10-31-11

Happy Halloween from Rapunzel and Bucky Badger. We had a blast! We trick or treated from 5:30-8:30 and Charlie walked nearly the whole time! I love that my kids excitement about halloween is visiting neighbors, admiring the beautiful fall leaves and enjoying fun/scary decorations. Fun!

10-19-11

My sweet boy is two!

(he is making a super silly face to say ChooChooooo! on the Vilas Zoo mini train.. he kinda thought it was the best thing EVER)

he is taking such quick strides toward becoming a strong, smart, independent and curious boy.

(these big red swings at our "castle park" are the best! its like a giant swinging recliner. so fun!)

he tackles "the big slide" all on his own!

this little guy is super silly. i so wish i had gotten this pic to be totally in focus and adorable, but i had one second of him holding still and an iphone camera. at least i got it!

he is so funny!

so he's growing and changing and getting so big, but i sure do treasure the glimpses of sweet little baby we still get. sigh. chubby cheeks and cuddling into my arms even though 90% of him is hanging off my lap. calling for mama anytime he's nervous. the look of total betrayal when something hurts him (like, you know, furniture he's jumped off of/on to or the ground jumping up and slamming into him while he's minding his own business running around like a tornado)

i look forward to what TWO has to offer. before his next birthday I foresee:

-starting potty training

-full sentences

-big boy bed

-favorites (favorite color, favorite food, favorite toy, favorite place, etc)

-many, many more boo boos. i have a daredevil!

mostly i just look forward to him being able to communicate all the funny little things he'd like to tell us!

10-1-11

Happy October!

We've had an insanely stressful several weeks that I really don't even want to get in to, but Ta-Da! We survived. Live and learn.

So I've gotten us mostly back on track around home but hadn't had much time to sit around and use the computer, not even to share pictures from our super fun trip to the museum of science and industry, in Chicago! Oh my. That'll be coming soon.

But today, oh.. it was one of THOSE days.

Do not read the following. It is just way too whiny

[I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Two huge cups of coffee and I still felt totally drained and run down. I had too many customers and two dogs peed in their kennels (what is it about having more than three dogs at a time that guarantees someone is going to need a second bath? i dont get it! And today I had 6, so, that's what I get). Then the kids... Dave has been working a lot which is totally fine, needed and great, but the kids miss him. And they are getting a little cranky about it. He left today and I was working so the kids had to be in the basement. This sent Charlie into it's-one-hour-before-my-nap-and-you-all-better-do-whatever-i-want-or-i'll-make-you-pay-dearly mode. Lily for some reason took of all her clothes and started putting random objects into the dog kennels (safe objects, but i had to keep checking all the time and scolding her), Charlie fell off like 4 pieces of furniture in a row. Lily drew me a picture and Charlie put it in the litterbox, which made lily way more upset than it really should have. I dropped a huge pile of dog hair on him while clipping a dog. It was a comedy of errors.]

The day continued pretty much exactly like this. Charlie took an unusually short nap so I couldn't get anything done after my customer checked out and we were all cranky and sick of being cranky by mid-afternoon. So I was nagging the kids to help me get all their toys from all over the place back into the playroom and I noticed I was alone.. So I go looking for Charlie And here is what I found...

oh yes. Drinking apple cider out of the jug and half a dozen smashed eggs on the floor.

there are not words for the frustration! we declared it bedtime and we'll hope for a better day tomorrow.

9-19-11

Charlie had his first haircut today! He went to Daddy's barber. The one he's been going to since he was a little boy. So cute!

Sitting so still!

All handsome! So proud!

9-13-11

never before blogged photos gorgeous Parry Heide photos from our New Orleans trip! I can't believe I never posted these. They are my favorites!

Lily and mama on a REAL steamboat! In New Orleans!

Camilia Grill (Do you see little charlie in front of Dave?)

Gorgeous Lily on a streetcar

Bayona! I wish I could eat there every day!

LOVE!

Green Goddess. Amazing six course custom menu in their wine room, served by the chef himself. Amazing amazing night.

Drinking a French 75 at French 75 in New Orleans. Love.

BEIGNETS! Cafe du Monde beignets and Cafe au Lait with my little New Orleans lovin girl.

9-12-11

ewwwww. chocolate syrup. never again.

9-11-11

Brown bear, brown bear
What do you see?

Here is sneaky doorway footage of lily reading a bedtime story to charlie.
as all you parents know, the cuteness would have stopped immediately if they knew we were videotaping.