Happy Box

Maddi and Grace are decorating with stickers to make a happy box. Cade is not so happy because he was bored and complaining of nothing to do so I pulled out his summer workbook that we have totally not done this summer. I had him write about his summer and do a math page. He was not happy about that but it made me realize how badly we need to continue writing even though it's summer. Poor guy does not enjoy those small motor skill activities. Maybe next time he's bored he'll find something to play with or else I'll pull the workbook out again!

We got a little glimpse of the teen years to come Saturday morning. All started well and then there was a little arguement between Maddi and Cade and the next thing you know, Maddi has her backpack packed and she's running away! I was washing my face and getting ready when Maddi came in to tell me goodbye and she's leaving (wearing her pjs by the way). I told her not to leave, but she was already downstairs and out the door before I could get my face washed and dried. Luckily Brett was out front mowing and saw her come out and rescued her. He brought her back in and we had a little heart to heart with lots of tears and she says she'll never do it again. She's just so emotional and so fragile and she's only 7! The girl wears me out and I think it will be good for her and her mom as well once school starts back in a few weeks and she gets back to her routine. It really was nothing at all that made her upset to want to leave and never come back. Could it have something to do with Cade's birthday on Tuesday? Maybe. Brett's brother just had their second child two weeks ago and the oldest child is lashing out at dad and grandma. It totally reminded me of Maddi when we brought Cade home. She loves Cade dearly and Cade adores her, but sometimes I think we still rocked her world by bringing home another baby.

So, after all the crying and apologizing etc. the teacher/counselor in me came up with a "happy box". Maddi and I decorated a box with stickers and hapiness and she is going to write all of her happy thoughts in the box. Whenever she is having an unhappy, blue day she can go back to her box and read all of her happy thoughts and focus on all of the good in her life instead of the bad. Girls. Thank you God for only giving me one girl!

Looks pretty happy now, huh?

Happy Thoughts....by Maddi McDonald.

Trip to Museum

Tuesday we headed to the Museum of Science and Industry with some friends from Texas. We met Alex and Clara when Maddi was 2 1/2 and Cade was 8 or 9 months old and they were in play group together. They moved from Texas to downtown Chicago right around the same time we moved to the Chicago burbs. It's so fun to have friends to play with in the city. This was our first time to this museum and the Radtkes have been numerous times so they were great guides to show us around. The kids enjoyed each others company and Tracie and I got to talk and catch up with each other. The kids loved the science guy with his demonstration of magnets in the picture above.

Cade and Alex really enjoyed the huge train set and were eager to follow the trains around. Notice the airplane hanging above Cade. It was a real airplane suspended on the second or third floor and we went inside of it and saw some really cool stuff. This museum is incredible and I'm not really much of a museum person!

Alex and Cade watching the trains.

Cade said his favorite part of the museum was the idea factory. This was part of that area and he thought he was magic making the ball float in the air.

More of the idea factory. Shooting water at a target which made the wheel turn which made water pump up which made something else do something else and so on. Cade was fascinated with trying to figure out how it all worked. My little engi-nerd in the making!

Alex and Cade, the little train conductors.

Maddi and Clara weren't so enthused with the train so they decided to play on the trolley instead.

Another favorite of the day was the fire and smoke demonstration. This is what I wanted chemistry class to be like. Playing with fire and chemicals. My chemistry classes were more boring like balancing equations with moles.

Another fun demonstration was making goo. The kids each got a turn to pour water or stir or add coloring, etc.

Check out the concentration on those little faces.

Ta-da! The goo is ready. Since they don't want goo all over the museum the kids could only play with it at the demo area but it was fun anyway. It was such a nice museum and there was a nice crowd, but we were able to see or do what we wanted. Another demo area was a lab with a disected bull frog. Maddi was totally interested in that and Cade kind of had a sick look on his face. The volunteer was showing them the organs in ziploc bags and Maddi grabbed the bags and looked at everything. I spared you the photos of the frog organs.

The last exhibit we saw was the farm. The kids always love pretending to drive the tractor and milk a cow. This is Cade sitting in the wheel of the tractor while Maddi was driving. They're already asking when we can go back to the museum. We still have plenty to see and do that we didn't get to this time, so we'll have to get back soon.

Random

I will post later about our fun trip to the Museum of Science and Industry, but here are some random things without pictures.

1. Football is going well. Cade barely cried Monday when they had their warm up lap and there haven't been any tears since. Yeah!!! He is actually having fun and is doing so well. I still get nervous for him when they hit each other but he is really holding his own out there. He is the youngest kid since he's still five until August 12th, but he's not the smallest, so that gives him an advantage.

I just have to say that I am so thankful that I had brothers growing up. (I never thought I would say those words. Ha ha) The world of boys and sports is quite different than my world of being a girly girl into dance. I've learned a lot from having brothers and it's helped me in having a boy since I'm the one who gets him ready each day. Who knew you need a cup (so fun. If you don't know what that is, don't ask), a girdle, rib pads, knee pads, shoulder pads, a helmet, chin strap, etc. and they're all pretty tricky to fasten properly. I did forget to put on his rib pads one day and that was pretty embarrassing when the coach called me over about 45 minutes into practice to ask if I had brought his rib pads and that he needed them on. I also learned that boys sweat A LOT and they can get pretty stinky and it's not even that hot here. Thank you God for my brothers and thank you for only giving me one stinky, sweaty boy to take to and from football.

2. I do not enjoy window wells. About this time last year I had a lovely post (with pictures) of our visitors in our window wells. Well, this afternoon Cade, Adam and Maddi came running in the house that there was a baby monkey in our window well. I only WISH it was a baby monkey. I took a look and said I didn't know what the fur ball was, but that it was not a baby monkey for sure. The kids took off down to the basement to get a closer look through the window. After further observation they decided it was a baby beaver. I was sure it wasn't a beaver either. Maddi saw a neighbor and called her over to identify the furry creature. Debbie told us it was a mouse and she would have her husband come over to rescue it. Gary, the dad, and Molly, the teenage daughter, came over to rescue the mouse. After getting the half dead mouse (maybe a bird dropped it in the well?) the kids noticed some of those nasty spotted frogs we found in there last summer. So he got those out too and then we headed over to the wetlands behind the clubhouse to let all of the creatures free and let nature take care of them. We did take some pictures from Maddi's phone, but I don't know how to send them to my email, so you're spared the nasty rodent and creapy amphibian pictures.

Football, Canoeing, Baseball and More

This was Cade with Maddi and Daddy at his first football practice. He was all smiles. First hour went great, next hour he cried twice because the helmet was hurting his head. Day two, first hour great, next hour cried 4 times. Day three disaster. Cried most of the second hour.

He's supposed to be listening to the coaches, but he's making sure we're watching him.

Fourth day was the first day with full pads and it didn't go so well either. This is Cade with tears after practice. Brett was so frustrated that his little boy was CRYING at FOOTBALL. Remember that Cade has been wanting to play football for a long time and this was his idea, not ours. So the coaches encouraged us to keep encouraging Cade and they swear that after the first game (August 17th) it clicks and even kids struggling with keeping up love the rest of the season. August 17th is a long time away to watch your child cry and seem absolutely miserable. Somehow Cade decided at the end of practice on the 4th day that he would try hitting and then he decided it wasn't so bad. Friday, the 5th day and second day with pads, he only cried during the warm up lap and then he did so great! He did all of the drills (some with hesitation) and we were so happy for him.

This is after practice on Day 4 and Brett was telling Cade how proud he was that he decided to participate even if it was the last 15 minutes of practice. I think he's rounding the corner and is deciding football will be fun. This league is a HUGE committment with practice Mon-Fri from 5:30-7:30. When games start they'll cut Friday practice and when school starts they'll cut Monday practice, but for now it's a lot of time and effort. Hang in there Cade man!

Friday afternoon we went to lunch and the outlet mall with Maddie H. and her brother, Gavin, and her mom. The kids stopped to play on all the little rides along the way. Maddi and Cade are just about too big for most of the rides. How sad is that? My babies are SO big. We got in some back to school shopping. Great thing about living up here is that when all the back to school fall clothes come out you can actually buy them because it won't be long and it will be cool enough to wear them. I always hated how all the back to school clothes were for fall and the kids couldn't wear them until Christmas (it seemed) in Texas. I guess it goes the other way in March. All the spring and summer clothes come out and there is no sense in buying them because you can't wear them until June (if you're lucky).

Saturday was Maddy-Daddy and Cade-Mom day. Brett took Maddi on a father-daughter canoe trip with church. There aren't any pictures to show for it. Right before they left Brett said he decided to take the camera and just put it in a ziploc bag to keep it from getting wet. I asked him not to take it so it didn't have the chance of getting ruined. Good thing. 20 seconds after they got in the water they hit a rock and the canoe dumped over and Maddi and Brett and everything inside was soaking wet! They had a blast and spent some quality time together. Cade and I went to see Wall E (boring movie) and then had lunch and ice cream.

Saturday night Maddie H. spent the night and Cocoa decided to have a sleep over with the Maddis too. Cocoa usually sleeps in her kennell, but when we went to bed she wasn't in her kennell. We called for her and she didn't come so we went looking for her and here she was. We let her stay at the sleepover with her girls.

Sunday we went to church and the kids got candy cigarettes for snack. Cigarettes! At church! What is this world coming to?

After church we changed clothes and picked up Cade's friend, Jack, and went to the Kane County Cougars game for Brett's work picnic. We were at the party deck in center field and we had a nice time.

Before the game the kids got autographs. Sunday was Jimmy Buffett day at the game so the team was wearing flowered shirts. Even the visiting team had to wear the goofy shirts in a different color. They played good Buffett songs during the game, but the shirts were a bit much. I can only imagine what the players thought of wearing them.

The gang in front of the dugout. Even the dugout was decorated in the tropical theme.

Ozzie, the mascot, came out to the center field deck with us to sing the 7th inning stretch.

More autographs!

When the game was over the kids ran the bases. Go Maddi!

Cade's off.

Cade turned it into a race instead of just running the bases. He was super excited to beat this girl. His comment was "you know, if you play football you have to be really fast and I am fast because I beat the girl in front of me." Maddi ended up beating Cade's friend, Jack. I didn't notice any other kids racing other kids. My super competitive kids are like their father, I guess.

After running the bases the kids danced to the band that sang Buffet songs (they were a horrible band by the way, but the kids didn't mind). They had a lot of energy to burn from their liccorice rope, cotton candy, sno cones/dippin dots and sprites.

These kids had quite the moves! After the game we came home and ate dinner, bathed the kids and then straight to bed. Another fun and busy weekend is now history!

One Word

A friend sent this to me in an email and it was fun so I thought I'd put it on the blog and see if anyone plays along. It's easy because it's just one word answers so it doesn't require a lot of time or thought.

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Significant other? Kind
3. Your hair? Thick
4. Your mother? Strong
5. Your father? Loving
6. Your favorite thing? Sweets
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your favorite drink? Icee
9. Your dream/goal? Mom
10. Room you're in? Office
11. Your hobby? Workout
12. Your fear? Illness
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? ?Happy?
14. Where were you last night? Football
15. What you're not? Sensitive
16. Muffins? Tops
17. One of your wish list items? Vacation
18. Where you grew up? San Antonio
19. What are you wearing? Robe
20. Your pets? Dog
21. Your computer? Laptop
22. Your life? Adventurous
23. Your mood? Happy
24. Missing someone? Dad
25. Your car? SUV
26. Something you're not wearing? Clothes (see 19 ha)
27. Favorite store? Gap
28. Your summer? Fun
29. Your favorite color? Brown
30. Last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Unknown

Another Whirlwind Weekend

Friday afternoon Cade was teaching Jack everything you could ever need to know about Legos. Cade and Jack have both grown up so much since we first moved here. They are two years apart and Cade didn't want to have anything to do with Jack because he was a "baby". Cade was not fond of younger kids but as he's grown and matured he's realized younger kids can be a lot of fun. I guess Jack was kind of a baby since he was 2 when we met him and now he's almost 4 so that makes a big difference. The scary thing is Jack and Cade are so much alike and have a love for life and don't mind getting in a little trouble if it means they had fun to get in the trouble. I know it's only a year or two before Jack and Cade are cooking up crazy and exciting shenanigans. Jack and Grace live next door to us so it's nice to have kids to play with so close by.

Grace and Maddi gave each other extreme makeovers. They fixed each other's hair with 12 ponies in it. Then they put tons of glitter all over and I painted their nails 10 different shades of pinks and reds topped with glitter of course. Friday night Maddi, Cade, and Grace went to the clubhouse in our neighborhood for kids movie night. Brett and I went to see the new Will Farrell movie, Stepbrothers, while the kids were at their movie. I totally wasn't looking forward to it because I knew it would be so stupid but I must admit that it was stupid, but it was very funny. Gross, yes, but funny.

Saturday we had to make good on a promise to Maddi. She has eczema and it has been really bad this summer. Her skin gets worse in the spring and summer because she is allergic pretty much to the air, I guess. When her skin is covered in long sleeves and pants, the eczema isn't so bad. This summer she has been so itchy that she'll scratch herself until it bleeds. She has been begging for a cell phone and even carried around Brett's old one for a while to show she was responsible enough to have one. So we told her if she can stop scratching for a week then we would get her a phone. I know what it's like to have mosquito bites and how itchy that can be and that is what she feels all the time with her eczema flared up. She's only 7 and it takes extreme self control not to itch and scratch so she has been pretending to text message when she feels like scratching. She was good about not scratching so we upheld our end of the bargain and got her the phone. So when she wants to scratch, she'll send a text message or call a friend or family. We added her to our family plan and the phone was pretty much free and she's practicing her spelling and reading with texting so it's not that bad of a deal. Crazy thing is that she actually has friends with cell phones too so she can call them and text other 7 year olds.

After getting the phone we headed back to the Family Fun Center that the kids and I went to a week or two ago. They got passes from the library so we saved some of them so that they could have fun with Brett too. We got the bumper boats all to ourselves and we had a lot of fun.

Then it was off to the go-kart races. Brett and Cade had the speedy car and they beat Maddi and I big time. It was still fun even though we lost the race.

After the Family Fun Center we went for pizza and then ice cream and then played at the park. Sunday Brett took Cade to get cleats, socks, pads, and other fun things for football. Monday night at 5:30 is Cade's first football practice. They only wear helmets for the first 3 days. He's starting to get really nervous and isn't so sure he wants to play. Hopefully practice will go well and his fears will be eased. He has been talking about wanting to be a football player for so long so hopefullly he's not dissappointed. He asked me if they will get a snack after practice like they do after a basketball/soccer/baseball game. I told him his mommy will certainly bring him a snack.

More Summer Fun

Saturday we went to our neighbor's birthday party. Nolan is turning 2 and he LOVES Cade. Here is a picture of Cade, Nolan and Albert playing in the treehouse in the clubhouse at the party. Nolan, the birthday boy, loves trucks, cars, etc. so they had the firetruck and ambulance come to his birthday party. The kids had a blast exploring them.

Maddi enjoyed the inside of the ambulance. Hopefully it's the only time we have to see the inside of one.

Cade was sitting in the driver's seat of the ambulance. The paramedics and firefighters were so kind to the kids and would move the seats up and down and play around with them.

After the party I apparently took a little nap on the couch. Cocoa snuck up and took a nap with me. Maddi got the camera to take a picture and right when she went to take the picture Cocoa looked up at her and smiled. Doesn't it look like she is smiling? Not long after the picture I decided to wake up and get out of the house or I was going to get sucked in to the napping couch all day. Maddi and I went to the mall and had dunch (dinner/lunch) at the Cheesecake Factory. Brett and Cade went and bought the Transformer movie and had some boy bonding time.

Sunday we went to church and then our neighbor was in the Beauty and the Beast play so we went to watch her. They have a great summer musical through the park district each year with kids from age 7 to 20-something. They do such a great job and it's a great way for the kids to go to the theater.

Monday we met some friends at Six Flags Great America. It was a GORGEOUS day. It was maybe 82 and sunny but not hot at all. Warm enough for the water stuff, but not hot when we were walking around riding rides. At night it cooled off (like it does in the summer here) and I put on a long sleeve shirt and I was still pretty chilly. I still can't believe that it's the middle of July and it can still get chilly at night. Winter is certainly rough in our neck of the woods, but summer is WONDERFUL! We can go and do things during the day and you don't have to worry about having a heat stroke.

Cade was so excited about going to 6 Flags that he woke up at 5:00 am. He talked about all the big roller coasters all morning long. By the time we actaully got there and did the water park and then got to the big rides he was worn out and tired and too scared to ride them. Maddi on the other hand, woke up grumpy (she is not a morning person at all) and didn't even want to go to 6 Flags because she was afraid her friend would want to ride the big rides and Maddi was scared to ride them. By the time we got to the big rides Maddi was totally game and went on a big wooden roller coaster 4 times and wanted to go another time. By the time we left Cade crashed out in the car in no time and Maddi could hardly sleep because she was so excited about the big roller coaster.

Although Cade didn't ride the big roller coasters he had dreamed about he had a great time. This was his favorite thing. It's a big room with squishy balls and you can shoot them, put them in traps and drop them on people, stick them in tubes, all kinds of stuff. We tried to go back here at night when the others were riding the roller coaster but it was closed. He can't stop talking about going back next summer to play in the ball room.

Notice I am not on this ride, but taking the picture. This thing made me a bit queasy the first time. It's like the big ship that goes up and down but it goes around like a figure 8 too. Kids loved it, but not me.

Another ride I wasn't on. It's called the Fun Machine. Maddi, Kyle and Cade rode it 4 times in a row. It spins around really fast and it makes me sick just to watch it. It was a fun day with beautiful weather, not too many crowds, and good friends.