Happy Halloween from The Little Love Bear!

For everyone that did not have the chance to celebrate Halloween with us today, this little love bear wanted to send some Happy Halloween wishes your way! Although it was a bit chilly, the weather did not stop us from celebrating a perfect Halloween! Aunt Katie and I took Jack trick or treating and he got SO MUCH candy that I am sure I will continue to enjoy for days to come...I just cannot resist Reese's Peanut Butter pumpkins! After trick or treating, we went to Granny and Grandpa's for the biggest pizza I have ever seen! Jay has been wanting to order a pizza the size of a wagon wheel for over a year now...and what is a better day to do it other than Halloween?!!? The Little Bear ended the fun day's festivities by a long, much needed hibernation!

We also want to give a special thanks to Aunt Katie and Billy for carving Jack a "Blue" pumpkin! Jack absolutely loves Blue from Blue's Clues so having a pumpkin with Blue carved into it was a very special surprise!

Here are some pictures of Halloween 2009 with the cutest Little Bear I have ever seen!



Thanks for the special "treat" in my Halloween bag, Granny and Grandpa! Off to go trick or treating in my car for some candy now.....


Time to take a break from trick or treating and eat some pizza the size of a wagon wheel!



Jack gazing out the door and anxiously awaiting all of the trick or treaters....


Billy pretending to be trick or treater at the door and Jack thinking it is hilarious!!


The Little Bear is yet again off in his car for round #2 of some more trick or treating....

For the houses that had stairs, Katie and I would just leave him at the bottom in his car while we rang the door bell. He was so cute as he patiently waited for someone to answer.

When someone answered the door, this is what they saw.....predictably, most people laughed and thought our Little Bear was as cute as we did!!



Happy Halloween to all!

Fun Fall Day

What does a fun fall day consist of you may ask??? Well, playing and cleaning up the leaves of course!!! Although my husband would probably disagree with me because he does not enjoy cleaning up the leaves, one thing is for certain....and that is the Little Man had a blast! He LOVES playing in the leaves! And I must admit that it was a ton of fun watching him! We were lucky enough to have had a very nice day today. The best part about it was that is was both productive since we got a lot of necessary "winterizing" the yard accomplished as well as a ton of playtime with the cutest little guy on the planet!

Here are some pics of of fun fall day outside today.....

My Little Pumpkin.....






Just going for a little walk down the block......



Daddy and Jack....this picture makes my heart melt! Again, you can tell just how much these 2 love each other! They are "two peas in a pod" as Jay like to say....truly best friends....


Here is a picture of Jack with his other best friend:) We can't forget to include Ralphie too!

Our Fun Fall Day at Bengston's Farm!

For some time now, the season of fall has been my absolute favorite! After all, how can you NOT enjoy fresh kettle caramel corn, hot apple cider, BBQ pork nachos, hay rides, petting zoos, pig races, corn maizes, singing chickens, talking scarecrows, and watching the cutest little boy on the planet (ok, yes I am biased!) climbing all over mounds of pumpkins! What fun for a beautful fall day! Jay and I took Jack to Bengston's Farm. I have to admit that Bengston's Farm was very cute and as always, I really enjoyed my day with my men! Aunt Katie and Billy joined us and we all had a very nice time. Mostly, it was just nice to be with family. But enjoying a fun fall atmosphere that really put me in the mood for the upcoming "harvest" season was a bonus!

As usual lately, Jack was a real trip....or better known these last couple of weeks as our little "ham." What a funny personality this little guy has.....he is just hilarious when he lets go of things (in today's case, pumpkins) and stands by himself until everyone claps...he LOVES getting a reaction! What a little ham, I am telling you!

Here are some photos of our fun fall day at Bengston's Farm.



I just adore these shots of Jay and Jack. Our Little Man sure loves his Dada!



I can understand why Jack loves his Dada so much because I love my wonderful hubby as well!



The Little Ham standing and waiting for us to clap!

Good-Bye Sunny Girl....You Will be Missed....

After almost 15 years of joy with our wonderful family dog, my dad had to put Sunny to sleep today. It is a very sad day for him, my mom, my sisters, and I because Sunny was such a sweet dog whom we all loved dearly. To this day, I partially credit completing the marathon in 2002 to her because she was my very best training partner who kept running the long miles even when I wanted to stop. After a few weeks of avoiding the inevitable, we said our final good-byes and thanked Sunny for bringing so much joy to our lives for the past almost 15 years. For anyone who has a dog, you know they become part of your family....so, it goes without saying that today was a very tough day.

We are happy that she is no longer in pain and resting very comfortably in doggy heaven.

You will forever be missed, Sunny Girl!

Here is a picture of Ralphie and Sunny from the fall of 2007. Ralphie too will miss Sunny since she was really his only canine friend:(

13 Months Old Today!

Yet another month has gone by...and again oh so quickly!!! Now that we have a big one year old, it seems like the fun is just beginning! Every day it is something new! Jack is so very close to walking...it should be any day now. He stands completely on his own! He is so funny because he lets go of the furniture and looks around and just waits for a reaction from everyone watching him. He is such a ham! We love it! Furthermore, if he sees someone that is not clapping for him, he will stare at them until they start....a complete HAM, I am telling you!!! It is really so funny...and adorable!

Here is a short video to demonstrate what I am talking about....


Here are some recent pics of my big 13 month old.....

The BIG 26.2....Go Aunt Katie and Billy!

Today Jay, Jack and I went downtown to the Chicago marathon to cheer on Aunt Katie and Billy (better known as Ragu) as they were running the BIG 26.2 miles! After months of diligent training, they are now OFFICIALLY marathon runners! What an amazing accomplishment!!! They both did such a great job and we are so very proud of them!

Here are some pictures of our day...a little chilly, but we are glad we got to share in this very special life milestone!

The 2 very special runners....

The very special spectators and best cheering section ever!