The Girlies

We had this made for my parents for Christmas. I wish my in-laws were a little closer so we could do something like this for them.

Christmas Picture

I had only 1 made - and I'm not sure where I put it after I scanned it. Lord help me.

Trying out another new way to post

I've got a new version of software that's supposed to let me post directly to my blog without actually signing in to my blog, so this is a test post. I'm hoping this will help me to get to do some more elaborate formatting without having to learn much about HTML coding. We'll see how it goes. Let's include a picture for fun, eh?

Run Grace! Run!

I don't think this moment held any magic for Grace. She's a little young for this to have any mystique. But her dad did get to live vicariously through her. :-)

Father's Day

Daddy & Grace at Comiskey Park on Father's Day 2008. Go White Sox!

Happy Birthday

It's hard to believe she's 5 already. She's getting to be so grown up. I keep telling her this is going to be a year of great things for her. She's already done so much. She's lost her first tooth, she's taken piano lessons, basketball, soccer, t-ball, dance, learned to swim, and is starting to learn to ride a bike without training wheels. She's also starting to learn to read. All before a day of kindergarten. I'm so proud of her.

Butterflies

They study butterflies every year at daycare. They order caterpillers, then watch them morph into butterflies and release them. Isn't it cool that they get to hold a butterfly? It's not often you get to do that, huh?

June 22, 2007 - Brookfield Zoo

Butterfly garden. Look carefully at the flowers and you'll see the butterflies!

Dec 17, 2007 - Yorktown Mall

This was a clever pose.

Dec 17, 2007 - Yorktown Mall

Kelly, Grace & Rachel

Dec 17, 2007 - Yorktown Mall

Here's a picture from my phone. We took these as we were waiting to have professional pictures done of the girls. I need to get those scanned in and posted here also.

Pony ride

She doesn't even need mom to stand by her any more

Johannsen's Farm 2007

Another 80 degree day in October. :-D

Kinder Keys

Grace started her Kinder Keys class last Thursday. She said she really loved it and wanted to go again the next night. Fortunately for me it's only one night a week - Thursdays.

On the way home she was feeling slighted. She asked me, "How come I don't have a piano?" And, "How come everyone has a piano except me?" Here we go! She evidently feels that she's underprivileged. It's easy to understand why. (Can you hear the sarcasm in my tone?)

But, seriously. I think I'll be taking her out to buy her a keyboard tonight. I did not know a single thing about piano class before this. I've never played, nor has anyone in my family. So, my initiation was during the first class. The instructor did say that she'd like them to practice between classes. Keyboards aren't that expensive, so I think we'll go ahead and get one. If it doesn't work out, we can donate it or something.

Take me out to the ballgame

Go White Sox!

Kevin & I went to the White Sox game Saturday. They won 8-7 against the Twins. It was a great game. They scored two home runs in the first inning. Comiskey (or whatever they call it now) looks very nice. It's a lot better than what it was the last time I was there. They've made some good improvements.

We won these tickets from Kevin's work. Grace spent the day with my sister-in-law and neices at the lake house. We got a day pass on the CTA so we could take the el all day. We grabbed the el to U of C to visit my Dad for a little bit before visiting hours were over. After that, we took it again and headed over to Lincoln Park. We went to Oven Grinders for dinner and then headed for home. It was a great day overall. We didn't get home till about 2am. And we got to sleep in too! Yay!

September 10 - don't forget to fly your flag

My dad was released from University of Chicago late yesterday. I mean REAL late. He wasn't home until after 11pm. Yesterday was Sunday, for Pete's sake. I honestly had given up the idea that he was going to be released when I left the hospital at 7pm. It's hard on my Dad to be there.

Evidently, they did a CT scan yesterday and found a mass on his right lung. He has an appointment tomorrow to follow up with a pulmonologist at U of C. We'll see what they say.

Other thoughts for today:

• Don't forget to fly your flag tomorrow in memory of those we lost on September 11th.
• Today is a family funeral for Dorothy Beckett. I'm sorry I wasn't able to even make it to the wake. She had not been well for a long time. I'm glad at the thought of her being restored. Life can be so cruel at times.

See. Grandpa is firing on all 4 cylinders now. He's had 2 heart procedures in 2 days. Let's hope this keeps him out of the hospital for a while.

Family room silliness.

Live from University of Chicago Hospital's heart unit family waiting rooms. Dad is recovering well and we are slap happy.

She's not so timid anymore. We went to the Renaissance Faire yesterday and she decided the ponies weren't her speed. Instead she rode the camel. TWICE!

She also decided she wanted to try another amusement. They had trampolines you can jump on while connected to a harness connected to bungee cords. She must have bounced two stories high. She was about 98% thrilled and overjoyed and 2% terrified. Her face was priceless. I wish I could have caught it on camera. I'm afraid my Palm camera isn't enough to catch that.

Thoughts for today

I was looking at some of my friends' blogs and I realized they don't use their names or their children's names on their blogs. Upon that realization, I felt a wave of fear wash over me. Have I made a huge mistake with this blog? Am I putting my family at risk?

Fear is a big topic in the news this week because of the tragedy at the Virginia Tech campus. It's being called a massacre. I don't know what to call it. It's a horror for the families, that's for sure. I'm not going to comment on it out of respect for them.

I've been watching The West Wing series on DVD. I'm several years late watching the series. It's an excellent show. As I see President Bush comment on Virginia Tech, I find myself wishing that President Bartlet (the character from West Wing) was our President. President Bush lacks conviction and eloquence. He has little to no ability to inspire confidence from me. (He did it once on 9/11. I saw conviction and I believed him.) He's no more than a talking head. For Pete's sake, Mr. President! Extend SINCERE condolences to these families. Reach in you and find your voice!