Family & friends,
Oh, how we’ve missed you! We hope you are all doing great and hope to hear from you soon! Time goes by too fast these days, but we want you all to know that we think and talk about you often. We tell the kids about you and show them pictures of you, so don’t be surprised if they act like they’ve known you forever when you see/meet them next!

We’ve had a summer packed full of fun and memories, including:

• a 16 hour road trip to Pensacola
• a family reunion in Wisconsin Dells
• a “live-in” with the Stewgles (our neighbors that moved to New Jersey earlier this year)
• a Day Out With Thomas (the tank engine, of course)
• a garage sale
• the potty training of Joshua (finally!)
• the Dave Matthews Band concert at Wrigley Field

I’ll cover some of these adventures as I take the fall to get back in the groove of updating this blog (notice some nice changes in design?), but first I’d like to quickly get you up to speed as to where we all are right now….

Mike (aka “Big Daddy”)

Mike is chugging along at P&G’s North Chicago site. He tends to work 50-60 hours per week and likes it well enough. The site is continuing (yes, still) to transition into P&G systems and it has been a ton of work for him and the rest of the site. He’s proud of his results as the Plant Engineer, but is ready to move on to a bigger and better role there.

At home, Mike really is the model husband/dad. He helps with house chores, namely the dishes and trash, and is very active and involved with Joshua and Addison. Both kids are “Daddy magnets”, since he is their treat at the end of the day. They often go to the park, sing songs really loud, read books, and wrestle in the living room. Because of all of this, he often falls asleep on the couch shortly after they go to bed, all so that he can get up and do it again the next morning.

Heather (aka “Mommy Everything”)

Heather is still home with the kids, though has taken on quite a bit of Web work, namely building websites and doing social media consulting with small interests. She mostly likes helping local bands, moms, small local businesses, and individuals and families. She maintains three blogs:

• this one, The ChicagoActons, focused on the four of us and keeping in touch with our distant family and friends
• a personal blog, Heather Acton – At the Intersection of Mom and Web Entrepreneur, which is focused on the issues encountered while being an at-home mom and establishing a business
• a professional (geeky) blog, ActonWeb, which is going to be focused on my business helping small interests get present and active on the Web

With all this going on, Heather doesn’t get much sleep. But, she couldn’t imagine not pursuing the Web business at this point. She’s found something she loves to do that could potentially be a family business in time. And, it helps her keep her sanity after all day with the little ones =)

Joshua (aka “Spike”)

We call Joshua “Spike” because of his straight and spiky hair. The poor kid is going to have to become a big fan of mousse if he ever chooses to keep his hair longer than a crew cut. Example (um, ignore the watermark on these…I’m cheap!) is to the left!

But really, Joshua is everything a three year old little boy should be. He loves the movie Cars and Thomas the Tank Engine. He loves being outside and going to the park, and even has the courage to do the “fast slide” that Mommy is afraid of. He begs to go to Target and the mall (Mommy LOVES this!), and hangs in there on some very long shopping days!

Joshua also loves his little sister! They are often seen holding hands, kissing and hugging, and chasing each other around the house. And, yes, he also loves to antagonize his little sister =) They play the “mine” game often!

Recently the little man became potty-trained (much easier than Mommy thought!) and started three year old preschool. Preschool has been bittersweet. I have been happy to have some one-on-one time with Addy, but I miss my little guy. He’s been teary often when I’ve left, and is already telling me, “I don’t like school.” I didn’t think I’d hear that for a good 10 years! It’s only two days a week for two hours a day, and is a play-based school, so I’m pretty sure we’ll make him stick it out

Addison (aka “Snorts”)

We call little Addy “Snorts” because of the way she snorts her blanket. She’s done this since she was given a blankie at about one month old, but the sound has only become more piggy-like as she’s grown. It’s a laughing matter for all of us, and she knows it and eats up the attention it gets her!

Addy’s got the cutest little blonde super-curly hair. Yes, blonde. We often get asked where she got both the blonde and the curls, and the best we can figure out is that she is blonde like Mike was at a young age, and she is curly like I was at a young age. It’ll be interesting to see how her hair changes through the years!

Addy absolutely adores her big brother. She mimics everything he does, and as a result speaks very well at not even two years old. She is also such a cuddler, which I absolutely love. It is not uncommon for her to come up and give us hugs and kisses, and she’ll sit on one of our laps for extended amounts of time, just to be kissed, loved, and cuddled.

She currently loves singing the ABC’s and Twinkle Twinkle all around the house (and loves the applause that follows), and also seems to love just about all of the TV shows and movies that Joshua does, including Cars, Thomas, and Caillou.

We do say that Addy is our “flower child”. She is usually pretty happy and goes with the flow. However, cross that girl and you will get a shrill shriek and a pouty lip (and if you’re Joshua, possibly a swipe to the cheek!).

So That’s the Actons Now!

Well, I hope this gets you all up to speed and that you feel “in the loop” again. I do enjoy writing these types of posts because it also serves as a little marker in our kids’ (and our) timeline. I know these are some of the details we’ll quickly forget.

If you haven’t already, go ahead and subscribe to these updates. You’ll get each new post sent straight to your email so you won’t have to remember to come back and check for new updates.

And, please keep in touch by sending us a note about how you’re doing. We love to hear everyone’s stories!

Love and miss you all!

-the ChicagoActons

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!

=)