First snow of 2012

I was thinking and last year we really didn't get any snow, the year before Maddie was only about 8 months old and not really out in the snow.  Needless to say she dove right in and they both couldn't wait to get out and play in the snow.  Maddie enjoyed eating it and I had to warn her about the yellow snow.  YUCK  We are looking forward to do some sledding in Galena too.  Love having a white Christmas!

Busy Busy Busy

Wow, Christmas is about a week away.  I have been so bad about updating my blog, but we have been busy, busy, busy.Clayton just finished up Little Pints Soccer class tonight and had a blast.  (Picture Above)  He loves being involved in a bunch of activities and we kept busy this fall with soccer and swimming.  He is already telling me he wants to do camp and tennis again this summer.  He loves school and he had his Christmas party last week.  Maddie, is a crack up and has lots of personality/sassiness.  Wonder who she gets that from?  :)  She loves playing baby dolls these days, loved her gymnastics and swimming class.  She has no problem keeping up with big brother.  They are excited to have a couple of days this week with Mimi while I am in St. Louis working. 

Conference Calls

Last week I had a horribly long conference call I had to listen to.  I think this pic reflects how we all felt about it.  :)

Shop Online

This is why the Fed Ex/UPS men are at my door daily. One shopping trip and they both had to be in the umbrella stroller, they couldn't handle it.  :)  They get that from their father.

Clayton's Preschool Halloween Party

Clayton's Preschool always has a Halloween parade and party.  I volunteered to be the mom in charge of the party this year.  Maddie and I dropped off Clayton in his Spider man outfit and then went to the gym to watch the parade. (He was a little upset they don't allow them to wear masks, Justin pointed out the ghost behind Clayton and I said just because others break the rules does mean we should :)  After the parade we did fun ghost crafts, had snacks, played pin the nose on the pumpkin and more.  The kids really had a good time and I have to admit it was nice to check that off the list.  Swim lessons tonight, so the kids are napping.  Clayton is really hoping they use the diving board! 

Normal Monday

Since living at our new house the kids love to watch the birds.  We are "in the country" so we have more wildlife and have birdfeeders up too.  Justin had his deer blind out so it could air out so the kids decided it was the perfect place to watch our woodpecker.  Mimi was proud I am sure.  :)  Even though it is cooler out we are so enjoying this weather.  The kids could stay outside for hours and hours playing.  Love to see how they do things together.

Pumpkin Carving

We did our pumpkin carving tonight and the kids picked a kitty on a pumpkin and a witch.  We even have some pumpkin seeds roasting in the oven.  We have a full week this week with a school Halloween Party, swimming lessons starting, and of course trick-or-treating.  More pics to come of our Halloween!

Gymnastics or "Nastics"

We knew we wanted to get Maddie into a class and something she would really love.  She is such an active little daredevil that I thought gymnastics would be perfect.  So she started about a month ago.  She loves, loves, loves it.  She thinks it is the equivalent to Clayton going to school.  In fact I asked her if she would be going to pre-school next year where big brother goes and she said "No, I go to Nastics".  :)  This week the kids got to wear their Halloween costume which she is a fairy princess she says.  Her favorite thing to do there is the rings and the bars.  She would hang there forever!!!!  I can't get over how big and grown up she has gotten over the last couple of months!

Behind?

To say that I am behind on the blog is an understatement.  I have had dry spells before but man this summer has kicked our butts.  I am going to have a big Summer Post to catch everyone up.  In the mean time I wanted to get started and share a pic of the kids.  They are growing so fast and are FULL of personality.  More to come......

Happy 4th of July

I had to laugh last night at how life truly does change when you have kids.  We were so busy on Monday and Tuesday that the 4th of July was a lazy day for us.  We stayed in the AC, took naps, played and grilled out for dinner.  The fireworks we enjoyed were on NBC, since Clayton fell asleep at 6pm and as of 6:30am this morning he is still fast asleep.  I think he had too much fun playing with Olivia our neighbor earlier this week.  We have been trying to stay cool which has involved a ton of water!  The kids are in the pool and playing in the sprinkler almost everyday.  I think Maddie has eaten her weight in popsicles. We hope everyone had a safe holiday!  Today is our big girl, Keely's birthday!  Wow how can she be 5?

Galena Family Time

A couple of weeks ago we all headed to Galena for a week of family fun.  The kids LOVE seeing Mimi and Papa & Anna Banana and Uncle David.  We were constantly busy, fishing, swimming, golfing, going out to eat, going to the farm, spending time with Great Mimi & Great Papa, "camping", more swimming, going to see the hot air ballons and even a night our for us!  We had so much fun!  I didn't do a good job of getting all the pics up here so I will do another post later!

Yesterday as we were leaving Dicks I am sure we looked like we were investing in a scholarship hunt for our children.  We left with Tennis, Baseball and Soccer equipment.  Seriously though we have been taking full advantage of all the great programs that the Peoria Park District has.  Clayton took golf lessons and is now in a kids golf league that he loves!  He started tennis lessons this last Friday too.  Poor Maddie she wants to do everything her big brother does and she is a year or so away from being able to participate in most programs.  She did get to help at Tennis lessons though because it is such a small group.  The kids love being busy and I know I was very lucky to do so many activities when I was younger so we are definitely capitalizing!  Did I mention we love being here.  :)  Oh just a million times!

Dress Yourself Wednesday

Clayton's Purple Panda Preschool at the Methodist Church in Dunlap wrapped up for the school year a couple Fridays ago.  I hadn't posted pictures and wanted to make sure I got these up.  Clayton LOVED school.  He always talked about his good friends Madylin and Brett.  He got to do tons of art projects, go to the church library, learn more about colors, shapes, letters, and much more.  One of the cutest things was the pledge they did everyday.  I will have to get it recorded and put it up.

So it was his last day and he decided to dress himself.  Apparently Purple Panda prepared him for the next step, the Marines.  :)  Uncle David got him this tshirt a couple of years ago on a trip and Clayton loved wearing it!  I think he looks so old in this first picture.  We had to take a picture of Keely on Clayton's last day.  She came for drop off and pick up every day and became the class mascot of sorts.  All the kids and teachers watched for her.  The kids thought it was funny that Keely would always act like she was driving.  :) 

Justin was out of town for the week so Clayton, Maddie and I went to celebrate the start of summer.  I had asked Clayton what he wanted to do.  We had been to the park about 10 times this week already so he said he wanted to go bowling and get lunch at Jillians.  The kids had a blast bowling, eating pizza, fries, ice cream and anything else you can think of they shouldn't have!  We are excited about this summer full of grilling, visits to see grandparents, mini vacations, playing with the neighbors and much more.  Clayton will be in the pre-kindergarten class at Purple Panda next year and is very excited to return!

Crazy

Only Mom's will understand.  Try this on the Saturday of Memorial Weekend.  :)

Summer Fun

We were at a fun Mom's Club get together last night.  The kids had a BLAST.  Clayton was running around most of the time so not as many shots of him.  Maddie on the other hand, oh we are so in trouble.  One of the other dads did a great job capturing her SUPER excitement with the bounce house.  I wish I would have video taped it.  She must have gone down and up that slide about 100 times.  She is nutts and she knew everyone was watching her so she was hamming it up.