And 8 days later...

...we were back in Chicago. This time with Anne and Grace Wierenga. I do believe I have now perfectly honed my Chicago driving skills. I can zip in and out of traffic with the best of 'em (safely of course mom). I did some research the night before to see where the best (cheapest) parking was so I knew we had to be at the Millennium Park Garage by 10 a.m. for their $14 early bird special. Guess what time we got there? 9:56!! I felt like I won the gold medal.

Tournament Champs!!

Mishawaka Raptors 10U
Tournament Champs!!

Bored Out Of My Mind

So, I am bored silly. I've been out of school for 31 days and I do not know what to do with myself. Sure, there are a lot of things I could do, but nothing I want to do or have to do. Sure, I complain about school a lot as demonstrated here , here, and here. Oh, and here and here too. But to be honest I can hardly wait to have a schedule again. And if that means school starting then fine, let it start.
I did take summer classes for the first session but couldn't afford the second so here I am. Oh, let me tell you about my summer classes. I took Literary Interpretation (L202) and Education and American Culture (H340). In L202 we read stories of ....drum roll please...women as victims!! And in H340 we learned about...drum roll again please...How to not be a racist!!

Come on...when are we going to get away from all this social propaganda and get back to academics?
"But Alice, we have to teach our students values." Really? Values? Let's see...where do values come from? From a society that decides something is "inappropriate"? How do we decide that? I'll tell you how (since I am the girl behind the curtain)...it comes from God. We are born with a sense of right and wrong and it didn't come from nothing. So, if schools are so interested in teaching values tell me then...why did my L202 professor, Jackie Collins, tell our class not to take the Bible literally because when you do you get into all sorts of trouble? Why did my H340 professor ask me, after watching a movie about the history of racism in America, ask me if I was ashamed now to be white?? They aren't teaching values, they're teaching an agenda.
I digress.
So on Monday I took the girls to Chicago. Just the three of us. It was perfect. A groundhog day if you will. We headed to The Field Museum for the day. The girls were awesome in spite of the fact that we were not at the right museum to see the "sliced up body". Field was pretty much cultural stuff, lots of pottery, clothes, and weapons. We spent about 4 hours there and then decided to leave on a high note while the girls were still enjoying themselves. So we hopped into a taxi and headed for the American Girl store. As soon as we could see the Sears Tower on our drive in  Emily insisted she wanted to go to the top. When the taxi dropped us off at American Girl we were right in front of the Hancock Building. Emily looked up and decided she changed her mind about the Sears Tower.
Some favorites from the museum were stuffed seals and narwhals and walruses. Also the specimens in the DNA exhibit. And the Man-Eater:

                                                

So this weekend was great! The girls both had games on Saturday. And both of their teams won. Grace scored 2 of the 5 goals made by her team!! Here are some pics...

And why wear plain-jane runn of the mill green socks when you can sport these!!...thank you Aunt Stacie!

And my softball player...

After the games we visited our Grandma and Grandpa Merrill. It was nice to sit outside with them and visit. Then we were off to Silver Beach to spend the evening relaxing by the lake.

I love these pictures of the girls. I think they perfectly exemplify their individual personalities. Emily is happy and enjoying the here and now while Grace is ready to fly the nest and take on all of life's adventures.  

Daddy Daughter Dance 2012

So, last night the girls went with daddy to their annual dance. This is Emily's 7th! And Grace's 6th! Could that be right? We didn't have a digital camera back in 2006 for Emily's first dance so you can't see that beauty but...how about a look back at those precious years...

2012

                                     

2011



2010



2009



2008



2007

Pre Christmas

Well, while it appears no one is interested in what may be a budding pandemic of rabies, I will, as your friend, keep you abreast of any updates (regarding the status of rabies in the United States) that I receive through my email correspondence with the World Health Organization and the CDC. You can thank me later. Now on to more pressing news...
I don't feel that I can properly jump into our Christmas celebrations without first sharing with you our holiday preparations. As you can see from the picture above, we have had an elf visiting our house over the past month. His name is Ben and he showed up on our kitchen counter on Dec. 1st, tucked away sleeping in a tiny little bed-in-a-box. He made a few crazy trips around our home and has since vanished.

Ben coloring on garage floor.

The girls then spent a special evening out with grandpa seeing It's a Wonderful Life at the Debartolo. They always love to get dressed up in beautiful dresses.

And of course Christmas concerts...



Mr. Swihart...AWESOME music teacher

Check out that cute hair!

Our very first time doing gingerbread houses. Thanks so much to the awesome Norton family. Hey Jill!!

And last day of school treats...

And #1 on the list goes to...

This.

Boo!!

Did I scare ya? I know you were checking my blog out of habit, not expecting me and then you were like Whoa! By golly, Ethyl...there's a sign of life here!
Ethyl is my new favorite old lady name. Does anyone even know anyone named Ethyl? Am I even spelling it right? Not important, but did you know that Ethylene gas is a hormone let off by certain fruits that causes early ripening? Yep, last semester I was flauntin' my math skillz now I'm fixin' to demonstrate me some science expertisezes.
Speaking of science (and school) guess what!!!!! I got all A's this semester!! I can not believe it! This was my most difficult semester so far. But, with the help of my most awesome friend Carrie, my fabulous (and way good looking) husband Merkle, and my genius mom...I managed straight A's. Maybe I will graduate with honors after all. And I won't have to resort to plan B which was to go purchase my OWN pretty piece of cord from Joann's, pull it out from under my graduation gown and throw it around my neck just as I'm about to go across the stage-which I am NOT above doing! I mean, who wants to look like this on graduation day:

When you could look like this...

Holy cow, Ethyl!! As I'm perusing Google images for graduation pictures I stumbled on this beauty! And I asked myself, "Alice, why stop with some measly cord I could pick up for 2.99/yrd? Let's go for this...

See that chick in the big blue robe with the dark, velvety bands and beautiful blue sash...yeah, I don't know what any of that means but mama wants. Anybody know where I could pick one up cheap and how I can stash that baby on graduation day?