Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for grandparents
Projects galore
We were lucky to have some help this weekend working on our deck project. Grandpa Scott, Grandma Judy and Brett came down to see Ben’s soccer game Saturday morning and to see Emma sing in church this morning. That left a whole bunch of time in between to get a lot of stuff done. Grandma and I decided it was time to tackle the window treatments in the dining room and front room. I have wanted to get going on them for months, but I knew I could get them done in two days with her help. It’s always easier to do these things with another set of eyes and hands and another opinion. So, while we headed to Hobby Lobby to buy fabric and supplies, Dave and Grandpa got to work on steps for the deck.
It seemed like smooth sailing out there. They got the steps put on and all of the railing up and secure. Awesome. Meanwhile, Grandma and I were making serious progress, too. We finished the front room window with very little problem on Saturday.
Today after church and lunch, the men decided it was time to take out the ugly bushes that lined the deck. Grandpa hooked up a tow strap to his truck and a bush, and viola…those things were gone in no time. Even though the weather didn’t cooperate with us, thankfully the rain held off until we got all of the bushes out.
And Grandma and I were back at it, too. Although the dining room window treatments was a bit more complicated than the front room one, we did a pretty good job with it, too.
It was a really great and productive weekend, and having help was so nice. The kids were so excited to have Grandma and Grandpa and Brett here at their events and spending the night with us. I’m super excited with all the new things we’re doing around here. I can’t wait to make even more progress!!
Back already
I can’t believe we’re back home in Illinois already! We had a wonderful week in Florida with Grandma Judy and Grandpa Scott. As always, the time went way too quickly because we were having so much fun. The pictures pretty much tell the story of our trip.
Words really can’t describe how wonderful our vacation was. We all feel so fortunately to have the ability to go on Spring Break again this year. I hope we get to again next year!!
And we’re off…
…to Florida! We all can’t wait to spend time with Grandma Judy and Grandpa Scott while enjoying the sun, the beach, and a whole bunch of family who will also be down there. It’s going to be a great week.
We’re leaving at 4:00 this afternoon, and as always we’re hoping that the trip is a smooth one. Hopefully I’ll have lots of pictures to share when we get back!
Happy Spring Break everyone!
Snow!
Much to our delight, Sycamore got an inch or two of snow late Friday night/early Saturday morning, so we packed up our snow gear when we headed north. The kids were so excited to get outside since we’ve barely had a flake in Central Illinois. Of course Grandma Judy and Grandpa Scott went out with them, and they had a blast. I wasn’t there to get any pictures that time, but of course they wanted to go back out Sunday morning, so Grandma graciously agreed to go out again. A lot had melted by then, but there was still enough for them to play around. This time I caught some of the action.
Ben began by hitting Grandma with a handful of snow.
But of course Grandma would get back at him.
And then nail him a good one. Good ol’ Grandma will never be outdone. 
They walked down to the “creek” (which is really not much more than a drainage ditch) and it was iced over. Both of the kids found giant chunks of ice to bring back to show me. Ben was calling his a slice of pizza.
Everyone had a lot of fun in the tiny amount of snow that was there. Let’s hope we get some soon!
Gingerbread house time
One tradition the kids have had for the last few years is making gingerbread houses with Grandma Kerber. She and them both love it, and I don’t have to do it, which is great for all of us. After the first year she realized that buying pre-constructed houses was the best idea, and now that we’ve done it this way, it’s been a much better experience. Dave took the kids out to the farm as soon as he got off work tonight so they’d have plenty of time to decorate their houses. Grandma was all ready so they got started right away.
As always, the kids had a blast and the houses turned out great. Dave said that this year was the best ever, as the kids are a little more independent and made things even easier for the grown-ups involved. There was a lot of licking of the fingers and sampling of candy, but the houses did get completed.
It was a really great night for the kids, and I suspect it was for Grandma, too. The end results, as always, are beautiful and will make a great adition to our table.
We’re so lucky
Today was our big moving day. We took almost everything out of the house and moved it into storage. Thankfully, we had some wonderful help from my parents, my nephew Ryan, and Dave’s brother Dan. It doesn’t sound like very many people, but they busted butt and got the job done beautifully. It was hot, heavy, crappy work, and no one complained or gave up. They just trudged on, carrying furniture and box after box to the trucks.
I’ve always known that Dave and I both have great families. But times like this just reinforce to me the fact that we are so very lucky to have such a wonderful support system. The most amazing thing is that they all offered to help again when we’re moving into the new house! We’re going to try very hard to only ask each person to help once, so hopefully none of these people will have to put in any more sweat equity for us. We’re grateful to all of them for today, that’s for sure.
A mother of a day
We had an absolutely wonderful Mother’s Day. My parents, the Swartzies and Rod’s parents who were visiting from Oregon, all came to our house for dinner. And Ryan borrowed a car from a friend and came over from Champaign, which meant no one had to miss out on the fun. We grilled pork chops and chicken breasts, I made twice-baked potatoes, Nance & Rod brought a really yummy new broccoli and tomato salad, and we had a giant bowl of mixed fruit. It was such a great meal. To top it all off, Mom brought a variety of pies. No good meal would be complete without some of Grandma’s pie.
After lunch Emma had some more birthday presents to open. She was super 
excited with everything she got from Swartzies and Grandma Judy and Grandpa Scott. But the big hit was the Cinderella dress and gloves we got her. She wanted them on right away. She sure loves her princesses. Nancy, Grandma Judy and Grandma Dorris got to open their Mother’s Day gifts, too. I had opened mine first thing this morning because the kids were too excited about them to wait.
The 
weather was very cooperative, as it was a gorgeous warm and sunny day. The kids played and played outside, and we even had a big game of Bocce Ball. But I think the highlight for many people were the Caddy rides. Dave had brought his new Caddy into town for the weekend, and everyone took their turn.
I think the grandmas and grandpas were taken back to their high school days cruising around in that thing. The kids love it so much because there are no seat belts in the car, and they can stand up and jump around in there. It’s a freedom they’ve never known before! But don’t worry…they only get little short rides around the block. We haven’t completely lost our minds.
Late afternoon it was time for everyone to head back to Champaign and/or Sycamore. We had such a great day that it was hard to see them all go, but I was so happy that they had all come; it was like the old days. “My” day couldn’t have been better.
Emma’s birthday party
We had Emma’s birthday party tonight, on the eve of her actual birthday. Many of the Kerber family were able to make it, but several were not. It’s always hard this time of year. But those of us who were here had a great time, and Emma was very excited about it all. We grilled some burgers and dogs and had a nice dinner. Then it was on to presents. The first one Ems opened was the biggest hit of the night, I think.
Grandma and Grandpa Kerber gave her a set of princess Barbies. It had all of her favorite princesses and then some. She was super excited. She was actually excited about everything she got, though. And she did so great remembering her ”Thank yous” that I was really proud of her.
After gifts we got the kids wrangled up to the table to light the candles and sing Happy Birthday. Emma did so much better blowing out candles this time. She really tried to blow correctly instead of blowing through her teeth for once.
Once they had all snarfed down their cake and ice cream, the little girls went right back to the princess Barbies. They had so much fun with those things.
I think that Bella was a little jealous of them and wanted to take a couple with her when she went home. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that she gets some when her birthday rolls around in September.
As always when our family gets together, it was a great night. After everyone left the kids had some nice quiet play time together, and they really loved all the new toys. I think everyone enjoyed the party, but maybe the Barbies did the most of all. This is how I found them at the end of the evening after everyone was in bed.
I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know the story behind this one.
Should we stay or should we go?
The first day that we got to Florida Emma was asking when Jamie and Lauren were going to get here. She loves them, and sadly our spring breaks were not the same week this year, so they didn’t get here until about 8:45 tonight. We planned to leave tomorrow evening around 6:00, but now we’re thinking about waiting until Saturday evening to leave. There are big plans for heading to the beach tomorrow with Brad, Jamie and Lauren, the Laurvicks, Jen O’Reilly and her kids, and all of the grandmas and grandpas. It’s going to be so much fun, and I hate the idea of packing up early just because we have to leave for home.
Right now I’m very torn. Dave is being so great about it, and he’s really kind of left it up to me; I think he could be swayed either way quite easily. I’d say it’s a 50/50 chance right now. I think we’ll sleep on it and see what the morning brings.
What could be better than this?
Our trip has been going so great so far. Truly, we’re having the best time ever. So far the weather has been absolutely perfect, and the forecast is calling for more of the same…sunshine and mid to upper 70s…all week. What a fantastic get away for us. We’re so lucky to have the opportunity to:
Swim in Grandma & Grandpa’s pool,
Hit the beach,
Get ice cream at Nokomis Grove,
Climb on the rocks at the North Jetty,
Watch the dolphins play in between the jetties,
Ride scooters down to Aunt Lois’s house,
Go to the county fair,
and eat a bunch of YUMMY seafood.
We’re so lucky that we get to spend our Spring Break in Florida. The weather has been better than I can ever remember it being, and we haven’t had to change our plans, which usually consist of heading to the beach, once. It’s hard to believe that we’ve only been here three and a half days! I hope that time slows down for the rest of the week. We have so much more fun planned…
