Anna FINALLY lost one of her two front teeth that have been dangling in her mouth forEVER!



I think all of the cheering for the Reapers and Illini might have done the trick.  (Or, her yelling, "Mom, be quiet!")

I went out to get the mail and come back in to Anna crying hysterically and holding a bloody kleenex on her mouth.  "I can't find my tooth!  I can't find my tooth!"  I got her calmed down enought to tell me what happened...Brady bumped her in the mouth and her tooth came out.  We found it on the office floor!  I told her I'm sure that Brady would love to help her get the other one out, too!  She said no thanks.

All she wants for Christmas is her one front tooth....yeah right.

Could yesterday have been any better?

First, it was Plano 26, St. Joe Ogden 22.  I listened on WSPY.  I wish I could have been there!  Great job, Reapers.  See you next week in the semis against Aurora Christian.  GO REAPERS!



Next, it was a HUGE upset in College Football! 

ILLINI 28, BUCKEYES 21!  Great job, Illinois, beating the Nation's #1 team.  And Juice is only a Sophomore!



I bet it was fun in Champaign last night....

This Reaper and Illini Alum says thanks for the excitement!  Keep it going!  I always think it is so funny that both schools have the same "Loyalty", I just had to change a few names and colors!

We're loyal to you Illinois,

We're "Orange and Blue," Illinois,

We'll back you to stand

Gainst the best in the land,

For we know you have sand, Illinois,

Rah! Rah!

So crack out that ball Illinois,

We're backing you all Illinois;

Our team is our fame protector,

On! boys, for we expect a vict'ry from you Illinois!

Che-he! Che-ha! Che-ha-ha-ha!

Go Illini go!

Che-he! Che-ha! Che-ha-ha-ha!

Go Illini go!

Illinois! Illinois! Illinois!

Fling out that dear old flag of Orange and Blue,

Lead on your sons and daughters, fighting for you;

Like men of old, on giants placing reliance, shouting defiance

Oskee wow-wow!

Amid the broad green plains that nourish our land,

For honest Labor and for Learning we stand,

And unto thee we pledge our heart and hand,

Dear Alma Mater Illinois.

Isn't it the Terrible TWOS?

Anna & Brady snuck downstairs on his birthday morning and Anna took this picture.  We woke up to MOM! DAD! HELP! HELP! BRADY IS OPENING HIS PRESENTS!  He was tearing right into them.



We had birthday dinner with Grandma, Grandpa, Granny, Drew and Lauren.  It was a Thomas Party!



Brady sang the loudest, to himself!



He LOVES cake!  Anna could take it or leave it.  Can they be more opposite?



October is a Birthday Month.  Grampa turned 69 4 days later!  We went to Red Robin for his birthday.  Brady and Grampa both got the singing and birthday sundaes.  Grampa's is missing because Anna was "trying" it.  Happy Birthday, Dad!



We had MORE cake, of course.  Do we do anything but eat?



Anna has a friend named Emily that she met in Kindergarten.  It was instant friendship when Emily moved to Yorkville, a little while after school started last year.  This year, they are lucky to be in the same class and are so cute together.  Here they were reading/singing all of the poems from their poetry book from school.  Too funny!  I hope she will have lifelong friends like I do.  Thanks Julie and Traci!



Anna's hat from the Sandwich Fair.

Brady......wakes up smiling every day...


Anna......loves her Unicorns....

She had to take this picture for her math homework...not the math that I once knew!

Anna, Brady & I have been following Grandpa Don around to car shows the past couple of weeks, especially since Brett has been working so much.  The first one was at the Sandwich McDonalds....

The River radio station was there giving stuff away, and the announcer would go up to the roof of McDonalds and throw t-shirts to the crowd.  Anna wanted one so bad, but I made her stay close to Grandpa's car.  She said that all the shirts were going to the end of the building.  I said to be patient....stand by the back of Grandpa's car and maybe he'll throw one this way.  Sure enough, he did, and Anna caught it on the fly!  Pretty good for a 6-year-old!  She really wanted one of those shirts.....

The next show was at Oswego Drag Strip Days...

It was a perfect day.  On the right, my dad is talking to Norb Locke, sharing old Drag Racing stories.  For my old friends, you might remember Mr. Ned (Ned Locke) from Bozo's Circus.  This is his son!  I am so happy for my dad to be able to race every weekend.  He is having a blast!

We celebrated Drew's 22nd birthday over the weekend.  He has changed so much...I can't believe he was 9 when I first met him.  Anna and Brady just LOVE it when he is here.  It's funny because he used to have as much energy as they did.  Now he can only take so much of "spin me"....."again"....."again"....."again"!  Anna said that Drew still makes the best fort in the world.  His girlfriend Lauren came over too.  She's beautiful and very sweet.  He requested steak, mashed potatoes, and vegetables for his birthday dinner.  It was good!  We had a great night. 

Brady has wanted to go on the school bus with Anna since last year.  He's finally going to 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 year old preschool at the YMCA on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11.  It will be so good for him to play with some kids his age!  He started out with a request for a waffle for breakfast.....


His "Packpack" is ready....


He was singing "YMCA" for the past week!  And there it is!   


Directly to the trains....


Brett & I went out to breakfast & to Kohls.  A mini vacation!  We WERE very happy to see Brady when we picked him up.  He had a great day!

First Day of First Grade!

Anna was so excited about starting school! 



She and Brennan waited for the bus together.


Bye bye my sweetie!


I will miss her!  I am so excited for her.  What a great time in her life.  Things will change for me, too!  I will get to spend some time alone with Brady and get some of MY stuff done now!  I am really looking forward to all of the changes.  Maybe Brett & I will even get to go on a date!  Probably to Best Buy or Lenscrafters, though!

Now, more time to play trains!  Brady starts 2 1/2 year old preschool at the Y next week.


It was great having my sister here for a few days.  We had lots of fun and even had tickets to a Cubs game.  It was a come-from-behind win on a D-Lee homer.  We drove the Vette downtown on a spectacular day.  Topped it off with some Sushi and an Icy Fruit!  We're all going to miss her....especially Anna.  I don't think she let Elizabeth out of her sight all weekend!

Summer seemed like it flashed by.  I left Aon after 11 years on June 15 and I don't even know how I ever had time to work before!  It has been a wonderful summer off!  It started with Anna's Graduation from Kindergarten.  There wasn't really a graduation, but one of the moms thought they should have one so some of us got together for a little party for the kids.


Then, I said I would be glad to "help the coach" for Anna's Tee Ball team.  Well, all they heard was the "Coach" part, and so there I was.  I coached and had 2 helpers...one was my dad who coached me since I was 9!  Anna had lots of fun and did pretty well, too!  Just look at that windup!


We spent a lot of time playing with our neighbors.  Brennan and Anna liked to draw giant chalk monsters on the driveway.  We did some fishing at the "No fish" Fish Pond.....so named by Anna!


We had a great time at the Yorkville 4th of July celebration.  We have watched the parade from the same corner since I was a kid.  The Carringtons had their race faces on this year...Brady completed the race for the first time and even took 2nd!  Anna got the DOLLAR!  She said she could feel her heart beating because she ran so fast.  She said it was the best day of her life....



Anna and Brennan took "Bone and Arrow Class" as they said it....Archery at the YMCA.  They both loved it! 


Funny how they like some of the shows that I used to watch and I laugh whenever I see "1970" on some of the Scooby Doo shows that they have been into lately.  It's so funny to hear them both sing the entire theme song.  (Even funnier when Brady is singing Hannah Montana, he'll appreciate hearing himself sing that in a few years when he is trying to be cool!)  This picture was from our day at Great America.  Anna and Brady both loved the "Whizzer" as much as they love Scooby and can't wait until they are tall enough to go on the next roller coaster!  Anna said it was the best day of her life.....



Of course we had plenty of fun in our back yard water park....




Anna was begging Brett to help her make a lemonade stand, so they did.  There are not many potential customers walking by our house, so the owners of Suzy's said it would be ok if she set up her stand at some of the early volleyball games.  Her first day as an entrepeneur brought in $35.  That included a $10 tip!  She said it was the best day of her life...hmmmm....that sounds familiar!



My dad has been having the time of his life racing!  He was top eliminator a few weeks ago FINALLY!  Here is the article from the Record:
Don Hausler, long time Plano dragracer put his big block Chevy powered dragster in the winners circle at Route 66 Raceway Sunday, August 5, 2007. Don was top eliminator in the super pro class with runs of 8.02, 8.02, 8.04, 8.06,  8.06, 8.03, 8.04, all at 166 miles per hour. The all important reaction times were .028, .008, .000. .031, .003, .017, .001. The final was against former track champion Dave Ancel of Minooka and was decided by a .0021 second margin of victory!   Don said the Hausler Masonry, Contractors Equipment, Wholesale Tire, Allen Racing Chevrolet was totally awsome all day and was unaffected by the extreme heat and humidity. This was Don's first "Top Eliminator" prize.  


We had a wonderful "City Girls" overnighter in Chicago with Julie and Jordan.  We hit the Rainforest Cafe, Chicago Childrens Museum, Build A Bear, the Funhouse, the Ferris Wheel, Hard Rock Cafe, and Shedd Aquarium.  What a great time!  We are so lucky to have such great friends as Julie and Jordan!  We can't wait until next time.


Anna's Addiction:  The "Crane Game."   How appropriate it is that she just found out that her 1st grade teacher is Ms. Crane! 


We went to "A Day Out With Thomas" last weekend.  Anna and Brady both had a great time (I have to admit, it was really cute!).  This was Brady's reaction when Thomas pulled us away in the train!



That's some of our summer highlights...I'm caught up!

Now we are looking forward to my sister's visit over Labor Day weekend.  She's in the U.S. attending Santa Clara University's two-week-long Global Social Benefit Incubator program. The program gathers social entrepreneurs from all over the world who are trying to combine their contribution to a common good with a coherent business model.  She's coming in Saturday...we're going to the Cubs game Sunday, and looking forward to spending time together!  Woo hoo!