BLIZZARD OF 2011

Whew, that was rough but we made it!!!  We received at least 18 inches of snow but it's really hard to tell cause it's so drifted and windy.  We didn't get as much as downtown Chicago because they got the lake effect snow as well.  The snowfall to me wasn't so bad but it was the wind that was the worst!  It was sooooo windy and just blew the snow around until you couldn't see anything!   The most interesting part to me was experiencing "thunder snow", in fact, I can't say that I even knew it existed.  They've been talking about it on the news and saying that it is very rare and hardly ever happens but it sure did last night!  It was pretty cool!  It was snowing so hard and then the sky would light up with lightning and thunder.  Our power was out for about 3 hours.  I had been worried about it going out only because of not having any heat. We had plenty of food, lights and batteries but it's hard to keep warm when the temperatures are so cold.  We were fine and just bundled up so it wasn't too bad.  We were just crawling into bed when the power came back on so it worked out fine.  This morning it was still snowing but not as bad and it's starting to clear up but it is still very windy!  The main concern now is the cold air that is settling in, it's supposed to get 25-40 degrees below zero and now along with blizzard alerts they are having wind chill alerts!  I wouldn't be surprised if school is canceled again tomorrow.  Unfortunately, Rodger is out of town so myself and the kids have to try and dig out by ourselves.  It's very deep and heavy and it might be awhile before we are dug out.

Proud Parents!

I hate to brag but....I am so proud of my kids and how well they are doing here.  I was so worried when they started a new school and didn't know anyone and being the only LDS kids in the school really had me scared to death!  Fortunately, they are doing great and have adjusted so well and carried on without skipping a beat!  


Kaylon just received another straight "A" report card and got on the High Honor Roll.  He was also just awarded with the 
"Tiger Pride Award" at Thompson Jr. High which is the highest honor you can receive at the school!  His Science teacher nominated him and she had a lot of nice things to say about him.  They held a breakfast for the parents and had an awards ceremony to honor the kids that earned it.  

                        

He is also doing well in his church and Scout responsibilities.   He was just put in as the Deacon's Quorum President and is a Trainer in his Scout troop.  He just got back from the Klondike and had a great time!  He is currently working on his Eagle Project and expecting to receive it early this summer.  We have been getting him all registered for high school and I am still in denial that he is really going there next year.  I keep telling him that I was much older than he was when I went to high school and started the ninth grade!  (at least I thought I was ; )  He will be taking Honors Biology and Honors Geometry.  YIKES!  It's a good thing he got his Dad's smart brains cause he definitely didn't get them from me!  I'm still trying to figure out how      2 + 2 = 4!  Just kiddin' I'm not that dumb, but almost!   

Danielle also got straight "A's" this term and she too is doing great in school!  She has made lots of new friends and enjoys helping her teacher.  She has several handicapped kids in her class and she especially loves helping them and has grown to love them so much. She gets to go everyday and help out in the younger handicapped kids classroom and she has really developed a love and special relationship with the kids she takes care of.  They love her and get so excited when she comes in.  She has a really big heart and loves taking care of people.  She is growing like a weed and becoming quite the young lady.  Unfortunately, with that, comes mood swings, attitudes and lots of drama!  Heaven help me get through the teenage years!!!  She goes to Jr. High next year and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that either!

Sorry for gloating but I am just proud of what they have accomplished since we've been here and I like you all to know what's going on with us and our life in Illinois!  

CHRISTMAS IN OSWEGO - 2010

I can't believe another Christmas has come and gone.   I always get sad when Christmas is over and all the hustle and bustle is done.  It's such a magical and special time of year and there's so much excitement and build up that when it's all said and done it's such a let down.  The decorations come down, the holiday music goes away, the kids go back to school and now what, just more snow and cold and looking forward to spring and summer!


We had a different Christmas than we've had before but it was kind of special this year.  This is the first time EVER that we haven't celebrated with other family members.  The past two years we celebrated in Georgia with Rodger's sister and her family.  Every other year, my whole life, we've always gone to the annual Lewis Family Christmas Eve Party!  For all of the Lewis family it was a different Christmas since Grandma Beulah wasn't there to keep the party going.  Every year we would have the same ol' party thinking it would be our last but this year, after 50 years, the end of an era came.  We kept that tradition going as long as grandma was alive, she wouldn't have it any other way. Without Grandma Beulah here each individual family had their own party with their own families.  I don't know how many would admit it but I think everyone couldn't help but have a heavy heart that night thinking and wishing we could be together, as a family with our grandma, just one more time.  I think everyone was kind of lost not knowing what to do after doing the same thing our whole lives.  It's time for new traditions and time to create new memories but change is hard.  I know there won't be a year that goes by that we won't remember the old parties and reflect back on the only way we knew Christmas Eve.  Even though every year we would complain about going to the same ol' party I know we will all miss it!  

On a happier note... so my little family was all alone this year which ended up being kind of fun!  We were invited to go to a friends house, from the ward, and celebrate with their family but we were actually looking forward to doing our own thing and plan and carry out what we wanted to do.  The kids were all excited and that's all that matters.  

It couldn't have been a more perfect Christmas Eve day!!!  We woke up to it snowing and it didn't let up all day!  It totally set the mood for the day's activities.  With the Christmas lights on, the music playing, the girls in our aprons and the oven cranked up we spent the whole day baking and singing and enjoyed being together.  The kids had so much fun!  We baked sugar cookies and they decorated those and then we dipped pretzels and made chocolate dipped cake balls.  While the kids were busy decorating I was busy making chip dips and other goodies for our dinner that night. 

          

        

 

We played games and watched the nativity.  Right after that some people from our ward came caroling and brought us some treats.  It meant so much to us to know that someone was thinking of us on such a special night.   

The Allgaiers

We then opened some presents, the usual new pajamas (the kids have that figured out!  I think next year I'll surprise them and do something different!)  We then exchanged each others gifts so on Christmas day we could just open up the gifts from Santa and from our parents. 

Rodger had to go to work late that night so after he left we played some more games, fed the reindeer outside, got the milk and cookies out and FINALLY got the kids to sleep at 1:30 a.m.!  Needless to say it was a very late night, or morning depending on how you want to look at it.  

  

Feeding the reindeer!

 

Sleeping on the floor waiting for Santa! 

Santa definitely made a stop at our house!

Unfortunately, wouldn't you know that Christmas happened to fall on the same weekend that Rodger's night shift works an extra 4 hours.  UGH!  At the least the kids were understanding and didn't mind waiting but he didn't get home until 10:45 a.m.!   They woke up at 6:30 a.m. and didn't want to go back to sleep.  I tried but they didn't even want to go peek until it was time to go down.  I ended up waking up at 7:30 and thought I would go back to sleep until at least 10:00, being as I was up all night but, it was CHRISTMAS, I couldn't sleep in!  I was excited too so, the kids just stayed in their room and watched videos and I ended up getting showered and ready for the day since I had plenty of time to spare.  I did finally end up convincing them it was ok to go down and see if Santa really came and then they were really excited!  Finally Rodger got home and it was time to go see what Santa brought!!!

 

Everyone loved what they got and was thrilled with everything so that was good!  We had our usual Christmas morning rolls for breakfast then Rodger went to bed and the kids played with all their new things.  I fixed a turkey and stuffing and when Rodger woke up that evening we had a nice dinner and relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the day.  It was kind of nice  being on our own but obviously it would have been great to spend it with the rest of our family too.  

I didn't end up getting cards out this year

but I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas 

and may you all be blessed with a Happy New Year!  

AND THE WINNER IS.....

This past weekend we went to the "Christmas Walk" in downtown Oswego, it was so fun and festive!  Every store along main street was a different shop in Santa's Village and when you went in they would stamp your paper to mark that you had been there.  There were a lot of fun things to do, free hot cocoa, taste samples from restaurants around town, Santa and a snowman walking around to take your picture with, carolers singing, puppet shows, a bounce house/slide, horse-drawn carriage rides, ice sculptures, ice skating, etc....  After going to all the different stops we turned our papers in for a raffle to be held at the end of the night, well guess what.......WE WON!!!!!  ALL FOUR OF US!!!!!  We are so excited!!!

• Rodger won a one year subscription to the local paper, "The Ledger Sentinel", which he enjoys reading already!
• I won a $25 gift certificate to "Pearce's Restaurant"!  They have yummy fish and chips!
• Kaylon won a Toy Story 3 Operation game!  He has always wanted that game.  
• Danielle won a Littlest Pet Shop pet triplets set, which is perfect for her since she already collects them.

Every prize was perfect for each of us!  We never win anything so we are thrilled!  They had cookie buckets that you could buy that benefited a local charity and the next morning you could go store to store and get a free homemade cookie to put in your bucket.  The kids came home with at least 18 cookies each!  It was a fun weekend and something we look forward to doing again next year!  

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Same decorations, different house!

I know most of you have all seen my Christmas decorations but I thought I would show you how I decorated this house.  I'm still missing some stuff (lost in storage) but it turned out pretty good.

HaPpY bIrThDaY tO mE!!!

Unfortunately, I just had another birthday.  It seems that no matter how hard I try not to have one they still happen!  I did have a great time celebrating with my family all weekend, however!  

They spoiled me!  

Check out these cupcakes that Kaylon made all by himself!  

(Do you notice the recurring theme here?.. Cupcakes!) 

They were sooooo cute!!  I loved them!   

Spaghetti and meatballs!!!!

He used a Ziplock bag to squeeze the yellow frosting all over to look like the noodles, then added a Ferrero Roche chocolate dipped in raspberry or strawberry jam and topped with coconut!  Darling! 

(He secretly had Rodger take him shopping for all the ingredients...sneaky!)

Danielle got up early and decorated the whole house with streamers and birthday signs and made the table look all cute to match the cupcakes!

Danielle gave me Uggs (boots), Kaylon got me a gift certificate to Kohl's and Rodger got me a huge bouquet of flowers!  They made my day very special and I love them all very much!  Thank you everyone for remembering my birthday and making me feel loved! 

 Rodger didn't get a vase because he knew I had a lot of them, and I do, however, they are still packed away in the storage unit.  Unfortunately, I didn't have anything to put the flowers in so we improvised and came up with the next best solution.  I put them in a plastic container and then set them inside the milk can.  I guess it turned out ok!  

Here comes Santa Claus....

Since we've done the same thing for two years in a row, we've decided to make it a new tradition!  The day after Thanksgiving, Naperville has their annual Santa Claus/turning on the lights parade and celebration. It's pretty fun and quite a big deal around town.  There are some really neat shops in downtown Naperville and the atmosphere is awesome! The library gives out hot cocoa and we sit and watch the parade and then afterwards Santa flips the switch to light up Main Street with all the Christmas lights!  Afterwards we find a fun little restaurant to try and have dinner while we try to thaw out! 

 Bundled up!

This train was on Oprah's Favorite Things show loaded with gifts for the audience!  

It's officially Christmas... Santa's here!!!

The second part of our new tradition is to go to downtown Chicago the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  We did this last year and couldn't wait to go back.  We've been there several times but it's so much different at Christmas time.  I can't think of a better way to get in the Christmas spirit than to go to the Magnificent Mile and see all the fancy department stores all decorated, the window displays, people all bundled up and the hustle and bustle of seeing all those people shopping!  It's beautiful, amazing and so much fun!  

Being as my birthday always falls on or around Thanksgiving weekend we incorporate celebrating it along with our other holiday activities. One thing I wanted to do was to go to Sprinkles and get a cupcake!  If you haven't heard of it, it's a very trendy cupcake store that is known for famous celebrities using them for their parties and gifts for friends and family. They've been featured many times on different TV shows and it happens to be one of Oprah's favorite things!  Martha Stewart even promotes them so you know it must be pretty neat!  (hear the sarcasm) The original one is in L.A. and there's only several stores around the U.S., this one in Chicago is one of the most recent ones to open.  

    

 Notice the line to get in...

 They are $3.25 each and they are the size of a regular cupcake.  

Do you know how many cup cakes I could make for the price we paid for 4 cupcakes????

It's crazy (but ohhhhhh, soooooo good)!!!!

 Rodger had red velvet, I had coconut, 

Kaylon had peanut butter chocolate, and Danielle had chocolate marshmallow!  

YUMMY!!!

 Here's a few other highlights of the day....

 Woody!  (made from Legos)