartbroken. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he heads overseas for his Army tour. We'll keep you posted on his progress and hopefully news of his home coming soon!