Chicago

Sorry grandparents, no pics of our kids in this one, but there is a baby so you can get a fix just the same. Last week I went to Chicago to visit my dear friend Suz who recently gave birth to Maggie Grace. As you can see below she was the star of the show while we were there, full of personality, such a sweetie.


These pics, uploaded small for some reason, I'm not savvy enough to fix them, but you can still get an idea of what we did. Chi is a great city, would love to go back when it's not covered in snow!
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1- Tina (my trusty traveling partner) in front of the snow & ice covered lake at Navy Pier.
2-We had breakfast at Toast, yummy stuffed french toast!
3- Met up with some Ravencresters that we hadn't seen in forever, one of them my old roomie!
4- Chicago Style Pizza
5- Excited about Chicago style pizza
6- We went to Marshall Fields to buy Frango Mint Chocolates, they had chocolate shampoo!
7- T, Me & Suz...a great time, with dear ones.


We took sampling Oberwiess Ice Cream very seriously, Chocolate Almond Shake, extra thick, enough said.


The happy little fam and our gracious hosts.

*photos by tina (except for what she's in of course:)

little bit of snow

So I must confess that a few weeks ago I entered a few posts without actually publishing them, and this one is definitely outdated. For one, it's starts out by saying...."last Saturday" which of course isn't true anymore; two, we have gotten so much more snow since then, it's still on the ground and more of a thick layer of ice now. But last weekend the kids did get to play in the real snow with their cousins as well as go for snowmobiling rides with daddy. You may desire to see pictures of these events, but I wasn't there to record the memories. I was in Chicago visiting dear friends with a dear friend. Perhaps I'll share pics of that trip next time. For now enjoy this "older" entry.

Last Saturday we had a little bit of snow (but most thus far) and the kids were excited to go out and play in it. They had grand plans of snowmen, snowball fights, and snow forts. So we bundled up went outside and maybe five minutes later were back inside for hot chocolate. I think they ended up being more excited about getting cozy with a cup of hot cocoa than anything else. My kids for sure!

Mirror Fun

imagine if there were two!

a ballerina takes pause

Friends passed down a leotard with attached tutu to E the last time we were at their house for dinner. It has been the outfit of choice ever since. One morning when we just didn't make it to the gym, we did some ballet together. When we were done, E was kind enough to allow me to photograph her in a resting state. She loosened up at the end as you can see. By the way the bow on her head is an accessory that she added herself.

hanging out

It's been fun lately to see J & E play with one another more. Yes there is still the provoked scream or two between them, but overall they really seem to enjoy each other's company.

I have discovered her like this a couple times. She sneaks out of bed to put on some ballerina or princess dress up clothes and then falls asleep. If she doesn't do this before she goes to sleep, it is often that she gets gussied up before coming downstairs from her nap.

We have the pleasure of cousin Ella hanging out with us at least a couple days a week. Today her and E were playing and Ella decided she was going to "take a bath" in this can (that we normally keep the balls in) and E was the baby in her seat. They love to be silly girls.