I Love My Squash

Cameron has been eating cereals for a while and his yellow veggies, too.  Here he is eating up some yummy squash.

He does have a highchair, but it is still in the garage and hasn't been cleaned off yet from when it was stored.  Once that happens, then he can sit in it.  Until then, he gets laid in the bouncer for his mealtime.

Cameron seems to be a pretty good eater so far, so hopefully it will continue.  It sure is nice when they eat well for you!

English and Science Research Paper

Although Benjamin has a smile on his happy face, he normally wouldn't be smiling while working on homework.   Write more later.

Band-O-Rama Performance

Anna, Justin, Cameron, and I were off to Justice, IL where Anna and the rest of the FYB (First Year Band) was scheduled to perform and compete.

Although it was a Saturday and Anna would have a soccer game, we decided to have her participate in the optional band performance and show up late to her game.  I feel that any opportunity to have her practice and play music is well worth it.  As it was, we showed up just before half-time, so she played the 3rd and 4th quarter.  Her team won.

The songs the band played were Jasmine Flower (Chinese Folk Song) arranged by Wagner, Yankee Spirit March by John O'Reilly, and When the Saints Go Marching In (Traditional) arranged by Higgins.  The clinician that heard the group perform was Mr. James Baum.  He and another clinician listened to groups perform starting at 7:15am until 2:30pm.

The reason why only a few of family members attended the performance was because our ward had the Building Deep Clean.  Our ward is scheduled to keep the building clean for the 1st four months of the year.  Our bishopric wants us to pass the building off to another ward with it being thoroughly clean.  So, once a year, our ward does a deep clean of the building.  Many of the ward members and families come and the building is divided into sections for cleaning.  It starts around 9:00am and lunch is provided around 11:00am or so.

The bishopric grills hamburgers and hot dogs.  Usually the people eat outdoors in the parking lot so the clean building does not get dirty again so quickly, but unfortunately the weather was cold and windy this year, so we had to eat indoors.  Great times were had by everyone and delicious lunches gobbled up.  It filled up Benjamin and Emma before their soccer games starting at 11:00am.  It was nice.

Girl Scout Spaghetti & Meatballs Dinner

What a fun night for Anna to attend her Girl Scout Spaghetti & Meatball Dinner.  The best part about it was that she and the other girl scouts made the meatballs.

They were wanting to earn a Cooking Patch, so they planned to make spaghetti & meatballs for their activity.  The meatballs were homemade, but I guess the sauce came from a jar.  Along with it, they prepared garlic bread, salad, and a dessert.

Her leaders planned a wonderful night for the girls.  Everyone had a blast.  Anna even came home with leftovers (actually extra food) in a leftover container like a restaurant would have.  It was a circular metal container with a lid.  I thought that was a nice touch.  This way, others at home could try it out, too.

This was going to be Anna's last girl scout activity for the school year, but I guess they will be doing one more in May.  I already collected money from the other parents and gave the three leaders their thank you gifts for continuing to volunteer their time.  They received gift cards to two different restaurants.  Hope they will enjoy them!

Along Comes Mr. Alligator

My little alligator, Cameron, is getting more and more ready to move.  In this picture even though it looks like he is ready to go swimming in the water, he won't be swimming for a while.

As he spends more time on the floor and on his tummy, he is getting better at attempting to be on his knees.  He seemed to do more of that today.  I think it might be because he is in an outfit with shorts instead of pants or a footed sleeper.

Cameron has leaked a few times today and yesterday.  I'm sure it sometimes has to do with where he is located when he has to go.  It ends up differently depending on whether he is on his tummy, back, in the exersaucer, bouncer, or swing.  It might be, too, that I need to upgrade from a size 2 diaper to a size 3.  I probably could have done it a while ago, but I figured that since he still fit within the weight requirement, I might as well keep him in the smaller size and get more diapers in each package.  It's not so fun having to keep changing his clothes, though.  Another sign of him growing up quick.

Me and My Best Friend

Here I am with my best friend, Google Calendar!  It has been my best friend since January of 2008.

I was first introduced to it by Zeke Johnson, who was the Ward Mission Leader at the time in the Woodridge 1st Ward.  I was a Ward Missionary then and he set it up where he would send Google invites to all the Ward Missionaries for our weekly Ward Missionary Meetings.  It was because I wanted to add those meetings to a calendar, that I created an account and started keeping track of everything going on in my life and the life of my children.

Obviously, my life is more crazy than it was before.  When you continue to add more children, involve them in more things, and they naturally age to where they are involved with more (like YM's and Activity Days), you need to have a good method of recording and remembering.

I first created my own calendar.  Later on, I created a calendar for Clinton on my calendar.  Over the past few years, I began adding in calendars to keep track of important dates for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and deaths (after my Grandma Gertie died).  I also created separate calendars for Benjamin, Anna, Emma, Justin, and Cameron.  Each calendar created is a separate color on my overall Google calendar.

My whole family knows that I log everything into it.  When I receive important papers from school, church, doctors, etc. I log the information completely in the calendar and get rid of the paper.  There is no need to keep hanging onto it.

When I returned home from the Relief Society VT Social/Conference, I got back on the computer and noticed this reminder about the event.  I thought it was pretty funny.  One of the first things I do each day is turn on the computer, open my email, and open my Google calendar.

Some of the nice features about the Google calendar is that I can input which person the event is for, the start and stop time, the location, the description, and I can even set up events to repeat, too.

Candy Bar Poster for Kaela & Averie McPheters

Anna put together this wonderful Candy Bar Poster for Kaela and Averie McPheters.  They are moving this Friday to Utah and we will miss them greatly.  The poster is from all of the Activity Day girls and leaders.  Anna was just the one who offered to make it.

I'll write more later.

Those Are Some Dandy Lions!

Anna and Emma were walking home today from school and they decided to pick some Dandy Lions - dandelions!

Everyone's grass has been getting long and the weeds in people's yards (the ones who don't use dandelion or weed killers) have dandelions growing up all over the place like crazy.

I must admit, I was quite surprised when the girls came home with them.  Although, some of them were curved, the longest one was still 20 inches long.  Now that's what I call a dandelion - Dandy Lion.

The End of My So-Called Freedom

Cameron has just started getting up on one knee - this is the end of my so-called freedom.  It's not so difficult when you have a child that is not mobile.

This brings on a whole lot more worry when they can start moving around more and getting into EVERYTHING that is left on the floor or down low.  I guess we'll have to do more housework than we have done in the past.

Actually, he has been rolling around from his back to his tummy, from his tummy to his back, sometimes it was going back and forth and sometimes it was more of a continuous roll.  Now, it won't be long before he gets into much more.  This is an exciting step in his growing up, but I still am fine if he waits a while longer.  Maybe he was able to be on one knee a little bit easier since the car seat was behind him and it gave his legs more support.  We'll see soon enough.

Hopefully with Cameron being such a good baby, he won't be too bad.  The hard thing is that these little ones don't understand everything yet of what we're saying.  So at first, even though you tell them not to do something, they're not sure what you just said.

A Trip To Paris

Anna was fortunate enough to go on a trip to Paris with her friend from church, Jolie Fox.  Here is a group photo of everyone that went on the trip.  More info to come.

Jefferson Family Fun Fair Winnings!

Anna, Emma, Justin, Cameron, and I attended the Jefferson Family Fun Fair and this is all the stuff that they won.

Anna's Public Speaking Assignment - Pumpkin Bars

Anna's Public Speaking assignment for this month is Sharing Your Favorite Recipe. Well, Anna chose to share the recipe we have for pumpkin bars. Here she is with the pumpkin bars prior to them being baked. They are heading into the oven in just a little bit.

Benjamin's First Track and Field Meet

Look at Benjamin go at his first Track & Field Meet.

Tax Day at Panda Express

Although our taxes were sent in last week electronically, we did still have to send a check in the mail to the state of Illinois by April 17th, the day taxes were due. Of course, we still needed to send it in.

Before heading to the post office, Clinton checked online to see if there were any places that had Tax Day specials, discounts, or freebies. There were a few places offering freebies or discounts. One of the places he saw was Panda Express had a FREE single serving of Shanghai Angus Steak! It was valid only on April 17th. All you had to do was print off the coupon or LIKE them on Facebook and show them with your phone. That was easy enough.

Neither one of us had ever been to Panda Express, but we did find a location near us, so off we decided to go. We made sure Justin had a little lunch before heading out. We didn't think Justin would like anything there. Clinton and I both showed them our phones and that we did LIKE them on Facebook. I decided I wanted to try a fried rice to go along with it. It was all very tasty. Justin even tried some of both and had quite the fun with the chopsticks, too.

There was another freebie at Arby's. Again, we had a location close by us, but we almost never go there. They had FREE Curly Fries. We printed off two coupons and each used one. We got a little Jr. Roast Beef sandwich for Justin to try, but he wasn't interested in it, so Clinton and I split it. I purchased a Jr. Shake for Justin, but their machine wasn't working. So instead, I got the apple slices with strawberry yogurt dip. He really liked that.

When we had searched for a Panda Express location on the computer before, we noticed that there was another location in Bolingbrook. So, yes, we decided to go to the other location, show them that we did LIKE them on Facebook, and we each received another FREE single serving of Shanghai Angus Steak! It was a fun way to spend a little time together (almost like a date, although we had kids with us) and eat some delicious food. We'll have to remember to check it out next year on Tax Day!

Today was also Clinton's mother's birthday. We called her late that night. Happy Birthday, Sharon James!

UNO Roboto is Justin's Choice for FHE Activity

Detailed information will come tomorrow.

Lookie, Lookie, Where We Found Nuki!

Cameron had been laying down on the blanket that I made for him and he was nicely playing with toys and his nuk, the brand name of a pacifier.

We use to use different pacifiers for our kids, but this kind would be given to them in the hospital. I always thought they were rather strange since you could see through them and see your child sucking on the pacifier.

Since the brand name that we use to use was Nuk, we soon stopped calling it a pacifier and would call it a nuk or nuki. I guess out of habit we still call this pacifier a nuk even though it is called a Soothie. I only realized tonight as I was writing this blog. I figured I should check to see if it was called something, and sure enough, it had a name.

The funny thing about this picture is that I had picked Cameron up off of the blanket and sat down with him on the couch. I looked back at the blanket nearby scanning to find his nuk. I couldn't find it anywhere. I asked Anna and Emma if they knew where it was and they started laughing and telling me it was stuck in Cameron's shirt. I searched the front of his shirt expecting it to be there, but the girls helped me find it in back. I'm not surprised that he ended up getting the nuk behind his head when he was laying down on the blanket, but I am surprised that it got stuck there as I picked him up and that it stayed in place. I guess it helped that the nipple part was stuck inside the shirt.

I have come to realize that I prefer these kinds of pacifiers since they are a solid piece of rubber. There is no way for germs to be trapped inside the rubber like it could with the other ones we use to use. Unfortunately, right before we had Cameron, I purchased a package of Nuk brand pacifiers and haven't really used them. I'm not sure someone else will want to use them even if I tell them they have only been used a time or two. Oh well!

The Soccer Siblings

First soccer game of the season and the soccer siblings finished up having their team photos and they are off to play. Benjamin and Emma were the only ones that had games today. Anna's game will be on Wednesday.

I'm pretty sure that Anna and Emma are taller than they appear here, but the ground they are standing on is lower than Benjamin's so it shows a larger gap in height.

Benjamin's team is Blur, Anna's is Cobras, and Emma's is Flames. Emma's team didn't put a team name on their shirt and they just settled on a name right before pictures were taken today.

Their Aunt Yolanda came to watch part of Benjamin and Emma's games with Brenna and Devin. They finished up their games earlier and had a little bit of time to grab a bite to eat and arrive at half time. Emma's team lost, Benjamin's team won, and Anna's team didn't play today. Regardless of who won or lost, the kids had a win-win situation today. Their Aunt Yolanda went shopping to IKEA afterwards and their cousins, Brenna and Devin, came home and played for a while. After the shopping, Anna and Emma went back with their cousins to sleep at their house. I'm sure they had fun.

Since Emma was not here, that left Benjamin more in charge of Cameron while I met Clinton after the Priesthood Leadership Meeting and attended the Adult Session of Stake Conference with him. When Emma is around, Cameron does get looked after and played with a little bit more. Hopefully all was well with Benjamin, Justin, and Cameron.

I loved attending the meeting. All the talks were great. Justin McPheters, a member of our Woodridge 1st Ward, a High Council member, a LDS Family Services therapist, and friend was one of the speakers. This is his last time speaking in the area since his family is moving to Utah on April 27th. I will miss their family greatly.

Emma's First Non-Family Sleepover

Tonight was the night that Emma had been counting down till, the night she would be sleeping over at Rylan Gaspar's home.

Write more later.

High On A Rocktop

Justin is a boy, and just like any boy, he wants to climb. He loves being up high on top of things, just like on this rock.

Anna's Fit Girls Fitness Program

Look at Anna go!

Somebody Wants My Blood

The Woodridge School District #68 had a blood drive today and needed donors. Although, I didn't sign up, I decided I would pop on in and do it. I've donated several times in the past, in fact, I filled up the back of my donor card today.

I don't mind donating blood, but the last time I did (January 22, 2011), I got sick a few hours afterwards. I had never had that problem before, but I was busy trying to clean up my house to watch my sister's kids in a few hours. I figured that I stayed too busy and hadn't eaten or drank enough like I should have done. Well, several weeks later I found out I was pregnant with Cameron. When I calculated back, based on how far along they said I was, I had been pregnant for about a week. That's probably why I didn't feel so great. Even though I am still nursing Cameron, they say it is fine to donate. Generally, you don't want to donate when you are pregnant.

While I was there, a young guy donating blood got sick. He was on a chair behind me, so I couldn't see very well. I also didn't want to stare and make him feel uncomfortable. I know how it would make me feel. I'm not sure of all the details, but he had to stay for a while till they knew he would be alright. Hopefully he didn't get it all over him. Knowing my luck, I would get it all over myself.

Once I finished, they gave me two cans of apple juice and a treat. I wasn't sure which treat I was going to take and I narrowed it down to two. The lady said to go ahead and take both. I asked her, "Can I do that?" She told me that would be fine, so that's what I did, but instead of grabbing two different treats, I grabbed two bags of chocolate chip cookies. After finishing one of the drinks, they came back and grabbed the empty can and threw it in the garbage. I realized that I should have taken a picture. She was kind enough to grab me another can instead of retrieving my empty one from the garbage. So, I took a picture with the two bags of chocolate chip cookies and the two cans of apple juice, though I actually had three juice. Wow, this mobile Heartland Blood Center was quite generous! My next donation eligibility date is in 8 more weeks. Maybe I'll have to track them down! :)

Cameron is So Fascinated With the Camera

This sleeping outfit that Cameron is in is one that he received from the "Easter Bunny" yesterday. I thought it was rather cute that he matched the blanket he was laying on. I just had to get a picture.

Cameron was so intent on studying and watching the camera and what I was doing. I tried several times pulling the camera away from my face, trying to get him to smile or laugh, and then quickly take the picture. Inevitably, I would be too late. Here is the only picture that I took where he was happy. All of the others his expression was one of intent. It was like night and day. One moment I am getting him to smile and as soon as the camera would go in front of my face, he would stare at it in wonder and awe. It was funny, but a little frustrating.

Cameron has begun lifting up his knees a little bit when he is applying pressure to his hands and raising his upper body. He's not on his knees yet and ready for crawling, but because of the stronger pressure he puts on the floor with his hands, he ends up scooting or moving backwards. With his excitement to reach for toys, that's when he usually does it, so he ends up further from them. It's amusing to watch.

The front of his shirt has a picture of an octopus on it and the shirt says, "Into Everything". He's not there yet, but I am definitely alright with that. Cameron's time will come soon enough.

Easter Egg Hunt with the Missionaries

Last Easter Egg Hunt for 2012. Boy, the last few days have been full of hunting.

Easter Egg Hunt at the Potters

Once again, another Easter Egg Hunt. This time it was at the Potter's house. They live right behind us in the culdesac.

Easter Egg Hunt at the Fishers

Once the Easter Egg Hunt began, Benjamin took off to help Justin first before finding his own.

Cameron's First Easter Egg Hunt

How EGG-citing it was today to help Cameron collect eggs at his first Easter Egg Hunt. He loved looking at all of the colorful eggs that were spread all throughout the gym of the church. It would have been outside, but the high today was suppose to be 55 degrees, so it was held inside.

As I held Cameron with my hands, I tried to lean his towards the ground low enough to reach the eggs. Most of the time the eggs would be bumped by one hand and begin to roll all around and away from the other hand. Occasionally, he would be coordinated enough to grasp it with two hands at once. When he did do this, he was successful in picking up the eggs. Of course, Cameron tried putting all of the eggs he collected inside his mouth. Cameron was fortune to find a "chick" egg. Anna and Clinton helped Natalie Chandler hide all of the eggs and Clinton took pictures, too.

There were a bunch of families at the church today for the Easter egg hunt. The bulk of the children were 4 years of age and under. Everyone was suppose to bring 10 eggs per child. Since Benjamin was involved with track, it was only Anna, Emma, Justin, and Cameron, but that's alright, we have an Easter egg hunt on Friday at the Fishers and one on Saturday at a neighbor's house (Will and Aubrey Potter). Benjamin should be able to get some treats then.

With having three different Easter egg hunts and our own Easter, hopefully the kids can be taught more about the true meaning of Easter and not focus on the eggs, candy, and the Easter Bunny. This is another opportunity to teach our children about Christ.

Track and Field Running

Clinton found out Monday night from some neighbor girls, Hannah & Esther Mitre, that Track & Field practices started that day after school.

We were not sure if Benjamin had wanted to do it, but he had talked about it before. We spoke to him and he said no. We suggested that he go Tuesday for practice and see what it's all about. Well, he went and decided that he did want to do it. He is one of the fastest runners there I believe.

One of the benefits of us living on Woodridge Drive is that the cross country team and the track & field team run right in front of our house. This is one of a few routes they take. This picture is being taken as he is running towards our house and he is second in the front.

His running will greatly improve his soccer ability this season and continuing his soccer will help his running for track. I don't know which category he will participate in, but I'm excited to see what he picks and how he does. Hopefully, too, these athletic sports will instill a love of exercising throughout life as he sees and feels the benefits of doing it.

Sometimes Change Is Good

Sometimes change is easy, sometimes change is hard, sometimes change is bad, sometimes change is good. Well, today my change was good.

I emptied out the change jar (which is an empty mayonnaise jar), took out any quarters and put them in the quarter container to use for buying milk at school, and redeemed the change at the bank.

Although I did take out a few dollars worth of quarters, I was quite surprised to know that the 1/4 full change jar had $16.30 worth of money in it. I figured I would keep the $16.00 and Justin would be pretty happy to have the $0.30 to keep for himself. I wish this kind of change happened (or appeared) more often. I could really benefit from it!

Spring Soccer Season Begins

The hustle and bustle of another spring soccer season has begun. Benjamin has soccer practices on Mondays and Fridays from 5:30-6:30pm on the Cypress Cove field. Anna has soccer practices on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00-7:00pm on the Sunnydale field.

Benjamin's coach is the same coach he had last season. They had a good season, but the times they lost were to the same good team. I don't know how evenly matched the 4 teams will be, but last season 2 teams were good and the other 2 teams struggled. Some of the players on Benjamin's team have been on his team before. He knows

Anna's coach is someone new. The only person she has had on her team before is Nolan. She does know some of the other people from playing against them other soccer seasons such as Eric, Aubrey, Melissa, and Thomas.

Emma has yet to hear from a coach and find out when and where her practices begin. I spoke with a person at the Woodridge Park District and they are discussing this with the Woodridge Soccer Association (WSA) to find out. I believe they had a coach before and then something fell through. Who knows if she will get to play if they don't get a coach.

Justin can't wait until he can play soccer next fall. I think he'll play well. Cameron will probably pick up soccer pretty quick just like Justin, since he will end up with 4 siblings playing the sport. Our Saturdays will be busy, but I'll enjoy it.

Benjamin at FitzGerald's Nightclub

Never thought that my son, Benjamin, would attend a nightclub, let alone at such a young age. The interesting thing is that it was required for him to attend. He is a part of the Jefferson Junior High School Jazz Band and today they had a required performance at FitzGerald's Nightclub in Berwyn, IL.

From what I understand, this is a well-known place and a wonderful opportunity for their group to be playing there. Normally we wouldn't be doing something like this, but since it is for school, he attended.

The last two sessions of General Conference were today and he and Clinton were able to get most of it. They left the last hour of the second session to head out and be there early enough before they were to perform. Following their performance, the Chicago Grandstand Big Band performed for everyone. I'm sure it was enjoyed by all. I'm glad he has opportunities like this to listen to great performers. His old band instructor from Meadowview Elementary School, Mr. Payne, performed twice in the Chicago Grandstand Big Band and his current band instructor from Jefferson Junior High School, Mr. Carlson, performed once. His performance was actually a solo. Such great talent. I wish I could have been there to see it and to hear it, but I stayed with the other kids at home. I had a good night at home, too.