St. Nick Party at church

Each year our church has a St. Nicholas Party.  (Knights of Columbus)

There were crafts and snacks and dinner (which we skipped to eat fajitas at home.)

Long ago there were four - now there is but one participant.

However - you can tell she enjoyed it!  The joy is spread all over her face!

Freedom (for me)

So the day finally came when the pros outweighed the cons for buying a second car. (Ken's car is a company car....so we don't own that and only employee and spouse can drive.)

Ken searched and searched and finally found CHARLIE (aka Mitt).  Matthew named him Charlie (for no real reason), but I think Mitt is much more clever because it is a Mitsubishi Outlander.

Here the kids are showing their enthusiasm.  (Except for Carolyn, because she was cold.)

The best news of the day is that after we bought this vehicle, my dad wrote us a huge check that covered the majority of it.  I told him it wasn't necessary, but he said they wanted to do it and that they had given other kids cars, instead of trading them in.   So I get a bunch of freedom (not having to drive Matthew here there and everywhere) and I am  not even feeling it much in the wallet!

I don't think it will make it until Anna gets through high school - but hopefully most of the rest of the years!  It will only be driven a few miles at a time.  (The high school is under 2 miles and HyVee is under 2 and church is under 2....all our hotspots!)

THANKS GRANDPA AND GRANDMA!

Look What I am Making for Christmas

Anna and Joel have joined the Harry Potter band wagon, so I thought it would be fun to have some Harry Potter treats at Christmas.  Then I decided to make a Harry Potter treat for Christmas!

First I made some cards with some of my favorite characters (I am making 8 - 2 for each kid....duplicates for a few cousins who are fans.)  (Lupin, McGonagall, Hermonie, Harry, Ginny and Neville....the top has a quote for each.)

The frogs were easy...melt, pour, refrigerate.

I was going to go to the dollar store for boxes, but couldn't get out of my street due to construction.  I tried to make Harry Potter "type" boxes, without luck.  Then I googled "paper box" and came upon a good tutorial that I could follow after re-watching certain spots 3-5 times!

Tah Dah.  I think the kids will love them.  I must quickly get rid of the evidence before Anna gets home.

College Trip with friends and family to sweeten the deal!

Ok - here was the first reason for our visit!

Great university, but to be honest it is too far from home and in too large of a city (if you ask me).

Super extra reasons to visit St. Louis

My niece Emily, a professor at Washington University (WashU).  We had dinner at a restaurant called Pi (imagine the symbol for 3.1415).

Great friends from Newburgh (who now live near St. Louis)

Here is my voice of reason and great support since even before Anna was born and ever since!  Nina!

Back to school 2015

Iowa started school late this year!  Ok - not this late :0)  8-26-15

Matthew - Centennial High School - 11th Grade - new challenge Calculus and Veteran's Day Parade in NYC

 The gang is all here- obviously facing the sun.

 Anna - Northeast Elementary 3rd grade - new challenge - oldest McCleary at NE - no sibling to share the journey!

 Carolyn- Northview Middle School - 8th Grade - new challenge - Show Choir

 Joel - Prairie Ridge Middle School - 6th Grade - challenge - changing classes/ RUSH soccer!

It is amazing the things you find when you clean out your storage room.  Below is a card Matthew received from his buddy 7 years ago.  I am going to give him the original, but I wanted to keep a copy.  The bad part is it makes me sad that he lost such a great friend.

What I am doing with my summer vacation -2015

I am so blessed to have a job where I can work more during the school year and cut back (to the hours I committed to work when I started this job) during the summer.

Mostly I am working 2 days 7-2:30 and one day 6:30-10:30.  It is awesome because I have a 3 day weekend most weeks and am home a bunch.

We hired a new audiologist, so I may even work less this coming school year than I did last year.  I will cross that bridge in the fall.

Carolyn and Joel both spent a week at camp (Catholic Youth Camp for C. and Mitigwa Scout Camp for J.).  Matthew skipped scout camp this year, but vowed to return next year.  His scout money went to Driver's Ed, so I was ok to have the savings.  This week Carolyn is at "Christ's Hands" missionary program at church.  She is working at a food bank during the day and doing fun Youth Ministry things in the evening.  I am sure she is having a great time.  This is the first year for a middle school version of this program.  (Matthew did "Faith In Action" - the high school version - during Spring Break the last 2 years.)

We are planning a trip to Chicago at the end of July.  During the rest of the summer, we are hanging out, spending time at the pool, having fun with friends, reading, biking (this is mostly Anna and Matthew), going on walks (mostly me, Carolyn as well).  The boys have scouts, Matthew has Marching Band and work, the kids are cooking more.

Cascade Falls (our cool water park)

This summer, I am walking a ton, thanks in part to my Fit-bit.  Anna's bike and my walking partner, Joelle, make this much easier than solo-walking would be.

I have been cleaning my house!  The clutter has to go!  This book and the author's blog have really motivated me!

 The 2 youngest and I created a special place under the stairs today after pulling everything out from underneath.  Here is the back of the closet (too dark to see well) - all the scout/camping stuff will now have a place of it's own.

Here is the front of the closet - a special fort-like play area.

In cleaning out this space we found a Birthday Card from Ken's folks - for Anna's FIFTH birthday.  Not sure how it got in the basement closet - but Anna was excited to have $20 to spend!  (She doesn't know how lucky she really is, because "back in the day" most of her birthday money went into her college fund.  Now she enjoys having some money to spend, although she said that she is going to save 1/2.)

In addition to cleaning - I am trying to get back into a budget.  I took $50 to the grocery store and was so happy to spend $46.37!  I was a little less proud when I returned 2 days letter and spent $65!  Still way less than normal and I  made 7 main dishes after the first shopping trip, which will hopefully prevent us from going out to eat in July.  Hoping to stay out of the grocery store this week.  Let's just say there was less preparation in June....and a bit of budget-busting!

In addition to cleaning and cooking a bunch, I read:

 This was a recommendation from Gretchen Rubin, the author of "Better than Before".  She has a blog where she recommends books and this was one that I actually bought from DEALOZ.com, since it wasn't at our library.  Joel is reading it now.  I will recommend it to all 4 kids.

Anna and I read:

 Now we are working through the other 4 books in the quintet.  I know I read the first book when I was a kid, not sure if I read all 5.

There you have it!  We are about 1/2 way through the summer.  (This summer is especially long for Iowa children due to the governor's insistence that schools start later this year.)

Pictures from Chicago to follow in a couple of weeks.