Some of our dear friends from Illinois were driving through our part of PA on their way to visit family in New Jersey and asked if they could stop by. Of course we said yes! So my friend Sarah and her two girls spent Monday evening with us. Her girls are almost exactly the same ages as my girls, which always worked nicely for play dates when we were in IL.
The two older girls remembered each other and jumped back into playing right away.
The two younger girls didn't remember each other, but they warmed up by the end.
And I loved getting to catch up with my friend while the kids played.
After dinner they got back on the road (with both Phoebe and Sophie trying to sneak off in their car). We're so glad they made time for the visit.
We spent Friday evening and all day Saturday at an MBA reunion for those that live within a reasonable driving distance of Chicago. As a group, we ate Chicago dogs at Portillo's and deep-dish pizza at Giordano's. We also spent time in downtown Chicago, a first for our little family. It only took us ten months to get there.
On Navy Pier
Chicago River
Peter really liked this big building near Cloud Gate and asked to have his picture taken with it. When he walked to a different vantage point, he discovered it was actually two buildings, one in front of the other.
Speaking of Cloud Gate...
"Look Mom! I'm holding up the Bean!"
Cooper was proud to be the photographer for this picture.
The whole family at the Bean, officially known as Cloud Gate.
Phoebe was worn out from a full day of walking, so Bryan helped her out.
It was a fun, full, exhausting weekend. Most of us didn't get sunburns, though I did experience a burn underneath my hair, which was a wildly uncomfortable first. We were glad to get back to the car to rest our weary feet.
Today was a hard day. Occasionally I write about the rough days, but more often than not I cheat and post a quick happy picture of the kids and then go numb my emotions by reading Facebook. That's what I wanted to do tonight as well, but it appears I'm making a different choice.
These hard days have been coming fast and furious lately. I could say it's because the kids are out of school or because the TV is broken or because everybody at my house wants to be in charge and nobody wants to listen, but those are simply parts of the whole. There are so many factors that go into the day feeling like it WILL NEVER END. I can't write about all of them, because they aren't all solely my burdens to bear, but I can write about one.
This is the last rotation for Bryan's program. I've written in the past about how difficult moving so often is, and I still feel that way. On the other hand, we've had many wonderful experiences that never would have happened if we'd stayed in one place. Ever the optimist, eh? Finding the silver lining is my natural default setting. That's what I do every time a friend or family member asks where we're going next, but it's growing more and more challenging.
See, we were told that we would have an assignment in place by April 22. Today is June 6, and we still don't know. To make the situation even more exciting we had to give notice that we would not be renewing our lease (just in case we need to move) and would/will probably move next month.
Do you hear that? It's the sound of my heart palpitating in a frantic, panic inducing rhythm.
I'm not the only one freaking out about it. Bryan is probably feeling the stress most of all, but the kids are certainly anxious. Our immediate future is a path that drops off into darkness. Every friend and family member I talk to asks: have you heard? do you know?
I will send a mass text/email/well choreographed flash mob to notify my community at large when we know the plan.
Until then, I live in a state of emotional paralysis. Do I start preparing the kids emotionally to move? Do I plan the summer? Do I ready our belongings for a relocation? Do I look for places to live in the various possible locations we might end up? Do I bucket list the heck out of Illinois? Do I focus on spending as much time with our friends as we can while we're here?
Too many questions freeze my brain, just ask my kids. Sometimes they'll all come at me with simultaneous queries and I have to yell out, "Stop! This is overwhelming!"
That's what I want to shout at this job situation, "Stop! This is overwhelming!"
Perhaps a better choice would be, "Hurry! This is overwhelming!"
We've never had a pet. Bryan is allergic to dogs and Peter is allergic to cats, so those popular options are out of the question. Most of our leases have forbidden owning pets, though one allowed a fish. I have enough living creatures to care for, I don't think I'm up to the challenge of adding one with fur, feathers, or scales.
In spite of those sound reasons, our children occasionally request a pet. We always say no, but they are rarely deterred by that pesky word. Lucky us, our yard has supplied the much requested animal companion. Granted, it's a friend that we can't touch and don't feed, but we sure enjoy watching our wild rabbit nibble on our plentiful dandelion crop.
Today brought the close of the longest and shortest school year we've ever had. This year has been incredibly hard in terms of getting kids to school, getting kids to stay in the school, participating in the seemingly endless battle of homework. This year was full of tears about not having friends and not understanding the social landscape of school. It had more projects than ever before, a new need to listen to an emerging trumpet player on a semi-regular basis, and several Google searches in order to complete Common Core math assignments. And lunches. Why are school lunches so monotonous? All of these made the year feel long.
But it also feels like the year just started. I clearly remember that first day, how is it possible that it was nine months ago? It's a blur of activity. We've all learned a lot, some of it academic, most of it not.
We now have a fifth grader, a third grader, and a kindergartner. And we are all ready for summer.
It finally got warm this weekend. We had a surprisingly mild winter, but it was still very cold, and that cold lasted for a loooooong time. But this weekend? It was glorious.
The kids spent Saturday outside playing in our big backyard and Bryan used the sunshine to thoroughly wash, wax, and take pictures of his new car. My fair skin and deep dislike of the sensation of sunscreen kept me inside more than I would have liked, but I threw open all the windows and breathed in that beautiful fresh air. We even had a celebratory Saturday night dinner of hamburgers, watermelon, and the best potato salad I've ever had/made.
The boys have been on Spring Break this week. Because of Cooper's baptism on Sunday, we opted to stay in town. But that doesn't mean we haven't had fun. The kids spent lots of time outside on Monday and Tuesday. They even built this wigwam out of sticks they dug up from the garden/weed patch.
Then on Wednesday, it started raining. We played some board games and watched movies. They still got about thirty minutes outside between cloud bursts.
And it rained today as well. What to do when it's too wet to go out? Why, you build a fort, of course!
There was lots of laughter, some frustration over the power of gravity on heavy blankets, and a few tears because of a sweet two-year-old who didn't understand that the blankets were for climbing under, not wrapping up in.
It's been a break full of backyard, movies, and pajamas. In other words, it's been just what Spring Break should be.
Cooper turned eight this month! In our church eight is an extra special age because that's when kids have the opportunity to be baptized. Cooper chose to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was baptized by his dad on Easter Sunday.
We were so happy to have members of our family drive and fly hundreds of miles to be there to support Cooper. He asked each one of them to participate in the meeting. This is what the program looked like:
Pianist: Nana Shari
Chorister: Aunt Kate
Opening Song: When I Am Baptized
Opening Prayer: Nana Cris
Baptism Talk: Papa Ron
Holy Ghost Talk: Grandpa Marc
Closing Prayer: Great-Grandma Bonnie
Refreshments: Uncle Jordan
We are so happy that Cooper made this wonderful choice. Having his baptism on Easter, with so much family there, made it an extra special day.
A woman that I visit teach told me that the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago was free for children during February. The kids had a few days off, and Bryan took one of those as a vacation day, so we went to the city. It was so cool. We've been to several science museums, and this might be the best.
We saw lots of miniature boat replicas and this not so miniature steering wheel.
This screen had images of beads (or water droplets?) projected onto it. But if you stood in front of it, you could stop the images with your shadow. Everything would pile up until you moved, then it would flow again. The kids (and grownups) were fascinated.
The kids got to "drive" a combine. They sat in the driver's seat while a movie of a cornfield being harvested played on a giant screen in front of them.
Look, buttons to push!
Oh! All four kids are in this picture, can you find them?
This is a human-sized hamster wheel. Peter took a turn, but it was before I walked over with my camera. Here's Cooper.
Sophie stepped on and then quickly stepped off.
Instead, Bryan used Sophie's turn.
Then came Phoebe.
And finally me. Phoebe asked if she could take my picture. I said sure and figured I'd be able to get at least one good shot. This is the best one I got. It's also the only picture that was taken of me that day. As for the hamster wheel, it was kind of like a treadmill, if the treadmill let you walk up the wall in front of you and was powered by your legs and not electricity.
This is a two-person neural feedback machine. The goal was to move that little ball from the middle all the way over to your opponent. Each person put on a headband and cleared their mind. If you had lots of brain activity the ball would come toward you, but if you had little brain activity, the ball would move away.
Guess who's a pro at completely clearing her mind? I like to think that's why I stay calm with the kids. I also like to think I stay calm with the kids.
I want to hang this quote in my house somewhere.
The more we moved, the more these faces laughed. The kids got a couple of the faces laughing hysterically.
After this we saw some large airplanes hanging from the ceiling and this model train. It's even bigger than these pictures show, and these were taken from the second story looking down.
A few displays that we loved but didn't photograph include a mirror maze, a children's hands-on area, and a circus exhibit.
Phoebe and Bryan's favorite thing at the museum was the Fairy Castle. It was amazing. We didn't take pictures, but Bryan did take a movie while he walked around it.
We didn't get to all the exhibits in our three hours there, but we're already looking forward to our next visit.
