Do duckies go to heaven?

That's the question I got asked yesterday when the kids called. Turns out that "Ducky" was not doing well. When they first told me they found a pet duckling that they were keeping as a pet, this was exactly what I worried about. With the kids sniffling on the phone, I explained that Ducky would be very happy (and not sick) when he was in duck heaven. I also reminded them that, Ginger, my pet dog from when I was little, would take care of Ducky. Tehani was concerned that maybe Ginger might try to eat Ducky but I informed her that animals do not try to eat each other in animal heaven :)

Auntie Cynthia was nice enough to help with the funeral preparations. The kids wrote notes to put in the check box that Ducky was burried in. After singing a few songs and the prayer, Ducky was burried right next to the playhouse. And the kids will be able to visit anytime we go to Chicago.

RIP Ducky. We will miss you!

Over the river and through the woods

The kids have been in Chicago for about a week now. Even though they're gone, we usually still hear from them several times a day:

• Kobe: "Mom, can I set up an account on Pokemon.com?"
• Tehani: "Mom, did you know that (insert some random fact that only Tehani would know about)
• They do occasionally call to tattle on each other, though I am not sure why they are calling me since it is not like in I'm there. (Thank goodness for free long distance)

Anyway, they also like give updates on all they things that they are doing with Grandma and Grandpa. And I think I've finally figured out why they can't wait to get to Chicago...it's like a gigantic party!! In less than one week they have:

• Spent a day at the Brookfield Zoo
• Got to see the play Mary Poppins (Kobe picked this as his fav activity so far)
• Visited the Adler Planetarium (Tehani's fave)

And as if that wasn't enough, they even have a new "pet." A duckling wandered into my parents garage the other day. The mother is no where to be found but I hear that she has found a new "mom" in Tehani. My mom says that Tehani and the duck are inseparable. (Great, let's encourage my little veterinarian in training to take in EVERY stray that she finds!) I'm waiting for my mom to email me some photos (Note to self: teach Kobe how to upload pics so he can send them to me instead of waiting for my mom to convince my brother to come over and do this:)

At least this week won't be so busy for the kids. They do start swimming lessons, which is another tradition they have when they visit my parents-swim lesson's at the Addison Park District. And they are helping Grandma babysit Baby Charlotte for the week. (Which means in addition to wanting a duck when they get back home, they will also ask if we can have a baby too!) Great! The answer is no.

And no.

Bon Voyage!

Summer is here which means its that time of the year where my kids start counting down the days until Grandma comes to take them for their annual summer trip to Chicago. Here a pic of the happy travelers when I dropped them off at the airport this morning at 6am.

We've been so busy with the end of school and getting packed that I have been a real blog slacker. But I figured now that I no longer have an excuse for not blogging, I had better get to work and start posting! In addition to blogging, I do plan to make use of my found "free time" by going to the gym as well. (Is it unrealistic to want to lose 25 pounds before we leave for Tahiti in 3 weeks?) Either way, I'm going to be a blog posting, gym-going, house cleaning fool until I leave to see the kids at the end of the month.


I'll just get started with the housework after a take a quick afternoon nap :)

Camp Jeremiah Johnson

So our Cub Scouts were scheduled to do a "day camp" today which means that I got to spend my Thursday at Camp Jeremiah Johnson with Kobe and the boys. We don't have a huge den but after all the planning and forms to fill out I'm sure all of the leaders are glad this is over. I was excited to see how many things the boys were able to pass off--and they were having tons of fun! Some of the highlights included:

• Shooting--If Kobe ever gets in trouble for shooting out someones window with a bb gun, now I can blame it on being a cub scout.
• Boating--Definitely not a strong skill for our group. Maye our little Samoan den needs to take some lessons from their dads!
• Archery--This was Kobe's favorite thing out of all the activities

I'm just glad that the camp was early enough in the summer that Kobe was able to go before he leaves for his next adventure at Camp "Grandma Anderson!"

Music to my ears

So while other little girls dream about getting tickets to go to a Hannah Montana concert, our little Tehani dreams about one thing..the Celtic Woman.

It's kind of my own fault. I took Tehani to their concert a few years ago and she has been hooked ever since. She has a CD of theirs that she listens to EVERY night when she is going to bed. And lately she has started signing along (who knew that Tehani spoke Gaelic?)

Anyway, we convinced Simone and Eva to join us for the fun. We had great seats in the 3rd row--which is almost too close when you are only 7 (Tehani) and 6 (Eva).

I had to remind Tehani that it's not polite to talk during a concert. She kept leaning over at the start of every song to give me her commentary--"This is (insert name of some Celtic Woman song). It's on my CD. This is the song where..." She's a little talker. She must get that from her dad.

And she gets her great taste in music from me :)