Koolhaas Thanksgiving - East

Steve and Alyona came about 10:30pm on Wednesday evening, and on Thursday we all went to church. During the first song the pastor stopped the singing, asked us to start again, but to clap with the beat. Our row was not too excited, and I believe Steve let out an audible moan, but to their credit, Jay and Alyona gamely clapped along. Steve and I did not. After church we headed back home. Steve and Alyon took a walk outside (it was in the low 40's) and took a tour of downtown Naperville while we got lunch together. We had a lovely meal together, and after some tasty dessert provided by Steve and Alyona they took off back to WI.

I am addicted to the Twilight series, and stayed up way too late reading because I had to know how it ended.

This morning Jay was up by 4am to go and battle the morning shoppers looking for good deals. To his credit, he actually found some. This afternoon he is running a colleague and his family to the airport, but I think he would much rather be taking a nap.

We're looking forward to a quiet weekend!

September

Jenny typing on her computer.

Jay and Jenny taking a Sunday afternoon nap.

We joined Jay's sister and her family and some friends at a pool party last weekend. The water was very warm and there was a variety of things to do. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of Jay going down the water slide.

Walworth County Fair

When Jay was growing up, the Lumkes family spent every Labor Day Weekend at the Walworth County Fair: eating junk food, checking out the farm animals, riding the carnival rides, viewing the horse pulls, and watching the demolition derby. I think Jenny will probably grow up doing the same thing with her cousins. I think I prefer to sit by the lake reading a book.

Jenny did enjoy the carousel, to my amazement. Jay always enjoys playing skeeball. I like the ice cream.

The school year has gotten off to a good start. I teach the last two periods of the day. The volleyball season has gone okay. My team is nice, but very young, and we make a lot of young mistakes. I'll be glad when the season is done and I can drop Jenny off at 1pm and pick her up at 3:30pm. Fortunately, Jay's schedule has enabled him to pick up Jenny on the days when I cannot, although it has made his days pretty hectic. Jenny loves coming to the volleyball games because she knows she gets to run around the gym throwing the volleyball around as soon as the match is done. She'll be way more disappointed than I am when the season is done!

Carpinteria 2008

Here are a few pictures. The one of Mom, Steve, and Dylan is dark, but still cute.

Thanks for a great vacation everyone!

summer

After a busy June with VBS and volleyball camps, we're looking forward to a more laid back July. We recently purchased a membership to the local arboretum which has the most incredible playground for kids. It is quickly becoming one of Jenny's favorite places to go. (Dave & Shelly - when you guys make it out here sometime we'll have to take the kids.) Between the Arboretum and the local parks and pool, we should be able to keep ourselves busy. Jenny still prefers to run around the pool rather than swim in the pool, but hopefully when she sees her cousins swimming in Grandpa and Grandma's pool she'll get he idea.
We're hoping to make a trip to Milwaukee to see Steve's new crib this weekend. I have a feeling I'll be depressed when I return from his hardwood floors to my somewhat stained carpet.
Jay and I continue to play on the co-ed Naperville City League Softball team with friends. I have been promoted from catcher to right/center field. I wasn't too pleased. I stand out there and pray nobody hits the ball to me. Jay usually plays right and he can cover my mistakes.
The pictures are from Jenny's birthday.

Summer Break

Summer has nearly begun. I have to give my exam on Wednesday, the seniors graduate on Thursday, and as soon as I have my grades in, summer will officially begin. I'm looking forward to the break from teaching and being able to be home and do what I want. I hope that Jenny likes the pool a little better than she did last year. The weather is finally getting a little nicer, and we're looking forward to being outside in the sun. Jenny's vocabulary is growing. She likes to say "Watch me" and "Catch me" and she likes to ask "Outside, bike? or "Peeze, applesauce?" I'm trying to get her to say the names of her aunts and uncles and cousins, but the only one she can say consistently is "Steve" and it still sounds a lot like "cheese".
Jenny had her two-year doctors check up last week. She is 25 lbs, and about 33 inches. She continues to slide down the percentile chart in regards to her weight (38%), she continues to be in the 50th percentile in regards to height. No shots this visit, so it was a painless trip.

We're looking forward to camping with everyone and seeing Kara!

Jenny Turns Two!

Hello Family,
We celebrated Jenny's 2nd birthday yesterday, although we didn't do much. She had pancakes for breakfast, a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, and a hot dog for dinner...three of her favorite things. We got her a new Elmo DVD since I'm getting tired of the one she has. I'm pursuing her other gift (a climbing cube) on Craig's List, but we'll have to pick it up sometime this week. I don't think she really understood what was going on, but she can say "two" and she does try to hold up two fingers. Once I (or Jay) put the birthday cake pictures on the computer I'll try to post them. I probably won't get her two-year pictures taken for a few weeks yet.

I think I might only have 9 more teaching days of school. Since I just started WWII I don't think I'm going to get through the past 50 years to the present day. Jay is busy this week with trips to Iowa and the middle of Indiana. Good thing he has the mini-van to cruise around in. Jenny has her two-year doctor appointment on Tuesday.

Looking forward to summer vacation!

Following Laura's example

Family,
I really liked Laura's idea of starting a blog, so I've decided to try it too. I was telling Tom last night that Jay and I are terrible at taking pictures of Jenny. Maybe this will force me to take more pictures.

Jenny's current fixation is Elmo. I don't know where it came from, but all of the sudden last Sunday she started talking about Elmo, or as she calls him, "Elmuuu". She has one Elmo DVD that she would watch 24-7 if I let her.

Not much else to report. We continue to hope for spring-type weather.