Fall 2010

Continuing with the back-log, here are a bunch of pictures from last Fall...Sept and Oct mostly. Enjoy!

Had to put this precious picture of our friend and neighbor Norah being a big-girl friend to Lizzy last year. She loves to take care of Liz and "help" her all around the park.

Brookfield ZOO 2010

We got to the Zoo with our friends HT and Julia. Here are HT and AJ on the foot massage machines. I don't think they were working right that day. lol

AJ and HT painting their faces with some random little girl. This is the first time I can recall that AJ actually participated in the face-painting area at the Zoo. Great job little buddy!

Lizzy loved pretending to be a bird in the nest. And of course the purple egg was her fav!

Squirt, squirt! What a helper.

This is how I felt too, Mr. Polar Bear. I get it.

Lizzy got to see the zoo from her seat in the stroller. And this is back when I used to let her have her schnulli all the time...now it's only allowed in her crib. And I waffle back and forth now between letting her keep it for sleeping and making her "donate them to the babies" now that she's 2. Jury's still out on that one.

A visit to the GP Conservatory 2010

The Garfield Park Conservatory is still one of our favorite places to visit when the weather is cold. Or hot. Or rainy. Well, I guess we like to go anytime, really! Here is one time when I pulled the camera out to document the kids at one of our usual haunts.

Lizzy's still-pretty-bald head as we follow Mr. Lightning

through the Sugar From the Sun house.

AJ stopped at one of the "look-outs" to check out the waterfall.

And here he is on one of the "secret" pathways. He loves to walk through these flagstone paths and whenever we go with someone else, he makes sure to show them where they all are.

What a great place!

Halloween 2010

Before Halloween actually rolled around, I took the kids to a Halloween party sponsored by the Chicago Stay at Home Mom's group. It was fun to see the the little kiddos at the park in their costumes and gave us a chance to take ours for a test run.

Not surprisingly, AJ had his priorities straight from the get go.

A construction worker dancing with mini candybars? haha!

And our little candy corn had fun too! Where's your candy, little one?

Pumpkin Farm

The day we picked to go to the pumpkin farm was COLD. I mean SUPER COLD. I was fooled by the sun and should have dressed everyone in snowsuits. Luckily I am lazy and had some outerwear on the floor in the car...and no one actually froze or anything. ;)

Lizzy picking out the perfect pumpkin.

AJ running to the pumpkins. So happy!

Our cute little pumpkins!

AJ got to drive the wooden Fire Engine.

The kids with Dad and the pumpkin wagon.

Pumpkin Carving

AJ drew the face on his pumpkin all by himself and i cut it out as exact as I could. He didn't really like digging out all the guts, but the end product was worth it, he thought. I agree.

Mom's, AJ's, Dad and Lizzy's

They did look really cool all lit up at night, but where are those pictures? Beats me. Maybe I'll find them before next Halloween?

AH HA! Found it, and only a day later! Here's the Jack-o-Lanterns all lit up

Trick-or-Treating was so fun this year. It was not freezing cold (that I can remember anyway) and we met up with our friends and their kids Emilio and Baby Belen in their old neighborhood. All the houses get really into it and that makes it a lot of fun for everyone. As you can see in the pictures, AJ was a construction worker and Lizzy is a Candy Corn (thanks Kim, for the costume!). Afterward we all hooked up with our friends the Hrubec's and had a little party at their place until the sugar high wore off. ;)

Little Bit looking little and bitty.

"mmm! I think I've got some good candy in here!"

Our little trick-or-treaters making out like bandits.

AJ wasn't wasting any time. Lizzy did her best to keep up...

AJ and Emilio already look like old pros.

All done! By the end, Lizzy's bag was too heavy to carry!

Grandpa John and Sunsets

Grandpa John came in for a visit and AJ really enjoyed showing off his collection of construction books and magazines. Sweet moments.

And here is a beautiful sunset, one of many that we see from our west-facing balcony. Even though the colors look cool in these pictures, they really could not do it justice. God's paintings are always the most beautiful!

And End to the Hiatus!

Wow, so 4 months have gone by since my last post! If anyone is still checking this blog, you are in for a treat. I have a HUGE folder of pictures and movies ready to upload, so I'll try to get them all posted soon. If there were an "off" button for my kids I'd have a lot more time to blog. Unfortunately though, AJ only naps once or twice a week now so my "mommy time" is scarce and somehow blogging always takes a back seat to other things (like cleaning, emailing, reading or napping myself!). But I digress. Enough excuses!

There are a lot of events to cover - some very old, some very new - so here we go...

AJ's Early Drawings

First off are some drawings that AJ started doing last Fall. These are some of his first ever family portraits, animal drawings and his first machine drawing (of MANY). It's kind of fun to see these early pictures since now his drawings are so much more sophisticated! I should post a picture of the machine he drew yesterday as a comparison. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. It might take me a few more months to take a picture of that drawing, upload it and then finally add it to the blog! lol

AJ (bottom center) and Mom (top left). Don't you like my hairdo?

"an animal Elizabeth" hmmm?

AJ's first machine. An excavator. Oh, and he was also learning to write his name. In the very beginning he used to make his A with a curve at the top...a little while later it became a point.

And here is one of AJ's first family portraits on paper! He is the big face on the left. Then from bottom to top it's Mom, Dad and Lizzy. Notice how we were just heads with a single stick for a body! :)

Fall Leaves

On a visit to Kim's house, AJ and Lizzy had a great time jumping in the leaves she had raked up in the front yard. Kim and Brandon's new (well new last year) yard has a lot of trees so there was no shortage of leaves and rustling fun!

Lizzy can pick them up in both hands!

AJ loved when we tossed them in the air and it "rained leaves".

Robin and Renand's Wedding

At Aunt Robin's wedding, AJ had his first Ring Bearer experience! We are so happy to welcome Renand to the States and into our "family". He is a thoughtful, kind man and makes Robin so happy. The wedding was beautiful and Andy and I were honored that AJ could take part in it. Congrats, Robin and Renand!

AJ getting ready with Renand in the back room at Church.

Robin and Renand are pronounced man and wife!

Andy and I at the reception.

North Park Village Nature Center, Oct. 2010.

We love visiting NPVNC at all times of the year. This particular time we went with my friend Anika and her daughter Orla. It was a warm day in early fall and the weather made the trip even more enjoyable.

AJ checking out the sticks and rocks on the pond's shore. This image is extremely reminiscent of a picture Gooma Cheri painted of Andy and Melissa and has hanging in her home!

AJ is always running ahead on the path...

Unless he's running from behind to catch up!

Bucktown Apple Pie Festival 2010

Another unseasonably warm Fall day. The pie was all but sold out when we got there. There was face-painting, pony rides, a bounce house and ice cream and it was a MOB SCENE inside with people trying to get pie! I got one of the very last pieces...very lucky. This year we'll have to forego naps and get there when it starts!

Did Lizzy eat a lemon?

AJ climbing on the stroller.

AJ on the pony. This is his second time ever and in as many weeks!

I can wink!

Warm October at Omi and Pa's

It's always fun to hang out at the grandparents' houses, right? On this visit to my parent's place, my mom and I took the kids outside with the coupe and even got out the hammock. I think they were a bit young for the hammock but had a good time until they fell off. "It's only funny 'til someone gets hurt" right Kim? ;)

Brother and Sister fun in/on the coupe.

Pre-craziness on the hammock.

Pretty Lizzy driving the coupe! Beep beep!

OK, well there's lots more but I have to run to the store and get some buns for tonight's burgers. Hopefully I can get back on the computer after the kids are in bed and continue the massive game of blogging catch-up!

OK, so I guess I have been pretty lax in posting any recent pictures here! Sorry about that. Keeping up with the blogging was made difficult a while ago before I got my new computer since it needed more RAM and uploading new images was painfully slow and tedious. Then I guess I was just out of the habit. I'm going to try and make an effort here to catch up a bit since now everything runs much more smoothly and the kids are not getting any younger!!

I'll start with the most recent...as Andy was organizing his tool closet, he took this picture of the confiscated tools that have been congregating above our refrigerator. AJ LOVES to play with "real" tools though he has about 7200 of his own, but as he gets out of hand with them, they are regularly put in "time-out" above the fridge, never to return. The contents included:

A Multitool

2 screwdrivers

A 3 lb hammer

2 bungee cords

A socket wrench

A wire stripper...

And a hatchet.

(I'm pretty certain he never used the hatchet...probably just picked it up!)

Then after the big "Blizzard of 2011", we went out to my parents house and I let the kids play in the snow on her deck. My dad had shoveled all the way around the deck and made some tunnels and caves (with Karly I think?) so it was a great space for Lizzy since she could actually walk. AJ was in his glory since he has finally grown into his mittens and understands that playing in snow is a lot more fun when you keep them ON.

Here's AJ with the big middle snowball for the snowman he built with Omi.

And here's Lizzy with the finished snowman. Pa helped collect some creative items for decorating him...my favorite update was Ritz Flips for the ears.

What a cutie! AJ was happy using my parents old spoons as snow tools.

Our precious little snow-baby. She actually did a pretty good job of trying to keep her mittens on. Next year she'll be a pro like her big brother.

Having fun with her Omi.

The kids also got a kitchen from Santa for Christmas and Lizzy loves it. Here is a little clip of her cooking up (or washing up?) something delish!

It's so fun watching them grow...I'll do my best to get a bunch more up soon!