More July 5th

After the farmer's market we went down to Steph's school to see her in action. It's summer school season, so she had only 5 kids to handle. When we got there they were reading over a story book she had put together.


She had prepped the kids for our visit by making picture cards of us. She had each kid say, "Hello, my name is...", although sometimes they don't know what to say after that.


We brought supplies to make pigs in a blanket-- cocktail franks, crescent rolls, and American cheese. Each kid made at least one and Brad served as toaster-oven-king and got things cooking. While we waited for them to be done we sat around the table and wrote sentences. Lucas decided to rock on the floor and repeat the word, "Ohl" over and over. Lamont repeated "THREEGUMMYBEARS!" for ten minutes straight. Christal squealed and shrieked. Nate scowled and grumped pretty much the whole time. Joey tried to pinch the other kids and make them run away. "We don't pinch our friends," was Steph's mantra.


The whole experience was really eye-opening. First, I can't imagine what it is like to be the parent of one of these kids. It really broke my heart to consider their pain, their loss of a dream, the struggle they go through every day. Second, I had had enough after an hour and a half. I have no idea how Steph does it day in and day out. There are special places in heaven for people with her patience and compassion.

After school we went to see Steph's cute flat. She lives on the second floor of this cute building, in a place replete with gorgeous molding and architectural details.


It's also verrrrry close to the El train tracks. As in, keep your arms and legs close by so they remain attached.


Next we walked to Chipotle for lunch. Ah, the anticipation...


... and the reward. We got burrito "bols" as the flour tortillas are super high in calories and fat, and we didn't miss the tortillas at all. More room for rice and chicky. Yum.


Then we went to the Crate and Barrel outlet to buy another set of dishes. Oh, how I love this store.


Then we headed up north to Dad's house.


We got reacquainted with Miles the cat, whom I miss terribly but can't breathe around any longer. We all went out to Max and Erma's (yes, again) for burgers. Yum.


We spent the rest of the evening organizing mom's storage and running to Ace Hardware and Home Depot. Brad actually did the work while Mom and I chatted and got eaten up by mosquitoes.