And We're Back!.....Happy Birthday Anthony!

So.....after a couple of very busy years (yes there is an "s" on the end of that)....we are back and busier than ever.  Today is Anthony's 4th Birthday.  He woke up this morning and was so excited to know that after three days of asking if he was four yet, the answer was "YES"!  Happy Birthday to you buddy!!!!

Proof....

that when a teacher says to "Use your Walking Feet", they really mean it!

Chicago for the Fourth

We spent a nice long extended weekend in Chicago for the 4th of July!  It was a wonderful time!  Tony and I spent our time learning to scuba dive (which I must say was more difficult than I expected...LOTS of fun though!)  While we were doing that, Olivia and Anthony were having a ball.  They went to the Build-A-Bear store, Chuck E. Cheese, and all over Crystal Lake.  Needless to say, they really didn't miss Mom and Dad much!  On Saturday night we all enjoyed this awesome meal called "The Dump" - we sat together while corn on the cob, shrimp, potatoes, sausage, and smokies were dumped in front of us.  We used the table cloth as our plates and our fingers as our utensils.  It was really good!  Each one for themselves!  On Monday, we went downtown Chicago to the Shedd Aquarium.  Olivia and Anthony enjoyed seeing the animals - although it felt like it was a thousand degrees and the streets were waaay crowded.  Downtown was fun to visit but I think the thing the children enjoyed the most was the train ride down.  After the busy weekend, we're probably going to need a couple of days to recover!

New Kitchen Floors

So the one thing I have always really wanted since we moved into this house is new kitchen floors.  My wish finally came true this week.  We have had the kitchen taken apart for the last week now.  Let me tell you it was worth it!

Before:

After:

Happy Birthday Anthony!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!  Anthony spends his days coloring, playing with tractors and trucks, building with legos, and either following his sister around or annoying her.  Just like every other two year old :)  He was lucky to have three birthday parties - one in Texas with Tony's family, one at home with our family, and of course one at Chuck E. Cheese with Jenn's family.  He loves Birthday cake! 

From Olivia, Tony, and Mom - Anthony got a Thomas the Train bike. He's getting better with it, but it will still be a while before he can keep up with Olivia. Good thing the weather is getting nice!!

His Sense of Style

Don't ask me how this happened, but this is how Anthony dresses himself around the house on a Sunday morning!

She has....De Berg Feet!!!

So with two months of serious winter left, Olivia needs new shoes.  Go Figure.  My Dad's side of the family has always been known to have big feet, why would my daughter be any different.  After two - three days of Olivia persisting that I was putting her shoes on the wrong feet, we went and got them measured.  Sure enough, the shoes that I swore would last her the whole winter - are now too small.  So we scouted the stores in the mall, where she liked every pair!  I couldn't bring myself to part with $40 per pair of shoe.  So we headed to Target.  Luckily, she found a pair of pink shiney 'Hello Kitty' ballerina shoes that she wore throughout the entire store (even though they still had the tags and bands on them).  Whew!!