Surprise "Girls' Trip" in Chicago

Well, blog friends, this one might come as a surprise to you, just as it did to my mom:-) But I just got back from Chicago! My sisters and I have been playing this trip since my mom's 60th birthday in Sept. We got all our ducks in a row for last week. I flew into Chicago for two fabulous, incredible, amazing, magical, unforgettable days with my mom & sisters (with no kids - thanks so my amazing husband and in-laws).

Hilary & Heather kill time with mom while waiting for me to call from the airport shuttle that I was on my way to the hotel.

After lots of tears & hugs, we headed out to Giordano's pizza. YUMMMM!!

Since most of our time was spent laughing, talking & eating. Here is another Chicago must-have: melt-in-your-mouth pancakes.

Shopping at Water Tower Place:

Here is a before pic:

After:

An fabulous dinner at China Grill before the show:

DREAMGIRLS! A contender for my favorite show of all time (and I've seen my fair share!) I hadn't seen the movie so it was all new to me:

Goofy girls at 2 AM:

Our incredible 5 star hotel on Michigan Ave in the middle of the Magnificent mile. (Thanks to Jeff, my bro-in-law and his priceline expertise!!!)

One last stop before heading home - bringing back a taste of Chicago!

Friends, Fun, and More Cake!

We had so friends over for dinner and conversation and a little bit of cake for Andrew's birthday. Since Andrew's good friend, Jack, also has a birthday one day later, we celebrated with him too.

Help Haiti 2010 - Christian Reformed Church

Help Haiti 2010 - Christian Reformed Church
Another thing on my heart and mind so I thought I would put the word out.
(Inspired by my friend, Amy!)

Andrew turns 4

Andrew got a BIG present for his birthday today. He also got to go out to Applebees with Daddy!

The Rest of the Birthday story. . .

I haven't blogged in awhile and I realized that I missed posting some pictures of the rest of Anika's birthday celebrations. On Friday (her actual birthday), Daddy took her to Applebees. Then on Sat. morning, her dear friend, Anne, took her out to get doughnuts! Such wonderful things to celebrate turning 6!

Anika's 6th Birthday

We invited the 5 little girls from Anika's kindergarten class to a "Tea Party". We started with crafts (decorate your own fan) and Perler beads. The table was set with tea cups and "purse" gift bags for the girls to bring home their crafts.

We asked the girls to bring their "fanciest hat", if they had one.

The "purse" cake (which tasted as good as it looked - I was pleasantly surprised. I had told the girls they might want to take off the jelly beans since they were the ones with a wild number of flavors and I didn't think that cinnamon or black licorice would be a nice surprise.)

Our SIX year old!

We enjoyed "chocolate tea" (aka hot chocolate) with our cake.

The whole group of giggly girls!

The happy birthday girl:

PS Sorry the post is so heavy of pictures of the cake but we had so much fun making it.

Playing and Learning

Kathryn is becoming quite a character -- her vocabulary is increasing (she repeats EVERYTHING but she can't always produce words on her own), she is growing like a weed, and she loves shoes. Here she is playing with Mom's new "wooden" shoe slippers.

Andrew is very excited about his "Hooked on Phonics" pre-k lessons from Nene. I was so proud of what he could do already. It reminds me that I need to do more of this with him.

Another week, another big event! After Christmas, New Year's, after New Year's, Anika's birthday. This year we tackled another cake together. This one was a purse cake with a change purse for the birthday girl. She did a wonderful job decorating, didn't she!?!

Zoo-la-la

Wow! On New Year's Eve, we had the most wonderful trip to the Sacramento Zoo. We are members there and so we promised ourselves we would go there over the break. We are so glad we did! I highly recommend going to a zoo on a cool, overcast weekday. All the animals were awake/out, most were active; there were no crowds to fight and no fear of sunburn. What a great day! (Note: this post is picture heavy of all the animals we saw so close up!!)