invites

My siblings and I are throwing my dad a party for his upcoming 75th birthday. While walking downtown yesterday while TJ was in class, I came across
The Paper Source. I am really excited to put together the invitations. I am in love with the paper to line the envelopes...just in love! 

picture below shows the texture and the shimmer on the copper card

what a great week!

two sided card

I have had just one wonderful week! 

My fabulous husband surprised me with my own business cards, not 1 but 2 of my own domains and a website for my photography business

 I did my 1st big event...an award dinner for Heartland Food Corp. Employee's flew in from Canada and the surrounding Midwest states.  Honestly the first hour I thought I might pass out. Taking pictures of kids or families is easy and non-stressful.....you really can't ruin it. An annual awards dinner ....if you mess it up, you can't fly everyone back in to re-shoot. The evening turned out to be a success and I had a ball with it.

TJ started another 9 week class downtown on Saturday's. This week I headed North to the Rush St area with my Macro lens...flower above

 I took some fun candid shots at Karrick's soccer practice...fun in the sun! I love playing with light

 Friday night Tim and I joined some of our friends at the 1st Annual Black and Red Ball to benefit the Glenbard East Boosters. My dear friend Missy- below in pink, sister in law put this together in just 8 weeks and was hoping for at least 200 people. Over 300 people attended. There were 720 items in the silent auction, dinners to All-inclusive trips to Mexico. A junior/senior school parking pass went for $500 for 1 year...it was just crazy

All proceeds go toward GEHS new turf field and concession stands. Community spirit and support was second to none!

A table of some of my favorite people

Bern, in the white sweater is the worlds funniest person...she will make you pee in your pants from laughing

I won the "Fireman for a Day" for Karrick in the auction. The auction was cool as you bid via cell phone. Tim won an hour with a mechanic for a teen...a learning hour. It's for Callahan and my fear is that Cal may teach the mechanic

I have joined the juicing fad. I actually have aged in the last 6months...little stress with TJ's  traumatic brain injury. I always took pride in the fact that I never looked my age. I have a couple on wrinkles...GASP, I know....48 is only 5 months away..after that 50 is knocking on my door. I love my juice...every morning I juice all my veggies and a couple fruits. I feel fantastic after almost 2 weeks of juicing

 Just my sweet little boy 

He wants the shin guards on the outside

father and son

Sometimes you just nail a shot

My little Mechanic

.

He who rebuilds the engine and gets it running should be able to drive the car. I'm going to be honest, it's a little unsettling to see you child underneath a car even if it just to replace a fuel filter

Cal taking her for a spin...not only can he drive, but this is a stick shift car. He goes down the block  turns around, comes back down and pulls into a neighbors driveway and makes a 3 point turn without killing the engine

I'm not kidding when I say "3rd kid syndrome"

 Karrick had his 1st soccer game today at 11:30, be there 11:15. Well we were running late and got to the park at 11:25. Karrick ran ahead and I see him running straight onto the field with a game in play. 

Before I could stuff a pillow into my big loud megaphone (aka mouth)  I yell and I mean YELL!

"KARRICK, DON'T RUN ON THE FIELD THAT ISN'T OUR GAME!!!!"...Karrick freezes in his tracks

Doesn't the entire sideline of people turn around to look at me...blue striped fuzzy pants(horizontal stripes..GASP) Salmon hoodie, folding chair and I mean folding chair...old school, 1 fold, no cute storage bag chair, blanket, jacket, purse and diet Coke. Why no water bottle...it's was left on counter at home, I didn't have any arms left to carry it anyway.
I need a hard chair to sit on because I'm old
I have plates and screws in my lower spine that is now arthritic, have 5 bulging disks in my  neck with nerve damage. Arthritis also in my elbows, right knee and hips. I am literally a disaster so please don't begrudge me my hard freaking chair. I would totally feel like white trash if I didn't pull up in my ever so cute sporty Audi A4 convertible- it doesn't suck!

A mom informs me that "yes, this is Karrick's team on the field, the game started at 11am"

Of course it did...now everyone knows I was 45 min late for my childs 1st game. By the looks of me, they probably assumed I was hungover or smokin crack all night (did I forget to mention that a shower wasn't part of my morning)

The coach immediately put Karrick in as it was the 3 qtr already. Probably felt sorry for the poor neglected kid with the old jersey.

I kept forgetting to buy the park district reversible  Navy/Gray Jersey. I did run in last night, just to find the peanut sizes were sold out...new ones next week....FUK

Call my friend Gayle...she has an old one...cool I'll pick it up in the morning when I dump Callahan and TJ off at 8 am. Jake and Josh were hosting a 15 person paintball party in Joliet. I was the Notary person so I hung out til all guests arrived. Always leaves me with an uneasy feeling when a parents signature on the waiver needs to be notarized.

I digress.

 I leave with the sky blue/white jersey and head home with all the time in the world before Karrick's game

Back to my entrance at the game. I unfold my chair and sit, mom next to me goes

 "I recognize you"

 of course you do

"sure you just don't recognize the voice?"  I ask

people that don't know me, know me as "that funny lady, you know, the one with the really loud voice"

If they are asking my friend Cindy, then it's "that funny lady, you know the one with the really loud voice like you"  there are debates on which one of us is louder...very close

"St Pius!, yes Karrick went to pre-school with my Aiden"  she replies

Two seconds later the 3 qtr was over and the kids all ran over to have a sip of water, except for the late kid, with the old  jersey and shin guards on the outside of his socks

St Pius Mom offered Karrick a sip of water

I told her "just wait till next week, I will be so on this whole thing that you'll be jealous"

Oh, and I did get a few "don't you have a schedule?" from some of my friend parents

"No, I relied on my ESP skills, but due to cloudy weather I tuned in to 11:30 instead of 11am...but i nailed the correct field"

Of course i have a schedule, I even have 2. 1 from the coach and 1 that was emailed to me.

Note to self.... double check game time on the game day, don't rely on memory from 2 days prior

Update on TJ

Disclaimer: It is okay to be multi-listed if you don't have an exclusive contract. TJ isn't exclusive, being new to the teen/adult world, it benefits all parties to get as much experience and exposure as possible.

IT IS OK!

It has been exactly 6 months, 1 week since TJ's traumatic brain injury.  It has been a long difficult journey, but with immediate exceptional medical care, support of my family, friends and Glenbard East HS we are ready to move onto the next chapter of our lives.

TJ is off all  prescription medications. He does get headaches, but not everyday. At school the headaches seemed to start during last period which is a study period, so he can just lay down

 TJ only takes 4 classes but is getting A's in 3 of them and a B in the 4th. A lovely boost to his GPA. He has made up half of his last semester credits due to the incredible staff at GEHS, The school nurse oversaw this daunting task by scheduling tutoring sessions with different teachers from last semester during his free periods daily. I see my bright, funny and confident (sometime too confident, everywhere he goes people tell him how beautiful he is) boy back. A stranger asked if  she could take his picture just to show her girlfriend how pretty he was. While flattered, TJ sometimes finds all the attention " creepy".  He says sometimes people just stare at him non-stop, which he hates.

 If there are any lasting effects, I can't notice them. When I ask TJ if he feels like his old self he says "pretty close"

TJ was not able to join his Sophomore Team in baseball...he took it extremely well and is enjoying some new down time after 10 years of non-stop sports.  

TJ wants to model and act. He just finished a 9 week class at Act One Studio in downtown Chicago. He starts another 9 week, 3 hr class every Saturday in a week at the same place, but with a male teacher he met there and really admired. Maybe this session will be warm so I can just hang at Oak Street beach. All about me!

TJ received his new head shots last week and I mailed them to both his agencies . He has already been called once from each agency. A national commercial audition yesterday and another commercial audition tomorrow. He also had 1 DePaul Film School audition and 1 from Columbia College, which he is thinking about attending after high school. TJ has an interview Sunday with a 3rd Agency that wants to represent him.

He has multiple agencies that believe in him (they're the toughest sell)

So God willing, with a lot of hard work and top tier acting classes, added to his natural talent and  Hollywood  looks...

 (It's a superficial industry what can I say)

"When one door closes another one opens"

Easter Sunday

Grandma had the barn and other buildings painted  a firehouse red, which will add a nice pop to my location shots

The day started with the Easter egg hunt in our backyard. All 56 eggs were hidden, after a long search only 52 were located. There was some concern that maybe Patrick had an early breakfast to which I replied "Patrick doesn't eat eggs, he's  never eaten an egg. Guess what Patrick was yakking up in Long Grove...EGGS !

I stand corrected

Callahan found his Easter basket hidden in Rose

What Cal failed to realize was Rose was part of his basket. The engine needs work, so who better than Callahan to fix and keep it. I can see it now...picking Karrick up in a golf cart from school..ahhhhhh

Grandma needed an updated mobile...enter "Lollie" seen below. There is a lot of ground to cover for grandma, so Lollie is her girl

 egg hunt

A nice soccer game with the brothers

My little cutie cashing in his eggs from the hunt.
 A haircut is in the immediate future for all 3 of my boys...the tired Justin Bieber look is a casualty of  laziness and a scheduling conflict. #1 priority this week

eggs

The other night I boiled 4 1/2 dozen eggs to color because last year everyone  including Alexis colored eggs. I just assumed I would have the same enthusiasm this year. We all know what happens when we assume...

Turns out it was just me and Karrick and a whole lotta eggs.  Callahan did plop one egg in a cup where it still remains 3 days later...teenagers!

We really had a great time, just my Karrick and me. Three hours later when we were done, Karrick said "I just love coloring eggs with you" awe

I shot this with my telephoto lens from Callahan's bedroom window. Karrick waited so patiently while I boiled a bazillion eggs. He swung on his swing just lost in his own thoughts...so sweet . Oh and by the way...how spectacular is our grass? Beautiful lush soft and green

 I bought 6 egg coloring kits..3 original Pass and 3 fancy pass. Let me tell you 

a) the tye dye Paas sucked-it just sucked and it was a mess

                           b) the glitter- sequin Pass sucked- 2 tiny baggies and the glitter didn't stick

                         c) the marble Paas sucked- the only difference for my extra buck was to add my own vegetable oil..really?!

We ended up just using good old fashion Crayola crayons to color eggs before dropping into the coloring cups

Below, see the glitter floating on the liquid...that's where it stayed. Don't confuse the white speckles on the egg for glitter

As always regular food coloring straight on the egg works best. Karrick is rolling 2 eggs in a cup with a few squirts of food coloring...you just have to be willing to walk around with discolored fingers for a few days

Callahan's new skill

It's only fitting that Callahan is wearing his Mathlete t-shirt

 Callahan is single handily taking apart the 1990 Mazda Miata. He is rebuilding the entire thing, Cal took off the outer panels, sand blasted them, removing the rust and repainting

He is taking the engine apart piece by piece and restoring them.

Cal will be out in the garage for hours and all you hear is power tools

This kid knows more about cars then anyone...every car on the road he can recite make, model, horsepower  what kind of engine and how it works down to the cellular level...it's pretty creepy, but very impressive. I don't know enough about cars to even write what he knows. How does he know all this?  I don't know, he has watched Tim fix our cars and boat. Callahan was born pre-programmed with Google.

I think i'll cal him the human google

 Below is the beautiful view from my deck

Soccer for Karrick

I'm well aware that my kid is wearing baseball cleats...It was a great idea at the end of last season to buy them on clearance..Aarrgh!

Karrick started soccer today and had a ball. He needs the fast pace, wasn't feeling the baseball. Karrick loves to run so this hopefully will be more his style.  Jenn is the coach, but her son Tyler (blue jacket) is a soccer player and he is the one teaching the kids. The father is a travel coach, and will show up when possible. I enjoyed watching Tyler play with the soccer ball...lots of fancy moves that I know nothing about...but they were cool. I think we scored big in the coaching dept especially for a Park District team. Their other son is on the team and has the same birthday as Karrick and they are both 8. Turns out they met last week at a McDonalds focus group. Karrick had to play with Happy Meal toys for an hr and was paid $65 ...small world

I had on a hoodie and my down coat...it was freezing. Karrick was the only one w/o a coat. He has Zero% body fat and never gets cold. "I don't sense cold" is what he always says. I saw him with hands in his pockets, so I ran over with his sweatshirt.. "No mom I said I'm not cold my hands are in my pocket because  Im trying not to use them" That was his idea not from the coach. Sharks and Minnows on the field was about the funnest game Karrick has ever played

How sweet is this, a doggy wheel chair they were just walking by and I had to take a picture