Little JD

This afternoon I had the privilege of holding little JD, who's a tiny peanut in spite of his hefty birth weight (well over 9 lbs. and 22" long).  I brought his parents lots and lots of food, and spent about an hour holding him while he slept.  I just love holding babies...and I really love giving them back to their parents ;-)

Welcome to the world, JD!  Your parents are wonderful people and they already love you too much for words.  We're looking forward to making many happy memories with you and your family!

Schaumburg Fest

This weekend is Schaumburg Fest, which is a giant soccer tournament that Strikers teams of all ages participate in.  If there's one common complaint among Strikers parents, it's the Schaumburg Fest schedule.  Between Friday evening and Sunday night, everyone plays at least three games and as many as five.  The good news:  we didn't have to drive to Schaumburg in Friday rush hour traffic.  The bad news:  Erin's team had to report on the field at 7:45 this morning.

In spite of the early start to the day, the Strikers played a tough first game that ended in a 0-0 tie.  Great defense, Erin!

Back to School Party

Tonight Irving School sponsored its annual Back to School party at Barrie Park.  We partnered with the Southeast Oak Park Community Organization (SEOPCO), who brought us fire dancers and the movie Space Jam.

The mood was festive, the pizza was plentiful (I helped sell 85 full pizzas, 1 slice at a time), and the fire dancers simply enchanting.  Have I mentioned lately how much I love my neighborhood?  Thanks, Irving PTO and SEOPCO!

Bug Out

This afternoon when I went to retrieve the mail, I found this cute little green bug resting on top of my mailbox:

The katydid was fearless and let me get rather close to take this picture.  It wasn't singing, perhaps because it didn't want to try to compete with the racket of the cicadas (who, by the way, are so loud right now I can hear them in the house with the windows closed while the air conditioner is going).

I haven't seen a katydid in many years, and I'm glad this one stopped by.  It brought a little whimsy to the afternoon and brought a smile to my face.

First Day of School - Part 2

Kelsey felt a little vindicated yesterday, when she got to sleep until until noon while her brother and sister schlepped off to school.  You may recall that she was studying hard back in June even after school had let out for her siblings.

Today Kelsey started her sophomore year at Oak Park River Forest High School.  She easily slipped back into her school routine, grabbing her iPod and heading for the bus...then dashing back into the house to grab her school bag...and then running for the bus!

Kelsey's happy to be starting her sophomore year for two reasons:  first, she's no longer a freshman; and second, she gets to take Driver's Ed.  I just know this year's going to be a great one!

First Day of School - Part 1

The 5 Ring Circus began its fifth year at Percy Julian Middle School and its tenth year at Washington Irving Elementary School.  Here are scenes from the big day:

Pre-School Activities

The Fab Four spent their last day of summer vacation preparing for the first day of school tomorrow.  They made a plan to go to each other's houses and pick out the clothes to wear for the big event.  They started off at our house.  After they picked Erin's outfit (I can't wait to see it!), they splatter-painted her black Converse shoes.

Eighth grade never looked so good!

Shattuck Repair Shop

My bike is the ugliest, most bare-bones thing you've ever seen.  I got it at Walmart at a Black Friday sale years ago. The seat is rock hard.  It hasn't shifted well in, oh, probably five years.  The last two years, the pedals have started falling off here and there (that's as annoying as it sounds).  How bad is this bike?  In the 20 years we've lived in Oak Park, it's the only full-size bike we've owned that hasn't been stolen.  Yea, it's that bad.  But that was the whole point of me buying this bike to begin with:  get something that thieves will pass on.

Baird and Kelsey spent most of this afternoon working on fixing up my bike.  They bought new pedals and fixed the gears.  So I think here's the best way sum this all up:

Initial cost of bike:  $40

Replacement pedals:  $40

Replacement gear parts:  $20

Daddy/Daughter time spent together in the Shattuck Repair Shop:  Priceless

The Color Purple

Purple has been my favorite color forever.  When I was younger than Drew, my parents were building a house, which was very exciting because I was going to get my own room.  My mom told me I could choose the color of the carpet for my new space.  I found this gorgeous, dark purple carpet called Eggplant.  My mom said no.  She wouldn't budge.  "In a year or two, you'll hate it," was her practical response.  I wound up with red carpet instead.

I still love purple.  I was thrilled to pieces a couple of years ago when the color purple started making a comeback, and I've invested heavily in the trend.  I have a pair of sparkly purple rain boots I just adore (thanks, Mom!).  Every time I update my wardrobe, I try to add another splash of purple.

The purple trend isn't just in clothes, however.  Purple food is hot right now.  Last year I bought a purple basil plant, which added some visual fun to my summer meals.  Today at the Farmer's Market, there was purple galore.  I picked up some purple food for our Farmer's Market Surprise meal tonight:

I had a vision of  serving tri-colored beans (yellow, green and purple) for supper, but alas, I was disappointed.  I didn't realize that the purple color in the string beans only lasts until the beans meet heat.  I've decided that purple beans probably make a bigger splash on a raw veggie tray than they do served warm.  They still tasted good, and were a great complement to the rest of our Farmer's Market meal of sweet corn on the cob, grilled eggplant, and fresh berries.

Throw Out Game vs. Waterbed Mattress

When the kids were very small, they played the Throw Out Game with Baird.  It started with Kelsey and Erin, and Drew joined in as soon as he could sit upright.  They would go in our room and climb onto our waterbed.  Baird would join them in our room and try to remove them from the bed and from our room.  If he got all three kids out at once, he won.  If he got tired before all three kids were removed, they won.  I've never been a participant in the game.  Oftentimes this game would be played after dinner, and I would hear squeals of delight and roars of bravado coming from the other room while I cleaned up the kitchen. 

Sometimes there was a thrump sound as one of the kids jumped back onto the bed.  Occasionally I would think, "Gee, I hope this game doesn't split open the waterbed."

As the kids have grown, pleas to play the game have lessened.  In fact, I can't even remember the last time the game was played.  I can tell you, however, that the kids were a lot smaller then.

I was out this evening, and when I came home, I knew something had happened, I just wasn't sure what.  Biggest telltale sign:  almost every old towel we own was out drying on the deck.  "Oh, this can't be good," I thought.

The exact details are a bit sketchy, but apparently, the kids wanted to play the Throw Out Game tonight.  Baird obliged.  Problem is, the kids are now 15, 13, and 9, and much, Much MUCH bigger, stronger, and heavier than the last time they played the Throw Out Game.  The waterbed sustained more thrumps than it could take.  A seam split.  Water gushed.  Panic ensued.  Carpet was soaked.  There was a scramble for towels.  The rest of the water in the bed was drained as quickly as possible.  Various forms of adhesive were applied to the split seam.

This is what the wounded mattress looked like, with the hose in place for draining:

We broke out the air mattress from the camping gear, and threw it down on the living room floor.  This is what my bed looks like until the waterbed is fixed and fully operational:

 

Once the glue dries and we know the mattress will hold water again, we'll refill the bed.  It usually takes more than an hour to pump enough water into the mattress for it to be full.  Then it's another 18-24 hours for the bed to heat up so it doesn't feel like you're sleeping on ice cubes.

I can't possibly be mad at anyone about this, because it's just too funny.  I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when all the chaos hit.  Kudos to Baird and the kids for their quick thinking.  Sure, the carpet got a little wet, but it isn't wrecked.  No water seeped thru the floor to the basement.  There's no permanent damage.  All in all, it's just another brick in the wall day in the life of the 5 Ring Circus!

Completely from Scratch

Erin's been spending more and more time in the kitchen.  She's been flipping thru my cookbooks looking for new things to make.  She found a recipe for cinnamon rolls made completely from scratch and decided to give it a try.

She didn't realize how long it would take for the dough to rise, or how time consuming it is to roll out the dough, fill it, and then bake them.  She stuck with it though, and the results were far and away her yummiest sweet project yet!

Legacy Time

Back in the day when I was in elementary school in Cedar Falls, Iowa, we were given a sealed envelope on the last day of school.  We were not allowed to open the envelope until the final bell rang.  Said envelope contained our class placement for the following year.  The wait from the time we were handed the envelope until that last bell sounded just about killed us.  Then in the third grade I switched schools, and started attending a very tiny private school.  It only had one class per grade, so there was no more waiting to see who your teacher would be for the next year.  You just knew:  third grade was Mrs. Flamm; fourth grade was Mrs. Sharon; fifth grade was Mrs. Owens, and so on.

Oak Park does things a bit differently.  The students don't find out their class placement until the week before school starts.  This long wait has just about done in each one of my kids at one point or another, and this year is no exception.  We'd been told to expect the class lists to go up outside Irving School at 4pm this afternoon.  By 3:40 Drew just couldn't wait any longer.  While we started out walking together, Drew sprinted the last block to see whose classroom he'll be in starting next week.  By the time I walked up, this was the scene:

Drew will be in Ms. Payton's fourth grade class.  Ms. Payton has the distinction of being the only Irving classroom teacher to have all three Shattuck children as her students.  For the first time Drew's a legacy, and he's thrilled.  So am I!

Makin' a List

Erin's always been an extraordinarily organized person.  The most recent proof of this is in the list she left for me this morning.  She had a busy day planned:  dog walking for a friend who's on vacation; helping a former teacher set up her classroom; Strikers boot camp; back-to-school shopping.  She left me a note this morning with detailed instructions on how she needed me to pack up her gear bag for boot camp.  Here's what it said:

Mom-
1.  Please take the 4 water bottles from the freezer and add cold water to them.
2.  Please take the 2 water bottles from the fridge and add ice to them (lots please)
3.  Please go down to the downstairs cooler and on the top shelf you'll find two containers side-by-side each other (filled w/ ice and wash cloths), please take those out and bring them upstairs.
4.  Onc all of those steps are done, pleaes put the two containers holding ice and wash cloths into a grocery bag (please tie) and then into my bag right side up.  After that, please put the water bottles into the empty compartment on the side of my bag but please not in my bag.  There are also cupholders on the side of my bag.  If all do not fit, you can just put them in a plastic bag and bring them out to the car.
Everything else is in my bag and ready to go!
Thanks,
Erin

Once I followed all the instructions and checked the list twice, here's the collection I added to her backpack.

Recovered!!

A very unfortunate component of life in Oak Park is the stolen bike factor.  Own a bike and live here for any length of time, and soon you, too, will have a stolen bike tale to tell.  The stories are as diverse as the people who tell them.  It's an awful feeling to have your bike stolen, and quite frankly, the bike theft issue is about the only thing that makes me want to leave Oak Park for the far-flung reaches of suburbia where, at least in my fantasy, my kids could ride their bikes all day long without worrying about having them stolen.

Late yesterday afternoon, Kelsey's bike was stolen.  She was in tears when she called to tell us.  We reported the theft to the police, especially since we'd taken the steps early on to register the bike.  We were told that most likely, our bike had been taken across the line into Chicago and "chopped."  Kelsey and Baird came home last night from the police station sad and deflated.

So imagine our surprise when the police department called this afternoon, saying they had recovered our bike!  We were thrilled to pieces!  We truly feel like this is a small miracle, and it totally made our day!

Picnic at the Priory

I've mentioned before about how much I love the outdoor dining aspect of summertime.  Honestly, it's been so unbearably hot this summer, we haven't socialized outdoors nearly as much as usual.  Today, however, the weather  finally cooled off a bit, so we enjoyed a picnic at The Priory with the Rennys.

Spreading out in the shade, sharing food, and catching up on each other's lives made for a perfect, relaxing Sunday afternoon.

Day at the Beach - Part 2

It's been my intention all summer long to take the kids to the dunes, and no day seemed more perfect than one of the hottest days yet in a summer that's been warmer than any in recent memory.  The Warren Dunes in Michigan was the perfect respite to the inferno of heat and humidity that is ravaging Chicagoland.

Solo Ride

This morning I let Drew take his first bike trip to Maze Library all by himself.  Here's the difference between Child #1 and Child #3:  when Kelsey took her first trip to Maze, I followed in the minivan to be sure she arrived safely.  When Drew took off this morning, I went outside to snap a few pictures (he wasn't happy, he just wanted to be on his way!), but I didn't follow him.

Drew made it there and back in about an hour, and he was thrilled to pieces that his boundaries have expanded.  And I can't believe how mature my little dude is becoming!

R.I.P., Les

Today started off on a very sad note.  When Erin went to look for Les in his cage this morning, she found him dead.  We knew he was aging:  his bright blue tail had changed to a dull brown, and Erin had been hand-feeding him these last few weeks.  Still, losing a pet is never easy.  Les is now buried in yard, and he joins our other pets that have gone to the Great Nature Beyond:  Manny, Chocolate, and Cuddly.
R.I.P., Les.  We'll miss you.

Cousins Camp - Pick Up

Scenes from Cousins Camp - Last Day

Catch Up Time

I stayed out in Iowa this year while the kids went to Cousins Camp.  Last night I did a Pampered Chef party for my dear friend SMS, and today we went shopping.  I introduced her to Scratch; she introduced me to Barn Happy. 

SMS and I are old friends.  We met back in the early 1980s when she was my camp counselor and I worked as a life guard at IRBC.  We were pen pals back in the days before email and Facebook.  When she came to Waterloo to teach, I was her student aid.  We were involved in each other's weddings and have watched each other's kids grow and change.  I was with her family when her two boys watched their first professional soccer game.  We just don't get to see each other often enough, so we really took advantage of this time to catch up on each other's lives.  We pretty much talked non-stop for the better part of a day-and-a-half.

Thanks, SMS, for this extended catch-up time! 

Scenes from Cousins Camp - Day 2

Scenes from Cousins Camp - Day 1

Cousins Camp - Drop Off

This morning I packed up the car and drove the kids to my parents' place for Cousins Camp.   Grandpa met us at the lane to drive the kids up to the house.

Bye, kids!  I know this is the beginning of truckloads of fun!

It was Erin's night to cook tonight.  She made spaghetti and sauce from scratch.  She didn't use a recipe, and she didn't want to use basil and garlic, because those are key ingredients in my sauce.  Her sauce turned out very, very well, and I'm so proud of how she made it her own way.