Can I get a "re-do" on the month of August?

So where to begin? Several things have put a damper on our summer, but for now I’ll share the one we’re still dealing with.
I’m not one to get to personal on my blog. I really just enjoy sharing crafty ideas & look forward to it! But I feel like I should tell you all what happened so that maybe even more people will be aware of it. What is “it” I’m talking about? Melanoma skin cancer.
This July my sister-in-law found out that one of her moles was stage 0 Melanoma. The good thing is at that point it can be removed & “cured”. For now its just 3-6 month skin & health checks. Though I’m not happy she had that type of skin cancer found, I am happy it made my husband get a spot on his arm checked. So after all the months I told him to get that spot checked & he brushed it off, this finally this got him in the dr.’s office!!

 After a large punch biopsy of his mole was taken, we waited for the call of the results. On the day the call was expected, my husband took the day off of work & we decided to go to Chicago for a day of family fun. We wanted the girls to remember this summer as “fun”. Not weeks of worry. After we hit the Art Institute.....(here are 2 of our favorite spots)

Then it was off to the "Bean"

Aways makes for a fun reflective family photo :D

Then he received the call & found out it was Melanoma. Numb & not sure what to feel, we decided to end the day on a happy note….and took the girls to the circus & the fireworks at Navy Pier.....

What stage was he? We weren’t able to confirm until he had yet another surgery to remove an even larger portion of his arm.

So off the hospital we went. Then another 3 days of waiting to make sure the entire tumor was removed. ( I decided to spare you of the photo of his gigantic scar. Its so large that we love to tease that he was attacked by a shark!! And this Melanoma was considered to be small!). This is why its so important to catch these early.
The only good thing we kept hearing is “ it was thin” so the chances of it spreading to the lymph nodes were slimmer. Last Friday we got the second call. They had a full removal of the tumor & no residual cancer cells!! YEA!!!!!!
What a relief!! Though he still has a few more test & dr. visits to go, we’re in a much better place right now then we were just a few weeks ago.

Now its my turn. Yep, you heard me right. I am next to get a spot removed. Though mine is smaller then my husbands mole was, it has the exact same characteristics. What a summer huh? More surgeries & waiting for test result! Ahhhhh!!

So why am I telling you all this? I just want to bring awareness. Please don’t ignore any spot ….new or old!! It doesn’t matter if your fair skin or not, whether you have a family history of it , or if you’re young or old. Catch it early!! If you want more info on what to look for check out this site

Skin Cancer

And don’t worry….. My next post will be a fun one...promise !!

Travel Tuesday.....Camping in Chicago!

What? Did that just say CAMPING in CHICAGO? Yep! I know its not the first thing you think of when you hear "Chicago",  but it can be done :) Not traveling far this Tuesday, but having just as much fun :)

My sister and her husband live down town Chicago & have a beautiful roof deck with an amazing view. So why not pitch a tent & have some fun!! The girls love it when we go play with Aunt Kellie & Uncle Eric!!
So one day last summer we packed our bags, grabbed the tent & hopped on the train. (That was a sight to see!) 

Put the tent up.....

Then hit the beach.....



Being crazy!

Aunt Kellie & Addy testing the water...while Noelle gets ready to build a castle.

Then it was time to head back to Aunt Kellies for dinner, & smores on the grill :)
Then off to sleep....

Hard to see, but thats the glow of the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower) behind us.

Can't wait to do it again this year!! :)



Fun end to spring break....Museum of Science & Industry

To cap of our spring break we gave the girls a choice for Friday. Go to the Sears Tower (I know its ..it the Willis Tower, but I refuse to call it that), and head out on the sky deck, or go to the Museum of Science and Industry. I secretly wanted the tower. I still haven’t got to walk out on the new sky deck yet!!

They chose the museum…..

I’m going to let you in on a thrifty secret for anyone who might hit this museum. Parking is super expensive, $18 for under ground park. But if you park behind the museum (next the space entrance) its only $5 !!!!

Yep, way better deal. Plus the building is so pretty. You never get to see it if you go straight in :)

There’s so much to see there. Our first stop is always the baby chicks. Its always special to be able to see one hatch.

Nothing like being able to sit in a tractor tire!

The weather exhibit is pretty cool. The floor to ceiling tornado was our favorite!

I spy windows……of course my little princess was stuck at this window for a while. So many fairy tales in one place!

The model trains are always fun. You can follow them from the city to the farm lands & back.

The detail of the city & neighborhoods are amazing.

(Allison will like this one!….) When we stop for lunch we always sit close to the “Jollyball”. Its basically a giant pin ball machine. The ball rolls down & around setting off trains, cows, bells etc. It was created for a travel advertisement for the Swiss National Tourist office. It hits all of Switzerland’s main attractions.

It made it to the Guinness book of world records in 1988 for being the longest “flipper machine”. It takes about 4 or 5 minutes for the ball to roll through the whole thing! The entire piece is made from scraps salvaged from junkyards. Colorful & green too!


We stopped off to see the Wright Brothers replica plane. This one is special to us. My MIL & her company helped build the engine for this plane. It was very exciting!
 

 Before it made it to the museum they got to take it out for a trial run! When it was placed in the museum they had a big dinner for everyone ( including us !! ) in the exhibit. Then we were able to roam the museum. Since it was closed it was that much more fun!

There are so many other great spots to see here!

But you can’t leave the MSI with out buying this item for the ride home….

Astronaut ice cream! Tried a new flavor…..mint chocolate chip…yum!

Happy weekend everyone :)

Blizzard update

Well, this is the door this morning……

Here’s our friends house across the street…….

 Thats not a blurry picture...that's blowing snow this morning.

That's the view form the other side of our back door.

Since our neighborhood is still unfinished & we have tons of open space. That space is so great in the summer ,filled with wildflowers & butterflies. But with all this snow it just makes it so easy for snow to fly threw here. So many snow drifts!

The road is just past the tree.

Later today we’re supposed to have dangerous temps, so we figured we better get out there and play for a little bit. We made it for about 20mins. But when do you ever get a chance to be taller then your swing set!!!

 Trying to smile in the wind!

Where is my husband you ask? Well let me explain our love/hate relationship with snow. My husband is a Landscape designer. He loves his job & is very good at it : ) But what does a company like that do when the planting seasons over? Snow removal. Yep , he’s been stuck at the office since yesterday dispatching plows to different accounts. I don’t know when he’ll be home with us : (     Hopefully by Friday.

We’re far enough out side the city that lake effect snow isn’t usually a problem for us. But with this crazy wind ,we also have been getting the lake effect as well & more is on the way. My sister & her husband live right downtown Chicago & I can’t wait to see some of her pics later today.

Yep! I got a turn in the "hamster wheel" !!

In the mean time we’ll play inside for now. Maybe we’ll get another snow day tomorrow? I think we’ll try to get some fun projects done. Or maybe we’ll just play!!
I know that some of you are having some crazy weather as well. Hope everyone is safe & warm!!! : )