Indian Lake Elementary Good Citizen

We are so excited to share that this six weeks Mary Grace was chosen for the Good Citizen Award for Mrs. Seigenthaler's kindergarten class. One student was chosen for each Indian Lake class. All of the students in Mary Grace's class were asked to nominate someone who they believed had shown good citizenship. Mary Grace was nominated by a fellow classmate and then selected to recieve this award. She was very excited! As part of this honor, she gets to eat lunch with Indian Lake's principal, Mrs. McGhee, on Wednesday. Mary Grace is really enjoying school. This award has really encouraged Mary Grace to continue trying hard to be a great student! We are so proud of her!

Our Trip to Chicago

Last weekend we took a trip to Chicago. Nanna and Pop (my mom and dad) joined us on the trip. We arrived in Chicago late Thursday afternoon and checked in to our hotel... the Hampton Inn Majestic. Our hotel was located just two blocks away from the famous Magnificent Mile and home to the historic Majestic Theater. After settling in, we walked to Giordano's to eat Chicago stuffed pizza. It was incredible, if you like pizza that is as thick as a cheesecake and full of cheese, which I do! The girls were amazed by all of the tall buildings. They were especially excited that the hotel was only one block from McDonalds so they were able to finish off each night with their favorite dessert... a hot fudge sundae.

On Friday we spent the morning at the Shedd Aquarium. Then Jason and Pop headed to the Cubs game while all the girls spent the day at American Girl Place. Mary Grace and Carolyne had so much fun shopping at American Girl. They each picked a doll (Mia for Mary Grace and Molly for Carolyne) and one outfit. Then we had a wonderful lunch at American Girl Cafe. The girls loved the "fancy" dishes and food. And, they really enjoyed having their doll sit next to them in a special doll seat. It was lots of fun! On Saturday we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was definitely the best zoo I have ever visited. We were able to see every type of animal up close and personal. As expected, Carolyne loved the bats. Mary Grace loved watching the gorillas. On our last day we visited the Field Museum. The girls were amazed by "Sue", the largest preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex ever discovered. They also had lots of fun at the "Underground World" and "Mammals of Africa" exhibits. The "big kids" loved the "Nature Unleashed" exhibit... a look into the causes of natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes. We were even able to "stand inside" an F5 tornado. The trip was tons of fun! We can't wait to visit Chicago again soon!

Pirate Princess

Yesterday we took Carolyne to visit a new eye doctor. Since Carolyne has now been wearing glasses for two years, we thought it would be best to get a second (and third) opinion on Carolyne's vision and a plan for the best treatment for her. We discovered yesterday that Carolyne has exotropia.... a fancy word for eye misalignment. This is not the same condition as amblyopia, also known as lazy eye. Exotropia refers to an outward deviation of the eye. With Carolyne, it is mostly only noticeable when she is looking in the distance. This basically means that the muscles on the outside of Carolyne's eyes are too tight. We are not sure what causes the deviation, but we do know that it affects her eye's ability to properly align on it's own, therefore, forcing Carolyne to constantly pull her eye into focus. When a significant eye misalignment exists, the brain's developing visual system does not acquire binocular vision. In some cases, if not treated, exotropia can cause the brain to "turn off" the misaligned eye to reduce double vision. So, it is necessary for us to treat this condition to improve Carolyne's eye alignment and, in turn, protect her vision for the future. Carolyne also has an astigmatism in both eyes. She will continue to wear glasses to treat the astigmatism. For the exotropia, we have a two phase treatment plan. As of today, we will patch Carolyne's eye for four hours every day. We will revisit the eye doctor in two months and again in four months to check her progress. Unfortunately, eye patching is not a permanent cure. It is likely that within the next year, Carolyne will require eye surgery to correct the exotropia. The surgery will weaken the muscles in Carolyne's eye to allow them to properly align without great force on her part. It is suggested that this surgery be done around 4 or 5 years of age. So, for now, she will be our little "pirate princess". I am sure the patching will be a challenge at times, but she had a great first day. She picked out a pink patch with crowns and wands. We went on a quick shopping trip this morning and she walked through the store singing "Yo ho, Yo ho, the Pirate's life for me!" It was precious! Leave it to a three year old to find the fun in any situation!

Soccer Stars!

Today the girls played in their first soccer games of the 2008 fall season. They had so much fun! They were so excited to get dressed in their soccer uniforms and get ready for the games. It turns out that both of the girls have green uniforms and both have the number 2 jersey. You can imagine that Carolyne thinks that is pretty special... she really wants to be just like her sister and having the same number and uniform color is about as close as she can get! Carolyne's game was first today. She did great! I think she was a little intimidated by the overwhelming number of boys on the field, but she held her own. She even kicked the ball a couple of times. It was so cute to see her run around the field following the ball wherever it went. She was a little sad that she did not get to play with her pink polka dot ball. But, I am sure all of the little boys were happy to play with a traditional black and white ball. Mary Grace played after Carolyne and did great! Of course, her age group is a little more serious about the game. She played in almost every position and even scored a goal! She had so much fun! She is learning so much about soccer and I think with each practice she likes it even more! When she was not playing, she was leading cheers for her team on the sideline. They named their team the "Green Monkeys". After our games were over, we walked over to watch their friend, Carleigh, play. She also did great and had lots of fun! It is no surprise that soccer is such a popular sport for kids!

Fishing Fun!

This summer our family started a new hobby... fishing. The girls LOVE it! Mary Grace has become quite the little "fisherwoman". She has her very own pink fishing pole and loves to use crickets as bait. She has learned to cast her own line and reel in the fish all by herself. Carolyne also loves to fish, although she is not quite as interested in fishing on her own. She loves her Barbie fishing pole and Barbie net. She likes to let the fish rest in her net before helping toss them back into the lake. Her favorite part of fishing is eating snacks while sitting by the lake!

Carolyne's First Day of Preschool

Carolyne has been looking forward to preschool for weeks... mostly because she thinks that going to school makes her a "big girl" like Mary Grace. She was up and ready this morning before 7:00 AM. She could not wait to put on her backpack and carry her lunchbox to class. We were able to meet her teachers last week, so she was welcomed to class by two familiar faces. Her teachers are very sweet and full of creativity. Today Carolyne got to paint on an easel, which was her favorite, and play on the playground with her friend Hollace. She had lots of fun! I must admit, I could not wait to pick her up this afternoon... I arrived 30 minutes early. Today was a little tough with both of my girls at school. I am happy that Carolyne will only be at school two days a week. I still have lots of time to spend with her while big sister is at school.