Spirit Week

The kids had a spirit week, and unlike normal, actually wanted to do some of the days. Mustache day was fun. Ali went back and forth about wanting to wear one or not, and I loved her solution of wearing hers on a necklace (the chain of which she had finger knitted).

Alison and Eli dressed up for what they wanted to be when they grew up: Ali a teacher and Eli an army serving, boy scout leading, treasure hunting, paleontologist artist (why choose just one?). Ali's teacher made her feel so special that day by making her a name badge just like the school's real teachers have and letting her help out during the day:)

Doctor Paper

Eli came home from school one day and announced, "I have strep." We took him to the doctor the next day, and sure enough he did. Eli was curious about the paper you sit on at the doctor's office, and when I told him what it was for and that it was stored in rolls, he wondered how many rolls they had and where they kept them. I, of course, didn't know, and suggested he ask the nurse when she came in. He did, and she told him each room had several rolls and showed him where they stored them, and then asked if he would like one! He was shocked and thrilled. I think he would say that bout of strep was worth it because of his prize!

Spring Break

For Spring Break I told the kids they could each choose an activity for us to do (within reason) and they all picked fun things! We went to the Children's Museum for Jake:

Eli wanted to go to the Zoo, so we when to Downtown Chicago's free zoo. I love going there because not only do we get to see the animals, but Lake Michigan and all the beautiful buildings of downtown.

Eli really hoped to see a Rino, that was why he picked the zoo, so we were glad they had one!

Alison felt a little sick some of the days of break, so on her day she opted for a simple quiet activity: the library.

I forgot my phone for Logan's choice, a movie, but this is pretty much how Jake enjoyed the movie:)

I think we succeeded in making some fun memories!

TEN!

We've  come from this:

To this:

I surprised the kids with streamers on their doors when they woke up. They both admitted it startled them in the middle of the night, but they loved it. (Ali still has hers up, a couple weeks later, and Logan's were up for about a week.)

We celebrated with cousins a few days later, and had fun with these amazing teenagers, as always.

Alison asked for birds for her birthday, so we'd like to introduce Snow and Sunrise (we'll let you figure out who is who!)

Birthday Parties!

We have two TEN-YEAR-OLDS! And we had so much fun celebrating their birthdays!

Alison and her friends went to Sky Zone:

Logan and his friends went to Laser Tag!

These two certainly are worth celebrating; we're glad they're ours!

Planetarium

We took advantage of both a day off of school and a free day at the Planetarium to check it out. There were some fun things to look and and learn about.

Eli often says the funniest things. Here he said, "Mom, I'm walking in the footsteps of greatness!"

Jake of course wanted to run and run, but he did sit still for a second for a selfie.

Jason and Ali thought this looked like the Death Star...

I thought this was one of the coolest things I saw and learned: there are A LOT of stars!

Artist

Eli spends a lot of his free time watching videos of how to draw things. Here he was on a Dr Seuss kick, and the things he drew turned out pretty great!

Moments

My three boys snuggled and watched a show on this device the other day for quite a while without driving each other nuts! We rejoice in the little moments.

Impromptu Birthday Parity

Ali had a good friend over to play, and it just happened to be the friend's birthday, so we had to have an impromptu party, complete with homemade ice cream.

First Tooth!

Eli finally lost a tooth! He's seven and a half and was beginning to wonder if it would EVER happen!

Museum or Zoo

We decided to get Jake a membership to the museum, and he loves it. He asks every day to go to the "zoo." His favorites are the many ways to manipulate balls: on ramps, in air, in water.