Where has the time gone?

My baby girl will be turning 6 years old in three days!!! I swear it was just yesterday that we came home from the hospital with her... I have tears in my eyes just thinking how fast the time has gone... My princess - God bless her! She is one of the greatest gifts ever. I have no idea how I got so lucky to have the two precious gifts that God has blessed me with. I thank him every single day. I love you Kassandra Suzanne! You and your brother are my world!!

Christmas Eve 2005

We spent Christmas Eve over at Uncle Rich's house during the afternoon and then Great Grandpa Stu's in the evening... Spent time with lots of relatives haven't seen in a long time. The pics are over at Uncle Rich's - and present time. Great Grandma Dorothy and Papa are sitting on the couch talking in the last picture.

Thanksgiving with the Hoehne Family

We spent Thanksgiving over at the Richard E Hoehne Family (my brother and sister in laws) house. People in attendance were Richard and his wife Kim, their son Larry. Kim's Mother - Joyce and Joyces brother Keith. Richard A. Hoehne and his wife Carole were there. Then there were two lil wee ones in attendance with their Mom - Kristena. And since we don't know proper names as kids here is the table.
Nana - Grandma Carole
Papa - Grandpa Rich
Mom - me (Kristena)
Mom - Kim
Dada - Rich
Uncle Rich - Rich
Auntie Kim - Kim

The kids had a great time playing together - and we need to get the cousins together far more often. It's amazing to watch Larry and Kameron side by side as they were only born 11 days apart and Kameron being born a month too early. They definitely are cut from the same genes - for sure!

Tough times

Since September 18th - it's been a bit difficult for Kassie and Kameron and our whole family. Mommy completely ruptured her Achilles Tendon while out on an evening run. The doctors tried the conservative treatment first with a soft cast and no pressure - didnt work. After running some MRIs - the Surgeon decided to operate to repair the Achilles Tendon, transfer another tendon over to reinforce the Achilles Tendon, and to also shave off a deformity in one of the bones. The surgery was done on 11/3. Painful the first few days... The worst part is the kids had to stay with their paternal Grandparents for 4 weeks. I only got to see them one day out of those 4 weeks... Then the kids have finally come back down to stay with Kevin (he had to modify his work schedule). The wound is not healing unfortunately. I have been hospitalized, pumped full of IVs, Blood drawn, had a CTScan, etc... The results of the CT Scan show a rather large pocket of fluid near one of the tendons, some bone spicules, and other medical terminology that is above my head. I am scheduled for another surgery this coming Friday December 16th. Needless to say - this whole thing has been extremely trying, frustrating and sad. I miss the kids horribly and I want to get back to my normal life and get them back to their normal life.
Warning - pictures not for the weak.... these are pics taken two weeks after the surgery - actually those look better than what my ankle looks like now. The incision hasn't healed and has in fact expanded and continues to ooze and bleed. Not fun... We are hoping with all we've got that this coming Friday's surgery will fix it all and get me back up and running... so to speak. haha.

Halloween 05

Halloween 2005 - Second Halloween in the city of Chicago. Kassie was dressed up as Ariel from the Little Mermaid and Kameron was a fireman (go figure!). They had a lot of fun at their school party and doing trick or treats around the block. Kassie had the most fun giving out the candy to the kids that came up to the door. (She had a bit of a problem walking with her "tail fins" though... lol)

Photo Session

A certain princess thought it'd be a great idea to do a little photo shoot in the middle of putting up Halloween Decorations. I do have to admit the pic of both them sideways is my favorite! They are such cuties....

The Beautiful City of Chicago

Well - we've been livin down here for over a year now - thought we should include some of our pics of the city... We'll have to get better at taking some more of our visits to various areas.

Chicago Gaelic Festival

Kassie, Kameron, Kevin and I visited Gaelic Festival in Grant Park this weekend. Mommy of course, wanted Kas to see the dancers - so we watched them for about an hour. Kas really enjoyed it and of course tried to dance like them for the rest of the day. We walked over to Buckingham fountain and while taking some pics - we were serenaded by the lovely Scottish bagpipers - they were VERY good! Couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather that day either.
If you’re enough lucky to be Irish...You’re lucky enough!
May you have all the happiness
and luck that life can hold—
And at the end of all your rainbows
may you find a pot of gold.
May your pockets be heavy—
Your heart be light,
And may good luck pursue you
Each morning and night.

Sláinte!

The First Tooth Fairy visit

Kassie lost her very first tooth!!! She was very excited about - it took about a week to finally come out - and it did while she was at school. She brought it home and we made sure to put it in her Tooth Fairy pillow that she got from her Godmother Sam. The toothfairy did visit and left Kassie a surprise for her very first tooth. (Mommy could swear it was just yesterday that Kas was cutting her first tooth - sighing wistfully - time goes way too fast!)

Hurricane Katrina

A terrible tragedy occurred in August of 05 - Hurricane Katrina. We do have friends that live in the area and were affected by this horrific tragedy. Kassie and Kameron have friends that are from Louisiana. The Bodin Family - though now living in Texas - are from Louisiana originally and have many other relatives in Louisiana that were affected. It brought it that much closer to our hearts... and made the stories on TV more real life.

As well - Uncle Rich went down there with many other Lake County Fire Depts to go assist New Orleans in their time of need. The reports back were that it was like a war zone down there. While staying in one of the tent camps, Uncle Rich did actually get to shake hands with the President of the U.S. when the president went down there to view the devastation. Those people down there lost all they ever had - and have no where to go. Words can't describe the feeling of loss and devastation. No matter how much we pledge or give of ourselves - it just doesn't feel like enough. Our hearts go out to all those affected by Katrina. God Bless You all...

Their first camping trip!

I took the kids on their first camping trip in August (weekend of 8/12-8/14). There was a group of about 6 families all camping together. We stayed at Camp Hickory Hills - we camped out in our tent. First nite of course we HAD to do the s'mores. Of course it rained ALL weekend - the only rain we've gotten all summer and it happens to be the weekend I took them camping - go figure - lol. So Mommy had to get creative creating a "shelter" for the campfire so that we could cook - plus there were so many of us - we had to use multiple cooking pits so on the other one - we cooked under an umbrella. Thank goodness I brought those water proof matches, ponchos, and umbrellas and a huge extra tarp. (always prepared) Kameron was in heaven playing in the mud puddles - see the pic of him and his Thomas the Tank Engine and various trains.
On Saturday, we all went over to Starved Rock State Park and went for a 5 mile hike. Despite the rain - we had a great time and the kids keep asking to this day when are we going camping again. Hopefully we can fit in a Fall camping trip before it gets too cold. Here's the website to Starved Rock - http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/i&m/east/starve/park.htm

McClain Family Reunion

Kameron and Kassie got to meet and play with lots of relatives on Papa's side. It was the hottest day of the summer - well into the 100's so we didn't stay more than a couple hours... They were beat red no matter how much water and juice I pumped them with. It's always nice to visit with family that you haven't seen in a long time. The reunion was at the Lake Villa Caboose park in one of their pavilions.

(cousins playing in the sand - they are only 11 days apart - do you know which one is which?)