Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for fall
Thankfulness
I have so much in my life for which to be thankful, and although it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day frustrations and problems, I’m working very hard to remember to acknowledge my thankfulness. And today, on Thanksgiving, it seems appropriate to reflect even more than usual. The kids and I worked on a turkey centerpiece for our table earlier this week. The turkey has individual feathers and each person at Thanksgiving dinner was to write something for which he or she was thankful. We got such an awesome variety of topics, from things like electricity (from Ben) to sports (from Nolan) to good health (from Grandma) to a delicious meal (from Craig). It puts things into perspective, really. There are literally hundreds of things that we should appreciate daily, and it was important for me to start this kind of activity so I could get my kids thinking that way, too. While I was growing up I simply took everything we had for granted, and I don’t just mean the physical items I had. I had no idea that there were people without homes, without food, or without family members who loved them. And while I don’t necessarily want to expose my kids to many of the evils of the world, I do want them to understand that they have it pretty darn good and it’s important to be thankful for it.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I hope that no matter how small it may be, you can find thankfulness in your heart every day.
November? Are you kidding me?
It seems that every year November is one of those months that sneaks up on you. It may be that October is typically an awesome month; we’ve settled into a routine at school, the weather is often beautiful, the harvest is in full swing (which just takes me back to childhood immediately) and the fall colors make even the plain old Illinois landscape come alive. I love October. But then, before we know it, we turn around and it’s November. This year, especially, October was barely here and with a blink of an eye it was gone. When I think about the fact that we closed on the house Sept. 30th I can hardly believe how quickly the time has gone. Then again, I look around me and see what we’ve accomplished in the house, and I think we’ve done pretty well in a month’s time, too.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a pretty big fan of November, too. But I always hate that time moves so quickly this time of year. I just know that we’ll blink again and 2012 will be breathing down our necks. Slow down for a couple of months, will ya, time???
Fort building, day 1
Dave (and the kids) starting assembling the play set in the backyard today. The weather was great, and it was pretty exciting to watch it start to take shape. I think that all of Dave’s hard work while we were living with Theresa paid off in spades today.
I’m excited that we’re this far. Well, I shouldn’t say we…Dave pretty much did most of this himself. But it’s already to the point that the kids could climb on it, which is awesome. It’s like every day this place becomes more ours.
Taking a break at Rader’s
We’ve been working night and day in the new house, so we thought that today would be a good time for a break. We still hadn’t gotten any pumpkins yet, so Rader’s Pumpkin Farm was our destination. We quickly changed our clothes after church, grabbed some snacks and headed to Rader’s. Great idea and good quick action…except that we got there around 11:30 and the place opened at noon. Oops…guess we should have checked that, eh? Luckily I had thrown a bunch of stuff (apples, string cheese, granola bars, crackers, etc) into a bag and we were able to kill that half hour pretty easily.
Once it finally opened, we had a blast at Rader’s. The place has gotten so much bigger and there is lot more to do there now.
The hay bale tower was a huge hit, but Ben had to help his sister quite a bit.
There was a giant pile of loose hay for the kids to jump in. Emma was hesitant at first, but finally she went full force. I love this picture.
They drove the train, which was decidedly less impressive than the one at Tanner’s, but still pretty fun.
Then we had a game of checkers.
I’m sad that I didn’t get a good picture of what was the kids’ favorite attraction at Rader’s…the big inflatable hump that you climb and jump on. I know a hump doesn’t describe it very well, but that’s what it is. It’s tall and curved and you just jump and fall and jump and fall some more. They absolutely loved it. After one more round on that thing we finally picked out all of our pumpkins, gourds and corn and headed for home. It was a fun day, and I’m really glad that we were able to take a break from all of our work and have some fun together as a family.
See ya in the spring, Soccer!
With this afternoon’s game came the end of the fall soccer season. I have mixed emotions about it ending; on the one hand I’m glad that our Saturdays will be freed up, but on the other I’m sad to see it go because it’s been really great experience for us and for Ben. On the one hand it’s been great going out to the fields but on the other it’s been chilly the last two games and we all know that the inevitable cold weather is coming. So I think the end may be just in time.
When the season started in August Ben was so tentative and not aggressive at all. He’d sit back and wait for the ball to come to him and he’d try to get set up to make the perfect kick. None of that worked very well, and the result was a lot of missed and stolen balls. He rarely got a chance to dribble at all, and more than anything else he just lost the ball altogether. But as the season went on he became much more confident and aggressive, and he even scored several goals! We were so lucky to have a coach who not only knew the game as soccer well, he knew that it was more important for the boys to learn and have fun than anything else.
I’m so glad that Ben enjoyed his first soccer season. I think we’re all looking forward to the spring season, as the team and coach should be exactly the same. Now if the spring weather will just cooperate, we’ll be all set.
Where has the time gone??
It’s been almost a week since we moved into Stonehurst. We’re getting into somewhat of a routine around here, but unfortunately we haven’t had much time to get more things put away and organized. I just don’t know where this week has gone. With an activity or class every night of the week, free time to unpack and organize just doesn’t exist until at least 8:00. And since I get up at 5:15 each morning, I’m pretty useless by 9:00 most nights. A bad combination. Throw in some beautiful fall weather that it just pulling us outside whenever possible and helping the kids get adjusted to their new neighborhood, and there is literally no time to do what I want to in this house.
I know that things will get settled, but I have to admit that I’m getting frustrated. I don’t like living in chaos, and it affects my Type A personality a great deal. But I do love the house, and it has only been 7 days, so I know I have to give myself a bit of a break. Tonight we had a classic movie night with the kids, and it felt great. I’m so happy we’re home, I just want my home to get to the point that it makes me happy.
Moving day
It finally came…moving day! There is really only one word that describe this day to me…blessed. We were blessed with wonderful weather, we were blessed with some last-minute help, and we are continuously blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who were anxious to help in any way they could.
On the first load from the storage facility, everyone was still pretty chipper.
Brett was happy that the grown-ups were letting him help. I think that feeling left by mid afternoon.
Once again the oldest person here was showing the young pups how it was done. I bet Grandpa has helped me move about fifteen to twenty times in his life. He’s unbelievable.
Meanwhile Aunt Nanny was busy scrubbing the kitchen from top to bottom.
The men were stacking boxes in the garage, and I was quickly getting overwhelmed.
And then they kept bringing more boxes. And more boxes.
By the time I finally got pizza here, everyone was ready for a break.
During this meeting of the minds, Bob quickly learned that Grandpa Scott knows everything. I’m pretty sure that next time he’ll know just to listen and do what Grandpa suggests.
Even the kids got in on the move. Ben and AJ were so excited that there were boxes they could carry in. It also helped that these were bins of toys.
Of course it didn’t take long for them to discover that empty boxes are BIG fun.
At the end of the day, Alicia and Danielle graciously offered to empty the kitchen boxes into cabinets. I can’t believe I could relinquish control enough to let them, but I’m really glad I did…it was so nice to have that done!
It was such a long day, but we are in the house. We have so much to do tomorrow, too, but for now, I just can’t wait to get into my own bed and get some sleep. Before I do, though, I’m going to remember to give thanks for all the blessings I witnessed today.
Illinois Loyalty
Yesterday was an all-around awesome day. The Swartzies and Dave & I had separately gotten tickets for the Illini football game, which was a night game vs. Arizona State. We decided that we really wanted to get there to tailgate early, so they arrived at Aunt Theresa’s house about 11:30 to pick us up to head to Champaign. We first hit Ryan’s apartment to pick him up and get a couple of small grills. Then we headed to the parking lot to set up our tailgating camp.
Rod had found a parking pass to purchase, and it was in a great lot; directly behind the Assembly Hall. There was shade, there was grass, and truly, it would have been difficult to find a better spot.
We unloaded all the food and drinks, got the grills all set up, and the kids started playing football. After a short time, several of Ryan’s friends came to tailgate with us, too. It was such beautiful weather and so much fun to be around some really great current Illini while eating, drinking, and generally being merry. It took me back to my college days in many ways.
Once we finally headed to the stadium, we had to stop by to see the Red Grange statue. Brett had brought a friend who had never been to an Illini football game before, so it was basically a rite of passage for him. I never get tired of visiting Red. It really is a very cool memorial.
We didn’t have seats with the Swartzies, so once we went into the stadium we were on our own. Our seats were great except that there were two season ticket holders with the bolted on seats sitting next to us. Those are a nice feature, but they don’t leave you a lot of room if your bottoms are bigger than the small area allocated to each seat number. But I tried to get over that as much as possible, because we got to watch a great game. There is nothing quite like a night game…it just seems to be a whole different level of excitement in the air. Add to that the fact that we were playing a big-time opponent like ASU who happened to be ranked, and the stadium was nuts. The game was so good and we held the sun devils off. It went to the very last drive, but we did it, which is not something that happens every day with the Illini!!
I think the best part of the day was spending some time alone with Dave. We haven’t had a lot of time together lately, and we’ve both been missing that. It was nice to have nothing to worry about other than having some fun and winning a football game!
We love a parade
Normal Community HS celebrated its Homecoming this week. One of the best benefits of this time of year is that the district gives an early out on the Friday of each high school’s Homecoming so the high school celebrating can have their annual parade. Today it was NCHS’s turn. I picked Ben up from school and headed over to Danielle’s to get Emma. Danielle, Bob and Anna all piled into our or the Walkers’ van and we headed to the parade route to claim our spot.
It was a gorgeous day outside, so everyone was looking forward to watching. We had our bags for collecting candy in tow, and all we had to do was sit and wait for everything to begin. That was the most difficult part for everyone!
We had a great time seeing everyone and picking up candy. It was especially fun to see our friends Anna, Boyden and Ali participating in the parade! Go Iron!!
Sept. 11
Ten years ago this morning, the US was attacked in one of the most horrific ways imaginable. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was teaching in Earlville, and the librarian came to the computer lab in which I taught to tell me that a plane had hit one of the twin towers. We were both commenting on what a horrible accident that was when we heard that a second plane had hit the other tower.
Instantly we knew it was not an accident, and then it was almost like time stood still. We logged onto CNN.com and watched in horror as New York City tried to survive the attacks themselves and all of the aftermath throughout the day. At lunch the towers fell, and again we were all glued to the computer watching via live streams.
I had class that night, and although everyone was hopeful it would be canceled, it was not. Everyone was still in shock, I think , and no one wanted to be there. But we all bonded that night. In fact, it seemed like the entire country bonded together in a way that day. Everyone I know was glued to their TVs and were buying every form of print media they could find for the next week. It was so surreal, and there was so much unknown during that time that everyone worried about our country’s future.
Today, ten years later, there is still a lot of unknowns about our relations with the Middle East and the terrorist groups inhabiting them. When I visit my parents in Venice, Florida I still get that creeped out sick feeling when I pass the airport there because that is where the terrorists learned to fly planes, which in turn make their plan for hijacking passenger jets and killing thousands of innocent men and women Now that I’m a parent, the worry has increased a bit, too. But I am still hopeful that the United States will always prevail. We are a strong, wonderful country that can and will pull itself together to continue in promoting democracy around the world.
