Another “new” home…Tampa, here we come!

So these are pictures I took when we were buying the house; my furniture is different.  We loved the porch (excuse me, lanai) so much that it just about sold the house for us.  That and the great kitchen, perfect for the Christmas Cookie Bake Off and many, many family gatherings.  We have already moved most of our stuff, but the kids and I are still in IL waiting to finish school.  Then it will be time to rip the band-aid and make the final move.  We all have such mixed feelings about our move.  While we are very excited to be in Florida again with Meg at FSU and our family around the corner, we have grown our own “family” here in Illinois.  Can’t win for losing sometimes, right?

Yes, Meg is GRADUATING!

In just two short weeks, the child who should just be finishing up the year at Alumni Village Child Development Center in the Butterfly class will be donning a cap and gown and hitting that first major young adult milestone as a graduate of Oswego East High School.  We are so very proud of our honor/Advanced Placement student!  And while that red hair is no joke as an indicator of her personality, we are even more proud of the young lady she is becoming. 

Watch out, Florida State!  Another Piedmont is about to become an official Seminole!

 

   

 

 

Snowpocalypse 2011

Well, we have so far survived the 3rd worst storm in Chicago’s history!!  Our area got about 18-20 inches, which, as you can see, comes up to about EC’s waist!  The snow piles are humongous and nearly impossible to see around.  But, at least we were not trying to settle into our rental house during the middle of it all.  Small favors!

Ellen Claire and Will had fun playing in it the next day.  It had warmed up to a balmy 7 degrees by the time we went out in the afternoon.  Beats the –10 air temp it had been that morning!  We had 2 snow days—unheard of up here where our new superintendent is from Minnesota.  We baked a small turkey breast, made a snow feast and ate our way through the snow!

 

Oh well!  At least we will appreciate Florida’s winter next year.  I imagine there will be no one in FL who appreciates it more than we will!

Next Stop…Tampa!

Ok, so this isn’t Tampa (it’s actually the resort that “Couples Retreat” was filmed at in Bora Bora and is on my We MUST Go Here list for Jack!), but considering the weather outside my window right now, it could be to us. 

This year, as y’all know, has been an interesting one for us.  And, for now, it seems like we are finally making progress towards the next adventure in our family.  Meg will be in Tallahassee and we will be in Tampa!

This is big for us, not just because it is Florida (ie sun, no snow, sun, beach, no snow, sun, pools, no snow…) but for the first time ever we will be close to family.  We have longed for this for quite a while and are so excited! 

Gramma may get tired of us, Grand Pop, too.  But so be it!  We’re heading “home”!

Now, to just make it to the rental town home this weekend…PRAY FOR US!

Fall Sports

 

    

 

 

http://www.shortpics.com/Soccer/2010-U12-Prowlers/110610-Prowlers-vs-Challenger/14541832_XB3Q2#1080365729_d7MqB-A-LB

We had a busy fall!  With two kids in soccer and one busy cheering, we spend a lot of time on different fields.  I figured out one week that we had 3 practices for Will, 1 for Ellen Claire, 3 soccer games, 3 nights of practice for Meg and a Friday night football game.  I don’t know how people do multiple sports!!!  Lucky enough, though, we only had a couple of poor weather days.  Unfortunately for Emily, she hit one of the coldest when she came to visit in October!  I couldn’t get the picture of Will to upload, but you should be able to click on the link above to get to it.  One of the dads on Will’s new soccer team is a professional photographer.  Needless to say, I didn’t take many pictures as his were sooooo much better! 

OK Piedmonts Came to Visit!

What a treat!  The Oklahoma Piedmonts (Mike, Amy, Ellie, Tripp and Brimley) came to stay with us last week on their return visit to Edmond, OK, from Rhode Island.  We haven’t seen them since last year when Ellie was just 1 and Tripp was just a zygote!  Amazing what can happen in a year.  We spent our time at the park, watching for the school buses, cooking and eating together, and even with a quick trip to Barnes and Noble for a few minutes of quiet for me and Amy.  Ellen Claire had fun being the big girl, but did enjoy having my full attention once the house was still once more.  If you pointed to Will and asked, “Who’s that?”  Ellie would say, “Connor!”  No, that’s not Connor. Who is it?  “Bryan!!”  No, that’s not Bryan, who is it, Ellie?  “That’s WILL!!!” 

We know that the OK Piedmonts were here just for a moment on their way to their home, but we sure did enjoy having family around. Thank you for including us on your journey!

Thank you, Windows 7!

 

Because of Windows 7, I can now easily update The Piedmonts’ Great Adventure!!!  After much ribbing from my brother in law, Mike, for saying I would update soon…and then didn’t…I figured I would see if this “blog” option would work on my PC.  And it does!!! 

So I do promise to update with more pictures and the like very soon.  Just know that while we are all “crazy-busy,” our lives are spinning at the pace of a top, we are ok.  Tired, but ok! 

And now to see if this will actually post…