How Many More Days, How Many More Hours...

We just got back from our support group's picnic, it was a very nice time. It was at the oasis on the lakefront, I was surprised at the number of people who go there to hang out, and not to swim. It's kind of like a club on the beach, they serve alcohol, and even had entertainment. After we ate, we walked down to the water, the plan was to only get feet wet, HA! The kids were not in swim suits, they told me they didn't want to swim, I should have known better. Grace is the one who started it, she kept lifting her dress higher, and higher, and was going farther and farther in. At one point, she fell, she was soaking wet. The other kids took her lead, and I ended up with very wet kids! I'm sure it was refreshing, it was very hot and humid here today. We will definitely go back again, it is a very nice beach. At the end of the picnic we wrote notes to Peter, tied them to a balloon, and launched it into the air. Before we let go we all stood in a circle and told everyone who the balloon was for. None of my kids wanted to talk, so I explained that it was for Peter, my husband, the kids dad, who will be gone two years in two weeks. I couldn't believe how emotional I felt, I got very teary eyed. I think it was the look I got from the director, and the connection I felt with the group. We watched the balloons float away until we could no longer see them. Helen, on the other hand, was busy making sand angels!

Robbie is at his first sleep over, I hope he's having fun. He has been looking forward to this day since last Saturday. The Cub Scouts had a can drive and his friend's dad asked me then if Robbie could make it Thursday, the count down began. I'm so glad it finally came, I don't know how much longer I could have answered the question, "Mom, how many more days?", "Mom, how many more hours?", "Mom, how many more minutes!?" He is spending all day tomorrow with them, he won't be home until 3:00pm. They are teaching him how to ride a bike, I'm embarrassed to say that none of my kids know how. We received hand-me-down bikes, but they need cleaning up, the tires inflated, and maybe other things. Next week we will take care of them so I can teach the other kids to ride, and hopefully some day, we will all go for bike rides. This week I'm getting the house ready for Katie's birthday party, it's on Sunday. I've been spending time outside working on the yard and when I do that, the house gets messy. She is really looking forward to her party, she too has been counting down. We are still at, "Mom, how many more days?" Soon, it will be, "Mom, how many more hours?"...

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue






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Gastro and Cardio

This week Helen had appointments with her tummy doctor and her heart doctor. We headed north to Milwaukee for one, and south towards Chicago for the other. The kids enjoyed the long car trips, especially the one towards Chicago. When we went to the tummy doctor in Milwaukee, we were in a room with a view of the construction. My stomach would get little "pings" every time one of the kids got close to the window. I don't know how those construction workers do it everyday, I would be too nervous! They are adding on to the Children's Hospital, it's starting to look nice. The doctor asked me how things are going with Helen's diet, he didn't act very pleased when I told him she has had gluten, by accident. I do my best, I can't help it if she takes from the other kids when I am not looking. I tried to ban snack crackers from the house because of this issue. It is such an easy snack and the kids love them, I thought it wasn't fair. I bought Helen her own crackers, but, of course, they don't taste as good. Putting the whole family on a gluten free diet would be too expensive, and with the way gas and food prices are going up...well, enough said. We will have to wait and see what her blood test results are, hopefully the numbers have gone down from the last visit instead of up. She also had blood drawn to check her thyroid, at her last visit her numbers were a little off. She had just gotten over a sinus infection so the physicians assistant thought it could have been because of that. She wanted to have Helen re-tested to see if she really did need her medicine adjusted. I think she does, she has gained a bit of weight, her tummy has gotten big again. Her heart doctor says she looks good, she will go back in a year. The scar tissue by her aortic valve has grown a little, but not significant enough to do surgery, thank goodness. On the way home from the heart doctor(by the way, that's how I refer to them with Helen, tummy doctor, heart doctor) we stopped by the cemetery to check on Peter's flowers and light his candle. I planted Alyssum as a border, and it didn't all grow in so it looks a little uneven, oh well. When we were done there it was dinner time and the kids were all starving, so we went to my sister-in-law's restaurant. Once again we had a delicious dinner, I can honestly say I have never had something I wouldn't have again. If you are ever in Libertyville, IL, stop by The Liberty on Milwaukee Ave., you wont' be disappointed...tell them Sue sent you. (Ha, our first commercial on the blog!!:o))

I hope everyone enjoyed their Fourth of July, we did. We cooked out with family, it was very relaxing. The weather was beautiful here, clear skies, not too hot, with a nice breeze. In the evening, the kids and I went to the lakefront for fireworks. They were so pretty this year, the kids loved the smiley face ones, especially Noah. He would scream out every time he saw one, "SMILEY FACE, YEAH!!!!!" They also had fireworks in the shape of Saturn, Ted really liked that one. There is something about fireworks over a lake, the way they reflect off of the water is magical. Thank you to all the service people who have sacrificed, past and present, and also their families, so we may live in a country as great as ours. To the people who are serving now and are deployed in another country, may you come home safe, and soon.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue








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Just My Opinion

This is just my opinion, but, I think everyone needs to slow down. Whatever happened to visiting family and friends on the week-end? I have friends I haven't spoken to in months, and family members I haven't seen in years. My excuse, and I'm sure with everybody, is that I'm just so doggone busy. I learned the hard way that life is too short, you must enjoy it while you can, and yet I've gotten caught up in it. I have recently changed my phone service, I now have unlimited long distance. I plan on using it by calling those friends I have lost touch with, and checking in with family members. If gas prices weren't so high, taking Sunday drives and maybe stopping by someones house would be nice. Peter and I used to do that all the time when we were dating. I used to wonder if it irritated people, you know, us showing up out of nowhere! We always had nice visits, I hope the people we visited enjoyed our company. I would love to have people stop by and visit us. So, to all my family and friends who are reading this now...you are always welcome at our house, please, feel free to stop by!!

I have come to realize that it's true what they say...as you get older you become your parents! I cannot figure out why it is so difficult for my kids to turn off the light when they leave a room, or close the door when they go outside. I have explained to them many times about the lights being on and how I have to pay for the electricity. I remember receiving that same lecture from my mom when I was younger. I also remember hearing her yell, "Close the door before the mosquitoes come in!" I now have the kids saying that phrase because I have used it so much. My mom used to be the one to get bit during the night, Grace and Katie are the lucky ones in this house. I'm hoping it will teach them to close the door. I go mosquito hunting every night before bed, hitting drapes, and blinds, but I still haven't gotten any. Katie and Grace wake up with fresh bites, so I put anti itch medicine on them and hope they don't scratch too much. With all of the rain we have gotten, they are very bad. I never sprayed the kids with repellent until the evening, I now spray them in the morning. All of them were getting eaten alive, even in the middle of the day. It's CRAZY!!

We are having family over for the Fourth of July so I've been doing some cleaning. I told the kids they have to clean the basement, which is their playroom. It looks like a tornado went through there! I'm going to go through the toys tomorrow night after they have gone to bed and get rid of some of it. I haven't kept on top of that issue, and I need to, because now it's out of control. I hope all of you enjoy your holiday, the kids are looking forward to the fireworks.

The kids Bible Camp program was very nice, Helen did an awesome job of watching. Katie was in the front row, she sang and did the movements with a big smile on her face, YEAH!!!! She doesn't see her doctor again until school starts, and only if she is having difficulties. Let's hope she does okay.

Well, enough rambling. Not much has happened around here lately, so I didn't have much to talk about. That's okay with me, boring weeks are nice to have once in awhile, they are less stressful.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue







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The Start Of Summer

I want to start by saying the cotton interlock material Sherry found at the show in L.A. is absolutely wonderful, I could sleep on it! It is so soft, it is perfect for our body shirts, definitely worth the wait.

Our summer is off to a busy start, how about you? We puppy sat last week, that was a lot of fun. We were spoiled with Mickie, since she was older she didn't have as much energy as she did as a pup. Milo (Sherry's dog) reminded us just how much energy a puppy can have! He was here about 10 minutes and had already found the only mud puddle in the yard. He decided to roll around and then lay in it. He joined me while I watered the flowers and garden by walking in the trenches I had just filled with water. I'm sure his memory of me is holding a bucket full of water and a towel! Since Mickie has been gone I have had to sweep the kitchen floor more often, I never realized how much she helped me. Milo took over that chore for her, one I'm sure he didn't mind. It was nice having a dog in the house again, the kids kept asking me, "When are we getting our own dog?, we need another one!" I am enjoying my break of animals right now, I have been caring for a pet for the past 16 years. Given all I have been dealt with the past couple of years, I need to lighten my load a bit. I definitely do want another dog, I LOVE dogs, but now is not the time. I told the kids maybe in a year, my heart needs to heal.

Helen started summer school this week, we dropped her off on the first day so we could meet the teacher. We ran into a couple of her old teachers from two years ago, they couldn't believe how grown up she looked. One of them was the assistant that adored Helen, she would always refer to her as "my girl". I feel better knowing they are there. Today is the last day of Bible Camp for the other kids, they are putting on a show. They have been practicing for the past couple of days. I was making beds in the girls room yesterday when Helen came in, turned on the music, and started doing the routine. I hope she will be okay when we go see the show, she may start singing and dancing in her seat!

Over the week-end I volunteered at the Greek Festival, I worked in the food line passing out spanikopita(spinach pie), and tiropita(feta cheese pie). It was my first time being a part of the fest, I had a good time. Peter used to work at the festivals whenever he could. I remember one year he put so much time in, we barely saw him for a week. He loved doing it that year because he was able to get to know the new priest better. He began going to church every Sunday, and became more involved. The only problem was, he was "snubbed" by his church because he was married outside of it (we were married in the Catholic Church). He asked me if I would get married in his church so he could once again be a member. We had planned on having a ceremony with just us, the kids, and our witnesses, after I had baby number 5. We never got around to it, something always came up. We were finally married in his faith when he was in the hospital, 5 days before he died, he slept right through it. He was able to receive confession, communion, and a beautiful Greek Orthodox funeral. That was almost two years ago...

Enjoy your summer!
Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue





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Los Angeles Textile Show - The 3rd Time WAS The Charm

Hi Guys -

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. There's been a lot going on within It'll Fit'll and the other facets of my life and I'm still figuring out how to juggle all of it. Obviously, I continue to drop a ball here and there. This post, for example, was written weeks ago but I haven't posted it. It's not as fresh as it was in early May, but I hope you'll still be interested...

Some of you may remember that I wrote a blog entry about my upcoming trip to Los Angeles for the Textile Show. That entry was a good long time ago, because the show was in mid April. I was hopeful that I could find thick, soft cotton interlock (comparable to the soft stretch cotton that’s used for receiving blankets) fabric for our line of bodysuits (which we’ll call body shirts and most folks call “onesies”. That familiar term is, unfortunately for us, trademarked by the Gerber Corporation. So, we can’t use it to describe our product.)

At any rate, I’d been confounded in my search for that fabric. Having attended two prior, fruitless, fabric shows – one in Chicago and one in New York City – I was concerned that the elusive cotton interlock was somehow unattainable for It’ll Fit’ll.

That third show did turn out to be the charm for us. We found the perfect, PERFECT fabric for our needs. It’s super soft (so it’s a pleasure to wear against bare skin), heavy weight (so it’s durable), and reasonably priced (so we will be able to make bodyshirts that are affordable for you). When you add the fact that the company contact person is nice, reasonable and has great follow-up – we couldn’t ask for more. Hurray!

We also found sources for other fabrics and components, but those weren’t as worrisome to me as the cotton knit. All in all, the trip was highly successful – even more than I expected and, despite my worry on this one, I’m always overly optimistic.

That’s the quick and dirty report on the LA Textile Show. For those of you who are interested, as I would be, I took some photos to share. The software limits me to 5 (a small fraction of what I shot) so here's a small sampling.

This was the lobby of the show and the Trend Gallery. The Trend Gallery displayed a wide variety of fabrics, trims, buttons, accessories that represented an overview of the offerings from participating exhibitors. It was essentially a preview of the color and fabric trends that we'll be seeing in the Spring 2009 fashion cycle.

The Trend Gallery was vast and almost overwhelming. Nearly every time I visited the gallery (it's less overwhelming in small doses) it was buzzing with people. This was a rare, quiet moment in a corner of the gallery.

This shot shows a few fabric booths. The layouts and quantity of offerings were many and varied. Some booths were overflowing with fabrics and some had very edited collections.

This booth had buttons, buckles, snaps. You name the accessory and there were booths that carried it - belts, ribbons, handbag handles, snaps, zippers...

Some of the bigger fabric companies had office showrooms rather than booths. Here was a standard size showroom; there were a some big showrooms too.

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Congratulations Helen and Katie

Helen and her regular education teacher Mrs. Lehrer

Helen and her special education teacher Mrs. Coughlin(in red)

and her assistant Mrs. Culshaw

Katie and her teacher Mrs. Botzau on Graduation day!!

Congratulations to my girls, I am very proud of them. Katie did such an awesome job at her graduation, she walked in with her class, sang with them, and even raised her hand in order to say the Hail Mary for Father, which, she did. Everyone told me what a wonderful change they see in Katie, and how happy they are to see the fun little girl she is. She made a lot of play dates for the summer, she and her friends arranged everything without the mom's knowing about it!! How cute is that? Everyone except Helen is done with school for the summer, her last day is Friday. We have been very busy the last couple of weeks, but things are starting to slow down a bit, thank goodness. I have taken the kids with me when doing errands and they have been quite good, I'm glad we are able to do that. Last summer I had my friend Katherine volunteer to take them once a week so I could get a few things done without them. I really appreciated her doing that, I don't think she knows how much that helped me out. Last summer they weren't quite mature enough to go with, Noah and Helen especially didn't listen. They both do so well with me now, although they do still have their moments, but, who doesn't!!?!

Helen graduated yesterday(the date on the picture is wrong, something happened to my camera), I was so proud to see her participate and behave so well. She listened to the teacher and did what she asked. Helen didn't see us when she walked in, when she got to her seat I saw her looking around the room. My father-in-law came with us and was sitting closest to her. Helen looked directly at him and looked very confused, he didn't belong in that setting, she did finally smile at him. She yelled, "Mommy", when she saw me, and was very happy to see all of us there. She received five awards, Good Worker, Cooperation, Outstanding Friend, and Most Energetic (no doubt!). The last award was given to her because every month she earned the classroom quota for behavior, she received a special gift for that, squirt guns. When we got home from the graduation the kids filled them up and had a blast!!!

Next week is the start of Bible Camp for Ted, Robbie, Katie, and Grace, for two weeks. Helen has a week off and then starts summer school, Monday thru Thursday, two hours a day. I enjoy having them home, it's nice not to have any schedules. I'm looking forward to the summer, let's hope the rain lets up, we've had a lot of it around here. It has been nice not having to water the garden or the flowers! Everything looks good in the garden except for the eggplant, there is no sign of it. Let's hope it's a late bloomer, I love eggplant, Peter got me hooked on it. It would have been his 45th birthday a couple of days ago, we talked about him and had a few laughs. Sunday is Father's Day, we'll be going to the cemetery to light his candle and check on his flowers. I hope all of you Father's out there have a wonderful day, Happy Father's Day.

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

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In The Blink of An Eye...

Alex's 1st Day of Kindergarten, with Aunt Annie

(Anne Marie - more than my sister-in-law, my great, good friend - teaches

at the elementary school that Alex and Blythe attended; Evan still does.)

Alex on his graduation night

Alexander Burke Roberson, my older son, graduated from high school on Saturday night. I remember his first day of school like it was last month. It hardly seems possible that the little boy who told me, when he was in first grade, "Mommy, I'm super shy..." evolved into the Student Council President and graduation speaker in what seems like the blink of an eye.

Alex is heading off to Auburn University in late summer and will be studying Political Science. He's already had a good bit of experience in the political realm, having campaigned for passage of a referendum to build a new high school (which, by the way, did pass!), serving as Junior Class President and Student Council President, managing the campaign of a friend who ran for the School Board, being interviewed on local radio shows about those activities... Along the way he has become an eloquent writer, an articulate speaker, a high level thinker and a hard worker. And, best of all, he's retained the kindness and quick sense of humor that he possessed as that sweet young boy. I could not be more proud of Alex.

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