Expanding ball

At Ms. Jodi's

December sunset

Nice 55 degree day December sunset. Great evening for a ride!

Dog Bed

New house, new bed for the puppies. In our rental house the pups were not allowed, so spent the year outside. In our new house we are going to try to move them back in part time. The kids will enjoy having them in I think. The new bed will allow them to burrow, which is what dachshunds really enjoy.

Baby girl

Fell asleep in her sister's bean bag watching the Illini game. That's my girl!

Happy Turkey Day (Thanksgiving)

House closing.

Homeowners again! Time to make this house a home. Our home. 

Bees in for the Winter

The hive needed a straw wind block, the roof got some insulation to keep warm air in better and a vent to allow moisture to escape. They also got 4lbs of emergency sugar. It's just poured on top of a newspaper, called Mountain Camp method, as condensation rises off the bees, the sugar traps it causing caking. If the bees run low on honey, they will move up to the top and eat thru the paper to get the sugar cake. I'll check on them again the next time the weather gets up around 40-50 degrees, else not really till maybe February. 

Beekeeper Meeting

Officer reports were presented, and Dave Dhom also shared recent information about the Illinois Queen Initiative and the Illinois State Beekeepers Association.

Club elections were held for the 2015 club officers, and the following were elected for a one-year term:

• Michelle Barnick – President
• David Dhom – Vice President of Programming
• Nick Brummer – Secretary
• Nelda Campbell – Treasurer
• Rose Michl – Membership Director

Current officers and officers-elect will meet prior to the next meeting.  The 2015 officers will be installed at the December 8^th meeting.

Halloween 2014

Pumpkin Carving 2014

Miss Jodi came by to help and hang out with Cayle. 

First Cavity

Filled. Lucky it was just a small one and did not require shots! Cayle DOES NOT do shots... Lindy and Kyler enjoyed watching their big brother get worked on. 

The chair is just a bit big for him ...

TBT

Pumpkin Carving

Cayle carved his 1st pumpkin for this year and wanted his sister to take a pic with him with the pumpkin...

Cayle's 2nd dentist Appt.

It was Cayle's 2nd trip to the dentist. He must not have remembered the first one very well, because he was slightly nervous they were going to give him shots. (He freaked at the health dept when they gave him vaccines...) this was just a cleaning. 

Getting ready for the big "camera" to take some pictures. He looks nervous here, but he live seeing the pics of his teeth pop up on the screen. 

In typical Cayle fashion he asked lots I of questions. He laughed a lot and seemed to have a great time! He had watermelon tooth paste and blue raz fluoride treatment. Also one small cavity :-( Doc said no shots needed to fix (thank goodness!!!) We'll see if he still likes the dentist after that... In the meantime he's gonna start brushing in the morning as well as at night. 

Night Ride

After spending most of the day driving to and from Natalie's parents to get the car worked on I was able to get out for a ride at 8pm last night. It was so peaceful and quiet! Love riding at night!

Throwback Thursday

Start doing a 1 or 2  #TBT photos each week. 

Pictures

From months of not blogging... Random pics may be the best way to get the blogging going again. So here goes, these may go back a few months...

Goofing off in PetSmart

This is the best place to take kids if you have 20 minutes to kill!

Homecoming Parade

The kids got to ride the float and throw out candy for the homecoming parade. They loved it! Lindy Leighn was practicing her beauty queen wave when she came past me. 

Things I am surprised by...

At the US Open

1) people actually talk at matches. On tv it seems as if it's silent in the stands. I assure you, it definitely is not! 

2) professional tennis players do not pick up tennis balls. Ever. I've watched practice sessions and matches for two days now and have not seen a pro pick up one single tennis ball. They either have a ball boy (match) or a coach/assistant (practice) who picks up the tennis balls for them. Seriously??

3) the folks working at the US Open have been nice. Beyond nice. This isn't a surprise as in I expected them to be mean, but I didn't expect them to be so overly friendly. Out-of-their way friendly. Apologizing for a wait in the security line. Wishing me a good day or evening. Offering assistance with Kyler. Love it! 

Bachelor for a day

Natalie and Kyler are in New York for the US open. Cayle and Lindy are staying with cousins for a few days. That means I have a day to myself! The plan is simple. Sleep, ride bicycle, sleep, and sleep. Maybe not quantity of sleep as much as quality, not waking up every few hours. That being said, I am missing my family like crazy, but this is really the opportunity of a lifetime for Natalie. Since she's a teacher she is never able to make the US Open since it falls at the beginning of school. It's also super nice that her brother lives close to New York and Kyler is the perfect age for traveling with.

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Support

A huge thanks to my hubby for his support as I work myself back in to shape. It isn't always pretty, but he makes sure I have time to get my workouts in. And he believes in me, even when I don't really believe in myself. 

I set off for a run today just after 5.  It was 88 degrees, felt like 96 degrees, we had a heat advisory, and the humidity was ridiculous. I was still sore from my piyo workout on Tuesday and I had easily convinced myself I'd be better off skipping exercise today. But Nick encouraged me and off I went. 

I just so happened to run my farthest distance and fastest pace since I started running again on August 5. Now, the farthest distance isn't actually far, and the fastest pace isn't actually fast, but I did it. 

I'm thankful I had someone who believed in me today when I didn't believe in myself :)

I'm that mom...

Never thought I'd say it, but I'm "that" mom. 

Cayle starts preschool tomorrow - his first day of school! His day goes from 8 am - 1 pm, so he eats lunch at school. 

Here's how I know I'm "that" mom:  Tomorrow's lunch menu is hot dogs. I'm worried they won't cut it up in to small pieces for him so he doesn't choke. I mean, he's just 4! But seriously, like they walk around and cut food for each child???? Likely not. 

Another way I know I'm "that" mom...I'm home on maternity leave and have plenty of time to troll Facebook and see all the back-to-school pictures folks are posting. So I got sentimental. And googled some things. And ended up with this:

And I have papers and supplies out to make the same thing for Lindy and Kyler. 

I am definitely "that" mom...