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Welcome to Part 2 of 3 of our Labor Day Weekend 2009 adventure log! This part will give you a glimpse into a normal weekend day at our house, as it was our lazy day of the holiday weekend.
Still tired from our day in Chicago with the Sina’s, we decided to take a much needed day of rest on Sunday. This involved a fairly normal routine for our family for the day, starting with kids waking up at about 7:30am, cuddling in bed in our room for a bit, and finally heading down to breakfast. I didn’t make anything special (Sunday’s are typically eggs and waffles at our house), as we had plenty of leftover goodies from the morning before. There were plenty of bagels, coffee cake, fruit, and yogurt for all of us. The coffee tasted especially good that morning, though!
We watched Toy Story during and after breakfast, as this is usually on the television during all of Joshua’s waking hours. Shortly after breakfast we enjoyed lazy time on the couch. Well, Mike and the kids did, but I had some “work” to do in fixing the Kozlowski family computer. So I retired to the office for a bit while the rest of the family enjoyed Daddy being home.
At about 1:00pm we headed out to our restaurant of choice on the weekends – Moe’s Southwest Grill. We all ordered the same meals we order every time (a Joey Bag O Donuts for Mike, a Funk Meister for Joshua, a Joey Jr. for me, and a Ruprict for us all to share). Addy got to enjoy some special combination of a meat and vegetable, Gerber style. I can’t wait until she can enjoy Moe’s with us; it shouldn’t be long! As per usual, Joshua regularly shouted “Welcome to Moes!!!” as new customers entered. We even got a chance to chat with Bill (one of the owners that we have become friends with) for a while.
Joshua just about fell asleep in the car on the way back to our house, but we were barely able to keep him awake. Both kids went for a nice long needed nap when we got in.
Addy got up first around 4:30pm or so, but Joshua kept on sleeping and sleeping! This gave Addy a chance to army crawl around the family room and have free reign of all of Joshua’s toys while he was not around (if he sees her in his toys, he continually takes them away, says “NO, Addy!” and eventually goes into a tantrum). I think she appreciated it! Joshua finally woke up around 6:30pm and we headed over to my Grandma’s house to spend time with the Schoonhoven side of the family.
The normal group was there – my folks, Kevin, Debbie, Tom, Tommy, Kellie, Julie, Robin, and the dogs Tootsie and Gracie. We were missing Ashley, as she stayed at school for the long weekend. As per usual, there was great conversation at the big kitchen table, and Joshua played with the special toys on the floor in the living room while the boys watched some sporting event.
We got in a few good hours over there then had to head home to get our tired kids (yes, still tired even after all that napping!) to bed for the night. Mike and I were not far behind, as we had another big day planned for Monday including REI and Woodfield in Schaumburg.
Stay tuned for Part 3 of 3 of our Labor Day Weekend 2009 adventures!
Yesterday, June 5, 2009, was Mike’s and my five year wedding anniversary! Congratulations to us!!!
In the past five years, we have moved from Green Bay to Lake Villa and had two beautiful children, just to name the highlights.
To celebrate this special day, we…………did NOTHING!!! That’s right! Nothing out of the ordinary, at least, except that there was a “no laptop” rule after the kids went to bed.
Here’s the course of events:
At midnight leading into June 5 (so really late Thursday night) I gave Mike the anniversary card that I made. It was cute, if I do say so myself =) Here’s what it looked like:
 This is the front of the card; I'm "Tweeting" him =) On the inside, there was this picture, that I created by editing through the free Gimp software (awesome FREE substitute for Adobe Photoshop, by the way):
Then there was this poem, that I proudly authored:
I count the years one to five
Just the thought makes me feel alive
I can honestly say I now love you more
Than on that beautiful day in June of ’04
We’ve traveled and had adventures
But I just can’t wait to see you in dentures
We’re bound to grow old together
Because you’ll never get rid of this little Heather
I love you the most with all of my heart
Even if you close the car door and fart
HAPPY FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, MY SWEETEST!!!
I thought it was all pretty cute, and I think he did too.
Inside was his ticket to Andrea Bocelli at Allstate Arena on June 12, 2009. I got one ticket for him for our anniversary and another for his mom for her birthday coming up later this month. When she heard Andrea Bocelli was going to be in Chicago, and coincidentally on the same timing that she will be in town for Addison’s Baptism, I knew they had to go see him together. I hope they have a great time!
So back to the course of events…
After I gave him his card and gift he went to sleep and I played on the Mac a bit more.
Friday morning I took a walk with my neighbor Jill while Mike got Joshua up and fed. He played outside with the kids until I got back. It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day. We showered and had pizza rolls for lunch, then put the kids for their naps. Mike took the cars to get detailed at Park Place (they look AWESOME) and I played on the computer until the kids got up. By the time they woke up again it was really too late to do much more than just go out to eat. We went to Saluto’s for pizza, then drove through Oberweiss for shakes. We were both stuffed to the rim. By the time we got home it was time for Addy to go to bed for the night. I put her to bed, then Mike and Joshua both got haircuts, Joshua got a bath, and he went to bed. He loved the haircut as usual….lol…
After the kids went to bed the “no laptop” rule went into effect. On normal nights the kids go to bed and Mike and I both grab our computers and have the TV going in the background (at least we sit in the same room and chat intermittently!). But today was special, so we let go of that habit. It was nice! We both cuddled on the same couch like we did before having kids (and before I gained 30 lbs), and popped in our wedding video. Mike had the great idea earlier in the day to watch it and I thought that was a perfect way to spend our anniversary night! It was so nice to relive that day. We had so many great family members and friends there, and everyone had so much fun. The video ended at midnight and then we went to bed.
So, true to Mike and Heather form, we didn’t do any extravagant dinner or vacation (as we kind of intended to), but we still made a memorable day and reflected back often on our past 5 years as a married couple. And I just don’t think I would have felt right if we had chosen to spend that day away from our kids, as they are such an important part of our life and of our marriage. We really are lucky to all have eachother. What a beautiful life!
=)
Mike and I did a drive-through at Oberweiss the other day. I ordered our two chocolate milkshakes as Addy was SCREAMING in the back seat. After ordering and paying, the girl at the window asked if I’d like a sample of their vanilla milk. I said, “Sure, why not?!” I mean, it is something for free, right? So she disappears from the window, for more than just a couple of minutes. At about minute three, Mike says, “What….are they killing the cow in there?” (As if cows need to be slaughtered to provide the milk…lol…)
And for those wondering, we never did get our vanilla milk free sample. She returned to the window with our five dollar chocolate shakes at about minute six. It took me less time than that to suck it down =)
It’s been another couple of fun-filled weeks, with nicer weather and kids that have, in general, been sleeping better.
Addy seems to have broken out of her catnap phase fairly quickly, thank goodness. She’s still waking to eat a couple times in the middle of the night, but usually sleeps ’til 6:30 or 7:30 in the morning and will almost always go right back to sleep within an hour after getting up in the morning. This works out great for me, as Joshua has continued to sleep in, so I get an extra hour or two of sleep in the morning when Addy goes back to sleep.
We’ve taken several walks now that the nicer weather has intermittently arrived. Addy just sleeps, and Joshua peeks all over. He notices everything. Airplanes, ducks, geese, trees, soccerballs, puppies…EVERYTHING. The whole trip is, “Mommy! Ball?….Mommy! Airplane?…Mommy! Woof?…” So cute =)
When we’re inside, he’s still got to have Elmo on every minute, and he can play with his Matchbox cars for hours!
Addy is just the cutest little sweetheart. She is so smily all the time, and has the best giggle when she gets tickled or just thinks I’m funny. She LOVES her big brother lately, and he loves her. Anytime she’s sitting on my lap she is watching him or looking for him, and she loves when he gives her hugs and kisses. She just bats her eyelashes and smiles. Again, SO cute! Joshua’s been big on holding her and giving her hugs, which I love. I’m going to enjoy the time that they get along with eachother while I can!
In other news, I continue to love my new computer, of course. It’s pretty much all that I do when kids are asleep. I’ve started to make some short videos of me and the kids to post to facebook so that some of the people that haven’t met Addy or seen Josh in a while can see what they’re like.
Mike’s been super stressed out at work and I feel bad for him. That’s all that I’ll say on that subject since this is public.
Other small items – I continue to watch the stock market and I’m not sure what to think. Much of my family thinks doomsday is coming, where the dollar becomes valueless, but I have chosen a more optimistic stance. I just don’t believe that the U.S. is so weak or stupid that that situation could become a reality. This isn’t the early 1900′s anymore and we have a lot of data on this similar situation over time. We have learned from it, and while some individuals took advantage of inappropriate amounts of credit offered by the banks, there is a reason why we have leaders in our country and I do believe they’ll do their best to get us back on the right track. But really, we have no choice but to hope for that… Maybe people will now learn a simple reality – don’t spend money you don’t have!!! Duh…
As always, more to come!
=)
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