PanCAN Walk 2023

It's that time of year when we all finally emerge after the cold dark winter and all the stuff starts to happen!  Last weekend kicks off a full month (or should I say summer) weekends packed with family, fun and activities.  We had nearly 30 people join us for the Pancreatic Walk and the team raised just over $3k.  The weather held out and we ended up with better weather than any of us expected.  The rain came later in the day, but we were already tucked into our lunch spot by then and it sure didn't slow us down from having a good time.  

We had a ton of kids in tow - but everyone did great.  Both Abby and Hazel walked the entire way - which sure did make me proud!  Ryan ran the course and then came back and finished out the walk with us. 

Easter

 

Easter weekend was such a success that I didn't manage to get ONE photo of the family together for the Easter meal.  I'm kicking myself for not making everyone sit down to get one photo of the group, but sometimes it's more fun to live IN the moment, than to be in the picture.  So, I guess I'll just have to tell you about it instead.

We hosted Easter dinner here at our house on Saturday because it's easier for everyone who is driving, and because Erin and I had a Broadway in Chicago show on Sunday to see.  Saturday the weather was beautiful - I'm talking 65 degrees and sunny.  We packed the day full of probably too many projects, ate way too much food, burned the prairies, chopped some wood, and Hazel had a roller skating birthday party to go to on top of it all.  But, like Ryan always says, "We're the McGrath's and we do all the things".  

Mom and Dad, Dan, Erin and Nate all came out for the day.  We smoked a ham, made boxed au gratin potatoes, homemade carrot cake cupcakes, a key lime moose, seven layer salad, a few bottles of wine and all in all, how could you go wrong with a meal like that?

Sunday we were up before anyone was really ready (thanks to that Easter bunny and some very excited egg hunters).  Everyone was sugared up and excited about their new toys - isn't that what Easter is all about?  Well, that and Jesus.  Him too :)

1 Family x 12 (April)

 

Since I cheated a little bit for my March photo, I knew I couldn't pass up the change to grab a real April family photo on Easter morning.  The Easter bunny was very good to us this year.

This is 40

I love this candid photo so much because I can see how much these people love me.  It's the perfect way to start sharing about my big 40th birthday bash.  It seems so hard to believe that I've been on this planet for 40 years.  That's a LONG time....but also such a short time.  I don't feel old, I feel blessed for the life I've lived so far and for the people who love me that surround my days.  

There are way too many photos in this blog post but I just couldn't leave anyone out!  I was so flattered when over 70 people showed up to help celebrate my birthday.  I have never felt so love, so seen, so appreciated and so special.  I guess that's what a birthday should really be about though.  

It really was a great day.  We hosted people at one of our favorite local breweries, Sew Hop'd (name because it's the old factory where Singer sewing machines were made).  There was a food truck, we catered in a nacho bar, live music, beers, and most importantly, all of my favorite people in the whole wide world.  

Liz and Bobby came all the way from Seymore, Indiana.  Mr and Mrs. Ware ended their vacation a day early to get home in time to come.  Joey and Andy came from Iowa....so many people took so much effort to come - it was hard to not feel blessed.  

Ryan and Erin handled most of the logistics (Thanks for nixing the "Lordy lordy, look whose 40 decorations, Erin), Jamie took photos, Dan got decorations and the last minute "can you get this at the store" stuff.  Mom and Dad helped entertain when I didn't feel like I could be in enough places at once.  

Oh, and the cake!  Keep scrolling to see it.  Erin nailed it with the cake.  A custom "is it cake" knitting themed birthday cake, made with funfetti.  I mean...if that doesn't say "Sadie" I don't know what does!?  

And, on my actual 40th...we went to a brewery and played Yahtzee.  Guys, I don't think I could have planned a more perfect birthday weekend if I tried.  

 

1 Family x 12 (March-ish)

 

I slacked in March, but technically this photo was taken on April 1st, so I'm going to call it our March family photo.  Can you believe it?  40?!  

Winter Crafts

 

It's dangerously close to spring around here so I figured I'd do a little winter round up of the crafts I've been working on for the last few months.  First I made two cowls for Jamie out of yarn that she bought for herself (I've since taught her to knit and she could totally make these on her own now!).  I've made at least a dozen, maybe more of this exact pattern using this same yarn in many many colors.  I love the pattern and finished product so much.  It's fast, cute, reasonably priced and makes a great gift.  I have probably 6 or 8 upstairs in my dresser and mix and match them with outfits through the colder months of the year.

(Feb 4th)

Sometime around Christmas I started in on this blanket knowing it would suck up many months of knitting for me.  Truthfully, I'm running out of people to gift blankets and scarves to, but I love to make them because they keep my hands busy at night and me away from scrolling on my phone while we watch tv.  It's a good way to keep me focused on what's at hand.  So, the following pictures show my progress over the next few months....

(Feb 12 - Super Bowl)

(Feb 20)

 (March 11)

(March 27)

The pattern for this blanket is pretty interesting and you can see how it's coming together here in the last two pictures.  You use a two stitch decrease every other row to create the L shaped corner of the blanket.  I'll knit it down until there is just one stitch left across the top and then pick up stitches to finish it off.  I'm not exactly sure how it'll go once I get to that point, but that's almost ALWAYS the case when I'm knitting a new pattern.  HA!  I think to myself  "and then what will I do??" and decide, to just trust in the pattern and the directions it lays out...it usually works out for me :)

I'm excited to finish this one up because I've got a handful of shorter projects already in the wings - a few National Park hats (thanks to a Christmas present from Mom and Dad), a moose (a Hazel request) and a cowl.  My rule has always been that I'm not allowed to buy a new project until I finish the last, but, after nearly 15 years of knitting I know enough to know that I'll get to them eventually....but, I really have put a stop to the buying now.  I think I've got enough lined up to keep me busy until next winter at this point.

Ski Trip Weekend 2023

 

It's been a LONG time since I've been at Chestnut - I'm guessing about 9 years.  I am pretty sure the last time I skied here baby Abby was about 5 months old, and if I'm remembering right, Jamie and I didn't even ski!  We dropped the entire group off (back when ski trip weekends looked a LOT different), and went shopping in Galena and got too many breadsticks at our favorite Italian restaurant.  Fast forward, and now our crew is quite a bit smaller, and definitely a LOT younger (and involves way fewer flasks). 

This was our third time taking the kids out for skiing and truthfully, each time we go out out, they get a little bit better, a little more confident and the tears are a little fewer.  After a LOT of talking it up in the weeks prior, Ryan even got Hazel to try a snowboard for the first hour or so of the day.  His patience is endless - and I am thankful for him in moments like that (well, I'm thankful for him always, but you know what I mean).  

Hazel was very excited to "shred in the pow pow" - the words Ryan used to get everyone pumped for a ski weekend.  He said that her first run was her best run - before she was scared and too much in her head.  She switched over to skis and I took her on a few runs to let Ryan have a chance to go on a few runs after spending the morning on the bunny hill.

Jamie was a newbie this year too!  She was on skis for the first time since high school so while the kids hung out on the bunny hill with the Dads for the first little bit, just getting their ski legs under them), Jamie and I did a run or two ourselves so she could feel comfortable on them and would be able to help with the kiddos.  

The Bigs did awesome!  They did a few runs on the bunny hill (which uses a magic carpet to move you back up the hill), the moved over to Rookie Ridge (which uses a small ski lift - GREAT practice/confidence builder) and we ready to start down Old Main before lunch.  Truthfully, the Bigs have come a LONG way over the last 3 years.

The Littles are not quite as confident as the Bigs, but truthfully, by the end of the day both Hazel and Lucy were feeling like rock stars!  Not quite ready to try Old Main again (both did it once, painfully slowly) but we parents decided ending on a high note for the kids was important so we didn't push it.

I spent nearly 2 hours with just Hazel and I going up and down Rookies Ridge, letting her get better and better on the skis and feeling more comfortable with the process of loading and unloading on the ski lift.  There were three moments when I knew Hazel was feeling like a very accomplished skier.

The first was when she looked around and noticed there were TEENAGERS on Rookies Ridge and in a class with an instructor.  She looked over to me and whispered "Mom, there are teenagers that need lessons and I don't even need a lesson.  I already know how to ski".

The second was when Hazel realized that the lady running the ski lift wasn't slowing the chairs down to a near stop before she sat down on the seat.  She must have realized that they were slowing it down for her, and after a few runs of it going at full speed she said "Mommy, she didn't even slow it down this time".  I knew she was feeling pretty confident at that point.  It was a little painful going up and down and up and down and up and down solo with her so many times - another adult would have been fun.  But, truthfully that was what she needed and looking back, I'm grateful that I got to see her advance in this way.  They don't stay little long, and this is a memory I'll keep for a long long time.

The third, and most impressive, thing that happened was the moment that the Bigs found Hazel and I on Rookies Ridge and asked me if they could go down the hill solo with Hazel.  I did NOT believe them that they'd watch out for her, and go slow and help her on the lift (and that this whole idea wasn't going to end in tears), so I told them I'd follow them down but pretend like I wasn't there.  I skied down behind them and let the three of them load the lift all by themselves - and you know what!?  They did it!

I gave the lift operator a heads up that they were going to be coming down solo as a group of three going forward and to watch over them, and plopped myself at the top of the hill to observe.  

Those few solo runs were great for the girls - and I think it set up huge steps forward for next year when we'll go again.  We may even see if we can squeeze in two trips next winter to really get them feeling good about it.  

It was a good weekend with friends!