ice skating anyone?

OK, so really the thought of ice skating makes me cringe. Bad ankle. Nuff said.

I seriously think you could have ice skated on my driveway this morning though. Check out this thick sheet of solid ice.

And yes, those are my newspapers for the last 3 days, frozen to the end of my driveway. Apparently neither Conal nor I want to read the paper badly enough to go out and get them.

Good thing it is going to be above freezing again today. You wouldn't believe how many kids I saw biff it while I was driving the kids to school.

The Field Museum

We haven't done anything on "the list" for a long time. Since the kids had a day off and it was "free day" at some of the museums we decided that this would be a good time to get back at it. Conal took a half a day off and we headed to the Chicago Field Museum.

It's getting to be so much more fun to take the kids to museum-type places. The 3 older kids are actually interested in the things we are looking at

and the younger two kids are getting better at entertaining themselves while we look around.

Even the younger kids were mesmorized by the elephants:

but the older two were disappointed because they thought the T-Rex would be bigger. I admit it. I thought it would be too.

The building itself definitely did not disappoint. It's the coolest building.

The Egyptian exhibit was a hit with everyone as well. Too bad the exhibit was way to dark for any good pictures. The mummies were a hit but I'm afraid we are going to have some scared kids in our room for the next week. They were afraid something was going to pop out of this:

Hailey has decided to use this new spelling of her name at school from now on.

Conal's favorite part was this gift to the city of Chicago from the state of Veracruz.

Finally, you can't leave the city without getting a picture:

Lookin on the bright side.

It's January. It's cold. I miss the sun. But hey........we live in Chicago........and there are benefits to that.

One of those is living near my favorite produce store. Maybe I need to be better supervised in Caputos. Here is a fraction of what I purchased .

MMMM. Fresh pineapple, grapefruit, kiwi, cilantro, 3 different kinds of apples, avacados, bananas, limes, and the makings for fresh salsa.

Not to mention one of my favorite French cheeses for a dollar. A dollar? Has the world gone mad?

Oh yeah, I had a great two days of eating mostly fruit and veggies. It was so delicious. The 3rd day.......not so good. My stomach hurt so bad. Guess I need to pace myself. ha ha.

Oh BTW, I also picked up some of these:

and for some reason my kids thought they had died and gone to heaven. Garrison said "we haven't had peanuts in the shell since we went to the circus!" Well, believe me, the kitchen floor looked like it belonged at the circus when they were done.

Oh well.......it's January. You gotta have fun somehow.

This is for Jace........or Jamison.

Jamison and/or Jace, whoever picked out Macy's Christmas present. You rock. She loves her doggie. She doesn't like to let go of it. When she wants it she walks around the house barking. She hugs it. She LOVES it.

Even when she is getting her diaper changed.

Or when I am trying to dress her.

She doesn't even let food get in the way of holding her doggie.

Thanks kiddos.

35 year old Me

My dad was right (don't let that go to your head or anything Dad). I'm lovin' my 30's.

Could it be that my family spoiled me with my favorites on my birthday?

hmmm. Well, my favorite body splash scent from Bath and Body Works always helps:

and this oh so cute bag that my husband surprised me with:

He bought that for me in September when he was in Mexico. I still can't figure out where his hiding place is.............and he's not sayin'.

Beautiful flowers always make a girl feel special.

And I LOVE this gift from my sister.

Does the fact that no more names will fit on this necklace mean that we are done having kids? Maybe, maybe not. That's really none of your business. (OK, don't be offended, I'm just trying to make Mandi laugh........inside joke).

My brother and sister-in-law gave me this darling apron along with a cookbook. Aparently they have recently tasted my cooking. ha ha! Just kidding.

Rumor has it that my sister-in-law has made my girls some matching aprons for their birthdays. How dang cute is that? Thanks Rach!

So they (whoever the heck "they" are) say that 35 is the new 25. I hope not. I like 35 much better than 25!