july wrap up photo diary

I know Ive been remiss in posting. Ive been busy reading all of yall’s posts! Of course, we’ve been busy, its summer and there is so much to do.

We’ve been getting together with our homeschool group. One day we ended up at lincoln park, just south of diversey. A lot of branches had come down in recent storms, and the kids immediately fashioned a fort out of them.

another time we drove up to Covert, MI to crash the NUG campout (we only stayed the day instead of actually camping)

luckily we did not miss the awesome glow in the dark light saber action

then there was the day we went to the morton arboretum with friends

Thats the kids in the toddler hedge maze and then heres one of zibby and friend marco (and unidentified girl baby behind them) in the creek

then of course there was that visit we took to Kentucky to visit Nana and Grandad (who zibby referred to at various times as “that guy nana lives with”, “our new uncle”, “you know, him”). See, Nana went and got herself a southern gentleman for a husband last year, but this was the first time we really got to spend some time with them. We had a great time.

Grandad and Nana live in a real life holler (hollow, valley) with a gorgeous stream running thru it.

and we’ve been getting to see little baby Augie get bigger and bigger

and watching our garden grow, too. the tomatos have taken off, as well as the bell peppers, and cukes. my sqaush plants look sketchy and the lettuce is about over, but we are so excited to see when the tomatos will turn red. we have to keep henry from the plants because he plucks green fruit without compunction!

practically the middle of july!

the kids and I just got back from a few days stay in Michigan with our friends Joelle, Eli, Alexi and Christopher.

their family has a house in Union Pier with beach access. its so beautiful there, the beach is private and there are no high rises or hotels or ugly buildings

We also went to the Curious Kids Childrens museum in St Josephs

The kids had a lot of fun there.

For the 4th, my sister came to town with her girls and we went to the Taste of Chicago

the babies got to ride

and then watched the fireworks.
and then watched the fireworks.

june

Here is a picture of me at work:

I love my job!
Summer officially made itself known here in Chicago. Its been storming and now its the regular hot and muggy we know so well. We’ve been hitting all the park days and beach days we can, eating fresh and delicious foods from our CSAs (community supported agriculture-we purchase shares of the farms output and pick up produce weekly, and meat monthly).

I started a yoga class and Zibby started an aerial dance class (today they used the trapeze swing!)

Zibby got kind of close to the peacock at Brookfield Zoo

and Ive been cooking up all the fresh veggies from my CSA

Spring sprang

Well, I did it. I started a garden. I planted three earthboxes today with seedlings that I bought at the Green City Farmers Market. I had intended to start my own seeds, but then I chickened out. I did a box of sweet bell peppers (orange and yellow), and a box of green lettuce and a box of red leaf lettuce. Tomorrow I plan to plant tomatoes. I bought way too many seedlings, of tomatoes, however. Maybe we’ll plant some not in boxes? I also got some perennials for the strange island of dirt my neighbors created last year in the middle of our yard. I planted them and there were worms and I did not freak out and die.

Now, I suppose we will just have to see if the animals around here eat it all up before we get a chance to harvest it.   Not exactly sure where the earthboxes will end up residing out front. I wouldnt mind if they sat on the grass, but other people seem to think thats tacky.

I’ve been busy sewing, too. I made a small field bag for my friends son

I used a denim skirt from Goodwill. The top half of the skirt I am trying to turn into a bag. Its kind of complicated, since I want to line it. We’ll see how it goes.

Our homeschool group started a Roots and Shoots group. We had our first outing last week.

The kids had a lot of fun.

overheard

Last night Bub said Ni Hao! while watching Ni Hao Kailan. Both Buzz and I heard him say it so clearly. He is trying to say more words, always repeating what he hears. He seems drawn to words that start with a hard c, clock, camera, controller (tv remote). He learned how to say No recently, and we’ve been hearing a lot of that.

Today Zibby asked me, When is that phone gonna get off your head?
I was talking to a friend on the phone at the time. We both laughed.

Heres a pic of the kids at the Lincoln Park Zoo

In the last two weeks we’ve been to the Aquarium, Brookfield Zoo, and the Lincoln Park Zoo. Busy enjoying Spring.

Im working on several sewing projects. Here is an ensemble I made for a friends daughter (and my daughters friend!)

It gives me particular joy to find fabric at the thrift store and repurpose it into something else.

I made these three bags for an Imagination Tribe market bag trade

originally they were: Pillowcase, Pillowcase, Housedress

I also found some curtains that will be perfect as slings. One thing thats great about thrift store stuff is that you can often work it so you can utilize hems and seams that are already done for you! I have an idea about turning a skirt I bought into a purse, but I dont know if I have the know-how to really pull it off. Guess I will have to just give it a go.

OMG I forgot that we went bowling on monday and Henry bowled. It was hilarious and fun, but it was the second time in a week and ended up being a little too much. Afterwards three of us moms took our kids to the park, and it was warm though it rained on us. Luckily this park had an umbrella thing over the sandbox, so we stayed mostly dry under there. The moms. The kids played in the rain! they got so soaked and dirty, but had a blast.

and last but not least, heres a nice shot of Stinky and Bub

if you are lucky, on sunday night you will get photos of me and my earthbox, as well as our new birdfeeder (s)

au revoir!

christmas in august

ahhh, today, homeschoolers all across chicago will be removing the rubber bands off their shirts and socks and old undies and rinsing them in cold water until it runs clear, and then washing and then drying and then wearing their new tie dyed clothing.

its like christmas in august! I opened all mine this am and they are happily spinning in the washer right now. I’ll post pix later, but it was so much fun to see how they turned out! Our third annual homeschool tie dye party was a big success! we had a lot of colors to choose from, and a lot of folks participated, even the littlies Zibby was bummed that I didnt save her stuff to do at the end, so we ended up dyeing the clothes off her back! I hope everyone is happy with their outcomes.

today we are heading over to the Field musuem with friends. we hit the planetarium and the aquarium last week, as well as a childrens museum. ahh, the cool indoors during august in chicago. while 9 mos pregnant

Today is 37 weeks, full term. I can officially have this baby anytime now, at home Cmon baby! I’ve been having lots of ctx and crampy feelings, which I remember from the week before I had Zibby. Its so exciting and crazy to think that I am going to be the mother of two people very soon. I am also feeling very nesty and anxious and concerned about names for baby and everything else. I guess that just means that I really am 9 mos pregnant.

Pics later of the tie dye!

holiday fun

Today we took the train downtown to the Christkindlmarket with some of our unschooling friends. Zibby was not into wearing her coat, even though it was only around 30 degrees. Mostly I carried her in my sling in my coat. We got hot chocolate and churros, and roasted nuts and I bought some cool ornaments. I got some for the ornament exchange next week at the GS leader-daughter dinner, and some for our tree at home.

Then we went over to Macys to get warm and do a little bit of shopping. Zibby was happy cuz we rode the escalator to the fifth floor! she loves escalators. We saw two Santas today, but Zibby didnt get too close to either of them. She was happy to talk about Santa later, though. I guess she just isnt sure about him upclose.

would you, could you, with a pox?

Zibby has the chicken pox. The first one appeared yesterday afternoon, but it wasnt until around midnight that I realized she had developed a dozen more. Today she has lots more, and by lunchtime was complaining about them hurting. Poor baby girl. Luckily she can still nurse for comfort and we got some oatmeal bath for her to take later.

Yesterday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Christmas tree display and the baby chicks. What do they do with those chickens, anyway?

fish zoo

We went to the Shedd Aquarium Thursday. Zibby calls it the Fish Zoo.

We were going to go to a dance performance in the evening, but I called to ask about tickets and they said they dont allow people under 5 to attend. Lame.

My mom spent the night because today she had to go to the hosp. for tests. We stayed up late making ATCs. I showed my mom all of mine and Zibby’s and she saw some she wanted, so she had to make some to trade us

Today there was a HS coop field trip to the Field Museum, but we slept in till 11, and decided to stay home and veg. Zibby and I watched Cars a few times. She is really into it.

Tomorrow we go to visit Nana in the hosp, attend a Tupperware party, and Buzz and I are having a dinner date. Since we were out of town on our anniversary this year, we didnt go out that night, which means its been since Sept of 05 that we had a dinner date. What a novelty I might order a drink! Zibby will go over to her friends house to play-we do a swap about 2x a month with another family. Usually its during the day on Saturdays, but it worked out to be an evening this time. I think both Buzz and I would almost rather have her with us-but she will have fun, and I am sure we will too.

I am feeling out of sorts that the house is still a bit of a wreck, since we moved rooms and stuff. We have to go to Ikea and get our counter/buffet and some shelves for our bedroom, and then I am fully prepared to organize and even get rid of some stuff. Oh, the agony.

Cute Zibby story:
Zibby reaches into the silverware drawer for a fork. The stool is usually right there, but she had moved it by the microwave. She says: Mommy, help me! I cant see with my fingers!

No, you cannot see with your fingers, can you?

I told Buzz about it when he got home, and Zibby graciously re-enacted the scene for him, since he missed it the first time around. Then Zibby pretended to buzz her hair off, ala Buzz, which includes pretend shaving her hair into a towel, and then “going downstairs” to take the hair outside. She also is very into pretending to “Doctor”. This means that she lies on her two-seater lawnchair, and you put items on her body and then tell her she is ok. Items include blocks, pieces of paper, a plastic part from a breast pump.

This is pretty much what my chiropractor (applied kinesiologist) does to me, (excluding the breast pump parts) so thats clearly her reference, since I doubt she can remember the last time she was at any other type of Drs.

Imagination is an amazing thing.

midnight circus

Zibby and I went to see The Midnight Circus today.

We met up with 3 other families from the unschool group there. We saw all 3 shows and then spent some time sliding down the Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza

Then tonight, I opened up a new box of Lyra Face Painting pencils and we had some fun.

Those are Zebra markings on her arms, just in case you were wondering. She was very fierce.

We also worked on two altered board books. Zibby cut the Origami paper for one and helped glue the pieces on. I like that project better than the one I did myself, but perhaps I will like it better after it sits for a while.

And, I forgot until Buzz reminded me, today is the anniversary of our first date, and our first smooch We went to Sheffields for the Pumpkin Carving. Buzz picked me up from work on his motorcycle and introduced me to half the people in the bar, who all had 3 names each (real name, nickname, mock nickname) and I drank a couple of Seabreezes and I wore a brown short sleeve tshirt and jeans. I cant remember what jacket I wore, though. And now its 9 years later and I never would have guessed back then how happy I could be, how good my life was going to be. Thanks Buzz. I love you.