Escape to Chicago

A few weeks ago my friend Dana Lee called and said she had tickets to the Oprah Winfrey show and wanted to know if I was interested in going. I thought, "Why not?" So, I left on Wednesday, Sept 10th. After landing at Midway, I had to take a few trains to get to where Dana's mom and aunt were waiting for me. When we finally met up, we headed to Navy Pier where we did some shopping while we waited for the other girls (there were 8 of us all together) to arrive.

The next day was the Oprah show! There was a LOT of waiting, but finally we were ushered into the studio. The show was on breast cancer and will air Sept 30th. Christina Appplegate, Maima Karmo (breast cancer survivor and founder of the Tiger Lilly foundation) and Nancy Brinker (President of the Susan G. Komen foundation) were Oprah's guests. We didn't know what the show was about beforehand, but luckily I wore pink! There were many breast cancer survivors there. It was very humbling to be among them. It was a great experience. I don't think I'll end up on tv--I ended up behind one of the cameras--and for that I was grateful. Who wants to end up on national television when you are pregnant? Not me! Everyone has asked me what Oprah was like--I thought she acted just like she does on tv.

Here we are eating at Avec restaurant. It was delicious. The food was Mediterranean.

OK, so this was my first experience with the American Girl store. I could not believe all of the hoop-lah over these dolls. This is a restaurant where you can lunch with your doll. . .

leave her to get her hair done while you shop. . .

or if she gets injured, she goes to the hospital! Could not relate at all to this. Hopefully Raegan won't be able to relate in a few years either.

Friday night we went to Wicked. It was FABULOUS. It is coming to Phoenix this next summer, and I can't wait--we already have tickets. :) The rest of the time we shopped, ate out and took a architectural cruise on the river around the city. It rained Friday and Saturday, and I LOVED it. I'm sure I was the only one, but when you live in a desert, you learn to love the rain! I had a WONDERFUL time while I was gone. Mucho thanks to Heather, my mom, Julie Spilsbaby and my most wonderful husband. We celebrate four years of wedded bliss this week. I love you!

metrosexual

This morning I made a startling discovery--I am married to a metrosexual. Now, mind you, he does not get manicures or pedicures (although if you ever saw his feet you would recommend an overhaul), but when I went to wake him up for church this morning (yes, a "motherly" duty and I HATE it but let's face it, when you want your family to get to church on time sometimes you have to be a little assertive :) his face was totally covered in white stuff. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Blake went to bed with a mask on! And what's even better--while he was shaving he told me how much of a better shave he gets if he does his "mask". I wonder what will be next in his transformation--getting his hair colored, day trips to the spa or maybe he'll want one of Julie Spilsbury's pedicures. I hear she does a great job with the ped egg she bought at Walgreen's. I should have taken a picture of the "mask" for evidence, but I was feeling pity on the poor guy. Next time, I'll capture the moment. :)

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Okay, this is Blake;  I have to defend myself.  Last night I was practicing for Halloween - I'm planning on becoming Dracula for the holiday.  So, instead of applying make-up, I figured I would take the manly approach of applying a non-toxic shaving aid which at the same time exfoliates the skin.  By using this mask I get a cleaner and more masculine shave which the ladies love.  I will post more "better shaving" tips later in my "Mountain Man Online Shaving Guide".

:)

runaway bun buns

This is what I saw in my backyard this evening and had to capture it. Some of us just love the skin we're in. :) Who lets their child run around in the backyard naked? I do! Isn't it great?!

First day of playschool

Well, we decided to put Raegan in "school." She goes twice a week for two hours at a time. She really needs a sibling (working on that one), so in the meantime we thought it would be good for her to interact with other children and learn to share (which she is not very good at) and not be so bossy (wonder who she got that from--shame on you, Blake!). We thought playschool would be perfect, and so far, so good. She even brought something on the first day for "show-and-tell" (her Ariel flip flops which she has yet to master walking in) and told her friends about them. A couple of her cousins also attended the same playschool, so the program/teacher come highly recommended. Hopefully this will be a good thing for her and help get her ready for a new sibling (yeah, right). She is officially a "Spuhler Sprout". I will put a link to the school's blog for you die-hard Raegan fans. :)
Here she is on her first day. She was so excited to be able to go to school like her cousins!

Labor Day Fun

We spent a fun Labor Day weekend at the Gustafson Family cabin. Of course, Blake got sick and it took us six hours to make the two and a half hour drive home, but in spite of all of that, we had a great time. Traffic was HORRIBLE--it took us 30 minutes to travel four miles just outside of Payson. I thought I was going to lose my mind! We also had a flat tire, surprise, surprise. However, we were very blessed in that some guy pulled up next to us a mile just before a rest area and told us, so we were able to change the flat in the rest area. Wouldn't you know, the spare was flat, but we had a little pump that pumped up the tire and we were on our way at 50 mph for the rest of the trip. Yippee! ( I would highly recommend one of those pumps--it plugs into the power outlet in your car.)

Here are a few photos from our trip:

Raegan's first experience shucking corn

and eating it raw.

She loved it!


Her first time holding a sparkler--so fun!



We sang songs around the campfire and Raegan had her first s'more (with "marshpillows").


Thanks to Uncle Ryan for bathing those sticky, camp-firey smelling kids!