And now on to Easter...

So we had the annual Easter egg hunt at the park, which Jake was able to join in the final minutes of his trip here!

It was rainy but the kids still had a great time and found plenty of eggs!

Then on to the Easter basket hunting! As usual the Easter Bunny was a little easier on Araleigh, as she found her basket first.

A chocolate bunny!!! Yay!

Traeden found his next, which leads us to...

Jaxon's annual grouchy "I'm never going to find it!" face!!!

But what do you know, there it was! Not so "impossible" after all!

Spring Break

This year instead of going away for spring break we had a stay-cation, and the boys were very excited to have their cousin Jake come stay with us for the week! They have really missed him and it was so much fun to get these boys together again! They really had a blast! They had fun taking him to all their favorite places - dinner at Cici's, milkshakes at Steak n Shake, and of course a day in the city!

They loved showing him their favorite spot on the river, and the building Dave works in. They were excited that the river was still a little green from St. Patricks Day. Next we had to hit the Lego store, of course! They were very excited to show him all of their favorite giant Lego statues.

Then we headed over to the "bean" at Millenium Park, one of the boys favorite Chicago sites!

They had to show Jake what to do... He thought it was pretty funny.:)

And of course from there we had to head over to the "spitting fountains." Unfortunately the water was still turned off.

They still had a great time playing tag and running around!

And I just had to throw this pic in because its funny. And she's super cute!

Hey I'm back! So yes, it's been a rather long hiatus from blogging but here I am playing catch up as usual! So way back in March we took a ski/snowboard trip and I need to document! When we arrived there was very little snow, but the day we hit the slopes there was 18 inches of fresh snow! It was beautiful, we even got hot and had to remove layers. It was perfect!

Traeden did great snowboarding last year, but this year he decided to go back to skiing, since he is faster at it. All day he was challenging Dave or his grandmas to race him down the mountain! The kid is fast! It was a lot of fun to watch him zoom past me! (since I spent most of the day on my butt)

Jax decided to stick with snowboarding, and he did great! He is mad that we only do this once a year, because he wants to be good like his uncles! Hopefully next season we'll be able to go more than once! But he did great!

I thought this was a great shot of Dave. He is an amazing skiier!

Except for when he tries to show off by making me think he's going to crash into me, and then really biffs it :)

The Pinewood Derby

January is an exciting time for young boys, because of their favorite scouting activity ever! This year was no exception! The boys have such a blast participating in the annual pinewood derby!

Jaxon even made his own car, pretty much all by himself, and was allowed to race, even though he isn't an official scout yet! They had a really great time, and all the kids were really great sports! These kids are pretty awesome, and I have actually began to love being the den leader~ who'd have thought that would happen??? :)

Our pack. Traeden ended up getting 3rd place over-all. Jaxon's car raced well and won a few times, but he didn't place. I'm sure next year will be better, when dad gives him a little more help!

more Christmas pics and memories!

A few more pictures of our Christmas - hey it's only February, never too late!!!

Making Christmas cookies! I love how they really get into this!

Traeden's gingerbread house

Jaxon's gingerbread house - I don't think he left anything off!!!

Christmas morning - yes, Santa came, and brought way more presents than could fit under our tree!

Araleigh won the biggest present award - Santa brought her a wonderful dollhouse!

Traeden's skateboard!

Just what Jaxon wanted, a DS!!!

Traeden got one too!!!

Jaxon's present for mom and dad, a poetry book, written by him!!!

Random Christmas Pictures...

Some fun pre-Christmas pictures that I enjoy looking at:



At "Winter Wonderland" at Navy Pier - the kids were pretty ticked that I made them pose - they just wanted to go ride the rides (it's a big, indoor carnival)



Putting up the Christmas tree! Every year I swear I am going to just go get a pre-lit tree, but what fun would that be? My kids love sorting the color-coded branches and putting up the tree themselves! Just like I did as a kid. All we were missing was that hilarious "12 days of Christmas" tape that I am determined to get a copy of some day...



This picture makes me laugh because they look like they are being forced to work or something! Really, they were having fun, I swear!!



Finally done, time to pose!



And then mob dad to look at the picture before texting it to the grandparents!!!

Back in December...

I wanted to post some pics of some of my friends here in Chicago and the fun Christmas party we had! I am so lucky to have such awesome friends here, and we always have such a great time! And since I talk about them a lot, now everyone can finally put a face with the name!

The girls - me, Sarah, Nicole, and Danica. Yes, I am a total baby hog. I admit it. But I really love this little girl, and I think she loves me back!!!

Yes, Delaney is still mine!!! :) Look at how cute she is!!! And Nicole looks gorgeous, as always! I have very pretty friends!

The guys - Joe, Scott, Kevin, and of course Dave in back. It is so great that our husbands like eachother as much as we do! It's always a bummer when couples don't mesh, you know?

I can't believe I don't have any pictures of the kids, they were having so much fun playing that we hardly saw them, which makes for a great party!!