Moving...on.

In the past 10 days, I have moved from living with my in-laws, to moving to Johnston, to seeing my daughter turn 14 with now a moving motor license and then celebrating a 17th anniversary! It has been quite a "moving" experience! and sometimes I can't wrap my head around these fast and furious life-changers. It's almost been too much that I just want to shut down. But moving...on is an important part of life. and so is positively dealing with it. I registered the kids for school which required a crazy amount of paperwork, got library cards from local library-another load of paperwork and then scheduled invisible fencing, irrigation, painters, Kate's classes, a vacation, boarding for the dog, and countless other items all in the past couple of days. What I'm trying to remember through all of this is that time with family and friends is so very important! Here's to moving and to moving on-let's make it a great path to follow!

Great Days...

I read a quote last week that has been on my mind..."Not all days are great, but something great happens each day." This little quote has influenced me. I think too often people expect every day to be magical or perfect or just damn great. I think it's okay to think positively each day, but I believe the kind of thinking described above can also get us into trouble. When the day isn't "great," or near perfect then somehow we think we missed something or we have "failed" in that day. So I'm trying to write great things that happened in my day even though it might not be classified as a great day. On Monday, July 21, I had my favorite chai tea from Smokey Row and cleaned out my purse! I also got to meet my new boss and have a chat with her. And I saw Tom Forsgren, and Susan Stroope at work who were both celebrating their birthdays with GYI students and then I had a quick book chat with Jean Ellerhoff. Maybe I wouldn't classify it as a "great day," but great things did happen! :)

Can you hear me now?

I thought I would restart this photo blog and see how it goes. I enjoyed it so much before and got "too busy." I turned 38 a week ago and moved out of my lovely house in Carlisle; I thought it was time for a positive lifestyle change and some brightness in my life and this starter picture fits perfectly!

Trip to Denver to visit Asa

So we finally made it out to visit Mr. Asa--not to visit Carissa and Tony--just to visit Asa. Ha! Just kidding!

 Being my navigator is really hard work!

One of the many crazy cloud systems we saw on our way to Denver...we hit rain, sleet, a 15 minute snowstorm, sunshine and thunderstorms! What a crazy world the Great Plains is!

 The gas pump, yes, we literally had to pump the handle to get it to work!

 Our view the first morning. I love seeing these foothills but I also thought it was an interesting picture with nature and then modern life intertwined...

 The kids loving a good swim. They were both smiling at the same time and Kate said, "I forgot how much I love to swim!" This was great to hear as sometimes it is difficult to make her happy lately but I will also admit she started reading a new book and said, "I forgot how I love to read!" Ah, yes, maybe mom can be right sometimes!

 The kiddos with Asa.

 Asa giving us a winning smile and bright eyes! such a cute, sweet baby!

 Kate was tickled a town was named after our family!

 Kate and Asa. He's way tooo cute and she's way tooo pretty.

 Me and Asa. I forget how calming it is to just sit. and hold a baby. and just sit. and hold a baby. LOVE!

A very late update! --Hawks last home game of the season before tourney begins!

Let's go Hawks!

Ah yes, how I love Stella and the Airliner!!

The kids laughing it up at The Airliner-post game!

MMMMM.....Whitey's!!!

MMMMM....Whitey's! I think Kate is in trouble. She loves ice cream almost more than I do!

How can you top the last post about Asa?

You can't; you just add more photos of this cutie-pa-tootie!!!

Ok, well, and add pics of Riggen receiving his basketball medal! He was so HAPPY and PROUD of his medal! He wore it for the rest of the day and showed it off to others!!!

 ...and well, a picture of my husband gearing up to use his new.......SNOWBLOWER!!!! ROAR!!!!

Welcome Asa Eugene Nusbaum!!!

After 24 hours of labor and lots of patience, Asa Eugene came into this world on February 22 around 3:35am! He weighed 6 lbs and was 19 inches long! He is such a cutie! He needed a little extra help with breathing so here he is in an oxygen bubble-a common problem for babies born in Denver.

 And, oh, doesn't he look so sweet? and just like Tony?

 Here he is with maternal grandma Carla-I think she's in heaven!

 And again with maternal grandpa Chuck! He's looking quite humbled by this little guy!

 and, of course, with the amazing parents, Tony and Carissa! They make such a sweet little family!!!!

I can't wait to meet him in March!

Lots of Happenings!!!

Last weekend, Chantel had to work at the airport and so she stayed Saturday night with us! Since the next Thursday was Matt and Chantel's bdays, we also celebrated!

 Opening her basket of goodies!

 Here was are celebrating at Johnny and Mike's restaurant in Jordan Creek! We had a late supper then went to the Funnybone Comedy Club for some great laughs! It was a great evening!

Thursday was Mathew's birthday!

 Happy 38!!!

 His parents came over for dinner. We had a homemade pizza and dark chocolate cake! We had some time to play a round of pitch too. It was blowing snow on his birthday!!! I think he enjoyed his presents too!

Happy Valentine's Day!

So here's Riggen and I enjoying a special Valentines snack at about 3:30. Kate went to a movie with her friend so it was just me and this special guy.

 Then, time for the real fun began later when Mathew and I shared sushi at the kitchen counter! It was so sweet! Riggs was off to bball practice by then and Kate wasn't home so we had a little quiet time to ourselves-a rarity!

 ...and well, nothing says love like making funny faces at the camera! Love you, hon!

Valentine's Prep!

So I don't know if I love or hate the fact we don't have to create and decorate shoe boxes for Valentine's anymore. It was always a bit stressful but I did enjoy being creative with the kids. Kate doesn't have Valentine's parties anymore at her school but Riggs still does so today I enjoyed helping him tape on his suckers to his cool Ninjago Valentines! Here he is hard at work signing them all!

Life's Busy...and Chicago is still so cool

Ok, in case you haven't noticed, life has been a little busy lately considering the last time I posted was in January! How embarassing! I've been working on revamping our "library/sitting room" I have not idea what to call it room but it still needs some help. It is awfully cozy, however.

 Then thursday morning I took off for Model UN with my students. It was a good trip if a bit lonely without the hubby there this time. Good thing I just love walking downtown Chicago and checking out all the cool history---and loading up my laptop with digital movies! The students did well and Clare Barcus, Caroline Scott, Daltzon Kunz and Emma Buchanan helped to bring it home with their great singing and "stow and go" solutions! I also got to catch a flick this time-Silver Linings Playbook--AMAZING movie! EVERYONE should see it!  How I love the Windy City!

Qwirkle!!

So, I've posted about my hubby bringing home unusual fruits before but I don't think I've posted about how he also picks up games every so often to try out at home. He's the BEST at finding new, imaginative, fun games for us to play. Tonight was no exception. Mathew picked up Qwirkle! It is this cool tile game and when you match 6 tiles you shout Qwirkle and get a whole bunch of bonus points! It was a lot of fun!

New Chairs!!!

So Mathew got me new la-z-boy chairs as part of my Christmas gift. We have a formal dining room that we have never used as such and I've always wanted to create a cozy reading area there. So, I special ordered some chairs and they came this weekend! I was a little worried they were too "tweedy" but I LOVE them and they are soooo comfortable! I now can't wait to get home to sit in my chair!

 Here we are hanging out in our chairs..Kate think it is funny that we hole up on this room now. It still needs some tweaking--hey, a new couch too!---but it works so much better than before--i Love it!