Miracle On Our Street

After days of anticipation, opening day of the festival finally came. Derrick had to work late that night, so I strapped Eli into the Bjorn and headed downstairs and outside. For their first ride, EJ and Logan chose a rickety roller coaster. As I looked around at all the kiddy rides, it seemed to be the most daring. I was really surprised by their choice. Neither one of them is particularly brave. I think that's a trait passed on to them from their mother. After the ride, we sipped on snow cones in the beer garden and listened to the live music. Loud crying from a hungry Eli ended round 1 of the carnival festivities.

Saturday evening Derrick took the kids once again. They rode more rides. Emma Jane kept talking about the "miracle-go-round". No matter how many times we corrected her, she continued to call the spinning cars the miracle-go-round. I guess when you're a kid, it seems like a miracle when a carnival parks itself in front of your bedroom window.

During the night, the rides, booths and port-a-potties were packed up. What took 3 days to set up disappeared in a matter of hours. By the time we got up this morning, there were very few signs of the party that had just been there. The kids were a little disappointed but had forgotten by the afternoon. Fortunately, we have a fun holiday weekend with family coming. Now they are busy anticipating that. I think when you're a child, the anticipation of something exciting is as much fun as the event itself.

Blame It on the Wind

Each afternoon, we have rest time at our house. The two youngest boys nap. Emma Jane and Logan play quietly by themselves. Since we only have three bedrooms, two kids have to share. I opted to put Logan and Eli together because Eli seems to be able to sleep through almost anything.


Logan and Eli were resting in my room one afternoon. When I left the room, this is what it looked like.
Eli on one side of the room.


And Logan on the other.

When I came to check on them an hour later, this is what I saw.

Eli was still awake, staring at Logan as he "read" him a book.

I asked Logan how the pack and play moved all the way over to the bed. Without hesitation, he said, "The wind blew it." I couldn't help but giggle. With Logan, I'm still trying to find that fine line between imagination and flat out lying. He's a tricky little guy.

Emma Jane finds other ways to amuse herself during rest time. She listens to music and writes or draws. Today, she emerged proudly with something she had made for me. It was an old ledger pad that she converted into a workbook for me to do. She wanted me to be well-rounded, so she incorporated math, science and art.

The first page, a counting exercise, said, "Ad dots".

The second page featured a flower. The instructions said, "Colr the flawr".

The last page showed a girl with body parts labeled. There were lines identifying "hans" [hands], "her" [hair] and "pats" [pants].

I enjoy my quiet time in the afternoons, but I'm also thankful for these funny little interruptions.

Let the Festivities Begin

A Catholic church close to us is hosting a street festival. The city is shutting down our block for 6 days for this event. For weeks we have been receiving polite notices on our windshield and in our mailbox warning us that we would need to forfeit our street parking spaces to make way for the carnival rides, live music and beer garden. Can you believe it?!?

Well today is the day.

There was quite a commotion during breakfast this morning. I looked out our living room window, and this is what I saw.

It's a carousel. That's right, a carousel is right outside our front door. It caused quite a disruption to our home schooling time this morning, but you can't really blame the kids. They've spent much of the day reporting to me the progress on the construction of all the carnival rides.

Seeing as the festival doesn't actually start until Friday, then continues through 9 pm Sunday, I think that will be the theme of the week.

Of course we'll have to go to the festival. I normally hate those kinds of things. It would be cruel to allow the kids to watch all the festivities from their bedroom windows yet not participate. I guess we'll be raiding the laundry jar (we have coin laundry in the basement) and heading to the festival on Friday.

I'll let you know how it goes. Surely it will be an interesting week. It's not often that the carnival comes to you.

To the Zoo

Over the weekend we visited the Brookfield Zoo. Despite the scorching 90 degree temperature, it was fun for all.








Derrick took lots of pictures of the animals and the family with his newest camera lens.

I thought it was kind of tacky that you could purchase a bison burger adjacent to the bison viewing area. So much for the zoo's emphasis on conservation. I bet the burgers were fresh though.

The kids were introduced to push-pops. You can tell that Lane wasn't quite sure what to do with his.

It was at this point that things started to fall apart. Here we are posing in front of the zoo sign just before we started the long walk back to the car.

Everyone was hot and tired, so by the time we actually got to the car, this picture best describes the mood.

That's okay. I've decided that crying, even from multiple kids simultaneously, does not mean that an event was a failure. Tears are just a part of life when you have little children. It was a fun day and and a sweet memory at the zoo. That's what I'll be remembering.

City Living

I knew that living in Chicago would be vastly different from living in Lexington. Here is what I've discovered.

In Chicago...


*Bicyclists don't have to follow traffic rules. They can run stop signs and red lights as well as drive the opposite direction on a one-way street. Bicyclists have no fear.


*The postal service doesn't pick up your mail from your house.


*A family of six is a large family, not the norm.


*It's okay to bump another car when parking.


* At times I would rather walk somewhere than give up a really good parking space.


*Gelato is even better than ice cream.


*I like living in a smaller space. Less space=Less cleaning


*It's quiet at night.


*Walking is more relaxing than driving.

Most surprising of all, I like urban living! I've traded in some conveniences for adventure. I just wish I could bring old friends and family here to experience it with me.

So when are you coming to visit?!?

Here's Eli

Here are some recent pictures of Eli. I can't believe he is already 9 weeks-old!

Here he is laying under the play gym. He likes it, but it's not the safest spot when you have 3

siblings running around you.

A sweet smile...

And a squeaky laugh.

He still sleeps in a swaddling blanket (nicknamed the baby straight jacket). It seems to keep him from startling and waking himself up. Otherwise, Eli is a great napper and can sleep through anything.

Though my attention is divided between 4 children, Eli is not neglected. Emma Jane is very nurturing and helpful. She definitely still needs supervision, as demonstrated by the time she put a saltine cracker in six-week old Eli's mouth! Besides giving me a good scare, there was no harm done. Logan also likes to help with Eli, but only in one minute intervals. Then he's off to something else.

As I look at Eli, sometimes my mind goes back to this exact time last year. It was then that I found out I was pregnant, not with him, but another little baby. How painful, both physically and emotionally, to lose that baby. Yet it was only because of that loss that eventually Eli came to be. I am reminded of Job's words,

"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."

I don't understand why things happened the way they did, but I know that Eli's life is a blessing from the Lord. I am thrilled to have him as the newest addition to our family.

Welcome to the Neighborhood ER

After a fun but steamy cookout at Humboldt park this evening, Derrick put Logan and Lane in the bathtub to cool off. The relaxing evening bath took a nose dive when Lane slipped and sliced open his chin. Derrick scooped him up in a towel and brought him into the living room. Lane's a pretty tough little two year-old. He cried for a couple minutes. When he saw Derrick hurriedly gathering an insurance card and diaper bag to head to the ER, he began shouting, "I want to go! I want to go with you , Dad!" A few minutes later, he and Derrick headed out the door to the hospital, conveniently located only a block from our apartment.

Meanwhile, chaos erupted for a few minutes at home. Eli was screaming because I cut his dinner short to help Derrick. Logan was upset because I packed Lane a snack for the hospital (in case it would be a long wait) and he didn't get one. Emma Jane was crying hysterically because she was so concerned about Lane. I think she was also reliving her own chin injury she received last year during a game of hide-and-seek with a baby-sitter.

Eventually things calmed down. Emma Jane and Logan busied themselves with coloring pages to comfort Lane. They put their coloring sheets and Lane's favorite stuffed animal (at least for this week) on his bed for when he came back. It was sweet to see their genuine concern for him.

In record time (less than an hour), Derrick and Lane were back home. Lane's face was beaming as he walked through the door. The doctor was able to use Dermaglue instead of stitches. Lane proudly pointed out his chin and his new bracelet. Then he distributed Toy Story stickers brought from the ER as "souvenirs" for each member of the family. We were all relieved that the gash had been easily repaired and that Lane was incredibly cheerful about the whole experience.

Now I can cross off "Find a hospital" from my to-do list.

Last week was a week of milestones. Emma Jane started kindergarten! I have been thinking and planning for this for so long that I can't believe it's finally here. Even though we're homeschooling, it feels like something has changed.

To help mark the significance of the her first day of school, the night before we all walked to Forever Yogurt. It's a self-serve frozen yogurt restaurant where you can also add your own toppings. It was a fun way to celebrate her special occasion. And by the time we walked the two miles round trip (yes, even EJ and Logan), we burned off most of the calories! That's a benefit to living in the city.

As if starting school was not enough, Emma Jane ended the week by losing her first tooth! I didn't even know it was loose! She was quite brave about the whole matter. Derrick asked her if he could pull it out, and she agreed. That was it. She was so proud.

Later that evening, she placed her little tooth in an envelope and labeled the outside, "Tooth Fairy, Emma Jane Snyder". When we checked in on her later that night, she was asleep with the envelope in her hand.

She awoke this morning to find four shiny quarters under her pillow. I suspect the tooth fairy dipped into the quarter jar for the coin laundry in the basement. A definite drawback to living in the city. Anyway, Emma Jane is quite proud of her new smile!

It was fun to watch her excitement over this childhood accomplishment, but I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness. I remember when that little tooth came in 5 years ago. And now it's gone. We're on to a new phase. I'm excited about the school years and what is to come next. It is such a privilege to be able to share all these sweet moments with her.

Criminal Preschool Activity

It's midnight and I'm blogging. All 4 kids and Derrick are tucked away in bed, and it's quiet in our little apartment. I have been reluctant to blog over the last few years because I didn't have much material. Now that we've moved to the city, everyday seems like an adventure. It has been 3 weeks now, so I've accumulated quite a list of interesting experiences. What story should I tell first?

"Driving the Wrong Direction on a One Way Street"

"You Must Be Mexican To Have So Many Children"

"Play Group"

At church one Sunday I was invited to join a playgroup at a park. It sounded like something good for me and the kids to do, so I agreed to come. Up until this point I had been quite nervous about driving in the city on my own. This was my first independent outing, and we were going to a new park. I loaded the kids into the van, turned on the GPS and set out for the park.

As I arrived, I felt a sense of accomplishment. I was thinking, "I can drive in Chicago. It's not so difficult. We're going to be just fine".

I circled the park, looking for a street parking spot. Suddenly two police cars zipped in front of me and pulled into the adjacent lot. Four policemen jumped out of the car with guns raised and ran towards a man out front. I watched the pursuit and felt a sense of panic wash all over me.

"What kind of place is this?" I wondered. "This isn't safe. I'm not taking my kids to this playground".

I circled the park once again, then decided to stay against my better judgment. The playground was full of children, and no one else seemed concerned about the scene playing out next door. I took a few minutes to collect myself. After that, we got out of the car and made our way to the playground.

I met up with the other moms and kept what I had witnessed to myself.

About an hour later, I glanced back over at that adjacent lot. The same scene was playing out again! Two police cars, four policemen pursuing a man...Finally, I asked another mom if she was aware of what was going on. She explained that it was a police training center.

I had not witnessed a crime. I had witnessed a training exercise.

Maybe this place isn't so bad after all.

More stories to come!