Chicago

Dan and I met up with my good friend Angie and her husband Tony and we spent a night in the city. We had a really,really, good time bowling, chatting at dinner and singing at Howl at the Moon. I am so glad we went. It was so great to catch up and relax for a night!

Trip to Illinois

On the 26th Dan, the boys and I flew to Chicago to spend time with my family for a week. We flew Southwest and were very impressed by the customer services all around. They definitely won us over for any future flights! Austin did fine on both flights and Lucas only had a hard time on the way there. He happened to be cutting a tooth that day. = ) Fun times! While we were in Illinois we spent time playing in the snow and visiting with Grandma and Grandpa Noonan. We went to a hockey game with my brother and sister-in-law and spent a night in the city with good friends Angie and Tony. We were only there for 4 full days but we managed to fit it all in! I wish we were able to fly back more often. I don't realize how much I miss some of the things back home until I go back there!

Austin enjoying onion rings from Fred's!



Since Grandma and Grandpa couldn't be here on Austin's birthday they wanted to celebrate with him early. They took him to Chuck E. Cheese for a little party.

Christmas

We had a really nice Christmas with our families in 2010. Austin was very excited for Santa to come and had fun leaving cookies, milk and carrots for Santa and his reindeer! It was equally fun for us to watch him get so into Christmas this year! Santa may have gone a little over board again this year but Dan and I understand his wanting to spoil the kids. = )

This started out as me just taking pictures of the boys playing around. But, the more I took, the more Lucas started posing. It was hillarious! Even though the boys in the background are totally horsing around, Lucas took advantage of the lime light. = )

Lucas and Austin Starting to Interact!!

Austin is starting to be more understanding about Lucas. Yes we have our brotherly un-love moments but I'm excited to see Austin being more interactive with his brother. Last week, Lucas was crying and Austin was wiping the tears from his face using his "Phil." Phil is Austin's sacred blankie and no one can touch it. It was such a nice mommy moment for me!!! There are some random pics below of the boys recently!

We got a carpet for the floor in hopes that Lucas would show some interest in crawling. He gets on his tummy and rolls but crawling is not on his agenda.

My "Smartypants" Austin loves to watch Polar Express and drive the train using that toy in front of him. It has a lever that you pull up and down and the toy lights up. He drives the train with his lever throughout the movie. = )

Kitty Cat

Austin and Kitty Cat are still getting along. Even after he manually turns her head/neck to make her look at him when he talks to her. = ) She puts up with it all. What a great friend.

Surprise Presents!

Austin and Lucas got a surprise box of presents from my good friend Angie back in Illinois! I couldn't believe it when Dan told me. What an unbelievably nice gesture!!!! Austin was excited to open the gifts. We let him open one gift and are making him wait until Christmas morning for the rest. = )

Holiday Party

This year Dan and I attended my work holiday party. It was at a really neat country, western bar/restaurant. The inside had tables for dining and the outside had these personal fire pits all over the place where you can sit with your family and roast marshmallows. We had a great time!

Haircut!

I decided it was time for a hair change after not having a hair cut for 6 months. I was getting really sick of it being so long and ratty so I went a lot shorter this time! I tried a new hair dresser that I actually FINALLY like. Here are a couple pictures of the new do!

Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving at my sister-in-law Kelly's. It was supposedly one of the coldest Thanksgiving's in AZ in a long time. It was only in the high 40's low 50's. We had a very nice meal and a nice time visiting with everyone. Dan made Marko a custom bags set with the Finnish flag painted on each box. Marko was very excited!

Kelly and Marko got the Kinect for X-box. It's like a Wii but you don't hold any controllers. The sensor bar just picks up your movements. Here are some pictures of Dan and Austin playing Kinect.

It's Thanksgiving Charlie Brown!

Austin was curious about glue so he learned how to use a glue bottle while make a turkey.

His first piece of fridge art! This morning he pulled the eyes off. The perfectionist in me cringed. = )

My little "papoose!"

See....the big one can be cute too! = )

We are 4 days away from my favorite holiday! I love Thanksgiving more than any other holiday. We started a little tradition a while ago where we cook a Thanksgiving breakfast of orange cinnamon rolls, eggs and potates o'brien. We watch the parade while we eat and then start cooking our contribution to turkey day dinner. I just have to make it through the next 3 days of school. I have lots of fun things planned for my kids though so it should go by fast! I can't wait!

I was cleaning out the hope chest this weekend and Austin was "helping" me when he found the microphone for Rock Band. I hooked it up for him and he had so much fun singing and hearing his voice come out of the tv. Check out the videos below!









Dan and I were up early with the boys on Saturday and Dan noticed a bright light in the eastern sky. We watched it for a while and took some pictures. We investigated on the internet and we think it is the planet Saturn!

Austin's newest favorite game is "struction." He plays construction site outside in the backyard right off the porch. He just digs and digs and would stay out there all day if we would let him! Yesterday he was digging and somehow ended up with a mouth full of dirt. He came inside with his mouth wide open and he was trying to tell us he had dirt in his mouth but he couldn't close his mouth at all to make the words sound correct. It was hillarious. We got the dirt out and he went right back to "struction!"