Korem 2-18-11 from Mon Bel Ami on Vimeo.

School's out for Summer....Almost!

Sophia only has 4 days left of school!! Unbelievable!  4 more days and she will be a 1st grader! She is so excited for school to be over.  However, I don't know if it's because she'll be done with kindergarten or because summer cheerleading starts the same day as the last day of school. Probably both!! 

Connor is enjoying TBall.  He didn't have it last weekend because it was Memorial day weekend. His favorite part is hitting the ball and he's really good at it!! He has a few more weeks to go.

Speaking of Memorial Day weekend, we took advantage of it being Wayne's 4 day weekend and Sophia's 3day weekend by going camping!! Our first camping trip of the summer!! We were going to leave on Thurs, but Sophia had school on Friday so we left after school on Friday!  It was a great, relaxed weekend.  We came home Monday and it was perfect timing because a big storm came in just after we got home.

I am so looking forward to the summer. We have lots of camping trips planned, but I also look forward to relaxing in the backyard and eating out of our garden. But most of all, I'm looking forward to getting to spend ALL DAY with Sophia!! I miss having her home during the day.

But now, I want a nap.

Pics from Cheer Competition

Here are the pics from yesterday's competition

Introducing the Best

and we've only just begun!!

This is how Sophia's cheer squad's chant goes. It is very fitting.

This weekend was the State Championships for cheer. It was a great weekend!

Friday after Sophia got out of school, Connor, Sophia, my mom and I started our trip to competition!  We stopped halfway to get something to eat and then back on the road. It took us almost 3.5 hrs to get there since we stopped for gas and dinner.  Finally got to the hotel and that's when all the fun started. 

Checked into the hotel. Got in the elevator. Drunk guys get in elevator. Drunk guy leans against door so when we get to our floor the doors don't open. Goes up another floor. Oh, did I mention i don't like elevators much. I am always afraid I'll get trapped in one. weird I know.  So when the doors open on the 3rd floor, I take the kids and head for the stairs. Bad Idea! The stairs in this hotel are only for fire exits. they only lead to the outside and you have to go all the way down, outside and back around to the lobby. ARGH!  So the kids and I walk around, grab a luggage cart and head back to the elevator. This time, no problems. whew. 

Finally get in our room, get the luggage stashed, cheer uniform hanging, poms out of the bag to get unsquished.  Mom and the kids want to go for a walk. No problem. Pool was soo crowded so we didn't even swim. Instead we went back upstairs and the kids watched tv while I checked email and mom did a breathing treatment. Finally it was bedtime.  Sophia and mom shared a bed, Connor and I shared a bed.  Sophia fell asleep first. Connor didn't want to go to sleep. Thankfully he finally did around 10.

Saturday morning, Sophia in all her excitement was up at 6am!!! A full hour before the alarm was set to go off.  Mom, Sophia and I started getting stuff ready so when Connor got up we could go down to breakfast.  Called Wayne to see where him and dad were. They were already on the road when I called at 6:15. They had left at 5:20!!! Took the kids to breakfast then Wayne and dad got there. I started getting Sophia's hair done so while I was finishing up, Mom and Connor went down with Wayne and dad so they could eat. 

Sophia and I finally got done with her hair and we went down to register. Since we had about an hour before she had to be in the practice room, we went back up to our room. She was mad because I wouldn't let her play.  Finally it was time to go to the practice room.  All the girls from her squad were there and they were having fun taking pictures and talking.  Got some great pics of the girls together. 

Then it was competition time! First the Hip Hop groups went first. Then Cheer division 1 went. That's the division Sophia's in. Her squad was the last to perform and they did great!!  They were so excited when they got done.  Then we had a break. Yay!   There was a professional photographer there doing cheer pics so we got Sophia's done. Can't wait til they come in.

After the break, the older girls had their routine to do then it was awards time! So they announced 3rd place, not our girls. 2nd place, not our girls. 1st place? Yep..our girls won!!!!  Division 1 State Champions!! woohoo!!!  Just seeing the look on Sophia's face when she got her medal and trophy was worth all the money and stress we've gone through in the past 16 weeks!  She was soo excited. 

All the squads from our gym won 1st in their divisions!  We are proud of all of them. As the girls say.. "we are Dragons and we are Proud of You! Woohoo!!" 

Sophia has now decided she wants to do Summer AND Fall sessions.  She wants another trophy.  I'm just happy we finally found something she likes!

It was a long drive home though. Both kids fell asleep about an hour into the 3hr drive and woke up about an hour before we got home.  Sophia of course was still wearing her medal with her trophy next to her on the floor.  Even though she said she was happy this session was over because now she doesn't have to practice, she's still doing her routine all over the house.  She has watched the video of their routine over and over. 

Such a proud moment for this momma.....

Time...it gets away from me.

Has it really been almost 2 weeks since I lasted posted anything? hmm been a little busy.

Had a wonderful Mother's day.  The weekend was kicked off by a Mother's Appreciation Sock Hop at Sophia's school.  Saturday was spent doing stuff around the house and then we went out for dinner. Afterward we stopped by Michelle's to get the crafts the kids made and while we were in the driveway we saw a high speed chase. It had started in Chicago and made it's way down the freeway and the guy got off the exit by Michelle's house. The cops chased him back towards our house and the town one over from where we live got him. Thankfully no innocent bystanders were hurt.

Sunday was a great day.  I got served breakfast in bed. Then I went and picked out my new eyeglasses and went to the grocery store. I know that doesn't sound very exciting but it felt good to get out alone for a few hours.  When I got home, I found out Sophia had eaten my lunch so what did I have?  Guacamole, chips and a strawberry daiquiri!  can we say yum? 

For dinner that night we had steak tacos on the grill, rice, refried beans and watermelon.  Michelle came over and had dinner. Had margaritas with dinner. it was a nice relaxing night. 

This whole week I have been busy helping out at school for the book fair. It has been fun.  Today I helped out in Sophia's class after I got done working at the book fair.  Yesterday Wayne and Connor helped out at the fair too. 

Tonight we had Family Night at Cheerleading.  The girls performed their routine in front of all the parents and family members who can't go to tournament. Sophia's group did great!  She was so excited.  Her coaches gave all the girls a certificate and Sophia even got a special mention. Pretty much given a verbal "Most Improved" award from the coaches.  I'm so proud of her!

Connor started Tball last Saturday! Wayne took him and he said he did great! Connor came home and told me all about it.  He has to miss this weekend since we'll be at Sophia's cheer competition, but he will get to go to all the rest!  I'm glad he's finally old enough to participate in something. 

Time to throw some clothes in the wash and then go to bed. Last day of working the book fair tomorrow!

Weekends go too fast

At least this weekend seemed to go pretty quickly.  

Yesterday we got up and made a yummy breakfast of eggs and sausage links. Then we went and bought our veggies and an outdoor rug for the deck. I had wanted to plant the veggies yesterday but then it looked like it was going to rain so I didn't get that done.  The kids and I went and had dinner with Wayne at work yesterday.  That was, um, fun.  After that went to Michelle's house because she had a craft she wanted to do with the kids. After they finished their craft, we stayed and sat by the fire for a little bit.

Today was a little more fun.  I woke up before everyone else. Sorta.  The kids were awake but in their bedroom.  I started the coffee and then made biscuits and gravy.  Wayne had asked me to make it yesterday but the kids wanted eggs.  Connor loved them! He had 2 helpings. After breakfast, I enjoyed my coffee while I read the paper. Wayne decided he wanted to go to the World War II re-enactment today.  So after a 2nd trip to Menards, we met Michelle, Rod, and Sabrina at Main Square and watched the "battle". Connor Loved it! 

After Wayne went to work, Sophia and I waited for Connor to get up from his nap and then we went to Target.  Tomorrow is Pajama Day at school for Sophia so I had to buy her some jammies since she didn't have any appropriate for school.  No shorts or tank tops.  We also bought some stuff for her teacher since this is Teacher Appreciation Week.  She was so excited to pick things out.

I made pork chops on the grill and made honey glazed carrots and mashed potatoes to go with it. It was so yummy. Sophia had 2 helpings of pork chops. Connor actually ate all his dinner too.

Now the kids are in bed and I am watching True Blood. They are replaying last season's episodes. I can't wait for the new season to start. Just a month and a half longer!!

What Grows in Your Garden

Yesterday we went to Menards and bought our veggie plants for the garden. We also bought more sand for the kids' sandbox. They were happy. Today we bought the parts to the rain barrel.

So what did we buy to plant in our garden??  I'm so glad you asked!

We have three tomato plants.  2 Early Girl plants and 1 Big Boy plant.  Wayne and I thought that was funny because it fit perfectly with the kids LOL  Sophia was our early girl and Connor is our big boy. LOL  I guess we're dorks like that.

Okay so we also got 2 bell pepper plants, 2 broccoli plants, 2 jalapeno plants and some basil plants.  Connor and I had already started the seeds for the carrots and radishes so we just have to wait for them to grow.  Of course we also have strawberries from last year that already have strawberries growing. Have to wait for them to get bigger and ripen. WOOHOO!!

This is going to be a great garden this year.  We have also planted something new every year we have done a garden.  The first year it was the whole garden. Last year we did cucumbers and corn. They both failed pretty miserably.  This year the new things are the carrots, broccoli and radishes.  Should be fun since I have never grown root veggies before. :) 

Hopefully tomorrow Wayne will have the rain barrel ready to go! I can't wait to see it in action. I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as everything is going.

A day out with my little boy!

Connor and I went on a little lunch date today.  Hey why not? Sophia and Wayne were at the class field trip.

First we went to the Girl Scout office/store to get some stuff for the troop.  Wow was that an expensive trip, but now I have all the patches, pins and petals the girls have earned. They will be so happy!  Now I just need to get the money from those parents ordering uniforms and I will get those next.

Then we went to Old Time Pottery.  Got a few things there for the house and yard. That was fun.

Then the cute boy and I went to lunch.  Applebees!!  Connor had chicken fingers and fries. I had 3 cheese chicken penne with a ceasar salad.  For dessert (yes we had dessert), Connor had a chocolate mousse shooter, I had a strawberry cheesecake shooter. Both were delicious!

When we came home, Wayne was home and my sister, Kim, was here.  Now we are getting ready to go pick Sophia up in a few minutes from school.  I can't wait to hear all about her field trip!

Going green

What happens when you take a 6.5 yr old girl and her parents to the Smart House at the Science museum? 

A renewed effort to be better at helping the environment. Stop laughing. We are really going to try this.

What are we going to do you might ask. Well let me tell you.

First of all, Wayne has made a compost bin of sorts. He had already started it but now he's actually going to do it the right way.  So now we have a definite bin and we learned what we can and can't put in it. 

Next, he is going to make a rain barrel.  He will set it up under one of the downspouts from the gutters. We will then use that water for the garden, grass, whatever. Just not for drinking or cooking. That would be gross.

We started this part a couple years ago, but we have been planting a garden. We have already started seeds for carrots and radishes. We will also be planting tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, and not sure what else.  Oh we also have strawberry plants that we planted last year. They are already growing and have about 2-3 dozen flowers on them. I can't wait!

As we do more, I will be sure to post about it.  I will also post on the progress of the garden this year. 

Since we are talking about food. I figure I could add what we had for dinner tonight. We are also trying to eat better as best we can. LOL  It's not going too well but tonight we did well.  I made turkey burgers on the grill and we had corn on the cob.  For "dessert" we had grapes. The kids loved it! 

Off to do laundry and then hopefully head to bed.

New and Improved? Well maybe.....

Ah Spring. What better time to start over than Spring, right? Of course.

A lot has happened in the Kinker household since I last posted. After all it has been almost a year.

Where shall I start.... ah yes, the kids.

Connor is doing wonderful. He brings laughter and love every day. He is quite possibly the funniest kid I have ever met. Sure I might be a LITTLE biased, but I hear it from others too. Especially from his Uncle Don who always insists I get Connor into acting/modeling. Of course we recently found out that Connor has some allergies. Explains the constant "colds" he's been having. He's allergic to dogs, cats and dust mites which unfortunately meant we had to find a new home for the cat. more to come on the cat(s) later. Overall he's doing great. Takes his meds like a champ(nose spray) and rarely complains.

Connor starts Tball next month and we are really looking forward to it! he's going to have so much fun.

Sophia is almost done with Kindergarten. This year has been both a struggle and full of excitement! Sophia has proven to be quite the smarty pants. She is the top reader in her class, reading at a 2nd grade level. In February she was chosen to do a ribbon cutting ceremony at school because she was the top reader out of all the Kindergarten classes!! She's also excelling in other areas in school as well. We have been struggling with behavior issues but we think we have gotten them under control for the most part.

Sophia has been doing cheerleading for the past 3 months. She has a big cheer competition coming in up 2 weeks! She's enjoying but for those that know Sophia personally, she can be a bit stubborn about things. She wants to take the summer off and then possibly start up again in the fall.

Wayne has been working hard, both at his job and getting the yard ready for planting the garden and whatnot. We are trying to be more "green" and coming up with ideas on how we can do that. So look for posts from Wayne about all of that.

I'm done with work for the year. This tax season went so quickly. Now that I'm not working, I've gotten more involved at Sophia's school. PTA, Girl Scouts, helping out in her class. I am really enjoying it. I even went to the state PTA convention this year and had a lot of fun! It's all keeping me busy.

So now about the cats. Unfortunately, they are both gone now. Houdini ran away twice before Christmas. He came back once but then disappeared again. Unfortunately, Wayne found him dead in the garage while we were doing some spring cleaning. :( I am so sad about it, but at least now I know where he is. He is buried next to my peonies in the backyard. RIP Houdini.

The kitten, who never really had a definite name, was taken to the no kill shelter. It was a lot harder on me than I thought it was. I never really bonded with her since Houdini was my cat. I cried so hard when I had to sign the paperwork to turn her over.

So now we have fish. No definite names on them except I think one is named Ben 10. Have I mentioned yet that Connor is Obsessed with all things Ben 10?? Yep.


I have to go pick Sophia up from school and take her to get new glasses. Hopefully I will be back again later or tomorrow to report on our "Going Green" efforts.

Summer

Summer break is quickly coming to an end. Sophia starts kindergarten in 24 days! We've had a good summer.

Sophia spent a week by herself with her grandparents and then Connor and I went down to join them. Had fun. The most exciting part was when sophia got up on waterskis with Uncle Paul! That girl is fearless!! Maybe next year she will do it alone.

The other thing Sophia is looking forward to is Cheer Camp! She is going to a one day(5hour) camp. Then a week later she will get to cheer at the first home football game for highland high. She is so excited.

Trying to think of some fun things I can do with Connor while Sophia is in school all day. Maybe I can sign him up for a sport or something.

Ok kids are fighting over the slide. Gotta run.

Yard sale and missing my girl

So today I went to my friend Katie's to do a yard sale. We did it from 9-4. I only made $12.95. Bummer. I hope tomorrow is better. I won't be there on Sunday because I'm going to the lake.

Speaking of the lake, Sophia has been down there with her grandparents since Tues! I miss her so very much. This is the longest she has EVER been away from me. When Connor was born, she was only gone for 4 days! I cried almost all the way home from Todd's on Tuesday morning after I dropped her off. I missed her already. So I can't wait to see her!!

Connor, Billy and I will be driving down on Sunday morning, then Wayne will be joining us on Tues since he has to work. Then he will drive home Wed evening. I'm not sure if the kids and I are staying longer or not. Probably not. Guess it depends on how things are going.

Well I'm tired and need to get some rest before tomorrow.

Update

4th of July was great this year despite the rain. Went to the Highland parade on Friday night. Kids had a blast! Saturday we went to the Whiting parade. Connor enjoyed it. Sophia was tired and spent the whole parade sitting on Aunt Marilyn's lap.

After the parade we came home and had friends over for a BBQ. It was fun but most everyone left early so we over to Todd's and partied with the family. We had so much fun and didn't get home til midnight!!

Yesterday Sophia had a routine hearing test at Childrens. It went really well. The audiologist thinks she may not have to come back. Fingers crossed!

After her appt we went back and spent the day with mom and dad. So tired today!

So that's about it.

Testing this out...

Just uploaded an app to the iPod so I could post here. Seeing if it works!

An update

Here's a brief(maybe) summary of what is going on at Casa de Kinker!


Sophia graduated from Preschool at the end of May. She is now officially a Kindergartener! woohoo. She is enjoying her summer vacation so far. The best part is that she has actually started riding her bike and is showing a small interest in learning to ride without the training wheels. So far she just freaks out.

Connor is finally done with speech therapy. His last day of that was 2 days before Sophia's last day of school. He's also enjoying the summer. We have slowly started potty training. It's going VERY slowly. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will have him done by end of summer. wish us luck.

Wayne has been working a lot. Picked up some overtime here and there. It's helped. Sunday is his birthday. Sucks that his bday and Father's day are the same day but he's okay with it. We are going camping for the week as his birthday gift. :) We bought him a weed whacker a few weeks ago as an early Father's day gift.

I've been busy too. The first weekend in June I went on a whirlwind trip to Massachusetts. I went to meet a friend that I met online and have known for 7 yrs!! We are best friends but have never met in person. It was great. It was like I had always been a part of the family. I flew in on Friday afternoon, spent all day Saturday in Boston and then flew home on Sunday evening. It was too short because I wanted to see more, but just long enough because I missed my kiddos. Yes I went alone!!! Jules and i have already made plans for next year at this time for us to get together again but next time I'm taking Wayne and the Kids. :)

The biggest news we have is that we bought a MINIVAN!!! I love it. It's a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan. it's soo roomy and comfy. It has plenty of room for the kids and has stow and go seats so we can fold down the back seats and put stuff back there. We also paid off our Saturn this month!! Today actually. It felt soo good but would have felt better if we hadn't just added on another car payment. Oh well. We really needed a 2nd car AND something bigger!! Love it!!

Lilke I said earlier, we are going camping next week. We will be gone from June 21-28. I can't wait. A whole week in the tent, swimming in the lake or pool, hanging out w/ just Wayne and the kids! it's going to be great!!

well, my fingers aren't functioning very well tonight for some reason so I must end here!! If you've made it this far! Great!!!!

Helping Save babies and so can you!!

Once again, that time of year has come. Sophia and I(and probably Connor) are doing the March of Dimes walk. We have done it every year since 2004 when Sophia was the county ambassador. Every year we choose a child to walk in memory of as well as in honor of Sophia. This year, we are walking in memory of Ronan Ivey. His parents are friends of ours. Sweet Ronan was born too soon and only lived a short time but he touched so many lives.

Sophia and I set our goal for $500 this year. We are half way there and the walk is in 3 days!!! If you would like to donate, please go to our site

www.marchforbabies.org/Sophiasmommy

Any donation is appreciated. A little goes a long way!!!!

I am planning to Twitter our walk progress as well. If you want to follow along go to: twitter.com/CSMomma

Happy bday?

So Yesterday was my birthday. It started out good. The middle, not so great. The end..great.

I had to work yesterday which was okay. I was only there 3.5 hrs. When I got there, I had gifts on my desk :) Marcy bought me a small bunch of flowers. Katie gave me a gift bag with goodies in it. It had a little slinky, a reed diffuser, jelly belly jelly beans, cute socks(that match ones i got sophia) and a picture frame. :) So cute.

Then this is when my day turned sour. We went to my parents so Wayne could go with dad to get the RV filled. When dad backed it up, he got it stuck in the mud. SO Dad and Wayne spent almost 3 hrs, yes 3 HOURS, trying to dig it out!!! Finally, they called a tow truck! I was pissed! We were supposed to go to the mall yesterday so Wayne could get new glasses. THAT didn't happen because he was digging out the RV. We were all supposed to go out to dinner for my bday. Mom and Dad didn't go.

We were supposed to meet my sister Kim at Red Robin at 5:30-5:45. We didn't leave Mom's til 5:45 because Wayne had to clean up and change clothes. Luckily I had ran home and got him clean clothes. Finally got to the restaurant, ordered our dinners, drank my pina colada and enjoyed ourselves. The only bad part is the waiter forgot to take my burger off the ticket because I had a coupon for a free one for my bday. Then my sister had asked them to sing for my birthday. They didn't! I was both sad and happy about that. Kim got me a body wash set for my bday.

Wayne had said he would get me the Wii Fit for my birthday. We went to one Target, didn't have it. Went to Best Buy, didn't have it. Went to Game Stop by our house, nope. Target by us, nope. I did however get a yummy Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks while there though. :) FINALLY, we went to Game Crazy. Found it there!!! WOOHOO. Since the kids had fallen asleep in the car, we put them to bed when we got home and then I set up the wii fit. It's awesome! I had so much fun figuring out the different exercises and stuff. My favorite so far? Hula Hoop!! :)

So except for the part in the middle, I guess it wasn't a bad day. Just would have liked to have done something besides watch my husband dig out a friggen RV on my bday. lol

Wii!!!!

So yesterday, Wayne and I bought a Wii!! It's our bday gifts to each other. Ok so my bday isn't until March and his isn't until June. We just figured since we had the money to get it now, we would get it. OMG are we having fun with it! LOL We got it hooked up around 4pm yesterday afternoon and played it til around 10:30!! We only stopped long enough to eat dinner. We've been having a blast playing the Wii sports that came with it. We also rented Mario and Sonic Summer Olympics. That's been pretty fun as well. I told him when I get paid, I am going to get the Wii Fit. One of the girls at the chiro's office has it and she said she lost 10 lbs in the first 2-3 weeks she had it! :) My favorite part of the Wii is that it makes you actually get up off your butt to play. Tennis got ya moving, boxing was good for cardio. LOL


I'm sure this is how we'll be spending our days off for a little while LOL

Neti Neti

So day one of the neti pot didn't go so well. I was just too stuffed up for it to do anything.

However! This morning it worked like a charm! It was fabulous. I won't go into the gross details about it, but I can now breathe in AND out of my nose. Still a little congested but not like before. It's lovely. :) Maybe I'll actually be able to smell again and my food won't taste so gross. LOL

Wayne is trying it now(yes I cleaned it). I'm curious to see how he feels about it.

Crazy days

So it's been pretty crazy around here. Tomorrow is my first day off from work in almost 2 weeks! I'm not complaining much though. It's been worth it. I'm really hoping for a decent bonus this year so I can get the lap top I want. :)

Of course, there is one downfall to working this week. All the sick people who have come into our office! ACK. Of course I ended up with a horrible cold. It's starting to get better. Thank goodness I'm off tomorrow..finally!

So to combat my cold and as an experiment of sorts, I went out and bought a neti pot. It's a little pot that you put saline water in and let the water run from one nostril and out the other. It's gravityfed and so far it's been, um, interesting. I don't think I was doing it right at first because the water kept running to the back of my throat and then I would gag. Then I came online, found a video of how I'm supposed to hold my head and it worked much better. I'm sure as I do it more and I'm not as clogged up, it will work better. Wayne is going to use it too in hopes that it helps with the multiple sinus infections he gets. I'm just hoping it helps with my allergies and the occasional cold I get. :)

Kids are doing good. Sophia had school pictures on Friday. She was so excited because the kids who are going to kindergarten next year got to wear a cap and gown for their pics. She came home all excited because hers was PINK! Her favorite color. I can't wait to see how they came out. She's been such a good girl. We have a new routine at night now. Every night at 6pm, we curl up on the couch together and watch How It's Made for an hour. Then we watch Food Network or Discovery channel until it's time for the kids to go to bed. Connor comes and goes during that time. Most of the time he is in their bedroom watching cartoons or playing with his batman stuff.

Connor had his last session of OT on Thurs. It was a bit sad because we had to say good bye to Elona for the 2nd time. She was Sophia's OT as well. We did promise to keep in touch so we have exchanged emails. I made sure to get a picture of her and the kids together. I'm going to send her a copy. We will miss her. She has been a part of our lives in some way for 5 yrs. It started when she started OT with Sophia in the NICU. :)

Well better go make dinner for the munchkins. Unless they aren't hungry yet. :)