June 16 CUBS WIN!

My parents blessed us with tickets to go to a Cubs games this season at Wrigley Field. My cousin Amanda, from the state of Oregon, came to Iowa on June 1 to visit my Grandma and the rest of her Sparks family that she rarely gets to see. My mom thought that Amanda's vist was a reason to go to a game at Wrigley, and it turned out to be a grand occassion. My aunt Opal and cousin Lance flew into Midway airport from Kansas City that morning; and my cousin Joan and her son, James, drove from Iowa to come to the game, as well. So we had 7 people at the game representing the Sparks family. We had beautiful seats down the third baseline and under the canopy. It was out of foul ball range, but nicely shaded. The weather was just beautiful. Plain and simple we couldn't asked for a better day or a better occassion to be with each other. The game was entertaining with lots of hits, great defensive plays, and a CUBS WIN! Curtis and I enjoyed a yummy Cubs hat full of DELUXE nachos, which also worked very nicely as a souvenior to take home for the boys.

After the game we enjoyed some yummy Chicago style pizza at a restaurant, while on our 1 mile walk to our vehicles. The rest of our family stayed in Chicago Thursday night, and toured the Windy City on Friday. Curtis and I headed back to Princeton to prepare for the pirate party! Thank you Mom and Dad for a FUN day. We hope you enjoyed your 12 hours with the boys in Princeton!

Finished

Tonight was the first night I put Joel to sleep without nursing him. When I am gone at a Pampered Chef show, Curtis puts him to sleep without me, so Joel has gone to sleep before without me. This is the first night that I have been home that I did not nurse him. We read about 6 board books and then I laid him down in his bed. He did cry more than usual, but it didn't last long which I was so thankful for.

Curtis and I will be getting our shots next Friday for our trip to Uganda, Africa, therefore I have to wein him because I will be receiving a live vaccine in the yellow fever shot. So this restriction has made me wonder that if I would get pregnant would our baby be in danger? My thought really doesn't matter, but it has made me think.

I am finished. I may never nurse another baby in my life again. I know this may sound strange to many people, but I enjoyed having these moment with my boys. Yes, there were days that it was long and I felt like a milk machine, but there was more than that. It was probably the fact that my boys always wanted me. I was/am always needed when I nurse. I won't be needed the same ever again. Oh but I pray that I still have a place in both of my boys hearts. I will always be there mommy.

More Birthday!

Cade's birthday day he shared with Father's Day on Sunday. Since we had such a big celebration on Saturday we didn't reorganize the day for his birthday, but still shared with him gifts from his other family and friends who were not at the party.

Curtis and I got him a new game for our Wii. He calls it his Indianna Jones game, but it is just an exploring game, including lots of physical activity of running and jumping. It is a bit challenging for him, but hopefully by the winter time when we can not get outside he will be able to play it without much help. We also got him a pirate ship, which can be changed and made into different styles and has a crew to go with it. He loves the ship and uses his other knight figures and army men to play with it.

Grandma Glenna and Grandpa Bill paid for the party room at the hotel and then left Cade most of the pool tools - floating noodles, water squirters, diving sticks, kickboards! He was so excited to take his own kickboard to swimming lessons on Monday.

Pop and Grandma got Cade a couple of fun water squiters and a ball toss game. Then they each got him a gift. He recieved a battery operated robot from Grandma, which was suppose to represent Grandma's "love" (dislike) of Star Wars. He got a BIG pen from Pop, representing Pop's "worker pen", which Cade loves to jokingly steal from Pop. Unfortunately the pen only lasted a few days before it broke :(

Cade also received a lot of cards and a gifts in the mail. Tom and Patty Cabeen, a wonderful couple in our church, gave Cade two books and $15 to spend how he would like. He also received cards from Grandma Bents, Grandma Sparks, Aunt Opal & Uncle Steve, Aunt Katie & Uncle Jeremy, and Bill & Charlene Stone. He received over $40! He was so excited to go to the store and pick out an item or two. He choose to spend part of the money on a set of three Schleich brand knights that he had been eyeing at the farm store for sometime. This brand is a German toy brand,and is a bit pricey, but well made. He has enjoyed playing with these knights. He still has money to spend, but we are waiting to go to a store that has Playmobil. He wants to get more pirates or knight figures like we purchased at our consignment store!

Another thing we did with his birthday money was to take $5 of it to the bank for his savings account, and $5 to church to give to the Lord. These were great teaching moments for him.

Cade's 5th Birthday Party!

We celebrated Cade's 5th birthday with a pirate party this year! Grandpa Bill and Grandma Glenna were in Princeton for the first time on Cade's birthday, since his actual birth, so we had fun celebrating with them being here.

Grandpa Bill and Grandma Glenna stayed at the AmericInn during the week, and we planned to have the party in the small conference room next to the swimming pool at the hotel. Cade and Joel got a lot of practice swimming throughout the week, so when it came time for Cade's friends to come on Saturday for the party, it felt like they were coming to our own backyard.

Cade was so excited to have his friends come! We invited two families to join us at the hotel - the Crouch family and the Houk family. Cade loves playing with the kids in both of these families, and every time we get to play with them it is a priviledge because it seems like it is few and far between. The kids in both of these families are older than Cade, so they have schedules full of school and extra activities. Cade had so much fun knowing his special friends were there for him.

Grandma Glenna was my party planner, as well as my event coordinator. I talked with her about my ideas for a pirate party, but she was the one that really made it happen! She went to the store and bought many toys for the kids to play with in the pool, as well as games to keep the kids busy. She bought enough water noodles, which she called Sea Horses, for the kids to "ride" around in in the pool. She had plastic bugs which she used for diving games, and had a compass game which kept the attention of all of the kids except Cade and Joel. Grandma also took plastic duckies, which she named baby dragons, and the kids had to do something with them. After lunch and cake, Grandma brought out the BIG game - water squitters!! Cade said the squitters were the favorite, even though our time got cut short and his friends had to go. Grandma Glenna did a great job (and Grandpa Bill thank you for the interior decorating you did in the Pirate Cave with Grandma Glenna).

We served a yummy lunch, including italian beef sandwiches (by chef Daddy Curtis), pasta salad (by chef Grandma Glenna, chips, and fruit. We had 16 people (including 7 kids) and our 5 pounds of meat did ) not leave enough for seconds. We learned out lesson, at least 1/2 pound of meat per person (child or adult). I don't think anyone went hungry, so hopefully they will all come back for the next party! Grandma Bev made the pirate hat cake, and Mommy made the pirate treasure cake! It was all lots of FUN!

We are so blessed to have a 5 year old that is healthy anf full of energy, vigor, and fun! Thank you Lord for the blessing of Cade to our family.

Swimming Lessons

Cade is participating in swimming lessons for the first time this summer! We had a friend tell us about a woman who does private lessons in her backyard pool. The lady lives about 20 minutes away, so we not only had to invest in the cost of the lessons but the cost of gas to get us there! The lady actually has 5 teachers in the water at once, with each teaching a child of her own. Therefore, each child is getting an individual lesson for his/her needs. We had our first lesson on Monday, June 13 but our next 2 lessons were cancelled due to rain and cold weather. We just went back for our second lesson this last Wednesday, June 22. He will have 3 or 4 lessons this next week to make up for what we had missed. Hopefully the weather will cooperate!

Cade's teacher's name is Biz (short for Elizabeth). He did a great job listening to her and doing what she asked. You just couldn't wipe the smile off of his face the whole 30 minutes.

I am hoping we will have the money to do the lessons again next summer. Cade just loves the water!!

A Family Trip to Wisconsin

The first full week of June we took our first family vacation without our extended family on the trip with us. Instead, we were invited by a young couple in our church, Matt and Christina, to Matt's grandparent's cabin in Chetek, Wisconsin. Chetek is about 6 hours away from our home in Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Eggers have passed away, so the cabin is used by Matt's extended family most often. The cabin is definately 60s style, but it was just the right amount of space for us for 5 days. We also had the priviledge of using the Eggers' family pontoon boat during the week on the big lake just 50 yards away from the cabin. We had wonderful accomodations and the opportunity to relax, which was much needed.

After driving the majority of Monday to Chetek, we arrived at the cabin in time for a ride on the lake before we ordered pizza for dinner and did our grocery shopping for the week.

On Tuesday morning (which started at 5:30pm because of Joel's awaking) we went out fishing as a group after a yummy sausage and pancake breakfast. Matt and Curtis wanted to do a bit of Northern fishing. I don't think the kids were a big help in catching these fish because we were loud and the boat was constantly moving because the boys were constantly moving. Our time on the boat didn't last long with the boys, but the few minutes (hour or less) we did have, were fun. Joel loved to throw anything overboard, which was not fun because I was constantly at work watching him. I have a nice bruise on my leg from jamming my thigh into the side of the boat while trying to save the fishing pole Joel threw overboard. Cade loved being on the boat, but would have rather been on land running and climbing. We headed back to shore, and then Christina and I took the boys to a local campground to swim in their pool and play on their big playground. Curtis and Matt went back out to fish. During the evening we fixed a delicious dinner and enjoyed just being together!

On Wednesday, we took a road trip to St. Paul, Minnesota to the Mall of America. Before we left Chetek, though, we had to stop by the Chetek Bakery for a few yummy yums! The donuts were delicious . . . we had a donut every morning the rest of the week (vacation!!). The trip to the Mall was just 2 hours, so the perfect amount of time for a movie for the boys. Matt and Christina had never been to the Mall of America, so they were looking forward to walking around and seeing all of the different sites. We knew that the Mall was not going to be an easy place for the boys, but we hoped that the Lego Store would bring lots of excitement to them. And we were right!! Both of the boys enjoyed the store. Cade especially liked looking at all of the different Lego sets and movies they had playing. They each got a $2.50 Star Wars key chain as a souvenier of their Mall of America visit. After a yummy Chiptole lunch, we decided to let Cade do a ride at the Nickeloden Amusement Park in the center of the mall. He decided on the Log Ride! It took us some time figure out how to buy the tickets, and we were very glad when we found the service desk because we found out Cade had to have a chaperone with him that could ride FREE! Therefore we only had to pay for 1 ticket ($6 instead of $12). Matt and Christina also went on the ride with Curtis and Cade. The ride was so successful, and the lady working the ride allowed Cade to go again with Mommy. So basically we got to go on 4 rides for just $6 - WOW!! And the two hour ride home was just the perfect time for a nap for the boys to regain their energy for the rest of the evening!!

When we got back to the cabin on Wednesday evening we fixed dinner, and then Curtis & Matt went out fishing on the boat while Christina and I took the boys to a little city park not too far away. The park had the super tall metal slides from 20 years ago. They were a hit with the boys and I think that both of them went up and down them at least 20 times! The park also had a nice new playground with a spring loaded teater-totter next to it. We had a lot of fun playing, and it was nice to have a fresh new playground to visit!

The boys woke up about 30 minutes later each day, which was a blessing!! Finally after the third night we had the best sleeping plan figured out. Cade and Joel slept in the bedroom where it was dark, cool, and quiet with the sound machine; while Mommy and Daddy slept in the living room where it was very light by 5:00am and the bed was rather uncomfortable because it was a 1970s pull out couch. Sleeping arrangements are so hard at this age, and the conditions have to be just perfect to keep them asleep.

On Thursday Curtis and Matt got up early, 6 am, to hit the lake! On the trip, Curtis caught about 20 fish. He caught a 30 inch (or so) fish that broke his line right next to the edge of the boat. He believe it was a dogfish, but is not sure. What a bummer for him. I know he is still waiting for the day when he will catch that HUGE Northern Pike, but unfortunately this was not the trip.

The boys and I had a lazier morning around the cabin Thursday. They got up a bit later (6:30am) and we watched How to Train Your Dragon. We got Cade a new game for his Leapster (at a garage sale for 50 cents), Spiderman, so he spent many "down" moments throughout the week playing this and I let him play it a bit longer than normal on Thursday morning. I attempted a bike ride with the boys later, but there were too many hills for Cade so our efforts to bring our bikes were a bit futile because we didn't use them much. I did find a couple of nice lake houses for sale on our quick jont (DREAMER!!).

Cade's one hope for Thursday morning was to go swimming at the public beach. We said that this would be just fine, but that was before we knew what the weather was going to be. Thursday morning at 10am was about 65 degrees with a strong wind. I drove into town to try to buy myself some more time before putting Cade into the fridged elements. We visited the post office to get some postcard stamps, then went to the bait shop to buy a couple of postcards to send to the grandparents. And of course we needed to stop by the bakery again. We wrote the grandparents a nice message, stuck the cards in the mailbox, and then headed for the beach. Daddy got back to shore so we went and picked up him to go to the beach. Joel ended up falling asleep in the van, but Cade was ready to swim. The water was warm, but the air was very cold so we suggested to Cade to stay in the water as long as he wanted. Joel eventually woke up from the loud wind and enjoyed playing on the beach with his brother for a bit before lunch.

Thursday evening we visited Gilligans Restaurant. It wasn't our style of restaurant or our style of food (FRIED!!), but the fun part of the adventure was driving the boat to the restaurant and parking it in the boat "parking lot." We then attempted to go and watch the Chetek Hydrofliers Ski Team from our boat, but the boys in the boat don't go together very well and that point was proven to us again. So we went back to the house and drove over to the ski show. We really enjoyed out time watching the many stunts. The weather was SOOOOOOO cold and the water was very choppy, which made any sort of skiing hard. It was a first for us all.

On Friday morning we cleaned up the cabin and departed for home around 11am. It wasn't a smooth ride home because we got caught in traffic for a good hour or so by the Wisconsin Dells, and I think we stopped to go potty at least 4 times. Cade named himself the Potty Machine, and I would have to agree. It was so nice to get home. It is nice to get away and explore the world, but I love my home and normalacy and routine.

Enjoy a few of the many photos we took on our trip!!

A Quest for Answers

We took Joel to get blood drawn today to start the process of seeing if he is allergic to anything on this earth. We visited a pediatric allergist and pulmonologist in January, and felt as though we were not given much hope or answers of why Joel was so sick in the fall. They suggested we do some lab work, but since they were giving us no promises or reasons why, we did not find this lab work necessary at the time. Since January, we have used the nebulizer twice (a week for each episode) with Joel trying to clear his congestion. So, today, I took Joel to his blood taken and am praying we will find some answers to what we continue to struggle with.