First PYFL Football Game!

We traveled to Byron for Cade's first football game on Saturday, August 12th. He was so excited! 

Unfortunately Curtis had to officiate a wedding so could not stay for the game, but drove up for warm ups and weigh ins, and when game time rolled around, he had to head home to make the ceremony. I filmed almost every play of the game so he could watch. Curtis was so heartbroken to miss the first game. 

Since we were up north more, Tori came down from Madison to watch the game too. Josh had to work, and she didn't want to be home alone, so she came! She brought pretzel sticks, and boy did that make Callie and Joel happy! They enjoyed eating pretzels from their toes during the game! What goofballs!!

The Tigers took a loss from Byron, but they played well. Getting the first game under their belts was a good thing! We are so proud of Cade for his hard work on the field, and his efforts  to be a good teammate, as well. He is a joy! 

Garage Sale & Lemonade Stand!

We decided to have a Thursday garage sale and lemonade stand. We needed to sell the big Dixon lawnmower to make room for our new Cub Cadet from Grandma Sparks. We also had many clothes and toys to add to the sale, as well. Plus one of our "summer bucket list" items was to have a lemonade stand. We invested in lemons at our last grocery run and made our delicious goodies on Wednesday. We ended up selling the mower, making about $100 extra dollars on the other stuff, and the kids made about $25 on the lemonade stand. It was a fun day (and long!)! The kids learned to make money it takes work and effort. Hopefully we can do it again next summer!

Waiting at the sale!! 

Cade got Braces!

On August 9th, Cade got his top braces put on at the orthodontist. What a brace kid! Teeth pain hurts and he has been a trooper this first few weeks of treatment. We are praying and hoping the next 20 months will go by quickly and everything will move nice and easy! He picked Tiger Blue for his first rubber band colors! 

Since the orthodontist office is next to Aldi, we did a little shopping after the appointment. The kids are troopers through the store, and even help me bag groceries at the end! Yes Joel is under the red bag, and can you find Callie? She is in the green bag! Silly kids! 

Bike Ride on the Canal!

We had a fun adventure with the Driscoll family traveling down the canal bike path on August 8th! We rode for about a mile and then took the road into Tiskilwa and played at the park for a bit! The kids did a great job and I think had a great time!! 

Happy 39th Birthday!

We made our way back home from Chicago quite a different route to celebrate with Pop, Grandma, and the kids. Pop and Grandma took care of the kids all day for us. It was a late dinner (because of the awful traffic!) but so special! Happy Happy Birthday Curtis!!

While we were at the game, Grandma Bev sent us this photo of their Camp Famo Lunch! We had to guess whose plate was whose! So starting at the bottom and going to the right. Callie, Cade, Grandma, and Joel! Grandma Bev is so creative and fun and makes for fun days together! Our kids did not get a chance to have Camp Famo this summer with some of the Lamberts because we were on our Smoky Mountain adventure, so this one day was pretty special!  

Happy Birthday Curtis At Wrigley Field!

We celebrated Curtis' Birthday by having a special date to Wrigley Field!! We had not gotten the chance to go up to Chicago this season with our busy schedule, so this opportunity worked out wonderfully for Curtis' Birthday and some time away for the two of us. Unfortunately we did not see our Cubbies win, but we enjoyed the stadium and the game (despite the super high up seats!). I am so thankful for the fun Curtis and I have being together, and being Cubs fans. It was a joy to celebrate his 39th birthday at Wrigley!!

Sleeping Girl!

Because watching her sleep is one of the best parts of my day! Never grow up, My Sweetness!

Bake Sale Prep!

The boys helped me make Rice Krispie treats for our church's bake sale. We tried a new recipe, and used coconut oil instead of butter. They are tasty! 

Semi-Truck Tour

Mrs. Wolbrecht's home got packed in a big semi-truck, which will be heading to Washington state next week. We stopped by to say hi, and got a little tour of the cab of the big truck. The kids even got to honk the horn. They were so excited! 

PYFL Football Start

Cade started his first season of JYFL just a day after we returned from our trip to the Smokies (July 27). He was so excited to get going, and jumped right in. He didn't miss a beat even though he missed a few practices. I can tell he is already going to love it! Mom enjoyed watching bits and pieces of practice, while Callie and Joel played on the playground at the junior high school. Daddy is helping coach! 

Library Reading Program

We participated in the summer reading program at our local library this summer. We read and listened to a lot of audio books this summer. Some of the books we completed were:

Mouse & The Motorcycle

Wrinkle In Time Trilogy 

Ribsy

Socks 

For every hour the kids listened or ready, they received a ticket. Around 20 big prizes were given away on the end of the summer party. One of Cade's tickets was drawn and he won a new game. It has a similar look and play to chess, with strategy being important. Joel was very disappointed his ticket was not chosen for the magnetic alphabet monsters he wanted. They are on his wishlist now for the future. Maybe next year his ticket will be chosen! 

We had a great summer of reading! 

Saying Goodbye!

The Wolbrecht Family is headed to Washington! Mrs. Wolbrecht brought much joy to these special first graders all school year long as she walked through one of the biggest trials of her life, raising her six youngest babies while her husband was across the country for over a year m. This has been a hard year, but these babes brought much joy. They are so very sad to see her go. We had a "good bye" party at church to send them off! Many tears of sadness as they leave each other's lives. 

Sweet Corn!

We made it home and sweet corn was ready to be picked!! Callie and Joel just love to eat it right out of the field! Yummy! 

Headed Home!

We left for home on Wednesday, and decided to drive straight through. Curtis' health really went down hill the last day and was just miserable. We made a quick stop at Cracker Barrel for Joel and Callie to spend some of their money on a souvenir. Joel wanted to add some sparkly eyed Beannie Babies to his collection, and Callie chose a new dress for her plush Butterfly brand doll. She couldn't wait to get home to color it! It is always fun to get special souvenirs on our trips. It works out perfectly to have the boys' birthdays before our vacations so they have so extra money to spend. Memories! 

Tennessee Smokies Baseball

We drove about an hour north to watch the Tennessee Smokies, the Cubs single A affliliate, play for the evening. When we decided on the Smoky Mountains for our summer trip, we were excited to see the baseball team would be in town! So fun! We have enjoyed visiting the smaller ballparks of the Cubs affiliates over the years!

There was a hot dog special so we enjoyed a little treat, and the atmosphere of the park kept the kids entertained. Curtis got us some great seats behind the visitors dug out so we had a nice view of the game. The boys even got to run on the field during one of the "fun" between inning entertainements. It was a great way to end our trip! 

Out to Eat!

We worked really hard at making our trip as frugal of an adventure as possible. Lodging alone takes up so much of a vacation budget, and of course you want to do "fun" things too. The one way we have found to cut costs, four our family, has been to go light in the food department. We cooked every dinner (when not on the road), and ate out of our cooler for lunches. On our trek home to Illinois, our goal was to empty the cooler and not stop (ha ha!).

So in our efforts to save money, we saved a gift card we had been given in the Spring for our trip, and had an out-to-eat meal paid for! The kids were so excited to go to Cracker Barrel for diner (as were Mom and Dad!). Cade went all out and got a delicious plate booming with French toast, berries, syrup, and whipped cream! He loved it! Callie and Daddy enjoyed playing some of the placemat games, and the boys competed in some checkers. It was a nice time together. We have so much to be thankful for. 

Go-Kart Dreams Come True

The boys could not stop thinking or talking about Go Kart driving since they saw the go karts in Branson. We took the money and splurged on rides for the family during our last full day of fun in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg. Joel really wanted to drive a cart himself, so we ended up going to two different tracks in order to accommodate our different aged drivers. Callie even got to drive a kart by herself too. Joel was a bit bummed when we got to the track for his age, and there was no one to race. I think he discovered he enjoyed riding with Dad was better than driving, so he could race and go really fast! Cade absolutely loved driving, and even though he got a "lemon" of a cart on the last race and couldn't go very fast, I think he still had fun. He was really disappointed, but was able to overcome his emotions after some time in the van to show gratefulness again. This was definitely a treat, and a memory the boys will have for many years to come. Time to start saving for next year's rides!