Oh gosh!

I nearly forgot! Dahlia has lost her second tooth! She was hysterical when it happened. She was so mad at Seringe for "brushing her teeth too hard" and yet, she was thrilled the tooth fairy was visiting! It's the second/middle on the bottom.... unfortunately I'm trying to figure out how to get the stinkin' photos and videos from my phone to my computer, then I can upload some funny stuffs....

Yea Dahlia! ; )

Summer is fun!

It's been far too long since I've update our doin's.... It's been a really really nice summer so far. We've only had one pretty intense week of heat and otherwise the weather's been completely amazing!

I had an au pair meeting mid-June and it was a potluck picnic at the lake with a mini soccer tournament running along side. It was a very pleasant afternoon, surprisingly. The au pairs seemed to really enjoy and that makes such a difference in these work-things lately!

Father's Day was quite fun. We drove out the Lego Fest in Wheeling and this was our first adventure there. It was a great fest. Pretty amazing creations. Only have a couple pix b/c camera batteries died just as we got there. But it was a fun family day, rounded out by stopping off to visit Grandpa for awhile and dinner out that was Seringe's pick. (YES! ALL of those are made from legos!!!)

That week following, we enjoyed a beach day with the Evanston homeschoolers, and an art class with a group of friends, a pool visit with Grandpa (and of course and ice cream stop!), a court date against the previous building owners (which is such a long story in and of itself... but at least they were charged for the violations!), playdate with friends, park day with Evanston group, playing with friends, (my) lucky parents' tea, rounded out by the latest drama.......

So yesterday I get a call from a family early in the AM saying that they have had suspicions for some time, and now confirmed (by witnessing) their au pair having an affair with their married man next door! I needed to pull her... she ended up with us, and really was not at all remorseful regarding anything that was going on, and was quite unappreciative for us housing her and feeding her... Ugh... could go on and on, but the smoking outside our door and cigarette smoke leaking into our place was the last straw for me. She ended up on a flight home tonight, and not a moment too soon.... I'm sure the details make this a very juicy gossip story! ; )

This week is play, play and more play! The weather's been perfect. Couldn't ask for more! Now only if Shea would sleep some more at night, life would be grand!

This weekend we are visiting Kenosha again for the 4th of July. Figured it be fun to swim in the hotel and check out the area some more before making the big decision! The move would be mostly dependent on my income/current job. My project is done and lokoing to get that on the market this week and start marketing like a mad woman. If the income can be generated there, I can also start working on the other couple of ideas I have mulling. It would be exciting to turn a new leaf and venture a new living space! We will see what life has in store for us!

Happy 4th of July!

Jarjusey's Royal Kingdom

Dahlia: "Mommy?"

Me: Yes?

Dahlia: I am no longer calling myself the Queen.

Me: Oh really? Why not?

Dahlia: Well... I'm a princess! You are the Queen.

Me: Ahhh. OK!

Dahlia: And Shea is the prince, and Kaidin is the king..... and..... daddy...... is the guard of the princess!

Man... she cracks me up.

D's first tooth.... lost!

So Friday we were backing up to head to Kenosha for the night (2 days) and on the way we stopped off for lunch.... D bit into her sandwich and sowwy, her first tooth came out! Of course it had been quite loose prior. She'd been working that thing pretty hard before then. She was even having trouble eating that afternoon, but nevertheless.... out it came.

Kenosha was a blast. It's very much our speed and very heavy thought is being weighed here on whether we will make the move up there. We're having a hell of a time with our living situation at present. Our landlord has screwed us royally. In the smallest nutshell I can sum it up in, mainly b/c it's not worth drudging.... the landlord is a broke looser who did not pay the gas bill. Our hot water was shut off. The new landlord has not actually signed on the dotted line yet and sale is not complete. Meantime, no hot water, some convenient vandal let themselves into the boiler room (with a key) to break a pipe down there and create some damage to the hot water heater and then walk out and lock the door behind themselves. We have our suspicions, but despite the police stating this as a crime scene, they won't listen to us. Meanwhile, we are stuck in a lease to a looser who can't even pay our gas bill, AND probably will never return our deposit. And if the new landlord decides to actually complete sale and fix the problem, it's probably just to take over and convert to condo's so we'd need to move anyway. Regardless, we are pretty sure a move is in the extremely near future.... faster than what we had intended. That's a bit stressful, but maybe just needed to happen this fast b/c we were waiting out our lease anyway and really feeling ready to move regardless of all of this mess.

So we were up in Kenosha to explore as a possibility as a home to move to and shockingly really loved it. It's really our pace, and just seems like a really nice place to plant ourselves for awhile. We will have to see how this all pans out... This week we will know what will happen with the water situation and who will take over ownership and just how much time we will have to move. The more time the better b/c I don't want to have to pack up a family of 5 in a haste b/c of this horrible situation, and not really feel comfortable with where we're going.

We will see. Life is an incredible journey.

Dear Dahlia

Happy 5th Birthday my precious princess.... spitting image of myself. You were born to me to teach me so much of who I am and so much of who I was not allowed to be. You are an amazing young lady with a heart larger than most I know at wise old ages. It's because of you that I have learned so much about myself at this age, and as your mommy. You make me want to be a better mommy each and every day! Your gumption and ability to just be who you are is admirable. You are a precious, tough girl. You have a warm personality and a spark that sets my mind a miss! You can push my buttons till I want to rip my head off, and yet I understand you exactly and know exactly who you are! You are an amazing wonder in my life and I love, cherrish and respect you in every aspect of your being, personality, soul and spirit. Happy happy birthday you awesome gal!

Love, Mommy

We had an amazing birthday celebration! Started last week with a gathering of friends at Wagner Farm. Everyone brought their own family picnic's and we brought yummy chocolate/chocolate cupcakes. The kids had a true blast running around in the amazing weather, and just as we were wrapping up the day, it started to drizzle. The weather could not have cooperated any better! It was an awesome day. Dahlia even said "this was the best birthday ever!" ; )

That evening we met Grandpa and Aunt Jess at Baker's Square for dinner. That was a fun and mellow gathering. She had a blast. Enjoyed company of A. Jess who's been living in CA lately, so this was an extra special visit/person to celebrate. And of course Grandpa... she truly loves her Grandpa. That was super nice.

The day of her actual b-day (May 31st) we had a fun brunch with Grandma at Leona's. Gathered for yummy food. Grandma enjoyed sitting next to her and they had a nice time. Shea was a little tired of restaurants by this point, so poor Seringe was doing a lot of juggling in and out of the restaurant and actually trying to get some food in the belly, but we all had a really nice time. 

Fortunately after brunch Shea fell asleep which made the next activity easier to accomplish.... pottery painting. This was a new thing for Dahlia and she loved it just as much as (if not more than) I thought she would! It was really fun. Kaidin painted something as well. That was really nice for Dahlia to see him enjoy something she liked so much. They've been butting heads the last couple of weeks, so for him to be that invested in her b-day was really really special. They had fun and Seringe and I had fun helping paint as well. It was really nice.

Back home she opened a slew of presents from all of us. I have no clue how I accumulated as many presents as I did, but she made out this year! ; ) But she sure did appreciate every single second and every single gift. And of course.... chocolate/chocolate cake to top off the whole celebration! 

Yea! We LOVE birthdays!!!!

As tough as that girl is, she's just a softy at heart. 

We love you Dahlia!