~Our 9th Wedding Anniversary~

Treat time!

Rainforest Cafe

Rainforest Cafe

Chicago Playground

Aub

The Bean

Brennie

Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier

Museum fun

Digging for dinosaur bones

Funny!

Dave and I celebrated our 9th anniversary in October - wow!! It goes so fast!! I had such a good time in Chicago w/ my mom, sister, cousin and aunts that I thought Dave and the girls would really enjoy a day there, too. So, Dave took the day off and we all went to Chicago.

We had such a great time!! We took the girls to the Chicago Bean and they loved it. Then we went to The Disney Store and then we had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. After lunch we headed to Navy Pier to enjoy some of the rides. I am, extremely, afraid of heights but they all talked me into going on the giant ferris wheel. OMG - that was a tough one. I tried to enjoy it but it was hard! We went to the Children's Museum which is located at Navy Pier and the girls had loads of fun. They had open mic night so, of course, Brenna just had to get up there!! That girl wants to be a performer so bad one day! She was under pressure and couldn't think of a song so she did the ABC song but she put her own spin on it. She was so cute!! I will try to post her "performance".

~Girls Day in Chicago~

Nik at the Bean!!

Karen, Mom & Nik

Karen & April

My aunt, Krista, has set off on another journey across the world - she and her family have moved to Germany! We hope to go visit her next year. Anyway, we wanted to do something fun w/ her before she left so we went to Chicago for the day. My mom, sister, cousin - April, two aunts and me had a great time. We took the Metra into Chicago, went to the Chicago Bean, had manicures, walked around, went to Mike Ditka's Restaurant and just enjoyed the day! Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of my aunt, Krista!!! Duh!!

~Brenna 8th Birthday~

"Screaming" bird

Brennie w/ snake

Brennie

Aubree w/ a tarantula - ICK!!

Nic & Dave

Chloe & Bren

My nephew, Nic.

Pinata

Brenna had a great birthday party in September. She had a "Silly Hat Party" so most people arrived wearing a kooky hat. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of everyone in their hats -dang! My mom picked up Brenna the morning of the party to take her to get a new outfit and to get her hair and nails done so Brenna didn't even end up wearing her silly hat! We, also, had an animal show, a face painter and a pinata. Enjoy the pics!

~Wildwood~

The cabin looks awesome! Dave is doing such a great job. The roof is completed, the outside staining is done and all the windows are in. The back door is in and he is hoping to put the front door in this weekend and then we will be completely shelled in - yea!!

The leaves are changing and Wildwood looks beautiful! I'll try to take some pictures this weekend and post them.

~Gone To The Dogs~

I'm tired -really tired! And it's because of my three dogs. Listen, I love dogs (see previous post) but I love them to a fault. Our dogs have taken over our bed - I am getting no sleep. I am a walking zombie during the day! My dogs love me as much as I love them so they feel the need to cuddle up against me while they sleep. Now, I am a BIG gal but somehow they cuddle me right over to the edge of the bed and my big ass hangs, precariously, off the side. I spend most of the night trying to balance myself so that I don't fall off the bed!

Okay, so I know this problem is my own fault but 90% of the time I don't even realize they've done it until I wake up hanging off the bed. They are sneaky little devils! Anyway, the lack of sleep is really starting to get to me so no more! I'm taking back the bed! The dogs aren't going to be happy.

~Cruelty to Animals~

I LOVE dogs - I ADORE them! If I lived on a farm I would have fifty dogs! I will never understand how anyone can harm an innocent animal.

Yesterday Brenna, Aubree, Nic and Luc were in our backyard playing and then I heard a yelping of some sort and just as I got up to investigate what was happening Brenna starts screaming from the yard and ran into the house hysterical. She could barely breathe so it was hard to understand what she was trying to tell me but I could make out the words - "man", "dog", "beating", so I ran to the yard and the kids were pointing to a house two doors down. This man was beating his very small terrier dog with some kind of pole - I lost it!

As I said, I love dogs but, of course, I love my girls and my nephews more and not only was this man beating his helpless dog but, even worse, he was beating the dogs right in front of my kids. I SCREAMED to him, "You stop beating that dog-my kids can see you!" - He yells back, "Why don't you mind your own business?!" - I say, "Listen, (#*@%), you made it my business when you did this in front of my kids! I'm calling the cops!" - He yells back, "Go ahead, call the cops!". So, I did.

They cops arrive, they take my statement, they go to the guy's door, he denies doing it! The cops tells me that he knows the guy is lying but all they can do is give him a warning but if we witness this again - he will then get a $300 fine. WTF!?

So, basically, nothing at all was done to this guy! In the mean time, the poor dog is still living with this maniac AND my kids are traumatized! Brenna has been crying over this off and on since it happened because she can't get the vision out of her head. She can't understand why the police would leave the dog with such a horrible man. And she's right - the dog should be taken away from this man. He's a sicko - what is wrong with people!?!

I would like to get the chance to beat the man with a pole and see how he likes it!

~September Fun~

Helping Grandpa w/ the corn

Enjoying roasted marshmallows!

Making music!

Cookies-Yum!

Homeschool Picnic

Homeschool Nature Day

Nature Day at the pond!

*

It's been a jam packed September! We had a Labor Day cook out - the kids had fun helping my dad shucking corn and, of course, they loved roasting marshmallows.

*

Our homeschool group had a picnic at a park and we had a huge turn out which was nice - our group is really growing. We had a police officer come to the park to give a safety talk so that was great.

*

On another day our homeschool group went to a police station for a tour. They were even able to see the room where the 911 calls come in - it was pretty cool!

*

A couple weeks ago the girls attended Homeschool Nature Day and they loved it! It was a three and half hour class and they can't wait to do it again.

*

Last Monday we met up with our homeschool group and the kids did an art lesson, they did a few science projects, had story time using puppets to act out the story and they had play time w/ their friends.

*

I, also, posted a picture of the girls baking cookies - we made them from scratch for once instead of just buying the dough!! Brenna loves to bake! sShe is always making up her own recipes which she always makes me taste and I always do - no matter what it looks like!

*

The kids have their own band - The Four Body Waves - so I posted a picture of them putting a show on for me.

*

There is never a dull moment around here!!