County Line Apple Orchard

Last weekend Nana came to visit.  She came in Friday after dinner and stayed through Sunday breakfast.  On Saturday we had a full, fun day.  It started with a delish breakfast consisting of chocolate pancake balls and bacon.  Then we were OFF to Indiana to County Line Apple Orchard.  Boy oh boy was it HOT!  When we left the thermostat read 91.  Yikes.  And, it was very crowded, which isn't surprising since it was a sunny, gorgeous October Saturday.

We enjoyed the play area and petting zoo and then there was a pretty cool cover-band playing in the picnic area where we enjoyed lunch.  Then Delaney and Katie went on the Moo-Choo train ride while Rowe sat with Nana and enjoyed some pink lemonade.  We went on a short tracker ride to some very empty apple trees, but we got some MacIntosh from a big bin and decided to walk through the orchard a bit anyway.  It was really nice to get away from the crowd for a while and we were able to find some Golden Delicious on trees, so the girls were excited that they could actually pick some apples.  After that I was pretty beat and the heat and crowd was getting to me, so we went to the store and Nana got us some amazing apple-cinnamon donuts, apple cidar, an apple pie drapped in caramel, and some apples.  Each of the girls also picked out a toy.  Then we hopped into the hot car, cranked up the air conditioner, and headed home.  Then, Nancy treated Peter and I to dinner and babysitting...so we went to our fave Mexican restaurant in Plainfield and Nana and the girls had McD's Happy Meals.  It was a fun and wonderful weekend.

Overwhelmed with Kindness, Support, and Generosity!

I really don't know how to even begin this post other than I tear up every time I think about how wonderful people in the world can be. It's been over a month since that "fateful" date, and Peter and I are holding up well. The hardest part of losing his job was the fact that he loved his job so very much. His coworkers are so amazing, fun, and supportive. Many cried the day he left, and he walked out with his pride and dignity still in tact. What hurt me the most is that in a way, Peter is losing a family. He never once complained to me about his job or the people he spent so much time with day after day. He felt loved and connected there, and he was highly respected, much loved, and everyone enjoyed him and his humor.

On Sunday, October 3rd, six wonderful ladies threw Peter a farewell party. They booked a boat house/club down in Kankakee and invited those from the hospital that worked with and knew Peter. One lady had her father DJ the party and another had her husband bartending. The party began at noon and wound down around 5 or so. The place had people there all day, and everyone brought food and generosity. They held a bags tournament and 3 50/50 drawings, and the proceeds went to us. There was also a cover charge to enter and a donations jar. These wonderful, generous people raised over $1000 for us. That covers our mortage and groceries or mortage and a car payment for a month. As the party was ending, Peter thanked everyone and told them how much he misses working with them. They truly are like a family; sticking together when things get rough. Everyone had such nice things to say about Peter...how fun, nice, and professional he is, how much they miss him, etc. His supervisor, Val, was there and she said that in her 35 years in the healthcare field she has never met someone so genuine, professional, and nice. And, in that time, she has never seen anyone leave a job so gracefully. I am so proud to be his wife.

The yummy, sad cake

 Peter's Nuc Med Crew: Brad, Shandi, and Garrard

 The WONDERFUL ladies that put on our party: Traci, Andrea, Rene, Lisa, Molly, and Shandi

 Playing the Bags Tourney

 Watching the final match

 Rene thanking everyone and doing the final 50/50 raffle

 Peter thanking everyone and telling them how much he misses them and working at Riverside

 With our food-loot...We took home almost all of the leftovers and they were amazing!  Molly kept saying "Food, food for the po' please!" as she filled up the large box.

To everyone that attended, thank you. For all those that have showed support, thank you. For those that couldn't attend, but sent food, kind words, and/or donations, thank you. For those that participated in all the events yesterday, thank you. For all the wonderful food you all cooked and shared, thank you. And, last but definitely NOT least...to the six wonderful, amazing ladies who put it all together...THANK YOU! We love and appreciate you all and are humbly overwhelmed with your generosity, thoughtfulness, kindness, support, and love. We hope to see you again soon, and that we can all keep in touch!

 

Out of Storage!

I am currently uploading/downloading more storage to the blog so I can post more pictures and such.  I have used up the "free" alotted space, and now have to purchase more.  I do so this morning, but it is taking sometime to actually go through.  I have a post that has been saved since Monday about a wonderful event that occurred on Sunday, and I want to make sure it includes pictures, so that is the reason for the delay in posts.

Plainfield Homecoming

Despite the fact there are FOUR high schools in Plainfield, there is only one Homecoming Parade...which makes for one nice, long, fun parade.  It is scheduled around Central's schedule, so yesterday was PCHS's homecoming game and dance, but the cold day started off with the parade through downtown Plainfield and ends at PCHS.

Yesterday morning the girls woke up and we all got dressed, ready for a chilly morning and to catch candy.  We brought four blankets, grocery bags for candy, and donuts and coffee.  We stopped by Dillinghams to get them and we headed over.  The closest we could park was at Renwick Park, but it seemed a popular place to park. So we walked through the fields, me carrying 2 coffees, Peter and Ryan pushing strollers filled with Littles and blankets, and three blond girls running in excitement who quickly began to freeze.

We decided to just sit at the end of the parade since it was closer to our cars and there were some nice open spots.  The girls loved enjoying a donut or two while listening the parade noise from afar, and soon enough, the police, firefighters, and paramedics were driving down the last leg of the parade.  Sirens were blaring, kids were jumping up with excitment, except Emily who snuggled under a down comforter in her stroller and slept and hid for the entire parade. 

 I had to include a picture of this poor poodle!  The owners had the PROWLERS letters and the numbers 59 actually shaved into both sides adn then painted with glitter paint.  The toenails were also painted in alternating red/blue and then, as you can see there were poofy fleece bows around the ankles, neck and ears.  POOR DOG! :(  (I am obviously not a fan of dressing up dogs!).

The girls behaved so well and had so much fun.  After the parade we headed over to the Dillinghams' to have lunch play until about 3, and headed home.  Then they came over to our place around 6 or so for pizza and more play time.  A fun-filled fall day!

Another Avid Reader

On Friday after school and lunch, Peter took Kate to the local public library to get her own library card.  She was so excited.  She recently had been to her school's library and really likes a Fairy series, but wasn't able to get another book in the series this past week (at school).  Well, she came home with five books--three for her (two of the fairy books and a Narnia book) and two for Delaney...she's such a good and thoughtful sister!  She was pretty excited to get her own card and pick out books. It looks like we have quite a bit of reading to do this week!

Decorating for Halloween

Something the girls love to do for any holiday...is decorate.  So like their mom! :)  I wish money was just falling from the trees like the leaves so I could just shop, shop, shop for more holiday decor.  On Monday we finally got our the fall and Halloween decorations, and the girls went to town! 

 These two had fun running around with all the lights

 Delaney was quick to jump in to help after getting off the school bus.

Almost all of the pumpkins I made, except the four tiny ones around Coltrane's urn and the one on the far left.  I love our pumpkin collection...I think I need to make more!