A Visit to Sophie

We went to visit the newly renovated Griffin Family last night. Izzi was a wee bit thirsty, so she drank from this ginormis cup and was a very good little girl going on the potty too!
Here is Mark meeting Sophia for the first time. Mark really enjoys snuggling with newborns, but he can't seem to sit still while he held her. Pacing, pacing, pacing.

Amos let off a stink bomb and had to evacuate himself out of the room.

Sam was very excited to hold baby Sophie. He didn't get bored at all. He was very content to just hold her for a while and look at all her facial expressions while she slept. Precious.

Izzi is very happy to have a new sister and very happy mommy is home.

Welcome Sophia!

How amazing to look at the face of one God's most recent miracles.

First Day of First Grade!!

Annie kept saying yesterday "I am very excited and scared to start my new school." I kept assuring her that those were both very normal feelings to have before starting something new. She was in our room at 6:50 this morning, already dressed and ready to go!
Here is the backpack that Santa brought her last Christmas, fully loaded with supplies (more supplies to go with her every day this week).

It wasn't the best day for a first day at the bus stop. We decided to walk the 2 blocks this morning with our umbrellas. We were the only parents that didn't drive and wait in the car. Of course the bus was 20 minutes late since it was their first day too and the weather was lousy. Eventually the bus drove up and all the kids emerged from their cars and climbed aboard. Because the weather was so rainy and we were trying to keep Annie patient and Sam from soaking himself, it gave me enough of a distraction so I wasn't an emotional basket case. Thank you God!

The girls (Annie, Natalie and Andrea- the three girls who live all next door to each other) only had a half day of school today. They all came off the bus beaming. We were thankfully between storm systems at this time and the girls were able to walk home, hand in hand, without umbrellas. Annie wanted to eat her lunch at Andrea's today since there wasn't time for lunch at school. So I haven't even had a chance to ask her how her first day was. I cannot wait to hear all about it.

P.S. Sophie was born this morning! Congrats Megan and Jason!

Blueberry Picking III

So after finishing up at the pool for an hour, we got ready to leave the hotel and stopped to pick up some Subway for lunch. We drove to the Blueberry Farm (DeGrandchamps) and picked away. The weather was better! We ended up only picking 20 lbs this year and buying 30 more for freezing. Mark and I would have spent all day filling buckets, but considering we had 5 kids and good neighbors with us, we decided to just go with the flow (aren't I growing up!) After lunch we drove into the town of South Haven, went in and out of all the stores. Annie bought a pony sticker story book and Sam bought a 12 inch alligator that grows to three feet in 4 days (it has been in the tub since Sunday and it HAS already doubled in size). We then let the kids play on the beach before we got in the car to drive home.
Since we have done A LOT of traveling over the past 6 weeks our kids have become expert sleepers in the car. I didn't even have to sit back there with them and rub their legs on Sunday! The kids slept almost 2 hours in the car, which was good since traffic was completely stopped on 90-94 for an hour.

All in all the trip was excellent, except for Chicago traffic. I felt like this 36 hour trip was a four day vacation. I am refreshed, ready to begin school with Annie and all the kids activities. I am going back to school for my DPT (doctors of physical therapy) on Sept 8th. My sister is having her baby tomorrow. We leave for Disney in a month.

Life is Good! Thank you God for a wonderful summer!

Blueberry Picking II

Since it was raining mostly Saturday afternoon in Michigan we arrived at the hotel early enough to give the kids time to swim before AND after dinner. Does life get much better than that? The Safari Joe's Ramada Inn in Watervilet, Michigan is a great place to stay for an overnight trip. There is a lazy river, a whole area perfect for kids 9 and under, water slides for kids (and dads) 10 and over, and a pool for all.
Doesn't Sam look SO CUTE wrapped in his towel? I know, I am very biased.

Here Annie and I are finishing up swimming on Sunday morning. We hung out in our neighbors room Saturday night until 9. Mark and Nick went on an adventure trying to find a DQ at this time. They ended up going two towns over only to find out the ice cream place was across the street from the hotel. When the dad's finally drove back it was closed. So, they ended up getting a variety of ice cream from the gas station. Thankfully we are all easy to please!

Mark had run 16 miles on Saturday morning. Surprisingly he wasn't that sore. Here he is enjoying 10 minutes in the hot tub to loosen his muscles (you should see his legs now!)

Blueberry Picking in Michigan I

This weekend was our second annual trip to South Haven Michigan to pick blueberries! Annie had her "Sneak Peak" of her new classroom Saturday morning and we left afterwards (Annie really enjoyed seeing her new school and classroom). We invited the neighbors to go with us this year. We get along well with Brenda and Nick and their kids are the same gender and ages as our kids so we knew they would be entertained!

Traffic through the city was lousy and we ended up eating lunch at the McDonalds in the middle of the Skyway. I always wondered who actually stopped to eat there. Now I know! After we got through Chicago the trip went well. We picked 20 lbs of blueberries before it started raining then headed off for the hotel (next post). Here is a picture of my bucket when we just started.

This is little Allie- the youngest daughter of our neighbors. She is 14 months and really had a blast picking and eating the blueberries right off the bush.


Brenda and Nick had never gone blueberry picking before, and caught on fast (not that it is too complicated). I told the kids it was girls vs boys to see who can fill up our buckets faster. A little competition helped the kids pick a little faster.

Here is Annie and her friend Andrea picking (and eating) blueberries. The kids liked using their own smaller buckets to pick since they fill them up faster. mmmm, yum!

Happy Birthday Babe!

Mark's birthday is officially today, but he gave me his permission to celebrate on Sunday since he would be at work all day and then piano lessons. Mark got up at 6:30AM on Sunday to run his scheduled 15 miles (crazy) then we had strawberry pancakes (with a candle in it!). Later that day we went and saw all the old cars at Gurnee days and then met friends for the parade. Of course any Sunday wouldn't be perfect without a 2 hour nap! We gave Mark a lot of running related gifts which he really loved!
Thanks to everyone who called my cute hubby today to wish him a very happy birthday today!

Rock-N-Roll

I would like to dedicate this blog to my husband, Mark, and my sister-in-law Kim for being amazing! I am proud to say that they both finished the Rock-n-Roll half marathon this past Sunday, the first of its kind in Chicago. The race began at 6:30am (the kids and I were still in bed). Mark finished in the top 5% of over 14,000 runner. That is so cool, i can't even top that statement. Kim ran 11 minute miles the whole time which is WAY faster than I ever could.

SO PROUD OF YOU TWO!!!!!