Millie

The Kids

Izzi's last soccer game.  She was seriously the most improved player on the team.    It was so fun to watch her play.

Every year my Aunt Ilene would do a Halloween dinner for the family.  The best part about this dinner is that we could only use our hands to eat.  I loved this tradition and wanted to carry it on when we moved to Chicago.  This year Izzi wanted to invite her new school friends to her party.  They had a ton of fun and loved getting their fingers and faces dirty.

Party decorations

Millie the Garden Gnome

Halloween Night.  Izzi was a Flower Fairy and Max was a Pirate.

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Trunk or Treat with the little Gnome

Trunk or Treat, Izzi invited her cute little friend Elsa to go with us.

Halloween is always so much fun.  From picking and making costumes, to trick or treating I just love it.

Tepee Sleepovers

Oh the fun one can have in a tepee. They were so excited to sleep in it, they went to bed at 6:30.  Dave and the kids had it all figured out.  It got a little hot in there, so we had a little fan blowing through the opening and a night light we stuck on an extension cord so they could have light to read by.  The simple joys of being a kid.

Lincoln Park Zoo View

By the way this is the view you get when you are in Lincoln Park.  We seriously live in one of the greatest places ever.

Aunt Chella Comes to Visit

 If you notice in this picture Max staring at Chella, well he just loved her and told her every day about how great he thought she was.  This picture is taken at one of the most amazing Indian temple I have every seen.  Each piece of stone was hand carved in India, it is all very intricate and amazing.

 Chella's Mecca, The Art Institute of Chicago.  Elizabeth loved it too.  It really is neat to see paintings from artists you have learned about all your life in person.

                                                         Izzi in her cowboy boots.

Up the street from us we have a great little Catholic cemetery.  Every year in October they hold a luminary service, they line the streets of the cemetery with luminary's.  It was beautiful.  I have wanted to go for the past 2 years but have never gotten around to it. I am glad Chel's was here to go with me this year.

Lincoln Park Zoo.  

After we went to the zoo we decided to go to Gene and Georgetti's.  It had been recommended by one of Chelsea's husbands friends and to me by a Taxi cab driver when we first moved to Chicago.  Both people said family friendly and fair pricing.  Well we walked in to Gene and Georgetti's with 4 kids to many, and $150 short. It was seriously one of the most fun nights we had.  We couldn't stop laughing.  When we walked in through a very small door with our 4 kids, we were greeted by 10 sets of staring eyes.  Izzi looks at me and says "wow, everybody is staring at us."  So we are just standing there in this tiny entrance while everybody is looking at us, when a waiter comes up to us, and all he says is "Hi", we say "Hello" back.  Then awkward silence ensues for about 15 seconds (felt longer) and I say "Can we eat?" He seemed a little shocked but lead us to the very back corner of the restaurant, where he handed us our menus, then it was our turn to be shocked.  I turned to the kids and told them "kids it is your lucky day, you get to eat all the bread in this bread basket for dinner and if you are really good I will get a bowl of soup for you to share." Yes it was that expensive, but for the memories we had that night it was well worth it.  For the record our kids were AMAZING.  People in the restaurant commented on how well behaved they all were.

We were so sad to see Chelsea go.  We had so much fun for the 5 days she was out here.  I am lucky to have such a great friend.

Cantigny splash pad

Izzi's first soccer game.  It was a pretty comical event, I am pretty sure not a single person on her team could even figure out which way they were supposed to be going.  Over the past couple of weeks they have greatly improved.  The best part about the games are that Izzi has a smile on her face the whole time she is chasing after the ball.

Izzi, Max and Millie

Izzi's first day of school. She was so excited.
It was also the day I went into the hospital.  A very busy day for the family.

Izzi's second day of school. Her first day riding the big scary bus.   She is very nervous that there are not going to be enough seats on the bus for her. 

Grandma Sue and the kids and the Last Fling.  Seriously one of my favorite traditions we do out here.  It's basically a glorified carnival, but who doesn't love carny's?

Max and Dave looking for the best funnel cakes the Fling has to offer.

Welcome to this Wild World Little Millie

Amelia Ann Castleton
8.18.2012
7.3 lbs
19"

A Little Bit of Heaven

When you move away from the place you grew up you expect to miss certain things; family, local restaurants, the mountains.  One thing I truly did not think I would miss is bread.  There is no bread that even comes close to Grandma Sycamores out here in the midwest.

Funny enough Sara Lee owns Grandma Sycamores, Sara Lee's head quarters are about 10 miles away from my house.  I wrote to Sara Lee when we first moved here to see if there was a place in Illinois that they sold this delicious bread.  They wrote back and told me no, it is a regional item.  I was heart broken, never again would cinnamon and sugar toast (coast to coast) taste the same.   But thankfully every time my parents, or Chelsea come to visit they bring us bread.  The last time my parents came, they brought us the mother loaf  (get that loaf not load).  We have a freezer stocked full of chewy, dense, delicious white bread.  I could not be happier, everything just tastes so much better with Grandma Sycamores.

So the moral of this blog post is....August 5 is my birthday and if you are looking for a something to send me I will accept bread as a gift.

Good News Minute

Izz's first day of Ballet. Oh how she loved it.
Max is done potty training, I think we could officially say he is trained. He sleeps through the night with unders, he poops and pees very successfully on the toilette. I have to say it is pretty awesome. No more diapers for us for a couple of months.

The picture is of Max and Izzi eating doughnuts at Dinkels Bakery in Roscoe Village. A very delicious bakery if you are every in the area.

Last of all the good news, the new baby is going to be a girl. We are super excited (especially Izzi). Send all of your girl names our way.

Wonder Lake, the Great Outdoors

Having good friends in life makes everything so much better. On Saturday, we went to a lake house on Wonder Lake with a bunch of our good friends. We went canoeing, roasted hot dogs, made smores, exhausted the kids and had a fun time. I love being outside, and I love being by water, so for me it was a perfect day.

Yes, in that last picture Izzi is putting the moves on her friend Micah. She told me the other day she has a crush on him.