Local news

I am an employee of Schutt Sports, and one of the issues that our management team is considering is consolidation of our facilities. We currently have 4 facilities: 3 in Litchfield, IL and one in Salem, IL. As a way to make the company run better, moving everything under one roof has become an option. Schutt is asking for help from the city of Litchfield to help fund an expansion of one of our current facilities.

One of the important steps in this process is the question on the ballot on April 7. A website has been developed to explain why the passage of this proposition would be so beneficial to Litchfield: http://www.growlitchfield.com/


There have been several letters published in the local papers in support of the 1/2% increase in sales taxes. One of them is here. This is great!


So if you are a Litchfield resident and registered voter, vote YES on April 7. Thanks!

Cure for Cabin Fever

We've been enjoying the warmer weather here in central IL lately. Gavin & Ainsley love being outside, and Adrian & I love how well they sleep after a busy day outside. (We're seriously blessed to have such good sleepers, even when they haven't been outside!)

Gavin has been starting to spend more time on his bicycle. I'm hoping that we can take the training wheels off sometime this summer.

Ainsley had fun visiting with the neighbor girls. She is crawling everywhere, so there are times that I have to take her out of the stroller and let her crawl and explore...even if that means that she's crawling on the sidewalk or driveway. Clothes were made to be washed, right? Maybe this will encourage her to start walking sooner since dragging bare knees on concrete won't be a fun way to spend the summer.

We had our IFSP (Individualized Family Service Plan) meeting this week. We get together with the therapists and the service coordinator to review Ainsley's progress and re-work our goals for the next 6 months. Ainsley is doing great--learning to do all kinds of new tasks! Our goals for her include things like making more progress towards walking. She can walk with the assistance of a push-toy that we added some weight to, but she will not seek it out to help her get from point A to point B. She still prefers to crawl. That will change as she learns to walk faster, then figures out that she can get around faster by walking than by crawling.

Gavin sat at the table with us and reviewed the paperwork as the therapists presented their information. When he'd had enough of that, he went to the kitchen and recruited Miss Dana to help him make chocolate chai for our visitors. Such a sweetheart!

Adrian has been working hard on the Citizens for Growth committee. Litchfield has a proposal on the April 7 ballot about increasing the sales tax rate by .5%. You can read all about it at: www.growlitchfield.com I think that this is something that Litchfield desperately needs. Now we just have to convince the majority of the voters.

March Sonogram

On Tuesday, Adrian & I took Gavin to the sonogram. He's been excited about the baby lately, so we thought it would be fun for him to "see" her. She was active & gave the technician a run for her money. Cris is great at her job and was able to get everthing she needed and some great pics for us.

Here's one where the baby is "waving" at Gavin. He thought that was really neat!

On Wednesday, Stephanie and Mark had their first baby--Chase Wayne joined the world at 4:10 pm. He was 8 lbs. 3 oz. and 21" long. He's got a full head of black hair and blue eyes. With Mark's brown eyes, we're waiting to see if the blue holds on. Gavin & Ainsley went to see him that evening. Gavin was impressed and Ainsley didn't quite know what to make of all of it. Won't she be in for a shock when we bring home our bundle of joy in July?

It's a beautiful day here, so we're going to get out & enjoy it while we can.