Auld Lang Syne....

Auld Lang Syne translated to english means..old long since...long long ago...days gone by... 

When I think of the days gone by this past year I think of life altering moments, miracles, stress, excitement and lots of changes for the better.  The first miracle was the birth of our little girl Jillian Faith in March.  The second was the recovery of my grandfather...who we were told to pretty much say our goodbyes to as we left the hospital one night and then slowly watched him get passed hurdle after hurdle to make a close to full recovery!   Pretty amazing!

Selling our house and moving was the biggest stress but I think will be greatest reward in the end.  We moved to Arlington heights 2 months ago and have yet to look back.  We love it here and are so excited to discover our new neighborhood and new town in the year ahead!  We are lucky and we are blessed!  I know it's a cliche, but that's how I feel at this moment!!

We spent New Years Eve with Matt, Laura and Rosie, ordering sushi and having great conversations, as we always do with them.  We talked about New Years resolutions and aside from the typical ones...lose weight, excercise more, save more money, read more, etc..  I have one and only one...Take the high road!

When given the opportunity to put someone down, speak being mean-spirited, prove them wrong etc. I would like to stop and simply take the high road.  I don't have to prove them wrong to be right, I don't have to use my energy and words to make someone feel bad, regardless of my intent.  Taking the high road to me means speaking, giving and loving with grace and kindness.  Ultimately it's a road I'm eager to travel and a goal I'll strive to obtain! 

Happy New Year one and all and best wishes for 2011! 

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Christmas 2010

Christmas came and went so very fast this year!!  Jillian celebrated her first Christmas and Mallory is beginning to understand and get excited about presents and Santa Claus.... you know the true meaning of Christmas! ;)  I kid, I kid.! It was fun to see her interested in the nativity scene and some of the Christmas books she has about baby Jesus and the manger.  Although we had some merry and bright moments this season I must admit I'm glad the last of the presents are put away and the tree comes down today! The Holidays are over and I'm looking forward to some calm, non-hectic, stay in our pj's next couple of days with my family!!     

Here are some images of our family Christmas 2010...including decorating the tree, seeing The Wonderland Express, Making cookies for Santa, Christmas Eve at Uncle Pete's, and Christmas morning.   

"No man is a failure who has friends" -Clarence the Angel

Santa Visit

We headed to Gurnee Mills last week to Bass Pro Shops, our annual spot we go to visit the jolly guy!  We first had dinner at The Rainforest Cafe (one of Mallory's favorite places) with Papa and Grammy and then headed to the carousal for a ride.  Papa took Mallory and daddy took Jillian on her first ever carousal ride!  We then stood in line to see Santa.  Mallory appeared brave in line proclaiming she was going to sit on his lap but once we approached she cried and basically freaked out!  Seriously, it's somewhat of a weird concept to a 2 year old I'm sure..."Go sit on that strangers lap who is sitting under huge bright lights and surrounded by a million other screaming children....yeah, go sit on his lap and smile nicely...."  Ah well...maybe next year!  Jillian however was happy as a clam to sit on his lap seemingly unaware of all the fuss!  Either way it's a classic tradition we put our children through all in the name of priceless pictures! 

Photos from the evening...

 

First Snowfall...

"When I no longer thrill to the first snow of the season, I'll know I'm growing old."

Over the weekend we had our first snowfall.  We had a busy weekend and were unable to get out and "play in it" but I'm certain we'll have ample opportunity for that this winter.  I did capture some shots the morning of the first snowfall of the season!   Mallory seemed delighted to wake up to it and loved watching it out the window! 

Scenes from our backyard...

Holiday Traditions

I admit it...I love Christmas and everything about it!!  I love the sappy Christmas songs, I love the timeless classic movies..."It's a Wonderful Life", "Christmas Story" etc. I love the decorations, the tree, celebrations, seeing family, and the list goes on!  I also really get great joy from the idea of creating traditions for my family.  When I was a child we always went to Candy Cane Lane every year to the see the Christmas lights and I loved it! While I'm told that neighborhood no longer puts on the display it's fun to think of new traditions that my kids and I can enjoy together. Just thought I'd share some of our traditions. 

Here are traditions currently started:
*Going to see The Lincoln Park Zoo Lights every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
*Giving the girls one gift to open on Xmas Eve, the gift is always new pajamas to wear to bed that night and have for Christmas Morning.   
*Advent Calendar
*Going to see Santa at Gurnee Mills with Grammy and Papa, eating at Rainforest Cafe and riding the carousal.
*Hot Chocolate and family tree decorating

Here are traditions I'd like to start someday:
*Seeing the Xmas display at Botanic Gardens (we actually have plans to attend this year)
*Elf on a Shelf
*Giving Tree at church (buying a gift(s) for a needy family)
*Decorating Xmas cookies (another one we will try this year)
*Going to see It's A Wonderful Life at The Music Box in Chicago. (Tony and I used to do this and it's so stinkin festive!)

Here are some photos from this year's trip to see the Zoo Lights. 

 "There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions".

-- Bill McKibben