Chicago in December

Is beautiful, but FREEZING! Not sure whose brilliant idea it was for us to visit this time of year, but we did it. And we had a great time. Sadly, I don't have too many pictures, but I did take a few on our outing to two museums ...

 Notice what we call the "Craig Tongue of Concentration" in the above pics. Daddy still does that sometimes ...

 Gigi bought him a video camera, and he brought it with him to the Shedd Aquarium. Here he was filming the sharks ... I should really upload the video, huh?

 Here he is zooming around the "grocery store" at the Kohl Children's Musuem ...

 Watching something cool with Dad in the Water area ...

 And examining a nice fake potato.

Back at the Aquarium, he got to hang out with the Sea Lion for a few minutes ... and gave him a name ...

All in all, we had a great time visiting Kristen and Josh (and the rest of the Saxes). But I think next time we should visit in the Spring ...

xoxo,
AHC

PS. Kristen's got some shots of the adults enjoying themselves over on her blog.

First Day of School Celebration

We don't celebrate birthdays ... or any other holidays for that matter. And we don't miss it. But we do tend to make "celebrations" out of what some may consider more mundane things. Like Allen's first day of "school." Kristen flew in from Chicago. She made a cake. We bought presents. Oh, and we watched the alligator in Nana's pond.

Here are some cute shots from the evening.

Allen and Daddy walking back from viewing the gator.

The cakes. It was supposed to be a whole teddy bear (a Build-a-Bear cake pan set from Williams Sonoma). Sadly, the heads fell off, and one body got stuck in the pan. So Kristen did the best she could. And it was pretty beautiful, I think! Allen loved them, and said, "I need to eat the eye."

Here's Allen looking at his book from Mommy and Daddy. It's Choo Choo by Virginia Lee Burton. He loves Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by the same author, and Nana just got him a Thomas the Train wooden train set, so we thought it was appropriate.
Mom and Dad's book was no match for Aunt Kissy's present: Skippyjon Jones and the Bones.
Nana's present was also better than Mom and Dad's: a wooden school bus with wooden children, bus driver, and dog(?) included. Very cool!
Obviously, Allen had a good time opening his gifts. And while he had a great first day (the director said he didn't ask for us at all, and that he kept going up to her and telling her, "I'm having a good time!"), his face lit up when he saw us come to pick him up, and he ran over and gave us huge hugs (and patted my back). So, he still loves us, which is a huge relief.

xoxo,

This is for you, Kissy

I know how much you love this song, Kissy!

But seriously, thank you so much for promoting the Joli blog on your blog. You are definitely a powerful blogging woman! Yay for sisters and for blogs! Love you!

xoxo,

Disney Recap: Epcot Day Two & Last Day ...

Our last day :( And almost equally as sad is that there weren't very many pictures. Here are the only ones I could come up with ...

A fabulous picture of Allen and Aunt Kissy looking at pictures on her camera.

After a couple failed attempts, Brian and I finally got to enjoy the Epcot laser/fireworks show ...

Hope you enjoyed my Disney recap. I promise to post very very soon about what's been happening in our lives more recently!!

xoxo,

Naughty puppies, toes, cherries

Kristen ... this one's for you :)

As ya'll know, Kristen was here about a month ago, while our Mom went off to Grand Cayman with our Dad. I had several posts that discussed Kristen's visit, including one of her making our drinks, but those were with my camera. So here are a few more pics of her visit that were taken with her camera. Hope you enjoy ...

I forgot to close the bathroom door, so the puppies got in and did some damage ...

Allen is trying to keep his maraschino cherry away from the pups (Kristen was making Manhattans again this night, hence the cherries).

Mom took us to get pedicures. I convinced Kristen (after the woman offered it to us) that we should get little designs on our big toes. Look how pretty!

xoxo,

Mommy glow; Inspiration

Jenn, please don't hate me, but I think this is a gorgeous shot of you. You look radiant, happy, and perfect. And you are each of those things. I love you, Jeff, and that gorgeous baby of yours. You are an awesome Mommy (just think of those dimples when Amy smiles), and you're doing a terrific job. Hang in there, and remember that we're here for you. Love you love you love you!

And Kissy, how proud am I to know that M thinks you're an inspiration. She's right. Your faith is certainly something that I want to emulate each day of my life. You're like a big sister to me ... oh wait, you are my big sister ;) xoxo

Goodnight,

Manhattans

Above is a shot of Allen sitting with Gigi and talking to Nana and Papa (while they were in Grand Cayman). I have lots to share with you, but am so tired these past few days that I cannot form my stories into coherent words. So instead, I post a lovely picture of "the kid," and perhaps an explanation of my inability to post these past few days (ha ha ... just kidding) XOXO, and I'll post real stories soon, I promise.

Aunt "Kissy" making Manhattans for me and her ... is that a large measuring cup she's using to make them? Hmm ... could explain a lot ...