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!

Oswegorama

Last weekend the little local town near us celebrated their 175th year! Oswego is said to be the 14th fastest growing suburb in the nation but we sure enjoyed the small town feel of it. A little town nestled along the Fox River, Oswego is the up and coming "Naperville" with antique shops, bike and hiking trails along the river and cute little restaurants. They closed off the streets in the downtown area and had live music, and all sorts of activities- we made it in time to see the beard and mustache contest- yippee! $100 for the best beard- that's a lot of cash. What was really nice is that all the local farmers were there and I overheard many of the older people talking about how "Bob won the mustache contest" etc. etc. etc. - all the locals who have lived there their whole lives since it was just an unheard of little area. I love to learn about the town's heritage and what once was.

That playground in the background is mine and Gavin's favorite

Lauren tried her hand at archery- shot a beaver in the butt! (a fake one of course) Then we strolled over and talked to a native american Indian who told us of what life was like for his ancestors in the area.
Who could resist cotton candy outside the tea shop? All to support the local businesses- which I am a firm believer in.
Gavin loved all the antique tractors- that was one of the biggest reasons we went- we managed to keep busy for 4 hours until the fireworks display that night!

Way to go Hunter- way to go (clap clap)

Hunter's team did the slaughterin' this time- they won 32-0!! Hunter was the best defensive tackle player out there and it was an exciting game! Especially since I missed the last game (thanks to working night shift) and Hunter said "MOM- I wish you were there to see me!" How many 14 year olds still say that? So I was especially proud that I saw him play and WIN! Yippee!

Here's one of Hunter's biggest fans!

A hard playing Hunter after the game.
When the game was over the team went down to the end zone for a talking to from the coaches- this is the team hightailing it out of there cheering all the way that there's no practice tomorrow! Whahooie! All the players' parents line up along the fence and the players come and shake their hands- Grandma was ready to go but I convinced her to wait so Hunter could see she came (and Grandpa and Aunt B)- Grandma was very glad to see a genuine smile on Hunter's face, so proud