Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a goodnight....

Hope everyone has an awesome thanksgiving tomorrow.... we are going to have a very relaxing time. The folks on both sides are absent.....mine in Maryland...his in Myrtle Beach.....I have just eaten my first thanksgiving meal at 10 in the morning with Gideon's class at school. The next one will be tomorrow evening at my grandma's where me...my kids...possibly my husband...my aunt and uncle and grandparents (the only family around) are gathering for a Spiessy Feasty.....anyway...it should be fun. Keith is currently on the couch...recovering from his minor surgery this morning so that leaves me in sole possesion of the chilens for the day......so that's our holiday game plan...lay around....eat some....lay around some more....eat some more..... put up the Christmas tree....eat some more.....lay around some more.....if we blink it will be over so I am hoping the clock ticks slowly for our lazy thanksgiving weekend.....
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Boy Turns 6

Yes...yesterday my little boy turned 6!! Holy Smokes (his words) he's getting big...I cannot believe it was 6 years ago that I gave birth to the little booger!! He's always suppose to stay my little boy and everyday I see him growing bigger and I have to give him up a little bit more....so sad but so exciting too! He requested Subway for his birthday and wanted to eat in the restaurant (it's so exciting to a 6 year old (I guess) to sit in the restauraunt rather than drive thru and take it home :)) Anyway we met the grandparents there and ate and then headed home for presents and chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (the ONLY cake worth eating in Gideon's book :) ) Anyway he then opened his gifts and was "unable" to talk to anybody else on the phone (jacob and uncle colin called) because he was too "busy" trying to figure out his new transformers:) It was a great day! He is getting so big and learning so much. He's reading now which is so weird...funny thing...Keith and I have tried to switch to pig latin because he's understanding spelling words now so the other day we were talking about getting Gideon his "esentprays" and he said...."presents??"...GREAT!! Now what do we do as inconspicuous parents trying to disclose info from our kids in plain sight??? Oh well...guess we'll have to work on it! Anyway we are proud of our one and only and don't know what we'd do without the funny things he says and does...his laughter and his hugs and kisses....his imagination and his fun personality! We love ya gid!! Happy Birthday!!!

Chicago Recap

Gideon loves to use the camera...this was his shot of us in the hotel room..actually turned out pretty good! Good job Gid!

So...Chicago was a blast! As you can see in the above picture taken at Shedd....we just happened to sit in front of these people we didn't even know who had girls our same ages in the exact same dresses....HILARIOUS!!!! What are the chances of that! The same age girls even had the same color dress...though it could have been switched...SO FUNNY...the crowd kept asking us if we were all togethor as a group....we were like..."no...we just sat down and turned around and realized that we all have a Great sense of style :) "

So on Friday when we got there...we checked into the hotel and gave the kids a choice....Chicago style pizza...or Chicago style hotdogs.....they chose the hotdogs....Keith took us to Portillo's...now in all the millions of times I've been to Chi-town...eating hotdogs has not exactly been my priority so I've never tried one...but Keith said I "had to try it" so...me being the adventurous eater that I am sat down to a hotdog with tomato, pickle, relish, ketchup,mustard, onion and hot pepper on a poppy seed roll. It was actually really yummy....that is until I got to the hot pepper.....I will quote my husband when I asked him if the pepper was really hot or not..."It's hot...but not really that bad"......Famous last words....I bit into the hot pepper hotdog....The entire pepper was in my mouth...about 2 1/2 inches long....the minute I bit into it.....I lost all feeling in my tongue and started crying....I could not spit it out because we were surrounded by people and I had no napkin....so I choked it down...and spent the next 1/2 hour shoving bread, french fries...pop...anything into my mouth to cool it down....an hour after...my tongue was still burning! Thanks Keith!! I am never trusting my husband again...(he was laughing at me by the way as I struggles to keep the food in my stomach as it burned all the way down)....

So...he owed me big time and let me order up a nice big slice of cheesecake to the room later :):) Sat...we hit Shed and the AWESOME new aquatic show....Their new arena sits right on Lake MI...I mean right...like the water in the tank looks like it just keeps going out into the lake...The show was great...they let the penguins, hawks and even a sea lion (huge) come out into the audience....and people got to pet them!! Amazing...then they had a Beluga Whale show...so cool and a dolphin show..like seaworld....so great! We also saw the sharks which were swimming on our sides and above our heads in a almost 20 foot high tank that wrapped around the sides of the room and the ceiling...the sharks were huge and Lucy was really scared of them...she kept covering her head and telling me she wanted to leave....

We tried MI ave for a little bit on Sat but it was waaaayyyy too busy...more than I've ever seen it so we ordered take out Gino's pizza and headed for the hotel pool...which was on the top floor of the hotel...and was surrounded by John Hancock...the clocktower etc....BE-autiful! We had a blast!...even though the pool water was FREEZING!! Sunday we hit MI ave with the Kreigers (Keith's bosses family) while Keith and his boss did some competitive shopping and hit Navy Pier for the Sofa Show (the reason we were there)...we met the guys for lunch at The Rainforest Cafe and then hid out in the hotel until the guys were done with the show and took off for home. It was an awesome trip...very laid back and easy...great for the kids first real trip to the big city.

On another note Lucy met her new opthamologist yesterday and to make a long story short....she does not have Duane's Syndrome...but she is just cross eyed....crossed out rather than in....like her cousin Josh....treatment is the same....not much ....but it may get worse with age and we will cross that bridge when we get there....So that's a recap of our lives....busy but fun. Today is my first day that I don't have to be anywhere and I am loving it! I got a cold and am achy and it's so nice to sit around in my flannel pj's all day and just be comfty!! Hope everyone's doing well.....tune in next week...same blog time...same blog channel (that was for Gid)

Holding On.....

As you can see.....the kids had a pretty fun Halloween! Gideon sported his Homemade Mr Incredible outfit yet again (I think this is the last year I'll get away with putting my underwear on him for a costume :)) Lucy was of course Bell and Ella a little Giraffe. They looked great and did great also. We hit mom and dad's a few of our friends and then went to A. Evan's Trunk or Treat in which the kids reeled in the loot! Anyway, cousin Jacob was along so that ALWAYS makes my kids happy. We had a lot of fun. On Friday night (before Halloween) Keith and I went to pick out our new puppy. I fell in love with the little girl. She is going to be brownish and white. There was an 8 week old there that was her same coloring and both Keith and I loved it....however it peed on the already hesitant about the whole thing daddy...so he didn't get quite as attatched as I did but he was still LOVING holding our little Maxie girl (the kids want to name the dog max....we'll see if the name stays after they get it) Anyway we are keeping it a secret from the kids so SHHHHHHH!!! We will give it to them as their main Christmas present but it will be given 2 weeks before Christmas because the breeder won't hold it any longer than that. The kids will be so excited...I am so excited to give it to them...5 more weeks and she'll be all ours...then my posts will consist of venting about dog potty training I'm sure...but at least this time around and 2 years worth of doggie research will pay off with a small compact dog that doesn't shed (my number one priority), doesn't eat or poop much (Keith's number 1 priority) doesn't need to be walked everyday...hence...a lap dog. And isn't hyperactive!!....this puppy is breeder gaurantee'd to be easy to potty train and not a yapper!! We will see...we will see....although I must admit...when we went into the barn to pick out the puppy...every other dog in the place was whining and yapping...except for these puppies and their mommy and the other mommy of the same breed and her puppies...here's hoping the research and careful search pays off!! Anyway we get her Dec 12~~

Sunday was our day to teach the 14 ....4 year olds in Sunday School...it is a huge handful and I am always stressed at the end...seeing as thought the classroom is the size of a tissue box but we survived! Today Keith is in The Windy City...he'll be home tonight...only to be home for one day and then all the family is leaving (provided no one is sick...PLEASE LORD!!!) for a vacation/work trip with Keith back to Chicago for the weekend. We plan to hit Shed and Willis and maybe a few shops...just to entertain the kids...no purchase necessary :) Thanks to Sauders for eating the bill (granted Keith has to work sometime while we are there and I will be left with 3 crazy kids in a big city..after we check out of the hotel.but we'll have fun!) So...if anyone is wondering what to pray for us...PRAY FOR GOOD HEALTH til Monday when we get back so we can have a wonderful time!! Hope everyone is happy and healthy!! Love to all!