How I found Joshua

Joshua loves to do whatever Emma is doing. He loves to have whatever she has. It's fun for Joshua, but not always thrilling for Emma. Well, Emma loves to run through the bed sheets when I'm trying to fold them. Or she loves to walk through the drapes hanging in our family room. I don't know what it is, but she loves the feeling of it. Joshua has learned this unique talent (I'm so thrilled about that (joking)). Anyway, I went to get him from his nap this morning and found him like the picture. He loved it! He got up and walked around the crib, as much as he could. Emma had to join in on the fun too.

69 years of Marriage

It's amazing to think that a couple can be together for as long as 69 years. This is the amount of time that Grammy and Grampy have been married. What an incredible model they are, one that Mark and I could only hope for. This past Monday, the family here in Chicago, including G&G's daughter, Dianne, celebrated their anniversary. We all went to dinner at their community restaurant. It was wonderful food and the best part was that we had a room to ourselves, which worked out wonderfully with the kids. Emma, Joshua and Dianne danced while others finished eating. We enjoyed a delicious cake that the restaurant provided, Joshua especially loved that. If you look closely, in one of the pictures, Joshua is wearing pink lipstick (icing).

It has been a couple of years that Grammy and Grampy have moved here...I can't imagine life without them now. They are a blessing to our family and we are grateful that we have the privilege to share our lives, moments/experiences (the good and bad) and accomplishments with each other during this season of our lives.

Happy 69 years of marriage G&G!

Already a remote man!

I snapped a couple of pictures of Joshua the other day. He was so happy to have not just one remote....but TWO. Yes ladies and gentleman, he already wants control of the remotes.

Happy Halloween

Last night was fun. Emma dressed up like a princess...Joshua didn't dress up like anything. Awhile back, Emma decided she did not want to go trick-or-treating. She was traumatized by the very ghorry/scary Halloween items in the Factory Card Outlet store and wanted to only stay inside this year. Which was fine with me, she wanted to pass out the candy. Everything was going great. At the beginning of the night there were barely any trick or treater's. She waited patiently at the window for them. All was well until she saw her first scary costume...the "Scream" mask. I don't know if that was the hit costume for this year, but almost every group that came to the door someone had this "Scream" mask on. Well, needless to say, that did her in and she refused to answer the door anytime after that. Her very good friend Lillie came over (sorry, I didn't get a picture of them together), that was a fun time for her. Other than that, she enjoyed having Nana, Papa, Grammy and Grampy over to share in this very anticipated event. Well, looks like our next upcoming event to look forward to is Thanksgiving. Can't wait for that one.

Happy Birthday Mom

So, I'm a little late on wishing my mom a Happy Birthday. Her actual birthday was this past Saturday. Well, we decided this year to go to my sister's house (which usually is the place to meet seeing as they have the largest home among us all). We had a great time. It had been a while since we all had gotten together, so it was nice to see each other. We hung out, ate and enjoyed cake. The cake was beautiful and very tasty! Here are some pics to enjoy. Happy Birthday Mom.

Trip to Michigan

This past weekend, My sister and her family, my parents and Mark and I and the kids took a trip to Michigan. Our purpose was to visit friends and also to re-hash old memories of places we use to go to. One of our spots of visiting was Franklin Cider Mill. My family and Mark use to visit there often during the Fall. I must say, they have the best cider and donuts around. I'm sure the memories is what makes it taste so good, but I wanted to share my wonderful memories of Fall time with Emma and Joshua.

We had a chance to see our old house (Unfortunately, we were not able to see Mark's old house), see friends and enjoy family time together. Emma and her cousins Sam and Jonah thoroughly enjoyed and took advantage of the pool at the hotel. It seemed that every time we went some where they wanted to go back to the hotel and go swimming. I think that was the highlight of their weekend.

It was wonderful to see my childhood friend from when I lived in Michigan. It is always a joy seeing her and her family. It's wonderful that after 17 years, we still stay in contact with each other.

We also spent most of our time with our old neighbor Annie. She was like my oldest sister and another child to my parents. She is an amazing friend and we sure have missed her.

It would be wonderful to make a trip to Michigan every year around Fall time and have that be a family tradition. It's hard to get everyone together like we did this past weekend, but it was enjoyable and memorable. Happy Fall!

For Mark

Mark is out of the country this entire week...I have survived very well so far. God has given me an abundance of patience and Grace, that which I am grateful for. Because Mark has not been gone from the kids this long before, I made a little video of each of them so Mark can see how they are doing. Mark we miss you and can't wait for you to come home. We love you.

Grammy & Grampy's birthday party

We celebrated Grammy and Grampy's birthday party over at our house yesterday afternoon. They came over for dessert after they had a wonderful lunch at Red Lobster. Both Emma and Joshua could not be more excited to see everyone here...maybe I should have family over more often. Joshua was showing off all of his talents...talking, climbing, dancing and walking backward's, that kind of sounds like a circus doesn't it?! Emma couldn't stop jumping up and down out of excitement, yelling to everyone to look at her. All in all, although it was short, it was wonderful to be together. Happy Birthday G&G!

Funny video

I received this video via e-mail today and I thought I'd share it with you all...it was quite cute.

Just chillin'

So lately, Joshua is into eating and relaxing at the same time. He'll lean back and put one foot on top of the high chair tray. If you try to force his leg down and constrain him to the high chair, you better believe you're going to hear his disapproval. For now...it's a cute thing, let's hope it's a phase and not a bad habit!

Joshua turned 1!

My little man is now one. I can't believe that is has been a year. I've learned to appreciate every moment that I have with my children, life goes too quickly and I need to slow down and take it in. We had a party on Saturday for him. Unfortunately, we had many family members that were sick and could not make it, we sure did miss them here.

Mark and I took on the task of trying to make a fireman's hat cake. Ann so graciously, being very sick but wanting to take part in the event, made all the cake pieces for us, we had to put it together. Thank you Ann! Actually, Mark did all of the work and I think he did a great job. Joshua loved the cake and Grammy LOVED watching him eat it.

We are so blessed to have all of our family around us and to be a part of the milestones in our families lives.

Thank you to all of you for the wonderful gifts, Joshua and Emma love them :)

Emma's first day of pre school

Emma started pre-school on Tuesday. I decided to put her in the community center pre-school and I feel that it was a good decision. Her teacher, Ms. Linda is wonderful and she really likes her. She's also made a friend already, Lillie. Amazing enough, Lillie lives in our town home development, we look forward to many play dates. I had to make it special, so she had Portillo's for lunch (she wanted a hot dog) and she wanted me to take a picture of her eating it. Here are a couple of pictures of her first day and of her friend Lillie.

Chicago Half Marathon

I'm a little behind, but a week ago today, Mark ran in the Chicago half marathon. For 8 weeks Mark trained for this big event and I'm happy and proud to say that he finished! One of the reasons in doing the race was the cause. BP chose to support Juvenile diabetes, which Mark has. We felt that the cause was the main reason in doing the run. We hope that eventually, there will be a cure for this disease.

It was a very eventful day, we woke up at 4 a.m. so that we would leave at 5 a.m. The race started at 7:30 and we wanted to be there in enough time to settle and prepare for the race. Luckily, BP had a tent there, so it was a great meeting spot for the family, if ever we didn't know where the others were, head to the tent and wait there. It was a lot of fun being a part of the thousands of people cheering the runners on. I've never been to anything like it before...it was a little convicting though, 99% of the people there were physically fit. It definitely made me want to go to the gym to workout. It must not have motivated me too much, I still haven't made it there yet.

Anyway, a cute story. The spectator's are very encouraging to all runners. On their bib, which is the paper thing that they attach to their clothes, has their number and name on it. As Mark is running he can hear people encouraging him saying "Good job Mark," "Let's go Mark" He thought to himself, wow, it's amazing how many people know me! Later, he realized that the bib has his name on it and that the people didn't actually know him, they were just encouraging him on. I was able to see Mark at three different spots, one spot ( forgive me, I can't remember the name of the street), was right by the BP tent, so that was nice, the second was off of Lake Shore drive and the third was the finish line. He finished in 2 hours 20 minutes, and he was absolutely thrilled to be done! We are all extremely proud of this event in his life, it has helped, both him and I to be more watchful of what we eat and to try to lead a more healthy lifestyle. He is going to join a runners group at BP, so he will keep up with the exercise, now it's my turn to commit to working out.

The rest of the day was restful...somewhat. Doug and Ann rented a hotel room downtown for their anniversary, so we were able to take advantage of their room. We all went back there for a bit so the kids could roam free, meanwhile Mark took a shower. Afterwards, we walked around, went to a couple of shops, ate, went back to the room, picked up Doug and Ann, went to the American Girl store, ate and then headed home. It was a long day, but a fun one. Here are some photos of the half marathon.

FINALLY

Finally...I am able to post. For awhile now we've had some computer issues. It seemed to get worse and worse so we took it in to get fixed, now everything works like a champ! (That's for Mark). This past weekend, we visited the Brookfield zoo with some friends of ours. It was a perfect day, surprisingly cool, but in the midst of the hot and humid weather, a little cloudy, cool weather was welcomed with open arms. Emma enjoyed it all and we did too. We decided that we need to join, not only because it's cheaper, but because Emma had such a wonderful time. Here are some pictures of our trip to the zoo.

Happy Golden Birthday Jared

The 23rd will be my brother-in-laws golden birthday, but we celebrated it this past weekend. We had a great time visiting with Jared, even if it was just for a day. Emma always looks forward to seeing her Uncle Jared. She loves him so much, but is very shy with him at the same time. Anytime we have with Jared is a blessing. We always have wonderful memories banked away in our hearts that keep us anticipating the next visit. Here are some pictures of the party.