Blue Eyed Monkey

Pictures of Lake Powell

2011-09-23T08:50:00.001-07:00

Lake Powell is truly just one of the best places ever. I love the pictures Dave took while we were down there. They remind me of how perfect Lake Powell is.

Hulk Hogan or my Dad, you decide?

The Hair Cut

2011-09-10T09:28:00.001-07:00

Yep, that is me. I chopped all of my long locks off. It is so nice not to have long hair, it is the easiest style I have ever had. Yes Dave loves it.

Pure Exhaustion

2011-09-10T08:39:00.000-07:00

Let me just start off this post by saying my parents are pretty awesome. They are the ones who have instilled in me the love of going, doing, discovering, learning and craving good food.

When I was younger we would do these weekends called marathon weekends. We would usually start out slow on Friday night by going out to eat, little did I know then we were just saving our energy for the next day. Some might consider it carb loading. Saturday morning hits, and we are off and running. Activities included in any given marathon day would be; Farmers Market, Ski jumping, lunch, movie, a museum or two, maybe the zoo, a play at Sundance, a bike ride through Park City, swimming, Alpine slides, shopping, haunted houses, and dinner. They were seriously fun, but seriously tiring.

I found out first hand that through the years my parents have not changed the way they live their lives and plan their activities. It is truly amazing none of us have died from pure exhaustion of fun. While we were in Utah for 3 weeks I am pretty sure we did not stop to rest for more than a day the whole time, and that was because we were all sick.

Izzi and Max walking through the Chicago Airport.
So lucky for me, Max fell asleep on take off.

I am missing some pictures so I will just fill in the blank with words. First day we were there we took a tour at the Sweets Candy Factory.
That night we had a girls night and went to the Grill at Sundance and then went to the Sound of Music also at Sundance.
Waiting for the play to start
Eisley and her best friend Grandma Sue

The next day Dave flew in. We picked him up and went to a concert at Deer Valley. It was so much fun, the kids loved being outside and dancing to the music.

The next morning we woke up and headed to Lake Powell. I have to say it was one of the best trips down there, minus the fact we lost my parents on the jet skis and had to ask the lake police (I don't know what they are called) to help us find them. That was pretty awesome. Other than that it was a perfect trip.
The wonderful Hogel Zoo.
What Utahan doesn't have fond memories of the lion fountain
We rented a van to go down to St. George so we could see the Little Mermaid at Tuachan.

The Little Mermaid.
Izzi exhausted coming home from St. George.

In between all those days, we swam and played in the water, visited with lots of friends, ate delicious dinners, had family parties, went shopping, went to The Help, and enjoyed being with each other. It was a fun 3 weeks. It was so much fun to be able to see my friends and family that I have not seen in a year.

The Cat and the Bike

2011-08-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

Eisley and her new bike. We thought it was high time for Eisley to graduate from her tiny tricycle to an actual bike. She absolutely loves it. She told me yesterday, as she rang her little bell that it was a pretty great bike. She does pretty well on it too. We have only had 2 mishaps. One of the mishaps landed her in a big pile of poo. I tried to convince her it was just dirt so she wouldn't start crying. Other than that she has loved it. Her helmet is my favorite part. It has cat ears and a nose. She looks pretty adorable.

The Ever Changing Dresser

2011-07-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

About 8 years ago I inherited an ugly dresser from my friend Chelsea's roommate. It was ugly, she tried to make it look better by staining it a brown-red color. That defiantly didn't work. The best part about it was that you could tell she got sick of staining it, because every drawer was a different brown-red color. So I took this ugly dresser because I needed one. Then one day I had the foresight to dye pages from a medical dictionary green, saw off the handles, and put material on the front of the drawers. I have to say it was an improvement. A couple of weeks ago I again got sick of looking at it and created this dresser instead. I like it for now. We will see in a couple of years what it will look like.

Girls Camp

2011-07-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

Oh, the season of girls camp is upon us. For the girls it is the best part of the summer. Getting to sleep in cabins, or tents with all of their friends, staying up late, cheering, and singing all the time. What is not to love. Here in our Stake we go to a camp on a lake in Wisconsin. It is beautiful. I was only able to stay for 2 days, but I am glad I was able to go experience the excitement of the girls for those 2 days.

Another Marathon Trip

2011-07-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

Max loves his Pop (the kids call my dad Pops, but Max just calls him Pop)
Fountains outside of the Art Institute
Taste of Chicago, or if you are a real Chicagoan you call it simply "The Taste"
Max was obviously very tired, and wet so my dad put one of his extra shirts on him
Cupcake tour. This tour was a really fun way to celebrate my moms birthday. We got to eat lots of delicious cupcakes and learn a little about each cupcake store, how they started, how they make their cupcakes, in some of the stores we got to go into the kitchens. It was very cool.
Izzi loving her cupcake from More (An adult Hostess Cupcake, but better, way, way better)
Max holding a dead fish. He thought it was the greatest thing ever.
Mom and Izzi walking on the beach at North Western.
Max was so tired he couldn't even make it up the stairs.

I'm Melting

2011-07-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

Literally...

Any of you that know me at all, know that heat is my most hated thing in the world. I feel like I am a pretty laid back, go with the flow type of person, but when it comes to the heat, I get mean, and angry. I hate being hot. For the past couple of days we have had an Excessive Heat Warning. Meaning high temperatures in the middle to upper 90's, will combine with oppressive humidity, which will result in DANGEROUS high heat indexes of 105 to 110 degrees. I mean it when I say I am melting.

Chicago: A World Class City

2011-07-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

The Ice Cream Truck

2011-06-24T12:45:00.000-07:00

What American kid doesn't have fond memories of hearing the crackling music of the ice cream truck coming down the street, running through their house trying to conjure up 3 quarters before the truck passes and you were left running down the street without shoes trying to catch up to the truck. When you finally made it stop, (feet burning and turning black) you got to take your time in looking over the side of the truck were all of the mouthwatering pictures of the 20 different types of cold deliciousness that you could potentially buy with your $.75 hung. Always going through all of your options then deciding on the one that you new would make you the happiest. For me it was the red, white and blue rocket pop. Such great memories.

A couple of days ago I hear the ice cram truck coming down our street so I yell to Dave that we should get the kids an ice cream. So he runs out to stop the truck. I come running out 2 seconds later, (no shoes) to be apart of the first time our kids get to experience the joy of the ice cream truck. The kids took no time in picking what they wanted (neither of them picked a rocket pop), Dave and I decided what we wanted, and then the ice cream man delivers the blow, $9 please. Dave thought he misunderstood and asked how much? It was the same price the second time. As Dave handed over the money I felt a sadness for the fact that my kids will have to give up all their kidneys to enjoy what every American kid should enjoy...$.75 ice cream from the truck that plays the crackly music. Now when the kids ask if they can get another ice, we just say we will take them to Baskin Robins.

Swim Lessons

2011-06-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

Izzi had her last swim lesson today. After 6 weeks I see a potential female Michael Phelps. No not really, but she did do a great job. She can now "swim" the width of the pool and continue to talk the whole time. She loved it and was a trooper to do it 3 times a week, in the rain and cold.

There's No Place Like Home,There's No Place Like Home

2011-06-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

Our first tornado warning. I don't know if I feel official or a little nervous. The sirens went off while Izzi and I were at Young Women's. We all had to go into the hallway until the sirens were turned off. Driving home was crazy, purple lightning, wind blowing rain sideways, trees getting tousled about. Now we are all hanging out in the basement until 9:30 tonight.

This is Max sleeping under a desk downstairs.

My first Grill

2011-04-25T18:57:00.000-07:00

Yogurt marinated kebabs and my favorite artichokes

There are no words to describe how much I love having a grill. For the past 6 years we have lived in apartments that did not allow us to have a BBQ. So by golly when we moved out here and we had a big deck to have a grill, it was my first almost hoping it will be summer soom purchase. We use it almost every day. I love the smell of bar-b-que, the taste, and the easy clean up. It feels like I have so many new options available to me because of the grill. Isn't almost summer wonderful!

My Parents Know How To Party

2011-04-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

Having my mom and dad come to town is the absolute greatest. We always do so many fun things. My parents are the worlds best travelers. They love to explore and experience everything their destination has to offer. Chicago is no different for them. They have been here about 5 times now, and they are still finding amazing things to do and see. The week they were here we went to a Cubs game, ate dim-sum in China Town, took a tour of Frank Lloyd Wrights home and studio, went to the Shedd Aquarium, Ate one of the best meals I have ever had on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building, saw the skyline of Chicago from a boat, Lego Land, swam then ended the week exhausted. (I have no Idea why this is underlined, it is driving me nuts.)Lego Land. The only thing on this trip we could have done without. The kids liked it, so I guess it was worth it.
Shedd Aquarium
The infamous Phoenix restaurant. Supposedly this place in China Town is one of the few remaining establishments that still brings you out your dim-sum on a cart...like they do in China.
Yes, this is the cart. I was expecting some beautiful bamboo cart with engravings all over it. Nope it was a hospital metal cart. The dim-sum made up for the cart, it was delicious.
Sky line tour

Wrigley Field is pretty awesome. They still change the scoreboard by hand, and the Ivy wall both pretty amazing. It was so much fun and so cold.
You can't go to a game without getting a Braht.

I love this picture of my family. Izzi is into making funny faces in pictures right know.
Signature room at the John Hancock. It was so amazing to eat on the 95th floor. You sat next to huge window that overlooked the city and Lake Michagen.
This was my dinner. Salmon with fingerling potatoes. Oh my, amazing!
This was dessert. Everybody loved there meals. Not one bad one in the bunch.

Oh Max

2011-04-25T17:42:00.000-07:00

Having a boy is very, very different than having a girl. There is not a lot of unnecissary drama involved, hey are interested in very different things, how they play, how they fight. I would have to say the number one difference is....Why oh why would I ever think these would be safe in my fridge?
Max was so proud of himself that he put mascara on all by himself.

This is Max trying to hurry and eat all of the Frosted Mini Wheats he had dumped out. Most of it was the shredded dust at the bottom.
I was trying to get snacks ready for church when I noticed the granola bar in the toaster. Why not it fits perfectly.
I was trying to make dinner one night, I let Max and Izzi play with cookie cutters on the counter. It was keeping them entertained I thought. Apparently they were not as thrilled with the cookie cutters as they should have been. I look over after I hear little Max saying "Uh O", yes that is his cute fat feet foot prints out lined in pepper. He had dumped out all of our pepper out of our pepper cellar. We were all sneezing by the time I could clean it all up.
Yep, that is him finishing off the bottle of red wine vinegar.
These fine condiments get pulled out for every dinner. He thinks it is his job to make sure that they are on the table. If you try to put them back, he just gets down from his chair and pulls them out again.

Needless to say boys are always getting into things.

I Am Just Not Sure?

2011-03-01T12:32:00.000-08:00

Earlier in the day Izzi asked if she could were her pajamas to the store. I told her no we don't do that. She asked me why she couldn't when she has seen people at the store in them. (We obviously shop at Walmart.) That morning this is the outfit she came up with that was closest to pajamas I think. It was pretty awesome. White socks, with baggy leggings, and her Jelly Belly hat. Yep, sometimes I have a very hard time letting her dress herself. She has such cute clothes when paired with the right thing. Oh well she is figuring out her own fashion sense.

2011-03-01T11:55:00.000-08:00

Years ago Dave gave me a sewing machine and everything to go along with it for Christmas. He read the manual to see how to thread the machine, wind the bobbin and to see how to use the machine (he knew I wouldn't). I have loved my sewing machine, but I have never really sat down to figure out how to sew. So for Christmas this year Dave gave me another great present, that I finally got to use on Saturday. He gave me a sewing class, but not from your grandmothers sewing shop, it was from the coolest place ever. The Needle Shop has amazing materials with awesome prints and colors. It was a 4 hour class that went over the basics of sewing and then taught you how to sew a pillow with a zipper.

Now Dave knows me well enough to know that I would be nervous doing the class on my own, so he had the foresight to plan it far enough in advance that I could ask a friend to go with me. So Jenny and I went made our way into Bucktown to take make our pillows. We had such a fun day. After we proudly finished our pillows we headed over to a little restaurant named Cleo's and had a very delicious lunch.

Then for another first I caught an L train all by myself. There was some confusion at first but I made the Blue Line train, that took me right into the middle of the city were it dropped me off on Jackson and Washington at 4:28. I walked a couple of blocks then haled a taxi to take me the rest of the way to Union Station. I was able to take the 4:40 train home. I felt very much like a city girl taking all types of to get you to your train on time.

Jelly Belly's or Belly Flops?

2011-03-01T11:37:00.000-08:00

We went to the Jelly Belly factory the other day with Jenny and her kids. As always we had a ton of fun, we took the factory tour on a little train and ate free samples of Jelly Belly's until we were all sick. Personally my favorite flavor was honey, it was delicious. People kept asking if the boys were triplets. Nope just twins and a single.

Purple Polk-a-Dot Umbrella

2011-02-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

Little Iz has been asking for an umbrella since we moved to Chicago. For Valentines day her dreams came true. She uses the umbrella inside, outside, in the sun, wind, and dark. She takes it in the car and to bed with her. Now we just need some rain so she can use it for its real purpose.

Pre-School

2011-02-18T08:03:00.000-08:00

Izzi had her first day of pre-school on Tuesday. She has been waiting for this day since she was 2. The pre-school is run through the high school, so on the first day I took her in and they had one of the student teachers come and escort you to the pre-school area. She wasn't about to wait for me or the teacher, she just walked right in front, as if she knew where she was going. Izzi is so great that way, we never have to worry about her being nervous, going into a new situation. She just does it with excitement. I definitely wish I was more that way, I get nervous doing anything unfamiliar. Izzi is one of a kind and still the same old blue eyed monkey she always has been.

Yes I was the totally lame mom that took pictures of it all.

Nothing Better

2011-02-14T16:05:00.000-08:00

Winter is hard for many reasons, but one big reason for us is the shortage of good fruit. Now I love an apple as much as good old Johnny did, but the lack of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches...it's just so sad. Winter has one true redeeming quality and that is mandarin oranges. I am not talking about Cuties, or Clementines I am talking about the ones you buy at the asian markets, they still have their pretty little green leaves on them. They are delicious, sweet, juicy, and my kids can eat 2 lbs of them a day.

It is a good day when you walk into Costco and you see the big cartons of fresh, brightly colored fruit calling your name. For us that blessed day was last week. The strawberries and blueberries were enjoyed for a day and a half, and then bliss was over. I guess we are back to apples and oranges until our next Costco run.

Let Them Eat Cake

2011-02-14T15:56:00.000-08:00

There is something fun about abandoning your daily routine to have chocolate cake for breakfast. This was a Valentines Day treat. Izzi thought it was great, and Max just kind of picked at it. In his defense he has been sick the past couple of days.

More Snow

2011-02-04T12:50:00.000-08:00

The snow was so deep at some points it went up to my thighs. Max fell off the sled, making one of his hot pink boots fall off. Izzi did a much better job pretending to like the snow. She feigned a few smiles, forced a few laughs then cried to go home.

Snow

2011-02-04T12:34:00.000-08:00

I know everyone has seen and heard about the blizzard here in Chicago. It was crazy. Not scary crazy or good crazy just crazy. There is snow everywhere, and no where to put it. Chicago is actually loading there snow up in trucks and trucking it out. The morning it ended we took the kids out to play in the snow. I don't think they thought it was as fun as Dave and I did. We loved it. The snow here is very light and fluffy, not so great for making snowballs, snowmen, or snow huts. But very fun for falling, sledding, and snow angles.

Take Advantage of Free

2011-02-04T11:58:00.000-08:00

For most people who move away from family, it is hard to try and find a trust worthy babysitter for your kids. Lucky for us we moved away from one family and moved by another. Thankfully I have in-laws that are very willing to watch our kids for us, so we can go galavanting through this great city we live by. Because Chicago is so crazy cold, all of the amazing museums are free in the month of January. So Dave and I decided to take advantage of free and go to the Art Institute of Chicago, which is incredible. Now I have been to plenty of art museums in my life time, but now that I am older and much wiser I think I appreciate them a little bit more. The talent and stories that are kept between those walls is pretty unbelievable.

After we had looked at all the art that we wanted to see (you could be in there for days and not see it all), we wanted to keep the day going with a bit of sophistication so we decided to eat at one of the best well known dives in Chicago. Billy Goats Tavern. It was everything Saturday Night Live portrayed it as. "Cheezborger, Cheezborger, no french fries just chips." It is underneath Michigan Ave. in a dank, dark little restaurant. It was fun. The cheeseburger, defiantly not the best I have ever had, but well worth the $3.50.

It was a fun day without the kids.

It's a tit bit Nippy Out!

2011-01-21T12:51:00.000-08:00

In past posts I have mentioned that it is cold here in Chicago, but I do not think I realized what cold ment until the last 2 days. Example: The kids and I piled into our car this morning to take Dave to the train station so he could catch the 8:24 express. I walked into our garage and I knew it was cold, as I was trying to put the kids in their car seat my hands started to get frost bite on them. No joke, maybe a little. So as we are driving to the train station Dave checked the temperature it was a balmy 2 degrees, feels like -19 degrees. Yes that is right -19.

Now let me explain the feels like part, because my mom thought when I would tell her it feels like negative something, that it was weather according to Cassie. No it is not. The weather stations out here say "temperature 2 feels like -19." Because of the humidity and windchill it almost always feels colder than it is. In the summer it has the opposite effect, the humidity makes it feel hot, hot, hot.

Good Book

2011-01-19T17:41:00.000-08:00

This is a book which is a no nothing book, just a fun and entertaining story. Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor' Easter by Lisa Patton. Just the name itself makes you want to read it. It is a light and fun book to read. No complaints here.

Bad Book

2011-01-19T17:28:00.000-08:00

Have you ever read a book that just made you mad. Not mad because it ended badly or, it was sad (only my problem), mad because it was just down right stupid and the more you think about it the more you hate it. In fact you hate it so much you want to write a letter to the author telling her what a huge waste of time it was for you to read 500 pages of the most worthless words ever. (This seems very harsh I agree, but it was a really bad book) The characters in the book were very selfish and grew even more selfish as the book went on. To top it all off, the book really had no story to it. It was a book about nothing, which may work for a beloved television show we all know and love, but it does not work for a book. So needless to say do not read The Emperors Children, by Claire Messud. If you have and you loved, I am sorry for this post.

Macy's Display Windows

2011-01-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

Downtown Chicago at Christmas has amazing decorations. The Macy's on State had the story about the little girl Virginia and her response from Santa in their windows. The display was made from all paper and every window had a different part of the story. Izzi just loved these windows and wold stare at them forever. In the pictures of her standing and looking at the windows you can just tell she wanted to be part of the story itself.

Pictures

2011-01-05T09:49:00.000-08:00

For Christmas Dave takes pictures of our kids to give to my mom (upon my moms request). These are the pictures this year with a couple of other cute ones thrown in there.

Christmas

2011-01-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas we were able to go back to Utah to be with the family. We had a ton of fun with Mick's new baby boy Micah, going to Zoo lights and Layton Park lights. The flight out of Chicago was a little rough. Izzi who is such a great little traveler sat in her seat and watched her i-phone read the safety manual for the airplane, didn't even make a peep. Max was a whole other story. Max was under seats pulling things out of other peoples bags, trying to climb over the seats kicking the seat in front of him. Literally for 3 hours it was non stop movement. So the picture you see of the two kids is Izzi being so safe and adult like by reading her safety manual and Max being Max by laying under the seat.

Garden Party

2011-01-05T09:06:00.000-08:00

Living in the mid-west is a guarantee for one of two things... college sports fanatics and freezing, freezing cold weather. I really only care about the tundra of a state we live in. During the day the thermometer generally hovers around 15-20 degrees, with the humidity and the wind chill, it usually equates to nippy negative numbers. So needless to say when you head out of the house you and your kids are pretty bundled up with all the obvious accessories.
Since Izzi's birthday happens to be in the middle of winter we thought it would be fun to through her a garden party with all her little friends. When all the girls arrived they received a pair of wings and a little tulle skirt. We decorated with lanterns, butterflies, branches and flowers. We played pin the dot on the butterfly and painted ceramic flowers and butterflies to go on bracelets. It was a ton of fun and made you feel like your were out of the arctic cold for a little bit.

2010-11-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the messed up paragraphs of the last post. I am still trying to figure out how this works.

The Day of Entertaning Shopping

2010-11-17T18:43:00.001-08:00

Tuesday's are a great day. Izzi goes to a 2 hour play group Tuesday mornings giving Max and I time to do a little shopping. Well this past Tuesday we needed to do some grocery shopping. There is this store out here called Aldi. People have told me that it is a great, very inexpensive place to shop. So we thought we would give it a try. We walk into the store and try to get a shopping cart out. For the life of me they would not budge. They were all chained together, I tried twisting the chain, pulling, breaking. Nothing was working. So I asked someone how they worked. I had to put a freaking quarter in the shopping cart for it to release itself from all the others. What kind of ghetto place was I shopping in. Making you pay for your own shopping cart. I do have to say, once you returned the cart, it gave you back your quarter.

Second funny thing about Aldi is that they do not have bags. It's not even like Costco where they will give you a box. The cashier person, literally just throws, not gently mind you, all your tiny little items back into your cart. So by the time you get home all of your tiny little items are now all over your car. It was pretty awesome. They did have some great prices though.

The second place we had to stop was Dollar Tree. I am in need of about 8 pairs of little girl butterfly wings. We pull up and there are about 6 old people sitting right in front of the doors in their wheelchairs. These are not your nice old people either. These are the ones that are mad at their kids because they stuck them in an old folks home that takes them to the Dollar Tree to do their shopping. So needless to say, they wouldn't move from the doors. No need to say excuse me either, because they cant hear. So there they stayed, making people dodge

in and out out them to get inside. They were still there when I left, so I decided I better get a picture of them. The sad part is right when I pulled out my camera their bus pulled up to take them all back to Aurora Manor. Of course then they all moved out of the way.

Invisible Poisonous Gas

2010-11-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I forgot the worst of all of it yesterday. This is more scary than funny I guess. Usually our mail comes at like 9 in the morning. I love it. Yesterday I had checked the mail early and it hadn't come yet, no big deal. Later on that day my neighbor was telling me what an awful, horrible, no good, very bad day she had had. A couple of hours after that, I saw the post man come down the street and deliver our mail. I go outside in the bitter cold to get it and as I am walking in our house I can smell gas. I thought to myself I better go see if our neighbor is ok, after a day like she had it made me a little nervous she might be doing something (if you catch my drift). I walk into our house to put our mail on the counter and I thought oh great the gas is seeping through our walls it smelled so strong. Then I notice one of my burners is on high with no flame. I start freaking out. Opening up all the windows, turning on all the ceiling fans to high. Izzi confessed to doing it. I think it had been on for about 15 minutes at least. We had a discussion about invisible poisonous gas. So I am very grateful for a very late mail man yesterday, or I don't know if I ever would have smelled it without leaving the house and going outside for just that short amount of time.

I caught Max in his favorite place to sit again today. That kid is quick. He also has a new smile he debuted last night. This is a picture of that.

Funny Days

2010-11-04T19:15:00.001-07:00

So today was one of those days. Not a bad day, more of a funny one. It all started this morning when Max dumped a bottle of baby shampoo out onto our bathroom floor. Then as I was doing something at our table downstairs, I turn around to see Izzi sliding down the banister in her Cinderella dress. I asked her what she was doing and she told me "don't worry about it Pops (Grandpa) told me how to do it." So after that she got an electric Thomas the train engine stuck in her hair. I mean stuck we thought we were going to have to cut it out. While we were trying to get her hair out of the train wheels I can hear Max in our bathroom, I go in to se what he is doing and he was just sitting in the sink thinking that it was the greatest place to sit ever. Needless to say I put them both in bed. More for their safety than anything, defiantly not for my sanity.

2010-10-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

It was not cold outside this day, but this is what the monkey wanted to wear. Even Max thinks it's funny.

Dave and Izzi went into the city one day by themselves. Dave taught Izzi how to hail a cab, ride the L and the subway. They went to Gino's for pizza, and to H&M for a sweater. They had a pretty fun day.

2010-10-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

Annie and Izzi in Libertyville.

We are so glad the Slabaugh's are out here with us. It has made the transition rather nice. The kids have so much fun together as do Jenny and I.

I am sure all of you with kids can relate to this. I was on the phone for literally 10 minutes, watching him the whole time destroy our kitchen.

Pops and Izzi at a cemetery by our house.

2010-10-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

2010-10-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

Labor Day parade. I love the picture of Max it looks like he was at the parade when JFK was assassinated. Maybe I shouldn't love it for that reason. Well regardless it still makes me laugh a little.

2010-10-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend Naperville puts on the Last Fling. It is a huge carnival with games and races, concerts and contests. It is a ton of fun. Actual carney's run the whole thing. I don't think I thought that they really existed, but they do. They are um... just a little different. This is were I had my first funnel cake. If you have never had one I highly recommend it. They are very delicious. They had cute little rides for kids and games you couldn't lose at. Who wouldn't have fun?

2010-10-11T08:58:00.000-07:00

Izzi on the train into the city

After the Jazz festival we went to get some of Chicago's famous deep dish pizza at Gino's East. This is Izzi signing her name on the wall. Deep dish pizza is not my favorite. It is very ooey, gooey, and the crust is not all that great. The sickest part about it, if you order a sausage pizza it is a disk of sausage. I mean it is coast to coast sausage on your pizza. No bite is sausageless. Dave on the other hand loves the disk of sausage. I prefer thin crust, though deep dish is growing on me.

2010-10-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about living so close to a big city is you get to experience all the great things it has to offer. We were lucky enough to be able to go to Chicago's world famous Jazz Festival. It was so neat to just sit on the lawn of Millennium park and listen to the music of famous Jazz artists from around the country.
Jazz fesitval
Walking through Chicago to get to the Jazz festival.

2010-10-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

Max's first train ride.
This water slide is so much fun. Izzi couldn't get enough of it. It is so nice to have a place to be able to do things like this.Ann is truly one the of best bread makers I know, so she was helping the pirate make her own little loaf of bread.

From the Beginning

2010-10-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

Well I guess we will start this adventure from the beginning. There were are a lot of tears leaving my family and a lot of fears flying with my 2 kids by myself. In the end it all ended up being ok.
The pictures start from the time we landed. Izzi was walking down the long hallway in the airport dancing to jazz music and skipping. She was soooo excited to see Dave. If you don't know what the picture is of the dog wearing the hat, then you need to come visit us. It is Portillo's, home of the best and I do mean best Chicago dog ever. It was our first stop in Naperville. We went straight from the airport. That is how good it is.

Chicago

2010-10-07T19:57:00.000-07:00

One day I will get all my pictures organized and onto the blog, but until then here are some pictures of the kids and Dave.

2010-10-07T19:53:00.000-07:00

Hello from the Windy City!

2010-09-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a quick little update. We love it here so far. It has been wonderful. Izzi has a big primary class, she gets to do a playgroup every week with 5 other little girls in our ward, she has a friend across the street and Dave is here. Max is Max and just loves having more room to destroy things in. I will do a post with pictures later. I just need to figure out how to get them off my phone.

We need a really big magnifying glass

2010-03-15T14:49:00.000-07:00

While I was typing out my last post, this is the conversation I had with Izzi...
Izzi: Where does Jesus live?
Me: In heaven.
Izzi: He lives up there (as she points to the celling)
Me: Yes
Izzi: Well I can't see him
Me: I know we, only get to talk to him and feel him around us.
Izzi: Well, maybe we can get a really big magnifying glass and we can see what is going on up there.

President Monson was conducting our Sacrament meeting

2010-03-15T14:35:00.001-07:00

So my cute little blue eyed monkey is now in primary. She loves it, and we love hearing about what she has learned. Yesterday was a pretty good lesson. Izzi was so excited to tell us that she had learned about President Monster. Both Dave and I looked at each other and said "who?" "President Monster" she said, as she proceeded to show us his picture. We tried to tell her that his name is President Monson, but it didn't seem to work. When we got into Sacrament meeting about 5 minutes later and one of the councilors was conducting, Izzi leaned over to Dave and said "look there he is, there is President Monster." Dave tried to tell her that it wasn't and explained who it was, but she pulled out her picture of him and said "yes it is dad, look".

2009-10-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

So my last post may have been posted a little to early. I think I would have rather gone to work today, then deal with my two lovely children. Oh well. There is always tomorrow.

2009-10-16T14:36:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to be a mom and not have to go into work everyday. Sure being a mom is work and it is hard work, but at least I get to work at the zoo, or the aquarium, or even shopping. We get to go swimming in the summer and tubing in the winter. If we don't feel like doing anything for the day we get to have popcorn and movie days. I don't have to deal with work politics, cubicles, time-cards, small talk with people you barely know, nick-names (you know what I am talking about), commuting to and from. All in all being a mom is pretty great!

2009-10-03T15:57:00.000-07:00

This is the one and only Blue Eyed Monkey. She loves her pixie wings (pig-tails) and princess shoes.

2009-10-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

This is Max. He is not the Blue Eyed Monkey his sister is. Max is more like an Ostrich.

If you cant see it I will post a picture I drew for him before he was born and you will see the resemblance.

Ostrich Poem Meish Goldish Do you know the world's largest bird? Aw - it's the ostrich! What bird is eight feet tall? My word! Aw - it's the ostrich! Who moves fifteen feet in a single step? Who runs forty miles an hour with pep? Who roars like a lion, hisses like a snake, And weichs 300 pounds, for heaven's sake? Aw - it's the ostrich!

This really doesn't explain Max at all. I just kind of like it.