Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for Illini
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!
The game that almost was
Today Dave and I were supposed to go to the Illinois/Minnesota game. It’s become a bit of a tradition for Theresa to get us tickets to a game for our birthdays, and this was the case with these. It was potentially very exciting because with a win today the Illini would become bowl eligible…a very big deal considering how bad they’ve been in the last couple of years.
But everything changed about 3:30 am when Ben came into our room and said, “Daddy, I spit up in my bed.” Like a flash Dave and I were out of bed and on puke patrol. Of course we were not fast enough to prevent him puking again right on our bed. The poor little guy had gotten just about everything in his room, so he decided to share the joy in ours, too. Ick. We got him cleaned up, got his sheets changed, got a bucket for him, got our sheets changed, and got back to bed in less than a half hour. Not bad. Sadly, though, he was back up again about 5:30 at it again.
So…the game was not to be. Mommy duty even trumps the Illini. Dave didn’t go to the game, either…he couldn’t find anyone who wanted to go with him. Ben is feeling better, and the Illini lost, so I guess that we got the better end of the deal today. Believe it or not it was more pleasant to comfort Ben than to sit out in the cold watching the Illini choke. I guess my priorities have changed for good.
Mom’s Day
I got to go to Mom’s Day at U of I yesterday, and I’m not even paying for a kid to go there! How’s that for a deal? :) Ryan graciously invited me to come for Mom’s weekend with Nance, and I of course jumped at the chance. We had a really great day. When we got to his dorm, Ry was anxious to introduce us to a bunch of his friends. It was very cute. Then we decided to walk down to Campustown to get some lunch. It was so fun to walk campus, even though so many things have changed. Ryan was so much more comfortable than he was the last time I was with him on campus, which was the football game in October. He was showing us where a lot of his friends would be living next year, and just generally chatting about all kinds of stuff that he’s done. It made me happy to see him enjoying his time there so much.
We had a quick lunch and walked to the Quad. It cracked me up that there was a line of students with their Moms waiting in a line to get their picture taken in front of the Alma Mater! So funny. We opted out of that one, and decided to find a better spot. We hit the Quad and stopped to take some pics in front of Foellinger Auditorium. Then we continued on through the South Quad and back to TVD. We hung out and watched a little of the Cubs game before heading to the Assembly Hall to see Guys and Dolls. One of Ryan’s friends had a role in the show, so we were all pretty excited to see it. It was a great show, but man, it was long! I think we all enjoyed it, though.
After the show we headed out to TGIFriday’s for dinner with three of Ry’s friends and two of their moms. It was such a fun dinner and I think Nance was really happy to get to know the guys she’s heard so much about better. After dinner we dropped him back at the dorm and headed to Normal.
As I said, I had a great day, but I think Nance was just ecstatic to get to spend the day with Ry and to get to know his friends. I really feel honored to have been invited, and I’m truly grateful that I got to be a psuedo-mom for the day.
You’re killin’ me, Illini!
Holy cow, this is a rough season. Last night, the Illini played Penn State, and we barely beat them. Not that any game in the Big Ten is a given this year, but we should be better than we are playing, and it’s very hard to watch. the team has a ton of talent, yet they just can’t seem to get it all together at the same time. Every game someone is off, and someone else has to attempt to pick up the slack. It’s so frustrating!! Typically this season, we’ve been going into halftime down by at least half a dozen points, and then had to fight back in order to barely win in the end. Last night’s game was a nail-biter, but thankfully the right team came out on top. I can’t say I think that’s going to happen every time.
Fun with Ry Ry
Ryan stayed over last night, and the kids were so excited to see him this morning. Ben wrestled and wrestled with him, and to Ryan’s credit, he just let it happen. It actually brought back so many memories of me playing with Ryan when he was that age. Ben reminds me of him so much. I can still hear Ry Ry shouting, “Wrestle!” as we rolled around on the floor, and then this morning it’s like I was reliving the past as I heard Ben shouting the same thing. It was awesome.
The kids are lucky to have a cousin like Ryan. Although it’s tough having him so much older than Ben & Emma, he really seems excited to be a part of their lives, and they will certainly learn a lot from him. If our kids turn out to be like Ryan, we would be very fortunate parents.
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!!
It’s the best…even the next day
Tonight we had Pop’s leftover pizza for dinner. Seriously, even as leftovers, it’s one of my favorite pizza on Earth. It’s so sad how happy something like a hot piece of pizza can make me, but it does. No, we didn’t give any of it to the kids, and no, we didn’t feel guilty about it one bit! They are much too young to appreciate it yet!
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!
What a let down
Woo HOO…the beginning of the college football season started today with the annual Illinios/Mizzou Arch Rivalry game in St. Louis. In the past, the Illini have not had much luck in St. Louis, having lost the last 4 meetings there. But this year was supposed to be different. All of the analysts agreed that this would be Illinois’ year. Everyone talked about how great we’d be with Juice Williams finally coming into his own this season and using his experience to lead a talented team.
I’ll say it again. What a let down!
For goodness sakes, Illini…could you please just play decently on national TV? We fumbled, we dropped balls, we threw interceptions, we missed a point after attempt, and our star receiver got hurt on the very first series. I’m sadly almost ready to admit that Juice Williams is one of the most overrated quarterbacks in college football today. He wasn’t playing like someone with experience. He was playing more like someone who maybe would like to win a game or two…we’ll see how it goes. And Mizzou, who, by the way had a sophomore starting his very first college game at quarterback, looked awesome. Let me make this perfectly clear…they had a 19 year-old kid who had never played in a college game before leading their team, and we had a 23 year-old Senior with three years experience behind him leading ours. And they kicked our butts. Ugh. I really hate to say that it’s going to be a long year, but if this game was any indication, we’re in some pretty big trouble come Big Ten season. I love you, Illini football, so please stop breaking my heart!
Final score-Mizzou 37, Illinois 9
