The Campbell Hotel

Ken volunteered to cover a cottage Filled to the brim of young, active boys in exchange for time off later. He has his hands full. But, with the right begging tactics, which involved a few tears, Grace convinced him to let her spend the night with him. So Grace packed up her bag which she loves to do. She helped Luci too and this was the picture I could get as they ran off excited...

With the girls gone, Daniel finally got his turn at the television. He watched Baby Einstein for the 2nd time ever. Grace had logged about 100 or more hours by this age.

It ended up that the girls really had nothing to do but get in trouble at the other cottage, so they came back. But, they had a great time while it lasted.

Mrs. Pool and making friends

Luci has said some cute things. The other day I was preparing her for school and asked her if she remembered her teacher's names. She did remember Mrs. Reed and Mrs. "Swimming". I didn't understand her at first, and then I realized she was talking about the director that greets us at the door every day...Mrs. POOL. (Get it, "swimming" Pool)

I also asked Luci how she makes friends, looking for something like you say hi or act nicely share, whatever. She said, "First I start with the stomach, then the legs, then the feet, then the head and the hair...etc." She was forming all of these with her hands while she talked. When Grace finally realized what Luci was saying, she laughed too.

Luci and Grace have had their orientations. They both did great. Luci has Grace's old teachers who are wonderful. Grace has Mrs. K, who has been at the school for 15 years, and Mrs. Cruise, who speaks Spanish fluently and will be teaching the students poems, numbers and rhymes in Spanish this year. The girls will go on Tuesdays and Thursdays like last year. They are both looking forward to it.

Here they are on their respective orientation days. For Luci's first picture she was so excited she was jumping up and down. (Her backpack was in the car already and she didn't want to get it for the pics.)

The good, the bad and the questionable parenting

Here are a couple stories on what the kids have been up to.

Daniel is showing off the new bath paints the kids recieved in the mail from Grandma Brenda and Susie. Often, Daniel is the canvas for the two Picassos. And the water is not laden with filth, it is colored with one of each color of the water coloring tablets. They all love it.

Daniel is walking, finally, a couple steps here and there. I think 6 is his record. He is also quite fascinated with his toungue and makes weird sounds with it. He is getting a couple new teeth in, molars I believe. You can tell he's starting to understand the world around him. Today he was standing, Luci was sitting. He started rubbing her hair like he was saying "You're great! I like you."

Here is Grace after she has set up a limbo rope in our bedroom. She started really trying to do a proper limbo, but as you can see, she needs some work. Luci looked pretty much the same. Next we have the two sitting down to a challenging match of chess. Grace designed the board and they found this old chess piece somewhere. They started the game in the living room and finished at the gym when Ken and I were coaching volleyball, so I didn't see who the champ was.


I don't know what to think about the next story, but I'll tell it anyway. I had popped a bedtime snack of popcorn and was about to enjoy it, and not with the girls because I had already given them a snack and put them to bed. However, when I came back to my room to annoy Ken with questions like, "Do you think we need a cabinet unit above the desk or don't you think pictures would just be nice?" The girls were waiting for me. I guess I was a little surprised because when I broke open the bag upon entering the room, some of the popcorn spilled out onto the floor.

To my delight, Luci immediately said, "I'll help you pick it up!" and got down on her hands and knees to help. What Grace did surprised me. She immediately made the sign of the cross and said, "Come Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen." Then grabbed a piece of popcorn off the floor and ate it!!!!

Hope to update some more soon. It's been a little crazy getting into the swing of things with a new cottage. (We have high school girls now.) Hopefully more to come soon.

Juli, Ken and then none, for a night

So we have had a great summer in the Mahorney household. It is winding down to an end by teachers/houseparent standards however.

The final hurrah is the kids at Grandma Brenda's for hers and Grandpa Scott's anniversary, and a night out for Juli and Ken.

The first thing we did was get in the car and drive to see Kyndall and Deon practice football for Bloom. Oh and there was a tennis court right by the field where we played and I whomped on Ken! But that was easy and so I needed a better challenge.

We were at a local restaurant after church last week when I saw in the restroom a bean bag tourney. Ken and I would love to play in volleyball, softball or basketball games locally, but because of our schedule we haven't been able to work it in. So, when I saw the bean bag tourney, I thought, "that would be a nice date night".

So we arrived last night in time for half price pizza and then signed up for the tourney.

They draw names so you don't know who will be on your team. I played in the first round, Ken the second. Walking into the Tender Trap I thought the boards looked pretty big and had lots of confidence that the game would be no problem, even though I'd barely ever played. Ken, who had never played before, was worried he was going to make a big fool of himself. After a peartini and some pizza, I was warming up and suddenly the boards were much smaller and the hole the size of a tear drop. Oh well. I actually didn't do all that bad after some coaching from the guy on the other team (he was pretty confident that with me on the opposing team, there was no way he would lose and so gave me free, and might I say very good, tips.) We lost in 2 games, but I did get a couple ringers.

And can you guess how well my highly competitive husband did? He has NEVER played the game before, but of course got the hang of it right away. His team won their first round and then made it into the finals. (Might I add that the other team in the finals was the team that I lost to.) Well they didn't win, but they did force the round into 3 games. When everyone asked Ken how he was doing so well despite the fact he hadn't played before, he said, "I played quarterback in football, can't you tell by looking at me?"

I had a great time playing. Ken said he was hot. Tip: when playing in an outdoor game in August, wear shorts, not jeans. We plan on going to these a lot more next summer.

"In my next 30 years"

Is this what the popular song by Tim McGraw meant? http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/tim+mcgraw/my+next+thirty+years_20137353.html

The other night Ken was relaxing at home with a beer and ...rice cakes! He said it first..."What is wrong with me?"

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I had a great time yesterday at Wrigley Field. Dad took Jane and I on our annual trip to see the Cubs, (the one time a year when Jane and I really revert to Daddy's Little Girls). This year he also invited Alex and Alexis. At first Jane and I were a little worried that the grandchildren would cut into our $100 spending limit (enforced by Mom). However, lucky us, with grand kids you also get a credit card!!!

Again, I did remember the camera this time, but forgot the card. Here is a link to the fancam we had taken at the park- http://www.printroom.com/popupImage.asp?img_id=68059898&effectRGB We have great pics on Mom's camera for when I figure out how to download them. Alex and Alexis enjoyed the trains and train stations on our way up to the park as well as the lake and people water skiing, etc. They also loved seeing Soldier Field. Everyone was dressed in snazzy looking Cub apparel, even Dad. And he really hooked us up with parking and seats this year. We parked in the red lot, the exact same one the players park in. But we really didn't use the privilege to its fullest since Alex and Alexis had school the next day. We had to leave as soon as we were packed up. Our seats were also very close to home plate. And being on the top row of terrace reserve we felt the breeze like no one else in the stadium. The tickets were also for Build a Bear Workshop day. The first 6000 kids 16 and under got a cubbie bear. We got to the park nice and early (11:30 for a 1:20 game) to make sure the kids got a bear.

During the game Alex and Alexis were really into it. Alexis caught right on to all the fan energizers; She could clap to the rhythms, say, "Go Cubies," and had some pretty good moves when the songs played. She needs to work on YMCA, but did a good job at Take Me Out to the Ballgame. She even got the hand motions for 1, 2, 3 strikes your out. I was also impressed that Alexis could walk to the stand behind us with some money, stand in line and order peanuts and water with no problems, by herself. Alex knew how to yell Go Cubs. He also did a Great job of calling for the vendors. They would walk around saying Hot Dogs, Peanuts or whatever they were selling and he would yell nice and loud for a Hot Dog, even though he wasn't getting one. I thought this was hilarious the first time I heard him do it. Jane wasn't quite as amused since he did it for multiple vendors.

Unfortunately, the Cubs showed us a loss. Dad tried getting us out of the park at the top of the ninth to beat the rush, but Alex and Alexis were really into the game. But then, lucky for Dad they were more into the drummers outside than the game and we could watch the drummers on our way out of the park. But then, unfortunately for Dad (who really wanted to beat the rush), none of us had used the bathroom lately and the line was very long. So we were in the middle of the rush anyway. Sorry Dad.

I think we all had a really great time. Grandpa Kresl didn't forget the left behinds either. Grace and Luci each got a shirt and Aliza got a bear (Daniel will probably get something next year when just seeing his mom isn't prize enough anymore). When I told Grace that Grandpa wanted to make sure she, Luci and Aliza got something since they didn't get to go, she said, "Grandpa has a good memory!"

I had a great time as I do every year with Jane and Dad. Alex and Alexis were very well behaved and lots of fun. Grandpa will probably invite them again next year! Thanks Dad for another great year!!

The animals at the zoo

Yesterday, we headed to Lincoln Park Zoo.

Grace loves going to Chicago. She always wants to see the "Serious" (Sears) Tower and asked me questions again about my climb up it. (Were there other people there? Did you take any breaks? Where did you go to take the breaks?)

Grace and Luci had fun spotting the red line trains that run right along the Dan Ryan. They also enjoyed seeing Soldier Field and Luci especially liked all the boats on the lake.

Again it was a hot one, but the girls and Daniel hung in there. The zoo has a nice mix of indoor and outdoor exhibits along with lots of shade trees. We found ourselves hanging out next to the camels unusually long because of the perfect shade by them. Our camera was running out of battery power so there aren't quite as many pics as we would have liked, but oh well.

On our way to lunch, 2 blocks from the park, we walked through a garden spot with great flowers and fountain. The girls enjoyed the flowers almost as much as the animals.

Grandma Brenda surprised the girls at the restaurant. Of course there was the excited, "Grandma Brenda!!!" and then the inevitable, "Where's Susie?" followed by disappointment since Susie was not there. It was great having lunch with Brenda.

On the way home everyone passed out as soon as we were done oohing and ahhing over the sights of Lake Shore Drive once again. We had a GREAT day. Here are some pics...Here Grace and Ken are obnoxiously calling for the red wolf when a very nice zoo ranger came to our rescue (probably as quickly as she could without causing alarm) and pointed out the wolf's location. She also let us know that the Big Bad Wolf story is not true in that wolves don't eat people. This is a picture of a hissing cockroach. They were very creepy and Luci would not get close to them. They were huge.We were at the zoo during the bear's lunchtime. We saw three of them, each with a raw meat bone, knawing away.

Bear Down

Today we traveled to Bearbonnois to visit the 2008 Super Bowl Champions in training. It was extremely hot and the girls immediately found shade. We also found relief from snow cones in a cup.

Of course when we first arrived the boys had to stretch, not very exciting for any of us, especially since we didn't have front row.

Everyone was hot and hungry and thirty and bored so we went to have a little more excitement at the kidspot. The girl's favorite was an obsticle course that ended with a tall, fast slide. I really didn't think Luci would go through with it and the staff in charge of it had to check to see if she was going though it since it took her so long to climb the stairs, but she did it!

Grace was great at the slide and went down 3 times! She even took a tumble, brushed it off and got right back up in the spirit of 'Da Bears.

So, lessons learned:You have to get to practice either very early to get a prime spot. This may have not worked today because they practiced at an alternate field. Only Cedric Benson came out of the tunnel everyone thought they were going to enter from. The other option is to wait until later when they are actually practicing and not just stretching their dariers. (I think these were the lessons I had already learned when I went to the training camp with Dad and Jane.) But, we still had a great time at the fun zone and everything was free, even parking.