Today's Catch

We visited with some homeschool friends at the park today. Charlie brought along his fishing pole again and spent about 4 hours at the water.

30:28

That was Charlie's time in the triathlon today. We are so proud of him for even attempting this, let alone finishing! This morning as we were driving downtown, Charlie started saying he was nervous. When we saw Lake Michigan out the window, he said he didn't want to do it anymore. Of course, he changed him mind :) He started out great in the water - finishing the swim portion in the top 25%. He had a malfunction on the bike, though, when his shoelace got caught on the pedal :( Untangling really slowed him down. He did his best to make it up in the running part - and finished strong. He was exhausted though. This was his first time trying something like this - he wants to do it again, but not for awhile. Someday it would be fun for the three of them to compete as a relay team :)

Before the race - feeling confident~

Sam played in the sand while waiting for the delayed start~
Mary getting a diaper change at the lakefront (photo courtesy of Jean F.)~ Determination~

Crossing the finish line~

Resting after an exhausting race ~

Meet Jim~

Charlie found this green cicada at the park today. He did let him go, eventually. The boys had a great time - there was a huge rainstorm while we were there. The park cleared out except for us and 2 other families, and the playground turned into a "waterpark", complete with waterslides!

Tomorrow Charlie is competing in a triathlon!

Vroooom!

Grandpa and Pam took the boys to a motorcycle race today (Scott took Mary and me for my surprise birthday dinner).

I remember the moving blanket Sam is laying on from my own childhood spent at various races and festivals, and camping(!), lots of camping.

Steak and Shake for dinner is just as fun as the race!

Renassaince Faire

Outdoor Ed

Charlie loves fishing. We had another homeschool park day, this time at a place with a little lake. Charlie brought along his pole and tackle box - he was the hit of the "party". Everyone wanted a turn, and Charlie was very patient and gracious.

Step Into Reading

Although Mary is at the forefront of this picture, it's really about Sam. Happily, he has started really reading! We aren't sure how it happened - he hasn't had any "instruction", although, he does play at Starfall about twice a month.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Charlie, Sam and I made this pineapple upside down cake for Scott last night, while he was at the White Sox game. We sang "Happy Birthday" this morning and had it for breakfast.

Mary's saying, "Yeah, my dad's 40 - you wanna make something of it?"

08-08-68

Forty years ago, the baby who would grow into the world's most loving and generous husband and father was born. (There's a reason my entire family refers to him as "Saint Scott".)

For his special day, Charlie gave him Buddy Guy's new album, "Skin Deep". Fitting, considering what happened a couple of weeks ago. Sam gave him Martin Scorcese Presents the Blues on DVD.

I made him a 2-CD set of the number 1 song, each year, on his birthday. For your listening (and viewing) pleasure ~

August 8 – The Early Years…

1968 ~ Hello, I Love You The Doors
1969 ~ In the Year 2525 Zager & Evans
1970 ~ Close To You The Carpenters
1971 ~ How Can You Mend a Broken Heart The Bee Gees
1972 ~ Alone Again (Naturally) Gilbert O’Sullivan
1973 ~ The Morning After Maureen McGovern
1974 ~ Feel Like Makin’ Love Roberta Flack
1975 ~ Jive Talkin’ The Bee Gees
1976 ~ Don’t Go Breaking My Heart Elton John & Kiki Dee
1977 ~ I Just Want To Be Your Everything Andy Gibb
1978 ~ Three Times a Lady The Commodores
1979 ~ Bad Girls Donna Summer
1980 ~ Magic Olivia Newton-John
1981 ~ Jessie’s Girl Rick Springfield
1982 ~ Eye Of The Tiger Survivor
1983 ~ Every Breath You Take The Police
1984 ~ Ghostbusters Ray Parker, Jr.
1985 ~ Shout Tears For Fears
1986 ~ The Glory Of Love Peter Cetera
1987 ~ I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For U2



August 8 – Getting Better Every Year…

1988 ~ Roll With It Steve Winwood
1989 ~ Right Here Waiting Richard Marx
1990 ~ Vision Of Love Mariah Carey
1991 ~ (Everything I Do) I Do It for You Bryan Adams
1992 ~ This Used To Be My Playground Madonna
1993 ~ Can’t Help Falling In Love UB40
1994 ~ Stay (I Missed You) Lisa Loeb
1995 ~ Waterfalls TLC
1996 ~ Macarena Los Del Rio
1997 ~ I’ll Be Missing You Puff Daddy & Faith Evans
1998 ~ The Boy Is Mine Brandy & Monica
1999 ~ Genie In A Bottle Christina Aguilera
2000 ~ It’s Gonna Be Me NSYNC
2001 ~ Bootylicious Destiny’s Child
2002 ~ Hot In Here Nelly
2003 ~ Crazy In Love Beyonce
2004 ~ Slow Motion Juvenile featuring Soulja Slim.
2005 ~ We Belong Together Mariah Carey
2006 ~ Promiscuous Nelly Furtado & Timbaland
2007 ~ Hey There Delilah Plain white T’s



The reaction to the songs went like this: "aww", "oh yeah", "good song", "lame", "I hate this song", "what?", "never heard of it", "that's cr@p", and "it's okay, I guess".



It's interesting because 1983 is heard in the background of 1997. There's no Michael Jackson. Check out 1993's artist. And the only Madonna song (who Scott is so not into), is from a movie we quote to the kids all the time. Especially these last couple of months.



I found all the chart toppers here.



Tonight Scott's brother is taking him to a White Sox game - we're going to surprise him with a pineapple upside down cake :)

He's the cutest 40 year old I've ever seen...



Happy Birthday, honey!

Hunger

Today we helped pack food for children in other parts of the world. Feed My Starving Children is an organization that puts food in bellies. It has a program where groups (and individuals) can go to their warehouse and package food to be sent out. It does not cost anything, although they welcome cash donations, as well. It was very powerful to see the video beforehand of malnourished children, and the amazing recovery they make after being fed just one meal a day on a regular basis. It was also a good reminder to my kids that they are hungry, not starving. If you live in the area, and want to get your children involved in some sort of volunteer work, this is a great place to do so. I plan to make this a regular activity.

Speaking of food - tonight I made zucchini pancakes with the beginning of our garden's harvest ~

We had them with some grilled fish Scott and Charlie caught earlier this year. Mary liked everything - especially the lemon~

Stormy Weather

Last night around 7:30, Sam and Charlie came running downstairs to say we had to hide in the basement. Scott was right behind saying the tornado warning siren was going off. I rolled my eyes and called Emily to get the scoop (we have no TV reception so couldn't watch the news). She confirmed that a tornado had been sighted. Amid Sam's crying, I stepped outside to check things out. There were lots of jokes about being in the eye of the hurricane, since it was completely calm. We went back inside, and a few minutes later, our power went out. We had no power for about 12 hours. We played a game of Sorry before heading off to bed. The next morning we went outside to check the damage.

Our poor neighbor (2 doors down) had a tree go through his roof, ending up in the middle of his living room, destroying a bearing wall. There were lots of downed trees all along the street. Thankfully, we only had a few shingles get blown up on our roof.

Today, Charlie, Sam and Scott are heading to Great America with Uncle Mark.

We really need to get a generator - my biggest worry was the insulin we have in the fridge.

At Bat and On the Mound

Since the regular season ended, Charlie has played 4 weeks on a traveling team. His last tournament is this weekend - he played 2 games today and has one more tomorrow. Here's some footage of #12~

Sam was made bat boy - everyone is so nice about including him :)