Halloween recap...

Ugh! I can't believe that I went so long without a blog post. I never would have been successful doing it every day! That would be really, really hard. I also realized that I never had posted any of our Halloween pictures. We had a great time trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood. It was a little cool so the girls only lasted about 12 houses but my boy was going strong so I continued to go to houses with Cameron while Mike brought Molly and Amanda home. Molly LOVED answering the door and handing out candy. When the door would ring she would yell, "We have customers!" So cute! Here is Batman, a little bumblebee and our precious ladybug...

Thank goodness for direction...

The other day I had to go and renew Mike's tags for his Illinois license plates. First of all we were late. They expired last Friday but silly us forgot to do it on the 1 1/2 days he took off last week. And before you say it, I know. You can do this online. I would if I remembered to do that!! Before I even got to the Secretary of State (DMV - Ohio friends) this is what the renewal paperwork looked like:



And this...



I would blame it on the youngest here but I can distinctly read two words on the paper that might have just been done by a Kindergartner. Sigh.

I realized last Sunday that we had forgotten to renew the tags. I got all ready to do it on Monday, got the kids ready and then checked the website for the address. Thank goodness I looked carefully. Closed on Monday's. What?? It became a Tuesday job and got to the Pekin Secretary of State with this:



Aren't these just the greatest creation EVER???!!!
I really have no idea where in Pekin I was. I know how to get to Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart. That is about my knowledge of Pekin.

By the way I was thrown for a loop. For 15 months I have told everyone that I live in Central Illinois. According to the Secretary of State I live in Western Illinois:



Now I don't know where I live...maybe the GPS will help me with that, too!

By the way, I have already failed on noting posting everyday. I meant to last night but fell asleep getting the little one to sleep. I guess real life gets in the way sometimes. Good intentions!

To get a 2nd dose or not...

I'm pretty sure that the kids aren't going to be able to get their 2nd dose of the vaccine for the H1N1 virus. The health department has cancelled all clinics in our county due to a lack of vaccines. I can't imagine that by the first week in December there will be a whole bunch more for round 2 children. I read an article in yesterday's Peoria Journal-Star that says 1 flu vaccine dose is working in pregnant women. It says 21 days after receiving a single 15-microgram dose of the vaccine 92% of the pregnant women showed a robust immune response. A larger, 20-microgram dose produced a strong response in 96% of pregnant women. The same test says that just 1 in 4 children ages 6 months to 35 months had a strong immune response after 21 days. There was a sharp improvement after receiving a second dose. I guess that is why a second dose is recommended in kids. It will be good luck trying to find it though. I guess one dose is better than none. I hope to not to have to find out.

NaBloPoMo

Did you know that November is National Blog Posting Month? I didn't until I saw it on a blog that I follow. I'm beginning to think this is the motivation I need to get back into the swing of things. I am going to try and blog every day. I have some random thoughts swirling around in the mind of mine and maybe it's time to put some of them down for everyone to read. Scary.


Today Cam's K class celebrated 50 days of school. They were to dress like a 50's person. Not the easiest thing for a boy to do. We wore a white t-shirt, jeans, white socks, rolled the jeans up a few cuffs and gelled his hair. Here is a pic of Cam with Ms. Shields his teacher...



Everyone had to bring in 50 of something to share with the class. They counted, sorted, divided and then graphed about the different objects. I wanted Cameron to take something original. Here is what we contributed...


Army Men Rock!

It was a fun day in the kindergarten world!

Holes...

I am not one to jump into somethings very quickly. I can make a quick decision about what to have for dinner, don't spend a lot of agonizing time shopping for any new clothes, shoot - when you drive a mini-van the only real choice is the color so we don't even spend a lot of time on that. What I struggle with is furniture choices and decorating ideas. The couch in our living room probably took several drives to the store, hours of looking at prints and fabrics, and many looks at the choice of legs and skirt vs. no skirt before we decided on it. We spent more time on that couch than any of the houses we have lived in. It was our first decision on something of that magnitude as a "couple" and I guess we really wanted to make a good one. This past week Mike's sister, Jill, and her husband, Greg, were visiting us. We gave them permission to get out the nails, hammers and laser level and they started putting holes in our walls. At first I was very excited. Very. I want this house to be our home. Mike and I hung exactly 2 things on the walls in our Michigan house and it always seemed kind of sterile to me there. I truly think I am a minimalist. We made a pilgrimage to Hobby Lobby in Pekin and Jill (with my permission) went wild. She had never been to a Hobby Lobby and loved it!!! We reframed pictures, found cute things for my kitchen plate rack, found 2 beautiful prints for the walls, mixed woods and metals for a cool look. Basically we went crazy. Then the holes in the walls started and I began to get a little overwhelmed. What we put up looks great but I was doubting my choices. I have now slept on it for 2 nights and feel better. Mike and I have a few more things to hang and it will probably take us the next year to do it but we do have a start. I realize that holes can be filled and patched but it feels kind of permanent to me. I think that maybe I'm a less is more when it comes to decorating. Or maybe I'm starting to break a HOLE through my shell. Here are some pics of what we did...





And two more...




And my 2 favorite things so far...


I don't think my photos really do it justice. Things are really starting to look good around here!

Good decisions...

I love the feeling of a decision that Mike and I make and we don't have any regrets. They come on many different levels. Picking a good restaurant where we have a super dinner. Excellent feeling. Making a major life decision like moving to another state for a wonderful job opportunity. Super excellent feeling. Picking a new house for some of it's practical characteristics and not just aesthetic reasons. Fun and good feelings. Deciding to get our children vaccinated for H1N1 despite the media and personal influences. Confident feeling. I'm not here to debate the pros and cons of the new H1N1 vaccine or what you think the government/media may be telling us about it. Mike and I consulted with both our internist and our children's pediatrician and went on their advice. They were able to give us compelling evidence and advice to go ahead and do it. There weren't any scare tactics and they were honest. I think that all of us are capable of making really good decisions. We also have made some doozies, too. Luckily not many of ours have been to catastrophic but don't think for one moment that Mike and I do not take decisions for our children's health lightly. There were many a day last spring where I think we questioned some of our decisions on choices we made for Molly. It is a horrible, sinking feeling and one that I do not handle well. We are sooooo blessed that we have those decisions in the past and were able to look at them now as a bump in the road. I think we have learned a lot from it and that is why I didn't take the decision to vaccinate lightly. I feel good about it and I hope that if you are reading this that you support our decision even if you would chose differently for your family. There are no better people to make choices for our children than ourselves. I thank god that we are able to freely make these choices every day.

Happy Saturday!

Columbus 1/2 Marathon 2009

Yesterday my hubby ran his first 1/2 marathon in Columbus. It was the Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon and 1/2 Marathon held in downtown Columbus, Ohio. The weather was crisp and cool but sunny. I am sooooo upset because I didn't forget my camera but forgot to grab the battery that was charging in the wall at home. So disappointed. Here is a picture of Mike at 6:30 am before he left our hotel.



Mike ran with his brother, Mark. The kids and I went with my sister-in-law and our nieces to watch the Dads at mile 9 and then we watched them come in to the finish. I was so proud of Mike. He did great and was in way better shape after running 13.1 miles than I anticipated. Sorry honey for not having the faith. I, myself, would be crawling but Mike did awesome!

Here we are at the finish



All in all it was a great weekend as I got to see 2 of my dearest friends from college Saturday night. I met my friends Julie and Tracy at the Cheesecake Factory for a late dessert and we talked for hours. The thing I love the most about them is we can start talking at it's like no time has passed since the last time we were together. We covered a lot of subjects, too!

The kids traveled great except for Miss A's two episodes of car sickness which aren't that unusual for her. After the second time we wised up and rearranged the seats and she did great. She's always one to keep Mommy and Daddy on their toes!

I really hope Mike tries doing a 1/2 marathon again. The excitement in the air was really cool and watching the marathon runners at their best was exhilarating. The clip at which they run, even at the half way point, was so inspiring. They just fly!
I glad we were their to support Mike!