I know every mother thinks her kid is a genius. But seriously, look at these patterning skills! She just turned 2! Brilliant!

I got to be the sub in Cole's class today. But he refused to call me Mrs..... Oh well, "Mom' sounds much nicer anyway.

Will it ever end?

Mmmmmmm. Even in the cold weather, mmmmmmmmm.

Yup.

Yup. It really is so fun to have a girl! I mean, I do *love* having a boy, too. But... tiny polka dot tights! And little boots!

At the theater...

CT & Lil' A really enjoyed going to a play at a real theater last week! Lil' A is off running around which is why she isn't in the picture. We will try to do this kind of an outing more in 2008!

Big Adventure to the Big City

The Husband needed to go downtown tonight so I decided to tag along to get out of the house and go for a ride. We invited my mom over, and then left her here with the children. We thought we'd be back in two hours. But it took longer than we thought to get there. And then we got hungry. We ended up eating at Tuscany across from Wrigley Field and I was able to get my most favorite dish in the whole wide world which is Pear Ravioli. I was very very excited to get this dish because the last time we were there I purposely only ate half so I would have left overs. Then Husband had a few too many drinks and left it in some moldy basement refrigerator at some bar. I was in a rage for weeks, mourning my sweet pear ravioli leftovers rotting away alone and unappreciated surrounded by drunk kids and rats in that smoky basement. But he wasn't drinking this night and so my lucious leftovers await me in my very own mold free fridge. Anyhow, I was so happy to be there I had wine. I was happy before the wine but I was really happy after. But I wish I had known we would be going somewhere so nice because I would have taken the time for some extra hygiene, like showering. Anyhow, I used my phone to take some pictures to show CT when we got home because he is very curious what goes on when he is not there. Here are some things I thought would be points of interest for him.

The restaurant. Love it.


Our table. Check out the wine. *Yea!!* And candelight to boot!


A cool old car and part of a parking meter.


A taxi cab with the light *on*. And a special bonus: the Dunkin' Donuts in the background!


Mailboxes and a newspaper machine. We don't have those green mailboxes out here in suburbia. You can't open them. What's up with those mailboxes anyway?

Between traffic and running errands and traffic and dining and wine and traffic, it took us about 5 hours round trip. It was so fun for me, but I was not driving or taking care of my children, either!

Meet Edward...

We have a new friend living in the yard. The kids could not be more excited. We have never had a squirrel in our yard, since all of our trees are still pretty puny. The three of us must have watched him go up the pole and slide down for an hour at least. Fabulous free entertainment! CT has decided to name him Edward, and he has come up with an elaborate story line about how Edward fights tiny fires when he isn't stealing our birdseed. (Because of how he slides down the pole...and firefighters do that....see the connection?) I'll have to figure out how to craft him a hat and some boots....

Sweet treats

These are birthday treats for a little girl named Shannon who lives at the shelter. The cookies are actually a project from a class I took with my friend Feather. Hers turned out way cuter but she did not send me any pictures. Anyhow, I think I'm liking the swirls on the cupcakes. Uses less icing and looks super cute. Like the 'burners' on little play ovens.

Baby's First Haircut...

'Little A' loves playing babies. And they say that your kids imitate what they see you do when they use imaginitive play. That worries me a little. I assure you that this is NOT the way we do haircuts around here. Here is her step by step guide to giving what she calls a "short-haircut". And yes, she does have dolls that have hair, I don't know why she chose the bald one. *Warning* some of these pictures are a little disturbing!

Step #1: Cut the baby's head with a razor. Just to reiterate, we have never done this at home.


Step #2: Comb the baby's scalp. Pretty baby!


Step #3: Poke the baby in the head with scissors. Babies like that.


Step #4: Blow dry. Obviously.


Step #5: If baby is still conscious, pound it in the head with the brush. Repeat as necessary.

It is sooooo much fun to have all these baby doll clothes laying around the house. Don't you think so, kitty?

A cake for a girl named Ashley who lives at the shelter. All I knew about her is that she likes Barbie, so I figured gobs of pink ought to do it.

"Mommy, I want a clippie...."

"Noooooooo. I mean I want alllllll my clippies!"

The party' s over.....

Well, our 4 day birthday celebration (see below) for CT is now in its last day. And here are the pictures of the cake that so many of you have heard me talk (fret) about. It was a huge hit and the kids *loved* watching the marbles go through. Most everyone ate the marshmallow fondant, which I was not expecting. The party was a hit in every way, I hope that the parents who stayed had as much fun as I did with their kids. We are so lucky that CT has so many nice friends and nice families to match!

Oh...so why is there a donut in the picture? Well after working on this cake for 3 days I was not about to take a chunk out of it on CT's actual birthday (Thursday) nor was I going to bake another cake. So he settled for a donut, he was actually quite excited about it, and even cut it in half to share with Lil' A.


Our Birthday Week Itinerary:

*Wednesday*: CT's special day at school. He wanted both Husband and I to attend, so of course we did.
*Thursday*: The Actual Birthday. We were planning on heading to the Museum of Science & Industry or Sears Tower (not so much for the Skydeck as to count the elevators) but a snowstorm forced us to reconsider. So we hit the Children's Museum and went for lunch at Noodles & Co. which was just as exciting for the babies and far easier on us. Realization that I now have a 5 year old child. Yikes!
*Friday*: The Party! Spent the day cleaning and decorating and cleaning. Kids came in their pj's at 5 and danced and played and ate pizza and ran around and ate cake and went home at 7. It was like a big tornado of little kid birthday goodness blew right through our house, leaving a rubble of cake crumbs and crumpled wrapping paper.
*Saturday*: Family party tonight, which is way easy after last night. Also because we have such a small family. The plan is to have the kids go sledding and do some eating and finish up the last 2 cakes. And then it's over. :::sigh::: Next stop, Six. :::Ug!:::