LATELY WITH THE LINKS

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Lincoln Park Zoo

Lincoln Park Zoo--What a great place. Not too far from Ali's house, close to the water is Lincoln Park Zoo. You've seen it in the movies many times, maybe not knowing that it was the L.P.Z. We walked around the park and let the kids chase butterflies, we ate lunch, looked at all the animals, and rode the merri-go-round. But, I think that my kids favorite part was riding the paddle-boats. Of course, Brynna had to have the Swan. It was cool to be on the water, in this great park, but still be in the middle of downtown Chicago. What a fun day!

Monday, July 23, 2007

I made my first slideshow--Check it out!

We Love Chicago!!

The Texas Links finally made it to Chicago to see Ali, Kermit, and the A girls!! We had never met Adi and Avrie--what darling little girlies. Annaliese was fun to get to spend some time with. She's the smartest 3 yr. old I've ever seen--and beautiful too. Chicago is a fantastic city with soooo much to see and do. We took a boat tour of the city and the views were great! Later that night we took in a Cubbies game at Wrigley Field (scratch one off of Byron's list of things to do before he dies). Fun was had by all. Chicago--What a Wonderful City!

Magdalene--Maggie Mae

Little Miss Sass is actually what we should call her. Lately, she's been "testing her limits" or should I say "her mom and dad's limits"--Just a little here and there. She's really decided that she has an opinion on every single thing and that it's her way or the highway. I guess we can just call her "Miss Independent". No more holding her hand while walking down the sidewalk, or helping her into her stroller. She'll do it "by self". "By self" is just one of the funny little things she says. "Or not" is big in her vocabulary, too. If you ask her if she wants a snack or not, if she doesn't, she'll say "Or not". She's just so funny. Conversations are never dull and always cute.

Brynna-Bel

My heaven's--getting older every second. She's no longer a little girl. She has turned into, simply, a girl. Not little, but not too big either. We are young enough to still love Barbie--but old enough to really care what Barbie is wearing. A good thing, right?
Bel is in the 1st grade now, and love's to read. She really loves school too. She loves her teachers and her friends. Can you say Social Butterfly? Talk-talk-talk-talk. She's never been considered shy. Everyone is her best-friend, you know, even if it's the first time you've ever talked to her. I love that quality about her. She is a friend to everyone. What a good and sweet girl she is.

Caden--C Dog

I just love my little Caden. He is THE sweetest and nicest kid around--and did I mention handsome. He's now in the 5th grade--the year when things get a bit more hectic. He has more work and he's expected to be organized enough to get it all in one day, do it over the next week and then turn it in. We're still workin' on that one. Organization is not a strong point for us. He changes classes too, which is new to him. I tell you what--he absolutley LOVES science. Almost every day he comes home telling me of the experiment that they did in science lab or goes on and on about protons and neutrons and electrons. I have a hard time following because he goes into every single little detail--and he remembers every-single-detail. What a smarty-pants. He's really discovering how funny his personality is lately, too. He now know's he's funny and that he's got the gift of gab. He takes after his dad.

Greyson--G Money

You'd think I was giving this kid steroids at the rate he's growing. He's only 15, but people ask if he's 17. He's very tall for his age. He might think he acts like he's 17--but we know better. Maturity-?-it's comin' along. We'll just say we're working on it. No, really-all kidding aside--he's a really good young man. He's at the age when typical teenage angst sets in. And..we have our fair share of it. But, all in all, I think he really tries to keep a cool head when he thinks we've asked him to take out the trash one too many times. He's just at an age when we can really count on his help. He is a great helper to me. He even folds laundry (don't tell his friends).
Greyson is doing really, really well in school so far this year. He's got and extra load-basically doing two years of school in only one. We thought he'd really have to bust it and be doing work constantly to keep up. But..he hardly has any homework and he's making all A's. He has a 100% in Geometry!? I asked him if he just has never missed any question ever on anything to get that average. He replied by saying, "No--I've missed stuff, but I got a 120% on a project". Whatever--wouldn't it be great to be that smart?