December 4th... Unwrap a new puzzle

December 3rd...Find the pickle, get a treat!

December 2nd...Hang the Stockings

December 1st...Decorate the tree

Advent Calendar

I finished it just in time.

Around the house...

we find these...

EVERYWHERE!!!

Playing in the Leaves

Ready...Set...GO!

Happy Halloween!

A Project...

For P's birthday, I decided I wanted to make life-sized trains for the kids to play with at his party. I also thought, if I liked the train enough, it could double as his Halloween costume. Who would have thought that putting cardboard together and spray painting it would take a millions hours? My mom and I stayed up the night before the party until 1am and we still didn't finish them until about an hour before the party. And this is what they looked like...

Unfortunately, after all that hard work, the kids didn't want anything to do with them. I was FINALLY able to get P into one of them, and he looks pretty cute. But there is no way he will stay in it for Halloween...oh well.

A Birthday Tradition

Am I allowed to call something a tradition even if we have only done it two year in a row? I hope so. Because we have developed a tradition of taking P to the Pumpkin Patch on his birthday, and we plan to continue this tradition for years to come. We go to a place in Springville that has all sorts of fun things for P to do. He played in a ton of corn kernels...

found his way through a maze...

went on a hay ride...

and, of course, went in search of a pumpkin...

and found the perfect one.

Happy Birthday P!

How did he grow up so fast? Seriously, P has become a real person with personality. He is super independent and loves having choices. Here is some information about P at 2 years old:

Favorite foods: P will eat anything (Brussels sprouts, broccoli, fish...think of the grossest foods that you hate, and he will love them!), so it is hard to identify a favorite. But he rarely says no to any kind of fruit, cheese and crackers, mac n cheese, chocolate milk, and fruit snacks.

Favorite toys: trains (especially Thomas), dinosaurs, cars, boats, airplanes, trucks, animals, vacuum, hats, motorcycles

Favorite Activities: Anything outside (park, backyard, swimming pool, etc), sweeping and vacuuming, helping Mommy do the dishes, baking with Mommy, mowing the lawn with Daddy, "reading",

Favorite books: "Dinosaur Roar", anything with Elmo, anything with trains, his "100 First" books (trucks, animals, words, etc),

Favorite shows: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Thomas and Friends, Elmo in Grouchland,

Favorite songs: Popcorn Popping, 5 Little Monkeys (swinging in a tree AND jumping on the bed), theme from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, 5 Little Speckled Frogs

Word Confusion: So far we have only had two experiences where P has tried to say something that I have not been able to understand, and he has thrown several screaming-at-the-top-of-his-lungs-throwing-himself-on-the-floor-acting-like-he-is-going-to-die tantrums because I don't understand him. The first was when he said "Fuff" over and over again...it took me a week to figure out that he was trying to say "Drive" because he wanted to drive my car. The second happened just this week...he told me he wanted to watch "Seesaw"...after running down the list of possible options, I came up empty. Right now, I am pretty sure that he wants to watch Choo Choo Soul on Disney, but I am still not completely sure about this one.

Best Friends: Sophie and Dylan

P's favorite new traditions: Daddy making crepes before watching General Conference, Pumpkin Patch on P's birthday, weekly library trips.

Milwaukee/Chicago 2011

This summer D had a conference for work, so he invited me along and we spent a week enjoying Milwaukee and Chicago. Here are some highlights of the trip (in no particular order):

1) The Pabst Mansion: Sho and I took a tour of this historical landmark, and I loved it! Secret passageways, charming artwork, servants quarters, a tour guide who had to tell me a million times to stop touching things...it was priceless! (Technically, it was NOT priceless...it was actually very pricey. But I loved it anyway).

2) Milwaukee Food Tour: Walking around the city with 5 strangers, stopping off at several local eateries to sample deliciousness. My favorite restaurant from the tour was the Safe House, aka International Exports, LTD. It is a restaurant for secret agents with thousands of interesting things to look at...one of the puzzles still has me stumped. We highly recommend a food tour...if you like that sort of thing.

3) Brewers vs Cubs: Miller Park was a pretty amazing.

4) Spending tons of time with Sho...even when she is slathered in Cubs paraphernalia at Miller Park.

5) The delicious food at Bob Chins.

6) The delicious deep dish pizza on Lake Geneva.

7) Chicago City Pass: We were able to see the Shedd Aquarium (pictured above...notice all the children who are obsessed with the beluga whales...wait, one of these children is not really a child...can you tell which one?), the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Field Museum, all for one low low price.

8) Sue the dinosaur...the most intact T-Rex skeleton in the WORLD! (Only found at the Field Museum).

9) White Sox vs Twins: This location of the stadium was a little scary...but it was a fun game anyway.

10) Botanical Gardens (not pictured).

11) Dinner conversation with Sho's parents (also not pictured, but definitely a highlight).

A long day...

I get it, Mommy!