Pumpkin Art Project

Lee has been obsessed with pumpkins since everyone in our neighborhood has been decorating. We spent the past week slowly getting out all our fall stuff and today I thought I would do an art project with Lee. He made his first pumpkin out of construction paper. I cut out all the pieces but he glued them all and put them where they go. I think he did a great job! We've also been working on tracing lines and patterns. As you can see I dotted his name out and he did a pretty good job following it. He had a lot of patience for the "L" and first "E" however we lost him on his last "E". I guess that's a two year old for ya ;)

Dino World, KY

A Camping We Did Go...

Hi-ho the dairy'o, A camping we did go!

I have about 300 pictures just like this one. They are all the same. Steve and Lee. Lee and Steve. Those two are like two peas in a pod! He wants nothing to do with me at all. Putting shoes on "daddy do it". Make breakfast "daddy do it". Buckle him in his car seat "daddy do it". Change diaper "daddy do it". Wash hands "daddy do it". Go potty "daddy do it". Are you getting the picture yet? This whole trip (4 days), was all about Steve and Lee. I loved sitting back with my camera and watching every minute of it. Lee is turning into a miniature Steve right before our eyes.

We went to dino world. We pet kangaroos. We climbed in caves. We played putt-putt golf. We played at parks. We walked/ran trails. We ate lots of yummy food. We did something new... camping.

It was so nice to get out of the house for a few days and away from our normal everyday living. Lee did way beyond either of our expectations. He was thrilled to do everything. We didn't need the stroller but for about 5 minutes. He was climbing and walking right along with the big kids and adults. The adults would get tired, and Lee kept on going. Lucky for us, no breaks :) He napped and slept wonderfully and even enjoyed the car ride.

Lee helped Steve: build a campfire, take out garbage, cook hot dogs, clean up outside, sweep, unpack the car, repack the car, look for sticks, read maps and kill bugs.

He's just turning into a little man. More pictures to come soon!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great 4th of July. Parade, food, family, friends and fireworks. What more could you ask for? This year was the 1st time Steve didn't have to work, so we were all able to go to the parade together. The rain held off too, so that was nice.

It was nice seeing my family, although we missed my Grandma and Grandpa, we had to leave before they were able to make it to my Aunts house. I didn't think Lee would do good with the fireworks being so loud, so we opted out and headed home so everyone could get a nap in. My neighbor Liz has two little boys and she knows of some areas where you can watch fireworks but not hear them, so she invited us over for dinner and convinced us to go and I'm so glad we did. It was a lot of fun! Next year I think he'll be ready to handle them full blown! It worked perfect though because in Naperville, there's an area where you can sit in a well lit parking lot and see them pretty clearly. So we just parked and stayed right by the car! Lee was interested in them for all of 1 minute and then wanted to get down to run around.

Waiting for the parade to start.

Wanting to run up and down the hill like big kids, but was too scared.

My cousin Megans brand new baby girl! She was so sweet and cuddly!

My Aunt Kathy, Uncle Milan and their two girls, Steph and Lisa.

My cousin Megan, her husband Brent and their newest addition Lucia. They have a 4 year old as well you'll see in other pictures. Beth and Lee got along really well together and had a lot of fun playing!

Beth helping Lee too run up and down the hill!

Steve's new trick. Jumping over Lee!

Climbing!

Grandma and Lee waiting for the parade to start!

Waiting...

Beth and her Daddy Brent

Here it comes! The sirens were really loud!

Getting and grabbing candy. Grandma was helping Lee and showing him what to do!

Beth and Lee had a lot of fun grabbing up the candy!

The clowns. They are so fun!

Cheery girls.

Thats my Grandma. She was on the old people float and Jackie tells it! She was throwing us candy.

Steve, Lee and my Dad. My Dad and Jackie were in the Elgin parade and weren't able to make it to the Rolling Meadows one. So we saw them later on at my Aunts house.

Asleep in the car. It took all of 2 minutes before he was asleep. Too much excitement!

Naperville fireworks show! These are all the boys! They are also our neighbors.

Lee with his flag!

Sitting in the back of the car.

Letting off some poppie thingies. Spencer is eating Lee's snack. That boy just might eat anything you put infront of him, lol. Lee was totally not into eating a snack, so I'm glad someone ate it!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Father's Day 2009!

When I asked Steve what he wanted for Father's Day he said that he just wanted to rest and relax. He had been working some long hours the week before and was out of town the whole week. So we stayed home and chilled. Here's what a 2 year old looks like when Momma lets him paint however he wants.

We decided to make Steve a card for Father's Day and Lee wasn't too sure about the paint on his hands at first.

Thinking "hmm, maybe this will be ok"?

Getting the hang of painting and putting handprints on paper.

Wondering what the paint tastes like. Can you see the blue in his teeth?

He didn't like the taste, so he rubbed it all over his arm like lotion.

Here's a birds eye view of what a mess he can make in 5 minutes.

Father's Day morning. Lee was explaining to Steve in great detail how he made his card for him.

Lee sneezing and Steve imitating him. I just thought this picture was funny!

Lee was so proud of his card. It was cute!

This is the cheesy smile I get when I asked him to show me the card and smile. He just too cute and funny!

Oswego Fest

What a fun time we had at the Oswego Fest with our neighbors. It was hot, but a lot of fun! We enjoyed the rides, food and free petting zoo. Here are some pictures of our day.

The fun slide!

Mason went down first and wasn't quite heavy enough so he stopped at all the bumps.

Steve and Lee went after Mason. They were a lot heavier than Mason and still had stops at the hills.

Tim and Spencer were the lasts one to go down the slide and had the same problem as first two, so the ticket guy gave us 2 tickets back.

Mason and Lee wanted to ride the "race cars". We weren't paying attention before hand and just sent these two in a car together.

I watched it go around the first time and the boys had the time of their life. As you can see from their faces. It whips you around the corners SUPER fast.

Here I tried to get a picture of them going through the corner. Lee's hat fell over his eyes they were going so fast. They both laughed harder than I have ever heard them. So fun!

The Petting Zoo

Liz showing Spencer that you can pet the animals. He wasn't too sure about them at first, but had fun chasing them after awhile.

Mason loved feeding all the animals! He was like a kid in a candy store.

Lee did OK petting them too. He wasn't too sure at first, but eventually went up and petted a lot of them. Steve was a good teacher!

This was the first animal Steve was trying to get Lee to pet on his own. Steve was asking Lee if he could find the donkey's ears. He just stared. So Steve asked Lee, "where's your ears?" and Lee pointed.

He then went and found the donkey's ears.

Lots of fun at our first carnival!

Applesauce Pancakes!

I made these pancakes this morning and they were SO good! I found the recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/. They had a light cinnamon/sugar taste, but still very pancake-y.

2 cups dry pancake mix
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup milk (I did add a little extra milk in the end, just so it was a tad runnier)

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, stir together pancake mix and cinnamon. Make a well in the center of the pancake mix. Add the eggs, applesauce, lemon juice and milk; stir until smooth.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.