A Storybook of Grace

 My Grandma was such an important part of my life and I miss her so much.  She passed in June of 2014 and I still think about her almost everyday.  After her and my Grandfather both passed, our family was going through their things and preparing to sell their house.  One of the things I found and have kept and recently have been reading often was this:   A Parent’s Prayer  Author Unknown  Heavenly Father,  Make me a better parent.  Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say, and to answer all their questions kindly.  Keep me from interrupting them or contradicting them.  Make me as courteous to them as I would have them be to me.  Forbid that I should laugh at their mistakes or resort to shame or ridicule when they displease me.  May I never punish them for my own selfish satisfaction or to show my power.  Let me not tempt my child to lie or steal.  Guide me by how that I may demonstrate by all I say and do that honesty produces happiness.   Reduce

  Sean and I and the baby headed to Chicago after test driving a Transit that we decided against buying.  We thought it not a good idea to get back into debt after only being out of debt for approximately 7 days.  We went down to the Magnificent Mile and walked around.  Guess what!?  There were people down there!   We haven’t seen people in Chicago in a long time.  We ate lunch at Geno’s East.  One of the best pizzas I’ve had in a very long time.  It was buffalo chicken wing with bleu cheese crumbles and a carrot and celery relish instead of tomato sauce.  It was delicious.  And we had leftovers so I got to enjoy it again and again.  :). It was a nice day for a date, the baby was so good, and maybe best of all we didn’t buy a thing!  Other than lunch.  That usually does not happen! 

 Tomorrow is date day!  I have no idea really what we are going to do.  Our jar of dates pick tells us we are supposed to enjoy a day of bike riding, which sounded fantastic, but not so much in the rain, which is what the weather is supposed to bring tomorrow.  So, we may just use our sons’ bikes this afternoon and ride around the block!  We are supposed to meet someone to look at their Transit that is for sale tomorrow morning and we are praying about that.   And speaking of bikes...... I started listening to a podcast called That Sounds Fun by Annie F Downs.  I was drawn to it because who doesn’t want to listen to something positive and fun!?  And I feel like God has been trying to tell me to relax and have more fun, especially after watching Yes Day!  HA.  Which by the way we have marked on our calendar to do with our kids on April 17th!!!  Nervous face inserted here. Any way, so one of the podcasts was about finding those moments in your day where you can do the things you enjoy do

 Happy 2nd day of Spring!!!!  The first two days of spring here has brought sunshine and 50s!  I doubt we’re done with winter though.  These pictures came from our day at Chicago Botanic Garden.  When we aren’t working on our adventure book, we are working on my bucket list.  Once again, I’m not sure if I have blogged about this before, but 2019-2020 I started working on my travel bucket list.  I included all 50 states and every country that I am interested in going to.  I then researched each area and wrote down the things I want to do/see.  It was very therapeutic while I was going through lots of pain, suffering, trials, etc.  So yesterday we headed off to the gardens, appropriate for the first day of spring, although only a few flowers have started budding lol.  We really enjoyed the nice long walk and the Japanese Gardens were really neat.  Summer time would probably be better, but it was good.  Afterwards we ate dinner at Cluckers (delicious!).   I have really enjoyed my week off

 I’m not sure if I’ve written about this adventure book we got over Christmas.  It was the pickle gift we had chosen, which Hailey won!  Any way, it’s a family challenge book.  It’s really a lot of fun.   https://www.theadventurechallenge.com/products/family-edition-book?currency=USD&variant=31199952470147&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&utm_term=&utm_campaign=General_Smart+Shopping_Shopping_U.S.&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=2233757441&hsa_cam=8844147599&hsa_grp=91895847991&hsa_ad=410962811253&hsa_src=u&hsa_tgt=pla-1015600039663&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQjwi7yCBhDJARIsAMWFScMtIQYtWLqeFiDkEWCn_1dS6euaBUeDlukFcWGcX0uhMLV_IPpMZvcaAjbsEALw_wcB So we decided to do a challenge this weekend.  We had to buy fruits and vegetables, create two teams, and then each team had 60 seconds to throw as many fruits and vegetables into a bucket of water and e

 Another birthday!   Our Hunter turned 10 yesterday.  Now, I have to say things have been so busy around here and last Thursday I was close to breaking down.  We’ve had lots of dental appointments, doctor appointments, regular life appointments, anniversary, Valentine’s, birthdays, I’m in a hard grad school class right now,  all sorts of things.  It’s been great, but I was feeling pretty worn out towards the end of last week.   My Dad flew in for the weekend because Hunter had asked him to.  It was so great to see him, although a short trip, he left today, and we all miss him.   Hunter had his party on Saturday night and Sunday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and then to Milwaukee Burger Company in WI.  Busy day, but so much fun.  We all really enjoyed the museum.  It was their first day opening back up since COVID.  We all got in for free, too, except for my Dad, because we are home schoolers, so that was super nice.  They have a Marvel exhibit there, too, whi