Kirby Derby

Last Fall, our office changed health insurance carriers. Shortly after, representatives came in to talk to us about their wellness program. Quite interesting! I’d never heard of a carrier doing something like this. There are several ways that you can earn points to “buy” products such as MP3 players, digital cameras, movies, gift certificates, etc. – all just by participating in various things.

I know that may sound confusing, but basically, you earn points for having a yearly physical, donating blood, getting certified in CPR & First Aid, etc. – you get the picture. Another way to earn points is by participating in a public fitness event, so we signed up to participate in the 1st Annual Kirby Derby in Monticello – the 5K “Walk” (or 3.1 miles - of course there was no use trying to convince myself I could do the Run). Mom and Aunt Cheryl even agreed to join us.

The race starts and ends in at Forest Preserve Park and runs through scenic State Street and downtown Monticello, IL. It was a very beautiful, brisk morning, but I was still excited about participating – just the feeling that I was doing something healthy for myself.

It’s 08:00 – “Runners get ready….” Seriously, the walkers get to start about 5 minutes later.
Well...I finished. Actually we all finished in about 53:01.9 minutes. That may not seem like a great endeavor given I can usually walk 2 miles in about 30 minutes, BUT I was pulling about 50-60 pounds in wagon and child behind me. At one point, I even caught PJ putting his feet on the tires, dragging them, so it was slowing me down. Uuuggghh!

Mom didn’t actually get to “finish” the race, but she was with us in spirit. We were returning just as the Kids Races were starting, so she darted off with PJ so he could participate.

By the time Aunt Cheryl & I crossed the “official” finish line for the 5K Walk, PJ was already done running his race and scrambling to find me in the crowd to show me the medal he won. He was so proud. He practically took it everywhere with him the first week he had it.

PJ Visits His New School

PJ will be attending Preschool this fall. We are so excited! He’s been talking about it every since we took him to an open house there a year ago & now the time has come.

Today Grandma & I took him to “visit” his new classroom. We met Mrs. Davis & Mrs. Lane.

I think the best part for PJ was the baby chicks. The class had been tracking the development of baby chicks and actually got to have them in the classroom once they had hatched.

Mrs. Lane lets PJ holds his first chick – Hashbrown.

He also participated during Music time, checked out the chicks again, then took in some of the other features in his room.

The school was also having their annual plant sale, so we had to stop and pick up some flowers for Mommy’s gardens before we left.

Bacon And Eggs

For quite some time now, if Daddy is here in the morning when PJ gets up, they make bacon and eggs together. Unfortunately, since Mommy doesn’t really eat eggs that much, I never really learned to cook them – which puts me in quite the pickle when asked to make them for PJ. Whenever he asks, I just tell him “I don’t know how to make bacon and eggs” to which he always replies “I’ll teach you Mommy.”

Well….this morning, he woke up just as Ron was leaving. He asked me if Daddy was still here and I informed him that he’d just left for work. I don’t know what it was…the tone of his voice, the extent of his disappointment, or what…but I found myself saying, “come on, you can show me how to make bacon and eggs.”

Whoa! Has he been paying attention to Daddy. I knew as soon as he said “now first Daddy says we have to cook the bacon,” that I was in for it and I’d better get the camera and a notebook. Too bad the video camera wasn’t charged & ready because photos just don’t do the whole process any justice.

He was very meticulous, some might call it anal-retentive or possibly obsessive-compulsive, but then again…he is my son. “FIRST, Daddy says we have to cook the bacon….we need 1, 2, 3 pieces of bacon.”

At one point I tried to move the spatula out of his way & he told me that it had to stay right there, “like this.”

“This is where Daddy keeps ALL the eggs.”

“If Daddy changes his mind, he scoots the bacon over and adds one more piece.”

“Next you lay the bacon on a plate.”

“Now I got to break my egg & after it gets warm, you have to scrape it.”

Of course, I kept trying to reinforce with him that he is NOT allowed to do this without Daddy or myself being with him – eek!

Once he was done cooking, he sat down at the table, took the first bite and said “Hey Mommy, this is not bad, I think you did a good job with me!”

Finally...Our Veggie Tales Arrive!

A couple years ago a client told me about a hobby she'd heard about called Letterboxing. Since then, I've gotten several members of our family involved and we've had a great time doing it.

What is Letterboxing?

Letterboxing is an intriguing mix of treasure hunting, art, navigation, and exploring interesting, scenic, and sometimes remote places. It takes the ancient custom of placing a rock on a cairn upon reaching the summit of a mountain to an artform. It started when a gentleman simply left his calling card in a bottle by a remote pool on the moors of Dartmoor, in England.

Here's the basic idea: Someone hides a waterproof box somewhere (in a beautiful, interesting, or remote location) containing at least a logbook and a carved rubber stamp, and perhaps other goodies. The hider then usually writes directions to the box (called "clues" or "the map"), which can be straightforward, cryptic, or any degree in between. Often the clues involve map coordinates or compass bearings from landmarks, but they don't have to. Selecting a location and writing the clues is one aspect of the art.

Once the clues are written, hunters in possession of the clues attempt to find the box. When the hunter successfully deciphers the clue and finds the box, he stamps the logbook in the box with his personal stamp, and stamps his personal logbook with the box's stamp. The box's logbook keeps a record of all its visitors, and the hunters keep a record of all the boxes they have found, in their personal logbooks. (For more info, check out http://www.atlasquest.com/ or http://www.letterboxing.org/)

Throughout the year, many "Letterboxers" participate in Postal Rings, which is where a group of people sign up for a "theme" ring, then they each make a stamp and logbook. These items are then mailed to each person on the list. PJ and I signed up for a Veggie Tales ring and after MANY months (of course, there were several participants for this one), we finally got the last stamps we were waiting for. Here PJ is coloring a stamp we received so that he can stamp it into his logbook. Ask him to see his logbook some time, he has LOTS of stamps.

Bird's Eye View

As you can see, with the weather “slightly” cooperating, the new playroom addition is coming along. PJ again gets to go up & help Mr. David during construction.

He even gets to go up on the roof.

The Circus Comes To Town

The last time the Circus came to town, PJ was just an infant and I went with Tara and my two grandsons, Austin & Bryce. This time it was PJ’s turn. Before the official "show" started, they had a period of time where kids could come down to the main floor and check out different aspects of the circus. They got to see some of the costumes, jump rope, try to juggle and so on.Of course, you HAVE to pay for the expensive circus toy item that your child cannot live without - it wouldn't be a kids show if you didn't.

I'm not sure what part PJ liked the most, the little dogs doing tricks, the elephants, the tigers, or what. I think one of my favorites was the main Clown that came out in between every act - he was a riot. I was bummed to see that most of my pictures didn't turn out very well from the show.

After the circus we headed out to dinner at Olive Garden. We had a great time just hanging out for the afternoon – quality family time!

Chloe's First Day

We lost our dog and cat about a year ago due to health issues – about a month apart from each other. Since then, it’s always bothered me that PJ didn’t have a dog to grow up with. A few weeks ago our neighbor, Mary Alice, came over and asked us if we’d be interested in an 8-week old puppy. I told Ron about it and he instantly said “NO;” but told me to go check it out anyway. After a little more discussion about it, we started to lean a bit more toward doing it, then just decided it was too young and our schedules were not really conducive to having a puppy that little.

A few days later, at Easter services, we happened to sit in the same row with our former groomer, Wilma. I jokingly said “you don’t know anyone who has a small dog to give away/adopt?” To which she replied, “I just might, give me a couple days & I’ll call you.”
Well…on Tuesday we got the call. A groomer friend of hers knew of someone in Rantoul who had small children and needed to find a home for their 6-month old Shih Tzu. She gave me the number of the person to call. I contacted them the next evening, got all the details about the puppy – Chloe – and relayed all the info to Ron. He then came up with the idea of asking them if we could “try her out for the weekend.” Basically, put down a “deposit” on her, then bring her home and see if it all would really work out.
We made arrangements for Gma & Gpa to pick up PJ, so we could go get her and brought her home on Friday, March 28th. When they arrived with PJ, he knew there was a surprise in the house and we told him she was just visiting, but it was LOVE at first sight.

He had an absolute ball playing with her and that night, he even got his sleeping bag out so he could sleep with her – she of course was in her cage, but that didn’t detour him.
By Saturday morning, the decision was pretty much made – she was staying. Today she officially became ours.