Golf shoes

L and Andy had a daddy/daughter morning out yesterday, skipping church and heading to the Golf Show. She's debating whether to try out for the high school golf team this fall, but she got dad to buy her a nifty pair of golf shoes, just in case. He also bought a golf carpet which he apparently plans to use to practice putting in the living room. I haven't seen that yet, but he claims it will fold back up when he's not using it. Let's hope so. When I told E about the golf carpet, she said, he's been eyeing those for years.

Trail mix

L's confirmation class had its retreat Saturday. Initially, it was going to be an overnight at one of our church camps. Then it went to a six-hour day and finally ended up being a three-hour day. She didn't want to get up early to be at church at 10 a.m. but ended up having a good time. Here the kids are showing off the trail mix they put together for the homeless.

Engineering injury

Must be E's week to send me random photos, and I'm OK with that. This one she sent the other day is of her first engineering lab injury. She said she was opening a box of IC chips. Of course, I don't know what those are so she sent me this picture of them (at right). One of the silver things scratched her. She says it doesn't hurt; it's like a bad cat scratch. Then, she said, "It's better than when I shocked myself a few weeks ago." What?! Then she added, "At least the things I'm doing can only melt or catch fire if I do it wrong." As opposed to what happening? Engineering is dangerous.

Empty Bowls

B drove to the high school last night for the annual Empty Bowls event to raise money for local food pantries and agencies that help the homeless. For $10 you get to pick out a bowl and have unlimited soup donated from local restaurants. The kid likes his soup. I think he picked out a pretty bowl. I like the detail around the rim. I'm hoping L gets involved with the club that makes the bowls when she's at the high school next year. I think she'd like it.

Laundry

Here's unsolicited proof that my college girl is doing laundry. She was pretty excited in December when the Housing Office sent out a notice that laundry would be free this semester. No more quarter hoarding. However, she and her friends got quite a few laughs out of the notice because it estimated that students did laundry three times a week.

Winter is back

The local news this morning was full of winter storm predictions and before we had any flakes flying, E sent this picture she took from the ECE Building at U of I. She said it was pretty miserable there and she planned to stay inside the buildings as long as she could today. Fortunately, it's Hug an Engineer Week (really!) so they're offering cheap lunches to students in the engineering buildings. Guess she lucked out.

The snow began falling here around 9:30 a.m. and hasn't let up. I took this photo early this afternoon.

Purring

Bouncy, bouncy

L was pretty excited when she found out the youth group leader was using her suggestion to take an outing to a local trampoline place. L loves bouncing around. Andy went along as a driver and chaperone yesterday and sent me this picture of her not jumping, of course.

First formal

E's BF, P, made it to U of I this weekend for last night's sorority formal. She said they had fun.

Goofy kids.

Fun Fair

L went over to Irving's Fun Fair today to help out as a volunteer and brought home three golfish. Looks like Muffles may have found his dinner.

Beautiful sunset

This was the sunset last night as I was driving to the makeup class.

New makeup

Tonight I went to a makeup class and received a bag full of makeup, mostly Estee Lauder which I never buy. The makeup artist did my eyebrows, which turned out pretty well. You don't just need a pencil, you need a brush too. My first aha moment of the night. Then I learned that eye moisturizer actually is different from face moisturizer. It's not a gimmick, apparently. Who knew? And she suggested I use coral eyeshadow to bring out the blue in my eyes. I thought my eyes were green. Maybe I'm a chameleon. This is the "after" picture. I was doing good with the makeup until I put on the scary bright lipstick. The makeup artist did the liner, which I thought turned out a bit crooked and something I never use. The picture is a bit blurry (or soft focus as they'd say on TV). I didn't realize it until I wiped off the makeup.

Posing together

I think I finally figured out how to get a picture of the cats together. Wait until they're hungry and they're anxiously awaiting to be fed. All eyes were on me to make sure I wouldn't walk away without dumping a little more food into their bowls.

Flurries

A little more snow fell today.

Home for the day

The kids were home for Presidents Day today. B took some time out of his video game playing to shovel the sidewalk.

L watched a lot of TV, walked to Walgreens to pick up some discounted Valentine's candy, then experimented in the kitchen by making a Starbucks Double Chocolate Chip Frappuchino. She found the recipe online and said it tasted pretty good, but needs a little less vanilla.

Handsome

B's Valentine's present to me was agreeing to go shopping for a suit today. First, we found him a long-sleeved white dress shirt, then we went to Macy's and found this suit. Regularly the suit was $650. Good thing it was on sale. The tailoring will be done in two weeks and he and Andy will go back and pick it up.

Snowy roads today.

Dinner with friends

Andy and I left the kids at home tonight and me our friends, N and V, for dinner at a local Italian restaurant. They live a couple blocks from us, but with kids and working it's hard to get together. We sat and talked for two and a half hours. Hopefully, we can do it again soon.

Sitting pretty

Care package

Before school started Andy and I signed up to have care packages delivered to E at her dorm at various times during the year. We've been curious what was included in the care package and she finally sent us a picture. This one arrived just in time for Valentine's Day.

Lovin' for L

Muffles gave a L a big, loving head butt before she left for school.

Coloring

So I bought a cat coloring book to give me a break from playing on my iPad. I learned:

1. It takes a long time to finish one picture.

2. My markers aren't pointy enough for the intricate spots.

Not sure when I'll tackle picture No. 2.

L on retreat

Thanks to the Pilgrim ladies for posting some pictures of the retreat this weekend so I could see what L was up to. Above, she's with her friend, T, playing a trivia game. T is the one who looks a little bored.

My girl.

And this morning they made a boat and sailed it on the creek before coming home.

The weather was nice, the food was good and L said they had a fun time.

And here's the whole gang, minus our associate pastor and her daughter who were getting ready to head out. Oh, and the photographer, JB, of course.

My communicator

We recently got a postcard in the mail because L was recognized by her math teacher for "demonstrating the IB Learner Profile attribute of being a communicator." The postcard was signed "Dr. F, proud principal." Aww.

Retreat time

L came home from school quickly today so she could pack for the church's women's retreat. Here she is having Muffles OK the clothes as she packed them. Silly kid. August seems more interested in the Munchkins she brought home for correctly naming a song in band class. A woman from church agreed to drive L and her friend, T, from Naperville to the retreat. They'll be back early Sunday afternoon.

Dean's list

B made the first semester dean's list with all A's and a B in calculus!

Birthday and golf

We finally got around to taking Andy out for his family birthday dinner tonight. He chose to go to Top Golf, a facility that has golf games and a restaurant. It was a little chilly and there were some snowflakes flying around, but we carried on. Andy even brought his own clubs, of course.

It's a pretty nice set-up with cushy chairs outside and waitress service.

B was hitting the ball pretty good considering he's not a golf fan. I think he's been holding out on us.

L will be Andy's summer project if she hopes to practice enough to make the golf team. At the moment she's debating what to do in high school.

Me and the birthday boy.

L was disappointed when Andy ordered a beer because she wanted him to order a light-up golf bag cup she saw in the menu. We said no, of course, and while we were inside the restaurant eating, the waitress came over and handed L the cup she so desperately wanted. We had no idea it was so big. Good thing Andy didn't order that or B or I would have had to carry him to the car and drive us home. And while we were having dinner, a man at the bar noticed the OPRF on B's T-shirt, asked where we were from and told us he was a 1977 graduate. Andy then went over and talked to him for a few minutes and had an interesting conversation.

A welcomed surprise

Muffles loves to lay by B, but he rarely jumps up in my lap. The other night he sat with me for about half an hour.

And she made a light

Apparently the education is paying off. E made a light - that works!