The sun does shine!

Can't complain too much about the weather the past couple of days as we've had brilliant sunshine and mild temperatures! Yippee!!!

Nini and Papa left today to go back home. They spent Thanksgiving and the weekend with us, which was lots of fun for all. Addie especially had a good time with Papa and Jack and Nini had some special bonding moments. Nini sang "Fruit Salad" to him which he just loved to imitate. He has quite a little personality, too. My favorite new thing he does is say, "ohhh" when you tell him something. Too cute!

Mom and I actually braved the crowds on Friday to do a little bit of shopping. We got a few things marked off the list and we certainly spent some time waiting in lines.

Thanks to Papa for bringing his tools to help with several home projects!

Of course lots and lots of pictures were taken over the course of the holiday weekend. We got to spend a little time at beautiful Green Lakes on Saturday (along with the rest of the city, it seems!). So nice to be out in such gorgeous weather.

Hard to believe that it's almost December, the year is winding down and Christmas will be here and gone before we know it...

Happy Birthday Beautiful Girl!

Addie turned 3 years old today! Hard to believe how quickly three years flies! She was such a good baby - settled into a schedule fairly easily, slept through the night fairly early, was curious, outgoing, never had seperation anxiety, nursed well, ate well, etc., etc... The terrible twos are offiically over, but I hear the threes can be just as challenging. She's a funny little girl with a lot of spunk. Happy Birthday Addie, we love you!

How many birthday parties can an almost 3-year old have?

Why, three of course!!!

Today Addie had her first of three birthday parties with a few playgroup friends. She was SO excited this morning. Last night before bed we started cleaning and setting up for her "party." After her bath she went downstairs and pulled an extra chair up to the table. She put a beaded necklace at each place setting (to go along with the plates that were already at each place). This morning when she woke up the first thing she said was, "we need to put the party hats out!" Then, we iced the cake - she chose yellow and red food coloring for the icing. She picked out green candles! She had a fun time and when it was time to sing Happy Birthday she made sure everyone knew it was HER birthday and HER cake! Oh boy!

We'll make cupcakes tonight to take to school tomorrow. Wonder what color we'll choose to ice the cupcakes?? I'll let you know tomorrow.

The last 7 days --- no sunshine :(

Every Sunday the paper posts the past week's weather statistics - percentage of sunshine, inches of rain, temps, etc. It was a rather depressing report this week. There was not one day that had over 6% of sunshine, and most days were 0% sunshine. OH MY! The forecast isn't looking too good, either. I guess we'll just eat ourselves into a sunshiny state on Thursday and then it won't matter.

Time is ticking to capture the "perfect" Christmas card photo... oh, what am I to do? I haven't done much shooting of BOTH kids lately - it would be helpful if there was more light during the day (gray, gray, gray). They may have a photo shoot coming their way!

Enjoy your Sunday. Hope it's sunny!

I think we're all over our sickness, although Addie was complaining that there was "something in her ear" the other day. She has been sleeping much better so I take that as a good sign. Just a little cough. Jack's ears are dry and infection free one week post-tubes, according to his ENT. He feels so good that he found a new face he likes to make (see photo)! Silly kids.

Our babysitter's mom (who loves the kids) asked if I had taken a picture for the Christmas card yet... AHHHH!!! No, I haven't found "the picture!" I guess I better get working on that since card writing time will be here before I know it. We should probably get through Thanksgiving first. Looking forward to having Nini and Papa here for a visit. I can almost taste the turkey now! Love this time of year.

When it rains, it pours!

Literally and figuratively! Rain, rain go away... boy has it been a gray and dreary weekend. Addie continued to be sick on Saturday and MAMA got sick, too! Oh boy! Addie and I have had a lot of time to bond as we snuggled up on the couch together. I have seen more Noggin shows than I care to imagine! I would have loved to curl up and watch a sappy chick-flick or something, but Little Bear won out. Oh well.

Keep meaning to post this cute picture of Addie's self portrait. This was a school project and the teachers had them look in the mirror and draw what they saw. I think Addie did a great job!

Happy Sunday!

Lots of dogs and a sick little girl

Today was the photo shoot with Toby and Rain, and boy are they cute dogs! Handsome, I should say. Rain loves his duck and Toby is oh, so majestic in his old(er) age.

Jack is better, now Addie is sick. I guess we should get ready for this scenario as we get closer and closer to winter.
Happy Friday!

Strange week!

I think it was just a full moon recently! Things are a little out of sorts at our house! Strange things have been happening.

Jack got tubes in both ears on Tuesday and he did great! I was surprised at how quick the procedure was. He was a brave little boy and bounced right back to his old self in a matter of hours. Then, last night I heard him crying at about 1:30am --- finally went into his room at 2am, since he wasn't going back to sleep and WHAM! He was sick... UGH! I cleaned him up and he and I spent a restless, sleepless night on the futon. Poor guy. Poor Mama! Throw into the mix that Addie got up at 4am and had a hard time falling back to sleep. Finally she did go back to sleep and she slept until almost 7:30. She came bounding in the computer room and she said, "Does Jack feel better???!!!" What a nice little girl!

Addie's teacher reported on Tuesday when I picked her up that she was "aggressive" all day. So disappointing to hear that about your child, but it's bound to happen, I suppose. I hope today has been better for her.

My "photo shoot" with Rain and Toby was cancelled on Wednesday due to rain. Jen's mother-in-law was so happy with the pictures I took of her grandsons that she wants pictures of her two golden retrievers! We've rescheduled for tomorrow, so cross your fingers that all goes as planned and that I am successful in capturing some nice expressions/moments. I'm nervous!

The good thing about this week is that we have a beautiful blue sky today. Everything is better when there is a little sun! Oh, and it's Mama's Night Out tongiht! Looking forward to some adult conversations and mommyhood support!!!!!

No new pictures today - the camera is taking a rest!!!!! More later!

The best picture from the photo shoot!

ok, so it's not the best picture, but it's one of my favorites. Don't know what it is about barefeet - but I love it!!!! Hopefully Jen will be happy with the pictures I took of her family - two ADORABLE boys in constant motion and two adults - whew! I have a lot to learn! Thanks Jen for giving me the opportunity to learn.

Addie and I went swimming at the Y last night. Just us girls. It was fun. I can't believe how fast she's growning. She is such an independant little girl. So full of life!

Ruby

Guess what? No snow yet!!! But it is darn cold!

Tomorrow should be an exciting day - I'm going to my friend Jen's house to take pictures of her beautiful family. I'll let you know how it goes. We may head to the YMCA for some swimming with the kiddos... Addie is very excited about that. I am bound and determined to clean out some clutter in our closets and drawers. We'll be making a trip to Goodwill and also adding some items to Ebay to see if we can make some extra cash!

I was practicing focus and exposure with Ruby today - wish I would have taken off her red collar. I like the colors behind her. We have a couple of beautiful trees still in fall splendor.
Have a good weekend!

Will it snow???

Stay tuned! We may be getting our first true snow of the season tomorrow. Is it all a hype or is it a true possibility??? I'll keep you posted!