Last post before classes begin tomorrow ~~~~~~~~

Grace & I went to the county fair last week with Nate, Stef & Emily. The Gracie girl has a BLAST riding all those kiddy rides - she totally gets it now. Had our 1st deep fried Oreo cookie -they were out of twinkies. Tasty for sure! Of course, watched the horse show - barrel races and visited the 4H animals with a special liking for the piglet nursery. :o)

Then another N&S invite took us to the Village Free church picnic. What fun~ Aside from the tasty food & hamburger cookies (clever), Gracie enjoyed park play & super fun kiddy games. Picture this: couple of blankets spread out on the ground COVERED with candy - COVERED! Put some toddlers & pre-preschoolers on there with a paper bag & watch em go. Gracie diligently picked up as many fruity tootsie rolls as she could. With encouragement, she managed to snag a couple twizzlers, smarties & ring pops. In all the excitement, Grace took a little break to eat a piece of candy in concert with the other kiddos as parents were cheering from the sidelines. How fun?!

Next came the wheel barrel races. Gracica managed to wheel her barrel down & around her post as well as the post of the opposing team before crossing the finish line with the Winnie the Poo ball still inside the barrel. Prizes for everyone: too cute rubber ducky necklace. Right up our duck loving alley!

Geared up for games, Gracie joined the big kids in their water balloon game. However, she was all about breaking those balloons on herself & recruited apt adults to do the job when she couldn't quite bust it herself. The girls is a water loving baby! Thanks for the invite~~~What a blast!!

More newssssssssss...classes begin tomorrow. I'm taking anatamoy something or another & therapeutic techniques for the SLPA. Those are not the offical class titles but you get the gist. I'm excited...one more semester after this one. In fact, I've had a yippeee response thus far regarding my internship beginning Jan '07. With God's favor, I hope to get confirmation for placement at
Kimberly Heights school in Tinley Park. It's a cutie little early childhood center with a birth to three parent program, 3-5 at risk & kindergarten. Perfect preparation for the ages I'd like to work with eventually. The principle is a gem & fellow Mary Engelbreit lover. :o) She & I served together on the SSAEYC board pre-Germany. It would be a great school to work in when I finish the program May '07.

What else...great visit with Uncle Randy, Bob & Emily on Sunday. It's so nice just to hang out. AND we played a forgetable couple of round of Rumicub. They were really just training sessions for Ms. Emily, a Rumicub newbie. Randall pulled out all the "woe is me" stops, thus insuring his win. It was difficult to surrender my title as the Rumicub champion but for Randy's self-esteem...what's giving him a couple rounds? :o) We saw a competitive side of that sweet Ms. Emily for sure! :o)

At present, I'm sitting here with a Rumicub "sandwich" Grace has lovingly prepared in her wonder kitchen. Sehr lecker!

Hmmmm....I'm training next week for a position as case manager for TACE brain injury program. You know, something to fill my free time. It's itty bitty part time work with nice "work from home" pay. Your tax dollars hard at work. We'll see how it goes~

We are getting wet as much as possible these days with a visit to a cool pool near Stephanie today. Tomorrow we are finally headed to Deep River Water Park in Crown Point, Indiana. :o)

Here's to back to school~ Summer is NOT over yet, but the makings of fall are emerging.