HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET EMMA and a sneak peek

It is hard for me to believe that my sweet little angel turned 4 yesterday! I reflected back on the day she was born and the days that followed in the Special Care Unit. It seems like yesterday that we were living the life of daily visits and the worry of when she would come home and today she continues to amaze me ( and wear me out) every day.

On Tuesday, Emma's preschool class had a little birthday celebration. We brought the class cupcakes ( Joni made them for us). Parents are welcome to come in for the celebration. It was nice that Jim and I both were able to go. We brought Evan of course.

Here are the cute cupcakes. We had enough to share with Emma's Wednesday class too.

Before snack time, the class had music time. It was cute how they all sat in a circle and I was so impressed how Emma sat for the entire time. She really participated with finger play.

After music time, it was time for Emma's celebration. All the kids go to their tables with their little place mats with their names on them. So cute.

Here is Emma enjoying her treat. Most of the kids looked like this after their snack. Emma is saying cheese. What a goof ball.

After snack they kids get back in the circle for story time or in this case to honor the birthday girl. She wore her crown for a few seconds. The teacher on the left is her preschool teacher, Ms. Kathy and the one of the right is her special ed teacher, Mary Jo.

We made a board of Emma's family. I stuck a few pictures of various family members. She named everyone in the picture. After that Jim read her favorite story. Emma really enjoyed it and would either sign words or say them after Jim would read. It was so sweet.

This is what Evan did almost the entire time. He loved playing and really didn't want to leave. Especially when Emma and her classmates went outside to play. I think he will be ready for school when the time comes.

Here is Emma waiting for the bus on her actual birthday. She knows to hold on to her backpack and we wait for the bus. The bus driver calls her smiley. She is usually very happy on the bus. That makes me very happy.

O.K. so here is a sneak peek into the kitchen. It has been what feels like forever but things are finally coming together. We got the granite and the upper cabinets installed today. Tomorrow will be the tile, some painting and more cabinet work ( I think). Next week will be the final coat on the flooring and the following week should be the wrap of week and the painting should get done as well. I really love how things are looking. I hope to someday get all the before and afters posted.

Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to everyone!! I hope everyone is enjoying their day. We have had a great day so far. Before naps we did the usual annual running to show off the costumes. We stopped at Auntie Julies and Uncle Todd's house, Grandma Dotsy's house, The Lake Elmo Inn to see Joni and then we stopped by our good friends, Bob and Marianne. The kids enjoyed getting treats in their baskets and trying to say "Trick or Treat".

Here is Emma as Leopard Girl. She wouldn't wear the ears so I put ponytails in. She may have to be a black cat tonight because it is pretty cold here today.

Here is the back of Leopard girls outfit. I wish I would have gotten leopard tights, oh well!

Of course Evan had to be Elmo. I didn't go for the full costume because I was too cheap but I thought he looked pretty darn cute with his costume and slippers.

Here is Elmo!! This was when I was trying it on him, hence the tags. He really makes a pretty cute Elmo.

Well we need to have our dinner soon so we can get out with the kiddos and back in time to hand out candy for the neighbor kids. Have a happy and safe Halloween!

A new addition to the family

I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our family. This sweet little guy was born in the wee hours of the morning and weighed a healthly 7lbs, 11 ounces and is 191/2 inches long. He is a very sweet little boy. He also has a lot of hair!!! We had the chance to go meet our new grandson ( well step grandson to me) the day he was born. He slept the entire time and never made a peep. His mom is doing great, a little tired, but she looked great. Daddy also was doing great. So here he is a mere 15 hours old.

Baby Michael

Here he is with his proud grandpa.

and another shot of grandpa and grandson. It was so special that we were able to go and see him. We made the journey with both kids in tow. They were so thrilled to get out of the car and more thrilled to see the baby. (sorry Lisa, I felt bad at how wild they were) Our car trip was an adventure. On the way to visit the new little guy, it rained the entire time. On the way home it rained and then the rain turned into snow and we actually hit some very bad roads and weather. But we made it and we were so happy we went.

I had to post pictures of my kids and their new haircuts. Here is Emma sporting a nice new hairdo and it sooooo much easier to take care of. It makes her look a lot older. I had to take it in her car seat because every time the camera is out she walks toward me instead of posing.

And here is Evan. Yes, he likes to make silly faces now when I take his picture. When will they sit nicely for me and just smile?

I promise kitchen pictures are coming soon. Nothing happened here today on the kitchen. The sheetrockers were supposed to come today but they will start tomorrow. Our cabinets arrive to the kitchen store sometime this week. YEAH!!!! They will be installed in a few weeks. I cannot wait. We picked tile out on Saturday, so all we have left to get is hardware. That, in my opinion, is going to be the hardest part. Hope everyone is having a great Monday.

Chicago Part 2 and American Girl

As promised here is part two of Chicago. Saturday night was a dinner that Jim and I got invited to attend along with my sister and brother-in-law. It was a very nice time and the food was good. After the dinner, we went back to the "suite" and had some wine. Here are some pictures of the evening. Here is my sister and brother-in-law. Great pic of the two of them.

Here is Jim and me at dinner. Why is it that you are never happy with your own picture.

This next picture is kind of an inside joke. The waiter poured my sister some wine and totally missed the glass. He was very sloppy. We just had to capture the moment.

Here is a picture with me and my sister. All night people would say we look alike. What do you think?

This is Jack, my brother-in-laws Dad and Ziggy. They were having a quite the conversations (according to Jack) and they also had lots of cocktails. It was quite entertaining.

The next group of pictures are at the American Girl Chicago. For those of you that have not been, WOW, is all I can say. Lots to look at and lots of money to be spent. I am so glad my little girl is just getting into dolls and doesn't know what it is yet. Here is the window display. Very cute!!

Here is Elizabeth, with her bitty baby and Ben with his doll. He did not want to go there without one. They are such cute kids. I had so much fun with them.

We had lunch at the cafe. ADORABLE. It was so cute. All decorated in black, hot pink and white. This is the place setting on the table. I wish I would have gotten pictures of all the food. It was all displayed so cute. The bow is actually a ponytail holder that we could bring home with us. Of course I had to have a couple for Emma. But now her hair is too short for ponytails.

Here is cute Cooper. He sat directly across from me and he was so much fun. He has such a little personality on him.

Lastly, no lunch at The American Girl would complete without your doll. They have these little seats for the doll and check out the cute little tea cup and saucer ( you could purchase those of course and the seat too). Thanks again to my sister for the fun lunch.

So there is Chicago in a nutshell. We had a great time with family and enjoying the sights and being part of the festivities. Thank you Sue and Bob for inviting us to go along to share in this special venture in your life.

Coming up soon....... the kitchen destruction.......!!!!!!!

chicago

Jim and I were lucky enough to head to Chicago for a weekend, kid free. Thank goodness we have a wonderful babysitter who also happens to be family. Although I was excited for a weekend away, it was very hard for me to leave me kids for 2 nights and to be so far away. Not to mention Emma was getting sick and I was worried about croup setting in. But it was all good.

The reason we went to Chicago was to be part of my brother-in-laws professional organizations dinner and hoopla and to baby sit so my nieces could attend their Dad's dinner in which he was being honored. ( wow, I am sure there is all kinds of bad grammer in that sentence.) Anyways, we had a great time and we where spoiled because we stayed in the massive suite with my sister and brother-in-law. Just let me say this was bigger than a lot of peoples houses. And the view was fantastic to boot. Not to bore you any more..... here are some pictures.

A view looking to the left, Navy pier.

A view to the right, Shedd Aquariam and the Planetarium.

The next two are gardens looking straight down from the room

A view of Lake Michigan and the fountain at Grant Park. This is the fountain in Married with Children.

Millenium Park...... The Bean. What a cool view of the city from the bean.

This was also at the park. This is a giant wall that has water coming down and eventually this face appears. It makes faces for a while and then all of a sudden it does this.

Tomorrow..... Part 2 Chicago.

Look who is riding the bus!!

Well, I finally did it. I was brave enough to let my little 3 year old daughter take the bus home from school. I was a nervous wreck. Maybe I should back up and let you know what happened before all of this. On Emma's 2nd day of school (first full week) the bus showed up to take her to school. WE were not prepared. I sent her and she was sad. I actually followed her to school and she did well. She took the bus home and did very well. Bus driver Jim ( her bus driver) said she was fine and actually tried to talk to him.

So once we got everything squared away it has been smooth sailing ever since. Here are some pictures of the bus coming to our house.

Here she comes!!

If you look close, Emma is looking out of the first window.

Emma on the bus. (Got her in mid blink) She is always excited to see me.

And off goes the bus!! Bye, Bye bus and Bus Driver Jim. (we say this as the bus pulls away)

And this is what Evan does while he waits for his sister. He loves to be outside and absolutely hates to come inside.

The next step will be to have her take the bus both ways and I am thinking the way our weather has been and will be, it won't be very long before that happens.

Ahhh..... one more step towards my little girls independence.

The Big Guy's Birthday

Yesterday was Jim's 50th Birthday. He was out of town for work so we celebrated his "big" day on Sunday. It was a wonderful day. The weather was gorgeous, the Vikings were playing and his family came over to help him celebrate. For Jim, that was a great day. Thank goodness the Vikings won. It was a very relaxing day and the best part was that everyone brought some food and we had the pizza ( I also did some cheesy decorating). Jim's sister, Joni, ( the pastry chef) made the birthday cake. It was so yummy.

Here is the cake. (that is my nephew Colby in the background)

Here is Jim with his favorite guy. Evan was saying cheese and being cheesy!

I just love this picture of Emma. She is saying cheese and smiling. Very rare that her hands aren't in front of her face when she is saying cheese. She had just had a bath. I love how her hair looks so shiny. (of course we had to put the kids in their Vikings shirt for the big game)

Before the party I put up a few decorations and Evan just loved all the balloons. He walked around with those balloons all morning.

Here he is looking at his prize. He was in heaven. In fact, at one time he started to throw a tantrum. I should make that a post one day. He does such a good job at it.

Here is the birthday boy with his sisters and his kids. Julie wore a Packers shirt as a joke, since we got Brett Farve as our quarterback. It looks like everyone is watching the game, oh wait, they where. At least I got them to smile.

Here is the best picture of the 4 of us. I guess we where looking at another camera.

Happy Birthday Jim. I am glad you liked your day. Now what the heck should I get you for your birthday?!

Tomorrow I will post pics of Emma and the bus.