Time is Flying

I can't even find the time to blog lately! Did you know that I have 285 papers to grade? Oh yeah, and my dissertation to revise. Ahhh! And yet, you will find me in the mall riding the kiddie train with Michael and Issac. Yep! Not a bit embarassing on a crowded Friday night. I had to give in though because Michael kept petting the train, saying "choo choo." It was pitiful.

 Almost as hilarious though was Shaun running around taking pictures of us with his phone. Thanks, Shaun!

 Michael also got his first professional haircut last weekend. Now, I've cut Michael's hair probably 10 times because it grows so quickly, but we couldn't pass up a sale! He did wonderfully. And, in case you're wondering, he fell on his face in the driveway a day or two before, so his nose is a little scraped up.

 Michael gets ready for swim class.

 Sunday was beautiful, so we had lunch at the park. JD tried out his new kite. It flew well until we let Michael hold it; he let it go, then I chased it across the park until it got caught in a tree.

 Emily had herself a roll down the hill.

 Michael was very concerned!

Now, back to grading. I'm seriously considering assigning everyone a C and being done.

Spring Break #4

I can't believe that this is my fourth Spring Break in Illinois!Two Spring Breaks ago, the girls and I were traveling south for my Atlanta baby shower. Crazy. I stayed in town this time, but we did manage to make it up to Chicago's Brookfield Zoo to check out some cool animals with Michael. As expected, he loved it. Okay, maybe he was a bit confused by the turkey vulture.. But the ducks were fascinating!

 I was so afraid that the lama was going to spit on them.

 His favorite part was probably petting the goats, like this baby goat. So cute!

 The polar bear was a bit hot in the 80 degree weather.

 I loved seeing the giraffes. Michael has never seen anything like them before!

JD has been working hard on the house. I wish I had taken some before and after pictures because the transformation is amazing. Yes, I'm a bit sad to be back in school, but now we're counting down until summer.

Swimming and Animals!

It was such a fun week last week with the family. I said I would put up some pictures of swim lessons, but Michael was sick two weeks ago, so we didn't get to go. But now we're back, and Michael is feeling much more comfortable in the water and having a lot of fun. This week's lesson was full of smiles from Michael and JD! What a great winter activity.

On Saturday, we went to the Miller Park Zoo here in town with the Liberts and the Morrisons. Michael ran around the zoo yelling, "ANIMAL!!!" the whole time. It might have been a bit disruptive, but it sure was adorable.

 From the rear of the tiger, Miles (20.5 months), Michael (21.5 months), and Issac (16.5 months).

Listen carefully for the newly-learned "Yee-haw!" I'm sure you'll never guess where he learned that!

I think Spring might have arrived two months early. The weather is so nice, and it is wonderful getting Michael out of the house. It's always crazy to see him each Spring when we re-emerge from the house to see what new things Michael is capable of. We're working on growing those legs just a bit longer to reach the pedals of his tricycle.

We're so tired of being sick in this house! It's week three, and we keep passing around the same cold. Poor Michael is trying to get over it right now; JD's already had it twice. Luckily, it's not keeping us down too much.

I joined a local moms group, which is pretty cool. There are over 100 of us, and there are events happening every day of the week. I'm excited to begin attending more events and getting to know some more local moms. I also registered Michael for preschool, which begins in September. It took me forever to find one that I really liked, but I'm very happy with the one we chose. Michael's school-life begins already!

Michael has been saying so many news words, and he's finally helping me clean up his toys. I've been waiting for this day his whole life! It's a very happy household we have here; God has truly blessed us.