Day 282

Mason had an afternoon football game, so my brother’s crew had to leave mid-morning.  Before they left, I gathered the kids together for some photos.  I took some really great ones right off the bat, but later realized my camera had been on the wrong setting so they were super fuzzy.  The kids were too tired of posing to recreate them, so I settled for this.  Wish they weren’t in such a pyramid-like position, but it will work along with a few additional ones that I got earlier by a fence.  Kids are not easy to photograph, especially when there’s 5 of them and you have no assistant!

Once the kids ran off, I snapped some photos of some nearby insects.  I much prefer shooting the latter as they don’t talk back and fidget!!

After my brother and his kids left, we had lunch and then drove over to the swimming hole we had found on our last trip here.  Though the adults didn’t plan to swim, we figured the kids would get in; however, the water was a little too chilly for them as well.  They stuck to wading instead.  They enjoyed looking for frogs & crayfish.  Meanwhile, I strolled the shoreline looking for some beautiful nature subjects.  The water was a lot shallower today so there was more to explore.

Day 278

Our cat Felix continues to make us laugh.  I was doing laundry in the basement today when I turned around and spotted him in a peculiar place.  Crockett has a few mounted deer heads hanging on the wall on the unfinished (storage) side of the basement and Felix decided to get a closer look.  Excuse the bad lighting…it is pretty pourly lit down there.

Day 263

Today’s meeting was held at Glacial Park, owned by McHenry County Conservation District.  The park, which is a remnant of glacial activity, contains gravel kames, kettles, restored prairies, oak savannas and wetlands.  The location for the meeting was the Lost Valley Visitor Center.  I took quite a few pictures of the beautiful surroundings before the meeting and during our lunch break.   

After the meeting, one of my coworkers spotted some baby squirrels peeking out of a hole in a tree.  I took a photo but my lens didn’t zoom quite far enough.  I got as close as I could and then cropped the photo later at home so you could see the face a little better.  Pretty cute, huh?!!  We think there were 3 babies inside.  There was a 2nd hole further up on the right tree branch and the momma squirrel was peeking out of it.

Day 252

Today was picture day at the middle school, so GothGirl got up early to straighten her hair.  She looked so pretty that I had to get a picture and happily, she gave me a genuine smile.  It was raining, so we were stuck inside, but it turned out pretty good anyway.  Ah, I just love this girl….she’s a beauty, both inside and out!

After the kids left for school, Felix was curled up on Crockett’s lap.  Before long, he got in his favorite position (on his back) and proceeded to attack his own tail.  So cute!

Today was my Friday off, so I spent some time in the morning scrapbooking before I had to do some errands.  Afterwards, I treated myself to my favorite lunch….a chicken bowl at Chipotle’s.  I brought it home and ate it while reading a great book (Girl in Translation).  Talk about bliss!  Good, healthy food and reading.

Day 251

This morning as GothGirl went outside to wait for the bus, she noticed a little frog resting on the brick ledge on the side of our house.  At first she thought it was part of a wasp’s nest but she soon discovered otherwise.  He was so still that we thought he was dead.  Happily he was not. 

Here he is on the ledge just as she found him…

Down on the sidewalk after the kids had picked him up and let him go…he blends in pretty well.

 

Then this afternoon, the elementary school hosted an Open House/ice cream social.  We ate ice cream sundaes with the kids’ fellow classmates & their parents…

Then we got to go inside to meet LilCrockett’s 1st grade teacher, Ms. Leinberger (darn, it turned out blurry….stupid Rebel camera!)…

and he showed us around his classrooom…

We even got to meet Penelope the Praying Mantis (she’s hanging upside-down in the cage so you can’t see her in the photo).

Afterwards, he showed us the other rooms in the school that he visits at various times in the week.  I enjoyed it because I got to see a lot of GothGirl’s past teachers as well as parents that I know.  By the way, today was picture day at the elementary school so you are seeing LilCrockett’s outfit.  I failed to take one at home before he left for school.

Day 246

After LilCrockett’s baseball game this afternoon, Crockett and LilCrockett were working outside in the yard.  Crockett was trimming some of the branches off of our mimosa tree.  LilCrockett was pulling the seed pods off the downed limbs.  Then he proceeded to climb the tree itself.

I should also point out LilCrockett’s new shoes….a pair of Tony Hawk high tops.  He LOVES them!

I also did a little nature photography today, photographing a hummingbird at our feeder.  I posed motionless near the edge of our house in order to get close enough to get a decent shot.  I will miss these beautiful little guys when they head south for the winter.

Day 241

Our cat’s love of unusual places continues.  The kids’ large insect cage was in the dining room tonight and Felix crawled inside the small opening until his whole body was inside.  He was happy as a clam in there and LilCrockett couldn’t resist playing along.

Notice: No pets were harmed in the making of these photos!!

Day 236

We’ve been battling with the IRS over our taxes since May with them claiming we still owed them money.  While we were on vacation, we got a letter saying that they were going to seize our assets if we did not contact them by today or pay in full.  We sent them a certified letter one month ago stating that we would be glad to pay taxes if they are owed; but considering the fact that they screwed up our original return by failing to key in our 2 dependents, we asked them to provide us with documentation on why we still owed them money.  But we’ve received nothing from them.  So since the letter arrived, I took the morning off to call and chew them out.  After a 45 minute wait, I finally got through to a person and luckily, she was so sweet and helpful. I think we’ve discovered the problem (2 more errors on their part) and hopefully this will be resolved soon. 

While I was on the phone, I opened up the dishwasher door to let the dishes air dry a bit as there was still some water droplets on them.  When I looked over a bit later, this is what I saw.  Oh, such cuteness!  I think this photo also illustrates how big Felix is getting as this is a standard size dishwasher.

After school tonight, I picked up a pizza and breadsticks and then went to get the kids at after care.  Once we got home, we ate and the kids went off in separate directions while I cleaned up the kitchen and such.  A bit later, LilCrockett came out looking like this:

 

A short-sleeve Packers jersey layered over a long-sleeve Blackhawks jersey, which is layered over his t-shirt coupled with pants over his shorts.  And nothing sets off an ensemble of this quality quite like chip clips randomly clipped to your clothes and mouth!  Now before you call Child Protective Services, just remember that he did this to himself.  There are no words for my goofy boy!

Day 232

Look who missed us when we were on vacation!  I think he grew a ton while we were gone.  Wonder if our neighbors slipped him some steroids – LOL?!!