Back again today!

Two posts in one day .... that's amazing!

Anyway, thanks for all the nice comments I've been getting. Because, well, I like comments and LOVE nice ones! They make me smile - and remind me I have been very bad about leaving comments myself lately so I really need to step it up (I used to make it a point to leave at least one comment a day and I have not been doing that lately :-( )

But really, what I wanted to say was I just found a new hero ... go meet her here. The premise of her blog: to not shop for a year (except the necessities like food and clothing). AND not only are they not shopping but she is going through and doing some serious decluttering of her house. Seriously, I am so in awe. I mean, we have greatly reduced our shopping, but it was really because of financial reasons. We wouldn't be doing it just to stop bring all the crud into our house. Seriously go read about it because it rocks. (and now I am really motivated to declutter our house more!) She also has another blog here which is a GREAT blog as well. And I found her through The Motherhood Blog ticker so we'll call this reason 4,691 that I love The Motherhood! =)

Happy Leap Day!

So in honor of leap day, we did a few frog related activities around here. Not too much, because, well, the kids had a very in-depth, involved game going on in which they were pretending to be doctors and veterinarians and they NEEDED to take care of their animals and baby dolls. And frankly, I think that sort of play is precious and actually important so we only interrupted for a bit.

We found some frog noises on the internet and they had a blast listening to them and I heard "play it again mom!" lots of times - who knew frog noises could be so exciting?

Then we tried to do a little science experiment with magnets with the goal of creating some leaping frogs. Although we had fun making everything, they didn't quite work out as we hoped ....

First we decorated some shoe boxes to look like a place a frog might be. We cut out a tissue paper frog. Then we took a paperclip with string tied on it and taped it to the back of the frog.
The theory being that if we put a magnet on top of the box, the frog would "jump up" to the magnet. The truth was that, our magnet was not strong enough to pull the frog up. The box was probably too high. And the magnet and the paperclip had to be VERY close together for the magnet to actually pull the paperclip ...


I know it looks like they are touching, but I assure they are not. However, that was the farthest apart we could get them to stay. So, we didn't get "leaping" frogs, but we did make a pretty neat "floating" frog!
I told the girls next time we go out, we'll look for more powerful magnets and maybe we can have leaping frogs someday!

As a bonus though, we had to try out a LOT of magnets to even get the floating affect so we talked about how magnets come in different strengths and tested out if it could pull the paperclip and all that stuff, so at least we did some magnet exploring today!

Anyway, happy leap day! =)

Blech ...

I am just feeling a bit blech with this blog right now.
All my steam for crafting has left ... and I can't find it. It feels like we are still trying to return to "life as normal" in light of all that happened last week. And while I am not expecting those pangs of sadness or the occasional falling of tears to be gone ... I just thought by now my house would be clean, I'd have completed a few more projects, I wouldn't feel so tired, etc, etc ...

But here's the thing ... we weren't home hardly at all last week. Which was actually good - we spent a lot of time together as a family. Except it was the the adults who were together while the kids ran around. Sunday we really kind of were all home at the same time and had actual downtime! And Monday being home and seeing what was here really hit me.

First of all, I had hardly any food here! My son woke up with an asthma flare-up and so breathing treatments have been administered a lot this week. Laundry needed to be done. Floors washed. Dishes taken care of. And we were ALL just exhausted and worn out and had out of schedule sleep patterns.

Well, fortunately help was on the way. The Mommy and Me group that I am in so KINDLY brought us a honey baked ham on Monday with two sides. LIFE SAVER! And I am SO thankful and grateful. Because I really wasn't expecting anything at all. And I cried Monday afternoon when I realized I had nothing to give my family for dinner and surprise! There it was. It was so nice.

The laundry is mostly caught up. The house is still a mess. And all three of my kids are now sick. Except I didn't realize just how sick they were until the 8 year old came home from Awana crying because her throat hurt and then, oh by the way mom I won a bike, now give me medicine for my throat. Okay, come on ... I got just how serious it was when the bike was not the first thing out of her mouth tonight!

And I still feel exhausted. And I still feel this huge amount of sadness. And I don't want to sew. I don't want to knit. I don't want to create at all! Which really is okay - except I have nothing to write here. And well, no one is checking my blog anymore. And I admit that makes me sad. On a weird but related note, some company contacted me to advertise here - and I had to laugh! Seriously, I get 16 hits a day (and I think 14 of them show the person stayed 0 minutes). I didn't even respond because it seemed so silly to contemplate it! And yet, it did feel kind of neat to get that e-mail - even if it was probably mass e-mailed to a lot of other bloggers. But I'm sad about the lack of readers. Although these days I'm sad about a lot so that shouldn't be a surprise.

Maybe soon I'll be back. And have lots of fabulous things to show you. Or maybe I'll learn how to write things that people will want to read! LOL! Or something like that.

For now, I'm just trying to get back into life and back into a rhythm of things!

Just stuff ...

Well, things are kind of back to normal around here - although, really they aren't.
I do want to say that the mom's club I'm in brought me dinner tonight (which was so welcomed and frankly needed) and it just touched my heart. And I've gotten some very nice messages from people - including here, so thank you so much for that. It has all been extremely appreciated.

A few weeks ago Emily (from been there) sent me a quote in the mail that read "May every risk you take bring you to wide open spaces where HOPE and Joy await."

I've been staring at that quote a lot. I've actually moved the paper she wrote it on around the house so that I can look at it in different places. I suppose this might make me weird or just plain crazy, but I'm pretty sure most of you figured out I am a bit weird and crazy a while ago! Anyway, this quote has been stuck in my mind definitely.

First I thought a lot about that word hope. I tend to not have hope many times - we could analyze that to death I'm sure. But I think a lot of times, I just expect the worst. I just can't understand that the worst usually doesn't happen and probably won't happen that time either. But truly, very rarely does the worst happen. And I don't always need to focus on that - I could actually become a glass is half full kind of gal, and be filled with a sense of hope. And how would that change my daily outlook? I think it would change a lot honestly. And it's so easy to sit here and type it, but certainly not easy to put it into practice.

But now the word risk is sticking in my mind. I am generally NOT a risk taker at all. In fact, I tend to hate risk. I just hate it. I like safe. I like the same. I like no risk! I'm sure this limits me a lot too! I tend to not take chances. I tend to not try new things. I tend to shy away from things that scare me or make me nervous or make me uncomfortable, etc, etc, etc. Risk and me are not good friends. We are barely acquaintances - and frankly, I think that's not a good thing at this point in my life.

So, as risk floated around in my head more. And as it just wouldn't leave my mind, I thought of something else - the word of the year (which I first heard referenced on Creative Mom Podcast but she heard it from Ali Edwards) and I just knew, I just knew, even though we are almost through 2 months of the year, risk is my word of the year. And it's a word that I need to keep tucked away in the back of my head for a while.

So, yes. I have a word of the year now. I claim risk. I hope I can do more with that word than just claim it, I hope I can live it. I hope I can take risks this year.

Wanted to share ....

I really wanted to share this article with you all, to share more about grandpa and the wonderful man he was (and because I'm so proud that he was my grandpa - even if only through marriage.) At his funeral my husband said that he hoped someday he could be a grandpa just like his grandpa was - and although I have no doubt my husband can and will be just as wonderful, the truth is, his grandpa left VERY big shoes to fill. (from here)

Palatine man was an American pioneer in EMT service

By Eileen O. Daday

He was assistant chief of the Palatine Volunteer Fire Department in 1971 when Bernhardt "Barney" L accompanied Chief Orville Helms to a meeting that would change the face of fire departments across the state.

They were among the suburban departments to attend a meeting led by Dr. Stanley Zydlo, who proposed training and certifying firefighters in emergency medicine so they could provide immediate basic care to victims.

"(Barney) was the one who really picked up on the idea and ran with it," says Cliff Steif, a former Palatine firefighter. "He was instrumental in bringing it to the department, and to all of the smaller ones around us, like Cary, Fox River Grove and Barrington."

His role in developing the paramedic system is Mr. L's legacy. The former 57-year Palatine resident was 78 when he died this past Friday.

From that original meeting, Zydlo went on to create the paramedic program in Illinois, which has become one of the largest Emergency Medical Services (EMS) systems in the Midwest. But it all started with training Northwest suburban firefighters, he says, in emergency medical techniques, including members of the Palatine, Mount Prospect, and Arlington Heights departments.

"Barney was one of the first trained paramedics in the United States," says Zydlo, now retired. "It was amazing how common, ordinary people were willing to take on medical knowledge -- and do it.

"And that was very pleasing to me," he adds, "in light of all the resistance it caused."

Mr. L had served on Palatine's volunteer fire department since 1956, rising through the ranks to become a lieutenant and assistant chief, before he retired in 1977.

At the time, volunteer members held full time jobs outside the department, but completed drills and training led by two full time firefighters from other departments.

During these same years Mr. L ran the L Printing Co. in Palatine, a commercial print shop which his son Terry still operates, and has employed many of his grandchildren.

"His work ethic was stronger than anyone I've ever known," says his grandson, Greg L, of Palatine. "Even at 75 years old, he was working 10 hours a day."

Mr. L rarely talked about his years as a firefighter, but family members says he loved his role in the community.

"In the beginning, all the volunteers were alerted by a siren, before they went to a telephone system," says Terry L of Palatine. "No matter what time of the day or night, when my dad got the call, he'd bolt up and get on his fire-fighting gear."

Family members recalled some of the bigger fires the department responded to, including a new apartment complex under construction at Euclid Avenue and Plum Grove Road; and the original field house at Harper College.

The most memorable one was in 1973, when the Ben Franklin store in downtown Palatine burned, and took the lives of three volunteer firefighters.

"That was the impetus for the village to go to a full-time, professionally trained fire department," Terry L adds.

Besides his son and grandson, Mr. L is survived by his wife, Carol, and children Thomas (Diane) L of Inverness, Mark (Daniele) of Racine, and Laura (Kurt) R of Palatine, as well as 11 more grandchildren and three great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son, Peter.

Visitation will take place from 2-8 p.m. Friday at Ahlgrim Family Funeral Home, 201 N. Northwest Hwy. in Palatine.

Note: there is an error in the article. It says he passed away on Friday, but it was on Tuesday.