The Big 5!

Five years ago today Gunnar made me a mother of two and today we celebrated us both.  Gunnar is amazing!  We forget he is only 5 sometimes because he just seems to have been with us forever.  He is funny....really funny....and he loves to be a helping hand especially when it comes to projects around the house or cooking in the kitchen.  He has a love for all things cars and legos lately and has become quite good at telling us stories from his day.  Gunnar loves to be with his friends, playing soccer and baseball, and has turned into a fish in the pool.  Can’t wait to see how much more he grows as a person this year!

Happy Birthday Gunnar!!!

And happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!  I hope you are all wearing jewelry as fun as mine.

Happy Easter!

This week was spring break for Zach so we took a few days and went to Galena, IL with some friends.  We didn’t do much but hang out and have fun and that in and of itself was perfect.  Hazel has been under the weather but the boys were going strong.  We dyed eggs and did egg hunts while there and got home in time to relax and celebrate Easter with family.  

Here are a few moments for our trip.  How do you like the seating for the wait at the restaurant we found for dinner one night?

Easter Sunday was full of goodies from the Bunny, church and dinner with family.

Happy Easter everyone!

Heads Up!

Yep.... March has been the month of new hairstyles and head pieces.  Check out these headshots!

And I may a quick trip to NYC and got a few minutes with this pretty one....

Snow Day!!

Anyone else love snow?!  Ok....I don’t like driving in Chicago traffic (or shoveling) when it snows but I love how quiet it makes this urban world sound.  Everything feels muffled and secure when the fresh snow is coming down.  Just a few moments of living in a surreal snow globe makes the snow magical.  The snow was just starting to come down as I walked to the train on Thursday night.

 Oh and my kids love snow too! The boys love sledding and building snow forts.  Hazel even loves a good sledding ride and lasts as long as she can until she gets tired of wearing gloves.  Friday was a snow day for the schools and Rich and I had the luxury of working from home.  It made for a nice start to the weekend!  Plus....the Olympics are in full swing and who doesn’t love watching the Olympics?  We hit the sledding hill in our own attempt at being winter Olympians.  We’ve got a ways to go...

Gunnar’s sled ended up in this pile for the second time of the season.  Fortunately Target still had a few sleds in stock.

Fort building!

And a little family fun

And snow cream to top it off!

10 Years!

Really?  We got married 10 years ago?  Crazy!  That day was so much fun and I’ve often stated that I’d like to just do it all again.  Thanks for being part of our big moment!  It sure has been a lot of fun!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The holidays have come and gone way too fast this year.  We had so much fun seeing our southeast family and wish we could see you more often.  All the little ones are getting so big and seem to have a lot of fun together once they warm up to each other.  

Santa and Family spoiled our children with gifts.  Thankful that we have these three littles to make the holidays full of excitement and fun.

And after two kids coming down with strep and a delayed departure Rich and I finally made it to Costa Rica to celebrate our 10 year anniversary and the new year. 

While we are having fun here the kids seem to be having a blast with Nana and Boppa.  Thank you for watching after them!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! 

December Happenings

I’ve got a little time in the car tonight since we are on the road to NC so I thought I’d take the opportunity to throw a few pictures up on the blog.  We’ve had all kinds of fun this month mixed in with crazy work schedules for me and Rich.  Hopefully we have made the most of our weekends and evenings with the kids.  

Here are a few highlights......

We spent a weekend in the Wisconsin Dells with the La Vigne side of the family.  It was a lot of fun to get away and be all together.  The kids especially had a blast with a hotel with a water park, arcade and rides.  Zach and Gunnar liked some of the rides so much they went on them without Mom or Dad.

Zach has been doing Tai Kwon Do after school once a week and was able to test to move up to the next level. He now has a single yellow stripe belt!  It was so fun to see him with such focus and confidence and he even got to keep the board he broke.

Gunnar was the student of the week at school earlier this month and rounded out the holiday season as a Shepard in the Nativity play.  Plus his friends had fun decorating him like a Christmas tree at his class party.  He loved every minute!

We’ve had a few nights of low key Christmas fun....

And lastly.....while Hazel likes to curl up with her brother and a stuffed animal to watch xmas movies, we found out that she DOES NOT like Santa Claus!  Hoping that changes next year.

We can’t wait to see our southeast family this weekend!  Merry Christmas!