Pajama Party at the Park!

First Time Using the Camera Since July!

We lost our good camera charger. Ultimately ordered a new one about a month ago. And finally decided to busted out the camera last night. I really need to take more clear shots of my growing babalou. Here are a few from dinner. Love him.

Bucket Head

One of Ky's latest fads is walking or sitting around with this yellow bucket on his head. He likes to peep his eyes out and grin at people. When he's wearing a yellow shirt, he often resembles a happy little crayon. Color!

Happy 30th Birthday, Amy!

Saturday night, erin, Mary, and a few other friends surprised Amy for her 30th birthday. She was happily amazed that her best friends really hadn't forgotten to ask her to celebrate such a milestone event in her life. While we were out partying, Chris texted me a few photos of his fun night in with Ky. They built a fort, splashed around in the tub, and watched Pooh.

Hard At Work

I just realized that I've been neglecting our blog lately. We've been so busy with work, Kyle, and of course the new home. Last weekend Chris and his good friend Rob went over to the house and spent almost 3 hours in the freezing Chicago temperatures raking and bagging all of the leaves that had been caked onto our lawn. Way to go! The lawn looks much better. Here are a few before, after, and in between shots to prove their hard labor.

Fort Time

Kyle is fearless. He now ventures off into the depths of his fort all by himself. He loves listening to his bunny recite stories and seems to retreat into there whenever he wants a little quiet time.

Drum Circle

This past weekend was awfully rainy, so we pulled out our pots, pans, spoons, and shakers and jammed out in our living room to a nice little beat lead by Kyle. Later on we flipped the pots over and did a little educational color sort with our legos, cooking up some delicious red, blue, green, and yellow soups. We all liked the green soup the best :)

Letter Study!

Let's Go Ramblers!

Last Friday - November 8th - was opening night for the Loyola Ramblers. Although it was a really late night for him, Kyle had fun running around the stadium with all the Vonderheides and the Tolentinos - all the "kidz, kidz!!" as he says with a grin. We look forward to a fun season!

Here are just a few far away snapshots from my phone.

It's Official ... We're Homeowners!!

Today Chris and I officially signed our lives away. We now own a condo in the city and a home in the burbs. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but couldn't be happier about the journey. It's sure to be a fun ride. After the closing, Nana and Buppa finally got to tour the home. Then, to end the night we went over by Grammy and Grandpa's for pizza, champagne, and peppermint ice cream. Yum :)

Hide and Go Seek with Auntie!

Bandit (aka "Abby") and Kyle

Grammy and Grandpa got a new dog about a week or two ago ... a cute little rascal, formally known as Elvis, now known as Bandit, and often referred to as "Abby" (Nana and Buppa's dog) by Kyle. Sunday Ky got to spend a little time in their yard, playing around with Bandit and Red Bird while looking for sticks and crunching through leaves ... great fall morning!

Will Run for Chocolate!

Sunday morning, Chris and I got up way too early (thank goodness for fall back!) for a nice little 3 mile run around the city of Chicago. Despite the early wake up call, and the chilly weather, it certainly was a beautiful fall morning. The best part of the event: each finisher was rewarded with a delicious mug filled with chocolate sauce and all sorts of goodies for dipping (think bananas, rice crispy treats, wafer cookies, pretzels, etc.), as well as a warm cup of hot chocolate. Yum, yum, YUM! Best race ever.

Babies and Barnelli's!

Saturday night, we met our good friends - Liz, Dave, and Amy - up for dinner at a Portillos/Barnelli's restaurant. This was the first time I'd seen Liz and Dave since March! Oh boy has their little boy - Thomas (2.5) - grown since then. Not only has Thomas grown taller and wiser since March, he has also grown into his very important role as big brother. This was the first time we had the pleasure of meeting the newest addition to their family - a little girl, Abby, born June 23rd. It was so nice to see them. I wish we could do it more often :)

Just a Carton of Eggs

My work friends each dressed up as a different kind of egg for Halloween. I was bacon and eggs. We also had runny eggs, sunny side up eggs, Easter Eggs, good eggs, deviled eggs, organic eggs, robins' eggs, and Green Eggs and Ham.

Thanks for all of the Halloween Goodies!