Jen's wedding shower

Last weekend we had the privilege and joy of showering Jen. Jen will be marrying Matt (son of Christy and Steve) on October 21st and Wayne is in the wedding and Jack is doing one of the readings. As you may or may not know, Wayne and Matt met the first day of kindergarten back in 1990. And here we are, 23 years later, getting ready for Matt's wedding. Wow.
Four of Christy's friends (Cath, Kathy, Cheryl and me) hosted a shower for Jen on September 7th at Jane's, a darling restaurant in the city. I had never cohosted a shower at a restaurant, only home showers, so when Kathy suggested it, I was initially hesitant. I should not have been. The shower was so much fun. One of the things that I really love about showers is getting to meet other people who are going to be at the wedding, like the bridesmaids and other family members. It is such a happy time and we had an especially beautiful day to celebrate.
I cannot wait for Matt and Jen's wedding!

such a bright and cheery room

Cheryl, me, Jen, Matt and Kathy; missing Cath

Girls + Jack night out

Jack and I got to spend a lovely evening with two darling girls on Friday. We had the best time. There is nothing like looking at the world through the eyes of a 4 year old and a 7 year old. Pretty much everything is interesting and you can take your time to explore the simple pleasures of life.
We started out at the high school, watching part of the swim team's Red-White meet. It is the annual intra squad meet that kicks off the season. The draw for us was that amazing assistant coach they have...Sally :). We got there during diving and the girls were mesmerized by it. Abbie turned to me and said, "I don't think I could do that" and Nina chimed in, "I could!". We got to sit with Matt for a bit  and visit briefly with Coach B (!) We watched a few events, then left to go to McDonald's for dinner. As we got into the car, we heard the marching band warming up for the football game (there was a home game). Abbie wanted to know if we could go find where the music was coming from. Sure! Why not? We followed the sounds to the practice field and stood outside the fenced area, just watching and listening. It was a gorgeous time of day, about 6:45 or so. I took a few pictures (of course). As we were standing there, two pommers (dance team) came by and I took a picture of them with the girls. Those high school girls were such a big deal to Abbie and Nina!
We went to a different McDonald's than we usually do. We are always on the lookout for another good PlayPlace. We found one. The girls played and ate for over an hour and made lots of new "friends". Jack and I sat there, just amazed at how easily these 6 or 7 kids, who didn't know each other, played. They assigned roles and chased each other and ran and screamed and laughed. And what was cool was that there were at least three different race/ethnicities represented. I am sure that the kids did not even notice. What if the world could be like that? How amazing would that be?
We got back to our house around 8:30 and made some chocolate chip cookies. They LOVED it! So helpful and careful about germs (I am really strict about licking a spoon and putting it back in the batter!) The cookies were the best ones I have made in years. Maybe because I was being more careful than usual. Arne and Beth came to pick up the girls around 9 and had a fun visit. Arne pointed out that the scene at our house, two kids cuddled up watching a VHS movie, had not changed in 20 years. Just the kids were different!
Jack and I could not think of a better way to spend Friday night, keeping the traditions going.

love the lighting on this

the pommers!

Nina climbing the rock wall at McD's

chocolate chip cookies

watching a VHS movie:)

Labor Day 2013

It was another awesome Labor Day party at Mark and Cath's. It is always incredible, with amazing food, drink and setting, but every year the party has its own personality. This year's was all about the excitement of the all of the additions to the families. Mark and Cath have a new granddaughter, Lila, born in May,  and Adam and Kristin announced that they are expecting in Feb 2014. There is some other exciting news on that front for their family, but that news is not quite ready for public disclosure. Then there was also the addition of Paula, Matthew's bride, to Don and Susan's family and of course, Matt to our family. We missed Jordan and his boys this year (I think they were all out of town), but they have an upcoming addition, too. Eliot just got engaged to Heidi. Lots of additions and more to come, no doubt. Many blessings for which to be thankful.
We so appreciate all of the time, expense and hard work that Mark and Cath put into this party every year. They manage to have seating for EVERYONE at the coolest longest table you have ever seen! That is no easy feat. Mark grills the steaks and Cath does alllll of the rest of the meal by herself.
And of course, the evening always ends with the traditional singing of "9 Margaritas", the song that Mark made up about 16 years ago. And the funny thing is that margaritas have never once been involved in this party :)!

Mason helps Grandma open our hostess gift, with his mom and Lila watching

There was a reenactment of the monks at Paula and Matthew's reception :)

What's it all about, Alfie?

I am going through one of those little phases. I am in the midst of a "What's it all about?" phase. As I am writing this, I am backspacing and deleting and rephrasing what I am posting because I don't want to overstate and/or alarm anyone. It is just that sometimes I get kinda freaked out by how fast time has gone and continues to go! And I am not sure how it happened but I have gotten a bit older. Yes, it is true.
This rainy, stormy Saturday did not help matters. We went to 5pm mass and Jack had to listen to me vent the whole way there. I was beginning to spiral (that's when the original issue morphs into about 20 issues, most of which are totally unrelated to the original).
Jack lit a candle for me and "my intentions". But let's face it, that candle was really lit for him, because he has to deal with me :).
Tomorrow is one of our favorite events of the year. Labor Day party at Mark and Cathy's.
That's what it's all about, Alfie.
Friends and family and traditions.
It's all good.

Trivia

Once every four or five months, I go to Trivia Night at Tommy Nevin's Pub in Naperville with some of the family.  It's held on Sunday nights and starts around 7:15. You play in groups of 8 or less and once a question is asked, your group comes up with an answer and one of the team members runs the answer up to the MC.  After it's all said and done, it all comes down to the final question. You can bet any or all of 40 points, but if you answer incorrectly, those points you wagered are deducted from your score. We have won a few times. Last week, we were in the hunt til the final question. We bet it all (go big or go home) and did not get the correct answer and ended up with 5th place. The question? What is the  name of the body of water separating Madagascar from mainland Africa?  That was a hard one. Do you know the answer? Not without googling it, I am guessing. It was a fun night, no matter what. 

Capital vs Capitol

I learned something new this week. Or maybe I knew it before but forgot. In any case, I now know that when I am writing about Jack's hobby of visiting state capitals, that is the correct spelling. But when I am writing about Jack's hobby of taking pictures of state capitol buildings, that is the correct spelling. How complicated is our English language?!
And do you know how I found this out? I opened my new planner/calendar for this school year and it had a list of the state capitals. And I thought to myself, "Hmmm, that is quite a misprint", thinking it should say "State Capitols". I googled it and sure enough, I was wrong and they were correct. Imagine that. I am hardly ever wrong. And I am not a know-it-all, though I have been accused of that. A few times!

Fun Summer Friday afternoon

Sue texted me a couple of weeks ago and wanted to set up a Friday afternoon for me to bring Abbie and Nina over for a swim. We made a date for this past Friday and it worked out that Matt and Sally were able to come and Jack, too. Matt and Sally picked up the girls and we met them at Sue's around 4. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and the perfect temperature. Sue, Jack and I visited while the kids swam, then I took a turn in the pool so that Matt and Sally could visit with Sue and Jack. Abbie and Nina were in the pool pretty much the entire time, except for a brief bite of the pizza we ordered for dinner. It was really fun to be together. Sable, Mike and Sue's little Chihuahua who is now 10 years old, did not take long to adjust to all the visitors. Sable even took a swim!
Thanks to Sue for inviting us over! It was fabulous to be together.

Abbie, Nina and Matt

Sue, Jack and me

back float!

Sable!