A Weekend of Blessings

What a big weekend for Charlie! He celebrated both his Baptism and his first birthday! He was such a good boy during the baptism...no crying for him! After the service, we went to Vince and Meg's for a lovely dinner and birthday cake. It's hard to believe it's been a year already! The kids just keep growing and growing. It was also so nice to see family that we haven't in too long!





God bless you, Charlie!

















Charlie really enjoyed eating his cake, with a little help from his dad!











Spencer celebrated his first communion on this beautiful day. We had a lovely dinner at the Chilo's, and the kids had so much fun playing on the trampoline for HOURS! They just jumped and jumped and jumped....I got tired just watching.

God bless you, Spencer!

Spring Break is Over Already??! by Lori

I can't believe it's back to work/school tomorrow! I love my job, but it was so nice to be off with the kids this week, having fun and getting some spring cleaning done. Ok, that wasn't really fun, but needed to be done. I missed having Lou home with us, but hopefully the kids still had an enjoyable week off. Easter weekend started us off, we also went to the movies to see 'Monsters vs. Aliens', Savannah had a play date with a friend, and we took Grandma Lola to Brookfield Zoo.

We had the perfect zoo weather! It was a little busy, but Zack and I made the best of it by using Grandma's wheel chair to clear our path through the crowd. The new Dino exhibit is really cool! I love how Brookfield Zoo is always changing and adding different exhibits.




I think we showed Grandma a good time.
She's getting good at using my camera, too!




Lou was able to take Friday off and we battled the Illinois River with our new pontoon boat, 'Old Ironsides 2'. It's alot bigger than our old boat, so it was trial and error getting it in the water and back onto the trailer. The river current kept trying to sweep us back downriver. We had some 'panicky' moments and near misses, (Lou and the boat almost being swept into the bridge footing, the boat hitting the trailer and then the dock...yes there is already a dent on her!), but we were able to use our problem solving abilities to finally get the boat back onto the trailer. Well, practice makes perfect, they say.


Hopefully, we will get the hang of it as the summer progresses. Wrestling a 24 ft. boat will definitely keep us in shape!
Well, I am now looking forward to summer vacation in 7 weeks. The taste of warmer weather and being able to do things outdoors is so enticing!

A Happy Easter! by Lori

What a gorgeous day! We had beautiful weather for egg hunts, and the Easter Bunny was very generous to the kids...too generous...there is now way too much candy around the house again! It was so nice to spend the day with our loved ones. Julie and Brian cooked a lovely ham with all the fixin's and we then enjoyed more delicious food at Carole's house later in the afternoon. The kids had a great time all day, playing with all their cousins, who all looked just precious in their Easter finery.




We absolutely have the CUTEST kids in our family...they are all just so adorable!!


We hope that your Easter brightened your life, as you head into springtime. Hopefully the winter weather is finally breaking and giving us some nice days ahead! No more snow....please!!!!

April is Autism Awareness Month: by Lori

In support of the autistic kiddos that I work with in my school and district, I have joined this worthwhile cause. They have really touched my life over the past 3 years of working closely with them.

Did you know...

*Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first 3 years of life.
* Autism is a result of a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain, impacting the development in social interaction and communication skills.
*Autism is a 'spectrum disorder' that affects each individual differently and at varying degrees.

Please join me in my fight to make a difference in the lives of the more than 1 million Americans living with autism today. Here is a link to our support page:

http://www.walknowforautism.org/chicago/klozikfamily?faf=1&e=2350291955

Thanks for your support!

Vote for Audree!

Shannon just entered Audree into the Great American Photo Contest, and Audree needs your vote. The photo with the most votes wins the monthly prize of 2,500.00.

Please go to the URL below to vote for Audree:

http://www.greatamericanphotocontest.com/voter1/index_c.aspx?referid=EmailFriends_AB2&p=1241242&=.jpg

Birthdays and Sleepovers, Oh My!! by Lori

Well, we got through the rainy weekend in one piece, though we are all a little tired. It started on Sat with a small get together for Mama's 65th and Daddy's 66th bdays. Another year to celebrate and what a blessing that is!
My cousin Micky and his 3 girls came to visit also, which was a real treat. EIGHT kids were running around, but surprisingly very little yelling and/or fighting! What joy! Mama was looking her beautiful and vibrant self, taking all the drama in stride. She even had enough energy to take the boys overnight for a sleepover. They had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa. Lots of game playing and laughs!




There were LOTS of pretty girls at the party!!




Meanwhile, we had our own 'girls only' sleepover at our house. Poor Lou...but to his credit, he toughed it out!
There was lots of creativity going on including canvas painting, moon sand sculptures, pixos creations, drawing and even an impromptu 'art show'. Needless to say, we were all very sleepy Monday morning. But it was well worth it.




And we even managed to come through all the rain with no flooding in the basement. Yeah!







Sometimes life is ALL GOOD!

41 WHAT??!! by Lori

I know, I know...I haven't updated the blog in a month. It has taken me that long to come to terms with the number 41...as in, I am now 41 years old! Last year's 'age change' took a little getting used to, but I am now on the WRONG side of 40. It just seems so weird to me...I just don't feel it in my head, even though the paperwork says so! So thank goodness, I got to celebrate at Julie and Brian's with a little pizza, a few pomagranite drinks, family and assorted goofy poker games. After a few of those fruity drinks, that new age just didn't seem important. Having fun with my loved ones and staying 'young at heart' is! Plus, I heard that 40 is now considered the 'new 30', so at least that's something! :)