Our Weekend In Chicago

We just came home from a wonderful weekend in Chicago visiting our sister & brother-in-law & family. As always with visits with family, it went WAY too quickly.

Matt, Katie, Ellie, Sam, & Mike

The Man of the Hour - We were in Chicago to celebrate this sharp dressed man. Matthew Edward Reall turned 8 and was baptized.

We stayed with the Realls for four days. Mike's sweet sister, Tammy, and her darling boys, Gavian, Damian, and Christian also made the trip up. It was so fun getting to know her better. Along with the five adults in the house, we had one 1 year-old, two 2 year-olds, two 5 year-olds, a 6 year-old, three 8 year-olds, and a 10 year-old. That would be ten kids under the age of 10! And believe it or not, everyone got along so well! It was great to see the kids having so much fun together.

Partners in Crime - Sam, Drew, and Damian

Matt, Christian, and Ross

Russ & Monique Felker's boys - Danny & Michael (I couldn't get Tyler's picture)

The Felkers (Russ is Edward's first cousing) live about an hour from Mike and Katie. They came over for the baptism and for dinner afterward. Their boys are DARLING! All three boys (ages 3, 5, & 7) became absolutely smitten with Elizabeth! They all wanted to sit on her lap and hold her hand the entire evening. It was precious! Danny, the three year-old, asked if Elizabeth could be their new babysitter.

The whole gang getting crazy after the baptism.

While there we spent a day enjoying the beautiful weather at a park. We started off the day fishing, but that was quickly aborted when a clueless woman brought her dog over to our dock and threw a stick into the lake for it to retreive. Tammy even asked her, "Are you not concerned about the dog getting stuck by the hook?"

We moved on to a picnic lunch, followed by chasing chipmunks, playing in the dirt, and an intense kick ball game.

It was a wonderful weekend!

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True, It Probably Is

The bowling deal certainly wasn't all it was cracked up to be. When something is advertised as free, I expect it to be free. While there was some truth to the campaign, they sock you with the shoe rental fee.

In our town, you can bowl in your socks if you want to. So I went to a bowling alley in the city fully expecting the same. When I asked if the kids could bowl in their socks, the manager said, "No, no, no..." I asked the shoe rental fee. $3.99 per child. Yowza!! I took my cheap-o hat off and paid the darn fee. And wouldn't you know as we were leaving, I looked at the marquis to check the prices. It was $2.49 per person!! I got rooked!

Anyway, the kids had a good time, but I probably won't be taking them back. The price irked me, and the two games in a row were a little too much for the younger two kids.

Mallory was very proud of her two-sizes-too-big bowling shoes. They were the smallest size they had.

These two pictures should be switched. After the first couple of frames, the manager brought out this rig for Mallory. It was very helpful!

Drew came from behind and won the first game!

Elizabeth picked the pink ball, of course.

Ross has a really funky release.

Check Out This Awesomeness!

Take a look at this deal! I love free! This is so cool because it's even worth signing up, even if we only use it once. Somebody was thinking!

If you don't want to take the time to go check it out, it's a program that offers 2 free games of bowling per child PER DAY this summer at participating bowling alleys!

Are Women Born This Way?

My Aunt sent this to me. How darling is this?! So cute!

Injections

(Syringes and pen needles Ross has used during the month of May)

This is proof of what a stud Ross is. By my calculations, he has had over 140 injections since his Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis five weeks ago. He gets at least four a day. Not once has he cried or complained about having to get the injections. He mostly gives them to himself (in his abdomen and thighs), but when it's time to rotate to his arms, he needs help with those (he can't quite reach them himself).

As he was giving himself a shot the other day, I asked, "Ross, how do you feel about having diabetes, now that you're a month into it?" He replied, "I don't like it. But there isn't anything I can do about it, so I might as well make the best of it." I would say that is quite a mature outlook for a ten-year old.

Summer

Summer officially began for us a week ago with the kids' last day of school. I wanted to think of something fun to do to kick off summer break. I decided to let the kids go play in a creek. I realize I need to let go a little more, and let them have fun and get dirty. Sometimes cleaning up a mess is totally worth them getting along and not fighting.

They took along their "crawdad catching gear."

Drew was a little alarmed when he looked in the water and saw a crawdad. He yelled, "LOBSTER!"

He brought along his goggles...

...to get a closer look.

Mallory had a blast playing in the dirt/pebbles/sand.

The ruined shorts were worth it.

Pay to the Order of ... Poop

I'm pretty sure Drew will get into the banking industry when he grows up.
Either that or the plumbing industry.

This is what I found when I opened the checkbook today. Drew has this little problem of pulling pranks to try to get a laugh. I'm a little worried about Kindergarten.

House Guest

This is Teddy. He's a one year-old Yorkie. He belongs to our friends. They found a fantastic last-minute deal on a cruise and were in need of a dog sitter. We volunteered. So far it's been fun. There has only been one accident in the last four days (Lizzy didn't so much enjoy having to clean it up!). The kids have been begging for a dog, so we thought this might be a good situation for them to see how much work a dog is. They are all willing to take him out at 6:30 a.m., in the rain, and in the heat. They are actually fighting over getting to take him out.

Drew is very skittish around animals, so this has been great for him. He's been very brave. Mallory just cackles when she plays with him, although she's been kind of rough with him at times. She cracks me up because she usually calls him "Tedward."

Why You Don't Turn Your Back On Toddlers:

Usually on preschool days, we get the older two kids ready and off to school before coming home to get the younger two ready. We'd come home, and I gave the little two some yogurt with their breakfasts. I told them to eat while I went upstairs to dry my hair. When I finished I heard cackling coming from the kitchen. As I made my way down the stairs I called out, "Should I be scared?" To which Drew replied, "Yes. Be very scared." I found this yogurt madness in the kitchen. It was one of those times that I had a hard time being mad because they were laughing with sheer happiness and fun. The kids know if they are genuinely laughing, I will often laugh too. It's like seeing someone yawn to me - it's contagious. No matter how much I don't want to, I can't help but laugh, too, sometimes (Edward doesn't particularly enjoy this at certain times of discipline!). Anyway, after a quick clean-up and quick bath, no harm was done and we were off to preschool - only 45 minutes late.

Oh my goodness, the Felker household has been NUTS over the last few weeks! We've had

Cub Scout Olympics
Preschool Circus
842 School Field Trips
Doctor's Appointments
Ben's College Graduation
Aaron's College Graduation

Drew's Preschool Graduation

Helped the Waddell's move & worked on their new house

Visited my Grandpa in the hospital (he's had a stroke)

Met a teeny, tiny new cousin

Attended awards ceremonies

Planted a garden

Stuck it out through three tornado watches

Made it to the last day of school (today!)

I'm hoping things slow down a bit for us soon!

Mother's Day

These cuties are why I celebrate Mother's Day:

Sunday we got to see both of our mothers. Edward's mom and step-dad were travelling through the area after visiting her mom in Memphis. We were excited to see them for a few minutes!

Grammy and Grandad with their crew

Saturday my family treated me to a fun day. After I attended my brother Ben's jr. college graduation, we headed to St. Louis. We went to the temple. We enjoyed walking around the beautiful temple grounds.

They then took me to my favorite restaurant, Chevy's. They know taking Mom there makes her a happy woman!

We then stopped by our favorite park. It's a place with a big pond for fishing or feeding the ducks. It has two barns and a huge stable full of horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, ducks, and geese.

The men in the Wright family have a tradition of preparing a meal for us moms on Mother's Day, as well as cleaning up and tending to the children! Ahh, what a nice thing.

Unfortunately, the day ended with my poor nephew, Harrison, acquiring 6 stitches after a fall into the wood trim on the couch. Poor guy! We were joking about the timing of it. Ben graduated the day before. Two years ago, we were at Ben's high school graduation party when Elizabeth had to get 14 stitches in the middle of her forehead. We're going to make all the kids wear helmets when he graduates from his four-year university!

Family Picture Time... Ugh!

I think we are getting past the point where we can use the camera's timer to take a family picture. Watching the blinking light doesn't cut it for at least 2/3 of the Felker Family. I can get some cooperation (sometimes) when I'm behind the camera, working hard for a smile. See? These turned out pretty cute on Easter:

Mallory gave me a nice, toothy grin.

And Drew gave me a blue, toothy grin. Thank you Easter Bunny!

Elizabeth always offers a diva pose.

Ross is pretty easy going. He's usually game for my camera craziness.

Aside from the blue teeth and Ring Pop, I think this one turned out pretty well.

A bit goofy, but fun.

Here's what I'm talking about with the camera's timer:

Mr. Uncooperative, Drew, started off not wanting to humor me with a nice family portrait.

I had the audacity to fix Mallory's bow. What was I thinking?

I told everyone to get ready, but I wasn't ready myself! Mallory is trying to squirm out of my arms. And Drew is apparently trying to sneak in a "purple nurple" on Ross.

Oops! That flash caught us off gaurd.

Sadly, this was our best one. I'm trying to tell myself that Mallory was just trying to smile, not shriek. Um, yeah. That's it.