Out and About in the Hood

Shawn's off with the new car and the girls and I are off to an Estate Sale w/ Klaus in tow. We're heading up our street and before we know it BAM there's a horse on the side of the road! We've never met this neighbor before and so we stopped. It was like our own mini field trip! Carol was so sweet to educate the girls on proper behavior around horses and other neat facts too. Please enjoy this short video!

Out with the Old, In with the New

Goodbye Clouds of Gray, Hello Skies of Blue!!! (That's for all you HSM fans) Kids we're going to look for a car AND we are not buying one tonight JUST looking. It was July 31st at 8ish when we rolled up to the dealership. Test drove the Honda Pilot we were 'looking at' and we fell in love with it. Shawn did the ultimate test by riding in the way back as a 6' 3"passenger and I got to drive it. We loved the interior and knew we wanted the EX-L model. (We were sold) Then comes the hard part negotiation. Shawn worked them over and by almost 10 o'clock we were driving home our 'new-to-us' car! The girls not yet asleep and Dianne came out, so excited that we finally got a new car after months of being without. The next day we needed to turn in the Jeep. Tears welled in my eyes knowing it was time to say goodbye to my 'third' car and another chapter in my life. Thanks Honey for being so giving and finding me a sweet ride! Yes, he gets to drive it too. He says it's the honeymoon phase, either way I'm happy to share.

Knock, Knock

Abby is walking in her sister's footsteps. She's asking for play dates, sleepovers, and doesn't want to miss out on the fun things MJ gets to partake in. Although she gets to do just as many 'fun' things just not always at the exact same time MJ does.
She asked if our neighbor, Shelby could play. I provided some guidelines for her:

• Ask but if she says No say Okay maybe another day.
• If she says Yes make sure you come back and tell us that you'll be staying.
  

As she turned away and walked through our backyard with Klaus along side, my heart wept. My little girl wasn't so little anymore. Here she was doing big girl things. I walked away letting her be and do. We called for Klaus, in the hopes Abby would follow behind. Sure enough, here they both were. 'So Abby how'd it go?' I asked. She said 'Shelby needed to go and take care of her kitten because Klaus was chasing it but maybe tomorrow we can play'. Tomorrow came and so did the question 'Can Shelby come over and play?' Well I thought I'd better give her the reality check before this became an everyday question. 'Shelby is 10 and you are 4. Let's see what your friends are doing this weekend.' (sorry kiddo) It's a lesson none the less but to her it's just a big fat bummer! And for my lesson maybe another day translates into tomorrow for a 4yr old.

Wish I had the camera to take a picture of my big girl on her mission. That will be one in my memory bank for ever.

You are Invited...

to a dinner on Monday, July 27th to Ranzie's Scrumptious Numpkins

On the menu presented to us was Battered Tilapia with Fresh Veggies and for dessert, Mango Pudding! WOW...I mean the table was set complete with a black table cloth, candles, flowers, a fan and cameras (so she could watch the table and attend to us). She not only cooked the whole meal herself but took our drink order, the brought us our dinner, left a bell so that we could 'ring' if we needed anything. I mean it was a FIVE ***** restaurant. She's sure to be a VERY successful waitress.

Thanks Ranzie for a great dinner!

Catching Raindrops

Celebrating the Life of Bill Beyer

My grandfather of 93 passed away on June 22nd. It was the phone call I've dreaded for some time now. The later years have been very tough and so, we are led to a place where it was okay to say goodbye, at least for now. He was the most devoted husband to Viv, father for 4, uncle, grandfather of 13 and great grandfather of 15. NOW that's a lot of living and loving.

I was fortunate to travel to Chicago and spend this time with my family. My grandmother, Viv, is absolutely the most remarkable women. You would have thought we all needed to be there for her and perhaps we were. It felt more like she was there for each one of us. She greeted each of us with a joyful memory and told us just how much they loved us. She announced to every grandchild at the funeral home 'If your husbands love you as much as he loved me, you'll live happy lives'. Now how she could voice such words, backed with such feeling, and get it all out...words are beyond me. To was breath taking to see over 100 people at the funeral and like the pastor said 'That's not usual for a 90 yr old's funeral.' It just says a lot about what kind of a man he was.

My fondest memory was grandpa picking up my sisters and I from elementary school for lunch. He took us to McDonald's and then across the street to Lampert's Drug Store, gave each of us a buck and we got to pick out candy. What more could a kid want? I must have taken forever in that candy aisle.

And my grandmother's fondest memory was gramps racing to pick up grams from work to pick me up from 'Pretty School' a.k.a. preschool. To get there and I would say 'Why am I always the first one to leave?' Here they thought they were saving me from being at school any longer...shouldn't have surprised grams though...she's a socialite and I'm proud to take after her.

Thank you for all the memories and love. I loved being that unpredictable spark in your life.

Abby's First Day at Sunrise Pre-K

It's official! Abby's in school and loves it. They will work with the letter 'O' for a whole week. Ate hot dogs cut like an octopus for lunch, used bingo doters to decorate a fish from the 'ocean'. Couldn't tear her away, she was still doing 'centers' (little stations set up with activities for your fine motor skills) up until the second we were walking out the door. 'Mom we went to the park' she said. 'Oh you did? Did you walk there?' I replied back. 'No mom there's a park in the backyard' she quickly replied. Simply pleased this one! The best part was picking her up and she was so excited to give me the picture she made. Then thoughtfully put her writing practice sheet that was so colorful in the mailbox for dad when he came home.