{sorry for the horrible-nes of these – they were taken in a dark theater}

friday we saw the lorax {it was so good!}.  it was the first time at the movie theater for both ben & emilia.  i was so worried.  i was worried they would talk, need {and i’m not exaggerating} six thousand bathroom breaks, get bored and want to go home.  none of it happened.  not even one potty break.  we did the whole shebag – pop & popcorn.  ben and emilia were in heaven.  they enjoyed the movie and so did i!  go see it!  the rest of the day was spent at a play place, bopping in and out of stores and then we headed out to dinner.

we spent saturday in our jammies relaxing, playing the wii and picking up the house and then some friends came over in the evening.  we ate, chatted, enjoyed some margaritas and the kids played.

sunday was spent with some more lounging & enjoying the beautiful {almost} 70 degree weather.  we ran a few errands, dan washed the cars & the kids played outside.  they were in heaven!  after a winter of being inside being outside running around and riding bikes was euphoric for them.  after dinner, emilia came & sat on my lap and she smelled like outside.  it was wonderful.

i am looking forward to the week ahead.  we’re forecasted for more spring like temps with a few rain showers here & there.  i am ready to open a window or two and let the fresh air in.  i’m ready for some good ole’ grilling out.  i am looking forward to walks around the neighborhood, riding bikes, playing, sidewalk chalk and kids going to bed with smiles on their faces from spending the afternoon outside.

if our week ends up being half as good as our weekend, we will be great shape!

happy monday!!

put on a costume and all of the sudden the house becomes a huge castle, a pirate ship, a restaurant, or {in our case sometimes} disney world.  a large expanse where the imagination runs wild.

for months now, emilia has been collecting odds and ends of mine – heels, handbags, scarves in addition to items she already had – princess costumes, pirate costumes, cowboy hats, etc.  my personal favorite is when she wears my heels…it makes me giddy.  it’s adorable.

picture also seen here

occasionally, benjamin joins in on the dress up fun.  like any boy, he steers clear of anything & everything girly; however, he will rummage through our closet & come out with workboots of dan’s or a rogue belt.

whenever & whatever they’re dressed up in/as, their imaginations run wild.

while spending new year’s eve at a friend’s house all the kids dressed up.  naturally, the girls were princesses – ariel & tinkerbell, an honorary princess.  the boys played it cool as peter pan, captain hook & woody.

with each costume change came the parade of who was who.

i have fond memories of playing dress up.  now as an adult, my chances to dress up, though not in princess or pirate costumes, are few & far between but i still like to get dolled up.  even just a simple dinner out with dan.

my hope is that benjmain & emilia play dress up for many, many more years.  it’s such a fun way to play as any idea, thought or dream is possible.  my hope is that they look back at these pictures, in addition to the others, and they have such wonderful memories & let their minds go back to that place.

i am not bah-hum-bug about the day although i do wish we had some snow.  it just doesn’t feel like christmas without snow.  i need the snow.

i’ve loved these last few weeks.  i have loved seeing benjamin & emilia’s excitement grow.  i have enjoyed getting christmas card (all picture cards!) in the mail each day.  as an aside: i wish people sent picture cards in a much higher frequency, not just during the holidays.  technically, i guess that is what facebook, twitter & blogs are for but i love getting real {snail} mail everyday!

ben & emilia are just about jumping out of their skin with excitement.  i can’t blame them.  we’ve made our lists, got a letter in the mail from santa, had our elf on the shelf (his name is buddy), went with friends to see the zoo lights, rode & watched the polar express with ben’s school, attended ben’s classroom holiday party completely with games, crafts & snacks, baked cookies, decorated the house & worked on some pinterest inspired crafts.

today, amid all that i need to get done i have a few fun activities planned for the kids.  we are going to have holiday hoopla.  we’re going to make some homemade hot chocolate, bake a few more cookies (special ones for santa), and possibly go visit some more zoo lights at local children’s zoo.  to add a little more icing on the cake, we have some friends stopping by later this evening for a little holiday visit.

deep down i am panicking {a little} as to when i will wrap the gifts.  but, in all honesty, i know it will get done and if it means i stay up until 2:00 am wrapping so be it.  a little extra cup of coffee in the morning will equal it all out.

seeing the excitement & joy written all over their faces it what will make it all worth it.

i hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend!  i hope someone, somewhere has a white christmas {because we certainly are not}.

smile!  it’s friday!!

merry christmas!

we also spent the day with family.  it was nice.

on our way home last night, we drove by the stores & through parking lots to see all the people waiting in lines wrapped around buildings.  ben could believe all the people waiting to get in the stores, in the middle of the night.  it was just 10:00 pm when we drove by many.  one of the stores, that was already open had police, firemen & an ambulance there.  i found out later it was due to multiple fights breaking out as well as someone having a seizure.  those stories alone are why i stay away.  no deal is that great.

today has been even more relaxing than yesterday.  we have spent the day in our comfy clothes, lounging, watching movies & we started decorating the house.

i remember the holiday season when i was a kid so clearly.  they were so full of fun & excitement & anticipation.  it was seriously the best time of the year.  every night i would play with all the ornaments on my mom’s tree.  she had such a variety of angels and other characters; it was so perfect for playing.  the tree skirt always, always, always was an ice skating rink/village.

every year, ben & now emilia get more excited about christmas.  ben couldn’t  wait to get our tree out & up.  he helped dan bring out all the boxes of decorations.  once the tree was up, he took the reins and put all the ornaments up.  he did a great job.  our tree looks great.

i am hoping that as ben & emilia grow they remember their holiday seasons the way i remember mine.  i want them to always remember the excitement & warmth that comes during this time of year.  i want them to remember all the fun & laughter that was had.  i try my hardest to make sure every year all of these feelings are covered for them.  i’ve tried to take my favorite things from my childhood (& dan’s) and added them in our household.  it’s been fun, hard work, but fun!

tonight we are headed out to our community’s annual tree lighting ceremony.  it’s literally a hop, skip & a jump from our front door so we won’t need to worry about any traffic or trying to park!  yay for living in the town center!  we’re planning on meeting up with friends & classmates of benjamin’s.  it will be a very fun night!

the rest of our weekend will be spent relaxing and lounging.  dan has to work tomorrow.  first holiday sort of the season.  he will be working all 4 saturday’s up to christmas.  he works a lot over the next 4-5 weeks, we miss him a lot but we make up for the time not spent together on sunday’s.  we’re loading up our calendar with fun adventures – days down in the city, visiting santa, birthday celebrations (dan’s!), and spending time with friends & family.

smile!!  it’s friday!!!

for now, here is a picture of ben from our party this weekend.

we had our own make-shift photobooth at emilia’s party this weekend.  it was so fun.  all the kids loved it!  it is safe to say that a photobooth will be at all of our future parties!  who doesn’t love to play dress up & act silly!?

these are what most of my pictures of benjamin look like from halloween (all 5 of them).  he is running, with his friends, from house to house.  

we had a busy halloween.  lots of fun, food, friends, &, of course, candy.

ben was dressed a captain hook, kind of.  i say kind of because he’s not really into the dressing up.  he had a hook with him at school but quickly lost interest in it and didn’t even bother wearing it trick or treating.  emilia was dressed a rapunzel or tangled as she calls her.

our day of fun started when benjamin’s school had their annual halloween parade.  all the grades parade around the outside of the school, for all the parents to see, and then through a door back into the school & through the hallways as the kids reach their class they sit outside and watch the rest of their classmates go by.

after the halloween parade was his class party.  i, along with another mom, are the room captains for his class.  we spent a lot of time planning a great party.  we had games, a craft & snacks.  the kids had a great afternoon.  i was thrilled to be apart of it.

after school, benjamin & i headed over to friend’s house for trick or treating.  dan and emilia met up with us.  the remainder of the afternoon was spent trick or treating.  emilia lost steam after about two and a half blocks while ben & his friends kept going and going and going.

once trick or treating was over all the kids & parents met back at the house we started at for a pizza party.

it was a great day & night.  we have more candy then i know what to do with (a lot of it will be going to work with dan when he goes back on monday) and the kids dump theirs out & review it every. single. day.

the type of halloween the kids will remember.  it was reminiscent of the halloween’s i had growing up – out all afternoon/evening and with friends and/or family and lots & lots of candy.  we are looking forward to many more in our future!

happy halloween!

we have a busy day ahead of us.  lots of fun to be had.

dan, emilia & i will head over to ben’s school in the early afternoon for a halloween parade.  following the parade, i will stay and with a handful of other mom’s  host ben’s kindergarten halloween party.  we did a lot of planning and think it will be a great time.

after school, ben & i will head over to a friend’s house, meet back up with dan & emilia, and head out to trick or treat followed by a pizza party.

i have no doubt that by the end of the evening everyone will have had their fair share of sugar high’s from the day & be completely exhausted.

it will be a great day!

have a safe & happy halloween!  boo!

a sneak peak into our day.  it’s been a fun day, but definitely a long day.

our day consisted of fun, friends, birthday parties, good food, good company, and lots of laughs.

it’s safe to say we are all going to bed exhausted but with smiles on our faces.  tomorrow brings another fun-filled day!

happy weekend!!

we had a great weekend.  so great that i would rather it not be ending.  we have spent our weekend surrounded by friends.

i feel like our weekend could have been taken out of a sitcom – adults hang out, have great conversation, kids play together perfectly and everyone leaves happy & ready to do it again next weekend.

ben & emilia went to bed tonight with great memories.  dan & i are rounding out our weekend relaxed, catching up on season premiers of our favorite shows and ready to  tackle the week.

it’s amazing what a little r&r and good company can do.

this picture just captures everything about autumn.  it’s the first day of fall and this picture couldn’t be more appropriate.  i’m thinking i need to stop later and get a nice warm chai from starbucks.

this is by far my favorite time of year.  the weather has been beautiful this entire week & i would love for it to stay around for awhile so we actually get to enjoy this season.  it is always questionable in chicago if we get a spring or a fall as sometimes we head immediately into winter or head from winter right into summer.

this time of year makes me want to curl up under a blanket with a good book or magazine, a cup of coffee or a glass of red wine.  Light fall scented candles, host dinner parties with family & friends with amazingly delicious {& healthy} comfort foods, wear hoodies, go apple picking & visit the pumpkin farm.  and for the most part is happening in our lives or starting to happen!  yay fall!

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i am happy it’s friday.  really happy.

it’s been a decent week – harder for some than others and really it is just time for the weekend.  we need to rest.  we need naps.  good god do we need naps.

we have stuff going on this weekend but we made sure that it all happened before or after naps.

ben earned his 10th sticker last night.  he gets to go to the arcade with dan on saturday morning.  for ben to earn his 10 stickers he had to go above & beyond – cleaning up {more than just his toys}, being helpful around the house, being the best ben he can be and getting good reports from school.  these are just to name a few.  tonight, his 10th sticker came because he read.  he read sentence in his library book.  my heart practically jumped out of my chest.  i wouldn’t be surprised if he has the sentence memorized but to me he freakin’ read a sentence!  he has been learning reading skills at school.  i am super psyched.  i love reading, i hope he grows to enjoy it as much as i do!

emilia is also on a sticker track.  she only needs one more sticker.  when she gets her last sticker she gets a new princess.  she gets stickers for using the potty.  this one is a stickler with potty training.  i know i mentioned here that we were doing it but i think putting it out in the world back fired on me.  but, not to be sidelined, we are still trying & working on it.  we will get there.  one day.  one freakin’ day.  

friday’s are always questionable by the time after school rolls around.  it’s been a long week for benjamin & he is usually tired.  he has been falling asleep every day this week during afternoon rest time.

after school, the kids & i are headed down to my mom’s for dinner & to hang out.  we made these delicious chocolate chunk muffins yesterday afternoon & they need to be shared otherwise it is safe to say we might eat them all in one sitting.  that would not be good…my already unmotivated running, as of late, would be much harder than i need or want it to be.  i am hoping that ben takes a little snooze on the way down to my mom’s.

we have a dinner, with the kids, on saturday night with friends.  all of our kids are the same age.  it will be a great night.  rain is forecasted but i am hoping it doesn’t happen because we are planning on having a bonfire complete with s’mores!

sunday more friends are coming to our house.  the boys will be watching the bears vs. packer’s game.  i am going to have the kids outside for some sidewalk paint and playing.  we think we are going to whip up a batch of chili, complete with all the fixins’ and enjoy the day, game & weather.

my main goal of this weekend is for all of us to full relax & forget about all the bad stuff from the week & just be…just be happy, just be relaxed, just be us, just be a family.  just be.

what are your plans for the weekend?  happy friday!  happy first day of fall!

smile!  it’s friday!!