Sweet Life in the City

9" But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9 We had a pretty good day today. The kids slept great last night and woke up ready for a new week. I actually slept terrible, but once I had my coffee this morning I was ready to get the day started. The weather here today is my favorite kind of weather, pants and a long sleeve shirt! I was also super excited that the pants I put on this morning I had not worn since April or May and they were actually a little loose :) We dropped the kids off at school and then headed to our school. Traffic was terrible because the city of Chicago decided to repave every road from our house to school and had one lane close. We were at a green light and we knew traffic was slow, but this cop turns in front of us and obviously is sticking out a little in the intersection, bu...

Well, it has been a busy few weeks and blogging has not made it on my list of things to do :). I have sat down a few times to write a post but then would be called away to do something else. We went to TN over Labor Day weekend and had a wonderful time. I was trying to surprise my PV friends and family and come by the school for a visit, but it just didn't work out :( My sister and her family from OK came and my brother and my two nephews. I had not seen "the boys" (AKA Kaleb and Kraig) since December and it just did my heart good to spend a few days with them. They are grown now, but they are still my boys! We had Labor Day off and then started back to our regular routine. The kids have been enjoying their new school and I have been trying not to be worried sick all day. The past two weeks and I have started to get in a routine of getting things accomplished and trying to get take some time for myself. I have been struggling so much because despite the fact that I was no...

I know it has been a few weeks since I have blogged, but our end of the summer became very busy! We were at my parents house for a week and then we had an amazing time in Wisconsin Dells. It was such a great getaway for our family! The kids LOVED the water park, but I decided that my body might be a little too old for water parks! By the second day I was so sore and felt like I had been beaten up :) ! We came home on a Wednesday and on Thursday morning I went in for a root canal. It was not a pleasant time, but thankfully the tooth is feeling better. Jeremy had to report back to school the next week so we went in a few days to help him get his room set up. Last Friday I went into school for the PreK meet and greet and it was really good for me. I have been struggling with being upset because my paper work has been sitting at the IL Department of Education for weeks and has not even moved closer to getting my IL license. I was just feeling a little bitter to tell the truth. Last Friday ...

It has been another busy week around our house. We have been getting things packed and ready for all us to be gone this coming week. Jeremy and Sam are heading to Camp Hope tomorrow and the girls and I are staying with my parents and I will be doing some work for my dad, so I have been trying to get every one packed and ready to go. We have also been  dealing with a pest infestation that someone passed onto us :) Yes, all three kids have had lice this week. To protect the the other party I will not give names :) , but I was given a heads up that their child has lice so I started checking the kids daily. I think I caught it in time so it was not too bad, but I have had to make several trips to the laundry mat to get every thing washed. My kids were troopers and I think we got everyone cleared up. On Thursday I finally took Lucy to a vet in Chicago to get her shots and a check-up. We have been back and forth with whether we were going to keep her. It is just a little too much with ev...

In the 13 years we have been married the idea of moving to Chicago had been at the forefront of our minds and hearts. There were many times we found ourselves at a fork in the road of life and we desperately wanted to take the road that led to Chicago, but each time we knew the timing was not quite right. With so many discussions of moving to Chicago it is still hard to believe that we finally are living here and it is harder to believe that today marks 1 year since we moved from TN. One year ago we loaded down our Envoy with every thing we would need for at least a month (since we would not be moving into our apartment right away), three kids, our dog, and a cat locked up in a carrier and we headed North. We left our comfort zone of the past 8 years and headed into a new way of life. Those that follow us know that our first few months were pretty rough on us and it was hard not to start questioning why in the world we moved here! Just like always, God was faithful and provided beyond ...

A few weeks ago I was browsing on FB and I noticed that a page I follow was advertising for a book that was now on sale for $5.00. The title of the book caught my attention because without even knowing what the book was about I knew just by the title that I needed to read it because I knew the feeling all too well. The name of the book is Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst. Unglued is the perfect way to describe how I feel sometimes and something that I need to work on. The real danger is that my undoing is 98% time taken out on the 4 people that mean the most to me. I come unglued when my kids are fighting over the silliest thing in the car. I see the sadness in their face when I completely lose it and shout to them to "BE QUIET, NOW!!!! And I can feel the heat of rage on my face. Every time we go to Target my kids start fighting and I lean into Chloe's ear and with my teeth clinched warning her to get it together and I am fighting hard not to come unglued right there in the store. ...

We are enjoying some cool weather here in Chicago. It seems from other posts on FB many of us are experiencing Fall like weather. It has been nice to keep the windows open and enjoy a nice cool breeze. We enjoyed our visit to the zoo on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday the kids and I made another trip to the laundry mat to wash some blankets, sheets, and some rugs. Friday we just stayed home and I tried to get some things organized. I have determined that the kids have a "three stop" limit when it comes to running errands. They do really well the first few stops but by stop three they are fighting and driving me crazy! I have also been having a trying time with Chloe this past week. I am not sure if she is bored, but she has been reverting back to some of her old ways. One of our neighbors gave us a bag of popcorn and she took it off the table, opened it, and ate almost the entire bag. If you sit a drink down and walk away for a minute and walk back it will be empty of almost em...