What's your teacher's name again?

As of last Friday, Myka is officially a preschool graduate.

It is enough to make a proud momma get all weepy, except that she'll be back next year so it didn't phase us too much.

We were fortunate to get Myka into a preschool here for the last three months of the school year. She adjusted to the new teachers and routine and made some friends just in time for everything to end and all the kids to go their separate ways for the summer. The class put on a wonderful little program for the parents and our little crooner didn't fail to impress. The "ceremony" was complete with Pomp and Circumstance, awards, and caps for the kids. It was all very cute and required a photo op with the teachers afterward.

Here she is with Ms. Kristi on the right and Ms. Lisa on the left.

But if you happen to think that Ms. Lisa is actually Ms. Leslie, the program director, for the entire 3 months that your daughter is in her class, don't worry...

She doesn't seem to mind.

Little farm on the imitation prairie

A few weeks ago, Sarah (a college roommate and great friend, who just happens to live in the neighborhood) and I found ourselves husband-less on a Saturday and went out looking for an adventure so our kids wouldn't drive us crazy all day. Between us we have five children age four and younger. Not sure where the fifth one is here but if I remember right we found her before we headed home...

We found out about a sheep sheering that was taking place at a farm about an hour from where we live. Being from Iowa, I found it funny that a sheep sheering would be advertised in a local "things to do" booklet, as well as the fact that we had to drive more than five minutes so get to a farm. But, while living in the big city has it's privileges, agricultural education would no longer be at our doorstep, or even five minutes away. So off we went to learn from our suburban neighbors to the north who carved out a little piece of government land to set up a farm similar to those of the early 1900's so people (who had no desire to live where, if the wind was just right, the smell of livestock would pass their door on a cool summer evening) could stop by and see what goes on during a typical day in, oh, I don't know, Iowa.

The kids had a great time!

Since it was only April, not too much was going on that day other than the sheep sheering, but it was fun to watch. We did learn a lot about sheep and all that goes into harvesting, cleaning, and using the wool for everyday materials.

We also learned that this man could get a quarter per pound for all that wool. A whole quarter! And that 100 years ago they also got a quarter per pound.

Someone should probably tell him there is a junior college right around the corner.

Take me out to the ball game

It's official. The kids have been to their first professional sporting event. Myka and Eli beat their dad by 20 and 23 years, respectively. In Kurt's defense, though, he did grow up in Iowa. One big plus to living here will be all the opportunities for days like we had last Thursday.

We were invited to join a local church on their annual Cubs trip. After winning a couple door prizes before we even left, we all hopped on a bus and headed into the (VERY) windy city.

We had decent seats at the game, but the time it takes you to look at this picture is pretty close to the amount of time I spent actually watching the game. The rest of the time was spent taking trips to the bathroom, buying hotdogs and cotton candy, keeping sugar girl from sipping my pepsi, and holding a very sleepy and wiggly one year old.

But it was a lot of fun, and the kids did surprisingly well considering the long day. I guess all those Sundays making them sit through the entire service after we have already been there over an hour with other commitments is finally paying off. I knew it would come in handy someday.

It did take twice as long to get home because of the traffic, but our driver did a wonderful job. We gave him a nice tip to thank him for his efforts.