Gearing up for the Holidays!

We had a very nice Thanksgiving, now we head into my favorite time of the year!  Thanksgiving this year was filled with lots of cute boys, food, and family.  We got all cleaned up and headed out to my parents place in Burr Ridge first.

 It was a very relaxing lunch with Josh, Kjersten, Bamma, and Bampa.  There were some legos and some intense Uno.

 We headed over to Chicago Ridge for another meal with the Rodriguez/Mioni crew.  Great time with cousins!

 The weekend after Thanksgiving, the big two had dentist appointments after which we headed for a quick trip to the zoo.  It was neat to see a lot of Christmas trees.  Sam found a Dr. Seuss one!

 And there was this behemoth near the entrance of the zoo!

We started a new tradition, driving to the house with the lights synced to music in our jammies.  This house really is incredible with lights that flash to the beat of Christmas music on the radio.  It's amazing and really put us in the holiday mood!

Noah had the honor of putting the star on top of our tree this year!

Bamma's project this week, chocolate covered marshmallows that became reindeer!

On Friday we zoomed to the mall right after school to miss the lines and see the fat man!  Turned out pretty good, smile from the big two and no tears from the little one!  Noah asked for an Iron Spiderman toy, Sam asked for a toy Zoomer (robot dog).

Job well done, my little elves!

 This weekend brought some holiday cheer with grown up cousins!

 I took the older ones to Josh and Kjersten's holiday party.  We played "guess the character" game, Sam was fittingly The Grinch.

 Jello shots!? (of course these were virgin ones!)

The picture doesn't quite do justice to the GIANT ornaments Brian and Dan brought.  They are in the tree, at least 2-3 feet long!

 Also this week, we got Sam's school pictures.  The class one is hilarious!

 The individual shot is pretty awesome!

So, here we come Christmas, we just can't wait!

Thankful for this family!

Well, I've been a little quite this month.  No specific reason, just life!  After the madness of the beginning of school, soccer season, and Halloween, it's been nice to settle into a calmer month.  We've had some great family time, one Sunday with a little face paint on each other!

 Our smallest seems to be asserting himself more and more these days.  He is definitely the most purposely naughty one of the bunch!

 And he's been in a fierce 'mama, mama, mama!" stage, which can be a bit dramatic.

 We spent some reading program reward cards at Rainforest Cafe...

 And the big two started Karate!  It's great, really close to our house and they are in the same class!

 First measurable snow of the season and you'd better believe we were out there!

 Karate prep close up!

 Today (Sunday) we went to see Big Hero 6!  Josh and Kjersten joined Noah, Sam, Mike and me while Bamma and Bampa stayed home with a napping Isaac.

So, upward and onward to more fun!  Looking forward to a week free from school (for the boys) and some good Thanksgiving eats!

Halloween 2014

Halloween was a success around here.  Unlike some years where I feel like Halloween dragged on and on, this year was a nice and compact week of fun.  Our nanny was unexpectedly sick on Thursday, so I was "forced" to stay home and take Sam to his party.  He was very excited to be a storm trooper (the blue one, Rex).

His class was adorable, check out Ditka next to him!

 Mrs Sue and Mrs Meghan were witches!

 They sang some cute songs, I was really glad I was able to go.

Halloween arrived on Friday and someone was happy and someone was grumpy, can you guess?

Noah came home for lunch and was transformed into GHOST RIDER!

 He returned to school with a toy figure to show folks who he was.

 My mom came to watch the other two so I could go to Noah's school for the parade and party!

 In front of him you see Deven, our neighbor, as Elsa.

 Class picture with Mrs. Henry, who was a bunch of french fry sight words!

Some yummy food, it was a wonderful time!

 Back home we managed to get everyone in costume for one photo op!

 Little Dino man opted out of Trick or Treating because it was SO cold and windy.  He stayed home with Bamma and Bampa to hand out candy!

 Mike and I took the older two across the street to meet up with Elsa and Anna to go trick or treating.

 The kids lasted pretty long (an hour) considering the cold and hauled away LOTS of candy!

 We ended the night curled up on the couch watching a Curious George movie, it was a spooktacular day!  HAPPY HALLOWEEN!