Picture of the Day, Week 32

After uploading my photos, I realized that this week was the beginning of saying our good-byes. Five of our seven pictures revolve around seeing some of our Pekin friends for the last time before we move to Minnesota. {Update for friends and family: our official moving date is now this Saturday, the 20th. Just FYI.} :)

Sunday {8.7.11}

We joined the Blands, Carlsons, and Moores for a late evening ice cream treat, wherein the ladies gifted me this set of vintage Pyrex bowls. We found them when we shopped the antique stores a few weeks ago, and the ladies knew how much I had fallen in love with these, so they surprised me with them as a going away gift. I heart those ladies! And I heart these bowls!!

Monday {8.8.11}

After a long summer of separation, Drew and best buddy Gage played again! Drew and I met Gage and his mom at the park for a good-bye playdate. I'm not sure what these guys are going to do without each other. :(

Tuesday {8.9.11}

We met up with the Allen/Ori family at McDonalds for lunch, for one last get together. There are really no words that fully express our love, appreciation, and gratitude for this family. They are gems. We will miss them deeply.

Wednesday {8.10.11}

Papers were signed and everything became final today for our separation from our church. I'm unsure what photo I'll use for today, if I'll use one at all...

Thursday {8.11.11}

Graduation day from speech therapy, and good-byes to Alison, our speech therapist.

Friday {8.12.11}

We happened to Skype with Grammy & Papa just before bedtime, so we asked Grammy if she'd read our bedtime stories. She very happily obliged. :)

Saturday {8.13.11}

The boys left today for their summer stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I forgot my camera, of course, but I'm sure that my mother-in-law will have plenty of photos to fill in for today! :)

Graduation Day

Guess who graduated from speech therapy today?!?!

In anticipation of moving to Minnesota, our Early Intervention service coordinator, along with Alison, our speech therapist, and Carissa, the developmental therapist who has periodically evaluated Reed, met with us today to perform the exit interview from their program. Last week at therapy, Alison evaluated Reed on his speech progress, and upon scoring the test, discovered that not only does Reed no longer surpass the 30% delay eligibility mark (he was at a 32% delay when we began therapy back in February), he has reached the 0% range. Which means --- he has absolutely no delay whatsoever! He is exactly where he should be for his age!

That's my boy!

YAHOO!!!

We are obviously thrilled with this on a couple different levels. Practically speaking, of course, it means that he no longer requires therapy, and therefore we don't have to go through the rigamaroll of setting up therapy services for him once we move. Beyond that, it means that our baby has accomplished an incredible feat (or at least we think so) and has made incredible strides to overcome his delay. Can you tell that I'm just a little bit proud?!?!

No more therapy, however, means no more Alison. We would have had to say goodbye to her upon moving (therapy required or not), and it was sweet that we were able to say goodbye to her today knowing that she and Reed had finished the job they started, but it was still bittersweet for me. She has been such a gift to our entire family. She is amazing at what she does, and possesses such kindness, patience, and genuine care for both her patients and their families. She gave all of us the skills and lessons we needed for Reed to succeed, and for that, we are forever thankful.

We love you, Alison!

Picture of the Day, Weeks 29, 30 & 31

I've packed about a dozen boxes in the last two days, and I figured my due reward was sitting down at the computer to blog. And then I actually sat down to do it, and wanted to walk away because I just wasn't sure where to start. Never again should I stay away this long! Although the carpal tunnel I'm sure to have in the future is thanking me. :)

Let's catch up a bit with our pictures of the day, shall we?

Sunday {7.17.11}

Drew was taking an unusually long time in the bathroom this morning, and so when I peeked in on him to find out if he was okay, I discovered he was busy occupying himself with a puzzle he had brought in with him. Oh yes. Sitting on the potty, doing a puzzle. That's a new one! (I'm sparing Drew from online embarrassment and won't post the picture here...but that doesn't mean I'll spare him in the future when his girlfriend browses our family photo albums!)

Monday {7.18.11}

We took a family field trip to Normal, IL to visit the Children's Discovery Museum. It is four floors of education, exploration and imagination as children learn about their bodies, science, agriculture, music, the environment and more. This was a giant wind tunnel maze that the boys could put soft balls into to blow around. (More to come on this...eventually.)

Tuesday {7.19.11}

It's stinkin' hot here. And humid. (I don't think we went outside all week.) I would like to kiss the person that invented air conditioning. On the lips.

Wednesday {7.20.11}

My newest online obsession: Pinterest. It is a visual bookmarking tool that allows me to "pin" on my "boards" things online that I would normally just bookmark. What I love about it is that it is visual so I can find exactly what I'm looking for instead of scrolling through a bookmark tab filled with words. I also love that I can see so many ideas in one place, instead of searching endlessly across the internet. One thing that it has done for me is help me define my style in terms of home decor/design. This is going to be great when we find a new home! :) Now I just need to spend less time on Pinterest and more time making some of the things I've pinned! (If you're interested in seeing my boards, click HERE.)

Thursday {7.21.11}

The boys have been enjoying vacation Bible school this week at church. They are learning all about God's love for them via a group of crazy pandas and other such wildlife. They're both having a great time!

Friday {7.22.11}
We were surprised today to find Drew's picture in our local paper! He has been enjoying the summer Fun Friday program at Hobby Horse, and there were two pictures in today's paper of his class - with Drew front and center! I'll use these for today's POTD.

Saturday {7.23.11}

If you were ever curious as to the damage five women can do on a weekend meant just for the girls - chatting, eating, laughing, and shopping - this is it! Another super successful and super fun cousin's weekend with my girls!

Sunday {7.24.11} - Friday {7.29.11}

A week of vacations - the boys at Grammy & Papa's house and Brad and I in Las Vegas. I'll likely do two different spreads in our album with favorite photos of our week, and I'll post a bunch of pictures here, too, of course. Someday. :)

Saturday {7.30.11}

Today we attended the wedding of my dear, sweet friend Laura. The five of us girls (Jenni, Angie, Laura, Allyson and I) were friends in high school, and it had been 10 years or so since I last saw most of them. It was a beautiful wedding, and a wonderful time to reconnect.

Sunday {7.31.11}

My dad acquired an insane amount of Legos, and Brad got a wild hair to "organize" them by shape. He did this by building towers of like blocks, doing so until 1:30 in the morning. I guess boys never do grow up, huh?

Monday {8.1.11}

Today, and every other day of the boys' vacation, is captured on my parents' camera, which I neglected to upload to my computer before leaving their house. I think I took a total of two pictures on my camera at their place once we got back from Vegas on Friday. I'm sure they'll have something usable from the boys' adventures to fill in for today. :)

Tuesday {8.2.11}

On the road again, headed back home.

Reed's banter from the backseat went a little something like this:

"Drew, watch!"

[Drew looks at Reed. Reed scrunches up his face and laughs. Drew laughs. Repeat.]

Goofy.

Wednesday {8.3.11}

After being away from home for 12 days, it took the boys approximately 3.7 seconds to get reacquainted with their toys. Every.single.one of their toys.

Thursday {8.4.11}

This has got to be the boys' favorite show to watch with their dad. Tonight, as they watched a DVR'd episode, Drew created his own Wipeout Zone with his legos. Sometimes I'm so surprised, and impressed, with his creativity.

Friday {8.5.11}

In preparation to move, we had a garage sale to unload some of our excess (and super old) furniture, toys, and other unnecessaries. We didn't sell as much as we hoped, but got rid of everything nonetheless as we donated the remainder to Goodwill.

Saturday {8.6.11}

I found these two sitting here quietly this afternoon. I didn't want to disturb this sweet brother moment, but it was quiet time...and Mama needed a break!

Whew! That took waaaaayyy longer than it should have! Apparently I have some rust to shake off when it comes to typing! Hopefully I'll be back again soon with more to share...but don't hold your breath. :)

We're Not Dead. I Promise.

Well, hello there!

It's been a while, huh???

We have successfully returned home after 12 days of vacation. And boy did it feel good!

I have a lot of pictures to share, and a backlog of pre-vacation stories to post about, but chances are it will be a while before I get around to it. I'm knee-deep in unpacking from vacation, getting organized for a garage sale this weekend, packing up moving boxes, making doctor's appointments and other arrangements to be sure we are moving with all the necessary documents, chatting with friends, and sleeping. Yes, sleeping. Many of you will agree that often times upon returning from a vacation, one needs another vacation to recover!

We continue to ask for your prayers.

We love you!

Outside

You wouldn't have known it considering the depressive heat that has plagued us for the past several days, but last week we had two really beautiful days. Mother Nature gave us a bit of a reprieve from the confines of our home (although it still wasn't quite nice enough to turn off the A/C...and when it's 99 degrees with a heat index of 115 degrees, the confines of home aren't so bad!) and the boys and I were able to stretch our legs outside - which is exactly where two growing boys need to be!

Wednesday of last week, the temperature peaked at 80 degrees. Lovely! In between Craft Wednesday and quiet time, we stayed outside as much as we could. We went for a walk in the morning, then spent the afternoon spinning our wheels (I'm hilarious!) in the church parking lot.

A little basketball, too.

We went for another walk Thursday morning (another 80 degree day), but we jazzed it up a bit with an outdoor scavenger hunt. I have been trying to figure out exactly what kind of hunt I could put together for the boys when I spied this free printable online. It was perfect - exactly what I was looking for and I didn't have to do the work! Bonus!

I supplied both boys with our list of things to find and a marker...

...and we were off!

Among the items on our list - a garbage can. They are in abundance when you go for a walk on garbage day. :)

The picture of the flower on our sheet was yellow, so Drew was convinced we needed to find sunflowers. I shutter to think what would have happened had we not found any. :)

Thursday night, then, we headed over to the park for their weekly family movie. Babe 2: Pig in the City was playing. It wasn't our first choice, but our summer schedule has been a bit wonky and this was the first we were free to go (we would have rather seen Up or Planet 51 which they played earlier in the summer). It was a beautiful night for an outdoor movie (meaning: no bugs!) and all three of the boys seemed to enjoy the movie.

Friday night we were invited to dinner at the Blands' home. The Carlsons' joined us, and along with the neighbor girls, we had a night filled with games, children, and FUN! The Blands' backyard is a kid's paradise - basketball court (which means concrete for sidewalk chalk art), badminton, bags, and a playset, and their backyard gates open to the neighbor's backyard, which has swings and a slide, a giant ball to roll around in, and other toys, making it an absolute dream for the boys and their friends. It was another beautiful night!

Now...if Mother Nature would just give it up already. We've had our third straight day of heat indices over 100. Have I ever mentioned my love for autumn?!?!

Picture of the Day, Week 28

Sunday {7.10.11}

Whatever they're watching really captured their attentions.

Oh man, what have I created?!?!

Monday {7.11.11}

A low-impact chair exercise group has started at church, and the boys and I have joined in on occasion. Favorite part: "chair dancing to the decades" with paper plates. :)

Tuesday {7.12.11}

Story hour at our library.

Wednesday {7.13.11}

We've finally gotten a bit of a reprieve from the hot and humid weather, and we took full advantage of it! We spent some time playing around in the church parking lot after naps today.

Thursday {7.14.11}

Another beautiful night to spend outdoors! Our park district has free family movie night at the park during the summer, and it's a fun opportunity to watch a movie under the stars. Babe 2: Pig in the City was showing. It wasn't our first choice, but it's the first we've been able to go with our crazy, weird summer calendar. The boys had a good time; although I think Brad enjoyed the movie the most. :)

Friday {7.15.11}

We had dinner with the Blands and the Carlsons tonight at the Blands' home. They have a rockin' backyard, with play equipment, games, basketball hoop, a fish pond, and a gate that walks into the neighbors yard that just happens to be the home of one of Drew's preschool classmates (who's backyard has swings, wagons, inflatable balls you can roll around in, and more!). We ate, played, and stayed out until 10:45!

(Super bad photo, yes...but I was having too much fun to stop and take too many photos!)

Saturday {7.16.11}

More outdoor summer lovin' tonight! We enjoyed a wonderful potluck picnic tonight with some of our church friends at a nearby park. It was lovely. (I took a total of two pictures...I'm relying on a friend to give me a few of hers for today's POTD.)

Craft Wednesday #6

Rain Sticks

{seen HERE}

After the last couple weeks of doing projects that required the hot glue gun, and therefore a lot of assistance, I wanted to get the boys back in on the hands-on action. I choose this craft especially for this reason. That, and I had all the supplies on hand. Love it when that happens.

Our supplies: wrapping paper tubes, rice, aluminum foil, paint, and stickers.

In the morning, we painted the tubes.

It's just easier to take their shirts off and wash skin than it is to wash their clothes. And actually, the paint we used must have been past its prime as it no longer had the washability factor. I think Reed is still sporting some orange spots on his stomach.

Then we had to wait for the paint to dry. And there was a lot of paint on those tubes, so it was going to take a while!

Fast forward past lunch, quiet time, playing outside, and supper, and we were back up to the craft room to finish.

They finished decorating their rain sticks by adding stickers.

I have quite a collection.

Childhood habits die hard, I guess.

Reed's hard at work.

I don't think there was an inch of Drew's tube that wasn't covered by a sticker.

Then I taped up one end, we added the aluminum foil and the rice, and taped up the other end.

Hello very fun and festive rain sticks! How fun you were to make!

{Sidenote:

Fun Food Friday didn't happen this week. The second half of our week ended up keeping us pretty busy, and I plum forgot all about it. That's never happened before... ha!}