Tea Time?

I took Nathaniel to Cub Scouts the other day and came home to find my other 3 children having a Tea Party! It was so sweet! I had to snap a photo and post about it here! This school year we have incorporated "Tea Time" into our daily schedule. We have tea, cookies and say the Rosary together. (No, we don't usually dress up!) It has become a very special time of the day for us. On this particular day we didn't get to our regular Tea Time but they weren't going to allow that....

Cursillo Weekend

Last weekend I went on a Cursillo weekend. I was able to really spend time working on my relationship with Christ. I also made several new friendships and strengthened some exsisting ones! In college, I attened a Kononia weekend and it was very moving but this was a life-changing weekend for me.

I kind of went into the Cursillo weekend thinking that it would just be nice to get away and spend time praying. It was all that and much more. I think that I really learned to listen to God as he speaks to me and to be more aware of him in my every day life.

I know my life is WAY to crowded lately with wordly things and I know this weekend is making me look more closely at my family, my relationships, my activities, and my time in general.

If you ever get a chance to go on a Cursillo weekend - GO! You won't regret it!

Shadows of Blue and Gray

I am WAY behind on my posting. I thought I should post about our trip to the Shadows of the Blue and Gray in Princeton, IL. We went to this Civil War re-enactment on October 11th. Darren and I went to the first one and now their 12th one! I had read something in the paper about Civil War re-enactment's and it really interested me. So I thought we would take the kids and go to one. The article talked about how Civil War re-enactors really did it to preserve history. They don't do it to glorify war or anything like that. They just want people to NEVER forget it.

So, we headed out and spent most of the day talking to the people. They are there in their camps, hanging out, waiting to talk to the visitors. We talked to lots of different people and learned many things. I talked to a sweet lady for a LONG time about the garments that the women wore back then. The kids got to hold a rifle and find out just how HEAVY it was! Then we watched a short re-enactment on the field. The cannons were VERY loud and Connor and Kiera lost interest pretty quickly, but Nate and Meaghan seem to really enjoy it. They boys picked out hand carved wood rifles to take home, Kiera a hand-made broom, and Meaghan some ink and writing pens.

In the evening, they had a period dress Civil War Ball. Kate (my sister) and her boyfriend were attending along with Victoria (my sister). My mom sewed them beautiful gowns. While they were getting ready it looked like Meaghan would really like to go. So, we scurried around the dress-up tub and found a suitable outfit. It wasn't perfect but it worked. They posed for a few photos and then headed out.

They had a wonderful evening. We were told that they danced ALL night. Tori told us that a young boy asked Meaghan to dance RIGHT away and they didn't stop all night! Meaghan didn't even find out the boys name as they never stopped long enough to talk! LOL I loved it that there were families and all ages present at the Ball. I guess it is a big family affair. I just LOVE things like this. I think that THAT is how all dances should be! Not the tense, who is taking who, school dance! They danced old English dances - which I was amazed since they really didn't know how. But I guess there is an announcer and they say it is really quite easy!

They are talking plans for next year already! Meaghan and I have even looked at pattern at JoAnn's! I plan on making her a beautiful gown for next year and maybe the whole family can attend.

My Birthday Weekend!

I thought I would share a bit about my lovely birthday weekend! We started out by heading to Peoria to go to Wildlife Scary Park. We got candy and road a Halloween train. It was pretty lame in my opinion, especially when compared to the Decatur Boo at the Zoo or Mickey's Not So Scary Party at Disney. That night we went to eat at a favorite restaurant of mine - Avanti's. Why oh why don't they open one of them up in Champaign? The next day - my birthday -we woke and went to a fabulous Catholic Religious Book Store (actually not just a bookstore - it had just about every religious anything you ever wanted. Tons of nativity sets - which I drooled over! Darren ended up buying me a Fontanini crucifix. I don't have a nice crucifix for our home and so it was 16 years in the coming! Then we headed up north to go hiking at Matthison State Park! It is one of my favorite places to hike and since we were going to be near the area on Saturday we decided to go. Lots of stairs and very crowded but it was still fun. We had beautiful fall weather - a bit on the cool side - perfect for hiking (and sweating!). Then we headed to my parents, where my sisters and mom created a lovely birthday dinner of Lasagna (my favorite meal) and CAKE! It sure pays to have such wonderful doting sisters, especially one that is taking a Cake decorating class! Wow - the Lemon Cake was DIVINE! I got gobs of great gifts - and so did Connor! A great time was had by all! Thanks everyone for the lovely birthday greetings and wishes!

Birthday Present Ideas???

Ok... I need HELP! My Connor is going to be 7 in just 3 short days... actually I think it is now technically Tuesday here so I only have 2!!! Ah...

So, any great birthday ideas? I am just so stuck right now. I am thinking I will fall back with some Lego sets but I was hoping to come up with something a bit more original!

Anyone have anything their children just LOVE and play with all the time?

Long... short...

Connor really wanted to grow his hair long and then cut it and donate it to Locks Of Love. He had let it grow for a long time but it was really bothering him lately. I tried to keep it cut neat but I just didn't know how to do it right. One time we even took him to someone to "trim" it up - but it ended up looking just the same after he came out! So... he asked for me to cut it (at the end of September). Maybe someday he can try again! :)

Dinner, Dessert and a Movie

So for our Anniversary my sweet sister Becky watched the kids for the evening and Darren and I got to go out to dinner, dessert and a movie. It was so nice to be able to go out alone. When we get to do this - it is always so nice and I always end the evening wondering why we don't do it more often. Of which, I know.... $$$.
So a big thanks to Becky who took great care of the kiddos for us!

We went to Seven Saints downtown Champaign for dinner. Here is a great blog post on the Seven Saints Restaurant/Bar. I had been there before and had one of the best salads I have ever had. I was craving to try it again and so we headed downtown. It was a lovely evening (much like our wedding night) and we were able to sit outside and enjoy the fresh evening air. For an appetizer we had the Jalepeno Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms. They were spicy and yummy! For our meal I ordered the 1/2 Salad and 1 slider, then I added a two other sliders. I got the Asian Slider (with wasabi and asian slaw), Tropical Stack Slide (with pineapple and peanut sauce) and California Turkey Slider (with avacado) and the Goat Cheese Salad (which is my FAVORITE!) Darren had the Steak Sandwich and Bratwurst Slider. I liked the Asian Slider the best - the wasabi kick was so tasty!

After dinner we went for a walk downtown and then stopped by the new cupcake place, Cakes on Walnut. Darren can never pass by a cupcake! I had a Chocolate Cupcake with Mixed Berry Frosting and Darren had a plain Chocolate Cupcake. I wish I had brought my camera because they dish they were served on was so beautiful. I wasn't thrilled with the cupcakes. I don't really care for chocolate but it was slim pickings by the time we go there.

Then we headed to Pages for All Ages to browse for awhile and then headed to the movies. We went to see Eagle Eye. It was a really good moive but it was ALL action and the motion on the big screen left me VERY sick! I almost didn't make it through the show! If you like action and suspense - this is a great movie. Just be sure to put on your motion sickness bands first!!! :)

If our marriage...

Best quote from my husband today.

"If our marriage was a child it would be driving today."

Happy 16th Anniversary to us!

I am an Aunt Again!

I am an aunt again!

My baby sister, Liz (and her husband Nick) gave birth to her first child yesterday morning at 6:23 am. She had a beautiful homebirth that the kids and I attended. They named her, Alayna Marie and she is 6 lbs 8 oz and is 20" long. She is so adorable! They are all doing well and having a nice babymoon!

Squidoo

Squidoo is donating $80,000 to charities. They put away 5% of their profits and are letting voters choose where they donate the monies. They are only allowing 40,000 votes and they aren't far away from that - so go vote today!!!

It literally only takes 5 seconds and you don't have to give them you name or any info, just click a box. Go HERE!!! Squidoo

I voted for La Leche League (and secretly hope you do to) as I feel that babies that get a healthy breastfed start are better off in many, many ways down the road.

Vote today!

Neurology Appointment

We went to see the Pediatric Neurologist yesterday about Connor and his seizures. He saw Dr. Kennedy at Carle. We really liked her. She spoke directly to Connor for most of the exam and really listened to me. I just love it when you get a Dr. you really like and that listens to you and doesn't treat you like an idiot. :)

Anyway - she told us that his EEG had some spikes on it. They were in the lower right occipital lobe. She said that these types of spikes are common in someone who has seizures. Now, that doesn't mean he was definately having seizures during the test or that he will have them again but that they are common in someone who does have seizures. She agreed with me that Connor's seizures weren't febrile seizures. Then she gave us two options; one was to medicate him for a few years and watch him over the years and then wean him off of the medication gradually and see how he does, or not medicate and see how he does over the next six months.

I asked about the fact that he has always been sick when he has had the seizures and she said that was very common in children with seizures.

I went into the apt really wanting an MRI but she said that after all of the tests she did and looking at the EEG she really doesn't see that it is warranted at this time. BUT, we were to watch him and if we see any changes in him to let her know and we could always do one in the future.

I told her that I really didn't want to do medication at this time. With my experience with seizure medications, I know how very hard it is to find a good match and the proper dosage. She agreed. She also said that he is right at the threshhold for medicating or not (which is why she gave me the 2 options). You usually medicate if someone has more than 2-3 seizures a year and he is right at 2 (possibly 3 seizures this year). So right at the iffy point.

So, we will wait and see how he does over the next six months. I hope he doesn't have anymore and is seizure free for a long time!

Thanks to everyone that has been so supportive of us at this time.