Sammie's Ballet Performance

Today was Sammie's first ballet performance with a live audience. She is one of the youngest in her class. (that is why she is so much smaller than the other kids.) Sammie was sick all week and I was scared that she wouldn't get better before today but she is a trooper. Great job Sammie!





Taking pictures with Sweet C. Drew was way too tired to take pictures.


Daddy was so proud of his little ballerina.


We are so proud of you, Sammie.

May re-cap

Wow..
May is almost gone. So we have been busy this month, Caroline and Drew's birthday, visitors this month were Angie from Arizona; Bob and Dottie from Montana; and Wade. So here are the kids birthday video. ENJOY

Caroline's Birthday Video


Drew's Birthday Video



While Bob and Dottie were in town we went to the Shedd Aquarium. It was great to finally meet Dottie after all these years. I thought she was just a figment of Bob and Robert's imagination. Dottie thought the same about me and the kids. Love ya Dot!

I will post pictures tomorrow. Gotta get some rest.

editing the blog...

I am learning how to customize the blog. You will see a ton of changes in the next couple of days. I will be posting soon. life is full of crazy things. :)SESIL

Snow... and more snow.

Some pictures when the kids were playing outside.

Monarch Mountain...

So while we were in Colorado, Robert got a chance to snowboard with Laura on Monarch Mountain....and this is what happened.

Christmas Video of the kids

Here is a video of the kids opening gift Christmas morning from Santa. Enjoy!

To watch in high quality double click the video. Another window will open to you tube and click the "watch in high quality" on the bottom right hand of the video.

Happy Holidays

Just wanting to wish everyone a great holiday.

We made it safely back to Chicago. It took Robert forever to get the car unstuck of the parking lot that we kept the car at while we were in Colorado. Then when we get home the gate door won't open...we had to carry the kids over the gate to get them in the door. It was quite funny to see me scale the gate. But we made it.


I am trying to get the house somewhat clean. It looks like a tornado ran through the house while we were gone.

:)sesil

Sammie's Last Day of Ballet 12.6.08

Enjoy the video...Sorry for the poor quality. But you get the idea. She loves ballet.

Halloween Pictures

Some pictures of our Halloween adventure. :)Sesil

Week Review...

what did we do this week?

Kids went to school all week. I felt lazy all week.
Yesterday the kids and I went to the park.
And we are chillin' out today.

So nothing new.

the neighborhood did get a new park. It finally opened last week. So that is the only thing really going on.
So check you out next week.
:)

What a Monday...

Okay... So today has been crazy already and it isn't even noon. As normal the kids get up eat breakfast before heading out to pre-school. Everyone is dressed and ready to go.
I on the other hand, just not quite ready to start the day. I get my stuff together...coffee, purse and grab a bottle of milk for Caroline.

Drop off the kids at school, then I head to the grocery store with sweet C. Everything going good...grab my stuff head out to the check out...Okay...my budget is X amount. Tell the cashier..hey, let me know when I get close to X. So we are down to our last 4 items. I can get one more thing. Okay..let's pick that. So right on the money X. I get .25 back for my change. Whooo hooo stayed within my budget just had to leave the 3 things at the store. Didn't need them any way. Get out to the car, put Caroline in the car and load up the groceries. Jump in the van and head home.

Get home unload Caroline out of the van and grab my purse. I look down at my keys...OH NO... the house keys are off my key ring. (My key ring has the two sides and you can detach one side.) Dang it!! I let Caroline play with the set that had the house keys on them. So I start looking in the van...no luck...I think to myself...she probably threw them out of the van when I was closing the door. Heard some keys but thought it was the lady getting out of her car in the parking lot. Dang....have to go back to the store.
There were only a couple of cashiers and a security guard there. I as the security guard and the cashier I went to..no luck...as I am walking past one of the other cashiers she said...I have a set of keys. I explain what is on the key ring to the T. She goes...is this it? Thank goodness.....Someone turned them in. Phew....I have house keys. I kept thinking...I really don't want to have to drive out to Naperville to get house keys from Robert. (I left my cell phone at the house so I wouldn't have been able to call anyone with a spare key.) But I didn't have to do that.

Finally got home. I put Caroline to bed, unloaded the car put up the groceries and now I am glad I didn't have to drive out to get into the house. So just making lunch for me and Caroline then we will pick up the kids from pre-school at 3:00.

So I am off to take a nap while I can. Hope your Monday is going better than mine. (It could have been a ton worst.) See ya soon. :)SESIL

This week...

Wow.. okay... So, had a busy week and I am super tired.
1. Kids started school this week.
2. Good friend Jay came to Chicago and we were able to get together on Tuesday night.
3. Robert's birthday was on Thursday.
4. Thursday at school we celebrated Sammie's birthday with her classmates.
5. Sammie started Ballet classes today.
6. I am starting to feel under the weather.
7. I am working at the scrapbook store for the scrap pink event tonight.
8. Got all the clothes organized out of Caroline's room.
9. Made an attempt to clean the house but now it is a wreak again.
10. I am just tired!
With that said...I am going to take a nap.
Okay.. I know I have to post pictures so visit soon and I will try and post them.

Mom & Dad: Hope you are still doing good in the Philippines! Miss ya a ton.

First day of Pre-school (Sammie and Drew)

So today was Sammie and Drew's first day of pre-school with the Chicago Park District. It is such a great program, I am excited for the two of them and I know when they go to real school they will be ready socially and academically. I did take a couple of pictures of them before heading out to school. Sammie asked if I could take them to school in Daddy's car. So luckily Robert didn't have to be at work until later. So we got the kids off to school on time.

Today was parent orientation. I was really impressed with Ms. Shepard, the director of that particular Park District, and her staff with what they have to offer. They defiantly go above and beyond any other Park Districts here in Chicago. If some of you don't know the motto of Chicago Park District is "come out and play" so this is the city's way of having recreational activities at your local Park District. But over time Ms. Shepard has connected with her community and is really out there to help us as parent prepare the kids for real life and "big school". This year she was showing us the curriculum she has planned for the kids. They will be taught Math, Science, basic Spanish, African Drumming, phonics in preparation for reading and start with the writing. We will be getting progress reports on everything. (okay...remember this is for 2-4 year old and this is way above and beyond what any other park district in the city is doing) I am just really impressed with the attentiveness (Is that a word?) to the kids and the genuine concern about learning and starting off the kids with a solid foundation. I love it....it goes together with my teachings goals for the kids. So hand and hand we will be working together to build a solid foundation for our kids education. (phhhew...I just kept going there...okay you get it. I like it.)

Originally, the kids were going from 9-12 M-F with the option of extending it to 3. We decided to go with the extended time because, Sammie never takes a nap and Drew is down to one, he will take one there and Sweet C will be home with me taking her two naps while the other two are at school. It works out better for all of us. The kids are excited to be back to school. I will post the pictures when Robert gets back from work.

Today, our buddy Jay from Texas will be hanging out with us for a couple of hours. Just catching up...I am so excited. So Robert will pick Jay up at the hotel then they will be coming home. So..my point...Robert has the camera for work and the pictures I took for the kids first day of school is on the camera....which means I won't get the pictures until late tonight and with Jay visiting I won't be able to download them right away. IN addition ,I also post the Tuesday tips on scrapbooking for my work's blog here http://www.thebreezebloggers.blogspot.com/
so by the time I post my Tuesday Tip for work I will try and post the pictures for this post.
Sorry....our life is just so crazy.

Okay...quick rundown. This Thursday is Robert's birthday. But instead of celebrating Robert's birthday will be at the pre-school celebrating Sammie's birthday. since her birthday was the 11th and school did not start until today. So we decided to bring the party to her school. It makes it easier on us and makes Sammie feel like a princess for the day. This weekend at my work we are doing something called Scrap Pink it is a three day crop (where people get together to work on their scrapbooks and have the store at their disposal while they are working on their projects, great fun and very social) Friday, Saturday and Sunday together with the Susan B.Colman foundation we will be hosting this crop at our store. I will be working this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the store. There are other scrapbook stores across the nation that are doing the same thing in their local area...so if you are a scrapbooker go to your local scrapbook store and attend this crop. Partial of the crop fee will be given to the Susan B. Coleman foundation for breast cancer. So with that all out. I will do my best to post pictures and updates this week.

Mom and Dad.. Love you and hope you are having fun in the Philippines in preparations for retirement. Can not wait till you get back and show us pictures.

Okay..enough blabbing. Talk to yall soon. :)SESIL

Sammie's special day with Tia

Phyllis aka Tia took Sammie to get a manicure and pedicure for her birthday. They spent the whole day together just being girls. Sammie is a total girly girl. Unfortunately I am not so that is where Tia comes in. Tia is always dressed so nice and Sammie loves being with Tia.

Side note: I was getting dressed ready to attend George Sr.'s wake with the kids and Sammie tells me "Mommy why do you have Tia's shoes on?" I was wearing high heel shoes like Tia would wear. So I got finished getting dressed, doing my hair and got everyone in the car....I went back up to the house to set the alarm and lock the door Andrew says "Look Sammie there is Tia." It was me dressed up and I think it was his way of telling me that I looked nice.

Okay...so you see this is why we need Tia in our lives so she can show Sammie and Caroline to be a true lady. I just wear t-shirts and jeans because the kids get me dirty in 20 seconds. One day I will be able to wear nice clothes again...but until then Tia will have to be their role model.

Here are some pictures of Sammie on her special day with Tia.
Enjoy. :)sesil

Thank you Tia - I had a great time - Sammie.

In loving memory of George Sr.

This week has been an emotional week for us. George, one of our close friends, father passed away this week. George Sr. was like family to us. We love you and you will be missed dearly.

Just a couple of great times I remember....

• George Sr. was a big ELVIS fan.
• I will always remember our talk about how it takes a strong woman to deal with a difficult men. (AMEN to that.)
• George Sr. and Trevor hanging out and just enjoying spending time together.
• George Sr. being so proud of his children's accomplishments.
• Our long talks when everyone else was too busy to notice us outside.

We love you! The crazy Cratin Family.

My bucket heads....

So Andrew and Caroline have been playing together more often. I just wanted to share what they like to do together. As you see.. they are my bucket heads. :)Sesil

Where does the time go?

Okay... the summer has just passed by. Of course we have been crazy busy here at the Cratin household.

Robert's showroom is now up and running in Naperville. They have a beautiful showroom in a great location. We were there during the labor day weekend with a tent barbque'n for the neighbors and potential customers. The kids loved hanging out at the showroom with the empty room riding their bikes and playing with the balloons. We even had a chance to stop by at George and Amy's to spend labor day with them. Had a great time. We even go to squeeze in more pool time while in Minooka. Here is a layout that I did the last time we were in Minooka with George and Amy.







August we went to Blue Harbor Resorts to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary with the kids. Here is my favorite shot of the weekend. We did the self timer on this.

We have been crazy around here. The kids play together all the time. Just waiting for pre-school to start again. They don't go back until Sept.22. Then it will just be me and Caroline in the morning and I can get some stuff done during the day. Have a great day. :)SESIL

Water Time Fun

Here is a quick video of the kids playing in the water.

Digital Layout.

Here is a digital layout I did for sammie's first day of ballet.

June is almost gone...where did it go....

Okay... I will try and play catch up here. Wow... where do I start? I will start with the most recent and work back.

Sammie and Drew are going to summer camp and they are gone 9-3 Monday- Friday. They go to field trips every Monday and Tuesdays. I love that they are doing activities during the summer and keeping them busy. Caroline and I stay at home so the little one can get her beauty sleep. Let's see how much I can get done around the house.

Sammie will have her first ballet class today. I will take pictures and post them later.

Drew and Sammie talked to their Uncle Jubert on his birthday to wish him a happy birthday. Yea!!! Jubert is back from the war. He has only been home for two weeks. But Drew calls Uncle Jubert "Jub..jub" And Sammie keeps telling me "mom, uncle Jubert is your brother like Drew is my brother." Love the way she is getting it.

Caroline is walking/running. She has to keep up with her brother and sister. The kids generally get along great. I will have to video them and post soon.

We just go over being sick. We all got hit with the stomach flu a couple of weeks ago....it was not a fun time for us. I think we were sick for a week and a half. Just one right after the other. But we are doing great now.

Robert's store will be closing on July 15th. But they are opening a store in the western suburbs by labor day. He will be commuting to the other stores in the meantime. We will see how things go before we make any plans to move.

Oh... my first digital layout. Here it is.


here is my second digital layout.



I will post more pictures when I get back from picking up the kids. :)SESIL