Birthday Tailgate

Last weekend we all went down to Mom and Dad's for the weekend to celebrate my birthday and go to the Illini game.  It was perfect weather and a great game!

Katie, Tim and I

Birthday cake! 

Cara's first tailgate.  She loved it!

Chief arms

More Chief arms

Cara playing washers

This is what happens when you ask your 14 year old to be in a picture with you.

That's better.

Cara eating birthday cake. She loved it!

More Cuteness!

Here are some pictures Mom took while watching the kids a few different times.

Cara loves her sunglasses

Lila being silly



 Tea party

 Ian being a good big brother

And being silly with Walter

Lila and Lucy

Cuteness

My little fashionistas (no idea where they get that...) picked out their own outfits today.  You can't see Lila's shoes, but they are pink ballet flats with huge pink jewels on them that she picked out at Gap herself.  So, since I'm trying be better about pictures, I thought I would take a couple.

Lila didn't think the first one was good enough of Bolt.

This week Lila started gymnastics and dance again.  She has moved up a level in gymnastics and this year is old enough to be in the dance recital.  She is taking a ballet and tap combo class and to say she loves her tap shoes is a huge understatement.

And Cara, after all of this time of watching Lila get to go to classes while she has to hang with me, including yelling "I 'nastics!!" [I do gymnastics!] at the top of her lungs outside the gym on Tuesday, finally got to start her first class today.  She and I went to music class for the first time today.  It is the same one that Lila and I used to do and Cara loved it!  She didn't hesitate at all and participated in all of the songs and tried to do all of the motions.  And she had an ear to ear grin on her face the entire time.

Football Season!

We stayed with my parents all of last weekend, where I was chastised by Momoo for not updating the blog enough. So, first, an apology for not updating the blog enough!  I feel like we have been busy, but we haven't been doing anything out of the ordinary and I haven't taken any pictures.  I am going to make an effort to step it up, even if it means just taking pictures of the kids at home.

But, back to last weekend, we stayed with my parents and went to the Illini game on Saturday.  Everyone wanted to show off their new orange and blue.

Katie and the kids



Back to School!

Hard to believe, but school has started again!  Ian started 8th grade on Thursday - his last year of middle school!  He has a big year ahead with high school registration, Confirmation class at church and 8th grade graduation.  He was not very enthusiastic about going back to school, but he said that he had a good first day.



Ian is wearing a new shirt and new jeans.  And I am happy to report that we both survived the back to school shopping experience!

Continuing the tradition I started last year, here is a video of Ian after his first day.

Lila started 4 year old preschool on Friday and was SO excited!  All day Thursday she kept saying, "I am SO excited to start school tomorrow.  I can't WAIT to go to school.  I can't wait to learn new things!"  Friday morning she was up and ready to go.  When we went outside for pictures Cara looked at me like I was nuts that I didn't want her in the picture and then went and stood by Lila anyway.  Here she is trying not to be left out.

Lila with her backpack and first day of school dress.

 At school with her nametag.  Right after this she said, "Okay Mommy you can go now."



And then she sat down and started playing.

Here's Lila's first day of school interview.

August

The first part of August has managed to fly by without me posting any blog updates.  We have all been busy and trying to enjoy the last few weeks of summer!  Hard to believe that we are going back to school already!

As soon as VBS ended I left for a girls weekend in Nashville with three friends.   I had so much fun!  I pretty much didn't eat or sleep while I was there, but it was worth it.  I loved Nashville and would move there in a second if I was single and child-free.  We sat by the pool and went shopping, but mostly we went honky-tonk bar hopping.

While I was gone, Chris was home with the girls and took them on a trip to the zoo.  Here they are watching the dolphins go by.

Lila with the tiger 

 and with her favorite animal, the buffalo.

On Saturday night a friend of ours from law school got married.  It was a beautiful wedding with the ceremony in a basilica and the reception at the Chicago Symphony Center.  Here we are with Jim and Jasna on the balcony of the symphony center.

I turned in early though and stayed in a hotel in the city because the next day I ran my first ever Half Marathon.  I ran the Rock n Roll Half which was a fantastic race.  There are local live bands all along the course which helps keep your feet moving.  Plus, the race was very well run and extremely organized.  Chris brought the kids in to the city to watch the race.  I was able to see them at mile 7 and then again at the finish.  Here's Ian with the skyline in the background.

My friend, Lora, and I after the race

My finish time was 2:17 which was slower than I wanted, but I am focusing on the fact that I ran 13.1 miles and crossed the finish line.  But I'm already thinking about my next Half so I can beat my time!

Vacation Bible School

We returned from Portland to a heat advisory in Chicago, so we didn't do much because it was SO hot.  Then, just as the heat advisory was lifted, our air conditioner broke.  And not just a minor break- we had to have a new inside and outside unit installed.  Not fun.  So, we didn't do much while the air conditioner was broken either because it was SO hot.

This week was VBS at church.  I was a crew leader for a group of first and second grade boys and let's just say they were a challenge.  Lila was part of the preschool group again this year and had a fantastic time!  She told me all about what she did every day and couldn't wait to go back.  Two of her teachers even told me how impressed they were with her knowledge about Jesus!  Cara spent the week in the nursery at church playing with her friends and having fun.

Last night was the VBS Finale where the kids could show off the songs that they learned.  The preschoolers sang Jesus Loves Me by themselves and then sang two songs with the rest of the group.  Lila did an excellent job singing the words and doing the hand motions!

After the singing, everyone had ice cream to celebrate!