First day of 2nd grade

Griffin started 2nd grade yesterday. He was very excited to head off to this new adventure. He had a great first day. He seems to really like his teacher and is eager to go back to school!

Soldier Field, Chicago

We had an awesome opportunity to go to Soldier Field to have a behind the scenes tour and to hang out with June Jones, head football coach from SMU. The Chicago Alumni group from SMU (Southern Methodist University) planned this event. There were probably 300 people there for food, drinks, fun and a great tour.

1. June Jones, head football coach, SMU

2. Soldier Field

3. Visitor's locker room. Interesting fact: no one is allowed in the Bears locker room. There has only ever been a handful of visitors that have seen it. Solely reserved for the players and the organization.

4. Dallas and I

5. and 6. Griffin making what will most likely be his only catch and pass on Soldier Field.

7. Griffin in the press box.

8. Autographed helmet that was raffled off during the event.

9. View out on Lake Michigan from atop Soldier Field.

Living Room Makeover

Before:  When we moved in this house 3 years ago, there was very little decorating done by the prior owners. They were only here for 9 months before being transferred to NC. One of the things they did was put up these rust drapes in the living and dining room. They had beads on them but I got rid of those right after we moved in. I'm not a "drapery bead" girl. Honestly, I never liked them. So about 2-3 months ago I couldn't stand them another minute so I took them down. This was the perfect opportunity to introduce GREEN into my home. I love green but after having so much of it in our Texas house I completely omitted it here. But as you can see from the "After" pictures I got my green!                                                   

 

After:

I got new panels in a burlap fabric from, of all places, Meijers! I love them and I decorated the room around them. I used the same rods that were already there. The adorable polka dot chair is from Overstock.com. It was a little scary ordering it site unseen. I love it! The rug is from Tuesday Morning. I exchanged out a rectangle mirror for the round one seen in the after photo from another room. The coffee table/foot stool is from Home Goods. I didn't get a before picture of this but we had a HUGE armoire in the dining room and it is GONE! The last after picture shows what I have there now. I'm still trying to decide what to hang on the wall over the table. I also added the 2" wood blinds in a bright white, some new pillows and a lamp. Oh and a few accessories all from Home Goods.

These two rooms are now bright and cheerful! I enjoy them so much now. It was fun to do and I owe a special thanks to my friend Gail for the great advice.

Squeakers

I got a very fun Mother's day present this year! It was love at first site! She's precious! The animal shelter had named her Tangerine but after spending 15 minutes with her yesterday, I quickly determined that Squeakers was a much better name for her! It's amazing that in the 24 hours that she's been home, she has become part of our family. We love her already!

Soccer

Griffin is having fun in Spring Soccer. They are getting better each week. This is the last season of co-ed and 3 on 3. It's all boys in the fall and I think (and hope) it's 5 on 5 at least!

Shelby

Goodbye Shelby. We loved you so much and are going to miss you terribly. You were such a good kitty and brought so much joy to our family. Thank you for being with me for 16.5 years.

Kayaking - Spring Break

My dad.

My mom.

Me.

My boat.

Griffin.

Griffin. You would have thought he kayaked every week. He did great. His favorite thing to do was get real close to the edge and try to get stuck. When he got back in, his boat had all sorts of branches, leaves, etc. inside it!

We went to Jasper Park yesterday and enjoyed the beautiful weather. All four of us decided that it would be fun to kayak. It was wonderful as you can tell from the pictures. They were having a Spring Fling at the park so we had a picnic lunch and listened to a great bluegrass band. Griffin enjoyed the playground and bounce house/slide. It was a perfect day.

Spring and such

Spring has sprung in Chicago! I am so thankful for the warmer weather and the signs that in just a few sort weeks (well, maybe months) my yard will once again be full of flowers, leaves and so many of God's creations. I will have to admit, this winter seems rather mild to me. I'm afraid it means I'm getting "use to" the cold. I think of my friend Kara, who would laugh the first winter I was here whenever I would complain about the cold (which was all the time.) Now, I just pretty much accept the fact that it's COLD here for many months of the year. But I sure do appreciate spring and summer so much more!

There is one thing that has happened over the past few weeks to bring huge delight to our family. Griffin has found a friend who lives right down the street. To most of you, this does not seem like anything big. But as long as we have lived here (3 years) there has been no little boy for Griffin to play with. We have wonderful next-door-neighbors that have 3 girls (and one very little boy) that hang out with Griffin but they are NOT the same as having a BOY, around your same age to play with. Brandon is fun to have around, enjoying doing all the "boy" things that Griffin likes. They play football, hockey, ride scooters and right now they are across the street in the open lot with a shovel and bucket digging up treasures. Griffin had his first sleep-over at Brandon's house a couple of weeks ago. His mom made it extra special for them and I hear they didn't go to sleep until 11:30 and were up at 4:15am. They even took a picture of the sunrise to prove they were up so early. Thank you God for Griffin's new friend. May they have a life-long friendship.

Happy Birthday Griffin

We celebrated Griffin's 7th birthday this weekend. So much fun!

Griffin:
loves sports - playing, watching and reading about
enjoyed watching the Olympics
loves school - great at math and reading
fidgets all.the.time
loves pizza
loves playing Wii with Daddy
loves playing board games and cards with Mommy