Ups and downs

 
 
 























I'm back, and it's April already, but I want to make sure to re-cap the last few moths because I feel like I'll forget some of it if I don't! First of all, it's the never-ending winter, for real!  Its mid-April and we actually had snow covering our grass for the 3rd time this month.  Luckily it was melted by about 10am, so at least it was nice to see the sun. At least Spring is trying to come out, but it can't get here fast enough!  We've had a lot going on these last few months. Some good, some bad.


I guess I should start ALL the way back to December, if I can remember that long ago!  Kenley Marie turned 7, and we had a big party at our house.  Her list of friends she wants to invite is getting longer and longer each year.  She had a "Sweet-shoppe" themed birthday, which was created by having a make your own cookie decorating station, a candy bar, candy decorations, and lots of sweets to eat! She had a great birthday with her family and friends. She's giving me glimpses into what I'll be dealing with as she gets into those teenage years....a little scary!

We celebrated Krusemas with Ray's family shortly after that, and we had a fun day at our house. The highlight of this year was Ray's "secret santa" gift that he opened, which happened to be from his sister, that included a note letting us know that Kenny will be a big brother this summer!  She is having a girl, so we will be getting another niece soon. It is so crazy how much our whole family has grown these last few years, and it will be fun to have another cousin in the mix!

We celebrated Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family at our house, and we were so happy my Grandma W was able to make it!!  She had a stroke back in October, and is still on the road to recovery.  She had a great time being surrounded by 7 of her great-grandchildren.  The kids had a great Christmas morning, and it was fun that Rylee was joining in on the excitement this year. We went to my mom's later on Christmas day, and ended the night playing CLR with my dad's side of the family.  It was a fun few weeks!!

The month of January is a bit of a blur, but probably because I was only focused on the end of the month when we were taking a vacation!! We went to Riviera Maya for a week, and we loved it!The only downfall to this trip was our limo breaking down on the way to the airport, having to get in a back-up van, being a bit late checking in and dealing with a rude airline employee, and having to beg for them to allow us to check in and try to make our flight. My heart was beating so hard while we were waiting to get through security and we literally sprinted through the airport to be the very last ones to board, but we made it! 

It was the same chain of resorts we stayed at last year, and we loved how family friendly it was.  It was a little more challenging with Rylee on the go, but she loved the water, and overall she was good.  We had a blast at the waterparks, pools, and beach every day.  Kenley was very adventurous, as always, and her and I went swimming with the dolphins. Charlie and I had an awesome experience the last day just standing in about 1ft of water, and we had at least 15-20 fish swimming all around us. Rylee was a little trouper and loved the water, and she was able to climb up some of the baby waterslides and we would catch her coming down. Ray and I were able to sneak in a little bit of relaxing and we got a couples massage on the beach.  The kids loved the kids club, and they participated in different activities each day like dance contests, face painting, crafts, and pool games.  It was such a great time to go during February, and we loved every minute in the sun during our Chicago winter.

Of course, coming back from a tropical vacation things could only go downhill from there. We basically spent the months of February and March with everyone taking turns being sick.  The kids got various viruses, which kept me home with them quite a bit....going stir crazy! Then, Charlie got the flu, and eventually I got it and so did Ray.  (Luckily) I hadn't been sick like that in a few years. There were basically 2 days I stayed in bed and didn't move much, which is very unlike me, but luckily my parents and sister helped out with the kids until I could somewhat function again. I was at the doctors's office pretty much every week, and often more than once a week, during those months. 

 

 

My Grandma Voight's health had not been good for a while, and she passed away at the end of March. My sister and I went to go visit her and my grandpa when they were both in the hospital just a few weeks before.  It was a good visit, but very hard since we knew that it was probably our last time seeing her. She spent her last few days side by side with my grandpa, just as she wanted. We are all very lucky to have had her in our lives and have many wonderful memories with her.

 

 

To end on a positive note, I started writing this post last week, and within that week Spring has decided to join us!! We've had some sunshine and 60ish degree weather this past week!  Yay! There's nothing better than sunshine and fresh air to boost my spirits. The kids have been out riding their bikes, we've been to the park, and our whole neighborhood has come alive! We're looking forward to finishing up the school year, and starting Summer! It's hard to believe that in a few short months I'll have 2 kids in school full time. I'm excited to get that extra time with all of them over the summer, and I know we will have fun. My strategy is to keep them busy so they don't drive me, or each other crazy!

Fall is....over??

I wanted to do a quick update and realized my last post was back to school.  It seems like that was so long ago in some ways, but now the holidays are already fast approaching!!  It snowed by us for the first time today, which is way too early for me!  We went from the beginning of Oct. starting out feeling like August, to snow in the beginning of November. The kids were so excited to see the tiny flakes falling, but I didn't quite share their enthusiasm. Other than the fact that Charlie and Kenley have taken turns swapping fevers and vomiting this week, I'm also not looking forward to all of the bundling up it requires to go out.  Fingers crossed we are all in the healthy zone now, but I know germs come with this time of year.






















On a higher note, we had a great Fall season. We went to a few of the local pumpkin patches, which was a lot of fun.  It was nice that Rylee was able to do more and join in on the fun.  We spent one weekend in Gurnee and used our season passes to go to Fright Fest.  It was a good time, and the kids really liked it, even though they were a little creeped out a few times.  We got on a lot of rides the first day we went, and Kenley even got to ride The Joker!  It was fun that it was both of our first times on that ride, and she was a little nervous, but afterward she said she wanted to go again. 

A week later, my sister and I took a trip to Vegas!  We had planned this in the summer, and we had tickets to go see Britney Spears.  We had a great trip, and it was so nice to get in some quality sister time without the distractions of 5 little ones, even though we did miss them.  We did a little bit of everything-went to a rooftop bar, gambled, re-lived our high school/college days at the concert, laid by the pool and drank mimosa, and shopped.  It was the perfect little sister's getaway!  

 

The kids had a really fun Halloween, and we had a few parties the weeks leading up to the 31st. On Halloween, the kids had parties at school, and then we went trick-or-treating as a family with all of our neighborhood friends, and then we went back to one house for pizza. We hosted a neighborhood get-together at our house just a few days before Halloween, and we had a pretty good turn out even though the weather wasn't great.  I'm now on the committee to plan our big subdivision block party for this upcoming summer.

These next few weeks will be filled with lots of family parties!  My niece, Autumn, had her 3rd birthday party last weekend, and we had an engagement party for Ray's cousin, Joe. They asked all 3 of our kids and their cousin Kenny to be in the wedding, which was really sweet! Thanksgiving is 2 weeks away, Kenny will be celebrating his 1st birthday, then Kenley will have her 7th birthday, and then the Christmas celebrations will begin!  It will be a busy month, but I'm looking forward to it and everything that goes along with the holidays.  I'll be bringing out all the Christmas décor the week of Thanksgiving, which I know will really get me into the spirit.

Back to School

 





















It's the end of August, and for us, that means that school started this week.  Kenley is on to 1st grade!  She was excited about going back to school, and has met even more kids in the neighborhood before and after school the first few days.  I also started teaching last week back at the community college.  I have one class, so I will just be teaching twice a week.  Next week, Charlie will start 4 year old pre-school at a next week.  He's going to a new school, and he seems to be looking forward to it.  After next week, all of the kids activities start too. Charlie is going to be in t-ball, Kenley is going to be in dance, gymnastics, and girl scouts.  So, we will be very busy once everything is in full swing!

August 2nd, Ray and I celebrated our 9th anniversary.  We went out to dinner, and the following weekend, we went to the Billy Joel concert.  I got him the tickets for his birthday, so it was kind of a celebration for his b-day and our anniversary.  It was a fun night out, and we went to the concert with his sister and her husband.  9 years have flown by, and it's crazy that next year will be our 10th!  I'm hoping we can maybe try to plan a little get-away for that one!

 

 

Charlie also officially turned 4!!  We celebrated at home with pizza and cake, and then we gave him his gift, which was an awesome motorized car.  It's actually pretty fast, and he can be a bit of a crazy driver, but he loves it!  He has been giving the whole neighborhood rides in it!  I think he's already a little bored watching all the big kids on the block get on the bus for school this week, but being forced to stay home with me.  I think he's going to have a great school year, and we just found out that one of our neighbors is in the same class as him.

Rylee took her first few steps about a week ago, but doesn't have much interest in walking too much.  She's still more comfortable crawling, but I know she will be off and running soon!  She's into everything!  It will be nice to have a little one-on-one time on the days that Kenley and Charlie are both at school. I also plan on squeezing in some errands and mostly doing a lot of house cleaning during the time that they are at school and when Rylee naps. 











We also ended the summer with a little "camping" trip with Katie, Greg, and the girls.  It was such a fun campground, and it was perfect for us and the kids.  We each rented these little cabins, and spent a few days swimming in the lake, enjoying the bonfire, and letting the kids run around and get dirty! It was a great little get-away!  

 

We've been getting closer with some of the neighbors over these last few weeks, and it has been so fun for the kids.  We met even more kids in our neighborhood in the past few weeks, and it is nice getting to know the families  I volunteered to help put together a neighborhood block party, and we are having a little get together next week.  It's also been nice now that it is Kenley's second year in school that we have gotten to know a lot of families from there.  I like that we are feeling more connected to the community, and we are getting to know more people as the kids are involved with more activities. I'm a "real" suburban mom now, participating in car-pool and all! Good thing I recently got a new car and have more space!

I'm a bit late actually posting this, so to update, Charlie started school and it went well!  It's been a bit hectic getting into the swing of things with our new schedule, but I know it will be good.  This weekend Ray and I are getting a little date night on Saturday, so I'm looking forward to that.  The weather is starting to cool off, but I want to enjoy every bit of being outside as long as we can.  I'm looking forward to all of the pumpkin patches, and it is pretty awesome that we live less than a few miles from 3 different ones!  It's going to be a great Fall!

Sunshine, Summer, & Swimming!

We have been having an amazing summer so far!  We started off that first week strong, and we haven't stopped since.  The kids just finished up their last set of swimming lessons with my nieces, and there were a few rain days, but they were mostly swimming Monday-Friday for four weeks.  They learned so much, and they had a blast!  Kenley and Kayla both came out of swimming lessons saying goodbye to floaties, and they are now confident swimmers, which they proved to me and my sister by going down the big slides into the deep water and jumping off the diving board and safely swimming to the side. We are so proud of them!  Charlie learned how to swim a bit, and he can go a short distance on his own too.  He did really well at swimming lessons, and he already said he can't wait to go again next year.  Rylee and Autumn were in the tot class with my sister and I and had fun learning songs and playing in the water.  Autumn was the star of the class since she is so close to being 3, but she's ready to be in the big kid class next year!

As soon as school got out we took our 4th annual trip to Shipshewana.  We had quite an adventure when we first got there because within 10 minutes of walking into the flea market with all 5 kids, a stroller, and a wagon a huge storm rolled in.  We took shelter under a little eating area, but the winds, hail, and rain were crazy!! We tried to wait it out, but after about 20 minutes it didn't seem to be letting up.  My sister and I ran to our cars, which were in the flooded parking lot and drove closer to get my mom and the kids.  By the time we all got in the cars we were all soaking wet anyway.  But, we spent time going to eat and swimming and the hotel, and the next day the weather was much nicer.  We got in some shopping, a carriage ride, and stopped at the animal farm on the way home.  I love this tradition that we started, and I hope we keep it going for years to come! 

 

 

I also hosted my annual BIG playdate!  Again, this year it was even bigger than the last.  It was so much fun having so many friends gather from all different parts of my life-people I've known since I was a kid, to high school and college friends, friends I've met through the kids, and neighbors. I love that all of the kids have such a blast playing together even though they don't all know each other. I put out every outdoor toy that we own, so the kids had a blast, and there was something for kids of all ages, and it was so nice for all of us mommas to socialize!  Another tradition I hope continues!  One of my friends said, what will the 15th annual BIG playdate look like? And I said, the same mommas, probably no kids because they'll be old and won't want to hang out with us, and wine!

July was a pretty busy month too, and the biggest milestone was that Rylee turned ONE! It was so nice that Ray was able to take that day off of work, so we had a really fun 4th of July weekend. The day of her birthday we went to the zoo, out to lunch, and celebrated at home with some sparklers and cake.  She is standing, but not walking yet, she says about 20 words already, and she is still so happy!  I love how much Kenley and Charlie truly love her, and most days once I hear that she is awake I still go in her room to find that one (or sometimes both) of them have snuck into her crib with her.  Since the day we brought her home from the hospital they have started every morning wanting to be with their baby sister right when they wake up.  I know the few weeks leading up to the end of my pregnancy I got pretty nervous about how life would be with 3, and I can honestly say its been awesome!  Rylee has been the most easy-going baby, which we are so grateful for.  She seems to enjoy being on the go a lot, which is good because she has no choice!

 

 

We had a party at the house to celebrate Rylee's birthday, Charlie's upcoming birthday, and Ray's birthday too.  It was a beautiful day, and the kids had a blast playing outside and going down the waterslide.  We had a pink 1st birthday theme, and a superhero birthday party all in one! It was a busy day with friends and family coming and going, and I think everyone had a good time.  Ray and I were able to sneak some alone time and celebrated his birthday by going out to eat and getting massages, which were amazing.  We've been so busy this summer that we haven't had many date nights, but with our anniversary coming up, I'm hoping to plan something. 

We are planning on taking a quick weekend trip up to Gurnee this weekend and getting some use out of our Great America season passes.  We already took Kenley and Charlie, but this will be our first time taking Rylee.  I guess we will be introducing her to thrill rides early! We've just been enjoying this summer weather and being outside as much as possible.  In the next few weeks we have some fun things planned including a concert in the city, a little weekend getaway, and a few parties to attend before we start thinking about....yikes....back to school!  I wasn't sure how the summer would be having all 3 kids home all day with me, but its been great!  We've been having so much fun, and I've been keeping us all busy.  I'm not ready for them to go back to school yet, or me for that matter since this will be my first semester teaching since January.  But we still have plenty of time, so I'll ignore all the back to school ads for now!