Oh Collin - Where for art thou?

We are missing Collin Smith right now! I took the kids to get Christmas pictures and to attempt to get a picture of them together in regular clothes. Even

though we had an appointment right when they opened, we somehow ended up waiting 25 minutes, which is an eternity to a 2 year old. When I made the appointment, I told them I had a clothes change and that I needed a bunch of different shots. I even suggested to do two appointments, but they insisted they could do it all at once. So, when we got into the studio space, the girl says "we have to hurry, other people are waiting" ?!?!?!?!?!?! Umm, luckily I don't have tourettes. They she tells the kids to pose a certain way. She didn't actually help them pose, she just says "stand this way and look over there". That doesn't really work with a 2 year old. She didn't even try to engage the kids. She just kept saying to me "you need to keep them still" Seriously! No funny noises, or anything. Finally, I told Callie to sing "twinkle, twinkle" and she brightened up a little. We did get a cute shot of Connor and an okay one for our Christmas card. The one of them together happened when they started playing, not in the "special pose" they were supposed to be doing. Collin does such a great job of capturing them doing their own thing, instead of making them sit a certain way with a fake smile. We miss you Collin!

Grandma turns 85

I have the best grandma in the whole wide world. She is super fun and we always have a great time when she is around. She is truly the glue of our family. For her 85th birthday, our entire extended family took a trip to the mountains of Virginia to celebrate. There were 20 family members from Wisconsin and 20 family members from Florida who made the trip. Unfortunately, Jason wasn't able to come since he just started his job. So, the kids and I met the Wisconsin group at the airport and headed to Virginia. Everyone was really helpful, but it was a long day of travelling. On Grandma's birthday, we took a short drive into the Blueridge Mountains and had a nice picnic. It was cold, but the sun was out and the kids loved playing in the leaves. We attempted to hike to a waterfall, but about half-way there we decided it was too far and turned around.

Later that night we all got together for a birthday dinner. My Dad prepared a slide show with lots of old pictures of my Grandma and details of her family history. She is actually my Mom's mother, but she has always been close to my Dad, and she considers him like her son. We all shared our favorite Grandma memories, and a few tears were shed. She is just adored by all!

The next night we had a "cousins night" with all my cousins. Here we are standing oldest to youngest. Unfortunately, I am on the old side. And apparently an amazon too. My brother Jason kindly whittled pencils for us to play a game, since we didn't have a pencil sharpener. He is so talented!

Kellie and Jason realized they are the only two people in the family with cleft chins, affectionately known as "butt chins"

Since my kids were one parent short, they took every opportunity to get away with stuff. Here's Callie eating Doritos in bed.

It was a trip I will always remember

Happy Halloween!

The kids had a good time trick-or-treating. We took them to Baraboo to visit Grandma Crystal at work, and then to visit Grandpa at work too. Then we took them around the square to collect their goodies. It was fun because we ran into some people we went to high school with and got to see their kids. Of course, not as fun as the gigantic South Carolina party! We miss you guys!

It was kind of windy for our little cheerleader.

Callie turns 2!

Our little Callista turned 2 on October 26th. Here she is on her last night as a one-year-old.

We had a Strawberry Shortcake party at Grandpa & Grandma Ritz's house. Callie wore her special Strawberry Shortcake party dress.

This picture is to show off my hard work making the cake, and also to prove I was at the party, since this is the only picture of me!

Callie loved her Strawberry Shortcake doll from cousin Kellie.

After a long night of partying, Callie finally passes out.

The next morning she insisted on wearing her hat and having her Strawberry doll next to her at breakfast.

Happy Birthday Callista!

Swim practice

Connor and Callie start swim lessons tomorrow. I took them to the swim club today to buy the required swim cap and goggles for Connor. He told me he had to practice in the bath tub to be ready for his lessons.

How much water do you think ended up on the floor?

Zoo trick or treat

We also took the kids trick or treating at the zoo last weekend. It was FULL of people, so we didn't stay long, but the kids had fun in their costumes.

Callie was a cheerleader.

She had eaten all of her candy by the time we got home.

And Connor was Spiderman (of course!).

This might be my favorite picture of all time!