The Jacobs Family

Last weekend we celebrated my cousin Jake's graduation from high school at my aunt and uncle's house. This sounds like a pretty standard gathering except that the Jacobs family get togethers are too few and too far between. I think the last time I saw a good chunk of the family was 2 years ago and the time before that was when my sister got married in 2001. What is most upsetting about that is that these get togethers are so much fun. Justin had to literally drag me away at 10:00 so we could get the kids home and to bed. I still can't quite believe that Jake is off to college. Here's Missy, Jake and I:He was born during my senior year in high school and I tool an Amtrack train from Chicago to DC that year and met him as a tiny baby. I refuse to believe he is a grown up. I still feel like he should be 12 years old. Here's Jake and Chloe with Chloe doing her famous "cheese growl":Here's one of those fun shots that just catches the essence of a family party, everyone laughing and talking, having fun:From the left: My dad, Jake, Uncle Scott, Aunt Kris, Aunt Suzy (Uncle Bob was inside hiding from the mosquitoes who apparently love him:The kids loved Jake and they were also over the moon crazy for my cousin Bobby who is like 8 feet talk and as sweet and gentle as they come. The kids know right away who the good guys are. Chloe learned his name within second and we kept hearing her lauging and yelling, "Bob, Bob." Too Cute! Here's Bobby talking with his fans. and here he is with my Jake stuck to his back and Carmen ( my cousin Allison's daughter) on his front:

Carmen is two and a half and she and Chloe have so much fun together. I have spent lots of time with groups of little boys and they often have a similar way of interacting. I have been surprised by how similar little two year old girls are. They like to talk and share dolls and hold hands. These two also like a good romp and roll around the yard just like the boys do! Here they are on the tree that landed in the front yard at my Uncle Bob's house. It would seem the tree landed there for the sole purpose of entertaining these kids. You would have thought Wyatt won the lottery when he saw that thing. All the boys were glued to that tree for several hours. Along with the nearby woods and kite, the whole thing was pure paradise for them. The biggest of my boys, Justin, was ready to go back the next day. He's a country boy and this "country" was only 25 minutes from our house! And finally, Chloe can always count on her oldest brother to snag some of the much sought after "brown pop" and share a little with her.

Starting School

I'm a little behind in what's going on around here. The boys are off and running in first and second grade. Here they are on their way to their first day. It's great being close enough to walk to school:Here they are in the first day of school with their teachers:and just waiting in line:

Storms and Bank Robbers

Things are hoppin' here in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. School started for the boys on Tuesday but kindergarten doesn't start until today. The kindergarten teachers conference with parents during the first week of school so everyone is comfortable when school starts. Soooo....

I was happily wrapping up my paperwork when it started to rain. "Rain" really doesn't come close to describing it. It went from nothing to a torrential downpour complete with non-stop lightening and a completely black sky in seconds. Near the end of the day our principal announced that we would be delaying dismissal and holding the kids in the classrooms because of the severe weather.

While kids were being held in the school parents started coming to pick them up and we found out from them that the high school, middle school and some elementary schools were on lock down because of a local bank robbery. Apparently the suspects abandoned their car on the street close to our house and were on foot and armed.

Also during this time a bus of high school students came into the school because the bus driver had received a call saying a tornado has been spotted and to seek cover. All of our bus student had to wait until 5:30 to get picked up because the buses had to get the HS and middle school kids home first. Lots of parents came and got their kids but not all could so nearly every classroom had kids until 5:30.

Meanwhile Jake and I were sitting in my classroom, Wyatt had been picked up by his friends mom and was at their house on a play date. Chloe was at Miss Pat's and it was raining way to hard for me to leave. Finally, at almost 6:00 Justin came and we picked Chloe and Wyatt up. So many street were under water and it was nearly impossible to get around. The boys were very excited by the water we were driving through. It was like being in a boat.

When we got home Justin went down to check on a co-worker of mine who is also a neighbor who is a single and lives nearby. He was going crazy knowing their were places flooded and he wasn't helping to get the water out. Anyone who knows Justin will be nodding their heads right now. So, he headed out with his gas powered pump and made the rounds from our neighbor to church and then was passing by my school and saw that they were having trouble. The basement (school library and a classroom) was flooded. Their pumps weren't working and the main sump pump was also not working. So Justin got his pump going and fixed the sump pump for him. Simultaneously saving the basement from further damage and earning me tons of brownie points.

Here's our street last night. These pictures don't really do it justice.So, today my kindergarteners come for a one hour day just when the rain is expected to start falling again. Wish me luck!

Chloe Update

I have been really bad about keeping up with the Chloe updates. I keep thinking that there's so much to say I just don't have time to write all that. So, I'll just do my best to get a few things in. The pictures throughout are all from a visit with Great Grandma. I love this one. Justin took it and she was just smiling at him and not for the camera. It's her real smile.

Growth: I swear she has grown a lot since her two year check up. The scale we're using now says she's 25 pounds. But, I am hoping against hope that the scale is on the heavy side because I am appalled by what it says I weigh! I think her shoes we buy her will be a 6 this winter. Her size 6 Nike's that she got as a gift before she came home now fit perfectly. 6 is such a tiny size for a two year old, but she only wore a 3 when we first brought her home!

Language: She is just talking like crazy for sure uses 4 word sentences and I can understand her most of the time. Recently she was with a set of grandparents that she doesn't get to see much and they were astounded by her. Grandma was taking the rubber bands out of her hair and asked Chloe if it hurt and Chloe said, "It's fine." It's fun to see her expanding her vocabulary and using words she's heard us use. I asked her where something was and she pointed to the back seat and said, "Behind there." Positional words are usually pretty tough and we still review that in kindergarten!Knowledge: Chloe loves to learn things. She learned all her colors back in the spring and she now knows 9 or more letter names and recognizes number 2.

I've been making Wyatt watch the Leap Frog videos in the car for a little review before first grade starts. He is beyond sick of it but Chloe looooves them. I told him that she needs to watch those so she can learn all the stuff he knows. He replied, "Chloe doesn't need to watch those learning videos, I can learn her anything she needs to know."

I have to go make lunches. Today is the first day of school for the boys. 1st and 2nd grade! I can hardly believe it. I'll post pictures later.

Caitlyn

Last night I went to a fundraiser in town for the daughter of a friend of mine (Kara) from high school. She is close friends with another mom at school, Susan (small small world). Kara brought Caitlyn with her and she looks great. Check out her website. Her husband is self employed so they have private insurance (have you seen Sicko?). Plus, the treatment she's receiving is experimental so insurance doesn't cover it all. Of course.

Kara shared with me last night that when they first got the diagnosis at Lutheran General, they were told to go home and start planning Caitlyn's funeral. They though she would only live another 6 months. I can't imagine for even a second what that moment was like.

They were given a small measure of hope when they went to Children's Memorial. There was something like a 2% chance that she would respond as positively to the treatment as she has. The tumor has shrunk 75%. She doesn't look or feel a bit sick. She is every bit a regular 5 year old right now. She wore her princess dress and was so excited about the "Hello Kitty" back pack. The doctors told Kara and Jason that they expect this level of health for a couple months. I'm not sure what that means.

You can read more here:
www.caitlynchurak.com

Birthday Fun

We celebrated my mom's birthday last week and got this great picture of the grandparents with the kids. Chloe calls grandma, "Gammy." The way she says it it rhymes with "Mommy." It's so cute. She apparently thinks my mom is the only person I talk to on the phone because when she doesn't want me on the phone she says, "No Gammy!"

Chloe and Ian

I've haven't been very good about keeping up with my posts. Here's a short one.

This year I'm teaching part-time kindergarten! Woo-hoo! I'll have my mornings with Chloe and then I'll teach in the afternoon. I'll be sharing my room with my very good friend, Becky. Becky and I used to teach first grade together and she was Wyatt's kindergarten teacher. It couldn't be more perfect! Becky's little boy, Ian,goes to daycare with Chloe and they are so cute together. Here are some pictures of the two of them. We kept trying to get them to give kisses or hugs. They were both willing, just not at the same time. It's all about the timing.

10 Years

Today is our 10 year anniversary. Justin surprised me this morning with a beautiful necklace. I was unprepared since we are going out to dinner tonight I figured we'd exchange gifts then. He loves doing that. He is way better than me in the romantic surpises department.

I wish I had some pictures of our wedding to post but all of our albums are packed away. Maybe I can borrow one from my mom or Missy and scan it today.

The song playing was our first dance song at our wedding. I love the words and I still listen to it all the time.

Speaking of the endless summer... Ours has only a couple more weeks. We've been pretty laid back with lots of time in the sun. Here are some pics.

Playing in the backyard with cousins:

The spray park with Becky and Ian:This the the moment before Chloe's peaceful game of filling and dumping was interupted by a bucket of water on her head.Here's where Jake ended up after that, although I do believe that he thought she'd like it. She does like to be splashed and even to have water on her head in the pool. Jake now sees the fine lin between being splashed and having a full bucket of cold water dumped on your head from behind.