56 in January???

Who said it was going to be one of Chicago's worst winters? 

 Today it was 56 and partly sunny! We couldn't resist a quick trip to the park!

Lukey LOVED the swing!




 

You Knew It was Coming....

Well, our lucky finally ran out. Good Ole' Winter finally arrived! We have been trying to keep busy indoors!

We've done some projects....

Making a snowman.... Mommy's kind.



Mommy's not a big fan of the cold or building snowmen! So, we did it her way! With paper, yarn, and glue! I had Mya work on her fine motor skills a bit while lacing a pretty border around her snowman's face.



A Paint in the Bag Snowflake



Mommy cut out a pretty snowflake, put it in a baggy,  let Mya choose 2 colors of paint, and add a texturized ball.

And then we SHAKE IT!!!

TA-DA! A beautiful snowflake!

THEN THE WINTER STORM HIT AND WE COULDN'T HOLD OFF ANY LONGER!

All bundled up and ready to sled on her new tube!

Daddy says, "Watch and learn!" We watched... and learned that he is TOO big for her tube! FUNNY!

Mya's turn with a little push from Daddy!

Snow bunny- She's always claimed she prefers winter over summer! She must not be my daughter....

Eating the snow- Hope someone told her not to eat the yellow snow! ;-)

Daddy took Mya sledding down the REAL snow hill in Lake Zurich the next day.  Unfortunately, Daddy didn't take any pictures! But, they had a blast!

Artwork for the Playroom

I always know when Mimi comes to visit, some kind of craftiness will occur and the outcome with be fabulous! This visit, we focused on spicing up our new playroom (photos of our basement renovations to come) a bit! I had several 12x12 canvases that were just calling our name! I knew I wanted to do something to "personalize" the playroom- something to put the kids' mark on it! With a few ideas from my mom, a few of my own, and some help from the kiddos, we created the perfect artwork for their very own playroom!

creating the masterpiece

Handprints, footprints, and a cool little circular fabric collage create a great piece of artwork!

Mya's handprints

Luke's footprints

These look awesome hanging in the new playroom. I think I am going to add one canvas on each side with a picture of each kid!

Pinterest- Christmas Projects

I was busy pinteresting before the holidays!

Why use Christmas tags to label your gifts when you can personalize each gift with a picture?!?!

I am always looking for a special gift for our kids to give to our loved ones for Christmas.  I like the gifts from the kids to be something personal and meaningful! These personalized photo coasters were PERFECT!!! I was SO excited to have the kids give them this year!

Materials:
-Mod Podge
-tiles from a hardware store ($0.39 at Home Depot)
-felt circles
-paint brush/sponge brush
- pictures (I prefer the sepia tone)
- a clear laquer

Winter or Spring?

The weather this week has been UNBELIEVABLE! It was sunny and 50 degress on Friday! Prior to winter, Chicago was predicted to have one of the worst winters ever! Well, it's January 7 and we've barely had any snow thus far! Even though we still have more winter to come, I'll take it!!!

Just a little flashback to December 2010.  I don't even think we had a TOTAL of an inch in December 2011.

We prefer this.....

Riding bikes- January 6, 2010
So nice, she even took her coat off for awhile!
(can't believe how much Mya has grown over a year)

Luke was mesmerized by the grass.

He Came... It's SO magical!!!

As a kid, I remember Christmas being absolutely magical and I want to give the same to my kids! I know it's not all about the presents, but seeing the smile on Mya's face was unforgettable!

I did a really lousy job at taking pictures on Christmas morning! We were just having too much fun to take pictures!

Mya opening her stocking gifts!

So excited he can hardly stand it! Yeah right... he was blinded by the flash!



WHOA!!!! Santa brought Mya a NEW KITCHEN!!!!

 After opening gifts, we quickly cleaned up the mess, put Lukey down for his morning nap, and packed up the car to head to Mimi and Papa's house!  We couldn't wait to see everyone!!!

Oh my goodness.... what did Mimi and Papa get Mya????

WHOA, a new JEEP!!!!

I can imagine this same picture 11 years from now....oh dear lord.

Yummy Christmas Dinner!  We all wore our crowns from our Christmas poppers!

LOVE!  All the kids!

Wait...... NOW all the kids! Can't forget Gracie and Baxter!


What a fantastic Christmas! We have a lot to be thankful for!

Santa Lookout

After our Christmas Eve party, it was time to clean up and get ready for SANTA!!!!! This is the first year that Mya has really been interested (although thanks to Caillou....ugh.... a little scared!) She  DID NOT want him in her room! After reassuring her that he would stay downstairs, she was excited to see what this night was all about!

Pretending to sleep by the Stocking Hung With Care!

Cookies and Milk for Santa and Carrots for the Reindeer!

This was so cute! Right before bed, Matt and Mya went outside to look for Santa.

Do you think that he's over there???

Special Treats and Christmas Eve with The Wiegman Family

WOW! What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been! I feel like I am finally getting back to our "normal" routine.  Christmas decorations are down and almost all the gifts have found their appropriate new homes!

We hosted the Wiegman Family Christmas at our house this year on Christmas Eve.  It was a tad bit crazy trying to host the party, get ready for our BIG Santa visit, and pack up and prep to head to my parents' Christmas Day.  But, it's all fun craziness that we would do over again in a heartbeat!

Mya and I also made some special treats for our neighbors! It was a fun and EASY little snack that Mya could help make! I also refer to these as "a little bite of heaven!" I'm not big on sweets, but these little guys are delicious (thanks Auntie Sarah for the idea!) 



Pretzels + melted  red/green chocolate + m&ms = DELICIOUS





bagged and ready to deliver to our wonderful neighbors!

 Speaking of neighbors... our neighbor Vicki called one afternoon from Oshkosh, WI.  She was right by the American Girl Outlet and wanted to know if I needed to get Mya anything from there for Christmas.  I told her no thank you but thanks for thinking of us.  Well, about 20 minutes later she sent me a text asking for Mya's size.  I knew she was up to something!  The next afternoon she dropped off this adorable little Christmas dress for Mya and an invitation to go to her house to bake cookies with her and her daughter (Mya's old babysitter) that was home from college.  SO SWEET!!!

I thought it would be fun to dress Mya in her new dress to go bake cookies! She was SO excited!!!!

They texted me several pictures of their baking day! Mya was there from 9:30-1:30! They made egg-free sugar cookies...but Mya still preferred to eat the frosting and sprikles!

CHRISTMAS EVE!

Auntie Amy and Lukey

Mya was loving spending time with her cousins!  Mya and Ben

DOUBLE TROUBLE! Quentin and Mya

Mya and Grandma

Uncle Andy and the kids playing with the AWESOME new farm from Grandma!  It's been a total hit!