Wow!  It is hard to believe it has been this long since I have blogged.  Time sure can fly.  After almost recovering from the flu, we started moving in overdrive until just about now. 

The boys had a swim meet out of town at a major university.  It was such a great experience for them.  The pools were absolutely beautiful, the campus was gorgeous and the weekend was just a complete blast.  It was an olympic feeling experience for the boys swimming.  Also, staying in an hotel, eating out, hanging in the hotel pool...... what fun we had.   

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One of my boys qualified for a meet in another state next at one of the big universities there.  That should be a fun one too.  We are all excited.  I am praying one of my other boys qualifies before too long and gets to swim as well.  Swimming at the huge universities is so much fun for them---not to mention traveling to new cities and states.   FUN!!

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After being out of town, we were home for just a short while than off to Chicago, Illinois to visit Gramma, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles.  We had such a wonderful, action-packed 5 days. 

On Thanksgiving, we went to downtown Chicago to see the parade.  It was amazing.  For starters, we took the train /subway down into the city.  The boys had so much fun riding the train/subway, going right by the Cub's Wrigley Field, seeing all the people, watching the doors open and close with those silly recordings at each stop.......

Then, the parade......there were those huge balloons like you only see on TV in the Macy's parade.  Only, this time, they were right there in front of us in Chicago.  It was pretty incredible.  They were 7 stories high and very fun. 

The marching bands were fantastic--- especially the one my neices played in   One of my neices is the Drum Major and she was so beautiful up in the front of the band.  The most amazing thing to me about the bands was that they came from all over the USA.  I don't know how they chose who plays but they were from all over and VERY good. It was snowing on and off, which itself is a huge treat since we just don't get that much snow where we live.  The floats were beautiful and fun.  Even Santa was wonderful  We had such a great time.    

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Let's see, while there, we also went to the theater for Nutcracker-The Musical, had delicious Chicago Pizza which you get no place other than Chicago, had wonderful visits with most of my family,  did crafts with Gramma, swam in Gramma's pool.....TheBean fell asleep every time we got into the car.  That hasn't happened for years.  We really were on the go! 

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We ended the wonderful weekend by getting Gramma's Christmas tree up and decorated.  It is always a special time for my mom and the boys when they do the tree together.  It is a blessing and a memory I pray they will cherish all their lives.  We play Christmas music, sing, decorate and just have fun.  Gramma then puts the angel on the top of the tree while the boys watch.  So special. 

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It was a beautiful  weekend.  Truly one of our best Thanksgivings.

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Now, here we are, back to realtiy.  We jumped right back into school full time, babysitting, swim practices, AWANA and scouts.  It is amazing to me how long ago a weekend can seem that only ended 4 days ago.    LOL!  We are also full swing into my favorite time of year, Advent, and preparing  to celebrate the birth of our Lord.  It's not about presents, decorations or trees but about Christ.  I work very hard to keep the family focused on preparing our hearts to welcome our King.  We do lots of fun traditions.  I look forward to sharing them in future posts. 

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I also look forward to reading everyone's blogs and catching up over the next  couple days.   In the meantime, I am signing off for the night.  Though it has been almost a month, I am still battling this virus I've had (though I am 95% improved) and trying to keep my sleep hours up to conquer it more quickly.