Happy Halloween from Gru and his Minion!
It's been pouring down rain all day, but 1 out of 6 Halloweens to get rained on isn't too bad. James still went out trick or treating, but Claire and I stayed home to hand out candy.
Showing posts with label James. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James. Show all posts
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
Desert Wedding
In March James, Claire and I went to Arizona for my cousin Andie's wedding. I am proud to say that I flew with both kids all by myself and everyone made it there and back in one piece! Thank goodness for the invention of the iPad.
We took the kids to a rodeo (that we missed last year when I was there on maternity leave). James and Tessa rode sheep in the mutton bustin' contest! Tessa went first and did awesome. James was second, and was barely hanging on as he came out of the shoot :) I don' think he has much of a future on the mutton bustin' circuit.
Traditional pony rides were a much safer bet!
The wedding was held outdoors at a private home. The reception, however, was hosted by my sister and brother-in-law. It was so generous of them to open up their home and backyard to all the guests. Aside from the weather being COLD (thank goodness for the new outdoor fireplace), it was a beautiful wedding. It was so fun to hang out with all of my aunts and my cousins Fawn and Meredith who came in from L.A. and FL!
That baby girl loves her Papa! He was the only one that could hold her all weekend. Even still, she asks for him every time she sees the phone.
The next day we all went out hiking. Claire was exhausted and looks like she's going to fall out of the carrier, but she was fine.
We took the kids to a rodeo (that we missed last year when I was there on maternity leave). James and Tessa rode sheep in the mutton bustin' contest! Tessa went first and did awesome. James was second, and was barely hanging on as he came out of the shoot :) I don' think he has much of a future on the mutton bustin' circuit.
Traditional pony rides were a much safer bet!
Honey is so much fun! She had those kids spinning and spinning and spinning.
The wedding was held outdoors at a private home. The reception, however, was hosted by my sister and brother-in-law. It was so generous of them to open up their home and backyard to all the guests. Aside from the weather being COLD (thank goodness for the new outdoor fireplace), it was a beautiful wedding. It was so fun to hang out with all of my aunts and my cousins Fawn and Meredith who came in from L.A. and FL!
The next day we all went out hiking. Claire was exhausted and looks like she's going to fall out of the carrier, but she was fine.
These two are BFF's, they have such a great time together!
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Kindergartener
Today is the first day of kindergarten. There were no tears, I barely got a hug when I left. He is so ready for this, and we are ready for him to take this step to the "big school". Mrs. LeGrand is his teacher, 19 kids in his class. I'm picking him up at 12:30 and we're having a fun afternoon together, just the two of us.
Monday, August 19, 2013
December Recap
I'm going to get this blog updated if it kills me! Let's go in our time machine back to December. Our lives will forever be insane between Thanksgiving and Christmas due to two major holidays and both kids birthdays falling within 5 weeks. On top of that I also hosted our December "girls night" at our house in early December. I learned that James' birthday parties need to be celebrated before the calendar flips to December, and I won't be hosting any additional get-togethers going forward to maintain some sanity! I did successfully keep Christmas under control this year using the "Want/Need/Wear/Read" gift categories plus one from Santa. Santa did have a momentary lapse in judgement by waiting in line at Target (with hundreds of other crazy people) on Thanksgiving night to make sure he had the gift James really wanted under the tree Christmas morning. Luckily Santa was in a perfect spot in line to score one of the last THREE Nintendo 3DS. Santa thinks that even if Amazon costs a little bit more that it is well worth his time and money. Santa also had to run out on an emergency shopping trip a couple days before Christmas due to a custom ordered doll (placed in OCTOBER) still not showing up. That very special doll showed up around March, and is being kept in a safe location for this year.
We missed the Santa visit the village hosts this year (pretty sure it conflicted with nap time), but luckily our friends have a direct line to Santa and he showed up at our neighborhood happy hour!
Contrary to what my pictures show, Honey and Papa joined us for Christmas this year! We must have been having way too much fun that day, because I hardly have any photos : (
The day after Christmas more guests started arriving, in anticipation of Claire's first birthday! We were happy to have Aunt Kelly, Uncle Scott, Tessa and Asher stay with us the rest of the week. We kicked Honey and Papa out to a hotel, and took advantage of the indoor swimming pool.
We captured a pic of all of us the last night we were all together. Pretty impressive considering we used a timer!
The week after Christmas was very hectic. We had my entire family, plus Chris' parents and sister Laura and her family in town (although they also stayed at the hotel). I spent most of the time cooking and cleaning, cooking and cleaning, and doing that some more. It is hard work hosting 11 people over multiple days! But it was all worth it to have them here to celebrate with us. For most of the year it is just us here in Chicago. Our kids see their grandparents a few times a year, and cousins even less than that. Family gatherings are few and far between for us, as it just isn't possible to spend every holiday together. So the times when we do have them here, I want it to be perfect...or close to it. And I make myself insane because it just isn't possible :) So I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. I won't commit to doing this every year, but everyone is always welcome to visit!
Separate post coming for Claire's birthday - I may have taken a couple pictures.
We missed the Santa visit the village hosts this year (pretty sure it conflicted with nap time), but luckily our friends have a direct line to Santa and he showed up at our neighborhood happy hour!
Obligatory crying child picture on Santa's lap
But she's happy with her gift!
Contrary to what my pictures show, Honey and Papa joined us for Christmas this year! We must have been having way too much fun that day, because I hardly have any photos : (
The day after Christmas more guests started arriving, in anticipation of Claire's first birthday! We were happy to have Aunt Kelly, Uncle Scott, Tessa and Asher stay with us the rest of the week. We kicked Honey and Papa out to a hotel, and took advantage of the indoor swimming pool.
Tessa slept in James' room
We captured a pic of all of us the last night we were all together. Pretty impressive considering we used a timer!
The week after Christmas was very hectic. We had my entire family, plus Chris' parents and sister Laura and her family in town (although they also stayed at the hotel). I spent most of the time cooking and cleaning, cooking and cleaning, and doing that some more. It is hard work hosting 11 people over multiple days! But it was all worth it to have them here to celebrate with us. For most of the year it is just us here in Chicago. Our kids see their grandparents a few times a year, and cousins even less than that. Family gatherings are few and far between for us, as it just isn't possible to spend every holiday together. So the times when we do have them here, I want it to be perfect...or close to it. And I make myself insane because it just isn't possible :) So I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. I won't commit to doing this every year, but everyone is always welcome to visit!
Separate post coming for Claire's birthday - I may have taken a couple pictures.
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