Flowers of Mundelein

Shaggy ~2001- 27 Nov 2010

2010-12-04T07:15:00.000-08:00

Goodbye old friend.

The other day I went down in the basement to check on the sump pump and I smelled something just a bit off. I checked in the tank where I thought Shaggy was sleeping and, well he wasn't sleeping.

I'm not really sure when we got him, but I ordered him on-line and he came in a box. He was very small back then and either Tulip was either very new herself or yet to land. We expected him to only live for about seven years, but when we got him Bearded Dragons were fairly new to the pet industry. Now they say they live about ten years, which is about what he lived.

I buried him in the backyard behind the young maple that sprouted from one of the other trees we have.

He was a step up from the fish I had. I could actually hold him, though I rarely did because the kids were small when he arrived. He also interacted with us more. He watched us and genuinely seemed interested in us when we were in the room even if we weren't bringing food. He never hurt us or even tried to hurt us.

In all, he was a pretty good pet for something that isn't a dog and only has a lizard brain. I think I would get another one (since we haven't advanced to mammals yet), but Tulip wants a Greek Tortoise, which I think would be cool too, except they live like, um 1200 years or something. I don't think I could wait that long to move up to a dog.

On a similar note, I think this will be the very last post for Flowers Of Mundelein. I don't want to shut it down, but I just don't post here. The idea was to share family stuff here while being descreet and not divulging any actual names, but I find that my daughters have already been plastering their names and faces all over Facebook, so any internet anonymity that I might have salvaged is gone.

Goodbye Shaggy

Goodbye Flowers of Mundelein

Orchid's Back!! And Other Weekendy Things

2010-05-04T05:16:00.000-07:00

Our little Orchid went on her first plane trip alone this weekend to Washington D.C. She went with people from school, but it wasn't an official school trip because the Catholic Archdiocese has some sort of rules against that sort of thing.

She got back late last night. I'll get some pics from her and post them here soon.

Tulip was sick Sunday morning and we didn't go to Wisteria's birthday party, church or my in-laws. She's better now though. I think it was from the swimming.

Oh, I didn't mention that Tulip and I went to Key Lime Cove in Gurnee on Friday to Saturday with her Girl Scout Troop. Gardenia and Star were supposed to go with us, but Star came home very sore and hurt from Track practice on Friday and Gardenia didn't want to leave her.

Star had a big track meet all day on Saturday (which was also why she couldn't come the water park) and met Uncle Marigold and Aunty Apple Blossom there.

Goodbye Papa

2010-04-13T05:59:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we had the Memorial for my Father. On Friday we had the Visitation, Firefighter and Police Honors and the Celebration of Life. On Saturday we had the Memorial Mass, Military Honors and a lunch.

My In-Laws went with us and stayed in Rochelle on Friday night. I have to say that I am very grateful; it was a hardship on them.

The Visitation started early. Before we even had everything set up there were people there. The firefighters were a huge presence. We all mingled around and looked at the photos and memorabilia, but most of the visitors formed a line to talk to my Mom. The line went out the door of the room and at times I think it may have even gone out the door of the building. That went on from 15:00 when the doors opened. At the time we were supposed to have the Honors there was still a big line.

We started the Honors with a bagpiper from the Chicago Police Department playing some tunes. All I could think of was Braveheart ("Sayin goobye in there oin whey, playin outlawed tunes on outlawed pipes).

The Fire Department filed in. The room was full to start with and they packed it. There were about 30 men and women, and this from several departments in a rural area.

The Chief gave a very moving introduction. He said that many of them had never heard of the Firefighter tradition of the Bell Ceremony until my Dad taught them. Dad insisted that they have the material and be prepared to perform the ceremony in the event they lost one of their own. As it turned out, he was the first to be so honored. The Chief was impressed by the turnout and he couldn't keep his voice from breaking a bit at times.

They rang the bell three times, and three times again, and again.

Afterward they opened the mic for people to come up and give testimonials, a Celebration of a Life.

I went first. It was hard, but there were three funny things. I had been thinking about what to say since my Mom and Dad first said that they wanted that ceremony to be part of the memorial. I had chewed on what story to tell, how to present it. In the end I started telling the story of how "We" took one of my Dad's Literature tests, and I threw in a few other things that just came to me. Once the story started flowing it became easy.

The second funny thing was, I mentioned how I had always tried to be different than my Dad; I never wanted to be like him because it was too easy to be a chip off the old block, hide in the old man's shadow, Junior, Little Bill. I always tried my hardest to be my own man. Afterwards many people told me that I looked, sounded and acted just like him while I was up there. They said it was scary.

The third funny thing was as I looked out into the crowd, and I had thought that I wouldn't be able to look out into the crowd because it would have made me cry, but as I said the story just took me. As I looked out into the crowd I thought I saw his face. He was there between other people watching me, smiling.

Of course it wasn't him; he wouldn't have been hiding in the back anyway.

Others got up to speak, some several times. Friends and family spoke. Friends and family didn't speak as well, but it was clear that no one had nothing to say, it was just the right thing for some and silent respect was right for others.

My brother Rose spoke last. He gave a moving speech as well and it was a good ending to the ceremony.

I don't know how long everyone stayed after and talked, I had to get my young ones and elders back to bed.

In the morning we went to mass, just as my Dad requested, and to my Mother's consternation. It was clear that he homily was directed to my Mother, that my Father was a good Catholic and he would have wanted my Mother to be too. I don't think she bought it.

The grandchildren and my sister, Lavender brought up the gifts and roses.

In one of the side chapels they set up three of the poster-sized photos of my Dad and had Firefighters "guard" them. It was a very nice touch. Beside the altar they had the poster of my Dad as a Firefighter.

The Fire Department also brought out the old fire truck and had it outside for people to see.

When mass was ended we went out to the parking lot and the local VFW gave him a 11 gun salute and played taps. The bugler really hit some of us hard and my Dad's sister worst of all. My brother Rose, who was in uniform, received the flag and presented it to CW2 Don Proven, who in turn presented to my Mom with a tear-filled thank you.
The lunch was in the church basement and was very lovely. Another line formed to talk to my Mom.
In all I thought it was a fitting and excellent send off for a great man. We will see him again when we get the ashes back in a couple of years.

HAPPY EASTER

2010-04-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

(Boy am I behind. I intended to post this Sunday night. I actually wrote it on my PDA while out of the house, but just now got a chance to post it)

Happy Easter everybody. Christos Anesti! Alestos Anesti!

Yesterday we went to the McCormicks' for Easter Brunch. Everybody was there except Boushette and Big E. It was very nice, except we couldn't technically eat anything because it is also Orthoox Easter (Pascha).

We went to church last night, starting at 10:00pm. Service went until 2:00am. We went to Baskin Robbins afterward for ice cream and then had a lovely steak dinner with mashed potatoes and sauted mushrooms.

Today we're at Yaya and Papou's house for Pascha dinner.

Papa 1942 - 2010

2010-03-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

We lost Papa last night at about 7:30. Several members of the family were with him in Rochelle as he passed quietly in his sleep. The rest of us were enroute.

We will have a memorial service the week after Easter.

He is and will be greatly missed.

Visitation will be held on Friday April 9th from 3:00 to 6:45 p.m. at Unger-Horner Funeral Home, 400 N. 6th Street Rochelle, IL with a celebration of Life at 7:00 P.M. and Memorial Mass will be held at St Patrick Church on Saturday April 10, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. Memorials may go to donors choice.

Papa Report

2010-02-28T07:07:00.000-08:00

Went to visit my Dad again this weekend.

The week before last he came home from the hospital. He had had to go in because he was very weak, not eating and not having BMs. After a few days he decided that he wanted to go home and Ginger said that we would do whatever it takes to make sure he could be at home and get the physical therapy he needed.

So that week he went home and we boys started rotating visits to help out. My first visit was last Saturday to Sunday.

They put a hospital bed in the front room with the big TV and accessories for it.

His spirits were up when he got home, but as the days go on and he's slow to regain strength, his drive is up and down. He's still not able to get out of bed by himself, and on days when he is strong enough he can walk around to his chair using a walker.

I'm here with Star this weekend. Gardenia had to stay home because Orchid is having a sleepover and Tulip didn't want to leave Mommy, so she stayed home too.

Lent Lent Lent

2010-02-17T09:12:00.000-08:00

I just got a comment on my post about Lent from 2 years ago (wow). So I'm prompted to post, because I really should.

For the second year now Star is going whole hog, so to speak, about lent. She is doing the strict Orthodox Fast. She, Gardenia and my other daughters are Greek Orthodox and they started Lent on Monday (Clean Monday). Greek Easter (Pascha) and Catholic (regular) Easter are on the same day this year (not usual). That's good and bad. Lent is aligned, so there isn't a problem there, but since they are on the same day we run into the same problem everyone has on Christmas, when to go where and see whom.

We haven't even begun to talk about that yet because my Dad is really very sick right now. He's extremely weak and we're (the boys) are going to be taking turns going out to Rochelle and helping out.

So there's what we're doing for Lent. I'm not buying into the whole silly fasting thing anyway. Star just does it to say that she did it and to hold it over our heads.

First Update of 2010

2010-01-04T06:28:00.000-08:00

I haven't been updating here as often as I'd like and I'll get to that later.

We had a nice Christmas at home. We went to church Christmas Eve and then to Opa for Greek food.

Little Tulip couldn't get to sleep and was crying that Santa wouldn't come because she was too excited to sleep. I think she cried herself to sleep.

In the morning we got our Santa presents, our presents and then we went to Yaya and Papou's house.

My Dad has been hit really hard by the new chemo and this is why I hesitated to post. He didn't manage to get around to anyone on Christmas Eve or Christmas day (the tradition is to go by his sister's on Eve and my Mom's brother's on Christmas day). He wasn't' happy about that at all.

Gardenia was off the week between the holidays. Star and Orchid went to Papa's house for the four days. Some of their cousins were there too. I think my Dad was doing pretty well at the beginning of the week, but after all the excitement he was beat by the time we got there on New Year's Eve.

He came out to sit in his chair on New Year's eve, but he spent the day in bed on New Year's day. We all spent a lot of time in there with him, but it's been very hard and frustrating for him.

Two old family friends came and cooked breakfast on New Year's morning, then they ended up spending the whole day with us. My Dad has really touched a lot of people's lives in a very positive way. I'm very proud.

Concert Last Night

2009-12-16T04:49:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to the school concert. Young Tulip does bell ringing now and she was really fun to watch. Orchid, who is in 8th grade was unable to make the concert because she had a cold yesterday. We all felt really bad about that since the 8th grade usually does some special things. She was actually featured in the program as a soloist, but her understudy did very well.

Another Visit with Papa Pansy

2009-12-14T15:46:00.000-08:00

Orchid, Tulip and I went to Papa Pansy's house again yesterday. We left as soon as the Bears game ended and had dinner there. Marigold and Apple Blossom bought a ham and we had a lovely meal.

Papa looks really run down and beat up. I very much hope that he can work with his doctors to settle into a regimen he can be much more comfortable with.

Star stayed home because she has finals this week and she if fighting hard to keep her straight A average. She has an 89% going into two of her four class finals and she needs mid-nineties to bring the grades up the the 90's overall.

Gardenia had Christmas shopping to do and she's shopping for curtains, rugs, etc etc etc for the new first floor.

Congrats Brother Rose!

2009-12-07T05:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the whole garden went to see my brother Rose get promoted to CW2. This is pretty big because now they commission warrant officers of CW2 and above. As a WO1 he only had a warrant (hence the Warrant Officer), but as a Chief Warrant Officer he now has a commission as an officer and may "command" troops.

Papa Pansy actually swore him in, in front of his unit. It was pretty cool. It's especially cool when your Dad is a retired BG (Brigadier General) and the highest ranking person in the building.

We all went to lunch afterwards and then the Ginger and Holly family all came to Mundelein to see the progress on the house and for Holly to take Gardenia out shopping.

BTW, Papa Pansy has started his new chemo regimen. It seems to be hitting him pretty hard. He is very tired and very sensitive to cold. Ginger brought a wheelchair and we wheeled him into and out of both the military building and the restaurant.

Saturday afternoon (I'm going backwards chronologically) we finished the first floor enough to bring up the Christmas tree and start decorating. We had to replace about 1,100 lights (about half) which, as you can imagine is quite the chore.

I spent Saturday the morning helping out the Boy Scouts. I'm a Unit Commissioner, and as part of the Commissioner staff we help with rechartering. All the rechartering is done at one time now so we had two big sites to handle that. I think I am getting back into the swing of things. I really want to be involved in Scouts and with my older two not interested, I think this is a good way.

Starting Again

2009-12-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

It has been many moons since I've kept this blog up. I'm going to start again. I won't attempt to try to catch everyone up. I will start from this weekend and move forward.

Here in Mundelein we are remodeling our entire first floor, new appliances, new countertop, new cabinets, hardwood floors throughout.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving. my father has started a new regemine and we will see how it goes.

Good Night Dear Lady

2009-06-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

My Dad called me yesterday at about 9:15 to tell me that my maternal Grandmother (Bushia) had passed. She was a very special lady and with my Grandfather they were the role models for our marriage.

She had been in poor health, but there was nothing particullarly life threatening yesterday. We think she just decided that it was time to go be with Grandpa.

We will miss her very much.

The wake is Sunday night (14 June) and the funeral is Monday morning.

Broken Leg

2009-05-13T04:43:00.001-07:00

It has been a VERY long time since I posted, but life is like that.

On 26 Apr 09 my beloved Gardenia broke her left leg and big toe. She fell down the stairs while I was at the grocery store. I rushed home and took her to the hospital.

She broke it very near her ankle, but the break is in the fibula. That bone is more for stability than weight bearing. She is in a boot cast. The doctor said that she will be completely healed (no pun intended) in about six weeks.

She spent the first two days not working, then the first two weeks not going in to the office. She worked on her stair and crutch skills. She went back in to work this last Monday.

Since I last posted Star had been awarded an Academic Letter for getting straight A's in her first three quarters of High School at Mundelein High School. She also started Track. She does Triple Jump, Hurdles and some sprints.

The other two are doing well, despite the scare of the broken leg.

We are planning on doing Volleyball again this Junior Olympics, but this year we are adding some track events and possibly my little Orchid will participate.

Epiphany 2009 An Audio Post

2009-01-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

I have a special treat for you all today. I'm going to bring you up to speed with an audio post.

Enjoy.

Papa At Sweetpea's for Thanksgiving

2008-12-03T15:29:00.001-08:00

I asked Papa to say a few words so everybody could SEE how he was feeling. Here is the video.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

2008-12-01T11:39:00.000-08:00

Almost all the flowers got together on the actual Turkey Day to celebrate Thanksgiving and for Petunia's Christening.

Gardenia and I went shopping Friday. Then all the Mundelein Flowers went to Uncle Sweet Pea's annual After Thanksgiving Pancake Breakfast.

Sunday and today we are putting up Christmas decorations. Everything is going according to plan except it started snowing yesterday and it's still snowing. I can't put up the outside decorations. Curses!

This is the place you can comment on my poll. What is your favorite Christmas Movie. Mine's It's a Wonderful Life.

Birthdays!

2008-11-25T09:55:00.000-08:00

We missed my birthday (5 November) on this blog. That's unfortunate because I have a birtday buddy, Carnation.

Today is Gardenia's birthday so I hope to hear the phone ringing off the hook.

12 December is Sweetpea's birthday and we are done for the year.

A's, Other Good Grades and Other Things

2008-10-20T04:54:00.000-07:00

Straight A's! That was Star's first HS report card. She did great and we are so proud of her. There were 25 out of 577 freshmen who got straight A's. Since she didn't have any "honors" classes she is ranked 25, but without taking that into account she is #1 in her class! Woo Hoo!

Orchid and Tulip are doing well too, but we don't get their report cards for a while yet. We are very happy with Orchid's work habits and attitude toward school this year.

Star was also invited to go on a trip next summer for 3 weeks to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. It is very expensive and she is doing everything she can to help raise the money.

Papa is holding his own right now. He has been receiving chemo for Pancreatic Cancer for a month now. He's lost a lot of weight; he has his good days and his bad; but his blood work is still good. Say a prayer, meditate or send positive thoughts his way.

New Toy

2008-10-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

I just figured out how to save videos to my computer and to put them on the blog. Watch out everybody, videos are coming atcha!

Pansy Update

2008-09-30T03:56:00.000-07:00

Not much going on in Mundelein, but we've gotten an update on Papa (Pansy). He is going for a second opinion today and he starts chemo on Thursday.

The latest word is that it is pancreatic cancer. You know I'll be researching that, but don't know if I'll post the results of that research here.

I've decided that on this blog I'm just going to post what is happening, not what I feel or how our house feels. Holly suggested a journal, but if I do that it won't be on this blog. Because interpreting the research will probably include a lot of my own opinions, it will probably not appear here.

Anyway, more prayers, positive waves, appeals to the ancestors and whatever you can do is needed, now more than ever.

Talk Like a Pirate Day!

2008-09-19T06:14:00.000-07:00

I know me dear brother, Rose is talkin' like a true pirate today. I'd bet me last dubloon that his wee lass Jasmine is talkin' proper today too.

Ifin' any o y'all wish ta plunder and loot, comon' o'er ta me house to play me Pirate Games!

Worry Time

2008-09-15T08:52:00.001-07:00

My dad (Papa Pansy) went into the hospital Saturday night. The doctor said it looks like cancer and drained six liters of fluid from him. He is feeling much better, they have sent the fluid to the lab to be analyzed and he is supposed to go home today. We should get the results back from the lab in a couple of days.

Please say a prayer, meditate, send positive thought waves or whatever you do for his speedy recovery and for strength.

Summer Ending Update

2008-09-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

Seeing as it is mid September and the summer is almost technically over (with the Autumnal Equinox) I figured I really ought to run down everything that happened this summer:

JUNE
- Star graduated from 8th grade at Santa Maria del Popolo. *Orchid played bells for the ceremony
*Star won the President's Award (from the President of the US). There were only two students who won.
*Star read the Reading at mass
- Star and I went to Washington D.C. for her 8th grade trip. She was one of four students who laid a wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
- Star went to summer school for her state required Health class (she was the star pupil)
- Star's 14th birthday!

JULY
- Star, Orchid, Tulip and I got passes for our park district pool and we tried to go as often as we could
- Orchid got contact lenses (she's almost as blind as her sister Star).
- The Owasippe Trip

AUGUST
- A new flower blooms! On 4 August 2008 my brother, Ginger and his wife Holly added a new bud to accompany Lilac and Geranium. Let's call him PETUNIA!
- We added another flower, sort of, by marriage. Marigold married Apple Blossom. We never thought we'd see the day when Marigold got married. We all had a blast.

- Star
*Started High School (gasp)! She loves her teachers and classes
*Started Volleyball at school. She's on the Frosh B team (takes after her old man on the B team), but she has Volleyball as a specific gym class so maybe next year she'll move up.
*Isn't playing clarinet anymore. She had a good run there, from 4th to 8th grade.

- Orchid
*Started 7th grade. Just one more year to go. She's doing very well so far and has a great attitude toward school.
*Signed up for Track but switched to Volleyball. She dropped out of band, but says she'll keep up her flute. Let's hope she can.
*She's not going to be in Girl Scouts anymore herself, but she's going to be helping Tulip's Girl Scout Troop

- Tulip
*Started 2nd grade, but she still has the same teacher. We loved that teacher last year so this should be another good year for her.
*Still in Girl Scouts and still loves it

EARLY SEPTEMBER
- Bushia (aw heck, she doesn't need a flower name) went into the hospital. She's 88 and very weak, but she is home now and recovering.

- Star is now sharing her wisdom and holy graces with younger Orthodox youth by helping out as an Assistant Sunday School teacher
- Tulip started Sunday School and Greek School (actually tonight is her first night)
- Star has moved up to full fledged GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth Assoc.) and has left poor Orchid in Jr. GOYA.
- I'm going to be starting adult Greek school on Thursday nights. Cross your fingers for me.

Owasippe Report

2008-07-31T09:35:00.000-07:00

This is my report on our trip, last week, to Owasippe Scout Reservation. Owasippe is the oldest Scout Reservation in the country, established in 1911 and is in danger of being sold off.

So, here is what we did. If I missed anything and you were there, please leave me a comment or send me an email.

Sunday
o Left at 11:30 (much later than planned)
o Orientation
Signed up for
· Ice cream social - good do again
· Sailing
· Wall climbing
· COPE - Good do again
· Paintball - they want to do again
· Carmel apples
o No swim check
o Kids went to Pizza Hut for dinner with Pansy and Begonia while Gardenia and I cleaned
o Next year leave earlier so we can swim check and see Wolverine's opening campfire (Jonquil did go and said it was great)

Monday
o Swim tests and Adult swim on the :45s
o I intended to do hikes at 9:00, but never made it (Monday I had to do low COPE and pay for all our stuff) Juniper did go everyday I think.

Tuesday
o Our Anniversary
o Sailing winded out - rest of the week full
o Went to get Monster Shakes
o Wall climbing at night

Wednesday
o Anniversary dinner at Lakeview Inn Resort (very nice)
o Hike with Tulip to the Quaking Bogs
o Paintball

Thursday
o High COPE
Sweet Pea made it as far as me, but when he fell off he said, "I'm going down bad. This is going to be ugly." He fell and hung up by his ankle while the girl on his belay shot up in the air.
Lavender went all the way
Star went all the way, but she sat down on the last obstacle and slide along on her butt.
I made it to half way through the third thing (trapezes, I made it up the rope ladder, across the log and across the cable with the dangling ropes). I had to stop because I just didn't have the hand/arm strength.
Jonquil went all the way.
o Went to Ishnala for ice cream
o Went to museum and the old man there said that Owasippe's Grave is only 20 minutes down the Red trail. I sent him a copy of the '83 Carlen staff photo (on Monday after)
o Star Hike - Tulip had to leave early to go to the bathroom and because she was scared. Jonquil gave the stories of the stars.

Friday
o Gardenia, Daffodil, Juniper, Cathy and I went to the Quaking Bogs (went to Turtle Valley first by mistake)
o Mile Swim for Carnation and me. I finished (12:50 - 13:40) and kept swimming with Carnation until she finished at about 14:30 (about 1.5 miles for me)
o Closing campfire. Gardenia said we would come back next year. Orchid cried that night because they might sell Owasippe
o Flower Family Pot Luck
o Christmas in July
Christmas breakfast from the staff and it was only 1/2 a banana, OR 1/4 an orange, OR 1/6 and apple with one donut

Saturday
o Packed up
o Went to Ad Center Trading Post (I got a mug and a hat, Tulip got a walking stick and Orchid got a shirt, Star didn't go in with us)
o Went to Owasippe's Grave. It's very up and down hills and took us 40 minutes (I timed it, with me carrying Tulip for about 1/5th the way).
o Didn't eat breakfast
o Went to Ishnala for ice cream
o Ate at Pita Place in Muskegon

Next year
o I will do Channel Swim
o Flower Family Mile Swim club
o Flower Family will do Christmas Breakfast
o Bring boat

From 29 May 08

2008-07-30T04:28:00.001-07:00

I was writing this and I never got around to finishing it. Here is what I had:

"I've actually been dieing to write this, but I haven't had time. I've got a lot to tell you, but first I want to mention that I'm at the Greek Consulate right now with Yarrow and Peony. Cool huh? They needed to get some paperwork done so I offered to drive them downtown. It's a long wait so I thought I'd type this out now. There's no WiFi here so I'll post it later.

The big news is the Junior Olympics. Last Saturday we went to SS Constantine and Helen (Gardenia's Alma mater is Kores, the grade school there and we got married there, btw) in Palos Hills. We got there for the opening ceremony, but volleyball didn't start until 4:30pm. That was good, because when we arrived I still wasn't sure we had a team (I had had one practice and only my girls and another pair of sisters showed).

We met the other pair of sisters and we had six. The only trouble was the four not mine had never played volleyball before. I had brought a ball so we spent all day getting to know each other and hitting the ball around.

We ended up winning the game! The girls really worked well together well and helped each other alot. They're all great girls and I'm very proud of them.

The second round was Sunday afternoon (to give us all a chance to go to church I'm sure, but only Star, Rose and I took advantage of that opportunity). We showed up and got mown down by a team full of High School volleyball players. The thing that surprised me the most was that I wasn't at all unhappy that we lost, I was sad that we couldn't play anymore. The girls were that great.

Now we will get away from sports, but stay with the Greeks."

I don't remember what I was going to write next, but the report up until then was very good and exciting (to me at least). I wrote all the green text on my PDA. I love having the opportunity to do that (although it is a bit of a pain because my fingers are too big and the keyboard is only virtual).

I didn't mention it in this post, but I was the coach for that team. Both Star and Orchid played on the team and Tulip made herself the team nurse.

Quick Update

2008-07-15T12:01:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a quick update because I have been long absent from this site and I have a major change.

I have moved to a new shift and now work mornings and get off at 1430.

I will make more posts, some even backdated, I promise.

Mowing the Lawn and the Olympics

2008-05-08T02:34:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks it has been raining every time I have intended to mow the lawn for the first time this year. Finally, last Saturday I went out, between showers and did it.

There were two problems with this, one: the grass was very wet so it wouldn't go into the bag; and B: it got dark by the time I was finishing so I couldn't see where I was going mostly.

The end result, after more than an hour and a half was a poorly mown lawn. It, of course, didn't rain from that point until Monday. I went out and mowed it again, twice! It looks really nice now, but that is what prompted the latest poll about lawn mowers.

On to the Olympics, no, not the trouble in Tibet or other protests, but the "real" Olympics, the important one, Junior Olympics.

The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago holds a Junior Olympics every year. Every year my girls sign up for volleyball and every year our church can't field a volleyball team. This year I asked if it was lack of players or lack of a coach.

Guess who the coach is now? You got it on the first try. I'm now the volleyball coach for our church, Ascension of Our Lord. The Junior Olympics are Memorial Day weekend at Saints (abbreviated SS) Constantine and Helen in Palos Hills (where Gardenia and I got married).

Christos Anesti

2008-04-28T02:01:00.001-07:00

EDIT: I said I would add another post, but I will just put it here.

We went to church Saturday night. We got there early enough to get a seat, but not in the church proper. Our church is a bit small (we know this, but it is really an interim church building) so they set up chairs in the narthex and they extend all the way back to the Sunday school classrooms. We were in the narthex.

We all got candles and as the service progressed and people left we moved further and further ahead in our seating. Eventually we actually got into a pew in the church itself.

All the flowers were old enough this time for us to stay almost all the way to the end, and we all stayed awake this time! The younger two were drooping a lot by the time we got to communion so Gardenia decided that it would be best for us to leave directly after Communion.

While I was going down the street to the local school (where overflow traffic parks) they waited, back in the narthex. Well, that's where they usually set out the snacks for the after-service fellowship. On Easter they set out lamb and soup (I'll have to ask Gardenia the exact names for them because they are special dishes just for the middle of the night, after Easter feast). Remember that Holy Saturday is a strict fast day. When I picked them up with the van they were all drooling.

We managed to get home with a lit candle. That's supposed to mean blessing and good luck on your house.

A few years ago we went to Opa! in Vernon Hills right after church. That was really cool going into a Greek restaurant right after Greek Easter at about two in the morning. The only people in there were Greek so we were greeted with Christos Anesti (Christ has Risen) and answered Alethos Anesti (Truly He is Risen). Star ate so much, so fast that night that she got sick.

Unfortunately Opa! doesn't do that anymore so we stopped by a Dunkin' Donuts / 31 Flavors that is open all night and all got ice cream. That's a lot different from Easter soup, dolmades, calamari and octipodi, but we enjoyed it.

Sunday afternoon we went to Oak Lawn to see Yarrow and Peony. They were very happy to see us. We had lamb and beef. We also took home a pile of cookies which have already disappeared.

Kalo Pascha (Happy Easter)!

Good Friday (the Orthodox Way)

2008-04-25T07:05:00.000-07:00

Today is Good Friday for the Orthodox flowers in my family. Usually the two Easters are about a week apart, sometimes they are on the same day, but I've never seen them a month apart. It has been very confusing.

My new poll is about what you do for Easter. I'll post after Sunday what we do, but I wonder what special things everyone else does.

I've always felt that Easter should be the most important holiday of the year and I've been confused that it is second banana to Christmas. Christmas would be meaningless without Easter.

Here's a crazy idea (it's not Orthodox or orthodox, just my crazy thinking) what if we had kept Christ's birthday celebration on his actual birthday (presumably in spring because of the shepherds watching over their sheep) then we could have had one big celebration with Christmas and Easter together. Now that would have been something.

Anyway, no meat today (that is the Orthodox way). In fact, no meat, dairy, fish or oil this whole week (only shellfish). Also tomorrow we are not supposed to eat anything until we go to church at about 11:00PM until after midnight.

As the little flowers grow old enough to observe the ritual fasting I find new and more extreme rules that I didn't know about before. I didn't know that we weren't supposed to use oil.

Today is also Star's Ribbon Ceremony Day. She's in 8th grade and she gets presented with her hat tassel thing for her graduation cap. Gardenia and I are going to try to attend.

Closing March, Opening April

2008-04-15T22:47:00.000-07:00

What have we been doing lately? I see that I have been terrible at keeping up here and haven't posted since late March.

Out like a lion? Spring Break was the last week of March. Star went to Pansy and Begonia's house for the first half of the week. I have reports that she and Rose worked hard with the barn and the horses.

The ending weekend of March saw me at a Friday / Saturday conference to learn more about the FRG. It was a very useful conference. On Sunday, I once again doffed my Army duds and went trolling for volunteers. An outreach group from a Church in Oak Park has volunteered to help out with home repairs for our group and I went to the services to drum up support. I go a standing ovation at the 11:15 service. That was really nice.

We just lived our lives as usual in the first week of April.

Last weekend we were supposed to go with our FRG to Springfield to help support he family members of our soldiers who live outside the Chicago area. Unfortunately, only one family said they wanted to come, so we didn't go to Springfield.

Fortunately, a new water park / resort opened in Gurnee (about 25 minutes away) so we signed up for Friday night. We went Friday and swam for over two hours and then we swam again for almost 11 hours (!) on Saturday. Holy Cow! Finally, I told Gardenia, "I'm done." I had been trying to keep up with three girls all day and I was sore and exhausted. We had a good time though.

Monday morning dawned and little Tulip was sick, really sick. She was burning up with fever. This is when our scheduling comes in really handy. I didn't get much sleep, and neither did Gardenia, but we took care of her. Tuesday morning she wasn’t yet better and Orchid went down too.

Orchid is doing much better, but we are still waiting to see if Tulip can make a full recovery. She was doing much better after her bath Tuesday evening, but then heated up again.

Name Day, Independence and a Birthday

2008-03-26T23:31:00.000-07:00

March 25th was Tulip's seventh birthday! Hooray.

It was also Greek Independence day. We don't really celibrate that at our house, but it is easy to remember because of Tulip's birthday and because it is the name day of my mother-in-law, Yarrow and my daughter Orchid.

I usually try to fly my Greek flag on Greek Independence Day and Oxi Day (28 Oct), but shame on me, I forgot until late in the day so I'll just "fly" it here.

For all the reasons stated, OPA!

Athletic Pizza

2008-03-21T01:56:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday evening we had the athletic banquet for Santa Maria del Popolo. We had pizza, it was on the informal side.

They gave out letters to the eighth graders. Now we'll have to buy Star a sweater to sew her letter onto.

They also gave out pins to put on your letters. I guess Orchid will have to wait a couple of years to pin hers on.

Who Are These Men?

2008-03-18T22:57:00.000-07:00

In 1982 and 1983 I was on staff at Owasippe Scout Reservation (now Owasippe Outdoor Education Center).

When I started, they had just started a new program that took three years to develop staff members. We were the second class.

The program started with staff members being Apprentices. The first year guys only got paid $20 for the whole eight-week camp season. We were supposed to spend the first week, Staff Week, in training and then rotate to different section camps every two weeks.

Owasippe is so large that it is divided into section camps. In '82, they had Camp Blackhawk (Go!), Camp Wolverine (Zaxie!), Camp Robert Crown (Mojave!), Camp Reneker (family camp), the outposts (Pack and Paddle (canoe and backpacking), horse coral, COPE and Wilderness Survival) and they were just opening Camp Sauger Lake (Over All! (in '83, Sauger Lake changed their name to Camp Carlen (Bahooka!))). Blackhawk and Sauger Lake were dining hall camps while Wolverine and Crown were hotpack camps (they delivered the meals directly to the individual troops by hotpack).

I did so well in training that at the end of Staff Week I and five other Apprentices were advanced to Associate. Associates were supposed to rotate only once in the summer.

I met with Rick Lowe, the camp director for Camp Sauger Lake and we decided I would work in the brand new dining hall. There were two of us on permanent dining hall staff and two more Apprentices that rotated in. We didn't cook there, just served food prepared at the "Ad Center" (Administrative Center) and hotpacked to our dining hall.

Because of my schedule at the dining hall, I was available between meals to help out in other areas. I did a lot of work with the Field Sports area and the Nature area. In the afternoons, I swam with the scouts at free swim (we had a pool).

They liked my work so much, I never rotated and the second year Rick hired me as the Assistant Dining Hall Director with two permanent staff members reporting to me. I spent Staff Week in Philmont because I was nominated to attend National Junior Leaders' Instructor Camp (NJLIC). Only 100 scouts from across the country are invited each year to attend.

Anyway, I had another great year working at my old camp with the new name. That same year my brother Sweet Pea worked as an Apprentice. He would in later years end up working at Camp Robert Crown.

I have the staff photo from '83, but shame on me, I can't remember most of the guys' names. I'm the fifth from the left in the back.

I remember Rick Lowe (far left in the back) and Michael Reese (standing, far right). To my immediate left (as you're looking at me) is Steve Tabor and then Mark Plebanski (my cabinmates). The very tall, blond guy in the back was my boss in the dining hall. His name is Dave and he was from Oconomowac, WI. The guy kneeling on the far right was called Mange (like the French word for eat, he worked for me in the dining hall) and the guy sitting on the far right is Tim Klinefeld (sp? his nickname was Mouse).

Can anybody help me with the other names?

Happy Birthday Casa de Los Flores

2008-03-13T21:15:00.000-07:00

Casa de Los Flores, otherwise known as Marbil Estates is sweet sixteen today!

On Friday, March 13, 1992 Gardenia and I closed on our house in Mundelein. We were the very first owners. That weekend we moved in.

Some of you may recall the incident with the gas / desiel in the moving van or maybe you have fond memories of bellyflopping on the slippery new kitchen floor only to leave a big gouge with your belt buckle.

Anyway we have had some good times and bad times, but it looks like we are going to have a lot more time in the old house. Here is a photo of the old gal getting a new roof this last October.

Happy Birthday!

Update 13 Mar 08

2008-03-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

You are going to see a rarity today, photos of our young flowers. The reason is that the images are already (or will be) in the public domain and they are group shots. Those of you who know our dear ones will recognize them and anyone else will have to just guess.

This first one is an update to my post about Star winning the DAR essay contest. This image has been in the Mundelein Review and the Daily Herald and we have gotten a lot of congratulations over it. Star has threatened to find and burn all copies.

The next one is from last Tuesday night. They had a winter concert. Both Star and Orchid are in the advanced band. The band director has said that Orchid is doing so well with her new instrument that for the next concert she will probably play in the intermediate band with that instrument and in the advanced band with this one.

As far as little Tulip is concerned, she got her new glasses. She looks SO cute, but I couldn't show that image.

She also went roller skating on Wednesday. That meant that Daisy walked behind her for 2 hours and 15 minutes before she was confident enough for him to step aside for the last 15. She has very large bruises and a bump on her head, but now she says, "skating is my life."

What Did You Give Up for Lent?

2008-03-04T23:19:00.000-08:00

What did you give up for Lent? I have a poll going with some of the more common and more unusual things. Please vote and leave a comment.

When I was in Afghanistan, I figured I had already given up enough so I just made a commitment to go to Mass every Friday. Trouble was the priest wasn't available for most of Lent so I satisfied myself with doing a rosary each Friday. I had just learned to do the rosary while in Afghanistan anyway.

I was going to do the same thing this year, but I'm pretty sure the priest will be available this time. I got a late start because Greek Easter this year is 27 April, more than a month after "regular" Easter (23 March) and I'm all messed up. My Fridays have been messed up as well so I've decided to read the mass readings everyday instead.

What are you giving up or doing extra?

I've recently heard a lot of people who are trying to do something extra instead of giving something up.

Do you think abstaining from something or making an extra effort is better? Is the whole thing a waste of time?

I think it's useful either way. It makes you stop and think, which is; I believe the real value in not eating meat on Fridays during Lent. It makes you alter your regular daily routine and examine what you are doing and why. It gets to psyche and who we are really. I think it's valuable even for non-Catholics.

The Greek Orthodox and presumably all Eastern Orthodox observe Lent slightly differently. Firstly, it starts on a Sunday, not a Wednesday. Also, they abstain from all meat AND dairy products on Wednesdays and Fridays for all of Lent. They call this abstinence, "fasting." During Holy Week (the week from Palm Sunday until Easter) they "fast" every day. They don't give up anything else, but I think the reminder and the chance to think about things greater than the everyday is still there.

For those of you who don't know, Catholics start Lent on Ash Wednesday and it runs until Easter. You are supposed to give something up (traditionally) and you are required to abstain from eating meat on Fridays and Ash Wednesday. You are also required to fast (as in not eat more than one meal) on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

I would be very interested in unusual Lenten observations (like giving up dancing at clubs, which an employee of mine vows each year and then can't seem to keep it) and the number of people that choose what I think are the most common items to give up. Please leave comments and vote on the poll.

Two Weekends and Happy Birthday

2008-02-18T01:25:00.000-08:00

Last weekend our whole garden (the five of us) all went camping. "Camping?" you say, "Camping in that weather?" Well, it was in a cabin, but our BSA Troop used to do the same thing so I feel justified.

The theme of the camping trip was Mystery. The Cadets hosted the thing and they did a skit in which the components of the S'mores were stolen. All off Saturday were events to help solve the mystery. They had a reveal on Saturday night. All three of Star, Orchid and Tulip were in the skit. Tulip was an adopted scout since her Brownie troop didn't go.

This weekend Star and Orchid went with Begonia and Pansy to see Les Miserables. They enjoyed it very much. I, Daisy, went to a meeting of our FRG (Family Readiness Group) while Gardenia and Tulip stayed home and watched movies.

Tomorrow is Peony's birthday so we are here at Peony's and Yarrow's house in Oak Lawn. Happy Birthday Peony.

Speaking of Peony and Yarrow, Greek Lent starts on 10 March this year and Greek Easter is 27 April, more than a month after "regular" Easter (23 March).

BTW the FRG is the group supporting the families of the 108th Sustainment Brigade HQ that just got deplyed to Iraq. The 108th is my old unit that I just retired from last May. I am the FRG Leader. There was some discussion about that since I'm not actually a Military spouse, but when I tried to step down I was outvoted.

Happy Birthday and Congratulations!

2008-02-06T02:55:00.000-08:00

This last Friday our little Orchard turned 12 years old! Shame on me for not posting that day and if you forgot to call, you are welcome to leave a happy birthday comment here.

This weekend we are going camping with the Girl Scouts. We'll be in a cabin and the theme of this "Camporee" is Mystery! We've written a mystery skit and the girls will be spending the weekend trying to find the thief and where she stashed the "loot."

We call it a Camporee because it is as many of the troops from our school as want to go. I think we have three troops.

Also, this Sunday we are going to meet with the Daughters of the American Revolution because Star won an essay contest they had. She gets to go and read her essay.

The theme of the essay was writing a letter as if you were a girl of the Revolutionary period. With all the historical fiction, Star reads she had no trouble coming up with material.

Hopefully she will let us post her composition here on Flowers of Mundelein.

Joke Number 3

2008-01-21T23:51:00.000-08:00

This is the third joke I've written that was specifically written as a "joke." All of them have been "clean."

The first was this:

How many Chicago Bears fans does it take to change a light bulb?
Four, one to change the bulb and three to compare it to the 1985 light bulb.

The second joke can be found on this post at Illini 6, my personal blog.

Now here, without further ado is Joke Number Three:

How did the librarian get into the Winter Olympics?
She was a champion Shh-er.

Well, it's probably one for all those first and second graders out there. Fortunately, I have several nieces and a nephew that may just be in the right age group to find this one funny.

Saturday 5 Jan 08

2008-01-07T00:39:00.000-08:00

I am writing this to you, dear reader on one of my Christmas gifts, a folding keyboard for my PDA.

Well, we had our first basketball game of the new year and we won, 27 to 8.

This must be starting to seem like a blog only about basketball. For that I apologize, but basketball is a nicely packaged topic. Also, I happen to be sitting at the 8th grade boys' game (right after our 8th grade girls' game) while writing this.

We also have two science projects going on. Star has been monopolizing our kitchen with her project on natural dyes. I don't think her hypothisis that artificial dyes are more effective is going to prove true.

Orchid is working on a project with water rockets. She is going to try to show that bottle rockets with water and air are more effective than water or air alone. She is going to shoot the rockets at a 45 degree angle and measure the time and distance. We are sort of waiting for the weather to get warm enough to do it.

Will write more later. Don't forget to participate in the poll.

Schools Back, Soon

2008-01-04T22:35:00.000-08:00

I've been quiet here, but soon school will begin again and I should have loads to talk about.

That's what the new poll is about, Christmas break and the impending resumption of school.

Our last poll only got two votes for what you got for Christmas. Come on, we can do better than that!

New Christmas Poll

2007-12-27T07:44:00.000-08:00

Our last poll ended with four votes for photo cards and one vote for other (I wonder what the other was).

Our new poll is about Christmas gifts. I think the poll is pretty self-explanitory, but if you have any questions just drop us a comment here.

I have put the deadline after the new year, becasue Granny Begonia is holding "Christmas" on New Year's Day this year.

You can chose more than one.

Boxing Day

2007-12-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we Mundeleinians (or is that Mundeleiners) took our semi (sort of, not every six months) annual Metra ride into the city to see the Christmas tree and Marshal Field's (hey, the still have the MF name on the State Street building and Tulip hates it when we even say the "M" word) windows.

The windows were not that impressive, but we liked the tree, and Star got to use the camera that Santa brought her.

Santa also brought Orchid a flute and Tulip a Barbie carriage. I don't know if Orchid's favorite gift is her flute or her iPod Nano. Tulip's favorite gift is most definetly her Leapster.

Star says she doesn't have a favorite gift, but she has already read the second two books in the Wereling series, and I think she is going to find that her cell phone will be her favorite.

Mommy Gardenia got some lovely jewelry and I got SO much that decorum prohibits listing them here. I think my favorite is my new friend Jill (the name they give the voice in my GPS).

This is my photo of the tree, I asked Star to write a post and post her photos today.

BTW, this was written on my PDA while riding the train home.

Christmas Stuff and Basketball Less Taken

2007-12-15T20:19:00.000-08:00

On Monday we went caroling at the Greek American Rehabilitation Center in Wheeling. It was very nice. All five of us went with the JOY (Junior Orthodox Youth) and GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth of America) from our church (Ascension of Our Lord Greek Orthodox Church). We walked up and down the halls singing and Star made a couple of new friends. We even sang one Greek song (well, I didn’t sing it as I don’t know the words or tune).

Tuesday everything was Ice Stormed out. No school, no band concert and no Greek school.

I used our brand new Cannon ZR800. Tulip’s Christmas concert was Wednesday morning and I got the whole thing on tape. She was very cute and really got into the movements for the songs. First graders can be so funny; they don’t have all the inhibitions in place yet.

Star’s basketball season is on hold until after the new year because of some scheduling conflicts. Wednesday night they didn’t do too well, losing 29 to 8. Star played pretty well and I managed to video tape some of the game. I ran out of battery at about half time because I hadn’t recharged it after Tulip’s concert.

Wednesday was Uncle Sweet Pea’s 40th birthday. Happy birthday Uncle Sweet Pea, and congratulations again to Granny Begonia (I always say that the mother does all the work and deserves all the credit for a birthday, since the baby is just along for the ride).

On Friday we had Girl Scouts and we made pretzels.

Ice? Day and New Poll

2007-12-12T01:59:00.000-08:00

No school, no concert, no nothing today. It was all called off because of the ice storm they expected that never really came.

We had work of course, that never changes, we always have work.

The Christmas wish list poll is over. Only three people voted. Electronics got three votes and everything else got one vote each. I hope everybody gets what they want.

New poll, what do you send out at Christmas time?

Granny Begonia (I gotta call you Granny, I'm calling Dad Pansy) sends out a typed letter (same one to everyone) along with a photo of sister Lavender.

My sister-in-law Daffodil's parents send out a similar letter with no photo.

We from Mundelein send out a photo card and have this little ole blog.

What do you send out?

Congrats to Brother Rose!

2007-12-08T09:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at Fort Rucker, AL my brother Rose graduated from the US Army Warrant Officer school. My dad, Papa Pansy, the retired Brigadier General pined his bar on.

Granny Begonia and sister Lavender went down with Papa Pansy for the occasion. Rose's Juniper and Jasmine were there too.

Rose will be home for a while before other Army commitments take him away again, including Military Intelligence Branch School. He's been a Secret Squirrel for a while, but now he needs to learn to be an Army Secret Squirrel and and officer Secret Squirrel.

Congrats again lil' bro!

BBall Record 3 and 3

2007-12-05T01:43:00.000-08:00

Ah, I remember it like it was yesterday: they wore blue, we wore white, we were at home, we scored a lot, they didn't.

You can see by the scoreboard that it was a blow out. They actually only made two baskets, the other point was from a free throw.

Our Stargazer Lily got fouled and had to shoot two free throws. From her reaction you'd've guessed that she committed the foul. She made one of the two. She got at least one other basket, several rebounds and several blocks.

It was a fun game. It was the game the scoreboard is from (note Star's number on the board, 50).

On Tuesday I had to take Tulip to Greek School so I couldn't make the game. We played the same school, but at their home gym. We won again, except it was 30-something to 20-something today. I'm glad, it would have been sad if we had beaten them as badly again.

On the way to Greek School, Tulip and I were listening to the School Of Rock CD in the Flowermobile. When it got to the line about "until the stars are falling," she asked if they meant asteroids.

I told her that it meant, "the end of time." She said, "but the circle of life goes on forever." I asked if we could please just listen to the song. She said, "Continue."

On the way home I offered to play an audio book. She said, "Yes, that will get some English into me."

Six year olds are so funny.

Basketball Record 1 and 3

2007-12-03T08:04:00.000-08:00

Star and her team had another disheartening loss Sunday. It was a wild, brutal and strange game that ended 33-22.

The team they played really manhandled our girls and were thoroughly thrashing them in the first half. They mugged our team in every way except to take their money and rarely got called for it.

There was shouting from our parents and it looked like the refs didn't know the rules about "pressing" when one team is ahead by a certain number of points. They looked it up at half time and found that the margin has to be 15. The other team was over that margin.

I saw when girls were hit in the face and a foul was called against them (on both sides).

The odd reffing (I won't say "bad" because I don't know the game well enough to tell) wasn't the only thing. Midway through the third quarter the other team suddenly stopped being able to make baskets, even when they had unopposed breakaway layups. Also there suddenly were full court passes going both ways. It looked like a Rugby game (for those readers who know the European style of kicking for field advantage).

Finally, our Stargazer Lily tried to make a basket at the buzzer and was fouled. The refs didn't let her take her two free throws. Our head coach yelled at the ref, the ref bumped into our coach and threatened to call the police. In the end I found out that that ref has refused to do anymore of our games.

Maintenance Day, Sort Of

2007-11-28T21:50:00.000-08:00

I (Daisy) got my haircut today and I managed to get the oil changed on the Flowermobile (that's the van, not the Gardeniacar).

Gardenia doesn't like my hair. She said that she waited 20 years for me to have hair and now that I'm retired she expects me to keep it long. It was driving me crazy though.

Oh well, next time I won't go so short.

The van was long over due (like my hair). Now I have to figure out a way to get the Gardeniacar in for maintenance.

I also ran out of time today, so no work out and no nap.

Happy Birthday Gardenia!

2007-11-25T21:31:00.001-08:00

Today, Sunday, November 25 was Gardenia's birthday.

We went out to dinner at Bob Chin's Crab House Saturday night. The younguns and I got her a digital frame that shows photos from a memory stick. We figured that she can use it for her new office.

Unfortunately no one called her except her mother and father (Yarrow and Poeny).

AND I just realized that we did not do her a cake! I'm going to have to really make it up to her.

1 and 2 Basketball Stats

2007-11-25T14:48:00.000-08:00

Well, Star fouled out yesterday in her team's loss 22-6.

She was robbed though because three of the fouls were fantom. She did get sent away early in the second half, after not playing the second quarter.

Unfortunately the other team wasn't being called for fouls that were blatant. They were tackling our girls, but never got called.

The good thing is that our team fought hard the whole time. They never gave up. I love to see that. I really don't care if they loose as long as they play with all their hearts and they did that yesterday.

I really hope they don't loose the chips on their shoulders.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-23T11:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! We are here in Mundelein today (and yesterday). Peony and Yarrow are here with us too. I (Daisy) went down to Oak Lawn to pick them up yesterday.

We called Begonia and talked to her at Ginger and Holly's. I hope she passed our Thanksgiving wish to everybody.

Everybody always asks me what the Christmas list is so I figured I'd post it here with everybody's Flower Name.

Pansy gives to Gardenia

Begonia gives to Daisy

Gardenia gives to Sweet Pea

Daisy gives to Daffodil

Sweet Pea gives to Rose

Daffodil gives to Juniper

Rose gives to Ginger

Juniper gives to Holly

Ginger gives to Marigold

Holly gives to Pansy

Marigold gives to Begonia

Trouble is, the list ends this year. I don't have one for next year. That's okay because I'd probably better update it for Marigold and Apple Blossom.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

A Basketball Game Won

2007-11-19T14:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Star had the second basketball game of the season. She is the tallest girl on the team by far. She is also the tallest of the two teams they have played so far.

As the tallest girl she is indispensable and her long arms block shots and passes like nobody's business. It is great to see her get aggressive out there (makes her Prop father proud).

Last year she was the first girl ever from her school to foul out. The coaches are fine with that. They say, "they give you the fouls, use them."

She is even better this year, she had no fouls in the first game and only two yesterday.

Enough of roughhousing, what was the score? Well, the intensity level was unbelievable from these girls. They usually are SO NICE that they almost seem apologetic when they win, like they offended the other team. But, yesterday they went out there and took the game.

They kept the other team from scoring a single basket through most of the first two quarters. At half time the other team had only made one 3 point basket, the score was 15 to 3. We parents were so excited that I took a photo of the scoreboard (it didn't turn out).

We ended the game with our Star getting 2 points, a bunch of blocks and a few rebounds.

The final score was 24-13! Hooray!!

Welcome to Flowers of Mundelein

2007-11-17T18:00:00.000-08:00

This is a blog to share the happenings and goings of our family, for the use and information of our family.

Each member of our house will have a "Flower" name to which they will be refered throughout the blog. If you know us you will know who is who.

When I figure out how, I'll be posting a "Flower" family tree with our extended family named in "flower."

In our house we have Daisy, Gardenia, Stargazer Lily (known as Star (she's a teenager, don't ask)), Orchid (not orchard Uncle Sweet Pea) and Tulip.