National Siblings Day

So....a little birdie told me that today is National Siblings Day. Who knew there was such a day! Although it is not federally recognized, it still proves to be a special day. In honor, I have put together some of my favorite photos of Isabella and Giselle, two siblings. At times they antagonize one another but at the end of the day, they love one another unconditionally. As their mother, I love watching their relationship, as siblings, evolve. Here is to two sisters, ages 3 and 5.

So What's New?

Well, let me tell you. For starters, Isabella had her doctor's check up for kindergarten. She is 5 years old and weighs 42 1/2 pounds and her height is 44 1/2. She could use to gain a few pounds but for anyone who knows her, she eats on her own time clock. Giselle on the other hand, eats ALL AROUND THE CLOCK. All day, everyday. Giselle is becoming quite the socialite these days. For example, on a recent Sunday, I took her to Menards and I had her in the shopping cart sitting down. Upon walking in the door, there were a group of 3 men, in which she stood up in the cart (at 3 years old) and smiled and waved as she said "Hey boys, how ya doin?" I don't ever have to worry about conversation with strangers when I take this girl out because she is SURE to make conversation with EVERYONE and 9 times out of 10, she makes me BLUSH. Which is hard to do by the way! Isabella had her spring musical last week in which they sang several Easter songs. She always gets so excited to dress up and perform...and speaking of dressing up and performing...Lately, the girls have been dressing up to bake in the kitchen. Most recently, we made peanut butter kiss cookies and rugalach (one of my all time FAVORITE desserts!) together. They LOVE to help in the kitchen and even around the house! And lastly, the creamery opened (YEAH!), so we had our first ice cream cone of the season and boy was it GOOD! Hope you are all doing well! XOXOXOX

Our Escape out of Chiberia to Ixtapa, Mexico

We couldn't take the cold weather and snowy conditions anymore and had to escape to break the cabin fever! So we jumped on a plane and headed to Ixtapa, passports in hand. It was Giselle's very first airplane ride at 3 years old! Bob and I were both lucky traveling to and from, as we each had an empty seat next to us so the girls were able to completely lay down and relax on the airplane. We had only booked one room with a bed and pull out couch but once we got there, we discovered they upgraded us to two bedrooms with an adjoining door = BONUS! I can't even begin to explain how much fun the girls had or even how much fun we had watching them be so excited while on vacation. The resort that we stayed at had so many activities for the girls...just to name a few that they participated in were: a family sand castle competition on the beach, slip and slide on the beach, a piñata party, a talent show, circus activities and so much more. Bob and I took Isabella kayaking, in which I accidentally flipped everyone off the kayak...whoopsies. We took the girls on a sunset cruise, which was breath taking. They enjoyed sitting on the big net on the front of the boat and made several friends! Most everyone on the boat was doing shots of tequila, so several passengers decided to dress our kids up in sombreros and ponchos and feed them candy necklaces - they loved every second. On another day we took them swimming with the dolphins. Isabella really enjoyed the show and the dolphins. She didn't want to feed them or kiss them but at least she touched them. Giselle wanted nothing to do with the dolphins. If I was 3 and super little I probably wouldn't want to either. She was still a trooper throughout the show and had her award winning SMILE from ear to ear. All in all, it was a great 2nd family vacation - the first was to Colorado on our road trip camping! It was a great balance of relaxing yet fun adventures. I can't wait to go on another! Here are a few pictures from IXTAPA!!

Isabella goes to Florida

In the middle of polar vortex...the term I have heard for the first time in my life (and it felt like it too), we jetted off to Florida to spend some quality time with my parents, Isabella's Grandma Chug and Grandpa Dale. And what a relaxing, warm getaway it was! We are so thankful that we had the time to get away and enjoy one another's company! So what did we do? The list of things to do and places to go was endless, where do I start? I LOVE pictures and I think they speak a thousand words, so let me SHARE with YOU! Enjoy! If I had to put our trip into words, here are the words I would use to describe: Once in a lifetime. Relaxing. Full of Sunshine. Precious. Sharing. Caring. Loving. Learning. Embracing. Learning to be patient (on the fishing side). Funny! Has anyone seen TRIXIE lately? Tell her I miss her if you see her! Isabella and I had so many fun times on the trip and created many fun memories to be cherished FOREVER! If you look at the pictures, we were fortunate to experience DISNEY WORLD for the first time, have endless hours in the pool, rode several rides at Disney, go FISHING (next time I will for sure bait my own hooks), see Minnie Mouse (Isabella didn't know what to do or how to act), have quality family time, Isabella got to dress like a princess and so much more....I could go on and on. If we would have had Giselle, Bob and Baxie, I think we would have stayed longer.....

Welcome to CHI beria.....

Polar vortex. Chiberia. Coldest it's been in 30 years. Record breaking cold temperatures! Cabin fever? Do a little dance and shovel and shovel some more? Yep, we got it. And that is all you are seeing and hearing on the news. And we are feeling it. We are dreaming of a tropical adventure! How many homemade soups and fires can I build? How many movies can we watch? How many crafts can we make? Does anyone want a cookie? You wanna go outside? Sure. That lasts about 15 minutes if that. And it takes about 15 minutes just to put all of the gear on. So here are a few pictures of the day. We tried to build a snowman, however everyone got to cold and we went inside. It is even too cold for Baxie but I did capture his beautiful foot print in the snow! Baby it is cold outside......

Their FURCULA kind of evening......

I don't know about you all but when I was a little girl, my sister and I looked forward to this tradition. Each year, after my parents had cooked a super yummy Thanksgiving dinner, they would save the "wishbone" until it dried out and then my sister and I would make a wish and break it to see who got the larger piece! Now, for those of you that don't know about this, let me tell you. In 15th Century Europe it was thought that the wishbone could be used to predict the weather. Nowadays, once removed from the turkey or chicken, the wishbone is dried and then held between the little fingers of two opposing "wishers". Once the wish has been made the bone is pulled by each person. The wisher who breaks off a larger section of bone is assumed to have their wish granted. Alternatively, the winner of this contest may choose to transfer the fragment of the wishbone, along with the wish, to a person of his or her choosing. Why am I just talking about this now when Thanksgiving was in November and it is now January? Well, I wanted to make sure the bone was nice and DRY so it would just break. There is no bigger bummer than pulling on the furcula when it is not dried out yet! I have had it sitting on my kitchen window sill since Thanksgiving day. So on this cold January evening, I decided it was time to educate the girls about the wishbone and let their new tradition begin. Why not make a wish to see if it comes true??!!! They were super excited about it. Well, you will see....Giselle was not too excited about it. (I secretly forgot that the terrible 2's are not the worst - it is the 3's! Just tonight, she climbed on top of her bed, grabbed a glass piggy bank off of a shelf filled with change and threw it across the room at her sister Isabella. Needless to say, change and glass were everywhere. Thankfully Isabella missed the pig throw) Totally got the concept. They each made their wish and guess what. Isabella got the bigger piece of the bone. May her wish come true!!!

Story Telling Tuesdays

So I decided to explore my neck of the woods and found that the local library has story telling on Tuesdays. Many Chicago-area schools were closed again today and dozens of the day's flights were canceled and some area attractions were shuttered, with the subzero chill maintaining its grip on the region for another day. But if there was a silver lining, it could be found both in morning and evening commutes that have been smoother than they were during the deep freeze earlier this month and even in the resolve of Chicagoans to just get through it. While the temperature was super cold, we braved it and got out to break free from this cabin fever! This program runs for 6 weeks at the library and is free. The girls listen to a story with Ms. Kathy and then get to make a craft afterwards. While they do story time and make a craft, I sit outside of the door and read. The program runs for about a half an hour. Here are a few pictures of their first story time at the library and their craft that they created!