I think I forgot to tell everyone that we were going away - sorry. A flip flop of the last week:
Ellie and Nick's spring break started last Thursday. I went to Ellie's portfolio conference at school and she shared her work with me. We spent the late afternoon and evening at Northwestern where Ellie is taking part in a math study. Ellie was a trooper - 3 hours of testing on spring break. She was delighted to find out she got paid for the testing.
We left for St. Louis on Saturday morning. We made great time getting there. It was a favorite trip from 2 years ago and we decided to go again. We went to the science museum, the history museum, the zoo and forest park. We went to the arch, the beer tour and the children's museum. We went to the city museum and their version of millennium park. We had custard from Ted Drewes, root beer from Fitz's and gooey cake.
We packed in all we could during the days and pool time int he evenings. I am so happy that we are done with stroller days and we all walk now. The city museum was probably the favorite for the kids. It is a wild place. It is 4 floors of re-bar mazes and caves, slides and astonishing things. We spent over 6 hours there! It wore the kids out.
Today on our way back home we packed in all we could. We stopped in Springfield to hit Scheels. It is a sporting goods store but so much more. They have a huge fish tank, a kids climber and a carousel in the store plus a nice little restaurant. We found Ellie shoes, Rob new swim trunks and sunglasses and got to enjoy a dish of gelato.
We hit the Children's museum in Normal. Ellie is starting to outgrow those museums but Nick enjoyed it. We drove up 39 north to Starved Rock and Buffalo Rock. We didn't do the trails but did walk out to the river and the kids ran around.
It was a very enjoyable trip. I am looking forward to sleeping in our own bed tonight. My feet are doing pretty good - considering I forgot to pack my gym shoes and spent the week in birks. I did soak them in the hot tub every night and I think that helped. I woke up this morning with a huge broken blood vessel in my eye - it doesn't hurt but does look beastly. Tomorrow, Nick will be 5 - hard to believe. The only year in their lives that Nick will be half Ellie's age. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Where is Spring?
Seems like we skipped a season and went straight into summer. At least it feels pretty nice right now. Honestly, not too much to share tonight. With gas being as high as it is, I have been coming home when I drop Nick at school and working out in that time.
Sunday night kinda sucked. I wasn't tired and didn't feel like sleeping. I went upstairs around 1:30AM and I heard Ellie walking around shortly after. Around 2:20AM the "cough" started. I grabbed the garbage can and headed to her room. Pretty much twice an hour for the next 10 hours, Ellie was mucus vomiting. Ellie stayed home and slept until noon. She was all better and back to herself by the afternoon.
Nick celebrated his birthday at school today. We brought popsicles to share and his advocate made him a birthday crown. He seemed to be excited about it. We went over to Mom and Dad's after school and ate lunch with them. Nick and Tony watched the Muppets. I got some quality time with Matteo.
We had dinner here tonight. I was going to order out because the heat and not wanting to heat the house anymore but I tossed on some veggie meatballs and used up the veggies and fruit from the fridge. Ellie is getting real good on her roller blades and Nick is doing pretty good on his skates. He was pretty funny the other day, he is all padded out (knees, elbows, wrists and helmet) and he fell and asked where his butt pads were?
I am not sure what I am going to do about the calluses on my feet. They are annoying and occasionally hurt. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree
Sunday night kinda sucked. I wasn't tired and didn't feel like sleeping. I went upstairs around 1:30AM and I heard Ellie walking around shortly after. Around 2:20AM the "cough" started. I grabbed the garbage can and headed to her room. Pretty much twice an hour for the next 10 hours, Ellie was mucus vomiting. Ellie stayed home and slept until noon. She was all better and back to herself by the afternoon.
Nick celebrated his birthday at school today. We brought popsicles to share and his advocate made him a birthday crown. He seemed to be excited about it. We went over to Mom and Dad's after school and ate lunch with them. Nick and Tony watched the Muppets. I got some quality time with Matteo.
We had dinner here tonight. I was going to order out because the heat and not wanting to heat the house anymore but I tossed on some veggie meatballs and used up the veggies and fruit from the fridge. Ellie is getting real good on her roller blades and Nick is doing pretty good on his skates. He was pretty funny the other day, he is all padded out (knees, elbows, wrists and helmet) and he fell and asked where his butt pads were?
I am not sure what I am going to do about the calluses on my feet. They are annoying and occasionally hurt. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Happy Birthday Ellie!
It has been a birthday extravaganza around here. It began on Thursday with Ellie's actual birthday. It was nice, some friends and family called and emailed her to sing and wish her a happy birthday. We went out to dinner at Red Robin's. Mom and Dad joined us and it was fun. The waitstaff sang so everyone in the restaurant could hear and Ellie enjoyed her birthday sundae.
Friday I did some prep for the kids' family party on Saturday. I got the house pretty much cleaned up and the pasta and potato salads made. Nick and I had some time to play outside in the lovely weather. I baked Nick's cake - Lightening McQueen. Mom and Dad came over in the evening. dad took Ellie to see Wizard of Oz at her school. Mom made and frosted Ellie's 10 layer cake and frosted Lightening. Both cakes looked amazing.
Saturday Ellie and I started out at a rummage sale and were able to find a bag of clothes. We did our grocery shopping for the party and came home and got to work. I finished the food prep and the kids played outside. Everyone came over for the party. It was great to visit with the GGs and Dean. We had a BBQ menu because I didn't want to heat the house up. Grandma GG brought tortellini. The kids got some very cool presents and definitely some things that they wanted. We were able to be outside and play for quite a bit - pretty much unheard of in March. We ended the evening playing with their new legos at the table - great day.
Today we were on for Sunday school at church, we were up, dressed and out early. After church we went to exchange the roller blades we got Ellie because she needed a bigger size. I cannot believe she is in adult sizes. We came home and had lunch and then we went outside to play. Ellie has done a great job at getting rollerblading down today - not one fall. Nick played with a bit of everything today. We were able to get the house back into shape and cleaned up. We went over to Mom and Dads for St. Patty's day dinner. Mom made a vegan Irish bake, stir fry cabbage, corned beef and cabbage for the meat eaters and i brought the left overs from yesterday. We had a great dinner with so many possibilities to eat. We had the bottom half of Ellie's cake for dessert and Tony ate it a la Randy from Christmas Story - messy but oh so funny. The kids played outside in the yard and then we came home. The kids got clean in the tub and then we got them to sleep.
It has been a busy week. I worked with a pumice stone on my feet and then lotioned them up - they are feeling better right now. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree
Friday I did some prep for the kids' family party on Saturday. I got the house pretty much cleaned up and the pasta and potato salads made. Nick and I had some time to play outside in the lovely weather. I baked Nick's cake - Lightening McQueen. Mom and Dad came over in the evening. dad took Ellie to see Wizard of Oz at her school. Mom made and frosted Ellie's 10 layer cake and frosted Lightening. Both cakes looked amazing.
Saturday Ellie and I started out at a rummage sale and were able to find a bag of clothes. We did our grocery shopping for the party and came home and got to work. I finished the food prep and the kids played outside. Everyone came over for the party. It was great to visit with the GGs and Dean. We had a BBQ menu because I didn't want to heat the house up. Grandma GG brought tortellini. The kids got some very cool presents and definitely some things that they wanted. We were able to be outside and play for quite a bit - pretty much unheard of in March. We ended the evening playing with their new legos at the table - great day.
Today we were on for Sunday school at church, we were up, dressed and out early. After church we went to exchange the roller blades we got Ellie because she needed a bigger size. I cannot believe she is in adult sizes. We came home and had lunch and then we went outside to play. Ellie has done a great job at getting rollerblading down today - not one fall. Nick played with a bit of everything today. We were able to get the house back into shape and cleaned up. We went over to Mom and Dads for St. Patty's day dinner. Mom made a vegan Irish bake, stir fry cabbage, corned beef and cabbage for the meat eaters and i brought the left overs from yesterday. We had a great dinner with so many possibilities to eat. We had the bottom half of Ellie's cake for dessert and Tony ate it a la Randy from Christmas Story - messy but oh so funny. The kids played outside in the yard and then we came home. The kids got clean in the tub and then we got them to sleep.
It has been a busy week. I worked with a pumice stone on my feet and then lotioned them up - they are feeling better right now. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
I cannot believe we are in Chicago
I don't think there has ever been a March like this in Chicago. It was over 80 degrees here today - it is March 14th. There are only 70+ degree temperatures in the 7 day outlook.
Nick had his field trip at school today and I didn't know what to do with my extra time. I came home and I was going to try to recover the dining room chairs but I needed more foam. I was going to try to make a felted sweater pillow case for the backroom but I didn't have a full teal sweater. I ended up doing some reading and watching daytime tv.
We went over to Mom's after I picked Nick up from school and we had lunch and the boys played for a little bit. We came home and when Ellie got home we went shopping for her treat for school tomorrow. In all her years at school, I have always been able to make a treat and bring it into the classroom. Cookies, brownies, rice krispy treats, fruit kabobs - this year it must be store bought with no nut trace or milk...not very easy. We ended up with chocolate chips cookies and we made little treat bags. The kids played outside for a bit while I made dinner and then we ate and had baths. Rob is working at school so I got the kids to sleep.
Yesterday I had a focus group at Fiber Craft - it was a fun subject and I got paid. Dad picked Nick up from school and I brought lunch on my way. Dad and Nick enjoyed the day outside. I had my Matteo fix and Mom and I got to visit. The kids have been able to be outside after school all week - which is great! Ellie and I went to the library to return books and pick out some new ones while Rob gave Nick his bath. We had breakfast for dinner and got the kids to sleep. The time change has caught up with them and they have both been a slight bit cranky.
I can't really remember Monday. I have a new workout tape and it is killing me. My legs ache, my hips ache but I think it is helping increase my hip flexibility which I noticed has seriously diminished since radiation. I still get the charlie horses if my hip and legs are at a certain rotation but at least they aren't as frequent. My feet are about the same - unfortunately. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree
Nick had his field trip at school today and I didn't know what to do with my extra time. I came home and I was going to try to recover the dining room chairs but I needed more foam. I was going to try to make a felted sweater pillow case for the backroom but I didn't have a full teal sweater. I ended up doing some reading and watching daytime tv.
We went over to Mom's after I picked Nick up from school and we had lunch and the boys played for a little bit. We came home and when Ellie got home we went shopping for her treat for school tomorrow. In all her years at school, I have always been able to make a treat and bring it into the classroom. Cookies, brownies, rice krispy treats, fruit kabobs - this year it must be store bought with no nut trace or milk...not very easy. We ended up with chocolate chips cookies and we made little treat bags. The kids played outside for a bit while I made dinner and then we ate and had baths. Rob is working at school so I got the kids to sleep.
Yesterday I had a focus group at Fiber Craft - it was a fun subject and I got paid. Dad picked Nick up from school and I brought lunch on my way. Dad and Nick enjoyed the day outside. I had my Matteo fix and Mom and I got to visit. The kids have been able to be outside after school all week - which is great! Ellie and I went to the library to return books and pick out some new ones while Rob gave Nick his bath. We had breakfast for dinner and got the kids to sleep. The time change has caught up with them and they have both been a slight bit cranky.
I can't really remember Monday. I have a new workout tape and it is killing me. My legs ache, my hips ache but I think it is helping increase my hip flexibility which I noticed has seriously diminished since radiation. I still get the charlie horses if my hip and legs are at a certain rotation but at least they aren't as frequent. My feet are about the same - unfortunately. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Early Spring?
I cannot even put to words how much I have done in the past 4 days...a bunch.
Some highlights - I ran around with Nick & Ellie to get all the rest of the things we needed for Ellie's party on Saturday. I won a basket of vegan foods from Whole Foods. They put a message on facebook that the first person to get to the store and say something would win - and I did. I hit my first rummage sale of the year, it was just okay. I picked up a swim shirt for Nick (and goggles), a pair of slippers, a sweater to flip and that was about it. I found baskets for the back room cabinet. Well, I found some, went to Target, found some different ones and returned the first ones.
Ellie's party was fun but a bunch of work. It was a science party and we ran through all the planned experiments and then some I didn't even plan but we had the supplies. It was nice, all the kids got along - they weren't all from school so I didn't know how that was going to go but it worked great.
This morning, Rob took Ellie to church and Nick and I stayed here. We played with trains and got dressed. It was beautiful out - so we headed out to play. When Rob and Ellie got home we all were out enjoying the day. Rob and I worked to get Nick's bookshelf complete and painted. We did it! I painted the outside and inside while Rob cut the shelves. We were able to get it up to his bedroom and organized - so much more space now.
Rob worked on the cabinet for the backroom while we went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. We ordered El Famous and Mom made a black bean, corn, pepper salad, too. The kids got to play outside because we had the extra hour of light. We came home and had bath time with the ivory soap flakes we microwaved yesterday. FYI - ivory soap grows about 500% when microwaved.
My feet are not so happy. I worked with the file and pumice in the shower today to try to soften the calluses. I think I am going to sleep well tonight with the fresh air and the amount of activity that has happened the last couple days. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree
Some highlights - I ran around with Nick & Ellie to get all the rest of the things we needed for Ellie's party on Saturday. I won a basket of vegan foods from Whole Foods. They put a message on facebook that the first person to get to the store and say something would win - and I did. I hit my first rummage sale of the year, it was just okay. I picked up a swim shirt for Nick (and goggles), a pair of slippers, a sweater to flip and that was about it. I found baskets for the back room cabinet. Well, I found some, went to Target, found some different ones and returned the first ones.
Ellie's party was fun but a bunch of work. It was a science party and we ran through all the planned experiments and then some I didn't even plan but we had the supplies. It was nice, all the kids got along - they weren't all from school so I didn't know how that was going to go but it worked great.
This morning, Rob took Ellie to church and Nick and I stayed here. We played with trains and got dressed. It was beautiful out - so we headed out to play. When Rob and Ellie got home we all were out enjoying the day. Rob and I worked to get Nick's bookshelf complete and painted. We did it! I painted the outside and inside while Rob cut the shelves. We were able to get it up to his bedroom and organized - so much more space now.
Rob worked on the cabinet for the backroom while we went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. We ordered El Famous and Mom made a black bean, corn, pepper salad, too. The kids got to play outside because we had the extra hour of light. We came home and had bath time with the ivory soap flakes we microwaved yesterday. FYI - ivory soap grows about 500% when microwaved.
My feet are not so happy. I worked with the file and pumice in the shower today to try to soften the calluses. I think I am going to sleep well tonight with the fresh air and the amount of activity that has happened the last couple days. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
March Madness
March is a busy month around here. Rob and I celebrated our 13th anniversary yesterday, Ellie's 10th birthday is on the 15th and then Nick's 5th birthday on the 29th. Add in a couple parties, spring break, conferences and other things that come up and the calendar is filling up. I am going to make this an all encompassing, jump around kind of post.
I have been majorly spring cleaning our house. I was able to have windows open 2 days in a row and was able to air out the winter smell. I really cleaned the kitchen. I re-configured some of the things on the counters and de-grimed the toaster oven. It is amazing how putting things away can create so much room. I didn't mean to but when putting stuff away from the kitchen I ended up organizing the "gift" closet in the basement. It is our storage for gifts, extra pantry items, household items, craft things and bigger serving pieces. Plus all our paperwork and suitcases. I took everything out and went through and organized and realized we probably don't need to buy kleenex for the next year or so. It looks great now and you can actually walk into the walk-in closet again.
Major laundry has been done and put away. I think I need to try the separate laundry baskets to come upstairs again. I spend so much time taking the laundry out of the basket and sorting it out that I think it could save some time. Ellie has gotten very good at sorting socks for me but it seems our single sock bag keeps getting bigger.
We celebrated our anniversary yesterday, a much different day than it was 13 years ago. I decided to make dinner and I made almost everything layers...for the many layers of our relationship. I made 13 layer lasagna, a beet, orange, avocado & goat cheese salad, broccoli & turkey breast for the kids and a way too rich peanut butter, pretzel, cookie and brownie bar for dessert. We had champagne and sparkling cider - in real glasses. Nick picked us a bouquet of pine needles from the park.
Ellie had knitting club on Monday. She started making a hat. Did some grocery shopping and stocked the fridge. Rob worked on the cabinet for the backroom - now I need to find the storage bins to hide inside. I have been able to gather most of the supplies I need for Ellie's science party on Saturday. I registered Nick for kindergarten today - scary and so cool all at the same time.
My feet are not happy campers right now. I have worn my birks for a week now and that took care of the stabby heal pain but now the calluses on the side hurt. My shoulder is still occasionally hurting - not sure what the trigger is for that. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree
I have been majorly spring cleaning our house. I was able to have windows open 2 days in a row and was able to air out the winter smell. I really cleaned the kitchen. I re-configured some of the things on the counters and de-grimed the toaster oven. It is amazing how putting things away can create so much room. I didn't mean to but when putting stuff away from the kitchen I ended up organizing the "gift" closet in the basement. It is our storage for gifts, extra pantry items, household items, craft things and bigger serving pieces. Plus all our paperwork and suitcases. I took everything out and went through and organized and realized we probably don't need to buy kleenex for the next year or so. It looks great now and you can actually walk into the walk-in closet again.
Major laundry has been done and put away. I think I need to try the separate laundry baskets to come upstairs again. I spend so much time taking the laundry out of the basket and sorting it out that I think it could save some time. Ellie has gotten very good at sorting socks for me but it seems our single sock bag keeps getting bigger.
We celebrated our anniversary yesterday, a much different day than it was 13 years ago. I decided to make dinner and I made almost everything layers...for the many layers of our relationship. I made 13 layer lasagna, a beet, orange, avocado & goat cheese salad, broccoli & turkey breast for the kids and a way too rich peanut butter, pretzel, cookie and brownie bar for dessert. We had champagne and sparkling cider - in real glasses. Nick picked us a bouquet of pine needles from the park.
Ellie had knitting club on Monday. She started making a hat. Did some grocery shopping and stocked the fridge. Rob worked on the cabinet for the backroom - now I need to find the storage bins to hide inside. I have been able to gather most of the supplies I need for Ellie's science party on Saturday. I registered Nick for kindergarten today - scary and so cool all at the same time.
My feet are not happy campers right now. I have worn my birks for a week now and that took care of the stabby heal pain but now the calluses on the side hurt. My shoulder is still occasionally hurting - not sure what the trigger is for that. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Remembered
I remembered to blog but let's see if I can recall the last couple days.
Today we all went up to Milwaukee to the domes. It's our annual outing to see the train dome and get inspired to garden. We drove up with Mom and Dad, Jo, Ole, Tony and Matteo met us up there. The train was fairy themed this year and was pretty cute. We did a walk through the arid and the tropical dome, too. We got to hear a bit of music from the concert band playing. We left the domes and went for an early dinner to La Estacion. We were still in the time period for their brunch so we all over-indulged. I was surprised to see Nick straying from his normal plate of beans and chips.
We made a few stops on the way home and avoided 94 south because we noticed they were shutting it down on our way up and the backup went for miles. Ellie drove with Jo and Ole and T came with us. The boys watched Mr. Poppers Penguins and taunted each other the entire ride home. We got home and Ellie and I worked on math and did some reading while Rob got Nick ready for bed.
Yesterday was pretty laid back. We did some running around in the morning but that was about it. Ellie worked on some school work and Nick worked on playing and making messes. In the evening we went to a special event at the library for the children who completed the reading program. The had a magician/illusion act and cake, it was a nice treat. The kids both really enjoyed the performance.
Ellie had off of school on Friday. We went over to Mom and Dad's house to hang out with them for the day. We divided and conquered, Nick stayed to play with Tony and Jo, Ellie and I went shopping. We started at Costco and picked up a couple things. We stopped into American Science Center in hope of finding some supplies for Ellie's birthday party - didn't happen. We picked up pepper and egg sandwiches on the way back to Mom's house.
We left and came home to pick up Rob and catch a matinee of the Lorax. It was a cute movie that the kids really liked (we all liked it). We came home and had snacks and bedtime.
Thursday morning, Dad picked up Ellie and they were off to the field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. I took Nick to school and can't recall what I did with my time. Ellie had a great time at the museum and wants to go back. Honestly, I am struggling to recall Thursday.
Still having aches and pains - shoulder pain, lower back throbs. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree
Today we all went up to Milwaukee to the domes. It's our annual outing to see the train dome and get inspired to garden. We drove up with Mom and Dad, Jo, Ole, Tony and Matteo met us up there. The train was fairy themed this year and was pretty cute. We did a walk through the arid and the tropical dome, too. We got to hear a bit of music from the concert band playing. We left the domes and went for an early dinner to La Estacion. We were still in the time period for their brunch so we all over-indulged. I was surprised to see Nick straying from his normal plate of beans and chips.
We made a few stops on the way home and avoided 94 south because we noticed they were shutting it down on our way up and the backup went for miles. Ellie drove with Jo and Ole and T came with us. The boys watched Mr. Poppers Penguins and taunted each other the entire ride home. We got home and Ellie and I worked on math and did some reading while Rob got Nick ready for bed.
Yesterday was pretty laid back. We did some running around in the morning but that was about it. Ellie worked on some school work and Nick worked on playing and making messes. In the evening we went to a special event at the library for the children who completed the reading program. The had a magician/illusion act and cake, it was a nice treat. The kids both really enjoyed the performance.
Ellie had off of school on Friday. We went over to Mom and Dad's house to hang out with them for the day. We divided and conquered, Nick stayed to play with Tony and Jo, Ellie and I went shopping. We started at Costco and picked up a couple things. We stopped into American Science Center in hope of finding some supplies for Ellie's birthday party - didn't happen. We picked up pepper and egg sandwiches on the way back to Mom's house.
We left and came home to pick up Rob and catch a matinee of the Lorax. It was a cute movie that the kids really liked (we all liked it). We came home and had snacks and bedtime.
Thursday morning, Dad picked up Ellie and they were off to the field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. I took Nick to school and can't recall what I did with my time. Ellie had a great time at the museum and wants to go back. Honestly, I am struggling to recall Thursday.
Still having aches and pains - shoulder pain, lower back throbs. Visualising my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree
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