I Have No Idea What We Did In April...

Okay, so I used to be a pretty consistent blogger.  I managed to write something about our family and get a little humor in there to boot at least once a week.  And then I started writing about once a month.  And now who knows when I will write.  Good grief!  The blog has been on the back burner.  That's the bad news.  The good news is that my family has not.  I've been busy being super mom so blogging just had to wait.

I have a lot to tell you and probably a hundred pictures to share.  But I am going to majorally condense it and spare you some time. 

I left off right after the girls' birthdays in March.  Okay, so what did we do in April and May?  I realize that you may not care what we did in April and May, but here's the thing, each year I turn my blog entries into a blog book at Christmas time and this serves as a scrapbook/journal/story of our lives book for my kids to enjoy when they're older.  So bear with me.  If you've made it this far, you're going to hear about what we did in April and May.  I honestly can't remember a darn thing about April right now.  It was uneventful but I am sure my kids were adorable every day.  It was a cold April.  The end.  On to May:  I had the most beautiful azaleas in Flora in May.  I gave myself the "Awesome Azaleas Award."  Here's a pic:

I participated in the Depot Variety Show play again this year.  We had a great time.  This year we did Saturday Night Live skits and they were hilarious.  Maleah has had a part in the last two depot shows but unfortunately this year there weren't any children parts.  She went to dress rehearsal with me this year and they decided that they needed a young girl in the show that night (she had to go pull Justin Bieber offstage).  She was in the right place at the right time and got the part.  So we were both in it and we had a blast.  Here are some pics:

I was playing a teenager.  Can't you tell?

Backstage before my scene with one of my favorite co-stars.

Fake glasses.  Adorable kid.

Waiting for her part.

Ben VanHyning (our preacher) falling/flipping

in his part as the Motivational Speaker.

Maleah lost a tooth during Opening Night.

She was so happy!

Her part pulling "Justin Bieber" aka Dave

Billingsley off the stage.  He was also

the photographer for the weekend and took all

of these pictures from the shows.

My Art Gallery scene with Two Wild and Crazy Guys!

Me and my friend Penny before our Art Gallery scene.

And then, at the end of May/beginning of June, I went on a Mom's Getaway to Chicago with my friends Deb and Kate.  It was just us three girls and we took the train up from Effingham and went to Chicago.  We stayed with Deb's aunt-by-marriage who had a gorgous condo overlooking Lake Michigan.  It was a wonderful little trip.  We did some shopping, had some museum time, etc.  It was fun but I missed my family.  I love my getaways but I love coming home too. 

Here are some of my observations about Chicago:

• It is a different world.
• The food is too fancy.  For example:  "What kind of toast do you want?" asked the waiter.  I replied, "White."  "Uh.  Hmmm.  I don't think we have that."  "Okay," I say.  "How about wheat then."  "Hmm" he says, "We have (insert 3 or 4 fancy bread names here) or sourdough."  "I will take sourdough then." I say.  Whew!  Around here it is just white or wheat!
• Take the architectural boat tour when the sun is shining.  Don't wait for later.  It might rain.
• Lake Michigan is beautiful but there is no sign of life in it.  Weird.  No dolphins like the ocean.  No fish around the rocks like any other lake.  No turtles.  No nothin'.
• It is windy.  For real.
• I saw a lady walking a fish in a bowl down the street.  For real.
• I saw a lady carrying a dining room chair on the bus.  For real.
• I saw homeless people.
• I saw a lady holding a sign that said, "My name is Pookie.  Please help.  I have no money and no job.  Anything helps."  She had me at my name is Pookie.  What the heck?  Were her parents hoping to get a puppy and got her instead or what?  I wanted to help her simply because her name was Pookie.  Poor thing.  Sadly, I did not give her any money because at the time I didn't have any small bills on me.  And although I felt badly for Pookie I didn't want to give her a twenty.  I was on a budget for my girls weekend!  I feel bad that I didn't.
• I had the best pancake of my life in Chicago.  Gatlinburg ain't got nothin' on Chicago's pancakes.
• Riding the train is fun and super easy.
• We had a wonderful, sweet, and generous hostess.
• My love affair with Macy's was only made stronger in Chicago.
• I went to a Blow Dry Bar for the first time.  No drinks.  Just me, my friends, and some serious blow drying going on.  We walked out of there looking like the rock stars that we are.
• We had a serious discussion about gnats while sitting in the bird room at the Field Museum.  Good times!
• Everyone owns a dog in Chicago and they all walk them constantly.  Except for the one girl with the fish - but everybody else has a dog.
• It is a different world.

Here are some Chicago pics:

Just me.  Right outside Union Station in Chicago.

We went to an art fair at Millenium Park

and I had my picture taken with this lovely lady.

Did I mention that I was freezing?  What the crap?

I thought it was June!

The view from the balcony at the condo.

Down by the lake near the condo.

Deb and Kate - two of my besties.

Me and Sue.  She's so bony compared to me.

And then, we started our busy June.  We are only 11 days into it but it is shaping into a busy month.  Maleah went to church camp for an overnight stay and had a great time.  That was last Friday and we picked her up on Saturday.  I brought her home, did all of her laundry, repacked it, and then we took her to 4-H camp at Monticello on Sunday.  She is still there now and will come home on Thursday.  I haven't heard from her so I hope that is a good sign.  I hope she is having a fabulous time!  She was a little teary-eyed when I left so I hope she isn't homesick.  She has been looking forward to this for months.  I hope she isn't disappointed.  I loved 4-H camp when I was her age and I think she will too.  We are also gearing up for a vacation and all kinds of other summer fun.  I will try to do a better job about updating the blog with that stuff.

Some personal updates on my little ones.  Silas has been walking since early April.  He has now progressed to running everywhere.  He is still a very laid-back, very sweet boy.  Not much gets him upset.  He loves to eat, loves his sisters, loves music (claps along to Jimmy Buffett - his Dad is going to kill me for turning him into a parrothead), and he loves to sleep (Thank you Jesus!). 

Carissa is four and I think four is a hard age.  It was Maleah's worst year for behavior (way worse than age 2).  Carissa is proving no different than her sister and is challenging me every step of the way.  I win almost every time.  I am the queen and she is my subject.  She is just having a hard time understanding that.  Besides being challenging, she is also incredibly smart, absolutely adorable, and says the sweetest things ever to me.  She loves me and I love her.

Maleah is doing great.  Obviously, she is a busy girl this summer.  She is smart and sweet and beautiful.  She loves to read and ride her bike.  Not at the same time though.  She is a big help to me and I don't know what I would do without her.  Love that girl!  And I miss her like crazy right now!!

Jason and I are doing great.  We almost traded in our car for something bigger this month.  I looked all over for a used Suburban like what I wanted.  I never found one exactly like what I wanted (right color and I'm picky about options) and we were wishy-washy about trading anyway.  Long story short - we have decided that we like the idea of not having a car payment better than having a bigger car.  I just don't think it was meant to be.  I guess down the road I will have a bigger ride with more room but for now I just ordered a luggage carrier to put on top of our car instead.  That will get us through vacation anyway.  And it was so much cheaper than a new car!  $100 dollars on Amazon vs. thousands for a new car - um, no brainer.  What else is new with us?  Hmmm.  Well, I am still writing for babygizmo.com.  I don't write real often but just a few articles here and there is perfect for me.  I could write as often as I wanted to and they would print it I think but with my schedule I just don't want to write that often.  So this set-up of "just whenever" works for me.  I love it!

And that's it, folks!  That's all she wrote.  I can't think of anything else right now.  I will update again soon.  I think I always say that though.  Ha!