Spring Fun!

Chicago Wolves Game

Our family was invited to the Chicago Wolves game a couple weeks ago to celebrate a friend's birthday. The kids had fun decorating signs to hold up during the game. Truthfully...we spent a lot of time doing all sorts of things to keep them entertained but watching the game didn't really hold their attention. It was still a fun experience for them and they had a blast. 

 Lost Teeth
Jordan lost his two front teeth! He was so excited! He lost one after school and then the other in the car on his way home that very same day. It's hard to tell just how toothless he is, but he's got a pretty wide gap in the front there. It's super cute. There aren't really signs of the next teeth growing in yet so he'll be missing those teeth for a while!

 Dog Sitting
Last weekend, my parents dog sat for my sister's dog Xena. She's the white dog in the picture below. Danny is holding my parents' dog, Daisy. They've only had Daisy for a few weeks. The kids love her so much. It's sweet to watch them interact with her. She has quickly found a place in their hearts.

 Silly Fake Mustaches!
Jordan went to an 80's themed birthday party! He was one of only a few boys there. Here he is with his cousin, Alex, being silly. It cracks me up how these kids can't just smile...they have to get goofy. It's fun!

 Park! Park! Park!
It was finally warm enough for a trip to the park! Since this first time, we've been to a few other parks but this was my first trip to a park this spring with the kids. It's fun to see them run around outside again. It's just been too long of a winter!

I'm so excited that the weather is finally warming up. We've gone back and forth between warm and cool days but we've been in the 50's a few time sand that's awesome! We've even had some sunshine and that's the ultimate best. 

Perfectly Messy Painting!

Late Night Brainstorm

Last night, after we got home from a long trip there and back to Frankfort in the snow, the kids were kind of restless. They were playing catch and Disney Infinity and then all of a sudden they weren't. It was a moment of realizing we were going to have to figure out what to do and quick. I had just heard a presentation at work about letting kids play and explore and learn to really navigate the world. I've been thinking about painting at home because we haven't done it in a long time and I realized the time was now.

As soon as I said paints, the boys were upstairs and trying to grab paints off of the shelf. We grabbed paints, brushes, paper and carried everything downstairs to the kitchen table. 

First things first - shirts off! My friend Krystie taught me that. It's much easier to clean paint off of skin than off of clothes. I barely had the words out of my mouth and they had their shirts off. I was happy, they were happy. Total win.

Getting Messy

In my experience, most kids love to get messy and these two dudes are not the exception. It didn't take long before Danny had his hands in the paint and Jordan wanted to follow suit. These kids just crack me up. They are such a blast! In the end, we had fun, we learned about not touching anything on the way to the bathroom, we practiced scrubbing with soap to get paint off of our bodies, and we made some great art. I love to see them concentrating and creating.

Danner D

Jordan a

The Brothers

Adding a Background to His Snake

A Mess!

Hooray for Art

I'm so glad we got the paints out! It was so nice that they could spend time being creative together. They were focused and engaged and it was probably the easiest night we've had in a while. Wrangling two boys, keeping them busy and happy with each other, isn't easy at this age. But last night was awesome. Jordan said, "We don't get to paint much at home." And he was so right. Since we got new floors and Danny was born, we don't paint nearly as much as we used to. It's time to change that. I love arts and crafts and being creative. I'm going to plan more painting and more other types of art and craft activities. Just like coming back to blogging feels great, so does the idea of doing more art with the kids. I've always loved being creative and making things. I look around our house and see the photos we have up, the collages I have made, our Color Me Mine painted pottery, our Knufflebunny inspired photo-drawings and it all makes me smile. Our house definitely feels like a home because of all of these pieces and I'm so looking forward to adding more of our personalities to our home.

Take care and talk soon!

It's Time for a Come Back!

Back To Blogging
It's been a little over a year since I last posted anything here at From My Front Porch Looking In! With my new job, things have been busier than ever...and somewhat overwhelming lately as we try to manage all the things. What that also means is that I've been thinking even more about life and celebrating how awesome my life is. All this thinking has reminded me how much I loved sharing personal stories and revelations when I blogged here.

Life is truly amazing. It's this wonderful gift that we have been given to make the most of. I go to bed every night thankful for all the wonderful people in my life and all the great opportunities I have to be the best me, to help others, to make a contribution to this wildly spinning world. I wake up every morning thankful for another chance to make this new day better than the last. It's not always easy but I know I've got it better than a lot of people and for that I'm very thankful.

Capturing life through pictures and sharing stories for myself and with others is what I really love about blogging. I have a pretty great record of Jordan's first few years of life but not so much since Danny was born. Ugh, I can't go back in time but I can go back to blogging here going forward. It's so nice that this little space has been waiting for me. While I don't have much time for blogging but I do have some time blogging. And that will have to be enough. We always make time for what's important, right? And this is important. It doesn't mean I won't need a little nudge here and again, so if you don't see me here, feel free to nag me!

That Was Then
Yup, this picture was from 2008 and one of my first posts here when Jordan wasn't even 1 year old yet! Look at our little family! I remember those little slipper-type shoes he used to wear. We were at Chad's school for a roller-skating party and we pushed Jordan around in his stroller.

This Is Now

So...today! Today we set off for Frankfort, Illinois, a place none of us had ever been, to meet Jordan Lynch, former quarterback for the NIU Huskies. Chad and I met when we lived across the hall from each other in the residence halls at Northern Illinois University. It's crazy to think it's been almost 15 years since we first met there in the fall of 1999. Sheesh. Look at our family now? Jordan is 6 1/2 and Danny is 3 1/2. Our little guys are so much fun.

I have to say, it's good to be back! Sharing stories of my family is a great way of celebrating and it feels great. It seems like a blogging goal or commitment would make sense about now. I think I'll shoot for once a week. If I can at least get here once a week and share a reflection of the week, I think that would be great. Who knows, maybe it'll be more, but once a week sounds good for now. 

Take care and talk soon!

Photo Booth Fun House

The other night Jordan, Danny, and I were having some fun with the special effects on Photo Booth. It's fun that my boys are playing with each other more and more. Jordan is great at making Danny laugh and Danny seems to be growing out of the phase of being in motion all the time. Danny can sit and focus and have fun more now than before. Case in point, we were able to sit and take these pictures...at least until while a while when Danny finally lost interest.

Valentine's Day 2012

It already feels like Valentine's Day was forever ago when it was only last week. Somehow February feels like it should be short but drags on! We had fun designing Valentine's this year. I persuaded Jordan to let me make Valentine's instead of buying Valentine's and Danny has no choice, so that makes things easy (for now). I owe my inspiration to eighteen25. Those girls have some great ideas over there!

Jordan loves Star Wars so I asked him to find his most favorite Lego Star Wars toys and we took pictures of them, then I did my Photoshop (basic) magic to come up with this:

I love the irony of the hearts on their armor. Star Wars is awesome.

For Danny, I got to use my even more sophisticated (but still waaaaay basic) Photoshop magic to cut Danny out and then add text to come up with this: 

Even with my basic Photoshop skills, I was pretty proud of what I was able to do. Of course, the kids had these ultra-cute Valentine's to take to preschool and daycare and I bought them each a shirt and an activity to give from Chad and I and I thought I was doing really well until Jordan's shirt was way too big for him and he couldn't wear it right away. He was so excited and then so upset when it didn't fit. And then, I took Danny to daycare in his own new shirt that was super cute on him only to have the sitter cry out in shock when she saw his shirt wasn't red, pink or white. I had to tell myself that I did my best and that they did have nice cards to give to their friends but sometimes I am overcome by how much I want to be the best mom I can for my kids and what that means. I know they are going to have to deal with disappointment at some point in their lives but I hope and strive to be the one to disappoint them the least.

Shields and Armor

I thought it would be fun to have Jordan blog with me. I showed him the blog and explained how I write about the pictures. Then I let him pick a picture to write about. We started writing and I had to help give him prompts but this is what we got:

"On Saturday, we went with Shawn to the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois. 

We made a project called a garland."

And then he didn't want to do any more!

Here's the picture of him with his garland:

It was neat to let him choose colors and then to cut and put them all together. I love letting kids just go wild with being creative. He was proud of his garland!

Afterwards, we wandered around the museum, slowly making our way to the armor. Shawn had told Jordan she wanted to take him to see the armor so that was our main reason for visiting. 

It was neat to see how intricately the armor was actually crafted. I can't imagine putting all of that on and then not really being able to see out of the helmets. Jordan thought it was very cool.

Shawn had lots of great stories to tell us about the artwork and the artists. She was the art teacher at Chad's school for a very long time. Jordan was especially thrilled when they found a knight, a horse, and a dragon in the gift shop that Shawn wanted to buy for him. He was so excited. Shawn told Jordan the story of Saint George when we found the painting at the museum. He was hanging on her every word as she told the story. After she was done, he said, "Is that really real?" He was so curious about dragons and if they were real. The painting was absolutely stunning. I'm so glad we got to see that after we saw the knights. I can't wait to get books from the library to read more about knights and dragons!

None of the images on the Internet do the artwork justice, but you can visit the Art Institute page that talks more about Bernat Martorell's Saint George Killing the Dragon to see the painting.

Danny was a champ for a 1 1/2 year-old at a museum where you have to be pretty quiet and not touch anything. It was great when he feel asleep. They do have a great play area for kids and he loved all the blocks!

 Chad and Shawn got to catch up a bit as they watched Danny play.

 Jordan helped me find the Thorne Room that matches the cover of Stealing Magic by Marianne Malone. It's the sequel to The 68 Rooms. I was lucky enough to get an ARC and am hoping to read it before it's out on the 24th. We were having fun looking for a white room with a chandelier and yellow chairs! We found it!

 The real Thorne Room and the cover of the book!

It was such a fun trip! 

Something in the air...

There must be something in the air as it gets closer to Halloween...

Can you see his hair standing straight up off of his head?!?! We were playing in our Thomas tent and I had to grab the camera when I saw how static-y his hair was getting! I love this. He's saying, "Cheese!" just not looking at me (of course!).

More Fall Fun!

Look at me! I'm posting again. It feels good to be blogging again. I can't believe how much Danny has changed so I'm excited to share pictures of him as he grows. It's crazy to me that he's already 15 months old. This weekend we visited Edwards Apple Orchard and the Pumpkin Patch. Both are places Chad went to when he was a kiddo and now we've made it a tradition of taking our little family.

First, we stopped at the orchard. We went straight for the apple cider and apple cider donuts. Then we played a lot and went to the store for goodies.

Grandma and Aunt Jane - Aunt Jane's first apple cider donut!!!

Chad, Danny, and Papa

Jordan and me! He was all about the donuts and the cider!

Danny's first apple cider donut (he was only 5 months last year!)

Mmmm...sugary sweet.

See? Look how big these kiddos are! Jordan and Danny!

 After the orchard, we went to the Pumpkin Patch! Jordan got to spend tickets on jumpy things and Chad and I launched pumpkins! Danny had fun petting the goats and looking at all the pumpkins.

Pumpkins!!! Arrrr(?)!!!

This is Danny's sweet "Cheese" face. He actually says it!

I'm glad we are able to take our kids there. It seems like there are so many small town or local places that are closing so it's nice that these two places are still around. I hope they continue to be there as our kids get older and maybe even when our kid have kids! Where do you pumpkin patch?

You know...we did get one medium sized pumpkin but we didn't get out pumpkin to carve yet! We were busy running around and having fun and didn't choose a pumpkin. We do have a great little pumpkin spot near our house so I'm sure we'll be there in the next week or so.

Fall 2011 (So Far...)

It's October and October means fall to me! Last weekend we celebrated at my sister's wedding. She was excited that the leaves were changing colors because their whole wedding was fall themed. I love my blog and being able to share all the fun things we do. I haven't been so great at scrapbooking lately so at least by doing this I can chronicle what we're doing...but that means I have to keep up with my blog. This is it. I'm officially back. Here's some pics from last weekend!

The bride getting her nails done! 

Jordan and my mom at the rehearsal - he was the ring bearer!

Hanging out before the ceremony - Jordan with Aunt Jacquie

My cousin, Silvia, and I

There was a photographer with us most of the day. I felt fancy!

Aunt Jane with Jordan 

Jordan with Grandma

Me with my sister

After the wedding, we spent the weekend relaxing. We actually took the kids to a water park hotel near us. It was a totally free weekend. We were so busy there was no time to think about anything besides having fun. We had fun jumping in the leaves! 

Danny! He's 15 months now! So much fun. 

Jordan - I love his sweet smile!

My boys! Chad with Jordan and Danny

There will be more to come! October is such a fun month. Fall is such a beautiful season. My mom's friend, Betty, was visiting from Guatemala for the wedding last week and she had never seen the leaves changing colors before. I love when the leaves change but it gave me a whole new perspective to think about never having ever seen them before!