5 shopping days left!!

. . . and the kids have a snow day today- yikes! This time of year is so fun but it goes so fast!! Work is usually busy with parents trying to get another tax deduction in for the year. More often than not, we regretfully send our hopefuls home with the same line, "I'm sorry but you're not in labor". Ooh they get so mad at us! But the babies that are rightfully born are put in cute little Christmas stockings. With all the privacy laws I can't take an authentic photo but they look something like this. . . too cute.

Cute picture of Lauren that I thought I'd throw in :0)

Lauren and I together the day we took family pictures at Julie's

I'm glad today turned out the way it did. I was suppose to work last night, then stay awake all day and be in charge of the craft for Lauren's Christmas party. I don't know how I get myself into these things. Turned out, I got to stay home, no school yippee and Gavin's going to our neighbors to wrap presents and do crafts with his girlfriend Marionne. ( a much older woman :0) while he's there, the other 2 stay home and I can still get things done! I've always said that things have a way of working out! We lost last weekend to being sick then I work Monday and Tuesday night so this weekend is it to finish up shopping- thank God because my wallet's getting awfully thin!

Winter in Chicago

This blog is dedicated to our family on the west coast basking in the warm sunny weather while we pile on the layers just to go out the front door. I made out on "Black Friday" with new snowsuits for the kids. Lauren's is from Macy's and she is snug as a bug in that suit. Here she is on her way to school. . .









After school, Isabelle and Emily came over to help build the first snowman of the season. Recognizing they couldn't possibly lift the middle snowball, Lauren grabbed a piece of scrapwood from the garage and together they hoisted it up there.

The girls took a break for me to grab this picture then it was back to work.

No playing in the snow for Gavin. He got bit by the flu bug. Seeing as he never threw up before, he was crying out at 3am, "I'm choking" and I found him lying flat on his back throwing up- and he's been throwing up all day :0( (which is the only the reason I have time to sit and blog while he's napping)

There'a plenty more to blog about but Gav's here now and wants to snuggle :0)

Three's Company

Not only is "Three's Company" my all time favorite show- ever- but here are three of my all time favorite people ever. Three must be my lucky number! We all gathered at Julie's to have an extended family portrait taken of Grandma and Grandpa with their girls and our families. We were hoping to be outside but the weather wouldn't cooperate. I grabbed this shot while we were waiting. I'm sorry to report, Hunter's doing very well in school and is planning on growing his hair long again :0( Gavin's got a case of bedhead- it was so hard to plan a time that worked for everyone and we ended up with a time just after Gavin's nap. It was impossible getting him to cooperate! Anyway, I just love these guys. Look at sweet little Lauren! Gav's always saying "cheese" when the camera's around and it kills me that Hunter hides behind long hair. He's got the biggest bluest eyes and a smile that lights up the room. (Can you tell I am proud of my kids? Aren't blogs for bragging? :0)

Another year under our belt

My sister and I both just celebrated our wedding anniversaries- Nov. 2nd and Nov. 4th- only she was a good girl and posted about it! I'm so busy talking about the kids all the time. So here's a quick little tribute to Todd and me :0) ~ 14 years already! They have gone so fast! This is one of my favorite pictures of the two of us at a luncheon shower for Todd's cousin just after I had Gavin. It's been alot of work, but what marriage isn't? We've also shared so many good times together and have 3 of the most wonderful kids- for that I'm grateful :0)

Happy Halloween!

The Knill pumkin family- every year we carve our pumpkins and then tell ghost stories.

I got made fun of because my pumpkin didn't have a nose
Todd made his pumpkin look all drippy- kind of how he looks before his morning coffee... ha ha

Little Gavin required daddy's help with his pumpkin

Lauren carved hers all by herself! There's a moon, a bat, a wolf and a tree

Hunter's was cool because it was this oblong pumpkin that sank in in the middle- you can kind of see that here after he carved it too

Gavin and I spent a chilly morning the Monday before Halloween at the pumpkin patch

Lauren and Max started trading as soon as they got home. Max is her BFF.

The first house Gavin trick or treated at was Max's. His sister Marionne watches him a lot and we all call her Gavin's "girlfriend". Here Sunny came to greet Gav at the door.

Lauren was a gargoyle- Todd bought PVC piping to form the wings and then sewed the fabric (see earlier post about "Mr. and Mrs. Homemaker") Lauren could even move the wings and terrified every little kid on the block!! That's my sweet princess pea under there! Lovely isn't she?

Poor Hunter had been under threat that he wouldn't celebrate Halloween if he didn't do some things we requested of him. . . guess who spent the evening watching old westerns with Grandma? Poor Hunter. He did have fun dressing up in jeans, a flannel and a scary mask then he sat silent while kids came to the door only to scare the bajeezes out of them!

I had to work but it was fun. We all bought TONS of food and I had a very pleasant patient who gave birth to a lovely little girl. I think I gained 10 pounds that night! So will these kids if we let them eat all the candy they collected- which is why we donate half to the local food pantry and use a lot of it in December when we make our gingerbread house.

Why Gavin was a skunk this year!

With regards to the poor economy these days, I thought rather than spend $30.00 on a costume, I would make Gavin's this year. I'm sure you can guess what he is. . . $15.00 dollars at Walmart got him this skunk costume and we got more compliments on it. Just some faux fur sewed onto a black sweat pant outfit and a .99 cent feather duster and he was done!


He is spraying me- how he knew I'm not sure but he immediately put his rear end in the air and started "schhchhhhing" me

Here you'll see why he should have been a little s*** rather than a "little stinker"- while I was sewing the faux fur onto his sweats, HE was unraveling all the toilet paper from the powder room, through the foyer and across the living room- where I have yet to get things put back after painting

He also ripped out the foilage from my "welcome sign" and had it strewn all over the floor! Maybe next year it'll be worth the 30 bucks to avoid the headache of a handmade costume!

Little s***, I mean, stinker :0)

Mr. and Mrs. Homemaker

I saw this advertised in my Good Housekeeping magazine- mums planted inside a pumpkin so I got ambitious and did it! Doesn't it look nice?

I've got red, orange and yellow mums planed in pumpkins on our front porch While I hollowed out the pumpkins for my mums, Todd was busy inside sewing Lauren's halloween costume- can't tell you what it is but you can bet you'll see it posted on a future blog!

Our visit to the pumpkin patch

Saturday our family took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Has anyone else noticed that pumpkin patches have become more like carnivals- with rides, petting zoos, food, etc? We love this one because it's a traditional pumpkin patch PLUS all that other stuff. So we grabbed a wheel barrel and headed out. . .

Lauren liked this pumpkin

Hunter grabbed this odd ball looking one. Look at all the pumpkins behind him, they went on and on as far as you could see Gavin of course loved the animal friends
On the corner of our neighborhood there was a small farm with all these little petting zoo type animals- they moved because a church is building there but we ran into them here at the pumpkin patch. They treated Gavin to all the free pony rides he could imagine!
Gavin loved these little guys so much. He's standing here saying "I love the lamb mommy"
Here's our clan
Doesn't Gav do a great job navigating?

Gavin was excited to learn he could make the cow moo! Hopefully the volume works but if not, the look on his face says it all!

A tribute to Manny

As you read this blog, and look at the pictures of our dear manny, who recently passed, you have to sing Sarah McLaughlin's "I Will Remember You". For effect. It will make looking at his pictures so much more meaningful :0) hee hee Just try it! And you too will find a new respect for bugs! (okay, not all of them but Praying Mantis') Like mom did. She was working in the garden at church and called me all excited "Guess what I found? Guess what I found?" I said, "A praying mantis?" Mom said, "how'd you guess?" She then admitted she would have never cared for them had she not gotten to know manny and how much we loved him.

Our dear sweet mangled pet bug, Manny

Kamryn enjoyed feeding Manny his pet food. Even she said he was cute.

Here's the real kicker- even my sister grew fond of Manny and enjoyed feeding him! (notice she didn't get too close though :0)

Lauren took such good care of him. He was techinically her bug but we all loved him
Gavin learned to be very careful and gentle with Manny- and I'm proud to say he will never be one of those boys who tortures poor little creatures.
A quick recap on manny- Lauren found him outside and decided to love him. Praying mantis' molt their old skin as they grow new. Poor manny got trapped in his skin as he was shedding so his limbs & wings got deformed. We decided it was our duty to care for him. And he was a little sweety. Manny was more than just a bug. He became part of the family. He had personality. He ate his little pet food off the stick and he sipped drops of water we put in front of him. He especially loved the little house plant we put in his cage. He had his own special spot on the counter and we checked on him every time we walked by. We'll never forget our little Manny. Rest in peace little guy! (I know this is incredibly cheesy but I'm almost crying right now! What's up with that???) He was such a cute little bug. Services are today after school in the backyard. In lieu of flowers you may send cash donations to the house :0) hee hee

Nor wind, nor rain, nor city streets can stop these girls!

Introducing girl scout troop 652. Lauren's on the far left hugging her BFF Isabelle. This is the second field trip our brave leader Amanda scheduled downtown. We hopped on the train and headed into the city. I told Amanda she is so brave for getting 11 ten year old girls to the city for the 2nd time. She politely commented "Oh well, it will be a trip they'll always remember". Now keep that comment fresh in your head throughout the rest of the blog. . .

Here they are outside the aquarium- we're making our way to the Planetarium so they can earn their "sky search" badge. There are busses that will drop you off right in front of the planetarium however, none that go straight to & from Union Station, so we hiked it down that city strip along the lake-Chicagoan's know the one I'm talking about.

After learning about ancient sun dials, astrolabes, the planets, (let's all move to Venus- we weigh much less there!), and all sorts of astronomical things we closed the place and said "time to go home!" Much to our surprise, it started pouring rain while we there- POURING and WINDY (hence the "windy city") What are we to do? The gift shop sold ponchos but I wasn't going to buy 11 of them for $8.00 a piece (mind you, I bought myself one) so the kind lady in the gift shop gave the girls garbage bags to wear- yes, garbage bags with which they fashioned a little peak hole in the face. And so our journey began, down the city strip and back to the bus stop. After getting off the wrong bus stop, getting back on, getting off at Oglivie train station vs. Union Station and at the end of a long day when the girls were tired, wet and hungry I said to Amanda, "You're so right. This will definately be a trip we never forget!" Not only did the girls earn their sky search badge, but also their survival badge!

Here goes the troop in the rain- yelling in their little squeeling voices the way they do, all the way through Millenium Park to the bus stop.

A budding artist

It's been four years now and I still have a few white walls in this house- I can't stand it anymore! So how exactly does one paint with a toddler roaming free? You let him help-(with a tiny bristle paint brush of course) Here's Gav helping me paint the living room. He worked on that little square while I got the rest of the room done. He felt sooooooooo important helping mommy. And of course I frequently complimented on what a wonderful job he was doing. C'mon, didn't he do great? :0) That's my boy!

In loving memory of a dear colleague

Today I'm sharing with you a sad loss to me of a wonderful doctor I was fortunate enough to know for the past 10 years. Dr. Lee Pavlicek was an amazing anesthesiologist and an incredible guy. Every woman who has ever had an epidural for labor and delivery LOVES "the epidural guy". And we all loved him for more than that. We loved him for the incredible work he did and for the way he treated the nurses and his fellow colleagues with such dignity. We loved the way he'd cuss about having to come up after he just got back to sleep and then walk into the patient's room with a smile on his face. And left with a smile on hers. He did more than epidurals, he worked also in the OR for the main surgical cases. He was the guy whose lives were literally in his hands- and he did a phenomenal job. So many doctors get that "God complex", Dr. Pavlicek could have easily had that complex and gotten away with it but he treated everyone as his equal. To many patient's he was "God"- their lives at his mercy in the operating room. I'm sharing with you part of his obituary and you'll see how down to earth this top doc was. Please pray for his family, his friends and his children, and the staff at Edward Hospital. We've lost a truly amazing friend and colleague.

Dr. Lee Alan Pavlicek, 48, of Naperville, Ill., lost his courageous battle against brain cancer on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008. He passed away peacefully in the comfort of his own home surrounded by his family.Lee was born Sept. 20, 1960, to Bob and Mary Pavlicek in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He grew up near Ely, Iowa, where he baled hay, detasseled corn, and formed a lifelong passion for John Deere tractors. After graduating from Prairie High School, Cedar Rapids, in 1979 as valedictorian, he attended Central College in Pella and then the University of Iowa College of Medicine in Iowa City before becoming an anesthesiologist at Edward Hospital in Naperville. Lee loved the outdoors. Some of his favorite moments were spent riding his motorcycle and snowmobiling with friends, and forcing unsuspecting family members on off-road farm adventures in search of the ultimate tractor and vintage (and sometimes not-so vintage) road signs. Each family member can name the type, model, and year of every tractor — and we're pretty sure he'd be damn proud of that. He also enjoyed boating with his family and fine cigars, often at the same time.

My handsome oldest

Hunter understands that having long hair is a privilege for him and that he has to earn his privileges- mom and dad made a deal that we'd leave him alone until grades came out just to see what he could do on his own- without us nagging him. Well we couldn't take it and peaked at his progress thus far- you can guess what we found. . .

Before 10-5-08

After 10-12-08

They say things happen for a reason and I'm actually GLAD his grades weren't up to par because we LOVE his haircut. He likes it too so I wonder now, what kind of punishment is it really? Don't get us wrong, he's not failing out of school but he could be doing better. We'll see what he ends up getting when report cards come out! :0) . . . and I can't wait to hear what his friends at school say- especially Nikki and Laura!!

Enjoying the crisp autumn morning

Taking advantage of the new season, Grandma Dawn had us up and out early Sunday morning (and I mean early- 7:30 am!) to go to our favorite forest preserve, Blackwell, for Sunday breakfast and a hike. She had a fire cooking on the grill and made french toast, ham, coffee, strawberries, canteloupe and fresh oj. We love going hiking there and picnicing outside.

Lauren and Gavin couldn't wait to go explore

Gavin threw about 100 rocks into the water- kept him busy until he saw a flock of geese coming in for a landing
My little monkeys- Gavin loved just sitting up there- he gets a little tired of all my picture taking- can you tell?
Hunter's still waking up- he ate good though- let me tell ya!
This looks more like a spring picture doesn't it? I'm always snapping pictures and I got a chance to catch this little bumble bee hard at work.
Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year. It is so beautiful. Hard to plan for though- it's cold in the morning, hot in the afternoon and freezing at night! I go from heat to ac back to heat in one day! We all took bags with us though to collect "treasures" we find. Gavin came up with a couple acorns, a few leaves, a honeysuckle seedling and a pinecone. Hunter's getting a little too old so he and Todd often go on a hike along a more challenging trail while Lauren, Gavin Grandma Knill and I stay behind to build "lean to's" (tree forts) Now of course we can't JUST go to the woods- Lauren brought home a new fuzzy caterpillar named Wooly. You're sure to meet him soon on a future blog!