1. Greg's new job. He started back in March at Severson Dells Nature Center near our home in Winnebago. The job, the people, the day-to-day "work" could not be better for him. This is the job he waited his whole life for, and what a gift to have it already at 30 instead of waiting until you're close to retirement to finally be doing the work you wanted to do all along. He's writing, discovering a talent he didn't really know he had, though anyone could have told him that he's a gifted storyteller. We just spent a lovely weekend camping as a family with several other families at Severson Dells, and no one could have guessed that he was working. There is finally peace in our home when we don't have to spend our night together venting about work.
Greg leading a group at Pecatonica Forest Preserve.
2. My job. I have now been with Girl Scouts for about 2.5 years, and it continues to get better and better. I now work quite frequently with our national Research Institute and have paired my two skills quite nicely - writing and math. A funny combination, but it all seems to work in a marriage of grant writing, program evaluation, and outcomes reporting. Boring stuff to most, I know. But nothing tops reading comments on a survey from an 11-year-old girl struggling with bullying at school, "I want to thank everyone for sitting down and listening to my problems." No one could EVER tell me that Girl Scouts is about cookies and badges. :)
3. Ely's school. At the end of May, Ely began attending Berean Baptist Preschool in Rockford. We pulled him out of his daycare after getting frustrated with the amount of TV watching and junk food eating we observed there. Daily, he would beg us not to take him to daycare, and he'd come home wound up from being stuck inside watching TV all day. We learned about the summer program for 3-5 year olds at Berean when we attended an open house to check out their K-3 program in the Fall. We were sold on the K-3 program, and thought, why not start him earlier during the summer? It was the best choice we could have made. He is having a blast at school and loving all the activity and his teachers, who are a very nice and disciplined bunch of women. Every week they focus on two letters, they have a weekly theme (hawaiian luau, farm, circus, cowboy, etc.) for crafts and dress up, they go swimming in kiddie pools outside every Tuesday, a field trip on the bus every Wednesday, and a hike into a nearby park every Thursday, not to mention daily (sometimes twice daily) trips outside to the playground or to the gym, and lots of toys and games to play with. I can tell he absolutely loves it and has never once wanted to stay home on a Monday morning!
Ely on "cowboy day" at school.
4. Greg's bodybuilding. At the end of April, Greg competed in his very first amateur bodybuilding competition. He worked for a year to bulk himself up, then for the last 4 months, burn it all off to reveal lots of hardened muscle. He worked extremely hard and ended up placing second in his weight class. He lost only to the man that won his weight class, age class, and the entire overall competition, so we felt the second place finish was definitely an accomplishment. I'm not sure if he'll ever do it again, but I think he may have his sights set on a bench press competition next.
Greg and I with his trophy right after his competition.
5. Greg and I's trip. Greg and I escaped to New Glarus, WI, over Mother's Day weekend to have a relaxing weekend of eating, shopping for plants, and more eating. We spent two nights at the Chalet Landhaus and took in all the Swiss history and culture the town had to offer, especially the cheese and pastries! It was so much fun to get away just the two of us.
Greg in one of the many greenhouses we visited.
6. Ely and I's garden. Ely and I planted a garden this year (ok, mostly me) and we are very excited that despite our minimal efforts, it is producing! We had a crop of aobout 15 radishes early in the season, our zucchini is going gangbusters with three good-sized squash that have already been harvested and devoured, we have summer squash, onions, and peas that will be ready in another month or so, pepper plants that are still small but may produce, and a whole host of fall items like butternut squash, indian corn, giant pumpkins, jack-o-lantern pumpkins, and baby pie pumpkins growing taller everyday.
Ely with his radish harvest.
7. Summer landscaping and activities. The yard has exploded with plants! Greg, in all his mastery of botany, has transformed our yard and house into a real woodland retreat, now complete with a pond and soon a working waterfall, thanks to his father's day present of a solar waterfall pump. It has been so terribly hot and dry that it has been difficult to do as much as we would like, but all the watering of plants keeps us busy after work at night! We have also been on many hikes (including a nice day trip to Starved Rock State Park), a few camp outs in the yard and Severson Dells, and a couple of canoe trips with Ely. We dominated the Memorial Day parade in Pecatonica, we've gone "swimming" a few times in Ely's pool, and we got the ok from his ear doctor to go swimming more this summer since his ear tubes have come out.
Our new pond, but this picture does not show it in its completion...more to follow!
8. Upcoming vacations. I am excited to get away to NYC again (I went in March) to go to a short conference in July, and the whole family including my mom will be traveling to Devil's Lake again at the end of August to stay at Nordic Pines Resort, where we stayed two years ago. We also need to plan a trip to Lincoln Park Zoo, since Greg's sister is staying very near there this summer, and possibly fit in a trip to the Aquarium in Dubuque, the Milwaukee Zoo, or even Shedd Aquarium. Then in September, Greg and I will have another short getaway, this time to the Twin Cities to celebrate a good friend's wedding.
9. Ely's gum. I know it's not monumental, but just another sign of his growing up. Ely learned how to chew gum. He'll keep the same piece for up to 2 hours if you let him. He thinks it's the best thing ever. In the last couple months, he's also gotten a big boy bed, learned how to get dressed and undressed all by himself, and can even do some buttons. He's learning how to write some letters at school and can write his name now. He had his 3-year-old preschool screening and scored in the 89th percentile, meaning he is closer to a 4-year-old intellectually in most areas. We are so proud, but that doesn't stop us from wanting him to stay little sometimes! (and he also grew an inch and half since his 3rd birthday only 4 months ago!)
Ely and his gum.
10. Family and friends. We've had an abundance of family lately. In a good way. We still incorporate my mom in many activities, and recently she converted all of her family's old home movies onto DVD. It was so good to see my grandfather and aunt again through that lens, and learn more about who my family was through my grandfather's eyes behind the lens. My dad came in town for a while in April and May and had fun getting to know Ely better. Greg's cousin Chase has been a wonderful addition to our activities and Ely adores him. "Uncle" Trevor joined us on a campout in the yard. My brother was able to come for an impromptu visit this week and it has been tremendous to see him again. "Uncle" Don has become a fixture in Ely's life now that he is officially Greg's boss and we see quite a bit more of him. We even had some friends from college visit this past weekend with their two daughters. How lucky we are to have all these people, past and present, a part of our lives. And it's gotten us thinking about plans for the 10th Anniversary of Turkeypalooza this November! :)
Our cousin Chase and Ely playing in the pool.
Thanks for sticking with me this long! :)
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