Rainy Morning

Today is a dreary, rainy morning.  After soo many beautiful days lately it's tough to complain so we made the most of it and stayed inside to do a favorite project...homemade play-dough (see here for my recipe).  Millie has never made it before and they both enjoyed measuring, mixing etc.  I think they liked making it as much as playing with the finished product! 

Stirrin' things up - and being silly.

Millie squishing

(as you can see, she couldn't get by without a quick taste)

Noah deep in concentration.

This is a great learning project too...measuring, following directions/recipes, colors....and patience!
After naps we are planning a little puddle-jumping!
Hope you are enjoying your day, whether it be rain or shine! 

Whoa, that was a close one!

Ok, I know I haven't been good about posting this summer, but summers seem to be tough because we are ALWAYS on the move!  I have been collecting my pics to post in a few 'all encompassing' posts that I hope to get out there soon!  In the meantime, enjoy this little tidbit...

I was just upstairs confirming my to-do list for the day while Noah and Mille were peacefully playing downstairs (I love that they are both to a point where they can play independently for short periods of time without me having to hover over them).  Next thing I know I hear Noah say, "Whoa, Millie!  You are STINK-EEE!  Mommy!  Millie is stinky....her poop is green and very stinky!"  I say, "Okay Noah, I will be down there in just a minute, I need to finish my list quick..."  Then I think to myself, WAIT  how does he know it is GREEN?!?!?  I race downstairs to find Millie laid out on the living room floor, jammies off and diaper open.  Noah has a wipe in his hand and says..."Mommy look at this!  It is gross AND stink-eee!"

Yet another crisis averted....just in time!  I can only imagine what I could have walked down there too!  What even made him think to 'help Mommy' this time???  Who knows.

Splish - Splash

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend.  The kiddies were a little under the weather this weekend, but still managed to get some fishing and swimming in at Grandma and Grandpa K's house.

Millie was feeling a little better this morning so after walking Noah to school we took a detour on the way home at stopped across the street for a little run through the sprinklers.

She started out just putting her hands in the sprinkles...

She was soon over her shyness and started running right through the streams of water...

By the end she was pretty soaked and had no fear in getting up close and personal with the sprayer.

She squished all the way home.

We're Back...

We are back from our trip to Florida.  It was SUCH a wonderful trip we only wish we could have extended it another week!  The kids were so good and the weather was beautiful (nice and hot, but a good change from the soggy cold we have had in Chicago).  We had a couple things on our agenda while we were down there...a trip to Ft. Myers to visit family, a trip to the beach...and of course our visit to 'Mickey's Castle' (Noah's words for Disney World) and the rest of the days were filled with fun times at the amazing kiddie pools at our resort.  Here is a quick run-down of our trip:

Day 1

Left the house at 4:30am to make our 6:30am flight.

Arrived in FL in once piece - once there, we grabbed our luggage, rented our car and made it to our resort all in less than 1 hour...Jon and I make a great team!!!

Stocked up on groceries and other necessities for the week.

Went to the pool.

I placed a bet on Super Saver to win the Kentucky Derby...and WON!

Kids went to bed in the same room...and Millie in a 'big girl bed' (for the first time)...and loved it!

Jon and I pretty much hit the sack soon after...it had been a long, crazy, day.

Day 2

Lazy morning

Lazy day by the pool

The 'pirate pool'- it has two small slides on the other side.  Both kids enjoyed the slides!

Packed up and drove to Ft. Myers that evening

Had a great meal near Ft. Myers beach...including an icecream treat!

Day 3

Went to the pool with Aunt Verda while Jon and Uncle Dale played golf

Kids both took loooong naps that day...just about the only day they had naps!!

Another GREAT dinner at the Beachey house...thanks D & V!

Packed up and drove back to Orlando that evening.

Day 4

Lazy day at the pool

Day 5

DISNEY DAY!

Arrived at Disney World before the park opened to the public.

Had an early breakfast at the Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh and Friends.

Millie was not too sure about those huge, fuzzy characters - Noah loved them!

Headed straight to Mickey's house to meet him and Minnie

Met Goofy and Donald...they made Noah laugh...then Noah started breakdancing for them... on the ground...that made Goofy and Donald laugh!

Rode lots of rides

Shared ice cream

Rode more rides

Watched the Fireworks

Left the park at closing time

What a loooong, but wonderful and 'magical' day!

N & M's new best friends

Day 6

Recover from 'Disney Day'

More lazy-ness at the pool

(actually, the pool is anything but lazy with these two!)

Day 7

Drove to Cocoa Beach for a day of sun, sand and waves.  The kids loooved playing in the sand and the waves!  They would have stayed all day if we let them...we spent FIVE hours there!

Noah riding the waves

Millie exploring the sand

Day 8

Pack'em up and ship'em out.

Kids slept for half the flight home and overall, were very good!

Breakfast the morning we left...they insisted on eating ALL their meals outside!

It was so nice to have 100% family time for an entire week!  Jon and I have both been crazy with work lately, so time with our two favorite people was just what we needed to recharge and put things in perspective.  We all had such an incredible time and can't wait for our next family trip together!

Right now...

Right now I am sitting in the car downtown waiting for Jon to get out

of work so he can take the kids and Bowman to meet Bonnie (my mother-

in-law) who is keeping Bowman for the week while we are on a much

needed vacation (big thanks to B and R!) while I go home to finish

packing, wrap up the last of my outstanding orders and clean the

house. Noah has a crazy hat on and no shoes and is doing his fire

truck impression over and over and over. Millie has also taken off

her shoes, pulled one arm out of her shirt and is singing her 'pretty'

song...'pretty' loud! (if you have ever heard a cat fight, it sounds a lot like that). The sunroof is open, windows are down,

passersby are staring...or laughing...and I am giggling too.

Welcome to my crazy life.

Our Easter 2010

We had a nice Easter in Chicago this year.  Here are the highlights...

On Friday, we invited our neighbors down to color eggs with us.  It was crazy fun!  After the kids went to bed, we enjoyed a nice dinner...one of Jon's specialties...roasted lamb - delicious!

Millie looved dumping her eggs in the dye...most of them ended up with cracks on them, but who cared? 

N&M after church.

  Millie was pretty tired and this is Noah's standard 'smile' when we say...'Noah, smile!' 

Real nice Noah. 

The only way we can get him to smile is to tell a knock knock joke...

After the knock knock joke.

Hunting for eggs in the front yard.

Noah finds one in the tulips.

Millie managed to find a few...even after Noah pretty much 'cleared the field'

After their hunt, they both sat on the sidewalk and worked on peeling their eggs.  This kept them busy for at least 15 minutes...now I know how to entertain them when I need to get things done...bring on the eggs!

More concentrating...Bowman keeping watch.

Although they look so innocent with their eggs...the moment was not without a little rivalry.  A couple times Noah caught Millie stealing an egg from his bucket.  He was not too happy, but in Millie's defense...he had 90% of the eggs!!

I hope everyone had as wonderful an Easter as we had.

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful morning!

Dancing Machines

I LOVE to dance.  Sometimes I dance to be silly.  Sometimes to squeeze in a little exercise in a hectic day (like chasing my two monsters isn't enough!).  Sometimes in front of the mirror when I am getting ready for a fun night out.  And sometimes to make me feel (even if for a short moment) like I am 24 again.  Regardless of when or why I dance, I love it and I am sooo happy that my kids share this love!  On most friday nights you will find my family in the dining room cuttin' some rug to our favorite tunes played by none other than DJ Daddy Dad.  Both Noah and Millie truly enjoy hopping, swinging and spinning around.  Millie seems to take it one step further...she loves to lift her leg like a ballerina (a move she picked up last December from watching a glimpse of the Nutcracker...aparently the Sugar Plum Fairy left an impression!).  She will stop anytime, anywhere to do her perfect arabesque...once to lift her right let, then again to lift her left!

So based on all this, it was no surprise when the kids were thrilled when they noticed we had Dancing with the Stars on two nights ago.  Noah has not stopped talking about how he wants Mommy and Daddy to be on the show and he will sit in the audience and watch.  Man - I would LOOOVE the opportunity to be on that show!! ...first, just need to find a way to be famous, ha!  So this morning he started talking about it again and decided to put Millie's tutu on her...I could hear him talking to her through the monitor..."Millie, hold still, step in, you are going to be a beautiful ballerina and I am Knight Noah!"  Seriously...did he just say that?  Next thing I know they are in the dining room doing their 'fancy dance' (Noah's words, not mine :o).  It was a nice change from our usual crazy breakdancing and booty shaking!  Aaahhh, the memories!

My little veggie lover!

I had to post a quick picture of Millie.  This girl will eat just about any veggie you put in front of her.  Here she is eating a piece of FROZEN broccoli...and loving it!  Sometimes I have to get creative (or desperate) to get her to stop squawking while I make dinner...

Broccoli Pops anyone?

A tasty treat!

Millie and I were running errands this morning and had a little time to spare while we were waiting for some locks to be keyed.  We stopped into one of my favorite breakfast places for a quick treat - Ann Sather.  I haven't had these cinnamon rolls in YEARS!  Jon and I used to frequent the Clark Street location (no longer there, boo) when we lived in Lincoln Park, but today we visited the Southport location.  Millie and I split one of their famous cinnamon rolls (okay, actually she had about 4 bites and I devoured the rest) and we brought one home for Jon and Noah to have for dessert tonight.  Delicious!

Millie couldn't shove her little bites in fast enough!

My little book worms

After lunch I usually try to clean up quickly before Millie and Noah get into playing with something only to have me pull them away minutes later for naptime.  Well, today while I was rinsing the dishes I realized it was pretty quiet...too quiet.  That usually means I will find the hallway covered in toilet paper, two soaking wet kids playing in the sink, a mountain of pillows on my bed with N & M burried at the bottom, or any one of  a million new messes they happen to come up with that day. 

Well, much to my surprise, this is what I found...

Two little book worms.

It was so quiet I could almost hear the gears spinning in their little heads!  LOVE it!

Although I was slightly surprised, this is a sight I have been seeing very often lately.  Millie loves books and Noah really wants to be able to read...really read...not just look at the pictures and make up the story (eventhough he does like to do that too).  Millie does well with recognizing objects in books by name, pointing to them and trying to say the words while Noah is working on putting the sounds of his letters together to pronounce the words.  I guess that is what I get for reading a naptime story and bedtime story to each of them everyday since they were 2-3months old...I only hope their love of reading and learning lasts the rest of their lives!

A December to Remember.

In 'Typical Tonya' fashion, I have been neglecting my blog.  The longer you are away from posting, the harder it is to get back into it!  I have been putting off posting my December to Remember post because I wanted to wait until I had time to sit down and write down every detail, every memory, etc....and in the meantime I am missing new memories... so here is a summary of our December.

Before December 1st even arrived I was in a race against myself and the clock.  I signed myself up to be a vendor at a nearby Holiday Fair to sell my custom stationery, labels, invites, etc.  I had never participated in anything like this before and had no idea what to expect, nor did I realize the time commitment it would entail.  Whoa was I in over my head, but with a little (okay, a LOT) of help from my husband and some great friends, I managed to pull it off and I was pretty happy with the outcome.  It was by NO means a money maker (I didn't even break even), but I can't quantify the benefit of what I learned.  Anyway, because of my attention to this project, I was behind on everything else I needed and WANTED to do for the holidays, but everything worked out and we had a wonderful Christmas.  I hope everyone who reads this blog (if there is anyone left out there!) had a very merry Christmas too!

Me at the Ascension Holiday Fair selling my 'wares.'

I think this was actually in November (oops)...we took the kids to the Circus.  Millie lasted for about this first 20mins and that was probably only because she likes popcorn, ha!  Noah enjoyed it though and said his favorite part were the clowns.  To me, the clowns were no big deal since I spend everyday with two of the silliest clowns I know!!!

Family picture at the Circus. 

Not the greatest picuture, but you take what you can get when you are at the mercy of a stranger.

An unsuspecting Millie is about to take a big snowball to the back of the head!  Good thing she's tough.

This was one of our first big snowfalls.  Millie and Noah both really enjoy playing in the snow...so does Bowman.  He loves to rip through the back yard and make the snow fly!

Millie helping Mommy do a little shopping.  I usually don't let her ride in the big area of the cart, but you do what you have to to get the shopping done sometimes...peacefully!!

The only decent picture I have of Noah's Christmas program at school.  We took good video, thank goodness!  Don't ask me why he is standing in front of the rest of his class...he kept turning back and forth trying to hit the poor girl's candle to his left while singing 'This little light of mine.'

Millie and Noah after opening gifts at Grandma and Grandpa B's house.

Christmas Eve at our house.

Millie with her new kitchen and frying pan...look out Noah!

Noah and Santa at the K Family Christmas.  Noah LOVES Santa! 

He just opened the wallet Santa brought for him.

Noah and Millie after opening gifts at Grandma and Grandpa K's house.

Millie really needs to learn to 'watch her back!'

I am so looking forward to the year ahead.  As you can tell just from our December picutures, I am blessed to be the crazy mom of two little 'characters' and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us!
Also, thanks for being patient with me while I get my act together and start posting again...

Our Christmas Tradition

This weekend we continued our tradition of cutting down our own Christmas tree.  This year was a little different than the last three though...there wasn't snow on the ground yet, but we decided we didn't want to wait for Mother Nature to cooperate.  Also, every year we go with intentions of getting a smaller tree (living in the city means our space is very limited) and every year we come back with a huge tree that we swear must have grown two feet in both directions on our way home.  We usually have to cut off part of the back side and a few inches of the trunk to allow it to fit in our dining room.  This year was different.  We chose the PERFECT tree.  The size is just right!  We also wasted no time picking it out which is usually a challenge all of its own.  Jon and I are both pretty particular, but I am TERRIBLE at making decisions.  I have to make sure I have measured ALL my options before I feel I can make an educated decision, but this year I bet we found our victim, er, I mean tree in less than 10 mins...now I just have to get the lights on it and get it decorated!

Our family picture. 

Not the greatest pic, but that is what happens when you are at the mercy of a stranger :o )

That is our tree behind us - before the cut.

Bowman is a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog.  He is bred to pull, so his Christmas 'treat' is to pull our tree back to the car every year.  Although he looks a little hesitant in this picture, I assure you he loves it!  Noah is excited to race Bowman.

Bowman at work.

Millie loves to have Noah pull her in the wagon.  Surprisingly, she sits still!

And Noah loves to pull his little sis.

The three amigos.

(I wish I could say the kids are so good at posing for pics and that is how I was able to get them both looking in the same direction - which NEVER happens, but they were actually looking at the tree as it fell off the top of the car!  I just got lucky.)