Ornaments

When you think about it, the concept of ornaments is kind of hard for a two year old to understand. Alex has been trying to hang everything from the tree--including those large musical snowmen you can buy at Hallmark each season. He also enjoys removing the ornaments from the tree and playing with them, as was the case with this Noah's Ark ornament that made its way to the water scene on his train table.

Tis the Season

Yesterday Alex and I put up the smaller Christmas tree in the den. It is going to be "Alex's Tree" and is decorated with lots of the softer ornaments. Although I should have taken a picture of the remnants of what I thought was a plastic ornament, as it shattered all over the kitchen floor this morning (luckily it was not a very sentimental one).

Santa also dropped off an early Christmas present today for Alex. The Thomas the Train Around the Tree set. He was very excited to set this up and since we'll be out of town the week after Christmas, we wanted him to get a little playtime in with it while the tree is up. It plays Jingle Bells and is battery powered to pull it around the tree. Our hope is that he'll set it up each year around "his" tree and that will be a fun tradition for him.

What's for dinner?

This is a new segment I'd like to try out. We get tired of eating the same foods over and over again so many nights I search for new recipes online. Last night I had defrosted pork chops (boneless, medium thickness) but couldn't decide what I wanted to do with them.

WWW.ANNIESRECIPES.COM/KITCHEN/PORKCHOPRECIPES.HTM had this super simple recipe for Saucy Pork Chops and it was a hit.

4 pork chops
1 can cream of chicken soup, add a little water
1 med. chopped onion
2 tbsp. catsup
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Brown chops in oil. Season with your favorites. Drain off excess fat. Combine remaining ingredients. Pour over chops. Cover and bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until chops are tender. Serves 4.

I used 1/2 onion and I'm pretty sure Brad would have preferred a little less catsup, but it was a good twist nonetheless :)

Symphony in Lights

Last night, Brad and I took Alex to The Promenade Bolingbrook shopping center to see the Symphony in Lights demonstration. We were excited to see this light show designed by Carson Williams, the Mason, OH man who set his residential light display to the music of Trans-Siberian Orchestra last Christmas. It was about 15 minutes long and even the large snowflakes adorning each of the stores were choreographed to the music!

If you happen to go, know that the show is on the hour each hour at night. We got there a little after 8 and had to wait for the 9pm show. In the meantime Alex found plenty to do...

First Snowfall

Right about the time we arrived back in Illinois Sunday, we experienced the year's first snowfall here. Alex was very concerned about the white rain hitting the windshield on the highway, but couldn't wait to get out and play in the falling snow the minute we hit the driveway. Imagine his dismay when we made him get bundled up to play in the cold--snow pants, coat, hat, boots, the whole nine yards! Handmade hat courtesy of Great-Grandma Dot, new this weekend, good timing!

Yes, by the time he was all bundled up, the snow had stopped falling. Alex was still eager to check out the white stuff on the grass though. Just wait until we have a more substantial snowfall, he'll really love that!

Meanwhile, Brad and I have been drinking Swiss Miss like it's going out of style! I'm pretty sure that box has been in our pantry for years. Can hot chocolate ever expire?!? I love using this mug made from Alex's artwork :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to you all! We spent a lovely weekend in Cincinnati visiting with family and friends, shopping, and throwing a bridal shower for my cousin Amanda. Alex and Brad visited the Aquarium with family while we attended the shower on Saturday and he loved running from exhibit to exhibit to see all the fish.

Dinnertime Entertainment

By 6pm tonight, I was out of ideas. We'd played with all the toys and I still needed to make dinner. That's where Scooter came in. Alex had noticed Scooter up on the stairs, hiding out from us most likely. I suggested Alex take a toy up and play with the cat and Alex did one better. He took the whole basket of cat toys up the steps to play with Scooter. Scoot was a good sport about it as Alex took out each toy and threw it at him, or placed it right under his nose to be "played" with. By the time he got to the bottom of the basket, tacos were on the table!

These Thomas the Train flannel jammies were a find since Alex is on a "no pajamas-with-feet" stint...and they are pretty cute :)

Why we love Chicago

The museums in Chicago cannot be beat. Today we spent the day at the Museum of Science and Industry and were in awe at all the wonderful exhibits. The "Christmas Around the World" display was what originally brought us into town today--50 Christmas trees, beautifully decorated according to customs from around the world. The "Great Train Story" exhibit was Alex's favorite, featuring a replica of the city of Chicago and showing the railroad's journey from Chicago to Seattle. This huge model train exhibit was pretty incredible! There was so much to see, I cannot possibly describe it all here, but if you are ever in Chicago do not miss this museum!!

Ready for Winter

With the temperatures dipping into the 20s each night and the highs in the 40s each day, Brad and Alex made a trek to Home Depot tonight to purchase our first snow shovel. Truthfully, we didn't want to be the only house on the block without a shovel when the first snow hits. Brad said Alex pushed it all through the store up to the cash register. Let's hope he shows that same level of enthusiasm when it comes time to shovel snow! I believe I also saw 2 ice scraper/snow brushes for the cars, and a bag of salt in the trunk, we're ready now!

The colder temperatures outside have forced us to find new fun inside. Alex's current favorite is this 48 piece wooden aquarium puzzle, or "puddis" as he says. We usually help set up the perimeter and then he goes to town on the rest of it.

Another fun option is the ball pit we've got going on in the basement. The kids slide down right into the pool full of plastic balls and think this is hilarious. The pool is maybe halfway full of balls...any guesses on how many 100-ball bags this takes?

Aggie's Bwagies

Alex loves his blankies, all of them. That is, as long as they have satin binding, which I am still learning to do. In fact I hope to make him a new blankie for Christmas with satin trim, wish me luck! He even picked out the flannel fabric the other day...cars, planes, trucks, trains...it is perfect.

While we may call these blankies, Alex has always referred to them as "bwagies". Alex has also begun referring to himself as "Aggie", which those of you from A&M should love. It is funny because his friend Ava used to refer to him as Aggie last year at his Mother's Day Out class and we could never figure out where she came up with that. Well, low and behold he has started saying it as well. He also says Alex, I guess he uses them interchangably.

Anyways, today he firmly told Baby Josh, our neighbor, not to touch his blankies. In fact he said "No Baby Josh, Aggie's Bwagies!!!"

Naptimes and Bedtimes

As much as we ALL like naptime, I suppose there comes a time when it is not necessarily a scheduled part of our day. For the past few weeks, our formerly good little sleeper has taunted us from the top of the stairwell each night after we lay him down for bed. He's full of energy and ready to play, simply not tired. Night after night we would return him to his bed only to hear the creak of his door and little footsteps running across the hallway. This routine would go on for about 2 hours, no joke.

We now have our evenings back, just with slightly longer afternoons :) The way Alex sees it, he just has more time to play trains!

Home from Houston

While Brad attended a training class downtown for work, Alex and I spent time visiting with friends around Houston. Our former neighbors made this sign for us, it was so sweet. It is amazing how many new babies have been born in the 6 months we have been gone! We were able to attend our old playgroup, visit the zoo, check out the downtown Aquarium, do lunch in the Woodlands, shop the Nutcracker Market (ok that was for Mom only), jump for hours at Jump N Jungle, and visit with our former neighbors, just to name a few. There were also our friends who were so kind to put us up for a few nights, we had a great time, thank you!

The first weekend we spent some time at Kemah, where Alex was happy to watch the boats go by. During the week we returned with friends to ride the train, carousel, and flying airplanes.

Early in the week, it was even warm enough to go for a refreshing November swim at the hotel.

This photo sums up how we felt by Saturday night when we returned home to Chicago. Alex was a champ on both flights and throughout the trip. He was happy to get back to his "twains" though!

Fun with Fall

We are having fun with the changing seasons here, all of us except the cats. They are sleeping more, curled up in their beds or any sunny spot they can find in the house. I found Scooter sprawled out in this ray of sunshine in the dining room this morning, happy as a clam.

On our way back from the park yesterday I suggested to Alex that instead of tearing up all the leaves on our grass, we should bring them inside and make a pretty picture. He was very excited to have leaves in the house and make his leaf collage.

In a surge of craftiness, I decided not to throw away the tablecloth from our Halloween party. I simply cut out the sticky parts and managed to salvage 4 place mats out of it for next year.

We're off to Houston for the week so all will be quiet on the blog. I'm sure we'll have lots to post when we return from warm, sunny Texas!

Ironing and Trains, Can You See the Connection?

I guess I don't iron enough. Yes, that is a fact, I don't iron much. However, this morning I got the iron out to press the kitchen curtains that we'd just washed. Anyway, Alex came in and said, "what's that noise, what's that noise?" and I explained to him it was the steam coming out of the iron. Then it was "Mama's train, Mama's train, choo-choo". I did not make the connection at first either, but I think the steam coming out of the iron reminded him of the steam engine at the pumpkin patch. Kids say the cutest things!