Accenture Triathlon

This past weekend, Becky, Melissa and I woke up super early (4:40am) to go to the city and watch Pam & Kelly complete the Accenture Triathlon. I still can't believe that they accomplished this goal and we were all so proud of them:) Here are a few pictures from the big event.

This building randomly had the words "Go Pam" spelled out in lights. Funny huh?

Pam & Kelly
Getting ready to jump in Lake Michigan
Pam half way through her run

Same with Kelly

Just finished, Yeah!
The Cheerleaders (Becky, Me & Melissa)
The whole cheering squad
The ISU girls

Happy Birthday Dad!

My sister and I took my Dad to the Cub's vs. Reds game on Aug. 20th for his birthday. We made the whole trip a true city experience complete with a ride on the El to and from the game. I had a great time and I am pretty sure my Dad LOVED it:)

This week was a rude wake-up call for me as I tried to ease my way into going back to work:( Thanks to my family and friends babysitting Payton here and there I was able to attend some mandatory curriculum meetings, a building leadership meeting at my school, and teach a new teacher class! I am already exhausted and the real work starts on the 25th when 25 little 5-year-olds come bounding into my classroom ready for their first day and then crashing and wanting to go home by lunchtime! Yikes!

Anyways, in between meetings, I found time to hang out with my WVHS friend, Natalie and her daughter Jordan. That same day, my other WVHS friend, Jen so graciously took on babysitting the little "energizer bunny" while I went to a meeting. On Thursday, my friend Emily's, also from WVHS (do you notice a pattern), mom babysat Payton for the entire morning. I made it home for nap and then was off again to work in my room when my mom got there after she got out of work. I think Payton did pretty well for Jen and Patty, or so they tell me:) He still talks about his time with both of them so I take that as a good sign!

Graham and I have seen each other in passing this week. He was back to work this week with new teacher stuff and when he got home, I would go work in my classroom til around 9pm every night. Yuck! I am definitely getting very excited for the first year of All Day Kindergarten but at the same time I am very nervous for the first month or so. I know I will be extremely exhausted and hopefully not too crabby when I get home:)

Payton, Jordan and I

Jen with Jordan and Payton in the background
Payton & Jolie being silly
Emmett joining in

Hodge Podge

Payton & Emily on the Carousal Payton & Mommy
Megan
Megan, Payton & Jolie

We have been super busy around here lately. Unfortunately, we have been doing some fun stuff but I keep forgetting my camera:( So... here is a summary of our last week with a few pics that I copied off of Emily's shutterfly so they might be a bit blurry. We had Graham's BBQ last weekend, which Heather (roommate from college) and her husband Roger came by for. They live in St. Louis so it was great to see them. They stayed over night and Payton and I took them to the airport on Monday.

On Tuesday, Payton helped me get my classroom ready:) LOL! I think he did more damage, dumping out every bin of math manipulatives that I had (shells, buttons, blocks, etc...). Charlie, one of my teammates kids, came and watched him for me for a couple of hours so I could get some work done. Thanks goodness because my NEW room is a mess! I still have tons of boxes to unpack but hopefully this week I can get to them.

On Wednesday, we went out to Phillips Park pool for a bit with Kerri and Austin. Payton is a fish! He loves to jump in the pool himself and keeps telling me to back up. I can't back up too far though because he hasn't gotten that he has to try to swim to the surface and he just sinks:) He has a blast doing it though.

On Thursday, I watched my friend Lauren's two kids. Jacob is 4 months older than Payton and Hannah is 6 months old. I invited my friend Melissa and her two boys and Becky and her two kids over as well so the house was packed. We did a lot of refereeing that day:) I think everyone had a great time and they slept like babies. I had to wake Payton up at 5:15pm that evening from his 1:00 nap!

On Friday, we went to the zoo with my friend Emily, who took the day off, and Megan. My sister and kids also joined us. We had a great time as always! I took Emmett home that day and watched him til my mom got off of work and came to pick him up.

On Saturday, Graham, Payton and I went to the grand opening of Whalon Lake in the Naperville/Bolingbrook area. This is a man made lake that is a kayak, canoe and fishing boat lake. They had a lot of FREE activities going on for families, including an air show. The best part is that they have a dog park that is fenced in! Many of you know that we have a dog park about 3 miles from us, just off the running path, BUT it is in DuPage county and we are Will so therefore, we would have to pay $150 a year instead of the $45 for DuPage residents. This new dog park at Whalon lake is in Will and will only cost us $25 a year so we may try it out and see how Sami likes it.

Today we went on a long bike ride out to downtown Naperville to feed the ducks. On the way home we stopped at Trader Joe's and the park, getting home just in time for lunch and nap. We plan on going to Phillips Park pool when Payton wakes up from his nap.

So...as I said, we were pretty busy but sorry for the lack of pics.

Summer BBQ

The chicken and pork before being smoked Graham pleased with his results
The final product - Yum!
Katie, Jen, Kevin & Brian
Rod, Lee, Jen, Emily & Megan
Payton & Austin in the pool
Joey & Michael eating
Becky & Mia (love the face)
Payton & Francesca eating dinner

Look at those ribs!
Emily, Megan, Me, Payton & Jen (WVHS friends)
Francesca trying to get out of Payton's bed before her dad sees her
Payton & Emma playing in the pool

Graham's "non-graduation" party was so much fun! It was great to get everyone together and see friends that we haven't seen in a long time. Poor Graham made AWESOME smoked pork and chicken the day before, smoking it for hours and hours, and then accidentally warmed it up on the grill for too long and it got all dried out when it came time for everyone to eat. I still thought it tasted great but he was pretty bummed out. He is still talking about it and how upset he is! Besides that, we still managed to have a great time and Payton was exhausted when it came time for bed. Here are some random pics from the day!

Jolie Turns 3!