Walk for Autism Now

We had a wonderful time at the Walk Now for Autism 5K walk yesterday! The weather was good--sunny some of the time, windy ALL of the time, cold--(well, we've decided that Chicago will never warm up. We're just going to blow through spring and summer and head right back to freezing cold. Thank goodness for Mississippi and Florida!) But the weather was completely secondary to the event that we were privileged to participate in!

Will has raised $415 to date, well over his $250 goal! Thank you so much to those who helped him out. We really saw this as an opportunity for Will to get involved in a way that he could make an impact with a major community event. One of Will's friends, schoolmates and fellow Cub Scout has autism. If you asked Will what he's learned from being a part of this, I'm not sure he could put it into words just yet. What we wanted him to see was that even a 9 year old 3rd grader from Oswego, IL, could make an impact. We wanted him to develop some of his leadership "seeds" that he has rooted in him already. We wanted him to care about someone, about a group of people, other than himself--to put himself in another's shoes. We'll see if that all sinks in one day :)

Will put together a flier for his classmates so that they could donate to his walk, too. He had $65 donated from his class! Some went online to do it while others sent it in to the classroom. We put it all under "Mrs. Devine's 3rd Grade Class." We've already talked about getting the whole school involved next year! When we organized the "Change for Change" drive right after Katrina, our school donated over $1800 for the Key Chapter of Red Cross, which includes my home county of Lauderdale, MS. This school has a big heart and these kids are just amazing!

Oh--and you should know that we got to be ON the FIELD at SOLDIER FIELD!!! Will and I faked a little football, a little Rex Grossman pass, a little "juke" from Will. Check out the video as we were pretty awe-struck in such a Country Mouse way!! Go Bears!

Check out Will's Autism Now page at: http://www.walknowforautism.org/c.kpILKTOCJqG/b.3616691/siteapps/personalpage/ShowPage.aspx?c=kpILKTOCJqG&b=3616691&sid=cjIPL2OILdJRI9MTLwH

Ellen Claire's World

Ellen Claire has learned MANY things from her big sister Meg. One of the pressing skills right now happens to be budding photographer. This can come in handy when we're in the grocery store doing our "marathon shopping" as I TRY to only go once every 2 weeks. (I hate grocery shopping that much, btw.) The funny thing is going through all the pictures in my camera as there are SEVERAL ones of ECP around the house, household items, rooms, random people at soccer practice...she gets the camera when I don't even know it. Nothing like seeing how messy your house is from a 3 year old's level! Those fingerprints on the walls... Oh--and if you don't have a teenage girl in your life these days, sticking out the tounge for pictures is the thing. Don't know why; we happen to think it makes these girls look...well, that's another soap box rant! And well, ECP has picked it up, hence the tounge out in her pictures. Great.

Will is a Webelo :-)

So sorry the first picture is blurry, but it's the best I've got! Don't know what was happening with the shakiness that day. Will worked very hard over the past year to earn two Boy Scout ranks. He earned his Wolf, Bear and has now progressed to his Webelos rank. Webelo stands for "We Be Loyal Scouts," just in case you ever wanted to know! He has a good line of Scouts in front of him, with at least his uncle Walter and Pop-Pop being Eagle Scouts. That is no easy accomplishment. Eagle Scout Rank is the only thing that you can still put on your resume as an adult from your high school days! We're hoping for Will to keep this up as he has learned so much this year, and it's only going to get better. He already has his Whittling Chip/Card and the Fishing Derby is coming up in June...great boy things. He's making a list to work on in June with his Pop-Pop (get ready, Daddy!)

My Soapbox :-)

Many of you know that I have now "crossed over" to becoming a Catholic. :-) Well, I affectionally call myself a Batholic (Baptist-Catholic) as there are just somethings that a Southern Baptist girl can't give up--like wanting to just sing to the rafters or praying "outside the box" or just every now and then, wanting to just say, "AMEN!" Sweet, conservative Jack has tolerated me well over 16 years! But I have had more fun in the last year becoming a true part of a church again. If you "knew me when" I was a child/teenager, you know how HUGE a part of my life my church was. I didn't know how much I missed it until I had it back!

There are many things that I have come to just truely adore in my Batholic faith. The fact that so many of our traditions and ways of doing things are really Jewish is amazing (and something that I really feel I'll spend some study time on in the future). The fact that I literally get to come before the altar every week on my knees is at once humbling and freeing. To hear a congregation praying the same Lord's Prayer outloud everyweek is awesome, especially if I take the time to really listen and pray it, not just say it!

But there is one area that I think that the Catholic church is just now coming to the game on, and that's the personal study side of faith. I am all for men being the head of their families and churches, believing that God puts people in authority over us all the time. But as women, I think we're the soul of our families...the neck, to put it in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" terms. And I think it's time that Catholic women started getting a little personal with their God.

One of my Bible study group leaders/friend/mentor sent me this website (http://www.breakpoint.org/) from a Catholic man who became an Evangelical. His whole point of breakpoint.org is to begin to take away the disunity of the faiths, celebrating what we DO share in common! I've said for over a year now that if you talk, really talk, to people in leadership roles in the churches, we are not all that different from each other. The below is from an article about women needing to become a bit more familiar with theology. I send it to you to be able to confirm in yourself or in a woman in your life that her studying God's Word is not only GOOD but VITAL! And that's my soap box for the year :-)

James writes:
Knowing God is a woman’s highest calling and her most pressing need. What we know of Him, whether it is a little or a lot, is all we have to hang on to when the storm hits and we are being pulled into the downward spiral of worthlessness, despair, and defeat. It is also what energizes and guides us as we tackle the task before us—as mothers, daughters, wives, and friends.
It is what upholds a woman when a marriage engagement comes crashing down around her. It is what teaches her humility when she receives an unexpected promotion. It is what sustains her when she receives a grim medical diagnosis. It is what points her to gratitude when she watches her child succeed. It is what meets her in her deepest ache and her greatest hour. And it is what tells her who she is, in Him.
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1 Peter 2:9
But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR GOD'S OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

Isaiah 43:1
But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!

Spring Break in Mississippi!

We had such a good trip home to Mississippi over Spring Break! It was just what our cold bodies needed. We were able to spend Easter with my family for the first time since Jack and I got married, I do believe. It was such a warm feeling to be back in my home church, in our home pew, with all my home people around me. Ain't nuthin' like it. I don't have pictures of all of us in front of the beautiful cross filled with flowers as my camera decided it didn't have enough juice! But trust me, it is a great picture!

We spent the rest of the week just having fun. Uncle Lee got a turkey, so we have our first Indian Princess headdress for Ellen Claire as Princess Mini-haha (spelling suspect!), as you can see above. She also would wait for Pop Pop to get home and say,"Would you like to push me on the swings?" or "Pop-Pop, should you push me on the swings?" How could he say no to that?!?!? He also helped Turner and ECP start some seeds that will be in full growth when we return in June. They let Pop-Pop do all the work and then had the fun of spreading the seeds!

Speaking of doing all the work, Meg and Will spent some good time in the yard picking up pinecones for pay :-) Daddy convinced them last year to pick them all up before he mowed the yard. So this time they came to him first! They didn't negotiate a fee (perhaps a poor idea considering they were dealing with a lawyer) up front but assumed he would pay last year's rate. He did, but this time "charged" a bucket fee, a working tax, you get the picture! A lesson in big government as well, I do believe :-)

Meg's favorite activity of the week was learning to drive the golf cart. It's all about the driving these days. She just took and passed her permit test, so in one month she can be behind the wheel practicing. I'm letting Pop-Pop and Jack handle this one. You can hear Will squeel when Meg takes off in the golf video below. The other video is of Ellen Claire and Turner sitting in the "summer"! Poor ECP, that's the only time she gets sun!

It was so very hard to leave. I keep begging (and that is not far from the truth) Jack to let me go back home for good! At least get me closer than a 13 hour drive or a $1000 plane trip. If we've learned anything from being in IL these past 3 years it's that family--ALL of it--is so important. We're tired of our visit being a big deal, something special and rare. We're ready for Nana and Pop-Pop to tell us that they're sick of having us around and to go to our own house! Maybe one day.

Aquarium Trip

It was the first decent day we've had in an eternity! Veronica and I have been trying to get the girls to the Shedd Aquarium since January. Every time we would schedule it, Chicago would be hit with ice/snow/do not get on the roads weather. But it came down to one week before their move, so it was now or never!

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. We went on a school day so the aquarium was relatively empty! The girls were able to walk around without our wishing we had a leash (and for those of you who have heard of ECPs escapades, you know what I mean!) and able to spend as long as they wanted at each exhibit. We saw divers feeding the reef fish and a great dolphin show. Ellen Claire was our tour guide as she loved the map (we still have it). And since we didn't have the big kids speeding off to the next exhibit, we were able to do whatever the girls wanted! The dolphins and penguins were the favorites.

Afterwards, the weather was so nice that we spent time strolling around the Museum Campus and Soldier Field. The picture above was taken from the aquarium plaza. I can't wait to get one with everything in bloom!

We Miss Victoria!!! (and Oscar, Veronica, Christian, too!)

What's a girl to do when her bestest friend in the whole world moves, and you don't even realize that's what is happening? Well, you have a mom who just cries for you, that's what! Our dear friends the Fondeurs moved back home to Boca Raton this past month. Y'all have seen pictures of all of our kids together for the past year. We consider ourselves VERY lucky and blessed to have these friends that we lived near in Georgia up here in Chicago with us again. We just now miss them so much! Ellen Claire asks every night if Victoria can come play tomorrow. Then she gets very mad at Victoria for NOT coming :-) and creates major "fights" that they've had. Last night at dinner ECP came up with her Best Part/Worst Part with Victoria at the center of both!

So, Fondeurs, we miss you! See you this summer!!