Christmas Time in the City

Blue Line
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

Darin decided that we should take the kids downtown on the 11th to check out the decorations and see the big tree at Macy's. We took the blue line and the kids loved it. The train may have been the highlight of the day.



This happened to be the first snow of the season. We got downtown pretty early and the streets weren't really crowded and the snow was really pretty.



The Macy's decorations were pretty grand as well.





We had lunch at the Walnut Room (it was a very short line - lucky us!). The kids loaded up on bread, so I got to carry around the mac-n-cheese for the rest of the day. We rode the escalators all the way to the eighth floor, we visited the toy section -- which is not as dynamic as it once was. Actually, it was a bit disappointing, but the kids didn't know the difference, so they liked it just fine.



After the Macy's tour, we headed back to the el for a fun ride home.



A good time was had by all!

A Request from Jake

Breakfast in Bed!
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

Jake has been asking for breakfast in bed for a while now. One morning, mid-week, I woke him up with pancakes and sausage. He was pretty excited (even though he still looks half asleep in this photo). I'm sure one day he'll be annoyed that I posted a photo of him in his underwear for all the world to see. I just thought it was cute and couldn't keep it to myself :-)

Girl Scout Field Trip

Food Pantry
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

Last year, I took our Daisy scouts to the Albany Park Food Pantry to fill bags of donated food. We decided to bring them back again and they LOVED it. I can understand why these sweat shops use child labor. The director of the pantry said the girls were going to set a land speed record for bag filling. It was almost a contest between them! I think we'll make it an annual affair!

Christmas Tree Lighting

Here we go!
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

Jenny and Flip hosted a party the day after Thanksgiving for the Glen Ellyn lighting of the Christmas Tree. We pulled the kids to downtown Glen Ellyn in the wagons (note - our wagon wheels were really low on air). It was pretty cold that night, so it was probably good that they were bundled together.



I'm trying to get into more pictures so my kids will have some record of what I looked like (I'm always the photographer :-).....so here's the token Mom shot:



And, Aunt Jenny with the girls:



The party was a great follow-up to a fun Thanksgiving. It made for a really fun weekend for the kids.

Thanksgiving

Me & Granny
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

We had a nice Thanksgiving. Jenny neighbors (Lisa & Matt) joined us with their two kids, Nathan & Lauren. The six of them had a great time playing together. After dinner, we played "Celebrity" - always a good time. Here's a shot of the kids:

Rake em up!

Rake em up!
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

We had a good time picking up leaves this fall. I would rake them all into a big pile and the kids would jump in them and spread them all around the yard again. Fortunately, our fall had very mild weather and I didn't mind hanging out in the yard, raking it over and over.

First Tooth!

First Tooth!
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

Megan lost her first tooth on November 20. It came out while she was sitting on the couch and she was a little freaked out by it (since it bled a little bit). It didn't take long for her to feel a little proud.

Fun Neighbors

Burning Sticks
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

Our neighbor, Joe, had a campfire for the kids on a weeknight back in November. We didn't have any marshmallows, so the kids just burned sticks. Jake got hit by a flying spark and burned a hole in one of his favorite Batman shirts. Bummer.

Megan enjoyed burning sticks too. I think this kept them entertained for about an hour.

Homemade Doughnuts

Making the Starter
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

Last weekend, the kids made their own doughnuts. I have an addiction to cooking magazines and occasionally, they'll leaf through them (looking for toys). They came across a photo of doughnut holes and wanted to make them. I thought, "sure....that should be pretty easy". It was a little more than I had bargained for. First, I couldn't find the pastry hook for my stand mixer. Megan said she would mix it by hand. She did - I would have scrapped the project.

Here's the chef at work:



First we had to make a starter with yeast, water and flour (top photo). It had to rise for an hour. Tick, tock, tick, tock. Then we had to make the dough with more yeast.....and let that sit for another hour. Ugh.

We finally got to the point of rolling out the dough and cutting out the holes.



They're ready to fry:





We fried them up in the oil and then rolled them in sugar. The finished product:





Here's the kicker......they didn't even taste that good. Megan was sure to tell everyone they took "THREE HOURS" to make. She decided Dunkin Donuts were much better. After all of that work and clean up....I would agree.

Halloween

Pumpkins
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

The kids carved these pumpkins a couple of weeks ago at Aunt Jenny's house. They were completely rotted on our porch long before Halloween! I guess the warm fall weather isn't great for Jack-O-Lanterns!

The kids had a weekend full of Halloween festivities. Super Dad took over on his own since I was in Washington D.C. preparing to run a marathon (more on that later). Friday night started with a party at Megan's school, followed by a neighborhood party on Saturday afternoon, and then of course - the big day of trick-or-treating on Sunday. Jake wasn't feeling well on Sunday afternoon, but after a long nap, he got up in time to hit the neighborhood houses and load up on plenty of candy. Here is a glimpse of their costumes:



And, Jake didn't wear his spiderman mask (too hard to see)....but look at those big muscles! My two handsome boys :-)



I ran the Marine Corps Marathon in D.C. on October 31. It was a beautiful day there, too with chilly temps in the morning (40's) warming up to mid-60's. Nice and sunny without much wind. I PR'd with a time of 3:39:21. I felt great after the race, which is good because I had to run back to my hotel, shower and catch the Metro to the airport since I had a 3:00pm flight. I made it with time to spare! And, I was home by 5:15 to trick or treat with the kids. Megan had already been out and was ready for a break when I got home and Jake was sleeping. We visited with the neighbors for a little while and by 6:00, Jake was up and ready to get out and Megan was ready for round 2. Needless to say, we all slept well that night!

Proud Mom

Sunflower
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

At the end of kindergarten, Megan brought home a little sunflower plant in a cup for Mother's Day. We planted it (along with a pack of seeds) in the alley behind our house. Her plant grew to be 13 feet tall!

But that's not the reason for the title of this post. I'm excited that Megan ran her first real race. On Oct. 24, she ran the Frank Lloyd Wright races Youth Mile in Oak Park. Here she is getting her number pinned on:



She also had a cheering section:





But here's the good part. She ran it in 9:27. They only gave awards to ages 7-12, but had they given them to the 6 year-olds, she would have been the first girl. They had about 240 kids participate and she was 161 overall. She likes this finish line photo (courtesy of dad), because she's in front of all of those big kids!

The Three Amigos

Playdate
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

Here's Jake with two of his best buds. We had them over for a playdate after school one day. It was surprisingly calm. Three boys together are much easier to handle than three girls! No drama. Jake was so disappointed when it was time to send them home.

Here's my little guy working on a painting (I just liked this photo):

Adult Update

Yosemite
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

Darin went with his Dad and Flip on a backpacking trip to Yosemite back in early September. They were able to get in lots of hiking, fishing and guy time. He's looking forward to planning another trip out there soon. I'm looking forward to when our kids are old enough to go with us (not that I want them to get any bigger since it's already going so fast!).

Darin and I went on a quick weekend trip to Vegas with Jenny and Flip at the end of September.



We didn't win, but we didn't lose much either (yes, we were a bit conservative). It was a fun, tiring weekend.

Random

Uniform
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

Here is a picture of Megan in her school uniform. This was taken back in September as well (the short sleeves are a dead giveaway). I forgot that the only school pictures were from the first week, when they didn't have to wear uniforms.

I had the kids at the mall one day after school and they came upon these candy machines. Jake was trying to reach the candy and I thought it looked pretty funny that he was working so hard.





So, imagine my surprise when he prevailed over the machine:



He was able to get 3 pieces out!

Clowning Around

MC 008
Originally uploaded by tracyg00

The kids love goofing around with Darin. They were practicing fake punches - although I think Jake was actually trying to make contact. Lately they've developed a new move called the "Drop Down". I don't have photos of that one yet, I'll put that on my list. Here's another Jake action shot:



Since Megan got her own camera for her birthday, she will go through phases of taking photos of herself. Here is a little sampling:







And then our all-time favorite:



As a matter of fact, we liked that one so much that the rest of us made our own version when she wasn't around (Jake did this unbeknownst to us):