I'm Back

I know, can you believe it, I'm actually writing on my blog. It's been months since I've done so. No reason why, other than busyness and laziness, I've taken a little break. Well, I won't go as far back as Christmas to comment on but our trip to Florida. We went at the end of January and had a wonderful time. Well, let's say the weather was wonderful, but sickness plagued the condo and we either tried to stay out of the condo or in the condo.

We arrived on a Sunday. Emma immediately had to get in the pool. She was in there for maybe 20 minutes before she threw up in it...delightful. Luckily, Mark, my father-in-law and Emma were the only people in the pool. It was the case of drinking too much water. Monday was a treat with Joshua. He was crabby and clingy all day long, which is unusual for him. So, after a LONG day with fussiness, I decided to take him to a walk in clinic a couple minutes from the condo. It was closed! Had to go to the E.R. that night. Luckily, after some Motrin, he seemed to perk up and never fussed afterward. Our trip to the E.R. was, well, money down the drain. He was perfectly fine. Tuesday was the day we rented a boat to cruise around, my mother-in-law stayed at the condo, she wasn't feeling good. Ends up she had the stomach flu bad. She hadn't had the bug for hmmm, more than 10 years, but of course, ended up getting it while on vacation. So, we tried to stay out of the condo for a couple days, Tuesday & Wednesday. Late Wednesday night, in the middle of the night, Emma was on fire. She was extremely hot. I ended up giving her Motrin and Tylenol all day Thursday & Friday until I decided it was her turn to visit the E.R. At first, we thought she had sun poisoining, so we tried staying in the condo or out of the sun as much as possible. How do you do that in Florida?! Then from sun poisoining to Fifth's disease, we thought she might of had that. Then I decided, enough self diagnosing, time to take her to the E.R. Yep, saw the same doctor and everything. I'm glad I went though, she ended up having Scarlet Fever. She had a 102 temp, Horrible itchy rash, beat red cheeks and a sore throat. Needless to say, the weather was GREAT! Hopefully next year will be better.

Well, here are some of our pics. Oh, I have to comment, Emma made a wonderful friend there, Aaron. They are actually pen pals now. There is a picture of Emma, Joshua and Aaron.

How I found Joshua

Joshua loves to do whatever Emma is doing. He loves to have whatever she has. It's fun for Joshua, but not always thrilling for Emma. Well, Emma loves to run through the bed sheets when I'm trying to fold them. Or she loves to walk through the drapes hanging in our family room. I don't know what it is, but she loves the feeling of it. Joshua has learned this unique talent (I'm so thrilled about that (joking)). Anyway, I went to get him from his nap this morning and found him like the picture. He loved it! He got up and walked around the crib, as much as he could. Emma had to join in on the fun too.

69 years of Marriage

It's amazing to think that a couple can be together for as long as 69 years. This is the amount of time that Grammy and Grampy have been married. What an incredible model they are, one that Mark and I could only hope for. This past Monday, the family here in Chicago, including G&G's daughter, Dianne, celebrated their anniversary. We all went to dinner at their community restaurant. It was wonderful food and the best part was that we had a room to ourselves, which worked out wonderfully with the kids. Emma, Joshua and Dianne danced while others finished eating. We enjoyed a delicious cake that the restaurant provided, Joshua especially loved that. If you look closely, in one of the pictures, Joshua is wearing pink lipstick (icing).

It has been a couple of years that Grammy and Grampy have moved here...I can't imagine life without them now. They are a blessing to our family and we are grateful that we have the privilege to share our lives, moments/experiences (the good and bad) and accomplishments with each other during this season of our lives.

Happy 69 years of marriage G&G!

Already a remote man!

I snapped a couple of pictures of Joshua the other day. He was so happy to have not just one remote....but TWO. Yes ladies and gentleman, he already wants control of the remotes.

Happy Halloween

Last night was fun. Emma dressed up like a princess...Joshua didn't dress up like anything. Awhile back, Emma decided she did not want to go trick-or-treating. She was traumatized by the very ghorry/scary Halloween items in the Factory Card Outlet store and wanted to only stay inside this year. Which was fine with me, she wanted to pass out the candy. Everything was going great. At the beginning of the night there were barely any trick or treater's. She waited patiently at the window for them. All was well until she saw her first scary costume...the "Scream" mask. I don't know if that was the hit costume for this year, but almost every group that came to the door someone had this "Scream" mask on. Well, needless to say, that did her in and she refused to answer the door anytime after that. Her very good friend Lillie came over (sorry, I didn't get a picture of them together), that was a fun time for her. Other than that, she enjoyed having Nana, Papa, Grammy and Grampy over to share in this very anticipated event. Well, looks like our next upcoming event to look forward to is Thanksgiving. Can't wait for that one.

Happy Birthday Mom

So, I'm a little late on wishing my mom a Happy Birthday. Her actual birthday was this past Saturday. Well, we decided this year to go to my sister's house (which usually is the place to meet seeing as they have the largest home among us all). We had a great time. It had been a while since we all had gotten together, so it was nice to see each other. We hung out, ate and enjoyed cake. The cake was beautiful and very tasty! Here are some pics to enjoy. Happy Birthday Mom.

Trip to Michigan

This past weekend, My sister and her family, my parents and Mark and I and the kids took a trip to Michigan. Our purpose was to visit friends and also to re-hash old memories of places we use to go to. One of our spots of visiting was Franklin Cider Mill. My family and Mark use to visit there often during the Fall. I must say, they have the best cider and donuts around. I'm sure the memories is what makes it taste so good, but I wanted to share my wonderful memories of Fall time with Emma and Joshua.

We had a chance to see our old house (Unfortunately, we were not able to see Mark's old house), see friends and enjoy family time together. Emma and her cousins Sam and Jonah thoroughly enjoyed and took advantage of the pool at the hotel. It seemed that every time we went some where they wanted to go back to the hotel and go swimming. I think that was the highlight of their weekend.

It was wonderful to see my childhood friend from when I lived in Michigan. It is always a joy seeing her and her family. It's wonderful that after 17 years, we still stay in contact with each other.

We also spent most of our time with our old neighbor Annie. She was like my oldest sister and another child to my parents. She is an amazing friend and we sure have missed her.

It would be wonderful to make a trip to Michigan every year around Fall time and have that be a family tradition. It's hard to get everyone together like we did this past weekend, but it was enjoyable and memorable. Happy Fall!