Some Catching Up To Do

Mom has come to stay for a month! We are all so excited! She arrived September 22nd and will be here until October 21st. I would like to say that we have been keeping her busy with lots of fun and unique activities but the truth is, we have simply been living life.

Since it is fall, we did go to Edwards Apple Orchard in Poplar Grove. Got a couple of 1/2 pecks of Honeycrisp apples, cider, popcorn, apple donuts, soup mix, cheese dip... shall I go on? We definitely made a grocery trip out of it. And we took some silly pictures too:







The rest of the album can be found here:

Apple Orchard in Poplar Grove

Zeke has also been playing lots of football. After today, his team is 6-1. The only team they lost to was Genoa-Kingston Orange, and they are undefeated. Because of their tremendous performance, they are now in the playoffs. WOO HOO!

Today they played Genoa-Kingston Blue and won 24-6. Zeke made some great tackles and did some super blocking. Here are some pictures of him in action:







And finally, it is Homecoming Season. This year Clare decided to go with a group of girls. They went to her friend Summer's house for appetizers, pictures and general fanciness before attending the dance. Afterward, they were all going back to Summer's house to spend the night. Here are some pictures of the girls:







Next week we will be working on some craft stuff, going to the mall and trying our luck in a corn maze or two. There are some huge ones out here!

Thanks for looking!

Football and a Surprise

RRL Lightweight Hawks vs. Dakota Lightweights.
What.
A.
Game.
We ended up winning 8-6 but boy oh boy was it work. Their defense stopped almost all our boys' maneuvers. The touchdown we did manage to get was just a little short of miraculous. Here is the album from this week's game. Included are the mini-cheerleaders called Cubbys. They are 4-7 year old girls who are learning the basics of cheering. Adorable.

Football Hawks vs. Dakota

And as an added treat, Clare sang the National Anthem twice: at the game before Zeke's and after. She was amazing and everyone gave her lots of compliments. Here she is:

First Day of School

Zeke began 4th grade today. And to celebrate his grown-up-ness, he decided to forgo the bus and rode his bike to school.



Rachelle, Clare and I went to Chicago to do a bit of sightseeing. We went to Navy Pier, rode the ferris wheel, rode the trolley up Grand, walked to Giordano's (which, incidentally, has the BEST deep dish pizza EVER), did some window shopping at the Michigan Ave, Magnificent Mile and then headed back. Picture album below:

Chicago with Rachelle

We did a drive-by of the Sears Tower as well and proceeded to get lost, thanks to on ramps being closed and my poor, confused GPS. We finally managed to get home though, ate subpar takeout Chinese food and slugged out for the remainder of the evening.

More Football - Games 1 and 2

Zeke's team is the Lightweight Hawks. Their first game was Wednesday. It was supposed to begin at 6:30 pm but because the game before them was delayed due to lightning, we started at 7:45 pm. So it was essentially a night game. Thank goodness for stadium lighting.

They got off to a slow start but found their rhythm by the second quarter and ended up winning 26-14. Zeke is #96 but didn't get a whole bunch of playing time, mostly because he has been Kid Distracto throughout most of the practices this past week.



Adam and Zeke were ready super early this morning, VERY excited for Game 2. Zeke in his football gear and Adam in his Board Member apparel.

Today's game was played in Burlington, IL. The coaches and some of the team met at Starbucks in ROckford to "fuel up" before the game and then carpooled the 90 minutes to the game field. Adam and another dad took some players in the truck and the females rode seperately. Each to his or her own hormone.

The Official Pre-Game Meeting:


Pre-Game Bonding:


Warm Ups:



Heading out to the Field:


And the game:






9 Year old Butts:


More Action Shots:








The first quarter was rough. The Panthers scored twice right off the bat, making the score 14-0. But the Hawks, just like Wednesday night, recognized their patterns and pulled themselves together. They reorganized and ended up winning the game 36-14.

They played a good game, a fair game. Everyone got to play quite a bit. Towards the end, Coach gave players who normally wouldn't get the chance an opportunity to carry the ball. They are learning a variety of plays and most of all are having a fun time.

After Your Dog Hits the Bottle a Little Too Hard

Don't become an alcoholic. This could happen to you:





We have no idea why this is Maxine's newest favorite spot. Perhaps she finds the odor of urine comforting? Or perhaps she is lonely and the slow trickle of a leaky gasket somewhere in the tank speaks to her.

Regardless, she now takes her naps here and most times sleeps through the night in that spot as well. Which is a WONDERFUL wake up call for poor Adam when he wakes up in the middle of the night having to pee.

They are getting more and more comfortable with each other every day. When we go on walks, if they are not walking side by side, whomever is in front is constantly looking back to check that the other is following. And God forbid one should get a car ride without the other!

Our new favorite picture:

It's that Football Time of Year

Sunday was the official Opening Day for the Roscoe-Rockton Lions Football Organization. We all had to be at the field at 7 AM (do people actually function at that hour on a weekend?) to assemble.

RRL Opening Day

They did Opening Ceremonies, honoring local dignataries, founding members, coaches and board members. Adam got to stand out on the field and be honored for serving on the board.

Afterward team pictures were taken and everyone competed in the Punt, Pass and Kick. Clare and her friends helped out with registration and I got to take pictures. Originally there was to a be a picnic that afternoon but the radar predicted sever thunderstorms (that never happened - darn you Weather Channel!) so it was postponed.

Zeke's first game is Wednesday evening and then every Saturday for the next couple of months! Wish him luck!

Catching Up

Sorry for the lack of updates. Joined Facebook shortly after returning home from North Carolina and now Farmville takes up all my spare time! Ha ha!

For time (and my sanity)'s sake, I have posted a small description of each event and posted an album following it. SO click on the picture and it will take you to a group of pictures of each event that may or may not be labeled sometime in the future.

Adam's best friend in the whole wide world came to visit us through the 4th of July weekend. We went into Chicago and they all went into the Sears Tower. It was a little too high for me:

Sears Tower with Lee and Family

For the actual holiday, our neighbors, affectionately known as "the other Mays" from down the street invited us to their house for food, swimming and conversation:

Independence Day at The Other Mays

Clare and I went to North Carolina to visit our dear friends The Parkersons from July 8-15. We had a fabulous time! Scott, Michelle and Isabella are terrific hosts!

While we were there, we went to the Museum of Natural History:

NC Museum of Natural History

We had a tea party (girls only):

NC Tea Party

We went shopping and afterward barged in on a coffee shop featuring the music of "soulful jazz with a modern twist". We played Scattergories, drank coffee and ate dessert instead:







We roasted marshmallows; Nothing says friendship like burning a fire in the middle of July in North Carolina. I am sure the neighbors, if they had spotted us, were very confused:

NC Bonfire

We also went on two college tours, so Clare could get an idea of what to expect, what she needed to be doing in high school now, and what the future could hold. We went to both Duke and UNC Chapel Hill. The campuses are GORGEOUS! UNC has over 600 groups and activities, one of which is a Pirate Club. They have an annual beard growing contest and everything.

NC College Tours

We stopped for coffee and dessert afterwards. We figured we had earned it since we walked two giant campus tours in one day, not to mention going through Duke Gardens.



We spent some time at the pool too.



And enjoyed the company of our goofy friends:



While we were gone, Adam and Zeke had some "man time". They bought Zeke a bike:



built a wood walkway from the sunroom (which I do not have a picture for) and helped out a lot with the RRL football team.

Adam had surgery on Monday, July 20th to get some cysts removed from his head. Being the supportive wife I am, of course I took pictures! Some of them are a bit graphic so if you have a sensitive stomach, don't click on the following album:

Adam's surgery (a little graphic)

My sister Jaime came for a long weekend visit in July. Unfortunately I only got one picture during her entire visit. I am a bad sister.



More updates to come in a later post! Thanks for looking everyone!