Street Parade

In the Magic Kingdom, they have a street parade every day at 3 p.m. We missed the beginning of it, but Abby and I had a blast dancing in the street with the characters. We were also trying to take pictures for Olivia!!

Princesses

The highlight of eating at the castle is meeting all of the princesses. I definitely had to brush up on my princess knowledge (I could have used Olivia's help!!). Aurora (or Sleeping Beauty) is in the pink, Jasmine has on the bikini, Belle is in the white apron, and I knew Snow White.

Dinner at Cinderella's Castle

On Friday night, we ate dinner at Cinderella's Royal Castle!! You are greeted by Cinderella and then taken to your table. Abby's dinner came on a plate shaped like Mickey's head with the ears. They gave her Prime Rib and a huge knife to cut it with!! They then gave the women magic wands and the gentlemen swords. Trevor loved the fact that he had swords to play with at dinner!!

Day 1 - Walt Disney World

We flew out of Bloomington-Normal. It was awesome -- very close and free parking!! Abby loved her new purple suitcase. The Disney Magical Express bus was great and took us right to our hotel. We then ate dinner at the ESPN Zone restaurant our first night (March Madness was going on and Jim and Joe wanted to catch the games!!). They have special recliners at the restaurant and Zac and Trev took a turn sitting there :)

Magic Kingdom

We have arrived home from Walt Disney World happy and exhausted!! I will try to post pictures. On Friday, we went to the Magic Kingdom and ate breakfast at the Crystal Palace with the characters. Here are the pictures!!

Abby's Birthday

A tradition in our house is that the birthday person gets to pick out where we go to eat for their dinner. Abby chose Turtle's Tap for her birthday. I think it had to do with the fact that they sing and bring out an ice cream sundae to the birthday person. Abby loved it!! She was all grins as they came out singing to her. She was even kind enough to share with her brother!! I can't believe that my baby is now 9 years old!! Where does the time go?!?

5th Grade Basketball

Trevor joined the 5th grade basketball team this year at school. It has definitely been a learning year....for Trevor and us!! He has done well and we can definitely see improvement as the year is drawing to a close. He has enjoyed it and is getting more comfortable with the ball and the game.

My Little Farmer

Trevor has turned a little counter in our kitchen into his winter indoor garden. We are growing plants, tomato plants, and an onion. He is constantly trying new things....you can see the eggshells in the plants!! Someday I may look back on this as his official "beginning!"

Rebecca's Birthday Lunch

On Saturday, we decided to meet at the Grand Lux Cafe for lunch to celbrate Bec's birthday with no husbands and no kids (a flashback to the Door County trips!). It was wonderful!! We all started out with drinks (I was so excited that I forgot to take a picture of them!), the opening of the Project Life kit, a great meal, and 2 FABULOUS desserts. There was wonderful conversation throughout the meal. I think that we have decided to celebrate our birthdays with lunch from now on!!

Bec and I then ventured to Sugar Bliss (the newest cupcake store for us!) to buy cupcakes and frosting shots!! I love the vanilla buttercream frosting!! We rode the bus, walked to the Loop, picked up pictures, and shopped in Neimann Marcus. We then parted and I drove to Evanston, found a Barnes and Noble, put together my Project Life kit, walked around, ate dinner, and then drove to O'Hare to pick up my mother-in-law. It was a super day and I have to do it more often :)

Snow Day!

This is the road in front of our house! You can't tell where the road ends and the ditch begins!

Today we had a snow day!! I love snow days! In the morning, we went for a walk with Maggie (black lab) and Jim and Abby played football in the snow. Abby is quite good at diving for the ball. The snow doesn't bother her at all!

Alex's Baptism

While is was a cold, January day, it was a beautiful day for Alex's baptism and a great way to end my 2 week vacation! Alex did a great job and all of us had a good time at brunch and at the church. Our family was in charge of watching Sully and Charlie during the baptism. Thank goodness for our 2 biggest helpers -- Abby and Trevor!! They helped entertain and corral the boys for us. All in all, it was a great day. The last picture is a picture of us leaving the city. I LOVE Chicago!!

POTD -- Jan 3

There were so many great pictures to choose from but I chose Alex and his godmother Sarah for my picture of the day. They sure are a good-looking pair!!

Project Life

This year I am embarking on a new and exciting project (Thanks, Sarah :) ) called Project Life. It is a scrapbook project where you take 1 picture a day for the entire year. The name of my album is called "Laura's Life in 2010". I am focusing this particular scrapbook on me (for a change!). This will be the start of my 13th scrapbook (lucky 13!!!). My first picture of the year is the top one because I have spent the day organizing all of my finished layouts into albums and trying to decide where I am in each album. The bottom picture is one of the reasons that I love scrapbooking. I started scrapbooking in 2001. When I started, I was already 2 years behind on Trevor's album and 6 months behind on Abby's album. Despite this fact, I LOVE the process of scrapbooking, organizing my photos, and sharing the photos and the hard work with my loved ones. In December, when I was home in Joliet one weekend, my mom handed me a bag of photos of me, my husband, and my kids. This bag started in 1972 and goes through today!! If I wasn't overwhelmed before, I am definitely overwhelmed now!! However, this bag has been a gift -- although it will be more of a gift when I am done! There are pictures of me with my grandparents (who have been gone since 1978), my uncle (who passed away in 1993), and my family. While my parents, especially my dad, took tons of pictures, they have not gotten into scrapbooking and preserving pictures. Therefore, another goal this year, in addition to Project Life, is to sort through these pictures and make some type of scrapbook so I can share my childhood with my kids! Abby has already had a blast -- and a laugh -- looking through the pictures!!

Maybe by starting this project, I will be better about blogging this year. Don't hold your breath -- but you never know what 2010 will bring! Happy New Year :)

Christmas Eve 2009

We spent Christmas Eve in Joliet and had a great time! Uncle Chris from Seattle evened joined us! It is always a good time when all of the cousins get together....in fact, we almost tipped over the Christmas tree. I chose these pictures because they remind me of special times....

*Sully displays the true wonder of Christmas!

*Abby loves being the "big" cousin!

*Charlie was talking to Santa on the phone.

*I love being with family....and I hope that my children will always love being with family!

Merry Christmas Everyone!