Independence Day 2014!

We had a fantastic 4th of July weekend!  It was a  beautiful weekend.  The weather was just perfect and we spent most of the weekend at the Duquaine's house.  Each year they have a big party and invite us over (along with a bunch of other friends.) Everyone else is from out of town so they stay with the Duquaine's, camp outside, or go to the hotel.  There was a bunch of people there this year and we had a great time.  It was so nice to see friends that we hadn't seen in a year or two or three.

The kids swam a lot and the adults just sat around and visited.  The weather was so nice that I didn't even want to get in the pool.  Most 4ths from the past have been so hot that we all just sat around in the pool the whole time.  I much prefer this year's temperatures to years past.  We had a lot of good food throughout the weekend and an amazing fireworks display on Friday night.  There was a dodgeball tournament to remember and lots of other fun.

My Mom and Carissa made the pies for the big event.  They baked 8 pies total and we brought 6 of them to the party.  Carissa is turning into quite the little baker.  She is Grandma's little prodigy I think.

It was a great weekend spent with great friends.  It is a shame that we don't get to see some of them more often. But I love how we can always pick right up where we left off last time.  So until next time Kopaczes, Lipinskis, Joyces, and Saulles!  And thank you to our host and hostess, Paul and Deb.  It was really fun!

How festive are we?

Little man and his substitute "woobie" because his brown one was lost.

Maleah, with her sketch pad and pencil

Elizabeth Kopacz and Maleah

Carissa and her buddy Vivian Lipinski

Some sidewalk chalk art by the children

And some sidewalk chalk art by an adult, Mark Kopacz

How cool is this??

The Prettiest Flowers in Town

So, I have the prettiest flowers in town, yet again.  (Hey!  This is my blog.  I can say that!)  No, I haven't been named Yard of the Month by the Garden Club or anything but I will say that my hanging baskets are amazing again this year.  I really do think they are the prettiest hanging baskets in town.  I buy my flowers every year at Zimmerman Greenhouse in St. Peter, Illinois.  It is owned by an Amish family and their flowers and bigger and better than any other place that sells flowers.  True story.  It's worth the drive.

They were at their peak a few weeks ago but are still looking good!

Maleah with some artwork that she made about hermit crabs.

Speaking of hermit crabs, one of Maleah's hermit crabs died this morning.  She has had three crabs since March when I brought the crabs home from my girls' trip to Nashville.  Now we have two crabs.  I threw it away.  I didn't feel like flushing it was a good idea and I don't know why.  So, I just threw it in the trash. Maleah was a little sad about this but I told her we could still say goodbye.  This is what she did as a final remembrance to her crab.

So what else is new with us?  Well, not a whole lot really.  We have just been chillin', chillin', mindin' our business.  We are really looking forward to our 4th of July holiday weekend.  Hope you guys are having a great summer like us!!

St. Louis Can Be Fun??

We have recently made several trips to St. Louis.  This is the story of our lives but this time it has all been for fun stuff!  Woo hoo!  Doctors and hospitals were involved but it was all for fun.

A few weeks ago we took Silas to his final NICU Follow-Up Clinic appointment.  They like to track and keep an eye on their early birds for awhile after they go home.  Silas always blows them away with how awesome he is and how you can't even tell he was ever early.  That's why I think it's important to bring Silas to these appointments.  Those doctors and nurses rarely see someone as early as Silas was that doesn't have any problems.  He's a wonder boy.  I took Maleah with me too.  Jason had to work and Carissa is a homebody so she stayed with Aunt Patty.  We had a fun day. We ate at Round Robin, went to the appointment, and then did a little shopping afterwards.

Dr. Chau, Me, and Silas, who was not into having his picture taken 

with this guy.

Red Robin.  Yum.

How cute is she?

The following week after this appointment was the NICU Reunion at Mercy Hospital.  We made another trip over there for that.  All of the kids were born at Mercy, and although Carissa was the only one not in the NICU, we had her a shirt made too of course.  They had crafts and games for the kids.  Plus there was a nurse and doctor meet and greet.  None of our nurses were there.  In fact I only saw two nurses there total out of the hundreds that work there.  I was disappointed about that.  But we did see Dr. Chau and Dr. Schwartz.  We had see Dr. Chau the week before at our appointment so he already had gotten caught up with us.  Dr. Schwartz was happy to see Silas and was impressed with how amazing Silas is.  After our reunion, we went to the Arch.  However, due to road construction, a festival, a ballgame, and an insane amount of Saturday stuff going on downtown we couldn't find a parking spot anywhere so after driving around and getting frustrated, we went to the City Museum instead.  I hope I never go to Hell because I am pretty sure it involves the City Museum.  I really dislike that place.  Maleah likes it.  She's the only one. Carissa and Maleah had both been there before with their CC group.  Silas wasn't too impressed.  I think I would have been happier at the mall.  But it was still a fun experience.  I think.

At Mercy

My 34 weeker, 38 weeker, and my 25 weeker.

They love the fountains.

And then the week after that, my friend from Pope County, Jessi Hall, called and asked me to go to a Cardinals game with her and two other girls.  She had an extra ticket if I wanted to go.  I did go and we had a great time!  It was hotter than blue blazes but it was still so much fun.  It was free hat day at the ballpark and we each got a free hat, which is so much easier to carry around than a water cooler!  (See previous post.)  And our seats were amazing!  I have never sat so close to the field before.  We were right behind the Cardinals dugout, which was so cool.  Afterwards, we went and ate at the Cardinal Ballpark Village. Thanks Jessi for the great day!

Me, Jessi, Kaci, and Jill

Okay, so after the day at the ballpark I stayed home for a day and then I turned around and went back to St. Louis the following day for a 3 Day Classical Conversations Practicum in St. Peters, Missouri.  I only stayed for two of the days though.  I took Maleah with me and she went to a day camp with her friends while I was listening to speakers explain and explore the Classical Method of education.  It was very interesting.  I made new friends, got to spend lots of time with some amazing women from our own CC group, and I got to visit with my friend Terri who also does CC.  Terri lives in St. Louis and she and I went through breast cancer and chemo together.  We are both doing fantastic and are looking forward to a school year without cancer!  I wish I would have gotten a picture of us together though.

Maleah and her friend Hollis

Getting ready for Day 1 of Practicum

Maleah and Hollis

Part of our group at Olive Garden

There was a Barnes and Noble right by our hotel!  Yay!

So, I have learned that it is possible to go to St. Louis for fun.  We have had a lot of it there this summer. Good times with good friends!  We are very blessed. (Oh, and I have been updating the blog like crazy, so be sure to check recent posts.)

Randomness

This summer has been the summer of bike rides.  That is what the kids want to do almost every evening.  Maleah rides her own bike.  Silas rides in a pull-behind cart on my bike.  And Carissa rides with Jason.  My brother has a tandem add-on that you just attach to your own bike to make it into a tandem.  He loaned it to us and it is one of the best inventions ever.  Carissa learned to balance very quickly on this - as in almost immediately.  After a couple of weeks of riding with Dad, I put her on her own bike, sans training wheels, gave a little push, and off she went.  It took her about 10 seconds to learn to ride a bike without training wheels.  She still prefers to ride with Dad than ride her own bike but we are going to return the tandem soon so she won't have a choice.  She does a really good job on her own bike.  She just gets tired.  Or hot.  Or her butt hurts.  Or she hit a rock.  Or she needs to fix her shoe.  Or her hair is in her eyes.  Sigh.

Although Silas rides behind my bike on long bike rides, he can ride his little balance bike like nobody's business.  A balance bike is a different way of teaching kids to ride a bike than with training wheels.  His bike doesn't have training wheels or pedals.  He pushes himself around with his feet and "glides."  He has learned to balance extremely well and can ride pretty quickly all through the house or the neighborhood.  I went on a three mile walk one evening and he rode his balance bike beside me the entire time.  Most of the time, I am keeping up with him by speed walking or telling him to stop and wait on me.  He is an amazing listener and direction follower.  He is such a good boy.  Now, we just need to teach him to pedal and he will be riding a big boy bike.  This kid is so coordinated, I don't think it will be long.

A blur because he is so fast!

This bike goes all through the house at a 100 mph.

Speaking of big boys, Silas recently got a big boy bed.  He loves it!  The day he crawled out of his crib was the last time he slept in it.  I had been waiting on him to do that.  He had the ability to do it for a long time but was a good listener so whenever he had previously tried I had just told him "no, no" and he stopped.  But one night he climbed out when I wasn't in the room and that was the end of it.  He changed to his big boy bed and loved it!

Also in May, we went to the wedding of my cousin Josh Woods and his fiancee' Becky Sharar.  It was one of the coolest weddings I have ever been to.  The theme was "Movie in the Park" and they were married in an outdoor ceremony at Charley Brown Park.  There were blankets to sit on as you would at a movie in a park, or there were chairs.  The bridal party look was reminiscent of 1940's movie stars.  The colors were red and black.  They quoted famous movies during the ceremony.  (I loved this part.  I would love to live in a world where everyone spoke in movie quotes and song lyrics.)  The reception was decorated in a movie theme too and the whole thing was just really cool.  They put a lot of thought into it and that made it fun for everyone.  They are a great couple and we are so happy for them.  Congratulations Becky and Josh!

There is a new Japanese restaurant in Effingham and we went to check it out.  It was our first time at a hibachi grill.  It was fun.  The kids were a little freaked out by the flames and Silas didn't want to sit still but overall it was worth it.  Our food was great.  The service was fantastic.  And no one told us that we were being an ass.  (See previous post about Mother's Day.)  So that was a bonus.  

Vivian turned thirteen!  Our friends the Duquaines came over one evening and we celebrated Vivian's thirteenth birthday.  Vivian was born on her Dad, Paul's, birthday so we also celebrated Paul's 29th birthday.  Wait?  Is that right?

We also went to Holiday World at the end of May, which is the perfect time to go.  But don't spread that around.  We are going back at the same time next year and I don't want it to be too crowded.  We went on a Wednesday and there was not a crowd there at all.  No lines = perfection.  School wasn't out (unless you're homeschooled!) and most schools already had their field trips over and done with so there weren't a lot of big groups there.  It was the least crowded that I had ever seen it.  The weather was beautiful!  Overcast, not hot, and the water even felt a little chilly.  I took the girls and Deb took her boys.  We left the husbands at home and I left Silas with Vivian, who didn't want to go.  And here's a really cool thing:  Guess who was there when we were?  Jessi Hall!  My BFF since 1984!  She teaches high school in Pope County and she was there on a field trip with high schoolers.  It was great to see her and visit for a bit.  Carissa enjoyed the toddler area of the water park the most.  It has a lot of small water slides that are perfect for her age and Maleah enjoyed the Watubi waterslide the most.  It was a great day!

Deb, the boys, and Maleah, second time through...

A fun group!

Me and my little girls.

It has been a great start to the summer.  I think it will just keep getting better!

Flora Depot Variety Show 2014 - Laugh-In

Maleah and I were in the Depot Show again this year.  It was tons of fun.  We really do enjoy doing it.  I am not a great actress but I have fun with it.  This year the theme of the show was Laugh-In and was based on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In from the late 60's, early 70's.  (If you haven't seen it before, check it out on youtube.  It is really funny.)  The cast of our show is about the same from year to year and is a really fun group of people.  We all have a blast.  Dave Billingsley is a photographer who is also in the show and he takes a ton of pictures during the practices, dress rehearsal, and the two nights that the show runs.  So all photo credit goes to him.  This year I played Betsy Ross in a scene and in other scenes I was just myself, only dressed for the 60's.  Thanks to Donnita Lewis, Lisa Erbacher, Brenda Ruckman, and Brandii Newby for help with all of my costumes and wigs.  I really appreciate it!  Maleah was the "Sock It To Me Girl" and when someone sang "Sock it to me, sock it to me," she had to run out there and really "sock it to them!"  She had a ton of fun.   Each year she has a small, non-speaking, part.  She is the only child in the show so she is happy to at least have a small role.  She is "paying her dues" until she can maybe one day have a part that requires her to speak.  :)

The wigs were the best part.

Maleah as a blonde.

Perhaps this is the right look for her...

Maleah likes to pose and Dave likes to take pictures

so there are a lot of pictures of Maleah.  :)

Berdella and Maleah

Who doesn't love a wig?

Maleah, posing again, while the rest of us work

Practicing a little Betsy Ross smile

Dress rehearsal with George Washington

Maleah socking it to Judy Mann

Maleah kept herself busy in the art room (which doubles as our dressing room)

before and after the show, and in between scenes.

How about those hot pink go-go boots?

Me and George Washington (Bill Thompson)

Betsy and George

 

Me and George, aka Bill

Just sewin' on my flag...

Me, Dave Billinsley, and Doc Bunnell

Berdella McGrew and I

Bill Atwood and I

Berdella, Bill, and myself

Me and Doctor Bunnell