Thanks, St. Nick!

Aaron and Mama got some tasty treats from Nt. Nick. Funny that his handwriting looks a lot like Daddy's. :-)

Puppies and Playing Guitars...

It's been a while since our last post. Truth be told, I've been so busy taking photos of other people's families, I neglected to take many (any!) of my own. So this morning when we headed to the A's house (friends from church who live very close by), I remembered to grab the camera on the way out the door. I'm sure glad I did! We went visiting with two distinct missions: first, 3/4 of the A family is heading out of town until the new year, so we wanted to squeeze in one last hug before they leave tomorrow morning. Secondly, their next door neighbor has six little puppies living at her house right now. We just had to visit!

The boys do their best to be gentle with the little pup.

James discovers that puppies can tickle!

Little brother Eli.

More popular than the puppy was the kid sized guitar. Mr. A is a professional musician, and there are a lot of kid-friendly instruments around the house. This one was clearly Aaron's favorite! He played for a very long time, and really enjoyed himself.



I've already added this to Aaron's Amazon Wishlist. I think it would be an excellent Christmas gift. ;-)

A Helpful Boy

While we're posting video, here's one from the vault (aka, last month - just forgot to post it :-). Aaron's already demonstrated that he's quite adept at doing the dishes as well as sweeping the floor, so we thought we'd add laundry to the list. He's such a helpful boy!

Raise the Roof

Aaron's interest in music has really taken off. He often hears music playing at times when I am totally oblivious to it's presence - during a radio commercial, playing overhead at the store, or from a toy. How do I know he hears the music? He starts to dance. :-) It's precious. There are several dance styles in Aaron's repertoire, from a Texas two-step (he kind of marches in place, picking one foot up after the other very fast) to a Bop (he bends at the knees over and over). But my favorite is the one Daddy and I taught him: Raise the Roof. Take a look...

Happy Halloween from our Little Stinker

Remember this time last year? Can't believe it!

Aaron was the hit of the neighborhood tonight, and it's easy to see why. His little costume is SO cute. :-) True to my bargain queen ways, I bought it back in February for a mere $.99. One of the best dollars I've ever spent! It was so much fun to watch him bring joy to our neighborhood (and a much needed break from some really scary/gross/weird costumes).

Who knew skunks and lions could be such good friends? Jakey looks adorable in his furry getup.

I think the tail is my favorite part of the costume.Run, Run, Run!

Getting goodies from the neighbors. I saw lots of houses put a double portion into his bucket - it must pay to be cute. :-)

Lions, Tigers, and Bears

We took Aaron to the zoo for the first time a few weekends ago. I had almost forgotten about the pics I took, but as I loaded some equipment back into my photo bag tonight, I remembered that they were waiting for me there on the memory card. They're so sweet!

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon - one of those brisk and bright afternoons that make us all love fall. We went downtown Chicago to the Lincoln Park Zoo (it's free, and Mike always loves an excuse to go into the city). There were lot's of fun animals to see, and since we've been working on our farm animal sounds, it was a great opportunity to practice some of our new skills. Ask Aaron what a cow says, and he'll "OOOOOH" for you (hey, it's close, right?). Of course, his favorite animal to watch were the pigeons. :-)

After our fill of zoo animals, we took a few minutes to play in the park just outside the zoo gate. The fall flowers were so pretty, and we all had such fun chasing each other around and playing games. It was one of those afternoons that you could live in forever - one I sure want to remember for a long time.

Weekend Family Fun!

Our recent weekends have been a flurry of activity! We had 5 weekends in a row of birthday parties, plus weddings, visiting friends, and family portrait sessions (taking advantage of the beautiful fall colors we're seeing right now!). For the first time in a LONG time, we looked at the calendar and realized there was nothing written in the little boxes for Saturday or Sunday. Yipee! We've made the most of it by tackling some chores at home as well as enjoying the quiet time together. My favorite activity from the weekend was yesterday's trip to our health clubs indoor swimming pool. They have a zero-depth area that's perfect for little swimmers, and our little guy loves the water. We had so much fun splashing around together. Now that the weather is cooling off and outdoor time is becoming more and more limited, I hope we'll make this a regular part of our family's weekend plans.