Make a Smilebox slideshow

A Day Downtown

A couple weeks ago we rode the train into downtown Chicago. From the train station we walked to Navy Pier (about 2.5 miles). We were walking through this big park near the waterfront when we came upon this sign:
So much for being a park! Are they serious? It was a huge piece of grass; now I know why no one was on it.
The following picture was taken inside a conservatory next to the Children's Museum.

Pictures of the city taken from the pier. You can't tell, but it was really windy that day. However, the sun did feel good. We hadn't had very many sunny days until then.

It was a good day and Tony and I got lots of exercise!

Hello Again!

Facebook or Blogspot? Hmm, that's a tough choice. I really don't have time for both, so I'm afraid both with suffer.
Those of you who know me, know that I am not a long winded person. So, if you have questions or want to know more after reading this post just let me know. :)
I haven't posted anything since February. Yikes! The end of March I went to Oregon to visit my family! It had almost been 2 years since I had seen them; needless to say I was going through major withdrawl! No, that's not true. I think at that point you start to forget how much you miss them. It was my dad's sixtieth birthday and we wanted to get all his kids together for a surprise party. Boy was he surprised! I thought he might have a heartattack. It was wonderful to see everyone! I mentioned to my sister Jodi that I wished there was an inexpensive way to do this once a month; to which she replied, "that's all you need huh?" Well, of course I wish we could see each other every day, but you gotta start somewhere right? The plan is to get together every year for a camping trip.
I'm still working for One Source Equipment Rentals doing accounts payable. I work in a small office of 5 people and it recently got reduced to 4. It's sad that someone had to lose their job, but I am greatful it wasn't me. They were also able to pass along some of the savings and gave me a raise. I am truly blessed!
My calling at church is going better. Or maybe it's my attitude that has improved. I teach the 8-9 year olds and there are 10 in my class. They can be quite a handfull. I have one with Autism, and a couple who I swear have ADHD. They are good kids though, and participate well if I can get them engaged. I love it when they finally say something that tells me they were listening. Like this one boy complains and doesn't want to participate most of the time, but will often answer a question that I ask, so I know he is listening. I like to believe that I am doing some good, and they seem to like me even when I'm strict with them.
Madison is finally showing progress with her letters. She can even spell her name now. I am hopeful she won't be too far behind when she starts kindergarten in the fall. I know that a lot of you already have kids in school, so you know how it feels when your first child reaches that milestone. I am feeling old. I know it's silly, but I will be turning 30 in the same month Madison starts school. It's not as though I am dreading it though. I enjoy watching my kids grow and become righteous and courageous little people.
I was about to sign off with out telling you anything about Steven. He is such a little boy! Always into everything, but still wants mommy when he gets hurt. He wants to do (and can most of the time) everything Madison does, but definitely likes being the baby. He makes me laugh several times a day and makes me want to smack him the other times. What would we do without him?
Anyway, that's about it for now. Have I left you wanting or wondering more? Good. :)

There's no fun like snow fun!

After that huge snow storm in the west, it moved east and hit us. Snow is fun when you are a kid because it means no school and all fun. I am not a big fan, but there was one day that the temperature wasn't super cold. So we decided to take the time to get bundled up and actually enjoy the snow. I know they don't look too excited in this picture but, believe me, it was very sad when we had to come back inside.

You have to lay down to do a snow angel Steven. See, look at Madison! What a beautiful angel!

Take that! Umph! Maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

You wouldn't think swinging in the snow would be very fun, but just look at those smiles!

At first Steven didn't want to keep his gloves on, but as soon as he touch the snow he knew why he should wear them and we didn't have any trouble keeping them on after that. We also have a little mini sleigh for Steven that we used to pull him around the yard and Tony chased us with Madison in the wagon. I'm hoping that the weather warms up a little in February so we can spend more time outside. Lately it's been between 5 and 20 degrees! Freezing would actually be nice.

Ok, so tomorrow is the 1st of February and I am just now posting Christmas pictures. I think by now all of you know that this blogging thing is difficult for me to get into so I am not going to appologize anymore. However, I do want to share I just wish you all were a little closer so we could see each other in person. Alas this cannot be, so I will have to suck it up and do my best.
Christmas was fun this year! We spent it at home with our little family (plus Tony's sister Cristina, and our friend RJ).
This is on Christmas Eve. We let each of the kids open one gift. (Steven still sleeps with his bear.)Madison made sure we put out milk and cookies for Santa. Unfortunately we didn't have any carrots for the reindeer. Sorry Blitzen!

Christmas Morning! Bring on the presents! (notice in the background; Santa was in a hurry and accidently knocked over the glass in his rush to get to the next house.)May I just say that those feathers are all over my house! I hear I have Uncle Andy to thank for that one. *wink*Steven's first gun and cowboy hat! The west is safe again!

Madison got this stroller for her many babies; she was so excited! But, as you can see from the picture below, Steven took over while she was busy with other things. He wanted to push it around for the rest of the day. Sorry Dad!

Aren't those stockings awesome! Thanks Grandma Cindy! Also, notice Steven's shirt (got SPAM?). Dad got that for him at the SPAM museum; along with one for me that says "I love SPAM". Too cute!The kids were so excited to open all their gifts and were kept busy while mom cooked dinner. We had our ward missionaries over for a traditional Christmas ham dinner. After 8 years of marriage I am happy to say that I was finally able to cook a big Christmas dinner. Afterward we worked off some of those yummy calories by engaging in a rousing game of Scattegories. Much fun was had by all! We are truly blessed to be surrounded by those we love and to feel the far reaching love of those not with us.

Finding Our Inner Elf

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Long Time No Blog!

I apologize to all of my loyal watchers out in blogger land. I can't believe it's almost been a month since I last posted. Life has really gotten away from me. I know this probably won't satisfy your need for an update, but unfortunately this is all the time I have. Here are a few pictures from Halloween and another dance video. Boy to my kids love to groove! (the video is a little choppy because it was taken from my camera phone.)

The Best Pumpkins on the Block!

A few weeks ago we went to the pumpkin patch and picked out one for each of us. Last weekend we finally carved them. I had forgotten how much fun (and hard work) it is! We bought a pumpkin carving kit which included picture stencils. We gave Madison a few choices of what she could carve and she settled on the Vampire Cat (or kitty as she would say; makes it a little less scary). We cut the top off and she had a lot of fun pulling out the gunk and seeds. (Of course I had to do most of the scraping.) We taped the stencil on and she actually poked quite a few of the holes need to create the outline.

Her little hand was getting tired so I finished up the stencil and Dad did the actually carving. Here are some pictures of the pumpkins lit up. I did the ghost in the graveyard and Tony did the headless horseman. We got Steven a small pumpkin, which I think he thought was a ball, and Tony wanted his to be carved as well. I don't think those small ones are meant to be carved because they have a very tough rind. Tony's hand was deffinitely cramped by the end of that one. Good times were had by all!

"Spilled Milk"

Hello All,
We all have those moments in our lives that aren't so funny when they happen, but we are able to laugh at them later. A little more rare than that are the times we can laugh while it's happening. This happened to me earlier this week. Steven had pulled his bottle of milk out of the fridge while I had it open so I decided to put him in his swing/highchair to feed him. There wasn't much left in the bottle so I took it, filled it up and gave it back to him. Not more than a minute later I heard a pop and looked over to find milk all down the front of him and in the swing and tray. "Oh crap! Steven!" He started crying I think mostly because he did quite know what happened. I took him out as fast as I could before it could soak all the way through, undressed him down to his onesie and wiped up the swing. While he was still whining, I filled the bottle back up, screwed the lid back on and just to make sure it was secure, pushed the bottom of the bag to let some of the air out. This caused the top to pop off again, this time only spilling about a third of the contents. At this point I decided to give up the bottle idea (after all he is quickly approaching 18 months) and switch the the sippy cup. I filled up the cup with yet more milk and while attempting to screw on the lid, it slipped out of my semi-wet hands, hit the edge of the counter and spilled all over the floor. "Dang it!" This was a little more than Steven could take. Not being properly comforted after the first mishap, he instantly burst into tears. It was at this point, that the phrase "Don't cry over spilled milk" came to my mind. At these times in our lives we have the choice to either laugh or cry and I decided to find the humor in this frustrating situation. Afterall, it was just milk. My only regret is that I didn't take a picture.

Dancing Darlings!

I couldn't just give you another scrapbook, so here is a video of my two goofy kids. While waiting for dad to get home from work, and finding nothing on the T.V., I decided to put on some music and do a little dancing. After a few songs, Madison wanted to get into her princess dress so I got out the camera. It's a little dark, but you can still see the moves. Notice Steven's shoulder-shrug. He's so stinkin' cute! Aaahhhh!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Here are the pictures from the zoo. By the way, this is the closest I've been to scrapbooking in a long time! Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Mom's Visit

I know it's been a week since Mom and Greg visited, but it seems the only time I am able to blog is on Saturday while the kids are napping. So, they were here for a week long vacation to visit us, tour Chicago and see Nauvoo. On Saturday we went to the Brookfield Zoo. It was a nice day, not too hot with a good breeze. The highlights of the day were the dolphin show and the monkey house. On Sunday we went to church and then BBQ'd after. Monday and Tuesday, Mom and Greg went to Nauvoo. They stayed in a bed and breakfast and really enjoyed it. Then Wednesday and Thursday they rode the train into Chicago to see the sights. This is really the only way to go to Chicago since traffic is horrible and parking is outrageous! By Friday Greg was pooped so he let Mom and me go by ourselves. Thanks Greg! By this time, Mom was a pro at riding the train; which I was greatful for since this was my first time. We got into Chicago around 10am and headed for the Sears Tower. Since Mom had the three day "Go Chicago" card we were able to go up for free. Yeah! We went up 103 floors in less than 2 minutes. Boy was that fast! It was cool to see the view; everything looks so different from up there. After that we went the "Corner Bakery" and had lunch. YUM! Then we walked to Navy Pier. This was a mile long walk but it saved time from going on the trolley which would have taken us on a long detour. Plus we got to check out all the cool buildings along Michigan Avenue. (No, we did not go shopping, Sorry!) When we got to Navy Pier we decided to take a boat ride on the Chicago river. This was cool because there is a lot you don't see from the road. We also learned quite a bit of the history of Chicago. After that we had our Go Cards scanned and got free passes to go on the big swings and the ferris wheel.
Here's Mom's arm. I was kind of hard to take pictures while we were flying around and since the top, where the swings were attached, was tilted it made us fly up and out instead of just around in a circle.








Here is a better picture of the Chicago skyline from the swings.





After the swings we went on the ferris wheel. Man is this thing huge! It never stops. Pleople just get on and off as it's moving slowly. This helps the line move quickly and keeps you from getting bored while you're on it.














We decided to go on the ferris wheel a second time and boy are we glad we did. The Chicago Air Show was also going on and although the actual show was a few miles north of us we were still able to see a lot of the stunts. While we were on the ferris wheel, four Blue Angels flew right past us in formation. It was way too fast to take a picture, but imagine the planes in the next picture flying close enough to you that you could read the letters on the side. Yikes! It was really cool! And really loud!









After all the excitement we walked down the pier to see the stained glass window collection they have on display. They were very pretty. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to show you. Next we walked back up the pier and stopped to have dinner at Buba Gump's Shrimp Co. I don't eat seafood but I had a very yummy chicken sandwich and Mom was able to buy a souvenier t-shirt. By this time we needed to catch the trolley and head back to the train station. It was a very fun day! You know, it's funny, but when you live somewhere it's hard to find the time to see all the tourist stuff like you do when you're on vacation. Thanks Mom for letting me tag along and giving me an excuse to see the city!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Come out, come out where ever you are! Enjoy a walk down memory lane with me!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

Six Flags Chicago

Another fun thing we did while Tony's parents were here is we went to Six Flags. It was hot and crowded but we still had fun. Madison was so excited to go. She had been on little kiddy rides before and never really seemed like she was having fun, but this time she was all smiles. I only have a few pictures to show since most of them were taken with Grandpa's camera, but I will get copies soon.

Steven stayed in his stroller most of the time. He really wanted to practice his walking but with so many people he was bound to get stepped on.

He was even able to sleep for a couple hours.

Madison loved the carousel. Ride 'em cowgirl!

Grandma, Grandpa and Madison with Sylvester.

And the best picture of all! You'll have to click on it to get a better look at Madison's face. She loved the log ride until the very end. Now if you ask her she will tell you she didn't like it at all. "I was really scared!" she said.

A very fun day for everyone! Thanks Grandpa!

Family BBQ

As I mentioned in a previous blog, Tony's parents were in town last week. On Sunday we had a BBQ at our house and invited Tony's family who live in the area as well. We set up croquet and badmitten along with chairs on the deck to just sit and enjoy the weather and company. We were blessed with beautiful weather; not to hot and no rain!

Here is Steven, chillin' and eating a cracker.

Madison striking a pose!

The boys playing a little croquet. (Tony won!)

Madison had to take a picture of me. Every once in a while I get in front of the camera.

Tony's friend RJ. (Huh?!)

Madison, Steven and Uncle Mike; playing with the birdies.

Here Dad, put the hat on. (Madison calls it the "Eagle Hat")

Ok, Mom will wear it.

And Madison.

And Steven. (Mmm, was that spaghetti good?!)

Lots of family fun for all!