Chow Down

So this is what I found on the bottom of Sam's math book~

Fans of "Stand by Me" will appreciate it, I'm sure :)

My Gym

Mary and Sam were invited to a  friend's birthday party at a little kids' gym place.  They had a lot of fun!  Sam on the zipline~

And Mary~

Swim, Bike, Run

They did it again! We had perfect weather for the Chicago Triathlon today.

Not as nervous as last year, just a little healthy adrenalin~
Ready to rock and roll~


This is #4 for Charlie and he still smiles through it~


A respectable finish of 43:27 (200 meter swim, 8k bike, 2k run) ~

The Bones~


Nice finish of 24:09 (2.5 minutes faster than last year) ~
Scott and I are really proud of these two~

Home Field Advantage

Sammy played his last games of the (travel) season today. The Buccaneers started off strong, winning the first three games. They were the number 1 seed going into the play-off rounds. That's not surprising with this kid pitching~




Sadly, they lost the first play-off game to Elmhurst :( Sammy and the Bucs still had an awesome season. More importantly, they had a lot of fun!
And Mary even found toad~

Slammin' Sammy

I know I sound like a broken record, but Mary has to sit through a lot of baseball games. She's a good sport, though, and always finds ways to entertain herself~
Sam had an amazing game today! He pitched two perfect innings (all he's allowed to pitch per tournament rules), hit a grand slam, and a three-run homer! Here's our MVP~
Grandpa and Pam met us at Rooster's to celebrate~
Mary is a ham~

Second Place

Sam's team also ended up facing the A's in tonight's championship game. After six hard fought innings, they came up a little short. But what a great season!
They had a lot of fun, and that's all that matters! Right?!?
The team dumped water on their favorite coach~
Now both boys have trophies and we can gear up for the craziness that is travel season!

Grand Slam Sam!

Sam played tonight in the All-Star Game (he should be easy to spot in the picture below) ~
He was pretty excited~
Sam had the entire crowd on their feet when he crushed a ball down the left field line. After the opposing team contributed a couple of errors, Sam ended up crossing home plate with a grand slam (!!) under his belt! Fans on both sides were going crazy! It was pretty amazing. Of course I wasn't video-taping at the time :( Here he is getting some congratulations from grandma~
Wendy and sweet baby Ava came and watched the game~
Sam's team crushed the opposition. Mary was pretty stoked~
Nobody was surprised when Sam was named MVP~

Baseball Buddies

Sam, Aiden, and their dads were able to catch the White Sox vs. Mariners today~
It was a perfect day for a ballgame~
Best buds~

Paulie pulling out a home run~
The White Sox lost in extra innings - 7 - 4 :(

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears."

The boys had their fall performance at the Greenhouse today. It was wonderful. Here they are doing the Renaissance Acrostic~


Grammar 1 students recited The Pied Piper of Hamlin. Here is Sam~

And Charlie impressed us all with his performance of Romeo's monologue from Romeo and Juliet. The video is really bad, but I am so proud of him. He really wanted to do something from Romeo and Juliet, and this was the only piece that really fit the requirements (length, etc..). Someday he is going to win a young lady's heart with this~

How can you not love this kid?Mary's favorite part might be the ice cream afterward~Three of the best people I know~

"Life well spent is long." ~Leonardo da Vinci

Tonight was the annual Art show and Living Wax Museum. There were many beauties to behold.
Sam with his Carolingian book cover (his is the cross, and doesn't Sam look just like Scott here?) ~
Christian Symbols in Medieval art (Sam's is the anchor at the top) ~
This picture is funny. Sam is about to go on the stage for his living wax museum, and Mary is pouting. I'm not sure what Grandma is thinking~
Here is the princess, all smiles~
And twirls~
Sam and his friends put on a scene from the 100 Years' War~
The clincher for deciding to do this was the fact that they got to have cross-bows~
Charlie with his Illuminated Letter (A for Awesome) ~
And with his encaustic painting, St. Michael, the archangel~
And finally, this year's pièce de résistance, the Isenheim Altarpiece~
This is a collaborative effort between all of the students. Isn't it amazing? Previous years are just as fabulous.