Bucket List------Check!

Oh the joys of motherhood, dirty diapers, runny nose and trips to the zoo with kids. But then they turn 19, and the joys become a plane ride, museums, deep dish pizza and Macy's.

I started myself a mental bucket list.....and several items include sharing some of my favorite things with David and the kids. Chicago is one of my favorite cities and Stephen is the last Bass family remember to experience it.

I was taking a chance booking $39 one way air-fares for January 4th. It could be snowing, raining, sleeting or just plain freezing. But it just so happen to be cold but not unbearable and a little bit of sun shine. The next week they got a lot of snow.One of the reasons I like Chicago so much is that you don't have to have a car at all. The public transportation system is enough to do plenty if you don't mind adding a little walking.

Stephen turned 19 and might have been a little old for the science museum but he was a good sport. One of the more interesting exhibits was part history and science. The exhibit was the submarine that the US captured in WWII.

Turning 19 usually does not have many milestones but sharing Stephen's birthday in Chicago was fun for me. Stephen has a lot of milestones in his life. One being that he is 6'5" tall. He is a sweet boy and has great compassion. It was a joy to check off one of my bucket list with him!

Camping or Puzzling???

When I was a young Mom, I read where there were two activities that helped with family time: Camping or doing puzzles. Having four children under the age of 6, camping seemed like a nightmare. At some point, I begin buying a puzzle during Christmas time. Last year it was a round puzzle. This year was a glitter puzzle.


Now how does one get her children to put together a puzzle? Put most of it together. Then as the puzzles takes shape, they like to add and finish it. But the hard part (the beginning) is always done by Mom.




But the fun part is as the friends come in and out, they begin to work on the puzzles. Sometimes there is conversations and sometimes not. Then they come in and say "Hey, that puzzle is coming along". Or they come in and say " Mrs. Bass, you know that puzzle will not fit on your card table?" Yes, I had bought a puzzle online. I bought it for its glitter! A Chicago Glitter puzzle. I did not read the measurements. I even had ask David to buy me a card table as an early Christmas present for the puzzle.


But I keep working knowing somehow we would get it all together. And at the last minute, we added the ironing board to the table and "Wha..la" the entire puzzle was together.



Good tradition and Better than camping in my book.

Simply Having a Wonderful Winter Time...

What happens when company comes, college boys come home and cold weather enters the Boro atmosphere.....a day to indoor ice skate....

First time on the Ice for Stephen...but by the end he was trying to ice skate backwards and trying a few jumps....

Jason wore his Christmas hat and was easy to spot with the other 1,000 people who thought ice skating would be fun on Jan 2nd.

Caroline took to the ice slowly but very well by the end of the day and she had to ice skate after a 2 hour basketball practice....

It begins at IHOP

Christmas season comes and some things are always different and some of the same. Christmas Eve breakfast at IHOP has been a tradition for 5-7 years now. They were all in school together then they went to different high schools and now there are some in college. One thing is the same....there are 4 Bass kids and 4 Newman's plus some extras....

Another Last time....

Senior year is here again. And we have ended another Cross Country Career. Katie Ann has ran for three years on the Varsity Cross Country team. All three years, she has been a member of the the team that has run in the Tennessee State Meet. Her first year she ran with her brother and the last year she shared it with Caroline. Cross Country is a great Sport and has a great bunch of kids running.

Of Course having a great coach who can train you to run your best potential helps. Coach Young is one who knows what he is doing and can help you achieve your goals.

The traditional Senior gift with Katie Ann's jersey , picture and PR (personal record ) engraved in a glass case. Now it is Caroline's turn!

Dress up

Here we are in Murfreesboro Tennessee and our boys are living in Auburn. At a school with 22,000 students. They both end of dressing up on the same night for the same event. Makes a mom smile. And they look good even without Mom there to make sure.