so much to write, so little time...

I'm not sure where all my friends find the time to write and keep updated all the time. Kudos to all that do! I'm greatly impressed but with living life daily - feeding my child 3 times a day, making dinners (most days!), cleaning up, doing dishes, sorting/starting/changing machines/folding/putting away laundry, walking dog, checking emails, paying bills, keeping up with long distance family/friends, playing outside, now swimming at pool, going to playdates, watering plants/grass/flowers, running errands, making appointments....(what did I miss?)....where do you find the time to update daily or couple times a week? Wow!

So here's a very quick video of Peyton singing...not her usual deep sounding song, but nonetheless, quite entertaining. She was supposed to be cleaning her playroom (story of our lives) but kept singing and playing while in there - secretly very cute!



After our 6 rounds of company and a great trip out West, March was spent relishing in some much needed quiet time doing family things. Robert ran the Shamrock Shuffle, an 8K race along the shoreline of Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago with lots of our neighbors. There were about 24 of them that all rode down in a Hummer Limo (hey, when you drive and park in Chicago, you HAVE to consolidate!). Now, days before, it was an unusually warm and beautiful 65/70 degrees. That Sunday morning, race day, we awoke to pouring down SNOW and frigid temps! Poor Robert looked blue in his race picture (I don't have or I'd post) and his socks and shoes were absolutely soaked - good thing he had worn 2 pairs of socks, as he thinks that saved his feet from near frost bite!

My little Shamrock! She made this at a Mom's Group playdate for St. Patty's day-



In April we hosted Easter here at our house, our 1st official holiday in our new home, almost a year after we moved in. Robert's parents, sister, brother-in-law, and the 4 cousins came for a great, action-packed weekend! I'll get those pictures on soon...stay tuned for more pictures and more winter/spring updates. I know, I'm WAY behind. I figure when Peyton's in school every day this fall (albeit 2.5 hours
for 'half-day' kindergarten), I'll have more time to really get up-to-date...heck, I still to finish Peyton's baby book!!! :o)

Dr. Peyton had Willow all snuggled up, as she wasn't feeling well-


Playing 'hair salon' on a slow, relaxing (and from the looks of our attire, warm!)weekend day...think we were watching basketball games, too!

*****NEWS FLASH*******

WE INTERRUPT OUR ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED POST - CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' FINALE - TO BRING YOU THIS MOST RECENT BLOG REPORT......




"Singing in the rain", and the car, the house, the tub, EVERYWHERE! Peyton is a singing fool these days! At school, they have been preparing for the year-end program (last night and soooooooooo cute; more to follow soon) with lots of singing. Here's the problem (and as a mother I feel TERRIBLE saying this out loud - okay, I'm writing it but still...), Peyton cannot sing! Oh, it's awful, people, really. Sometimes I just have to laugh out loud because she uses a deep husky voice and stretches all the words out. Other times I just want to scream 'Stop, please, make it stop' because it reminds me of nails on a chalk-board! Am I horrible? Most of the time I do laugh, but I do have to ask her politely to stop sometimes. You KNOW it's bad when the dog's ears go back and Willow looks at me as though saying, "Mom, please, make it stop."

But then, looking at this face, how can one get irritated, right? It sure doesn't last long...





Maybe I can sneek a video of her singing and get it on here sometime! Now, back to our originally scheduled post 'California Dreamin' Part III'.......coming SOON!

Happy One Year!

Well, now it's been more than a year, but we 'celebrated' our One Year Anniversary in our new house on March 23, 2009! Wow, where does the time go? It's been a very long, emotional, exciting, nerve-racking, and busy year. The day we closed on our house in Charlotte (Feb. 25th, I believe), we drove out of town headed to the mid-west for good. Peyton and I went back and forth between her grandparents in Battle Creek, MI and Robert's hotel in Chicago for about 5 weeks (a very LONG 5 weeks), before settling in our new home on March 23, 2008.

Our house in Charlotte before moving (guess the snow was preparing me for Chicago!)-


Stopping half-way to spend the night en route to the Mid-west (snow and all!):



We closed on the new house March 20th, movers came on March 21st, then we jetted, yet again, to MI for the Easter weekend with Robert's parents in tow. That Sunday evening we came 'home' and spent our 1st night as a family in our new house here in IL.

What a whirlwind! Some pictures of the new house and settling in-



Peyton checking out gift from realtor on closing day-







We have a basement!!! Last year we biked, scooted, and even roller skated down there to get exercise and stay warm! One year, we'll finish it, but I'm not in any hurry...


Peyton (and Mommy) loves her new big island!


The Hines Family - 1st official picture with new house - March 20, 2008


Wow, writing about this, I was fine but when I went to look for pictures, I got all emotional all over again. Charlotte and the Carolinas are very near and dear to our hearts. Many fond memories were made there, as well as great friendships, our extended family. Robert and I were engaged on the beach in Hilton Head, SC, Robert's first GM position was in Charlotte, we bought our very first house there, our 1st (and only) child was born in Pineville (CLT), over the years (living in Atlanta prior to CLT), we vacationed in Myrtle Beach and HHI, SC with many different friends....just a very special place for us. Not a day goes by that I don't think of someone or something in the Carolinas. We look forward to our next visit!

Part Two of our CA Adventure!

Wow, I took a lot of pictures while in CA! But then again, I always do on vacation or for any special occasion...or just because! Below are more pictures of our mini-vacation to Disneyland, just the 3 of us. We had so much fun staying at a hotel about 4-5 (city) blocks from Disneyland. We walked (a lot!) and got lots of fresh air - sooo nice to be outside again in sunny, warm Southern CA!

Now, I do have MORE pictures but this will do for now. A few more from Disneyland/CA Adventure, then we move on to Knott's Berry Farm with my dad, Marla and Peyton's cousins, Christian and Chloe, for our last full day there. Stay tuned for Part Three!

Aaaahhhh, WARM weather!

Well, it's finally warmer here but this post is about our wonderful trip out West! 3 days after the Steffens left in February, we boarded our own plane to go visit my dad and Marla in California. The weather was pure Heaven after sub zero temps and crazy winds and never-ending snow! We played outside LOTS, went to the beach, ate 'al fresco' in the back yard, walked Knott's Berry Farm with Peyton's CA cousins and grandparents, hit Disneyland for a day and a half....sigh, just wonderful. I have Part One of the pictures to enjoy....

I'm working on Part Two now and will get that up soon...really, I promise this time!

Valentine's Day Special Delivery!

Will and Peyton reunited....finally! February 14th we picked up a pretty special 'package' at the airport - the Steffen family! Will, Nic, Scott and Alex came all the way from warm Charlotte to visit us (in February???) here in Chicago! Peyton hadn't seen them since we moved Feb. 2008; I wasn't sure how Will and Peyton would respond to one another...but they picked up beautifully!

They arrived Sat. about lunch time and flew out Tues. about 4pm - we were busy, busy, busy all weekend. The time went by so quickly, as usual when special friends/family visit, that we (Nic and I) didn't get all our talking in...can you believe it? After they left I thought of things to tell her, show her...both of us thought 'why didn't just us girls go out for a cocktail or ice cream?'.

We tried some great new restaurants (some thanks to Diners, Drive-In's and Dives on The Food Network), visited Legoland Discovery Center, went downtown (braving the cold) to the Children's Museum, showed the family where Peyton takes ballet during her class, and played LOTS and LOTS! Will and Peyton played so well together and picked right back up where they left off, minus some of the tiffs they had!

Taking them back to the airport on Tues. was really hard, especially not knowing when we'll see them again. Not sure who was crying more, me or Peyton (I think it was me; she was really sad though). She talked about Will non-stop for days...thankfully we had the distraction of hopping our own airplane a few days later to visit Grandma and Granddaddy in CA...stay tuned for that next post soon! Thanks again to Will, Nic, Scot and Alex for coming to visit; we had a great time and miss you like crazy!

Princess for a Day!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Peyton was invited to a Princess party by her good friend Kendall, at My Party Palace. What a fun, girly place it was! Pink and purple everywhere with lots of girly touches, even a chair shaped like a shoe! Peyton was in Girly Heaven! First the girls (6 total) picked out a Princess costume to wear, then got their makeup done and nails painted, followed by having their hair done! After modeling the 1st dress in full attire, Peyton and some of the other girls decided it was time to change to another costume. All 6 girls were in a 'fashion show', complete with tidbits about each girl (name, age, favorite color, favorite food, etc.). They danced to Disney Princess and Hannah Montana music and had a tea party, complete with tea (pink lemonade) and crumpets (birthday cake) in their own ceramic tea pot and cup & saucer. All the girls (and Moms!) had a great time...Peyton is already planning her "6 year old birthday" for My Party Palace, as she has plans for her 5 year old birthday at the beach (FL) with Popi and Grammie! Too funny the way she thinks and reasons....for which I'm grateful in this situation! Enjoy the Princess slideshow (if you put mouse over picture, it will show caption)-

Stay tuned for more updates...."Reunited and It Feels So Good" (Will and Peyton together again!) and "We escaped...for a little bit anyway" to California to see Grandma, Granddaddy, cousins, and WARMER WEATHER!!!!