So much changes in 12 years

So this was me and 7 of my best friends in high school all dressed up to go to our senior homecoming dance. We were known as the v-8 frogs. I'm not even quite sure how that name started but it did stick over our high school years together.
And this is 12 years later when 6 out of the 8 of us were able to get together with our children. 6 moms, 12 children ranging in age from 2 months old (Kaden) to 10 years old (Austin). Congratulations to Alice, the newest mommy of our group. We missed you and your 4 kids, Melanie!!! You didn't miss much as far as catching up with each other.... we were mostly chasing children around. haha

All day extravaganza

We decided to invite several of our friends over for an all day extravaganza last Saturday. The excitement started pretty early on when Hank the dog caught the mole that has been living in our backyard. Thanks Hank... way to go! The mole is the little black blob you see laying in the mulch.
Here is the proud dad and his dog Hank. Dustin gave him a whole piece of ham as a reward for catching the mole. 10 minutes later Hank threw up that and then some on our patio. Ahh... good times!!

There was badminton...

throwing bags...

even hillbilly golf.

Of course we did a lot of eating. Thanks Blaine for grilling while Brian was watching the Cubs game.

Girls were enjoying the hammock swing.

When it got too dark to play any more games we took the fun inside for a friendly poker tournament. It came down to Brian and I for the final two. Still can't believe he beat me.

Go Cubs Go!

This Cubs vs. Sox series has been very exciting. Hopefully our cubbies will win tonight to pull off a sweep of the series! We were lucky enough to have tickets to the first game of the series. It was quite loud at Wrigley when the cubs scored their first run in the very first inning. But we had to wait all the way to the bottom of the 9th to really celebrate when Ramirez hit a home run to win the game.
It started off with a rain delay. Poor bleacher bums got soaked just sitting there in the down pour for 5 minutes. Then it was sunshine for the rest of the game. See Brian and Carl sitting two rows in front of us? That was the highest up I've ever sat in Wrigley and it really wasn't bad at all.

Thanks Carl and Lisa for taking us to the game with you guys! Remember 8 years ago when we went to a Cubs-Sox game with you guys? Time does fly!

Carnival

The Schererville Fest is located at the park right down the street from us all weekend. We've walked down there almost everyday for either food, rides, fun or music. The second day we went as a group with all of our neighbors and bought wristbands to ride the rides. I realized halfway through the third ride that I rode that I could no longer stomach spinning carnival rides.
The boys enjoying their slushy they created by themselves.

At one point all of us were on the bumper cars at the same time. I pulled out my camera and got quite a few good shots. By the end of it though we all got the giggles and just couldn't stop laughing. It was so much fun!!

Tonight is the last night and sadly I'll probably walk down there for one more elephant ear. (I know I'll be regretting this all when it's time to go to the beach)

Happy Father's Day

Well after lunch at Schoops, we all played a few games of boccee ball in the backyard. If you are able to view this picture closer... check out Brian's t-shirt. This is what Austin picked out to give him for father's day. What a good sport to wear it out to lunch in public.
Looks like it was getting a little competitive in this photo.

Madi was posing by our new garden decoration that I call my Madison.

Happy Father's day, Dad. Some of my favorite memories that come to mind... going to work with you, harry scary, teaching me to ride a two wheeler, always beating you at memory at a young age, watching 3 stooges with you, playing catch in the backyard, singing "Ole Ole Ole" instead of "holy holy holy" at church, letting me stay up late to see how high you got on the game pitfall, playing Monopoly with you and Grandpa Olsen. Thanks for always being a great example of how to live your life. It's very comforting to know that there is someone out there that prays for me and my family every single day. Thanks for still loving me even though I married a die hard Cubs fan too.

I love you!

Twisters and roller skating

My friend Jenny was in town from Missouri this past weekend. Everyone decided to throw me a surprise birthday party while she was in town. Even as I was staring at the birthday banner hung up in the kitchen of my friends house I was wondering "whose birthday is it?" So needless to say I really was surprised. We played outdoors and had a BBQ until the weather got pretty bad that we started scanning the skies for a tornado that we heard had touched down not too far from us. It was really quite scary for awhile. Click here to watch a video I found online that someone shot of the actual tornado. At this point it was about 16 miles away from us. Tornado season has been quite scary this year across the US.

Later my friends took me out to the local roller rink (which ended up being closed due to the tornado warning) so we drove out to another roller rink in Illinois and had a great time. This is a picture of all of us at the end of the night. Amber and Jessica I wish you could have come too!

Landscaping

So here's my ugly garden that surrounded our apple tree in the backyard before I decided to tackle it as my landscaping job for the beginning of this summer. Part of the edging rocks were broken bricks and some of the decorative edging was piled 2 high and some were piled 3 high. SO after we got that straightened out we had to dig out all the flagstone rocks that were all over in the mess of weeds.

This is what you get after 30 bags of top soil, 8 bags of mulch, lots of sweat and tired muscles, several bottles of drinking water, one bad sunburn and a few plants you pick up at Home Depot. A HUGE thank you to my mom and dad that helped me get all the rocks out and the dirt and landscaping paper in place. I assure you I'll be spending lots of time in my hammock swing that hangs from our apple tree.

Random

So I've been tagged by my wonderful friend Melinda to share 5 random things about myself. I usually don't take people up on challenges like this... but today is my first day of summer vacation and I have nothing but time on my hands. Here we go...

1. I use to have a severe fear of water. Not just deep water... like I was afraid to float around on a tube in 3 feet of water in the lazy river at water parks (I know very strange) Even though I'm still not a good swimmer, I can manage in the water and have overcome my fear a lot.

2. I'm in limbo right now whether or not I'm going back to the school I have worked at for 4 1/2 years. There is an opportunity at my kids' school so I'm interviewing for that on Monday. Just trying to figure out what path I'm suppose to be taking in life.

3. I'm ridiculously obsessed with two food items right now. One is chocolate milk, I have a glass every morning and every night. The other item is Post Frosted Shredded Wheat. I eat a handful here and there every time I get the munchies. (that's about as random as it gets) Which reminds me I'm hungry...

4. Once when I was a kid I sneacked out of my friends house during a sleepover and we ran across the neighborhood to teepee a boys house. (his name was Brian but we all called him Goose) While we were doing the deed a few people at a party next door to him saw us and called the cops. I never ran so fast in my life. I cut through the park and saw the cop cars with spotlights looking for us. Then when we got home, my friend's mother found out we had snuck out and wasn't too happy with us. She said she was going to tell my mom the next day. I don't think she ever did, but since my mom reads my blog she knows now. Sorry mom!

5. I ran a mini marathon a couple years ago with my friend Jenny. During my training I lost a few pounds and was in great shape. I really want to get back into running again. Maybe this summer... but I need some motivation so I'm going to go shopping for a new pair of running shoes and maybe that will help.

Well there you have it... I'm sure you all feel like you know me so much better now. Now I get to tag 5 friends of my own to post a random blog of their own.

I choose...

Sheila Jenny Sarah Amber Jessica

Chicago

I wanted to do something fun and different to celebrate the big 30! We decided to go see Blueman group in Chicago. The show has been in Chicago for years and we have never made it a point to go see it. We are so happy we finally made it there to see the show because it was AWESOME!
Of course by now you are probably wondering why all these picture are of us at Wrigley Field instead?!?!? Well, Brian suggested we get to Chicago early and just "walk around" and enjoy the city and beautiful weather (75 and sunny) Little did I know (but he did) that Briar Street Theatre was only a few blocks from Wrigley Field. I didn't mind... it was a nice walk and quite pleasant to actually be able to walk around Wrigleyville without so many other people around. Brian usually HATES taking pictures, but I didn't have to talk him into any of these pictures. He's such a sports fan... ESPECIALLY cubs! Melanie, when are you guys coming in town so we can get some tickets?

And here I am with my HUGE cheesy smile. After the show was over many people were waiting around to get pics with the Blueman cast. I walked up to this guy and asked if I could have a picture with him for my 30th b-day (yes, I'm milking this for all it's worth) After we took this picture he leaned over and said (in an english accent) "you don't look a day over 22, happy birthday"

Then he gave me a blueman kiss and here's the picture to prove it!!!

Notice I'm holding a poncho in my hand because we were in row 5 which required wearing ponchos. When we first sat down in our seats a producer approached us and asked if we'd like to be part of the show, but it would require us sitting in different seats for the first 10 minutes of the show. Now anyone who knows Brian would say that he is very shy. Can you believe he agreed to it? I haven't been to the show before but I've had friends tell me about the "late arrivals" part of the show. Yep... that was us. The whole show was great and well worth it. On a side note: We found out that they allow volunteer ushers to most of their shows and you get to stay and watch the show for free after ushering. Just call Briar Street Theatre if you are interested in saving $140 but would like to see the show.

Austin

What a busy weekend it has been for Austin. First he turned 10 years old on Saturday. We pretty much already celebrated with him at the waterpark, but Nana and Papa did come over and bring pizza. He also requested brownies instead of a cake. He talked his sister into giving him the present from her while they were still in their PJ's early Saturday morning. Austin is super excited about the fact that both sets of grandparents pitched in to order him a new backboard for his basketball rim. The plexi glass broke recently and he hasn't been able to play. Thanks to all of you who sent cards, gifts and called him to say "Happy Birthday"

Secondly, Austin recently finished up Lifebuilding classes at our church, Suncrest. It's a 5 week class that talks about our faith and why we believe what we believe. A couple years ago Austin started asking us questions about God and ended up making a decision at that point to become a christian. At the end of Lifebuilding classes he told us he'd like to be baptised. Brian was lucky enough to be the one to baptise Austin. We are so proud of him and are excited to see what God has in store for his life.