Happy Birthday!

Last Saturday was Suzanne's 31st birthday. We had a fun day of parties and a grown-up date night dinner. Life is good!

Everyone's Happy!

Brad is done traveling for a while and everyone is happy about that!

Cincinnati Bound

We are spending Thanksgiving in Cincinnati. Here are the kiddos enjoying the 5-6 hr ride down from Chicago. Alex was playing a little "Cat Paint" app on the phone while Abby napped.

Potty Trained!

Much to the delight of her parents and doctors, Abby is potty trained. Hallelujah!! She's been wearing underwear, telling her teachers when she has to go, and last night slept in underwear! Training her was MUCH easier than training Alex, I think because she didn't like being dirty and was so prone to diaper rash. This will make it a lot easier to monitor her urine for infection as she was born with VUR. Hopefully she continues to make positive progress and does not regress! What's funny is she went from wanting to use a potty chair (we had 2), to wanting to use a potty seat that fit over the toilet (we had just bought 2), to wanting to just climb on the toilet herself in a matter of weeks. So, if anyone needs a barely used froggy potty chair, princess potty chair, or Diego/Elmo potty seats, let me know!

Baby Talk

Alex was smitten by Baby Michael this past weekend when we went to visit Karen and Chris. He played toys with him, sang to him, and entertained him as we all visited and ate lunch. Abby was interested in Michael and certainly gave him some love too, but Alex was definitely his buddy during this visit. Michael is the best little baby and I really don't think we heard him make one peep the whole time we were there!

Police Station Tour

Last Thursday, Alex's Cub Scout den took a tour of our local police station. One of the dads is an officer and gave the kids a very thorough tour that was informative for the parents as well! I will say, I always wondered who answers the phones when you dial 911 and who sets off the tornado sirens when the need arises.

Painting Fool

This morning my friend Missy and I took Abby and her friend Kaitlyn to paint pottery at the Joliet Pottery Lounge. There was plenty to choose from and both girls enjoyed making their creations and eating snacks. I can't wait to see how it turns out next week. Abby definitely did not understand why we couldn't take her piece home with us today.

Umbrellas!

Kids really wanted to use their new umbrellas and while I really wanted to drive to the bus stop, I humored them just this once :)

Towing Service

She set this up on her own...

Fall Back

Adding an extra hour of play to their day has them wiped out!

Dress Up!

Abby has embraced "dressing up" in costumes and fancy dresses. She has a pair of dressy heels too so when she puts the whole outfit together with her purse, it is completely adorable!

Hot Chocolate 5K

Early Saturday morning, before sunrise, Brooke and I boarded a train from her house to downtown Chicago to run the Hot Chocolate 5K. It was chilly, but we just layered up and hit the pavement. The route was beautifully scenic so there was lots to distract us from the whole running aspect. After the race we enjoyed chocolate fondue inside heated tents, however hot chocolate was noticeably absent. I think we must have missed that tent. What a great time!

Funny Little Sleepers

I took these pictures on the same night. Funny kids.

Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat here starts as soon as the kids get off the bus and change into their costumes, so 3:30-6:30ish. It is one of the most requested days off for parents when it falls on a weekday and most houses have someone there to hand out candy, even at 4pm. A lot of us just leave a bowl on the front doorstep and refill it when we get back. Alex and Abby went strong for about an hour and then wanted to come home to pass out candy. We have lots of leftover candy, per usual.

We trick or treat with all the kids on our street which is about 13 or so. Alex and the other older kids were about 3-4 houses ahead of us the whole time but that was OK. Abby told everyone, at every house, "I a tiger", in case there was any confusion about her costume. Eventually her treat bag got "too hebby" so I helped her out between homes. They were both adorable and I'm so glad it was their choice to come home and not me having to drag them home.

Children's Museum Day

Abby was in charge of the train tickets.

Abby on the teeter totter as Alex stacked blocks on the other side to try and balance it out.

Alex was really proud of his triangle train.
Ready for the wind tunnel!

Sunday morning Brad left early for a business trip to Virginia so the kids and I drove up to Naperville to see a new train exhibit at the Children's Museum. It was Naperville's Halloween Festival in their downtown area that day so we had the whole museum to ourselves! Both kids enjoyed acting as train passengers and working the ticket booth. The employees were eager to show the kids how things worked and sat right down to play with them. Usually it is so crowded that I never even notice the college-aged workers but the kids enjoyed all of the attention! One gentleman knew how to make more shadow animals with his fingers than I even knew existed. It was impressive! After a few hours of playing we were all ready to get home and warm up as it turned out to be a very chilly, rainy day.

Downtown Plainfield Trick or Treat

On the Saturday before Halloween, the kids are invited to trick or treat at the shops in Downtown Plainfield. What a mob! I had not idea this was so wickedly popular! We met up with friends and let the kids loose on Lockport St. It was a chilly morning and eventually the crowds were too much to bear. We decided to head home once they'd each digested their weight in candy and popcorn.