A day at the Circus.

My parents treated us to a day at the circus.

We ALL had fun and were amazed by all the acts. It was a great day!

To start off, we had to take advantage of the elephant rides....how often do you get the opportunity, right?

Lucas was thrilled to be in front and pet the elephant.

Thank you for a great day Nana!

And what is a circus without a little cotton candy!!! :)

Ice skating.

Both the kids enjoyed about 14 weeks of ice skating lessons this winter. Bob and I had so much fun sitting in the stands watching them. They really did get quite good and it was nice to skate with them and not need to hold their hands the entire time. Addison was especially impressed with the older girls at the lessons and watching them spin and twirl. She can't wait to skate like them so we will likely keep her in lessons for the long run as long as she enjoys it (as well as dance class).

At the end of the lessons they had the chance to be part of the annual ice skating recital for a very small fee of only $13 (including practices, rehearsal, costume and 2 shows). We couldn't believe the deal! Addison wanted to participate, but Lucas wasn't so interested so of course we weren't going to force him.

The tot level classes did their routine to "Walk Like an Egyptian." They did a lot more standing and marching and less skating but it was great for the kids considering they were only 3-5 years old.

Addison the Egyptian.

Interesting pose for a little girl huh.

Addison and her favorite teacher.

About ready to perform with her class (Lucas would have only been one of two boys).

A small glimpse of the show....

Friends.

I am completely blessed with the most amazing friends a girl could ask for. I have been friends with Marina since 4th grade, Venessa and Becky since 7th grade and Kris, Julie and Pam shortly after that. I am so lucky to have had them in my life for all these years and I have no doubt we will all be in each others lives for many, many, many more years.

Well, they all live 4 plus hours away....which stinks. But, they all make great efforts to come to St. Louis to visit us and we go to Chicago and Cincinnati as often as we can. Even if it has been many months since I have seen them, it always seems like it was just yesterday.

When we do all get together it is amazing and crazy. My friends are so great and often give up their entire weekend (and Becky's home) to spend time with us when we come to town. It ends up being a big party for all the kids and then we put them to bed and the adults get to have a party too. Between me and my 6 friends we have 12 kids, one on the way, and I am sure more to come in the future (hint hint Pam and Ryan). The kids are great friends just like me and my friends and our husbands are great friends too....it is perfect.

We were in Chicago a few weeks ago and ALL got together. Even Kris and Tyler were in town from Cincinnati which made the trip even more special. To top it off, we got to meet Maddox (Marina and Corey's new little boy).

11 of the kids in age order

Me and my 6 bff's....in age order as well (ha ha).

We went to Chicago for New Years too and had a GREAT time.

The kids enjoyed their new years count down (at about 9pm).

Me and Bob



Me and Marina

Me, Venessa and Becky

The guys....getting a little crazy

Christmas 2010

Christmas was great this year.....it gets better every year with the kids.

As usual, we spent Christmas Eve at my parents house with lots of family. Here is our Christmas Eve picture (Bob just loves that I make him take so many family pics!). I went shopping with the kids one day before Christmas and I let them pick out clothes to bring into the dressing room to pick for Christmas. Addison loved trying on many dresses and Lucas was thrilled to decide on his "Daddy outfit" to wear for Christmas!

Me and my nephew/godson Emery!

Our attempt at a family photo....better than nothing.

Santa came!!!

Addison on her new "big girl" bike.

Big smiles from Lucas on Christmas morning!

An attempt for a picture of Nana and Papa with their 4 grandkids.

We spent Christmas day/evening at Bob's parents and had a great time as always.

Addison and Molly had a great time performing for everyone.

Such a nice smile...he must have loved his toys he got.

And another family picture...love this one!!!

Winter fun.

Since the kids haven't been playing outside much in the winter time, when Daddy gets home from work it is all about "Daddy fun time." The kids love to climb all over Daddy and make him wrestle with them, throw them around, chase each other, etc. They look forward to it every night. Here is a prime example of "Daddy fun time."




















Before Christmas we were invited by our bank to attend a Christmas event at the St. Louis Symphony. It was so fun to get dressed up, listen to Christmas music and experience something new with the kids. They loved it. Here is a picture of me and Addison from the Symphony!















Another great event we got to attend around Christmas time was going to The Nutcracker. My Mom took me and Addison. Addison was thrilled to see the ballet dancers and she was very excited to pose in front of the Christmas tree. Isn't she cute and so grown up.




















We have actually gotten a decent amount of snow here in St. Louis this winter. I love this picture of Bob and the kids with a view of the beautiful woods in our backyard. We even took the kids in the woods on a "snow hike."




















They were very proud of their snowman....but he didn't last long. I think he had fallen over by the end of the day. :(

Some fall updates

(The formatting is all messed up and I am too annoyed with it to try and figure it out....so I give up).

I am STILL trying to catch up on the blog and I am getting close. So, back to the fall (November to be exact) we got a few family pictures taken by Bob's uncle. He met us at a park and took our family picture (as well as Bob's brother and sister's family and all 6 cousins together). We got some pictures printed for Bob's parents for Christmas (of course they loved it).

So, here is a picture of all 6 grandkids (the kids range from 3-7 years old).

and our family picture

In the beginning of November Bob and I ran our first half marathon TOGETHER!!! It was my 3rd half marathon and Bob's first (he was a little delayed due to some injuries but he has completed quite a few triathlons). I improved my best time to 1:54 and Bob ran it in 1:45. We were both pretty happy with our times and will be running another one together in April.

And to finish off the fall season...here is our Thanksgiving day picture. :)

Rewind to October.

From what I remember, October was a fun and busy month (as most months are for us). Of course most of the month was the anticipation for halloween. Of course we also had to visit a few pumpkin patches and farmers markets. I love the fall (and miss it now so much since winter is upon us).

The kids began ice skating lessons which has been so much fun. The lessons just ended and lasted 7 weeks. They both passed the Tot 1 level and we plan on signing them up for the next session. It has been so fun to watch the kids skate on their own, fall down and get back up with very minimal tears and just really enjoy it!

I love this picture of Addison taken at a Kirkwood farmers market. She loved the purple flowers especially since it matched her dress. It sure made for a pretty picture!

Here are the kids at one of our many visits to the pumpkin patch in the month of October.

Later in the month, Bob and I (and our friends Tre and Julie) went to Florida to visit our other friends Steve and Sarah. We had a great time on the beach one day. I was thrilled to even see dolphins come up so close to the beach (too bad I didn't take a picture of that).

Of course you can't tell, but that is me, Julie and Sarah out in the beautiful golf waters!

A pic of Bob and I after having a fun dinner with our friends.

After our trip to Florida, it was time for Halloween. Addison was tinkerbell (with some layers under her dress since it was a little bit chilly) and Lucas was a pirate (a really handsome one!). We had a GREAT time halloween!