Prodigium

Sam called for me to look what he made with the blocks today - Charlie helped with the "N", but otherwise, this was all Sam!

Football (International and American)

This morning Sam had a soccer game, and his favorite someone came to watch~A couple of weeks ago, Sam overheard me talking about a homeschooling "parent's night out" and asked, "When you and Daddy go, can Christina babysit us, if she's available?"


Later we headed to the south side for Luke and Madeline's football games. We caught the tail end of Luke's and saw Madeline's in it's entirety. Here's Sammy with his godfather~
Mary was delighted by Luke~

My baby with Darlene's baby~
Luke was the first person I ever saw be born, he's one of the only kids I know who says "I love you" before he hangs up the telephone, and he is so good with Mary~

Sam catching Jack's pass~

Hanging out~


Darlene and Madeline~
Mary is surrounded by love~
We all had a lot of fun today!

Friday Night Lights

We took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather today, and rode our bikes up to the library. It was hot!
Charlie, too cool for photos~
Now, that's hot ;) ~
Happy now, my dear, but you've still got a couple of miles 'til home...and your nap~
And tonight we caught our first football game of the season. Living so close to the high school definitely has its advantages (easy parking :). It was Homecoming, complete with half-time entertainment, and fireworks (Mary's first time seeing them - she was mesmerized)!

Sam, agreeing to a photograph (wearing his Notre Dame shirt)~

Mary's favorite thing - pulling up~
Yes, they're all related~

Sam, Mary and I came home after halftime, but Charlie and Scott stayed 'til the end, and the Rams victory!

Replogle Globes

Today we visited the Replogle Globe factory in Broadview. Grandma actually took the boys, and we met them there after Mary's doctor's appointment. According to Charlie and Sam it was really interesting to see how they actually put the globes together. They saw each step, from start to finish.

Here's Charlie afterwards (Sam is camera shy lately)~
In front of the big sign (again, no Sam)~
Rhonda tried to sneak out with a globe under her shirt~
The company gave each of the children a free "wonda-globe" - see it being used below as an old-fashioned GPS~
There was no charge for the tour, and they gave everyone the globes mentioned above, as well as a wall map of North America - what a generous company! Be sure to look for the Replogle brand the next time you're shopping :)

After the tour, we headed over to a nearby forest preserve with some friends to enjoy our lunch and the nice weather~

A Visit to the Wade Center

Today after Sam's cello lesson, we stopped by Wheaton College's Wade Center to see the exhibit, Pauline Baynes: A Lifetime of Illustration.

In front of the wardrobe that was C.S. Lewis' inspiration~
A nice painting of Aslan, by a Wheaton college student~
Charlie's favorite - the map of Narnia~
This looks good~
On my "to read" list~
Detail of wardrobe drawers~
If only~
And outside in the lovely "english" garden~

A small collection, to be sure, but worth stopping by for, if you're in the area.

On our way home, I almost hit a deer! The first I saw of it, was in front of my car. It was literally a couple of inches from my front bumper (I heard it's hooves). I have terrible reflexes, and only the deer's speed saved it. I didn't even break after the fact :( The kids were oblivious, too, and only realized what was happening by my shriek.

And as if that weren't enough drama for one day, Charlie started howling abruptly after dinner. He was screaming that his eye hurt - completely out of the blue. We looked and saw nothing. We tried flushing it with water and saline solution. An hour and a half later, with no end in sight, Charlie, Mary and I headed over to the urgent care center. We figured, better to go at 8pm than at midnight. We saw the doctor after about 1/2 hour (not quite as quick as the "no-wait" emergency room). He looked at Charlie's eye, saw some artificial "up and down" scratches on his cornea, and then turned Charlie's eyelid inside out. Underneath there, causing all that pain, was an unidentified crying object. It was about a quarter the size of a pencil eraser. The doctor thought it might be a leaf or something. We have no idea how it happened. But Charlie felt immediately better just having it removed. We left after an hour with a prescription for some antibiotic drops.

Chinatown

Grandma was off work today, and took the boys on their first trip to Chinatown~


They had a lot of fun :)

"Summer's lease hath all too short a date." ~William Shakespeare

We've been taking advantage of this near perfect weather (after some pretty torrential rains). On Sunday, Scott, Charlie and Sam caught a White Sox double header, thanks to tickets from Tina.

On Monday, we headed over to Churchill Woods for some fishing with friends. Because of the torrential rains mentioned above, the river was really high. Thankfully, our kids are very industrious, and shared one pair of boots to portage everyone from the bank to a marooned picnic table. Eventually they gave in to the call of the wild and just got wet~



Here are the same friends (with an addition, or two) this afternoon, following our Nature Hike for Homeschoolers with Ranger Kev~
Being silly~
Sam finally joined the picture when I called for bunny ears~

We'll probably be indoors at least from 1-3 tomorrow, for Homeschool Skate, but then it's back outside again to enjoy these last days of summer.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Tonight was Grandpa's 60th birthday! We celebrated by taking him to a Hungarian restaurant we've passed on our way to Loyola many times over the last year. The Epicurean was surprisingly good. It was the first time in over 15 years I ate Chicken Paprikash that I didn't make myself :) I think Grandpa will definitely be trying their lunch buffet.

Mary enjoying some langos (Hungarian garlic bread) ~
Grandpa got my gift du jour (a compilation of the #1 hits on his birthday, for every year since he was born), along with Buddy Guy's new CD.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa - we love you more than you know!

Hanging with the Big Dogs

This afternoon we spent a couple of hours at the skate park. During the school year, we usually have the place to ourselves. Today, there were a couple of (I think) college students.


We're going to try and go as much as we can before it snows!

Soccer

Sam had his first soccer game of the season today (this is his third season playing) ~




He scored one of his team's three goals! A lot of homeschoolers have this annoying habit, when describing their children, of saying things like, "Susie is in 1st grade, but she's reading at a 5th grade level." Or, "Little Johnny is in 2nd grade, but he's doing 3rd grade math." I plan to start telling people, "Sam is in Kindergarten, but he plays [insert sport] at a 4th grade level."