December 2015
What probably felt like a tornado at the time in retrospect looks like a gentle breeze. Jack still wore bibs every day because his drooling was breaking county records. He was finishing his last month in at home daycare, where he would regularly fall asleep in the middle of playing with toys. Thomas got to go see Star Wars The Force Awakens, which was the first good Star Wars movie they made since 1983. He watched it without making a sound or moving a muscle. We spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in Springfield with both families. Both boys got spoiled rotten again in what is becoming a major package transportation conundrum. Even the Harjer's visited. At the Kuchar Christmas, there are 7 kids (Jahsa - 1, Julia - 2, Jack - 2, Will - 5, Thomas -5, Jared - 14, Austin - 15). At the OConnor Christmas, we only have 3 (Jack - 2, Thomas - 5, Michael - 29).
What probably felt like a tornado at the time in retrospect looks like a gentle breeze. Jack still wore bibs every day because his drooling was breaking county records. He was finishing his last month in at home daycare, where he would regularly fall asleep in the middle of playing with toys. Thomas got to go see Star Wars The Force Awakens, which was the first good Star Wars movie they made since 1983. He watched it without making a sound or moving a muscle. We spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in Springfield with both families. Both boys got spoiled rotten again in what is becoming a major package transportation conundrum. Even the Harjer's visited. At the Kuchar Christmas, there are 7 kids (Jahsa - 1, Julia - 2, Jack - 2, Will - 5, Thomas -5, Jared - 14, Austin - 15). At the OConnor Christmas, we only have 3 (Jack - 2, Thomas - 5, Michael - 29).
January 2016
Looks like it was a pretty quiet month. We took the kids to the Treehouse and Mall on consecutive weekends, which leads me to believe they were wild and it was too cold to go outside and Mom and Dad wanted to sit quietly for a while. If only we knew how that feeling would linger in the coming months.
February 2016
The Ellis' got a giant trampoline for Christmas. It was definitely Tom's first time on one and despite the fact that it was 42 degrees outside he jumped until his lips turned purple. A trampoline is like a pool table or a swimming pool or a fire hydrant... it's awesome when you're neighbors have one. Sorry boys. Also, in preparation for our upcoming Tahoe trip, Tom and I went "skiing" at a small ski hill 15 minutes outside of Glen Ellyn. I've never been to a place quite like it. It's maybe the size of 4 football fields side to side with enough elevation to make a ball roll down the hill, but no more. There are a couple of tow ropes that pull you up. You rent all your gear and head on up, ski down for 3.1 seconds and do it all over again. We had an awesome time. Bruce taught me to ski between his legs on a mountain in Vermont when I was 10 which makes this seem like a downgrade, but Tom was in store for a pretty incredible experience mere weeks away.
March 2016
We took our first family of 4 airplane vacation. 2 kids, 3 seats, I want to say 6 hours... and it was an experience. Tom was as outstanding, but that's easy to say when we basically forced him to watch two straight movies. Jack learned a lot about that airplane. We spent a lot of time in the aisles and the attendant area and the bathroom and undercarriage luggage area but we made it. We landed in Reno which hasn't been updated since the Reagan administration but perhaps that entry port is the reason that not everyone knows about Tahoe which might be the most beautiful place in the country. The first day we were there, we were on a beach and Thomas stripped down to his undies and jumped in a lake. The next day we we bundled up on top of an Olympic mountain. We took a boat tour of Lake Tahoe and hiked down a hill with hundred foot tall trees to a motionless, secluded beach with massive boulders that have been eroded down to the size of minivans. On our way out of town we killed some time in Reno and took the kids into a casino to introduce them to cigarette smoke and despair. We had an amazing time and are so thankful to the Harjer's for hosting us and while we're thrilled they're moving back to the Midwest, I hope this isn't our last visit to Tahoe.
Some special notes about the skiing... After our rigorous 3 hour training on the snow covered landfill pile in Illinois, we decided that gondola ride up to a 9,000 foot peak in the mountains of California would be a logical next step. The trash hill at home had a slope kind of like looking down your driveway. Getting ready to drop in at Squaw Valley with a 4 year old between your legs, was like that first look you get at the track at the very top of the roller coaster. It's a real "oh darn" moment. I thought about faking an injury and calling the ski patrol to pull us down on a sled, but we didn't go all the way to California to quit. So we jumped over the edge and began our decent which is really hard to describe. Carrying a scared stiff 48 pound sack of oats down the same mountain as the 1960 Olympic gold medalists is a point of pride and likely a note in the file against me at DCFS. With some help from Aunt Leannie we dragged that beautiful boy down that beautiful mountain and at the foot I collapsed and Thomas ate a bag of BBQ chips.
April 2016
April was mostly recuperation from our amazing trip, but if memory serves, Karen and I went out for tacos one night and she decided that she was going to go for the job opening at Stevenson. Karen is an outstanding teacher and we had talked about her looking for a new job conceptually before, but this was the first time it seemed like a real thing.
May 2016
Stevenson is a nationally recognized high school that features ammenities that were not available at any of my colleges. I don't have an equivalent in my profession, but let's just say that it would be like if someone from the New Yorker read this and gave me a call. I applied for like 73 jobs during my "intermission" 2 years ago. Karen applied for a single job, against a hundred applicants and of course was selected. I'm proud of her but it's irritating honestly. I'm trying to get one tomato plant going over here and she's got a damned cornucopia of vegetation in her yard. Whatever. We share bank accounts.
So she got the job and we put the house on the market. I don't have anything nice to say about the buying and selling of houses. We were very lucky selling so quickly, slightly unlucky with a hiccup in the middle but I suppose things ended the way they should have when we finally found our this house. It was incredibly stressful and I would be thrilled if we didn't have to do it again for 30 years at which point we're buying an Aerostar and living in a series of National Parks assuming such places still exist.
So she got the job and we put the house on the market. I don't have anything nice to say about the buying and selling of houses. We were very lucky selling so quickly, slightly unlucky with a hiccup in the middle but I suppose things ended the way they should have when we finally found our this house. It was incredibly stressful and I would be thrilled if we didn't have to do it again for 30 years at which point we're buying an Aerostar and living in a series of National Parks assuming such places still exist.
June 2016
More Vacations! School let out and we went down to Fort Myers Beach for OConnors in Florida Vol. 2. There was some weird kelp washup all along the beach the first day, but the weather was miraculously beautiful and warm every day. Michael and Stina rented bikes and bought Vietnamese fishing hats and rode around town torturing locals with their "music". Thomas improved his swimming and by the end of vacation was going back and forth underwater with goggles on for what seems like hours on end. Jack liked the beach for the first time ever and wore his floaty and went out to the sandbar with all the big kids. We played frisbee on the beach and got ice cream every night. In a shocking revelation, Gramma Tracye announced she doesn't like seafood or shellfish or fisherman or the American Flag. You think you know somebody...
Lastly, for posterity, I'd like to add to the ledger that my brother who is 5 years younger than me, between one half and 5 inches taller then me depending on humidity and shoe wear, has 2 less kids than me and exercises his lungs much more frequently than me, was trying to shame me in front of my boys with his underwater swimming prowess. He was bragging and boasting about his 4 underwater pool lengths and directing a number of unkind accusations at me in front of my lineage. Backed into a corner, I was forced to remind everyone within the sound of my voice that all older brothers have an internal reservoir of excellence that they save for emergency situations just like this. So I broke the glass, dipped into the reservoir and reminded him of his place with 5 complete underwater laps.
More Vacations! School let out and we went down to Fort Myers Beach for OConnors in Florida Vol. 2. There was some weird kelp washup all along the beach the first day, but the weather was miraculously beautiful and warm every day. Michael and Stina rented bikes and bought Vietnamese fishing hats and rode around town torturing locals with their "music". Thomas improved his swimming and by the end of vacation was going back and forth underwater with goggles on for what seems like hours on end. Jack liked the beach for the first time ever and wore his floaty and went out to the sandbar with all the big kids. We played frisbee on the beach and got ice cream every night. In a shocking revelation, Gramma Tracye announced she doesn't like seafood or shellfish or fisherman or the American Flag. You think you know somebody...
Lastly, for posterity, I'd like to add to the ledger that my brother who is 5 years younger than me, between one half and 5 inches taller then me depending on humidity and shoe wear, has 2 less kids than me and exercises his lungs much more frequently than me, was trying to shame me in front of my boys with his underwater swimming prowess. He was bragging and boasting about his 4 underwater pool lengths and directing a number of unkind accusations at me in front of my lineage. Backed into a corner, I was forced to remind everyone within the sound of my voice that all older brothers have an internal reservoir of excellence that they save for emergency situations just like this. So I broke the glass, dipped into the reservoir and reminded him of his place with 5 complete underwater laps.
July 2016
When you have to pack up all your worldly belongings it really makes you take a long look at yourself. What is this thing? What is this box of things? What is this truck full of boxes of things? We had to put a bunch of stuff in storage so that prospective buyers wouldn't realize we were borderline hoarders. Looking at that truck, Karen and I agreed that while we couldn't bring ourselves to throw any of it out, if the truck caught on fire and exploded that would be an acceptable solution as well. Saying goodbye to that house was really tough. Two people walked into that house panicked. One of them 8 months pregnant, and the other overextended on an FHA loan. We brought Thomas home to that house. Introduced Jack to his brother at that house. We has so many firsts: First steps, first words, first full replacement of sewage line. We shared one bathroom and one small dining table and one giant backyard and we had so many wonderful times there. Jackie turned 2 and we celebrated in Springfield at the 4th of July but to be honest, we owe you a good one Jack. It was just a crazy summer. As a goodbye gift to our house, Tom learned to ride a two wheeler just a few weeks before we left. We walked out a loving foursome who will all remember Bernice with a lot of love.
When you have to pack up all your worldly belongings it really makes you take a long look at yourself. What is this thing? What is this box of things? What is this truck full of boxes of things? We had to put a bunch of stuff in storage so that prospective buyers wouldn't realize we were borderline hoarders. Looking at that truck, Karen and I agreed that while we couldn't bring ourselves to throw any of it out, if the truck caught on fire and exploded that would be an acceptable solution as well. Saying goodbye to that house was really tough. Two people walked into that house panicked. One of them 8 months pregnant, and the other overextended on an FHA loan. We brought Thomas home to that house. Introduced Jack to his brother at that house. We has so many firsts: First steps, first words, first full replacement of sewage line. We shared one bathroom and one small dining table and one giant backyard and we had so many wonderful times there. Jackie turned 2 and we celebrated in Springfield at the 4th of July but to be honest, we owe you a good one Jack. It was just a crazy summer. As a goodbye gift to our house, Tom learned to ride a two wheeler just a few weeks before we left. We walked out a loving foursome who will all remember Bernice with a lot of love.
August 2016
Our house was sold and our new house wasn't ready for us so we headed for Springfield and the help of all the grandparents. Karen had to stay back to start new teacher training. We really didn't have anywhere else to go, but the OConnors and the Kuchars took good care of us. We swam in the pool every day and went to the park. We went on wagon rides and jeep rides. Tom and Grandpa Kenny caught some crappie. Michael and Tom went to the fair. Tom and Will went to the fair. I got to watch a ton of Law and Order while Gramma Tracye dozed off on the couch.
We got the keys and moved in in the middle of August. Our new house is twice the size of our old house and it's already 89% filled with stuff so that's terrific. We live on Deer Trail and we saw our first deer in the backyard eating from our crab apple tree the second night. We looked at another house in the neighborhood that had some beautiful details on the inside of the hosue, but the foundation was in trouble and the backyard was non existent. I was almost successful in taking us down that path, but Karen always knew this was the house for us. It backs up to a forest preserve and I dont much like neighbors, so like always, she knows better than me. We've got a lot of projects, but that's what you get with a house from 1972. We're very happy to be here and create as many wonderful memories as we had in our old house.
Our house was sold and our new house wasn't ready for us so we headed for Springfield and the help of all the grandparents. Karen had to stay back to start new teacher training. We really didn't have anywhere else to go, but the OConnors and the Kuchars took good care of us. We swam in the pool every day and went to the park. We went on wagon rides and jeep rides. Tom and Grandpa Kenny caught some crappie. Michael and Tom went to the fair. Tom and Will went to the fair. I got to watch a ton of Law and Order while Gramma Tracye dozed off on the couch.
We got the keys and moved in in the middle of August. Our new house is twice the size of our old house and it's already 89% filled with stuff so that's terrific. We live on Deer Trail and we saw our first deer in the backyard eating from our crab apple tree the second night. We looked at another house in the neighborhood that had some beautiful details on the inside of the hosue, but the foundation was in trouble and the backyard was non existent. I was almost successful in taking us down that path, but Karen always knew this was the house for us. It backs up to a forest preserve and I dont much like neighbors, so like always, she knows better than me. We've got a lot of projects, but that's what you get with a house from 1972. We're very happy to be here and create as many wonderful memories as we had in our old house.
September 2016
We continued to unpack, which really just means moving a box from the first floor, to the basement, to the crawlspace. What is this stuff!?!? The deer come to our yard every day. The yard is an acre so mowing takes me longer but I love it. September is the month of the Ilbawi picnic, so we took Jackie to see the man who saved his life. The line was hundreds of people long. It really does a number on you to see it.
Jack is maybe the sweetest kid I've met. He always has time for a hug or a kiss and while he's obsessively concerned about the order or tasks, he always wants you to do them with him. Most nights before bed he asks if we can play a family game or read a family book or have family time on the couch. We're all so lucky that we got him and when I think about his tussled hair and missing tooth grin and big bottom lip I realize that very deeply.
October 2016
Grandpa Kenny and I removed all the carpeting from the 2nd flood and installed new hardwood floors. It's not as bad as excavating 30 feet of cast iron pipe by hand, but it's damn close. I gave Kenny a twist cone from Dairy Queen and he repaid me with his twisted knee that tore his meniscus. It's all I think now, about when I look at these stupid floors. Kenny has already fixed more things in both of our houses than I likely will have by the time we eventually leave.
We have done a lot since we moved in and have so much more to do. We had a small detached garage built and wrote our names in the wet cement. We had the attic sealed and insulated and had to pull a Uhaul's worth of plywood out to do it. We repainted the front door and shutters and I nearly plummeted to my death hanging off the roof to fix some loose shingles. We had 3 bedrooms painted. We tore down the old mantle and whitewashed the fireplace. We've bought like 14 rugs. We're going to remodel the kitchen this summer and perhaps redo our bathroom in a couple years. We're going to install new windows on the back of the house. I've got roughly two summer's worth of landscaping ahead of me. God as my witness, we are going to get the dryer vented somewhere other than the garage. I'm a mixture of excited, nervous and prematurely exhausted just thinking about it all.
November 2016
It technically happens in October but I like to pretend that Tom and I are both November birthday boys. He turned 5 this year and I turned 34. I'm fine with the 34 but 5 is nuts to me. When we found out we were pregnant in March of 2011 we were living in the city, commuting an hour to work each way each day and saving enough money to be able to go out to eat at a new restaurant. Our biggest shared purchase was an 800 dollar couch. We lived on a street with shared free parking and walked everywhere we could. We had an upstairs neighbor that played his guitar until 2 in the morning. The biggest home repair issue we faced was a 3 day stretch where we had to deal with some fruit flies. I guess what I'm saying is we've come a long way and the transition period happened pretty quick.
Tom is doing pretty great. He does a lot of map making; we have detailed drawings of 6 continents with different colored and labeled countries from his works at school. His reading is really coming along. He learned his letters and sounds over the last year and is just now starting to read his own books. He can add and do little subtraction and the other day he explained to me how Chinese New Year works. He has a lot of thoughts about dragons. He can ride a two wheeler and color inside the lines. He likes to dust but hates hanging up his coat. He still loves Star Wars and for the moment is enjoying Paw Patrol. He loves games of all kinds. He's usually kind to his little brother and his little brother wants to do anything that Tom is doing.
For his birthday he got to go to Six Flags with his cousin Will. We rode every ride that they met the height requirement for and pretty much only ate and drank sugar all day long. We bought season passes so I'm hoping our roller coaster ridership increases this year.
December 2016
We made it. It was definitely the busiest year of my life. Even busier than 2011 when we had a wedding, a house purchase and a new baby in the span of six months. But I think it was all worth it. We love the new house. Karen's school is outstanding. The boys are doing well at Montessori and they'll be in a school district that should be really good for them. I got a shed.
I didn't do a great job writing down quotes this year, but are a couple good ones...
Jack: Gaggy, I don like doggies.
Me: Why not?
Jack: They eat me, Gaggy.
Me: What's your favorite Holiday?
Tom: Spring and summer. And my birthday.
Me: Do you know what a holiday is?
Tom: Wait... my favorite is Hanukkah.
I think we're all hoping for a quieter, simpler 2017, where we don't get eaten by doggies and get to enjoy a nice spring, summer, birthday and Hannukkah.
We continued to unpack, which really just means moving a box from the first floor, to the basement, to the crawlspace. What is this stuff!?!? The deer come to our yard every day. The yard is an acre so mowing takes me longer but I love it. September is the month of the Ilbawi picnic, so we took Jackie to see the man who saved his life. The line was hundreds of people long. It really does a number on you to see it.
October 2016
Grandpa Kenny and I removed all the carpeting from the 2nd flood and installed new hardwood floors. It's not as bad as excavating 30 feet of cast iron pipe by hand, but it's damn close. I gave Kenny a twist cone from Dairy Queen and he repaid me with his twisted knee that tore his meniscus. It's all I think now, about when I look at these stupid floors. Kenny has already fixed more things in both of our houses than I likely will have by the time we eventually leave.
We have done a lot since we moved in and have so much more to do. We had a small detached garage built and wrote our names in the wet cement. We had the attic sealed and insulated and had to pull a Uhaul's worth of plywood out to do it. We repainted the front door and shutters and I nearly plummeted to my death hanging off the roof to fix some loose shingles. We had 3 bedrooms painted. We tore down the old mantle and whitewashed the fireplace. We've bought like 14 rugs. We're going to remodel the kitchen this summer and perhaps redo our bathroom in a couple years. We're going to install new windows on the back of the house. I've got roughly two summer's worth of landscaping ahead of me. God as my witness, we are going to get the dryer vented somewhere other than the garage. I'm a mixture of excited, nervous and prematurely exhausted just thinking about it all.
November 2016
It technically happens in October but I like to pretend that Tom and I are both November birthday boys. He turned 5 this year and I turned 34. I'm fine with the 34 but 5 is nuts to me. When we found out we were pregnant in March of 2011 we were living in the city, commuting an hour to work each way each day and saving enough money to be able to go out to eat at a new restaurant. Our biggest shared purchase was an 800 dollar couch. We lived on a street with shared free parking and walked everywhere we could. We had an upstairs neighbor that played his guitar until 2 in the morning. The biggest home repair issue we faced was a 3 day stretch where we had to deal with some fruit flies. I guess what I'm saying is we've come a long way and the transition period happened pretty quick.
Tom is doing pretty great. He does a lot of map making; we have detailed drawings of 6 continents with different colored and labeled countries from his works at school. His reading is really coming along. He learned his letters and sounds over the last year and is just now starting to read his own books. He can add and do little subtraction and the other day he explained to me how Chinese New Year works. He has a lot of thoughts about dragons. He can ride a two wheeler and color inside the lines. He likes to dust but hates hanging up his coat. He still loves Star Wars and for the moment is enjoying Paw Patrol. He loves games of all kinds. He's usually kind to his little brother and his little brother wants to do anything that Tom is doing.
For his birthday he got to go to Six Flags with his cousin Will. We rode every ride that they met the height requirement for and pretty much only ate and drank sugar all day long. We bought season passes so I'm hoping our roller coaster ridership increases this year.
December 2016
We made it. It was definitely the busiest year of my life. Even busier than 2011 when we had a wedding, a house purchase and a new baby in the span of six months. But I think it was all worth it. We love the new house. Karen's school is outstanding. The boys are doing well at Montessori and they'll be in a school district that should be really good for them. I got a shed.
I didn't do a great job writing down quotes this year, but are a couple good ones...
Jack: Gaggy, I don like doggies.
Me: Why not?
Jack: They eat me, Gaggy.
Me: What's your favorite Holiday?
Tom: Spring and summer. And my birthday.
Me: Do you know what a holiday is?
Tom: Wait... my favorite is Hanukkah.
I think we're all hoping for a quieter, simpler 2017, where we don't get eaten by doggies and get to enjoy a nice spring, summer, birthday and Hannukkah.
