It's Beginning to look a lot like...

something.... y'all know I don't decorate for Christmas, nor do I enjoy it. But, I gotta say, it sure does help when I have someone getting the decorations for me (Thanks Mom's). Ethan has been talking about "putting Christmas up" for a week and a half now... it is inevitable. We knew the day would come when we would have to "get in the Christmas spirit" and put decorations up. Ethan loves it. He has been humming Santa Clause is Coming to Town and saying how cute and beautiful Christmas is. Unfortunately, this will be the last year I can get away with having a mini tree, it's perfect for the very few ornaments we have as of now.

Hello Santa! This year Ethan was too excited to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted most for Christmas. I have no idea what they chatted about - but Ethan was all grin's. He saw Santa, chatted him up while smiling from ear-to-ear, took his picture, got his candy, and said to Santa "we have to leave now, don't forget". I have no idea...

Happy Thanksgiving.

Larry preparing for dinner...
.... Ethan preparing for dinner


Dad's holiday bubbly...

...Ethan's holiday bubbles

Last weekend our awesome day care provider's daughter got married. Ethan got to be the ring bearer, our table was awkward and the angles weren't that great, so the pictures didn't turn out well, but we thought he was cute nonetheless.

Happy Halloween

This year we went to the church Trunk-or-Treat Friday night before Halloween. Ethan was not very interested in getting candy, but wanted more to give the candy to the "childrem"*. He would wait for the kids to say "trick-or-treat" then he would ask "okay, which do you want"?

On Saturday, we did

Monster's on Main Street with my girlfriend from work and other work friends. The kids had a blast, but Ethan, of course wanted to pull his wagon more than trick-or-treat.

On Sunday - Halloween - Ethan wanted to dress up and hand candy to the childrem* as Super Ethan to the Rescue.

*not a typ-o, Ethan says Childrem, not children

This weekend we took the Metra to Union Station, and a cab to the Shedd Aquarium. Big time fun for everyone since it was my first time ever to the Aurora station, Mom Nancy's first time EVER on a train, and Ethan's first time commuting... I love Shedd.

Pumpkin Days

Blackberry Farms started their October Pumpkin Days this weekend. What a weekend. The weather was awesome and so unusual for this time of year... scoriching over 80 degrees. We had so much fun riding "Little Red Train", the carousel, and hay rides with "Terrence, the Tractor" pulling a wagon. We painted pumpkins and had lunch as well.

Ethan's birthday was on Tuesday, Mom was here all week to celebrate. In true Nana fashion, Mom spoiled him with treats and toys all week. Nana made a strawberry shortcake giant cupcake for Ethan, she helped him color and draw, and created a pumpkin of many faces. They has such a great time together. I am so disappointed to discover I have not one picture of Mom and me! Wah!

Happy Birthday, Ethan

4 years old! Can you believe it? We celebrated Ethan's birthday at a local restaurant that has a train half way around the wall. Ethan is obsessed with trains, in case you haven't noticed. The kids got to make their own pizza's while the adults got to pick from a mexican style buffet. It was a blast and he had a ball! Thanks for everyone who came, and participated, and thanks to family for their contributions and presents (I mean attendance, not just gifts to Ethan).

Even though it was Dylan's birthday, Ethan had fun on his own. Such a cute idea, Stacie had a Carnival theme with games and hot dogs.

Another Day Out with Thomas!

Yea... yes, I am being a little sarcastic. I love doing what Ethan loves to do, but this is obsessive. I know, I know, I'm enabling... This year was awesome, the weather was perfect, which means larger crowds.

Last night Ethan and I were watching his movie upstairs while Dad was watching a scary movie downstairs. I was in the bathroom and heard Ethan, "Mommy, I'm soooooo *yawn* tired". I came out to find - Sound asleep...

Summer Stay-cation 2010

This year is the first time since I started working full time that I have taken 11 consecutive days off. The nice thing is - Larry took the same week off. We had a great time going to the Gramley's trailer, Mom and John's in Peoria, and hanging out around town. Except for the fact that Ethan got the flu on the second day of vacation and Larry caught it the third. Bummer. All-in-all, I was grateful to spend the time with my family - sick or not.

Our good friends, the Gramley's (Chris, Stacie, Dylan, and Connor) have a cabin in Lee County. It's not too far and the area has a pool, fishing lake, and tons of activities. We had a blast riding their scooters, swimming, and just hanging out. It was so relaxing. We managed - er, shall I say, the kids managed to find a stationary train, which has now been named Blackie the Train in Amboy at the Amboy town museum and a whole Thomas section at the local pharmacy. We went for old time soda's and malts (which were delicious by the way). Of course there were tears shed as we left the pharmacy empty handed.

Ethan recouped quickly, but Larry took longer since he's older I suspect. We just took it easy for a few days. The following week, we went to Peoria to spend a few days with Mom, John, Rhonda, Allie, and Chelsey. It was fun going to dinner on Thursday just us and the Johnson's. Rhonda and Gang arrived later that evening. Friday, we went to the indoor water park and Ethan had a blast watching Chelsey on the big slide, and playing in the pool. Larry taught him to hang on the side of the pool and kick, and now he is just all about that. We made pizza's on the grill and laughed with each other. Saturday was time to go.

Ethan and I ran errands on Monday - he was such a trooper, and entertained everyone he came in contact with. We went to the All Aboard Diner as a reward and he could hardly stand it, he was so excited. That place is ridiculous! It is every train-obsessed kids dream!

Today, we went to visit Dad at work, and see Toy Story 3. We made it about half way through and he decided he could not sit still any longer and needed to go home immediately.

A few of my favorite things...

Thomas, my Sandbox, and my bike... Not in that order every day.

Day out with Ethan

Saturday was such an awesome day. I took Ethan to the Metra train station to watch trains, and thought we should just take a ride. So, we did. We took a short little ride to Naperville from Aurora. He was so excited and had such a blast. We ended up in Naperville with no plan. I have no experience with the train system. Since it was Saturday, the schedule wasn't as frequent. We arrived at the station at 9:23 am but the train back out wasn't until 11:28 am. What to do, what to do? We took a taxi to downtown and got to sing "taxi, taxi, riding in the back seat". We walked around downtown and visited Marbles, the Brain Store. We had brunch at Starbucks (yes, he loves it). We talked about Thomas, Olivia, Kai Lan, and the Backyardigans. We got a cab back to the train station and watched freight trains passing through. By the time we got back home, Ethan was exhausted. I enjoyed the time and the day so much. It was so random, and we had no plans, but it was such a great day.