Chicago pictures

Meeting new friends. Annie (in the pink) and Logan were on the same waiting child list at our agency. Coincidentally, after we started our paperwork to adopt Logan, my sister moved to within 5 minutes of Annie's family. It was fun to meet them--they brought Annie home just after we got home with Logan, and they also have Matthew (in the green pants) and 3 teenagers!

Logan and Annie exploring the toy cabinet...

Hiding from the rain with cousins Sam and Alec.

Traveling by water taxi with Sam, Alec, and Uncle Frank. We had an AWESOME day!!

Waiting for the Metra train. Train, bus, boat and car were all modes of transportation this day. Add the plane going out and coming back, and bikes and scooters while playing with the cousins, and we did it all over the week.

Aaahhh...baseball with the big cousins. Is there anything better???


The little boys were in heaven all week. Alec (age 12) and Sam (age 10) were incredibly generous with their time and seemed to have quite some fun playing with Ryan and Logan. The little guys sure miss them!

There's one more set of pics that I need to get from my sister, since she had a camera handy and I didn't. Frank, Sam, Ryan, and Logan raked leaves in the yard on Sunday afternoon. Frank raked a HUGE pile of leaves, then the boys jumped in. They had such fun! Chris took a bunch of great pictures of the crew playing in the leaves, and when she sends them to me I'll post them here.

All in all, it was a perfect trip. A huge thanks to Aunt Chris, Uncle Frank, Alec, and Sam for having us out for a visit. We loved it! Next time we'll bring everyone!

some things don't change...much

Found myself laughing hard this morning. This first picture was in our referral packet for Logan, and was probably taken in the spring of 2007. The second picture? Taken on Saturday in downtown Chicago. Apparently this is a favorite pose for him! It's amazing to see how much he's changed in about 18 months.

And they're off...again??

Yes, the little guys and I are off again. This time we're in Chicago visiting my sister Chris and her family. We haven't seen them since Ryan's 1st birthday!! So the 3 of us are enjoying a few days here, and as a bonus Chris and Frank get to go away overnight to celebrate their 15th anniversary while Auntie Jen holds down the fort for the little boys and the big cousins, Alec (12) and Sam (10). What fun we've had so far!! Alec and Sam are SO wonderful to Ryan and Logan, and the little two adore their big cousins.

Yesterday was quite the adventure. Not being able to do a web check-in for our flight should have raised a red flag for me. Our reservations were finally retrieved, boarding passes issued, and luggage checked. Security check? No sweat. We walked a loooonnnnggg ways to the end of terminal C to our gate to wait for our boarding call. The boys were enchanted with watching planes take off, so it wasn't a big deal. Then the flight was delayed--for 45 minutes. Ummm...okay. Off to Starbucks for a Strawberries and Creme to share. One cup, three straws. That killed about 15 minutes. Then we played some games and used the bathroom one last time. Then the dreaded announcement: "Your plane has been grounded for mechanical difficulties." OY! But, they had a new plane for us...at the far end of a different terminal. So we packed up our gear and trudged all the way back down terminal C and across the airport, then down to the end of terminal D. When we arrived, they were moving people around on the already full flight, since the new plane (which needed to be cleaned and loaded with luggage) was smaller than the one we were supposed to be on. Having seats in row 30, I waited for our names to be called. At that point, I had decided that if they called us to bump, I was simply going home. It had been a long morning and I was done.

We boarded our flight nearly 2 hours after we were supposed to depart, and over 3 hours after our arrival at the airport. By now the boys were nearly stir crazy. Fortunately, lunch and the excitement of take-off held them over. They were awesome passengers, albeit a bit tired. Both of them fell asleep on approach to Chicago, as the pilot lowered the landing gear! Oh well. The ride here was good and we're enjoying ourselves. We even got to be Sam's "show and tell" in class today!! Sharing our trip to China with 25 fifth graders was a blast.

Pics soon--probably when I get home since I don't have the cable for my camera. Maybe sooner if I can find one here. I hope so! I got some great ones today of the Ryan and Logan playing a mean game of whiffle ball with Alec and Sam. However, I missed the Razor riding... Big cousins are awesome!!

jealous?? :) *updated*

You know, I have the greatest husband in the world! Why? Well, because HE'S at home with all 5 of the kids still living there, and I'm sitting in a hotel room in Portland. Enjoying the peace and quiet. Reading books to my heart's content. And getting ready for some power shopping. Yep, the primary goal of the trip is so that I can do ALL our Christmas shopping this weekend. For all 8 family members plus the 8 Kassebaums in Jim's extended family getting gifts from us this year (we draw names) and all 10 Tracy family members. Plus Logan's birthday presents, Ryan's birthday presents, and perhaps mine as well. So power shopping it will be. Sounds wonderful, I know, but anyone who knows me well knows that I dislike shopping. So it truly is a sacrifice...of sorts.

One of the huge bonuses this year was dinner last night with my college roommate Carol. (Hi Carol!!) I haven't seen her in probably 4 years, and we had a wonderful time catching up. I've missed her. Tonight I get to have dinner with a dear friend from high school. Jeanne married her high school sweetheart, and her girls are about the same ages as some of my big guys. It will be fun to catch up with her.

So pretty soon I'm outta here to start the shopping. Old habits die hard, and I was awake at 5:30 this morning. Right now I'm just cooling my heels waiting for it to be time to leave. Then I'll hit the stores. Maybe tonight I'll report back on how many places I went to accomplish this HUGE task...

In the meantime, I'm going to savor every moment of peace and quiet!!

**Well, I did it. Twenty two stores and 9 hours of shopping later, I finished. I conquered Christmas! I have a few things I have to order online, but everything else is done. Bring on winter!! :)

when big sisters get involved with "doing hair"

...you end up with spiked hair on 3 year olds...

They grow too fast

Hailey's a senior this year, and she had her senior pics taken last weekend. Here are just a few...





This last picture is Hailey and one of her dear friends Carla. I'm so impressed by all the pictures (over 200!) that we got--Hailey's friend Lisa took them as part of her culminating project for high school graduation. Lisa does incredible work (especially at age 18!) and Hailey had fun being part of her project.

naptime

Pretty much says it all, don't you think??

priorities

Ryan had a piece of toast this morning for breakfast; Logan had cereal. That's pretty normal. The conversation with Ryan that followed, however, is not:

Ryan: Mooommm, I'm still hunnngggrrryy.... (said with whiny voice)
Mom: Well, you can have another piece of toast or a bowl of cereal. Which would you like?
Ryan: Not cereal. Not toast. Mom, I'm HUNGRY! (more whining)
Mom: Well, Ryan, you can't have a cookie.
Ryan: Okay. Can I be 'scused? I'm fuuulllll. (no whines, just a big smile)

I about died laughing! And yes, he REALLY wanted a cookie. I made chocolate chip cookies yesterday. He helped me put some in big sisters' lunches this morning, then watched as one of the girls took one to eat on the way to school. Stinker! He thought he should have one too.

Wii anyone??

About 6 weeks ago, we bought a Wii. It's been a BLAST, but Logan hasn't been able to put all the pieces together to be able to play with us. As a matter of fact, it's been an exercise in sheer frustration for all of us. In the last week or so, though, he's made a HUGE leap. Now he loves bowling and golfing and baseball with anyone who will play. In this pic, the boys are bowling while I fix dinner. (I snuck in to take a picture.)

The boys don't get much time to play--about half an hour a few times a week. One of the things they love most is to bowl with Mom AND Dad before bed. It's hysterical and fun, and we try and play at least once a week. Watch out though--Ryan will beat your socks off. Not many places a 3 year old who weighs 29 pounds can really bowl, but on the Wii he consistently bowls a 180 or so. Kicks my butt. Logan? Not so good. His average is about 65, but he loves trying.

While I'm not a huge fan of electronic games for the preschool set, this has been fun. Where else can you truly PLAY baseball or golf with your 3 year old? Bowl with them? And there are some added benefits: keeps them moving, keeps them playing with us (or their sisters!) , and has definitely helped the eye-hand coordination. Just don't play baseball or tennis with Ryan--he'll cream you!

back to the hospital

My nephew Nicholas, age 6, heads back to the hospital tomorrow for another round of chemo. It will be a 4 or 5 day stay this time. He'll have a lumbar puncture (lp) tomorrow and some chemo meds injected into his spinal fluid during the lp. Then he'll be on intense IV chemo for 4 days. Sounds nasty beyond measure. If I understood my sister correctly, he'll end this round of chemo with a bone marrow test to determine how much residual leukemia lives in his marrow. Those numbers will determine whether he has more chemo or heads here for his bone marrow transplant.

Please keep Nicholas and his family in your prayers! (And see the post from September 11 titled "Bone Marrow Anyone?" for a picture of Nicholas and more information about his leukemia.)