WW- A Little Hard Work

The Mower

 The Bucket Brigade

The Clean-up Crew

The Reward

There is no substitute for hard work.

Thomas A. Edison

The Birds And The Bees

He is growing up.  Getting older.  In a few weeks he will be starting fifth grade.  Fifth grade!  How did that happen so soon?

He has gone off to camp on his own.  He is feeling his independence.  Slowly, slowly becoming more mature.

It seems that he has developed a much more positive "can do", "never give up",  attitude in the last couple of months as well.  Something I have been praying about for him and will definitely help him in the long run. I know he will always struggle with being too hard on himself (the curse of the firstborn) but I think a positive attitude is everything.

Recently, he has been taking very good care of his room.  Folding his clothes, making his bed, keeping things tidy.  He is given an allowance for it now to ensure he keeps up the good work.  

He had also been begging to cut our grass for months now.  Finally, Todd showed him how to use our push mower.  People, we have a huge lawn. Huge. Todd uses a riding mower but wasn't quite ready to hand that over to Joey just yet. Instead, Joey got a quick lesson in push mowers and then proceeded to cut our entire front lawn. A couple of days later he cut the backyard. He loved it. Loved it! He was hooked. The novelty wore off a bit but he has still cut our lawn a few more times since then.

The kid is growing up.  

And it was time.  

I knew it would be coming soon.  I mean, the kid is going into 5th grade.  I think I knew about the birds and the bees when I was in 3rd grade, tops.  But, bless my dear, sweet, innocent Joey, he knew nothing. Probably another bonus of him going to a sheltered parochial school. The subject just never came up before with his friends or at school.  He really didn't know anything. Not a thing. And it was time. 

There were times when I considered telling him before. Like when I asked him not to say "Humpin' Honeys" even though that was the name on the side of his war plane.  Or when the kids repeated the word "sexy" after they heard it in the car commercial and I told them I don't want them saying it.  I tried to say that it was inappropriate talk for kids and leave it at that but there comes a time when more of an explanation is needed.  

That time was tonight.

It came up completely innocently and when I said, "Maybe it's time we had the birds and the bees talk, Joe." he was very receptive.  Although, I honestly think at first he thought we'd be talking about birds and bees. When I told him that I meant I think he is old enough to know how babies are made he was all for it.  

As I walked him to our library and closed the door (the younger kids just aren't ready to overhear this conversation yet) I said a silent prayer asking for guidance to say the right things.  I grabbed a book off our shelf (It's Not The Stork) for a visual reference and then I began.  

I started by telling Joe that women have eggs that need to be fertilized by a man.  And then I told him exactly how that happens.  I used all the correct terminology (something I had been doing with all of my kids since birth so it never felt weird saying "penis" or "vagina").  I pointed to pictures in the book explaining the uterus and ovaries.  I even talked about puberty and menstrual cycles a bit.  I was comfortable, he was comfortable, and we talked freely.  

Joey told me he thought it was disgusting. I told him that I know it sounds that way but it really isn't.  It is a wonderful thing but it is to be taken very seriously. I explained more about how I feel that God intended for sex to be beautiful, since you are creating a life, and that is why it should be between a married couple. Joey vowed that he would never have sex.  Fine with me.

At one point Joey said, "I can't believe that you and dad had to do that 4 times just to have babies." Dear sweet Joey. He also told me (after I told him about periods and how eggs get old eventually) that he hopes my eggs aren't too old yet because he wants me to have another baby.  Crazy kid.  He always loved holding his siblings as babies. So sweet.  Unfortunately, I believe that ship has sailed.  Four is our magic number (says the hubby). 

I tell you what, people, I could not have dreamed that this little talk would have gone this well. I am so thankful. I let Joey know that he shouldn't talk about it with his friends because their parents probably want to be the one to tell them about it. I also said his siblings are too young to know, and he agreed. I admitted to him that my parents never had this talk with me and that many people are embarrassed to talk about it, but not me.  I let him know that he can always come to me with any questions.  He can ask me anything. I won't be embarrassed.  

He handled it like a man. Actually, probably better than a man. He asked thoughtful questions.  He didn't make silly jokes out of embarrassment. He took it like the little scientist I always thought him to be.  It was awesome.  Very breezy and casual.  Quite a bonding moment, actually. 

One more milestone down.

He is growing up. I can't stop it.  Nor do I want to.

Trippin'

We are back.  And we are exhausted.

Chicago is a much different city when you are toting four young kids with you. Todd and I have been to Chicago many times, enjoying the nightlife, the food, the music, the art museums, the theater.  I have always loved Chicago, but I knew taking the kids to Chicago would be a different experience all together.

I fell in love with Chicago all over again through my kids' eyes.

We drove into Chicago on Tuesday night.  It was fun driving into the city in the dark and watching the kids' eyes pop out as they took in the Chicago skyline.  Very exciting stuff.  Then of course there was the excitement of staying in a hotel.  The kids were CRAZY after the long car ride and it was near impossible to settle them down.  Bedtime that night was madness, and there was far too much scolding and yelling.  I was afraid we were off to a bad start.

The kids were tired the next day (surprise, surprise- messing around until after midnight makes you tired) but the day went surprisingly well.  I think Todd and I started off to a grumpy start (we were also tired so we were less able to handle the kids' fighting and whining) but we managed to turn it around.

There is so much to do, and we tried to cover all the major bases. We bought Chicago CityPasses and that helped immensely.  We got in to all of the attractions we wanted to see.  The problem was fitting it all in to our two day trip.

Our first stop was The Shedd Aquarium.  It was a very cloud/foggy Wednesday morning but that didn't stop us from walking from our hotel to the aquarium.

We spent 7 hours walking around the aquarium, taking in a dolphin/beluga whale show, and seeing thousands of amazing fish.  The kids loved it.  So did I. (i won't bore you with the hundreds of fish pictures i took- your welcome)

The kids were bone tired after walking for over 7 hours but we dragged their little bones over to the Field Museum to see some very old bones.  A dinosaur named Sue.

More walking, walking, walking and the kids were practically crying.  So, we walked them back to the hotel (we are so mean) and relaxed in our room for a little while.  As a treat for all their wonderful walking we took them to The Rainforest Cafe. Not exactly what Todd would have picked for a birthday dinner but he sure was a trooper.  

It was another very late night and the next morning we were up bright and early so we had plenty of time to fit in more adventures.

This time we took a cab (it was a little too far to walk and I think the kids' feet weren't working so well anymore) to the Sears (Willis) Tower. The kids marveled at how fast the elevator went up 103 floors and they LOVED the little glass observation decks.  As you can see below, I did not.  I was clinging to the wall and only managed to stick a foot out onto the glass.  Watching my kids go out onto it nearly made me pass out.  I'm sweating just thinking about it.  I'll probably have nightmares tonight.  Grace, Tommy, and Ben later admitted to me that it REALLY freaked them out too.

When that was done we went back to the hotel and packed up our stuff, grabbed our truck, and drove over to Navy Pier.  We took the architectural riverboat tour.  I absolutely loved it.  And I think the kids liked it too.  When they saw the glass observation boxes sticking out on the side of the Sears Tower they couldn't believe that was how high up they were.  Yikes!

It was a perfect day for hanging outside on Navy Pier, and a perfect way to wrap up our Chicago trip. Hopefully the kids will only remember the awesome sites we saw and fun activities we did and forget about mom and dad losing their patience one too many times in the beginning.

Overall, I'd say the trip was a huge success. 

Kids exhausted.  Mission complete.

No rest for the weary. Tomorrow morning we are leaving early for a trip up north.  I'm sure the kids won't be thrilled for another 3 hour car ride, but they are willing to put up with it for a visit to the cabin.  Hopefully there will be much fishing, and swimming, and bonfires so we can properly and thoroughly exhaust them again.  

Ahh... summer.

Happy Birthday

Today is your birthday.  I know you'd love to be up north relaxing by the water, enjoying a fire, maybe doing a little fishing. Instead you are using your vacation time to fulfill your children's wants and wishes. Your birthday will be full of penguins at aquariums, dinosaurs at museums, and restaurants that cater to kids.  And you won't even complain. You'll be excited, and grateful.  Because that is the kind of man you are. The kind of husband you are.  The kind of father you are.

And we are grateful for you.

Happy Birthday to the best man I know.

We love you!

Much Needed

Life has been busy, busy, busy around here and this past weekend was just what we needed to slow down and relax a bit.  

On Saturday Todd and I had the rare and elusive "date night".  And man, it was a good one.  

We started out with dinner.  On the drive to Green Bay I was checking for restaurants on Todd's phone. We had planned on going to Olive Garden but I was really hoping to find a non-chain restaurant.  We have so many great restaurants in our city that people don't know about so I wanted to find something like that in Green Bay.  Of course, I knew there were plenty around I just needed to find them.  And boy, did I ever find a good one!

If you live in the Green Bay area and haven't gone to Kaleidoscope you need to get there ASAP.  It is a swanky lounge type of restaurant and immediately made me think of the movie Swingers.  The service was top notch.  The owner, Kathy, made our experience unforgetable.  Kathy is a total foodie and delighted in bringing dishes out from the kitchen for us to try at the bar as we were having some drinks. And our entrees.  Oh. My. Word.  I had a spice encrusted scallop and Todd had a parmesan crusted steak.  AMAZING. It was a fabulous dinner with great drinks, a chill atmosphere, and great people.  A wonderful way to start out the night.  It made me feel so much cooler than I actually am.  See?

 This is me lounging.

After dinner we were off to see a show.  We were able to snag some prime seats to one of our very favorite comedians.  Jim Gaffigan, baby!

It was such a hilarious show. I can't tell you how good it feels to laugh for almost two hours straight. What a great night.   

Needless to say, we were out late that night.  But that didn't stop us from enjoying the next day as well. After church we took the kids out to our local (small) airport where the planes were practicing their drills for the big EAA AirVenture  show in Oshkosh.  Since Joey (and then by default, Tommy and Ben) is obsessed with airplanes we thought it would be fun to watch the planes take off and do stunts right above us.  

To say the kids were excited would be a massive understatement.  They were thrilled.  And I have to admit, I was pretty excited watching it as well. The weather was cool (58 degrees in July? What is going on?) but we still had fun.  Even after we got home we saw 12 of the planes flying over our house in various formations.  It was pretty exciting.  I suppose we'll have to go to the actual EAA AirVenture show sometime.

The fun doesn't stop around here.  Soon we will be leaving to take the kids to Chicago.  We are planning on visiting the Shedd Aquarium, The Field Museum, take a tour on the ONLY German submarine in the US, and maybe to a riverboat tour and eat at the Rainforest Cafe.  We are talking FUN, people.  And then after that it is back up north to the cabin.  Whew!  I may need another rejuvenating date night when all is said and done.

It looks like this summer is shaping up to be a great one!

Best Summer Salad

I am a huge fan of salads and this one may be the best salad ever.  And I invented it! HA!  I'm a genius!

I could eat this salad every single day of my life and never get tired of it.  Seriously.  Best. Ever.  And I'm gonna share it with you.  'Cause I love you.

I'll tell you the ingredients but I won't tell you how much of anything because it is entirely up to you.

Bag of baby spinach or 50/50 baby spinach/spring mix
Purple onion
5oz tub of crumbled Gorganzola cheese (I never use the whole container)
Green beans
Bacon
Slivered almonds
Cranberries
Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette

I always blanch my green beans before adding them to the salad but the rest of the ingredients you really don't have to do any prep work (besides making sure the bacon is cooked and chopped into bits). Just toss them all in a bowl and mix gently with a very light coating of the vinaigrette.

If you want to make the salad a meal then you could add some strips of steak or grilled chicken.  Even some hard boiled egg slices or little wedges of cooked red potatoes would be a great addition.  Mmm. My mouth is watering!

Enjoy!

Summertime

"Summertime and the livin' is easy..."

The hot weather is here and we are taking full advantage.  Our favorite swimming hole has provided hours and hours of fun.  The baseball games at night are a little less comfortable to play (and to watch) but it is a trade-off we are willing to make.  Yay for summer!

I have taken so many pics that sum up summer to me and I decided to post them all in one post (minus the pics that have already made it into previous posts). Hang on to your hats!

So many water pictures but it has reached 100 degrees here (with LOTS of humidity) for the last three days so we've been hanging in the water.  Personally, I like the hot weather.  Certainly makes for a fun summer.



Hosted by Cecily and Lolli