Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for just general fun
Halloween fun
The weather made us nervous all week, but luckily it pretty much cooperated in order for us to have a very fun Halloween night. It was a tad bit chilly, but thankfully the rain finally stopped.
We started the night with pizza, and Grandma & Grandpa Kerber joined us first. Then Aunt Theresa came, and finally Auntie M, Salina, and Bella rounded out our group. It didn’t take anyone long to finish eating…the anticipation of trick-or-treating was on the forefront of everyone’s mind. 
So after we ate we changed into our costumes (which luckily were big enough to leave room for a couple of extra layers underneath) and headed out. Ben the panther, Emma the lion and Bella as Magenta the dog made up our costumed group. 
Since Auntie M and Salina both came with us, the adults outnumbered the kids for once, which is never a bad thing!
We started down the street and the kids were into it right away. Emma had not napped this afternoon, so after only a couple of houses, she was getting droopy and was pretty far behind.
But Ben was very patient with both of the little girls. He would wait out on the sidewalk and I can’t remember him complaining once. After about 40 minutes of trick-or-treating both of the girls were ready to head in. Neither of them really knew what any of the candy was in the first place, and they were pooped from walking. Plus, Bella had other stops to make, so Auntie M and Salina were off.
Ben, however, was still ready to go. So Dave took him around one more block. Needless to say, his pumpkin was very heavy by the time they got home a half hour later. He was so excited about some of the things in there. It was too funny. By this time Grandma & Grandpa had gone home, but Aunt Theresa still had a bag of goodies for the kids. They both loved opening these, and we had to have just one more treat before bed.
Both kids had so much fun trick-or-treating. 
We ran into almost all of our neighborhood friends and saw some pretty cool Halloween houses. While Halloween is certainly not my favorite holiday, I have to admit that a smile came to my face on more than one occasion tonight. There’s not much more you can ask than that.
Oh wait, icing on the cake…the Illini football team beat Michigan tonight, too! Woo HOO!!
Carve-o-rama
Tonight was pumpkin carving time! We had gotten a perfect carving pumpkin this afternoon, and after dinner we cleaned off the table and embarked in our adventure. It was decided by the kids that they wanted a happy face, so I drew the face on the pumpkin, and Dave cut the top off. 
As we expected, Ben wanted nothing to do with the “gross part” and Emma dove right in to scoop out the guts. 
So typical! It was cracking us up…she was totally into it. She said things like, “It’s digutsing” (which isn’t a typo…that’s phoentic Emma talk) with a huge grin on her face.
Since Ben was pretty much doing nothing during the entire “gutting” of the pumpkin, he decided he wanted to draw on his with a marker. He wanted very little help with this, and I was actually surprised at how awesome it turned out. 
Of course I had to use some serious persuasive skills to talk him out of drawing animals on it, and I also convinced him to put his name on the back so he wouldn’t write all over his pumpkin’s face. Once Emma saw him doing this, she wanted to do hers, too. I tried my best to help her draw a face, but of course she let me help with one eye before she yanked the marker away from my hand and said, “No, Mommy, I can do it myself!” Little Ms. Independent pretty much just drew some straight lines all over her pumpkin, but she was thrilled with it. In the meantime, Daddy was busy carving away on our big one.
Things definitely got a little hairy at times, and Mommy’s patience was tested big time, but overall, we had a great time, and the results were awesome.
Off to the pumpkin farm
Between the weather being crappy and a couple previous commitments, we were not sure that we’d get to a pumpkin farm at all this fall. Luckily, though, the rain subsided for awhile this afternoon, and we were able to hit Rader’s Family Farm for a short time. Our main goal was to have some fun and to get a good carving pumpkin. We had two smallish pumpkins sitting on our porch from the kids’ visit to Grandma Judy and Grandpa Scott’s, but they were smashed in the street last night, so situation had instantly become more urgent. We needed a pumpkin to carve, darn it! So after church and lunch, we were off.
Since we’ve had so much rain lately, the place was a total mud pit. The owners had done as much as they could to help with the mud situation…there was straw laid down all over the place out there, but it was still a muddy mess. Nonetheless, we played on the straw pile, in the big trough of corn, ran around the play area a bit, and even stopped at the photo spot.
You’ll probably notice how talented my kids are at posing for a staged picture. (Yes, that is written with a great amount of sarcasm…look at that picture!)
As the clouds started to roll in, we decided that the play time could wait and we had better pick out a pumpkin quick! 
Daddy found the carving one, and Ben and Emma each picked their own that they could carry. As Dave paid for our treasures, the kids and I quickly went through the barn and looked at the animals, and then we headed for the car. The first sprinkles were coming down as we loaded up.
It was a short, but profitable trip. The kids were thrilled with their pumpkins, and we were home in time for Emma to still get a nice nap in. A win/win situation, if I do say so myself.
Homecoming ‘09
It’s Homecoming week at NCHS this week, which means a lot of fun for the students and a lot of headaches for the teachers. This year’s theme is “It’s A Jungle in Here” and this morning when we gt to school the atrium was decorated really cute. The student council had worked hard on their day off of school to get the building looking festive for the week.
They even taped green film over the lights to give the entire atrium an eery greenish glow. For a minute, when I walked in and saw all this, it made me smile and think, “This will be fun.” But it took me about five more minutes inside the building to retract that thought. Even though it’s only a four day week this year, the kids will just be totally nuts, and all of us adults in the building feel like we’re just babysitting. Every night has an activity happening, and the kids will get crazier each day closer to the weekend. To top it all off, the weather is supposed to be crappy all week, so there is very little chance of us going to either the parade or the game on Friday, which stinks. I swear, Homecoming seems to get less and less fun every year! Does this mean I’m getting old???
Illini Saturday the sequel
For our birthdays in August, 
Theresa got us tickets to the Illinois vs. Michigan St. game, which was today. It was Homecoming in Champaign, which is always a fun day, and Dave and I were really looking forward to going to the game. But since we had been to the game last week, and saw how badly the Illini looked then, we had trepedations about our chances today. We had hope for an Illini victory, though, and looked forward to the game.
We were way too optimistic, I’m afraid. The Illini are awful. And really…using the word awful is being too kind to them. They didn’t do anything well today. Truly, the highlight of the game was when two fighter jets flew over the stadium during the pre-game show.
However, it was certainly not a wasted day. We got to see Ryan again, and he even went to dinner with us after the game at Papa Del’s, our very favorite place in Champaign. There is nothing better than enjoying a Pop’s pizza on a Saturday afternoon. There is just something about that pizza that is indescribable yumminess. I liken it to Mystic Pizza…one may never know what’s in it that makes it so good. But we do love it, and both Dave and I look forward to getting there at least once a fall. We were happy that we could take Ry with us to keep the torch for Pop’s burning on.
We’re still holding on to some hope for the Illini, but it’s very little. I can hardy remember a time when we were this bad at football. Honestly, I’m not sure that we’ll win another game this year. It’s a sad day in Chambana-ville. 
Illini fun
Family, food, and football…what more could you want, right? Yesterday was a great day spent with all three. The Swartzies bought tickets to the Illini vs. Penn St. game in Champaign, and were looking forward to spending the day with Ryan there. Then, at the last minute, our neighbors offered their season tickets to us for that game, too, so we decided to join in the fun. We quickly threw together some tailgating plans the night before, and it was on.
They picked us up around 9:30 and we all piled in the van to head to Champaign. Their tickets came with one parking pass, so this was the best way to ensure we could all tailgate together. We pulled into the lot, and were very impressed with the location. We were right across from the football stadium in the Assembly Hall parking lot. It was awesome!
Ry gave his brothers, Nance and me a tour of the campus, 
and it was so fun walking around with him now that he knows his way around and has experiences on campus. He showed us where he has classes, and where the house he pledged (and de-pledged) was, and had so many little funny things to tell us. I loved it. After the tour was done, we headed back to the stadium and Dave started grilling. 
We grilled brats and pork chops and had all kinds of yummy snacks on the side. Since the weather wasn’t cooperating too much, we brought hot chocolate with us, as well, and that really hit the spot, too. Some of Ry’s friends came to our tailgate, and it was fun meeting them.
It was all such a good time…until the actual game started! The Illini are so pitiful this year that it’s almost painful to watch them. We suffered through the game, with the intermittent rain and all. It’s so sad to watch. The ironic thing was that the Swartzie’s tickets were just a couple of rows away from ours…a total coincidence, but pretty fun.
We had such fun hanging with them and with Ryan. Even though he’s been a U of I student for almost two months, it didn’t seem as real to me as it does now, after seeing his dorm room and watching him interact with his friends. now it’s sunk in…the next generation has arrived and I’ve officially passed the torch!
The preschool cookout and show
This evening Ben’s preschool had it’s fall festival. It involved a cookout, complete with a big bonfire and a potluck dinner and a show by three of the classes. I have no idea how the school could possibly organize such an event, but again you could tell that they’d been doing it for years…things ran like clockwork around that place.
Of course, in a classic case of good timing, Ali and her family pulled up right after us, so she and Ben were glued at the hip all night.
It was a beautiful evening and as soon as they were done eating all of the kids were running around the church yard like maniacs. Thank goodness it was outside! Emma was in seventh heaven to run around after the big kids, and it never even dawned on her that she was two steps behind at all times. I so love that about her.
Ben had been talking about practice for their show and how they were all going to stand on the stage and “do their song.” I really had no idea what to expect, but this is what we got:
It was so much fun…for the kids and the parents. Oh, and by the way, I’m not sure how Ben got stuck at the tall end of the line, but he’s not that much shorter than all of the other kids in his class!
A trip to Tanner’s
Last fall I told Dave that one thing I was sorry we had not done was take a trip to an apple orchard to pick apples. So today, a beautiful fall Sunday, we decided to do just that. We set off for Tanner’s Apple Orchard in Speer, IL. I had heard all kind of great things about the place from friends at work. Everyone assured me that although it took about an hour to get there, it was worth the drive.
As we drove through the Central Illinois countryside, it began to feel like we’d never get there. Finally, just when we thought we had to have missed it, we came over a hill and saw apple trees. Then we saw the parking lot…jammed full of cars. It was such a gorgeous day that I guess lots of people had the same idea; the place was packed. But we stayed optimistic and headed in. The kids were excited by all of the pumpkins that were out front when we first walked in. We tried to rush them through those, though, because we knew we’d go to a pumpkin patch later in the fall. Today was about apples. So on we went. 
The nanny goats were our first stop, and Emma loved them. She was squealing with delight as she’d get closer to petting one. I think she would have gotten in the pen with them had she been allowed! Ben, on the other hand, was much more cautious. Although he liked watching them, I don’t think he ever did get close enough to touch one.
After petting the goats and watching the llamas, we headed into the play area. This was like toddler heaven. There were all kinds of things to climb on and lots of space in which to run around. They climbed on a tractor, went in and out of the school bus a million times, ran and ran and ran around the hay maze, and played on the playground equipment. It was all good.
But then, we saw them…the ponies. Both kids ran over to the pony ride and wanted to get on. Ben was hesitant as we stood in line, and I could tell that he was kind of scared about it. When we were next in line, he said that he didn’t want to go. “Are you sure?” I asked. “No, I want to go,” he said. He was really being brave. When it was our turn Dave and I helped the kids on and away they went. 
Both of them absolutely loved it! Emma was so excited that she was making me a nervous wreck. It was like she never even considered that she could fall off this tall, moving animal! She was completely at home in the saddle. 
Ben had a huge smile on his face the entire time, and I could tell that part of it was pride in himself.
After the pony ride we went to the barrel train ride. A man on a tractor pulled a string of barrels on wheels around in circles and through the orchard a little bit. It was pretty cool, and the kids loved steering their wagons. Finally, after that ride, it was time to go pick apples. We rode a wagon out to the orchard and filled up our bag in no time! There were apples everywhere, and it was really nice to have so many low to the ground so the kids could pick, too.
When we got back to the farm, we had a short snack and then went back to the play area for some more fun. The kids wanted to run around the hay maze more and have one more pony ride. This time at the ponies Ben had no fear, and he even got to ride the very tallest pony! He was leaning over and petting it on the mane most of the ride. He had conquered his fear completely.
It was an awesome day. 
Even though it was a long drive, I’m so glad that we went, because we all had a great time together. I was not misled by my friends at all…it is definitely worth the trip to go to Tanner’s.
Our campfire
Tonight was the annual fall weinie roast out at Grandma & Grandpa Kerber’s farm. Ben was pretty excited, even though he didn’t really know what a weinie roast was. 
It has been three years since we had the last one, so he was way too little to remember it at all. This time, though, he was all about the experience. He went out to the farm early with Dave to help get everything ready. 
When Emma and I got out there later, Ben was all excited that we were having a “real campfire” and that it was already lit. Daddy had even brought his tent out and set it up for the kids to play in.
It was a beautiful night, and it was great that most of the family could be there together. Aside from about a billion little gnats swarming around, everything was great. We feasted on dogs cooked over the fire, which always makes them taste way better. 
And then it was time for marshmallows and s’mores. Mmm…mmm! Emma, Bella and Ben all had a great time running around and playing together. They were in and out of the tent about a million times each.
I think, though, that Grandma may 
have had the most fun of anyone. I know it means a lot for her to have the whole family together, and when it’s done around a campfire, it just makes it all the much better.
Woo hoo…U2!
U2 opened the U.S. leg of their 360° tour in Chicago last night, and my dear friend Amy Mad. and I were there! It was a warm Spring Break night in Florida when I got the text from Amy saying, “I just got us tix for U2 at Soldier Field on Sept. 12!” That seems like such a long time ago now, but the concert was definitely worth the wait.
The evening started with an early dinner of stuffed pizza (something I truly miss the most about the suburbs) with two more great friends Carrie and Rachel. The four of us used to get together all the time before we all had kids and crazy, busy lives. Now our time together is much more rare, but still really great.
After dinner Amy and I headed into the city. The drive was awesome because we atually had a chance to talk without heaing, “Mommy!” constantly. Then we hit the traffic. Ugh…we were still a long way out when the interstate became a parking lot. But, we kept our spirits up…this was going to be great! Then we tried to find parking. Man, the traffic in the city was twice as bad as it was on the interstate!!
We ended up parking in the garage of the building of a friend of Amy’s after a short little drive on the sidewalk, thank you very much. No, I’m serious. There was so much traffic on the street that we just drove on the sidewalk at one point to get from one driveway to another that was only about 50 feet away. It was great.
Anyway, we then set off on foot to Soldier Field. I was a tiny bit stressed because at this point it was already after 7:00, which was the concert starting time. I knew that U2 wouldn’t go on until much, much later, but still…I always get a little stressed if I think I’m going to be late. We were parked about a mile from Soldier Field I think, and there was a huge crowd all walking that way. There was a definite excitement in the air, and Amy and I were stoked.
We entered the stadium, and were awestruck. The stage was so unbelievably cool. I had seen pictures of it in the Trib that morning, but nothing prepared me to see it in real life. We started up the steps to our seats…fully aware that we were in the nosebleed section, but truly having no idea of the workout we’d endure getting there. 102 steps later we hit row 34…four rows from the top. 
Seriously, I got a little queasy every time I turned around going up. Those seats were way up in the air. Once the show started, though, it just didn’t matter. Bono, the Edge, Adam and my beloved Larry were outstanding, as usual. The sad thing was our seats were so high that we were above the speakers. The sound was not as good as it could be, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment too much. The light show was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The stage changed constantly, and each time it got more visually interesting than it was before.
The band played most of the classics that everyone wanted to hear. Of course they got political, dedicating a song to the president of Burma who has been under house arrest ever since she was elected several years ago. But they were so entertaining. I truly think I would never get tired of seeing that band. Let’s hope they never get tired of recording and touring!
