HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLLEEN!

The big 4-1!

SCRAPBOOK WEEKEND

This past weekend we our girls bi-annual scrapbooking trip to Walnut Knob Lodge, just outside of Pittsfield, IL. We usually go in February and September and this was our 5th time going. We rent the whole place out just for our group and scrapbook the days (and nights!) away. We're already looking forward to September!

TRIP TO THE ARCH

While Mom was away scrapbooking for the weekend, Rob and the kids went to St. Louis to spend some time with Papa and DD. Saturday afternoon they visited the Arch, which Adam had been to before, but Emily and Rob had not. I asked Rob if Emily was scared and he said "No...but I sure was!" They said it was a beautiful day and got some really great views of St. Louis from up there!

Adam actually took the first two picture and I must say, he's quite the photographer!

Papa and the kids at the top of the Arch.
I love this picture...notice how Rob is holding Emily so she doesn't fall out!!! He doesn't like heights at all, so he was pretty brave to take them up there.
A shot in front of the mighty Mississipi.

VALENTINE'S DAY

After the kids opened their Valentine's Day presents, we decided to visit the Illinois State Museum. There were some crafts for them to do, along with lots of interesting things to see. We had a really fun day!

Emily loved listening to the voice activated recordings along the way about different topics.

PRESIDENT OBAMA LANDS IN SPRINGFIELD!

President Obama flew in to Springfield tonight to attend the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Birthday banquet at the Crowne Plaza. I, along with thousands of other Springfield residents who were not lucky enough (or wealthy enough!) to get a ticket to the banquet, thought it would be fun to head out to the airport to watch Air Force One land. Good idea...but due to some confusion on the best place to park the van and the fact that he landed 15 minutes earlier than was reported, we missed seeing the plane fly in. However as we were driving away, we were able to get a pretty good glimpse of it on the runway. VERY COOL! Then as we headed home, they had just shut down Veteran's Parkway so that would be the route he was going to take to the Crowne Plaza. We ended up in the parking lot of Soccer World at the intersection of Veteran's and Lawrence (again...we were not the only ones with this idea!) and waited for about 10 minutes until finally the motorcade drove by. Again, VERY COOL! So many police cars, flashing lights, sirens and white SUV's. But the black sedan in front with 2 American flags on it was an unbelievable sight! I know the kids will remember this for a long time.

Waiting for the motorcade....

I wish I had gotten better pictures, but this was the best I could do in the dark!

100th day of SCHOOL!

Last Thursday was the 100th day of school and also happened to be the day I went to have lunch with Emily because she was Student of the Week that week. The kindergarten classes had SO much fun that day! Each of the 4 kindergarten classes rotated through to the different kindergarten rooms. Mrs. Maxedon read them a story, gave them a 100 day snack (as pictured below), and helped them think of 100 words they knew. Miss Kwedar helped them make a 100 fruit loop necklace, which Emily insisted on eating when she got home! Mrs. Divjak helped them count by 10's to make a hat. In her own classroom, they found 100 stickers around the room. I think Emily will always remember her 100th day of kindergarten!

Emily modeling her 100th day hat!

EMILY POWERS BIG NIGHT!

Tonight was the Daisy Scout Investiture Ceremony, where the girls official become Girl Scouts. One of Emily's bottom teeth had been loose for days and was literally hanging by a tread. I was pretty sure it would come out at some point this evening...just not sure exactly when. She was very pre-occupied with the tooth all night and would not stop playing with it. Fortunately she made it through the Girl Scout oath (as pictured below) without any problems. As soon as it was time for cake and brownies, she started crying hysterically that it was coming out. Since I'd been through this 4 times before, I knew the "just let me dry it off with a kleenex, I won't pull it" routine. And lo and behold out it came! This time there was quite a bit of blood which totally freaked her out, but once we got cleaned up she seemed to be fine. And the best news of all is that she was so worn out from her big night, she went right to sleep!

On my honor, I will try, to serve God and my country

To help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law

Daisy scout troop #6586 and our leaders Janet & Kelly.
What's a celebration without some cake?Emily & Mom

Emily and her best friend Sydney

Close-up shot of the missing tooth. That makes 3 empty spaces in her mouth right now...wish those top two would come in!

SUPER BOWL XLIII

What a fun Super Bowl that was, huh? I think it was only the second time in history that I watched the entire game (the first time being 2007 when the Bears played). Emily was rooting for the Steelers because that's who her teacher Mrs. Elliott wanted to win. The rest of our family was hoping for a Cardinal win. Oh well...we had a nice time just hanging out at home just the 4 of us!

Adam and I bought these bottles of Dr. Pepper for the boys to drink during the game. Adam also had on his football comfy pants and snuggled up under his Bears blanket to get in the football mood!

The kids got a kick out of wearing the 3-D glasses we picked up at the grocery store for the 1/2 time preview of Aliens v. Monsters and some of the additional commericals that were also in 3-D.