Hiking at Matthiesen State Park

Since Charissa is leaving in a week to head back to college, we decided to go to one of her favorite places here in Illinois - Matthiesen State Park.  It is about a two hour drive from our house but has always been worth the drive.  We packed a lunch and headed out with a promise of gorgeous weather perfect for hiking.

Tired before the hike ever began

Eric is ready to go ...

  
Eric was excited to bring his own backpack for hiking.  Yeah, that excitement died within the first three minutes of the hike, and Charissa carried it for 99% of the hike.  Eric did want it back at lunch time. Eric loved hiking.  He loves the outdoors period and was quite the trooper.  He did snitch a piggy-back ride up the flights of stairs - don't blame him there as some flights were quite long and steep.

Although we have had severe drought lately, the recent storms helped green up things and made for some beautiful nature shots.  It also created some puddles for getting wet and water fights.  The water was still low enough that the easier trails were accessible which made it easier on the younger kids and out-of-shape moms.

Let's Hike!

 

Jonathan doing some exploring

Clint and Eric enjoying the view

Joanna and Cara

Jonathan and Oren climbing and trying not to fall into the water below

  

Oren was King of the Rock until Charissa the Queen came along and showed him who was boss.

   

    

Kalynne tried to use a staff to part the waters on the bridge.

Enjoying a treat  ... It was National Soft Serve Ice Cream Day afterall.

Zeke

I have enjoyed watching the different relationship dynamics since having Zeke. Since we have had some super cold weather as of late, Zeke has been inside so it makes watching him more fun. His antics are funny as he not the most graceful dog. His ear has a habit of turning inside out giving him a lopsided look. He loves the outdoors, and I think the snow is his favorite. He just runs and bounds through with a doggy grin on his face. The outdoors only comes in second to being with his family. We are glad to have saved him from the shelter as he brings us much laughter.

Zeke has a different relationship with each family member. Take me for instance, Zeke is just like my children, I swear. I am the Alpha, the one in charge and the disciplinarian. When Zeke is doing something wrong, I am usually the one that punishes him. What is funny is when I haven't caught him in a no-no situation, but he will see me and start running away. Zeke will keep out of my reach or hide behind another family member when he knows he is in trouble. The dog acts guilty even if not caught (just like my kids). It is not all fear as Zeke does find me me a suitable companion albeit boring sometimes.

Kalynne is the caretaker, and Zeke adores her. He knows she is a pushover. She is his playmate and whimpers when she leaves his sight. It makes going to the bathroom or even piano practice difficult for Kaly.

Clint is Zeke's buddy and best friend. Both Zeke and Eric wait at the door to greet Clint when they see his car drive up. It is hard to tell who is more excited. Clint is pretty enamored himself and loves having Zeke.

Watching and whimpering while his playmates head back to school

Charissa is the one who rough-houses with Zeke. He loves wrestling with her, and it is quite funny to watch. To knock down his opponent Zeke jumps at and hits them broadside. Also Zeke doesn't fight fair if he is losing and goes for the toes. That hurts!

Eric and Zeke are quite the duo. Eric loves Zeke while Zeke tolerates him. The only incident was when Zeke nipped Eric on the lip. Eric was repeatedly poking Zeke in the eye. A poor dog can take only so much. Zeke knew he was in major trouble when he did it. Zeke has come to the understanding that Eric is not low man on the totem pole here. Now to solve the being contstantly bothered, Zeke has learned a method that is acceptable. He nibbles (lips only) Eric's toes or fingers. That grosses Eric out and stops the annoying action.

I witnessed it when Eric was holding on to the tip of Zeke's tail following Zeke around. Zeke tired of the game quickly and nibbled Eric's fingers to stop the game. Zeke does give Eric kisses and once Eric realizes whiskers are not meant to be pulled, perhaps Zeke will not run from Eric so much. There are times Zeke looks so worn out from entertaining and avoiding Eric. I think he is almost begging to be locked in the crate to be able to sleep. I can so sympathize, Zeke!

Life Happens

Geez, it has been a while since I posted anything. There has been plenty going on though, mundane along with the not so mundane. Where to begin?

The weather can't decide if it wants to be Spring or Winter. I am just glad for our new sump what with the rain and thawing we have been having. It has most likely saved us a few wet floors in the basement. Thank goodness for tax refunds that can pay for it too.

Thank goodness for tax refunds that can cover the loss of income from a temporary lay-off too. All those kids and deductions can come in handy. It seems that Clint gets to take a week off of work and not be paid for it. It most likely will be two, but at least it won't be back-to-back ... sort of. The first one is at the end of March. We had just bought a trip to Branson for a 15th anniversary get-away. We were going to take it when the kids had Spring Break. We are going to go when Clint doesn't have to work now. We found a sitter and made our reservations. Something good besides the enormous amount of yard clean-up has to happen that week.

We also bought a porch swing. We have only been here 6 years. We finally found the right one. We ordered it, and it will be ready in time for Mother's Day. You know where to find me (with my nose in a book) this summer.

Eric is quite the chatterbox now. He has plenty of examples around here. He can say school (when he sees the bus come and the kids get on). There is thank you, welcome, bye-bye, night, and what's that? as well. Oh, I am "mom" now unless Eric is showing his imp-ish sense of humor. Then he goes around the house calling every dad and just laughing about it. I get "What!?" when I call his name. That is also due to the plenty of examples around here. I heard him say stuck the other day as well. He can also say Charissa's and Kaly's names or at least an understandable variation.

I am surprised I don't hear stuck more often as Eric is a climber. I am always have to rescue him. He loves water too. Toilet seats have to stay down and bath tubs emptied. I found out the hard way about the tubs when I found towels, blankets, clothes, toys, and a couple of pillows thrown in the water.

Scholastic Bowl season is wrapping up. Charissa did well as JV captain. Kalynne has her last meet this coming week. both girls love it and earn their team plenty of points.

Oren didn't make it to state for his National Geographic Geography Bee. The poor kid was so heartbroken. He studied really hard too. We are all smarter now, because he shared all his information with us.

Joanna busted her chin open in PE a couple of weeks ago. It is to match the back of her head, I guess. She also was out this past week for three days with a bug that just made you feel yucky and lethargic with a low grade fever.

Jonathan had Pinewood Derby last month but didn't win any races. He was so bummed, and then broke his trophy since he won a specialty category. It was just not his night. He is looking forward to summer camp so I better get him signed-up!

Cara has stayed free of injury, illness and disappointment unless you count having been made to practice piano. She is struggling with that right now. I get to teach her as her dad is about as exasperated as she is.

I am staying busy with PTO (finished one project last week and moving on to the next, a fundraiser next week). Church keeps me going too. What with my responisibilities, the activities and everyone else's responsibilities and activities ... ugh! Okay, it is not bad just busy. I also pamper myself by working out three times a week. I started attending Curves. So far the effort has paid off with 11.5 pounds and 14 total inches lost. The photo from Thanksgiving was motivation and a shocker about how I let the weight creep back on again. I actually enjoy exercise or maybe it is the me time. A friend watches Eric 2 hours twice a week so I can workout and run errands during the week. I also go Saturday mornings. I try to squeeze in walks the other days. hopefully the weather will decide on sunny spring days so it is possible.

Now I better get to bed. I just realized I had typed this entire rambling news bit in my cooking blog. Thank goodness for copy and paste!

Funny Kid Videos

Sorry about the darkness, but Eric was so funny thinking he was pulling Charissa in our rolling desk chair. MUSH!

Oren and Kalynne goofing off ... think being cooped up indoors is getting to them.

Charissa

I gotta brag about my oldest. Charissa is 15 (16 in 4 months) and a pretty good kid. She is helpful. She does have the ocassional mouthy attitude, but overall she is a keeper.

Charissa is talented musically and plays the piano well. She plays at church when asked. She is a voracious reader and loves to write. She is a good student (much better than I ever was) which I knew. She surprised me with how good of a student last night.

She brought home her Honors English grade for the quarter yesterday. She showed me the grade. I couldn't believe it. I gave her the parental spill about trying harder and improving next quarter. It was all tongue-in-cheek though. She had a 99 for her grade. That is so awesome!

She also showed us her practice ACT she took in preparation for next year when she is a junior and takes the real thing. She had a score of 22 for the practice run. She will do well. She has a good head on her shoulders and a great mind in that head.

I am so proud of her!

Things Gone Bad ...

A field trip gone bad ...

A driving lesson in parking gone bad ...

A home repair project gone bad ...

Why I try not to venture into teenage girls' rooms ...

Ignore the really cute kid for an instant and check out the background. UGH!

There are no pictures of the closet because those who ventured to do so were never seen from again.

TimeTraveller

My oldest says she is a time traveller. I laughed at her. Then she showed me this picture. Look at the young woman on the left.

Now I wonder as this is my oldest here and now.

I read about the first young woman. She is referred to as Big Nose Kate. Interesting history to say the least. Charissa is worried about the photo of Kate at 40. I didn't like the reputation of being a prostitute and common law wife to a gun slinger. So glad I don't believe the time traveller theory to explain the look alike.