Riverwalk

While Grandma was here we decided to introduce Aunty Lianna to the Naperville Riverwalk, one of our favorite places to hang out outside.

 Handsome boy!

Ali liked making it snow!

 I am sure Aunty Lianna appreciated all the help my kids were with Korrali:

Grandma Quillen

Oh, how we love it when Grandma comes to visit!

Logan remembered that one time (a LONG time ago) when Grandma came she helped us make fun cupcakes and thought it would be fun to do that again. So tech savvy Grandma looks online with the kids for inspiration and comes up with cute Elmos and Despicable Me guys! What fun!

Popcorn Eater

Eli loves popcorn!

Ali

It took Ali a long time sleeping in her big bed before she stopped falling out. Since most nights she sleeps like this, it amazes me that she isn't still falling out all the time!

Protectors

At first I thought Darth Vader as a comfort object was strange, but really who better to protect you from thunder storms and all the scary things of the night than the Baddest Bad Guy of all?

And apparently this night was particularly scary, because two loveys and three Darth Vaders were needed.

Family

I was feeling a little tender about family when Andrew came to visit, so I took the opportunity to get a picture of me with two of my brothers.

Some little people were miffed at not being inculded in the first picture, so we took this one too:

And this one because I love my sisters-in-law too!

I am so grateful for family, in all its many wonderful forms!

Uncle Andrew and Aunt Betsy

Did I mention we loved having Andrew and Besty visit? We did.

Luna

My kids were excited Uncle Andrew and Aunt Betsy were coming to visit, but they were really excited Luna was coming to visit. They so wanted to walk her, but inside she wanted to stick by Besty (as she is trained to do), so they contented themselves with sitting there holding her leash. For like a half an hour at a time.

When they went outside, the real fun began. Luna (and Betsy and Andrew) was such a good sport letting these two walk her up and down and up and down and up and down the sidewalk.

Ali said it best when she saw our neighbor and yelled to them, "Luna is here! And Aunt Betsy and someone else!" We love you Andrew and Besty!

Fun in the Sun

We are so excited that Uncle JD and Aunty Lianna have a pool in their complex, and have made a weekly pool-date with them. This week we were lucky enough to have Ancle Andrew and Aunt Betsy here to share in the fun!

Logan thought the pool and the wind was too cold (and it really was), so he spent most of the afternoon eating cookies lounging in the sun. Not a bad plan, if you ask me!

And boy, was Uncle Andrew fun to play with! Next time Mommy will have big shoes to fill.

Rain Makers

Who needs rain to enjoy an umbrella? Not my kids. And if they do feel the need for water, they grab a bucket and throw some water from the water table up in the air--instant rain!

Ballet Class

So we did sign Ali up for a Ballet class, and last Tuesday was the first day. She was thrilled to go buy a real ballerina outfit and had to try it out the day before class. I have to say, I think she is the prettiest ballerina ever.

When Eli saw he said, "My Ballerina!" and ran to get this costume. Much to Jason's dismay, his fascination with our pretty girl dress ups has not waned any. Ali, on the other hand, saw no problem with this and took the opportunity to give him some dancing tips, which he listened to and followed very closely.

Helper

This happy luttle guy often asks me, "My help?" How can I resist?

Leogs

I finally convinced Logan that you don't always have to follow the 1,000,000-step directions that came with the lego set he got for his birthday, but that you could build something from your own imagination. Now he loves to build with them and comes up with some truly amazing creations!

Sibling Sleepover

I was talking to a friend of mine and she mentioned that her kids (ages 13,10, and 8) regularly have sleepovers in each others' rooms. I thought this was such a cute idea and a great way to promote sibling love and friendship. So last Friday we had our first ever sibling sleepover! Ali and Logan were thrilled about sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor in Eli's room. We did it on a Friday night, knowing full well that 9pm was the earliest we could expect our usually 7pm bedtime kids to fall asleep, so that we could do naps on Saturday. There was sure a lot of giggling up there. And we did have tired kids the next day, but that just might be a price I'm willing to pay for these cute kids to get to have a fun tradition and happy memories.

Zoo

It took us (mostly one of us) a few hours to get over the cold weather during the end of preschool Zoo trip, but once we did, we had a great time.

Love Spring

When you move into a previously owned home, there are some things you have to put up with until you can change them (like the huge diamonds painted on the wall), but there are other wonderful surprises that make up for those others--like seeing how pretty the tree in the front yard looks when it blooms in the spring! I enjoyed every day of it, and miss the blossoms now that it is just green.

And here is a look at the baby birds in the nest in our front yard right before they flew the coop. They got so big!

There's just something magical about Srping!