Christmas Shopping Craziness (or why it's a bad idea to go to Williams-Sonoma with Nora)

Scott and I decided to finish up some Christmas shopping on Wednesday evening. We took the kids to Potbelly's for dinner and then while Brady went to b-ball practice, the girls joined us for some shopping time. So Scott and I split up at Geneva Commons and neither of the girls fell for the "Bath and Body Works is much more fun...you should go with Daddy" line that I used. So...I ended up with Nora and Avery at Williams-Sonoma with me while I bought some gifts for my clients at Pepsi. The trip started off well while we 'oohed and aaahed' over all the pretty cookware and tasty food. Free peppermint bark samples was part of the evening, so that was another bonus. I was looking for coffee and telling Nora "don't touch, just look with your eyes" every 5 seconds as she touched everything at her level, picked up glass containers filled with syrup, honey, you name it and asked "what's this?" over and over. I selected several tins of Illy ground espresso and asked the store to wrap them in cello with a bow individually. While we were waiting, we headed to the back of the store to browse (and get away from the breakable container section). I was comparing prices on the soap and hand lotion when I looked down and Nora was using the tester to rub Peppermint lotion all over her face. We were able to move on discreetly, but in the meantime I answered a phone call from Scott and told him we had a 9-1-1 bathroom emergency for Avery and he needed to come IN the store. As we are walking up to the front, Nora somehow grabs an oven mitt and when I turn around she's wearing it and trying to figure out how to take a few of the cookbooks along with her. Scott comes into the front door and immediately gets bathroom duty which is down the block at the Pottery Barn. He wants to leave Nora with me because she is insisting that she does NOT have to go...but notices that she's wearing a mitt and seems to be scoping out the joint and promptly swoops her out of the store. Avery summed up the evening by announcing that Nora is 'scene-maker', which I think is a pretty good description of what happens when she goes out in public. Yet another reason why I love on-line shopping.

Turkey Day and a Princess Party

We enjoyed our annual Thanksgiving Day visit with the Dougherty family starting with Lou Malnati's pizza on Wednesday night, a round of golf on Thursday morning, lots of playtime with baby Patrick, video games, Polly Pockets, a huge turkey dinner (thank you Eagle Brook!), football at the park, and, of course hiding Elf. We decided to sleep in rather than brave the dark and cold for Black Friday madness and then watched Evan's hockey game on Saturday. Grandma Judy and Papa Dave were also in town and treated the kids to the 3-D movie "Bolt".

Noni also attended her first 'big girl' birthday party (i.e., without Mommy by her side). Her good friend, Ana Nelson, had a princess party and everyone was supposed to come as their favorite princess. Noni chose Sleeping Beauty, as you can see from her picture below.

Evan, Jen and Brady scope out the store ads.

Abby plays Polly Pockets with Noni

Carving the turkey

Patrick is sooo cute!

Nora as Princess Aurora (a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty)

New Blog with Old Posts

As you can see, we now have a new blog. For whatever reason, I logged into Blogger one day and suddenly it no longer recognized me as the author of "Smith Family Wobinson". I spent several days going through the 'Help' process, which really didn't 'help' me at all except confirm that I can get a migraine headache just from working on the computer too long getting help.

Because I am not much of a scrapbook gal, I was devastated that my on-line journal of our family for the past 2 years was no longer accessible. So...I have spent the last month tediously copying and pasting all the old posts (in chronological order) into this new blog. Don't look too closely or you'll see that I still have a lot of uploading of pictures to complete for many of the older posts.

In case you've been wondering where we've been, that's the short story. Here's a few things that have been happening around here in the last month or so...

Brady playing football with some friends during Avery's soccer game.

Avery - fall soccer

Jack and Audrey at our house...5 kids is no big deal (for 2 nights)

The girls with cousin Audrey

Brady and Avery celebrate their birthdays together on Avery's big day (10/11/08)

Nora discovered Avery's ballet costume and likes to play 'dress-up' in it.

Avery dressed up like a colonial girl for a field trip to Sholes School in St. Charles.

Brady pitching during a fall baseball game.

Photos at the park (originally posted on 9/3/08)

I've been feeling guilty for years that we have a ridiculous amount of pictures of each of the kids from birth to about age 2 and then the pictorial memories taper off a bit. In my opinion, the reason that this happens is that they no longer sit motionless, enraptured by your voice and the shiny black thing that lights up and makes noises while you smile and coo at them. Now if I point the camera in their direction, I get the backs of their heads while they run out the door or a "not now, Mom, I'm in the middle of something" or, most often, I receive the cheesiest "I do not want to smile right now" grin that is entirely unsuitable for framing or anything else.

So, because we are now on the move, I had to schedule an entire morning when I knew Scott would be home to help me, just to capture this stage of our lives. Of course, we spent at least 30 minutes moaning and complaining about having to change clothes (Brady: Why can't we just wear our basketball shorts and t-shirts, Mom?), especially into a dress, for crying out loud (Avery: I don't like dresses...they look weird). Nora was happy to oblige in changing her outfit, what a shock (Nora: I look like a princess!).

We started at the train bridge in Geneva overlooking the Fox River, which I'd had my heart set on using because the light coming into the bridge is great. What I momentarily forgot is that it is a holiday and every person in the western suburbs is out biking, picnicing and walking across this bridge! So...we took a few shots and then packed it up for a quieter location. By the time we found a park in St. Charles it was really getting steamy outside and a bit close to lunch time, but as you can see if you take at least 200 pictures, you're bound to get a few good ones. I'll upload the ones that didn't turn out, but are too funny not to share in another post.

Labor Day Weekend (originally posted on 9/3/08)

The kids were curious why we celebrate a holiday called "labor day" and since I didn't want to just make something up about it being a day for children to do chores for their parents, we went to Google and found that it started as a set day off for those in labor unions. Now, it's traditionally celebrated as the official end of summer holiday.

I am more melancholy than usual about saying good-bye to summer, but we were able to fit in some great end of summer activities over the long weekend - golf on Friday and Sunday, photos at the park in Geneva & St. Charles near the Fox River, lots of meals on the grill and a spontaneous trip to see the Kane County Cougars (minor league baseball) on Saturday night with great seats (compliments of our neighbors) in the front row on the third base line. Brady and Avery brought their mitts, but we didn't have any foul balls come our way (this was a huge relief to me!). I think Nora enjoyed the after game fireworks the most.

Brady & Avery at the baseball game enjoying their seats and the treats
The ever-changing moods of Nora -- mad....

...to happy in a matter of moments.

Number 23 is Rhyne Sandberg, former Cubs player and hall-of-famer who now manages the Peoria Chiefs

By the river in Geneva near the train bridge

First Day of School (originally posted on 9/1/08)

I would love to say that we just started school, but indeed we have been back at the routine for more than a week now. Brady started 5th grade and Avery started 3rd grade on Wednesday August 20th. Nora is continuing in her personal 'school for future princesses'. Everyone is enjoying their new teachers so far and even the homework!

Stylish 3-year old (originally posted on 7/25/08)

Everyone needs a stylist like Traci Falder, don't you think? Noni loves this new outfit from the Falder family and says she looks like a princess. I just say - cute, cute, cute...

Needtobreathe (originally posted on 6/20/08)

We have a new favorite band - Needtobreathe. They came into Chicago last night and did a show at a small bar called Schuba's in the city. We really felt old when they didn't even start until 11pm (ha, ha). Anyway, great concert and if we didn't have a family to care for, I think Scott and I might consider following them on the road as their newest groupies. :) They have a song on the soundtrack for P.S. I Love You ("More Time") and one on the radio called "Washed by the Water". You can buy their music on iTunes too. Check them out!

**We are not receiving any kickbacks for this endorsement, but let us know if you hear them or end up catching a concert.

Happy Father's Day! (originally posted on 6/20/08)

On Father's Day weekend we drove out to Elburn (west of us in the country, but not as far as Hinckley) and had Scott pick out all his favorite things from Ream's Elburn Market - brats, chicken, jerky, biersticks, salsa, smoked cheese, etc. Scott chose Red Robin as his lunch choice on Sunday and then for dinner we enjoyed the Grand National Champion bratwurst on the grill.

Noni's 3rd Birthday (originally posted on 6/20/08)

Here are some pictures from Nora's actual b-day on March 12th and her lady bug party on March 16th.

Brady's Baptism (originally posted on 5/18/08)

We are going to attempt some major catch-up on the blog over the next week. I'm going to start with Brady's baptism pictures from April 27th. I've included his faith story that he read in front of the congregation. We are all very proud of him!

Hi. My name is Brady and this is my faith story. I came to know Christ as a 4-year-old. Close friends of our family had a baby girl who died at the age of 5 months. My mom and dad talked about her going to heaven. I had questions about how get to heaven. They explained to me that you accept Jesus into your heart by saying a special prayer. I said it with my mom. Since that time, I understand more about what it means to be a Christian. I have a personal relationship with Jesus and I know that I can go to Him at any time. I want to be baptized today because I want to obey God’s command. My favorite verse is Psalm 25:4: “Show me the right path O Lord; point out the road for me to follow.”