Playing on the Play Set/Basketball Evaluations

Today we spent a good portion of the morning playing on the play set! We did a lot of work on it over the weekend and it's definitely in a state where Kaycee can play. She has no clue that it's not complete, she just knows that it's AWESOME! She was so sad when I finally made her come inside, but her hands were turning blue. She needed to warm up, but she didn't want to. She loves it! 

Tonight Anthony went to basketball evaluations for the Mount Prospect Park District's middle school league. This is the last year he'll coach Caleb, so he hopes to have a great season! 

Play Set Setup Day #2/Tripp's First Laugh

Today we did a LOT of work on the play set! I can't believe it's taken this long to get this far, but there's so much work going into it. I know it's going to be fantastic when it's finally finished. I'm so thankful for my dad who came over today to work on it again! These are the kinds of projects that he loves to do and he's really good at it. We're lucky to have him! I'm so excited and can't wait for it to be over. 

Tonight, Anthony got Tripp to laugh for the first time. I can't stop rewatching the video. It makes me so happy to see Tripp so happy every day! You can't help but smile when he's grinning up at you! We love that little boy! 

Dance Party/Moving Alaina/Play Set Setup Day 1

Kaycee doesn't know what's coming, but she can't tell that there is some excitement in the air. We're going to start working on putting up the play set today after we help Auntie Alaina move from her old apartment in Chicago to her new apartment closer to us! I am excited that she'll be closer and that we can hang out more often! 

We started off the the day with a dance party, then headed off to my parents house. Kaycee stayed with Mema while Jon, Dad, Anthony and I went to help Alaina move. She made killer pot roast sandwiches for lunch and it was quite eye opening to see what a studio apartment is. I had never been in a real studio apartment and it really is not much more than 1 single room. Sometimes I feel like I've lived under a rock. After helping her move and getting her sort of settled in her new place, we headed to our house to start the play set. Alaina, Rebecca and I stayed inside to sort parts and hardware. We put all the pieces in piles based on their step and then taped baggies full of hardware to each stack of pieces. Then when the guys were ready for the next step we would take out the whole pile, ready to go! The first steps took a while because it was creating the main structure of the fort and a lot of work and hardware! Everyone did a great job and was so helpful! I can't wait to watch the whole thing come together!! 

Black Friday

Today was the most successful Black Friday shopping experience I've ever had.  Anthony's mom is gifting the kids a play set for Christmas and I found a stellar deal at Toy's R Us. Their sale started at 7am on Friday, so I called at 6:45am to check and make sure they had a play set in stock (it was an in-store purchase only). They did so I drove over there and was the first person in line! So Anthony's mom purchased the swing set! I wasn't sure I could fit it in my van, so we opted to have it delivered. However that changed when I realized that I could convince my dad to come over this weekend and help us set it up. It took 2 trips and some clever packing to get the boxes home, but they're here!! 

Anthony and I also went to Best Buy and bought a new laptop. We've been needing a new one for a very long time, and today happened to be the day that we found what we were looking for, for a price we could afford.

Thank you Nana for an AWESOME Christmas present! (I might be more excited about it than Kaycee, especially since she doesn't quite understand what's going on).

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

We are so thankful for our sweet family! We were so blessed this year. 2 beautiful children, a happy marriage and wonderful family/friends. God has been so good to us! 

We spent the morning getting ready to go, loaded everyone and everything into the car, then headed out. We picked up Marty and then went to my parents house. We spent the early afternoon eating appetizers and cooking Thanksgiving dinner. There was little stress this year. I was so amazed at how relaxed everyone seemed to be. Dinner was wonderful as always, full of Turkey and Ham, corn pudding and green bean casserole, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes, broccoli and brussel sprouts, stuffing and so much more! We took family pictures and even celebrated Tom's birthday. I'm so thankful for such a great Thanksgiving! 

Frozen Fruit Salad/Uncle Tom's Birthday

Today is Uncle Tom's Birthday. Kaycee had a great time coloring him a picture! She kept wanting new paper, but every time I would give her a blank paper she would get upset that it didn't have "Happy Birthday" written on it. 

Tonight we made frozen fruit salad. It's really good for Grammy to come out to the kitchen. It gets her up and walking a little bit, plus it's great for her memory to make a dessert that she's made hundreds of times in her life! I love having her and Kaycee at the table together!