A Chicago Getaway

We took a vacation last July to visit our friends the Hitchcock family in the Chicago area. We began our adventure with a camping trip. Camping is not my favorite thing to do (to day the least), but because they had an air conditioned pop up camper I agreed to go for 24 hours. I won't go so far to say that it was "fun" (the kids LOVED it)!!! I think it had something to do with the raccoons eating our breakfast, the disgusting port-a-potties, sticky 95 degree heat, and the massive rain storm that hit right before we decided to pack up camp. BUT I was a HUGE fan of the company and the little diner that we found to eat breakfast at while were still wearing our pajamas.

Taking a little boat ride.

Right after this picture I threw up. . .I do not know what was wrong with me. The heat, the motion of the boat, I am jacked up I will be the first to admit!

The Mollster

Before the raccoons decided to "share" our food.

The next day riding the train into Chicago.

Getting ready to take a boat architectural tour of the city.

In the cab going to lunch.

Megan, Meg and Natalie

Ready for the Cardinals game at Wrigley Field.

Molly in heaven, I mean the American Girl store.

Thanks for the fun Hitchcock family!!!

Little League Champion

I was not much of a baseball fan until last spring/summer. Sam's 7-8 year old, machine pitch little league team had a 3-7 record going into the post season. With this record, you can only imagine how rough their season was. And how hard it was to watch game after game these little guys loosing.
Then came post season and our little leaguers hit their stride. They came alive beating the top three teams in the league in succession to win the championship.

The rested of the post is written and documented by Sam O'Brien himself.

I got FOUR triples, a bunch of doubles and a lot of singles (I'm not bragging, only stating the facts. . .again, want to remind that this is written by Sam).


I liked to play at third base, what a minute. . . I LOVED 3rd base .

I also loved getting on base, I mean who doesn't?

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We won! We're the champions (you know like that song?)!

We were pretty happy pretty much because we won the championship.

After the game we (dad and I) went to the pool to cheer on my siblings who were in a swim meet (and to show off my AWESOME trophy).

My dad was my coach. one of the best ones, because he led my team to a championship VICTORY!

Post script by Sam's mom. . .we are very happy that Sam has a TON of confidence, but are going to be talking to him a little bit about HUMILITY!!!

The Hospital

I was at the new Norton Kosiar Children's Hospital (thank goodness they built one only two miles away from my house) three times during the last 10 days of August.

It all began when I decided that my kids needed to be a little more independent and told Ben he could fix himself something for dinner before cross country practice. A can of refried beans, a can opener and five stitches later was visit # 1 at the hospital. Kosair was great because it was close, nice, clean and had absolutely NO WAIT. Huge bonus!!!

I was actually bragging about the new hospital to my friends just minutes before visit #2 occurred. This was an experience I will never forget, mostly because I am so grateful for the guidance of the spirit and the love of not only wonderful friends, but a compassionate Heavenly Father.

After that. . .I decided I never want to go back to that hospital again.

A few days later however came visit #3. Rusty and I were just finishing dinner out when Ben called me, and frantically said "Molly swallowed a magnetic marble." DAMN!!! (oh, did I just write that?) I called the doctor and of course she told me to go to the hospital. Seven hundred dollars (out of pocket) later, not only did we find the marble, but found out Molly never goes poo (she's going to LOVE this post in a few years:). You can see the mounds of poo in the x-ray. No wonder she had been so lethargic and GROUCHY!!! I was attributing it to all day kindergarten. A week of constant Miralax in her water and Molly was a new girl (btw, I made Rusty fish the marble out of the toilet when it finally came out). Ahhhhhh the joys of parenting.

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4th of July

Just another 4th of July celebration with the Miller family. I think this makes 5 years in a row. We deviated a little by going over to some other friends (just in the next cul-de-sac) and watched as their grown sons "educated" my young sons about fire (I mean fireworks).

Molly kept telling everyone to help her lite another "sprinkler."

Swim Team 2010

2010 was Molly's first year on the swim team.

Rusty thought I was crazy to register her since he had witnessed her two months earlier, during spring break, unable to even get in the pool without a floaty or me holding her. But I was not about to let that deter my goal of having Molly be a proud member of the Glen Oaks Swim Team. I really wanted her to learn to swim, and another HUGE deciding factor was our swim teams policy: pay for three kids and the fourth one is free. I am all about getting something free.

Therefore, I went on the hunt to find someone to teach Molly swim lessons three times a week during the month of May so that she would be able to "pass" the tryout and swim the length of the pool by June 1, 2010. After paying a small fortune for intense private lessons, she was accepted as a Glen Oaks Gator. In hind sight, I wonder if the swim lessons were worth the free swim team season.

Our swim team does a lot of fun things throughout the season (these enticements are the only way I am able to convince Meg to swim. . .that, and promising her she only has to go to practice two times a week with one of the practices being the "fun practice". . .I'm just picking my battles:). They have a pirate swim meet where everyone dresses up like pirates, we have an Amazing Race party which ends with a pudding drop, and a great awards banquet right before championships (see pictures below).

Most improved for the 11-12 year old girls.