'Tis the Season

Here are my little "helpers". The minute I saw Emma try to pick up this enormous wreath, I immediately grabbed the camera :-) I can already envision a layout...blow it up to 5X7, cut out the circle and use it as the 'o' for the word JOY! If only I didn't avoid scrapbooking. :-)

Downtown Tradition

We have a tradition in my family, every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving all the "girls" (me, my mom, my sisters & sister-in-law) take the train downtown, have lunch/brunch at the Walnut Room inside Macy's and then do a little shopping. It is something that I look forward to. Last year we did not go because my sister Kelly was in Korea. This year, we resumed the tradition and also invited Emma to come with, and to make it extra special, one of Emma's favorite cousins, Ben, came with too. We drove to Cumberland and then took the "L" downtown, just a couple blocks from Macy's. We had a wonderful brunch and got to sit very close to the big tree. It was the first time ever that we did not have to wait a really long time, a reminder of how so many people are struggling this year, no doubt. Did I mention that Emma spilled an entire glass of ice water all over herself...luckily I brought with a change of clothes. After lunch we made our ususal stops, Old Navy, TJMax, Filene's. And we were contemplating heading over to the American Girl store at Water Tower, when the trolley headed toward Water Tower, pulled up right in front of us! It was great and the kids loved all the neat modes of transportation that we experienced. We had a fun trolley driver who pointed ut all sorts of neat tidbits. Including where to get the giant shopping bags that we saw people walking around with. When we got off the trolley, we went straight for the free shopping bags. They were so perfect! I had been stuffing all of my purchases into one shopping bag and the handles were really hurting my hands, but that big bag held it all and the straps rested nicely on my shoulder. :-) All in all, it was such a wonderful day with the girls (and Ben).

Here's me & the kiddos waiting on the "L" platform.

The kiddos having fun on the trolley.
Awww, look at them walking hand in hand through the subway tunnel.

And finally, a fabulous group photo under the big tree at the Walnut Room.

Happy Thanksgiving!

To celebrate Thanksgiving Emma's preschool class made "Thankful Soup" and then had a little program. Mrs. Palmer gave each of the children a pilgrim name. Emma's name was "Humility". They also made cute little turkey centerpieces, placemats, beaded necklaces and pilgrim hats. Here are some pictures.

Hey, I wonder if the pilgrim's used Reddi Whip... :-)

I pray that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for...our families, our jobs, our health and the love of our precious Savior. May the Lord fill you with joy and peace, may you know Him personally and may we all remember to pause and give thanks.

Pause and Give Thanks

Wherever you find yourself today,

Whether filled with joy or wrapped in pain,

Remember to pause a moment and give thanks

For no other event in our history and time,

Can change our lives like the birth of Christ, so Divine.

His love never failing, and His Presence always near

The greatest wonder in Heaven on Christmas did appear.

God’s gift full of grace that brings life, love, and hope,

Can be unwrapped by us all - changing life’s scope.

For when we invite His life into our hearts,

No love is greater than that He imparts.

So wherever you find yourself today,

Remember to pause and give thanks,

For He is the Truth and the Way!

Crazy Coupon Lady

Yes, the rumors are true...I am OFFICIALLY a crazy coupon lady!! Tammy & I went to a "Super Coupon" seminar last week and I am forever a changed shopper! In fact...check this receipt out... (I would have posted the whole receipt but with all the coupons/discounts it's like 4 feet long!!) I saved $69.80!!! WAHHH! How cool is that?! Not bad for my first time ever using coupons!! Sean asked if it took forever for the cashier to ring up all the coupons and I had to laugh because it was the opposite. I'm so used to the check out process being time consuming and somewhat stressful because I usually have to bag my own groceries. But this was different. I went to the really nice grocery store right by Emma's preschool and there was a seperate boy bagging my groceries who even asked to help me to my car (what?!) and the cashier was friendly and even smiled (I'm not joking) and he whipped through those coupons so fast! :-)

The cute little coupon lady, Jill Cataldo, educated us on timing our coupons with the sales. And also gave us a ton of coupon secrets. And, my new favorite grocery store offers 3 different websites where I can load coupons directly onto my preferred card. Then, I combine that paperless coupon with a store sale as well as a manufactures coupon and basically get name brand stuff for super cheap!! Wait, there's more, my grocery store doubles coupons everyday!! Crazy. Who knew?! Here's a part of my receipt that shows each of the online coupons that I loaded onto my card...Cellfire, ShortCuts and P&GeSAVER. I couldn't believe they actually worked!! Then, all the coupons I clipped from the paper and printed from the internet (coupons.com and smartsource.com) showed up at the end of my reciept.

My most exciting purchases were a big tube of Crest toothpaste for $.48!! And, they paid me a nickel to take a 4 pack of Cottonelle toilet paper!!! Herbal Essence shampoo for $.49!! And I got 5 boxes of General Mills cereal for less that $1 per box!! Look out crazy coupon lady is on the loose!!

Girls Day Out

We had a very fun outting with Grandma Witz the other day. We went to Woodfield Mall, and wouldn't you know it, Santa was there! We weren't planning to see Santa..it is a bit early..but there was no line how could we pass that up?! They have a cool Polar Express snowglobe theme exhibit that you walk through on the way to see Santa (and Santa gave the girls Polar Express stickers!!). Emma was dazzled being in Santa's midst, Lucy wasn't so sure. After we saw Santa, we went to Build a Bear Workshop and then for lunch at Rainforest Cafe. What a special day it was for us girls!

Timothy's Last Day

Timothy was so excited about having an extra hour with Emma when we switched the clocks back for daylight savings! Then, after a nice long night of rest, Timothy came to Church with us.

Timothy has been bonding with our dog Freddie very nicely.

It's been a fun weekend but tomorrow we have to bring Timothy back to preschool. And Emma gets to share with her class all the things they did together.

Timothy's Adventures - Day Two

Timothy became an honorary member of the

Red Flames soccer team!

Timothy had a "smashing" good time watching the

pumpkins fly at the Pumpkin Launch!

Emma thought Timothy looked cute with a little pumpkin on his shell.


Emma took Timothy on a bike ride.


And finally after a busy day, Emma cuddled up with Timothy in the top bunk.

Timothy the Sea Turtle

Today at preschool it was Emma's turn to bring Timothy the Sea Turtle home for the weekend! She was so excited! Timothy gets to hang out with us for the weekend and we have to take pictures and document in the travelling journal what Timothy is up to. So far, he has been busy! He went to out to lunch with Grandma, Papa & Scarecrow Emma. Then, he went trick or treating and got TONS of candy! And right now he is in the top bunk asleep with Emma. Tomorrow, he will go to soccer with Emma and then to the Pumpkin Launch event put on by our Church. Fun Lantz family adventures for Timothy!

Timothy with Cinderella

Timothy and Scarecrow Emma

We found out the hard way that too much candy is not good for a sea turtle.

Trick or Treat?

Scarecrow Day!

In lieu of celebrating Halloween, Emma's preschool does a Fall Harvest Festival. All the kids dress up like scarecrows and parade around town singing songs then they do a program inside the church for the families. I made Emma's scarecrow costume for last year and with the exception of the legs being a bit shorter, it still fit our peanut! Grandma & Papa Witz came to watch their little scarecrow, which Emma thought was really cool.

Kiddie Pool Bandit Strikes Again

Again, another one of the Lantz kiddie pools is lost to the Kiddie Pool Bandits. It's a real problem out here in Belvidere. That makes 3 kiddie pools missing to date. At first we were convinced that the heavy winds carried them off our deck and across all the backyards into the abyss (aka corn fields). Or, maybe a concerned environmentalist interviened or possibly a family in need of a kiddie pool was blessed by a pool landing in their yard. The truth is unknown. And next summer we will be forced to purchase a new kiddie pool AGAIN.

Lantz's in the Leaves

The girls got to enjoy the sound of leaves crunching under their feet yesterday on our way to the Sycamore Pumpkin Parade. I have fond memories of going to this parade as a kid, so for me it was nostalgic. Emma really liked all the marching bands...maybe she will walk in her daddy's footsteps and play an instrument someday! :-) It was very COLD! But, the girls were all bundled up and enjoying the parade so we stayed until it started raining/snowing.

Pumpkin Patch

Despite the fact that we are all still recovering from flu/strep over here at the Lantz house we took a family trip to the Edwards Orchard/Pumpkin Patch this weekend. It was a beautiful day!

Soccer Squirt

Emma has been playing soccer through our park district this fall. Her team is the Red Flames. Sometimes she has a blast running the field but other times she would rather sit on the ball or pick grass. But, we think overall she's enjoying being on a team and learning about soccer. Our team is still struggling with picking up the ball with their hands. We have not yet grasped knowing who's goal is who's is either. So to say the least they are so cute to watch. Luckily the coaches have a good attitude and just continue to encourage them and correct them when they try to make a football pass or throw one in to first base.

Got Cheese?!

Here is Emma hamming it up for the camera. Such a nut.

Haircut Cuties

I took the girls for haircuts the other day. This was Lucy's first ever haircut in a salon!

Sisters

The girls have been playing so well together lately. They built castles and other furniture with the big legos here for their Littlest Pet Shop figures. It's so cute to listen to them talk to each other as they play. Lucy said "I have an idea Emmie, let's make a other one", it made me laugh. So far they seem to be enjoying each other's company as sisters...most of the time anyway.

Knock Knock Who's There?

After preschool the other day, we were driving home and Emma told me the funniest joke! She remembered all the words and delivered it with perfect comedic timing. I knew preschool would be money well spent. :-) Here is Emma telling her joke...

Dancer or Drummer?

Lucy started her ballet class last week. She really enjoys it. It's so cute to watch the little 2 year olds run wild. The poor teacher has her work cut out for her. The kids are not really interested in group activities. I think they each have their heart set on being soloists.

Well, if the ballerina thing doesn't work out...

Raining Cats & Dogs

On our way home from Kentucky last Sunday, because of the massive amount of rain, interstate 80/94 was closed due to high standing water. We ended up on a 3 + hour detour through Northern Indiana. Here was one of the streets we ended up on...

And, here's more rainy day craziness...this is my nephew Ben's football game that same day!

Congratulations Constantine & Mandy!

So, we left the kiddos with Auntie Kelly and drove down to Louisville, KY last weekend for Constantine's wedding. The ceremony was at an Antiochial Orthodox church. It was unlike anything we had ever experienced. The Reverends (there were like 10 Reverends officiating, I'm not exaggerating) each sang their part of the ceremony...maybe more like chanting. It was interesting. And there was a choir on a balcony in the back of the church that piped in from time to time...which sounded amazing. It was a very long litergical ceremony which caused us to reflect on the Holiness of wedding vows and traditions. It was cool. At the reception, Sean got to reconnect with several guys from his highschool days in the PC North band. Here they are:

Sean Lantz, Jeff Plant, Michael Clarke, Constantine Nasr and Sean Edmison

(Not pictured, Ron Clamser, Blake and Sarah Cooper)

Constantine, his brother Phil and Mandy

I just had to include this picture because this is the dance we did ALL night long at the reception. It was so much fun!! They had a band who played very polka sounding music and sang in Arabic. Constantine's mom was so sweet to grab my hand a few times to try to teach me the dance "one, two, three, one, two, three"...she kept saying, but apparently my feet were not paying attention. Either way, we had a blast attempting..and in the end, I am proud to say, I DID pick it up! Sean & the other guys, being band geeks and all, did not have any trouble picking up the rhythm/steps. I don't know if it was because we were away for the weekend without the kids or just their warm culture but it was one the most joyful and fun weddings we had ever been to. Congrats Constantine and Mandy!

Parenting 101

Tonight was the first night of our couples small group on parenting ala Dr. James Dobson. Such great stuff! We are fired up to get these girls back in line...not that they were ever necessarily out of line, but we were just getting lazy with our follow through on some things. The funny thing about the timing of this small group is that just in the past few days, I've had to say "Let me be the mommy"...to Lucy when I heard her repeating me ("No, Emma") and to Emma when I heard her trying to correct Lucy's behavior. They are trying to figure out their places in our family, it's very interesting.

Some of the key points tonight were:

• Clearly define their boundaries in advance. Dr Dobson wisely said, if you love your kids, lead them.
• Take Action to get Action (not anger to get action) You can't control your child with empty threats, always follow through.
• Kids want you to EARN the right to be in control (the ultimate paradox, they want you to be in control, but they will test you just for the sake of finding out if you're for real)
• Distinguish between willful defiance and childish irresponsibility and respond accordingly.
• Reassure and teach your child after confrontation, let love be your guide.

I know that I have not always been consistant and it's hard as the girls are growing and developing completely different personalities. I am often in awe at how much I love these two girls. I want them to have everything they want and to be happy...but even more than that I want them to be respectful to me & Sean and others, to develop character, to not be spoiled, snotty bratty girls and to one day know God personally. Dr Dobson said the 2 most important ingredients of parenting are love and control working together with balance. This is our goal.

We don't enjoy being disciplined. It always seems to cause more pain than joy. But afterwards, those who learn from that discipline have peace that comes from doing what is right - Hebrews 12:11

Back to School

Emma was so excited to go back to preschool today. She goes to preschool 3 days each week this year at Creative Learners and had a great first day. The top 2 things that she remembered and told us about her day was: "Mrs. Palmer told us all the rules at preschool and I made a picture of my family". We are privileged and excited to help her learn and watch her grow this year.