Ah Summertime

I wish I could say that the living is easy in the summertime, but it's been anything but, as evidence by my lack of posting. I knew this summer would be more challenging than the ones in years' past, but this one is certainly taking the cake. The kids are both getting on each others' nerves (and mine at times!) by doing things to antagonize the other (something I know D and I did on more than one occasion...), Phil is working from home all the time, and the weather has been way too hot for us to even burn any energy off outside. The kids are outdoor kids, yet the excessive heat has even been too much for me to bear, and I LOVE the heat and summer!

But now we have about 6 weeks left of summer, and I know I'm going to miss the kids. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to be all smiles when they board that bus for the first day, but it's been fun having them around most of the time. We've headed to the zoo together, visited baby Jack (seriously, he is one cute kid!), went to the Sox game for the first time, gone to soccer/hockey/baseball together, headed up to Wisconsin to visit our cousins, gone to the pool and just hung out. I love them dearly, and I keep reminding myself that this will not last. I don't have many years left of "making" them come with me all the time. I'm trying to cherish this time together. The times they want to sit on my lap even though they have their wet swimsuits on, the times when they want to play a game with me on the floor, the time they want to help me make dinner. It's not always going to be this way.

Before I get too mushy, why don't I dump a few pics of the kids on here. Maybe one of these days I'll be a little better about posting, but for now I'm off to enjoy a cold beer while the kids are in bed.

Mother's Day at Mom and Dad's.

My little soccer star.

Memorial Day with my girl.

Kids with Uncle D.

The fam (minus Casey who wasn't feeling well) for Memorial Day.

My other soccer star with Papa and Nana.

 

Bragging Rights

A few weeks ago, we received a letter in the mail about Riley. It seems based on her MAP test and OLSAT test scores, she scored in the 99th% for the entire country. Not just the school. Not just the state. But the country! And this was for math AND reading! So she qualifies for the Gifted and Talented program for 3rd grade. This is a HUGE deal, and we couldn't be prouder of her.

I went to the meeting about it, and it sounds like it will definitely be a lot of work, but Riley should definitely thrive. Two of her friends from preschool (Lauren and Silvie) qualified as well, so it was nice to have some familiar parents to talk with. The math program sounds fantastic--kids will start with 4th grade math and just skip over 3rd grade! And the reading should be interested because the school was selected to be a pilot program and have all students use computer tablets to complete reading assignments. Wow!

As a result of all these new developments, we opted to not have Riley try out for travel soccer. The new school has an earlier start time, and we don't know how well or quickly she will adapt to these advanced classes. She can always try out next year. So that will save us some money! Ha! But she is going to play with her former coach in Crystal Lake, so at least she'll need to still balance school and sports.

Phil and I are just so happy and proud of her. I told him "you're welcome" after finding out about Riley's results. Only kidding. She's definitely our smart little cookie. And we love her.

Our girl before her school concert.

Wolves Game in Feb.

I found these pictures the other day after I uploaded some others off the camera. The kids participated in the winter reading program at the library and earned two free Chicago Wolves tickets. Add to that a free ticket from Jeremy's hockey class, and all we had to pay for was one ticket and parking!

We took the kids on Feb. 25 when the Wolves were playing the Blackhawks affiliate Rockford Ice Hogs. The kids were super excited because they recognized some of the players on the Ice Hogs as players who had brief stints with the Blackhawks.

There were definitely two highlights of the hockey game: the first being that Riley lost a tooth at the game! Luckily I had the envelope that the tickets came in, so I kept the tooth in there for safe keeping.

The game was very entertaining. These two teams do not like each other. At the end of the first period, the two teams and their coaches were arguing while getting off the ice! In between periods there were entertaining aspects, such as Skates the mascot throwing T-shirts into the stands. They also threw stuff in the crowd during television timeouts. One of them was to catch a soft red ball and bring it to the information desk, and it was sponsored on behalf of the Illinois Lottery. I lifted Jeremy up to get a better chance of grabbing it, and he snagged it in between his back and my front! I was all excited thinking we won something fantastic. We left the game at the end of the second intermission, since it was already 9:30 and we had a 45-minute drive ahead of us. And we won....$1 scratch-off lottery ticket. Really? Only $1? They only threw out 5 balls, too. Oh well. And no, we didn't win.

Jeremy posing for the camera.

Hamming it up.

Dad and his girl.

Showing off her lost top tooth.

The Ice Hogs.

More Ice Hogs.

Ice Hogs, including our favorite Andrew Shaw.

Jeremy showing off the Lottery ball.

All in all, we had a great time. I would like to check out a Rockford Ice Hogs game next year and see what their rink is like. It actually might be a bit closer for us. But looks like we have a few months to wait until hockey returns. 

Spring Hockey

I don't even know who all is still reading along, but if you do, I appreciate it.

Back in the fall, we signed J up for a hockey class. We were blessed last year with an instructor named Coach Gus. He coached J in the afternoons twice a week, and he would let the boys skate on the ice for an extra hour at no cost. J and I would hang out at the rink from 1-3 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and he really learned a lot. Unfortunately, Gus only taught kids who weren't in school in the afternoons. Since J would be in all-day kindy, and Phil and I both felt that school was more important than hockey, we lost out on Gus. The class J was enrolled in during the fall was...remedial. He didn't really learn a lot, and most of the time he just stood around on the ice. He said to me after one practice that he wanted to quit hockey. That nearly broke my heart.

I told him to hang in there, and we'd sign him up to be on a team. You should've seen his face light up. So in January, he joined an in-house team. There were about 70+ kids enrolled, with ages ranging from 4-9. Teams were decided, and J was the youngest kid on his team (I don't know how they divided up the kids). The downside (for parents) was that the season was 14 straight Saturdays AND Sundays. That made for a lot of rescheduling and shuffling of plans. We didn't really have any issues until these last two weeks when his practices were at the same time as Riley's soccer games.

All in all, Jeremy had a blast. We're taking a break from hockey over the summer, much to his discontent. He burst into tears when we told him that we're taking a break. (We just want some freedom over the summer since games and practices are only on the weekend...and hockey is expensive!) I'm sure he's already thinking about the next session in the fall. I'm glad he loves it--we just have to work on him not being offsides! Oh, and in his last game, which was yesterday, he was goalie. Seeing him in the full gear was so exciting..even if it was difficult for him to get up when he fell on the ice.

In his goalie gear.

In his ready stance. I joked that this is the first time
all season that his jersey fit!

Ready for the ice!

Pregame skate.

Pregame skate.

Ready for the game.

Lone goalie.

After this picture, they all piled on him.

Notice how small J is!

Congratulating the team.

His official hockey picture.

 

Remember Me?

Yeah, I've been neglecting the blog. Not quite sure why. I am finally all better. In the 12+ years that  Phil has known me, he said that was the sickest I've ever been. I was knocked on my butt for 3 days, only to recover for a bit (just in time for the weekend and closed doctor's offices!) and then relapse over the weekend. I went to see the doctor on Monday, and he basically said that my lungs were a mess. I was on three different types of medicine, and like I said, I'm finally better.

In the time that I last posted, we finished up spring break, celebrated Jeremy's and my birthdays, hosted 30+ people at our house for Easter, started soccer for both kids (Riley's first game was on Saturday, and she scored a hat trick!), and we're dealing with a lot of family drama. It's been an exhausted few weeks, but you just realize you have to deal with life.

Overall the kids are doing well. I still can't believe J is 6. He's really starting to read now, although I can tell that he's not as enthusiastic about it as Riley is. I'm wondering if it's a "boy" thing. He was brokenhearted when we told him that we're taking a break from hockey over the summer, but having hockey every weekend for 14 straight Saturdays and Sundays is a bit much. I missed Riley's first soccer game because J had hockey practice. I reminded him that we'll start back up again in September.

Meanwhile Riley continues to excel in math. It comes so easily to her. And reading--I think it's cute how I find books in her bed in the morning along with a flashlight. I think she reads after I tuck her in. It reminds me of when I was a kid and I used to use my clock to light up the words. I'm so very proud of all her accomplishments, but boy, she seems like she's 8 going on 13 on some days. She's starting the eye rolls and the "whatever" comments. Also, she's so hard on herself that if homework doesn't come easy to her, she shuts down and refuses to listen. It's difficult to deal with at times.

I know I'm overdue at posting pictures of the kids, and I have some cute ones of their spring pictures and J in his hockey gear. I hope to get those posted here later this week. Thanks for following along.
 

Happy Birthday, Sunshine

It's amazing to think about all the changes we've been through this year. He went from three days a week at preschool to all-day kindergarten. He adapted to that much better than I did! He's made a tremendous amount of friends and continues to excel in school. Just recently he's started reading, but he still prefers to do mazes or dot-to-dot books than to sit down with a good book. Just seeing how much his handwriting has improved over the last few months is amazing. I'm so proud of how well he's doing, and he loves having his friend Hunter from preschool and our neighbor Luke in his class.

And I thought he was obsessed with hockey last year--my goodness this kid astounds me with his never-ending love for anything hockey related. He doesn't care what game is on (but he obviously prefers to watch Blackhawk games), he wants to watch it. He's even been known to watch college hockey simply because it's hockey. He knows all the Blackhawk players and their corresponding numbers and knows at least one player on each of the other 29 teams. He's finishing up his first session of being on a hockey team, and it's been a great experience. He's in a house league, so there are six teams total of about 12-13 kids. They play five games during the 14 straight Saturday and Sunday practices, and he's been learning a lot and having a blast!

But my boy is developing quite a bit of a temper, unfortunately. He's been known to get mad at times and can be downright mean. We've been trying to curb that, as well as the claim that people are "being mean" when they don't want to do what he wants.

My life is definitely complete with him in our lives. I used to tease and be jealous of the relationship my brother had with my mom, oftentimes referring to the whole situation as too much of a mama's boy issue. But now I can completely relate. There's a special bond I have with him, but perhaps much of it can be attributed to me staying home with him while Riley attended daycare. Regardless, he is my boy and I'm so proud to be his mom. Happy birthday, big guy. May all your dreams become a reality and remember how much we all love you.

And now...Jeremy through his six years.

At the hospital

3 months

6 months

9 months

1 year old

18 months

2 years old

2.5 years old

3 years old (and sick)

3.5 years old

4 years old

 

5 years old

6 years old

Apologies

I'm sorry for the lack of posts. We've had a sickly house as of late, and I just haven't had much energy to do anything. It started with Jeremy being at home for three days a few weeks ago, and he had a 102-degree fever. (I admit that selfishly I enjoyed having the poor kid cuddle up with me. He did feel awful, but I was glad I was there to take care of him. And he fell asleep one day on my lap--man I miss those days when he was a lot smaller!) After day three, I took him to the doctor, for the doctor to practically scare me and claim that J may have early stages of mono! But that she wasn't for certain! Ugh. He did have spots on his throat, but his strep test came back negative.

Then two weeks ago he had yet another fever--this time at school, so he had to come home. He was fine the next day, so we spent much of it doing puzzles and playing games.

So then what happens last Sunday? I get sick. Horribly sick. It's been a rough process. I felt it coming on Sunday afternoon while we were outside enjoying the unseasonable weather. It was in the 60s, but I had such a chill--which might be somewhat attributed to the hockey rink--that I had Phil get my winter hat, coat and gloves from inside. Monday morning I had the 102-degree fever. I was a mess on Monday and Tuesday. And then Tuesday Jeremy went to the nurse with a stomach ache! I was floored. He came home and I said I couldn't play with him. He did a puzzle, and then I dozed off (Phil was working from home.) I woke up and J was fast asleep on the couch! I'm guessing the time change and all the sunshine might have worn him out. But he was back at school on Wednesday!

As for me, I'm feeling better. Still not 100%, which stinks. I hate being useless. In hindsight, I should have gone to the doctor, but I was feeling better Thursday and Friday. But now I can't breathe and my ear is clogged. I'm guessing I have a sinus infection and/or an ear infection. I think I'm off to the doc on Monday for some stronger drugs.

No rest for the weary here!