Monday, December 10, 2012

November 2012

IMG_6607 by tracyg00
IMG_6607, a photo by tracyg00 on Flickr.

November was yet another busy month for us. Fortunately our weather has been really mild, which makes it easy for the kids to burn off that excess energy outdoors! We've had lots of park time this fall.

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Mimi came in for the holidays on November 10th and we met her at the airport with a sign. Note the limo drivers standing there along side Megan!

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We stopped for a group shot at baggage claim.

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I rarely take pictures of down time, but how cute is this?!

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More mild weather outdoor fun:

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Papa showed up on the 17th with their dog, Boojie. Fortunately, this dog doesn't shed and Jake seems to be doing really well with his allergies around her. I think Megan is going to use this against me at some point to get a dog.

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My girl scout troop wrote letters to various companies on behalf of our local dog shelter and were able to collect over 500 pounds of dog food, along with various gift cards and products. Here's the photo that made the local paper:

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This is just a fun photo from the shelter tour. This big dog in the back kept popping his head over the wall. He was super friendly.

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My company produces a 5k on Thanksgiving morning in Evanston. Megan worked with me at one of the pre-race packet pick-ups and decided that she likes to work and earn money. She also joined me at 5:00am on race day! Darin came out and ran the race. I have this photo of him after crossing the finish line.

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We also hosted Darin's family for dinner on Thanksgiving -- but I totally cheated and ordered half of the meal!! I don't feel the least bit guilty because I was super busy and the food turned out to be quite good!!

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Megan and I took Ada to the American Girl Store to pick out a doll. It was her first visit there, so we went all out and had brunch in the cafe.

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I think she had a really fun time. It was a nice, bustling day in the city!

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We finished off the month by putting up our Christmas tree. This is the only photo I have of the 3 of them at work!

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Thursday, December 6, 2012

October 2012

IMG_6128 by tracyg00
IMG_6128, a photo by tracyg00 on Flickr.

October brought us my 40th birthday - yikes!! There's no way I can be 40! The kids had a nice time celebrating with cake on a stick from Mariano's.

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Jenny was so nice to plan such an extravagant birthday celebration for me. We did the spa thing an Nordstrom, dinner at RPM, tried to go to a club but ended up at a dive bar and stayed at the Peninsula. Wow, what a gal.

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We spent a fair amount of time at the cottage in October. In case you're wondering, THIS is how you jump into a leaf pile:

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And Jake's version:

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We love sitting around the campfire in the fall. I had to add this photo. Perhaps my kids think I take too many pictures. I see this look a lot!!

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Here's a happier version.....cooking up her own dinner:

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And, Jake would kill me if he knew I posted this photo, but I couldn't resist. He's really a very sweet kid.

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They seem to get along pretty well when we're in Wisconsin. Maybe it's the fresh air, or maybe it's that they only have each other to play with. Either way - I'll take it. This pic made the Christmas card, but I'll share it again anyway.

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And I absolutely love the genuine laughter and happiness that was caught in this image:

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I made it to Megan's class Halloween party. They had a fun mummy-wrapping game and she was on the same team as her teacher.

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Here are their costumes. Pretty self-explanatory:

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And, boy, did they score on the candy. It's December 6th and we still have a ton leftover.

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This girl loves her chocolate:

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