So this is Christmas....

He LOOKS so sweet and innocent. The truth is that he was quite frustrated because he had been waiting for what he thought was FOREVER to open presents. We let them open a few presents from family and each other on Christmas Eve. He was waiting on mom to get off the phone with Aunt Sara and Grammy so he could get to opening and all mom wanted to do was get a few photos.

On Christmas Eve we went to 4:00 church and then dinner. Then it was time to open some presents. Grammy let the kids pick a few things they would like from catalogs and then she decided which ones to order. Cade chose and "ugly doll" and Maddi chose a dog for her My Twinn doll.
Maddi is telling Brett about the gift she chose for him at the school Secret Shop. It was a photo holder that says golf. Cade chose a Illini football fan that sticks to the windows. It was so fun to see their excitement about their choice of gifts.
Cade got me a rose that opens up with "diamond" earrings. He was so proud! Maddi got me a ceramic angel. I love them both!
Cade got Maddi a pen with a sticky hand on the end. He was telling her all about it and she was thrilled with it!
Time to go to bed so Santa can come. They got a cup of milk and cookies for Santa, and a bottle of water and carrots for the reindeer. As you can tell from the pictures, Cade loves his ugly doll and carried it with him all night.
Christmas morning! Cade woke up at 3:00 thinking he was going to throw up because he was so excited for Christmas. He and Maddi had a sleepover in his room so instead of putting him back in his bed, I let him come in bed with us to try and go back to sleep. He kept whining and arguing with us about why he couldn't open presents at 3 am if Santa had already come. Finally around 5:20 he fell back asleep. I hope his children do the same thing to him one day!

The first present was left on the mantel for Maddi and Cade and it was COAL. Maddi was near tears until I pointed out it was really chocolate candy and must have been a trick from old Santa.
Penguin Webkinz!
Legos, Legos, and more Legos. Cade was thrilled. The kids loved all of their presents and we spend the day in our pajamas putting things together and playing. We had a wonderful Christmas and hope you all did too.


This is a clip of Cade opening a present. It was in a Justice box which is a store for girls. Maddi thought it was funny that he was getting girl stuff but it really wasn't from Justice. So fun!

Cookies for Santa

If anyone in Texas has been watching the weather in Chicago, I'm sure you're wondering how we are handling the cold, snow, and insane winds. We are staying INSIDE! The winds Sunday were so cold, so we went to see the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie and made cookies for Santa. The movie was actually quite funny. I can remember my cousin and I dancing to the Chipmunks record years ago. Memories....

By the way, I keep wondering if the people in the Midwest have ever heard the story of the 3 little pigs. Most of the houses here are made of siding, not bricks. Don't they know the wind will huff and puff and blow our house down? The winds wip around the back of our house where our bedroom is and I'm just waiting for us to get sucked up when the sides of our house are ripped off by the winds.
Maddi and I made the dough and rolled and cut out the cookies. Cade and Brett joined us in decorating. The kids love to put as many sprinkles and candy on each cookie as possible. They each made 2 cookies just for Santa and the rest are for us to enjoy. Nothing like a sugar cookie with sugary icing topped with sugary sprinkles and candy!
So men actually can multi-task. Brett is showing his skills of yelling at the TV during the Bears game and decorating cookies. Notice his woobie (remote control) is right by his side. Men...you gotta love em! This is actually the first time Brett has helped us decorate the cookies. They are his favorite cookie, but the kids and I usually do all the decorating while he is at work. My cousin Alexa (who I used to dance to the Chipmunks with) used to come over and we would make the cookies together since it is our Grandmother's recipe. Alexa moved to Colorado and we moved to Chicago, so now Brett will take her place with the tradition. Maddi and I were quite impressed with Brett's creativity in decorating cookies.

December Hapennings

I just have to say that Maddi and Cade are at the best ages right now. They are so fun and they are old enough to understand things and follow rules yet they still have pure innocence and excitement. Don't get me wrong, we have our days, but for the most part they are such a joy. I wish I could freeze them at 7 and 5 forever!

We have been busy getting ready for Christmas. Maddi's class made gingerbread houses which she is showing off in the picture. I helped in her class with this and it was a lot of fun. That same day we had a visit from Santa with cookies and crafts at the clubhouse. After that the kids school had a Holiday Shop at school where the kids get to go shopping on their own for Christmas presents for their family. They had a blast and were so excited about the things they bought for us. I just love the joy and excitement from the kids about the holidays.

Cade has his last game of basketball and they had a party afterwards. He is really upset that the season is over. He really seems to enjoy basketball. Of course he enjoys socializing with his friends and the snacks at the games too! He made great improvement during the season, but Brett is still wishing he had Maddi's drive and determination. He's just a little more like his mommy and more into having fun than winning or losing. Maddi is definitely a chip off Brett's block with competitiveness.

The kids have been helping me bake sweets for teachers, neighbors, and Brett's coworkers. I have finally had enough sweets that I'm sugared out for the next few days. I just don't know when to stop when it comes to cookies and sweets.

I have been very bad about taking pictures lately, but I'll get some up here soon. The kids had their class parties today and are now on Winter Break. It's definitely winter here with snow all over. It really feels like Christmas for once because we aren't wearing shorts in December.

An Overnight Trip to the City

Sunday we rode the train downtown for an overnight stay at the Hilton on Michigan Avenue. This was one of the several pretty trees in the lobby.
These are the smartest pigeons we've ever seen. They were staying warm by the eternal flame in Daley Plaza where they had a German market with handmade ornaments, german snacks and food, beer, hot cocoa, etc.
This was a huge real tree in the Daley Plaza. I couldn't even get the top of it in the picture.
We went for a visit with Santa at Macy's on State Street. Cade was like a deer in headlights the whole time. I think he was terrified that he was going to find out he was on the naughty list.
The F.A.O. Schwartz store in Macy's had awesome stuffed animals like the reindeer here.
This was a view our of our hotel room overlooking lake Michigan. It looks cold and it really was such a cold, gray day. The kids loved staying in the hotel and we went swimming and got room service which they thought was really fun.
Monday the kids played hookie from school and we went to Navy Pier for the Winter Wonderfest. It was a blast and it was so nice being there on a Monday when everyone else was in school. There was hardly a line for anything. This was Cade's first time to ice skate and he spent a lot of time hanging on the wall and falling down!
Maddi did really well ice skating. I'm sure her dance helped her with balance and coordination, plus she has done it before. Thankfully the Winter Wonderfest was indoors so it wasn't too cold!
We did the ropes course across high wires, balance beams, etc. way up high. Maddi has a fear of heights but she did really well knowing she was hooked on.
The last stop was Build a Bear wear the kids were going to build a reindeer as a reward for good grades and behavior at school. The reindeer were all sold out in the whole Chicago market, so they made a Shrek instead.
Of course we got the Shrek babies to go with it. They are so ugly they're cute. After Build a Bear it was back to the train and back to the suburbs to get back to life as we know it. We had some nice family time and great memories of our first holiday season in Chicago.

Winter in the Windy City

So, I know it's 80 degrees in Texas, but it's winter here in the Windy City! We had our first big snowfall Tuesday night with about 6 inches of snow. We are now enjoying winter activities that kids only hear about in Texas. The kids LOVE the snow and play in it all the time. We all have a blast going sledding as shown here.
Everyone all bundled up and ready to hike up the sled hill. It's a long walk up but so fast and fun coming down!
The kids are painting the snow with spray bottles filled with food colored water. The snow wasn't good for snowmen, but they tried to build the bottom of one and then decided to paint their mound of snow.
Roasting smores outside at a Christmas Walk in our village. (yes, we live in a village) Cade and Liam are wearing Rudolph hats made from balloons from a clown. All the stores had crafts, snacks, hot cocoa and cider and there were horse drawn carriage rides and all kinds of fun stuff. It was cold, but you just learn to bundle up and deal with the cold.
My little snow angel. Notice you can't see Cade's face in any snow pictures. He covers his mouth with his hood to stay warmer. Only his eyes can be seen most of the time.



This is a video of Brett and Cade sledding down the hill. Sorry you have to listen to my commentary.

All I want for Christmas....

All I want for Christmas is my TWO FRONT TEETH!
Maddi lost her second top tooth today at school. Yeah. Poor Cade hasn't lost any teeth and he is singing all I want for Christmas is to lose a tooth.

I feel so bad for Cade being the younger brother. It seems like he is just waiting to grow up to be as big as Maddi. Maddi didn't have anyone doing things before her so she wasn't waiting to grow up so much. As Brett reminded me (who is also the first born child in his family) Cade knows much more about losing teeth, starting school, etc. so when he does get to do them it's familiar and not so scary as it was for Maddi. I guess I was feeling sorry for Cade because I was the same way with an older brother getting to do things first. Which brings me to ask...does birth order play a role in your personality? Take the poll on the left side of the blog.

The Nutcracker

As many of you know, the whole McDonald clan had roles in the Nutcracker this weekend. It's just Maddi's dance studio's production at the local high school, but it's still nice. Maddi was a tumbling jester in the party scene and Cade was a party boy and Brett and I were party parents in the party scene. Brett wore a tux and Cade and I had lovely outfits from the olden days. Cade actually looked pretty cute in his knickers. I felt very frumpy in my dress and shawl and Maddi and Cade thought I looked hilarious. Makes me happy that I wasn't a mom in that time period.

The tumbling jesters minus one who wasn't there yet. Back row left to right, Maddi and Jennifer. Front row l-r Ellie, Emily and Juliana. I couldn't get a video or pics of their dance because it was part of the party scene that we were all a part of.
If you are familiar with the Nutcracker, the jesters are part of Uncle Drosselmeir's toys that come to life. Maddi is showing off her pose on her box that she gets pulled out on. Her partner Carsyn stood behind her like a posed doll and they stayed posed until they were brought to life to show off their tumbling and dancing. It was really cute.
In the second act Cade is a gingerbread boy and Maddi is a rose petal. Brett had a hard time letting Cade wear the bonnet. The gingerbread scene is so cute with mother gingerbread with the big table skirt and the kids crawl underneath it and then come out and run around and do a little dance. My pictures of the mother gingerbread with kids crawling out didn't turn out well.




This video is a quick clip of Maddi's rose petal scene. She is the second one in the line of the three little girls.

Both shows went well and the kids had a blast. It was a nice family bonding time and something the kids will always remember.

6 on Saturday

Here are 6 things that happened in our house this week:

1. We had our first sticking snow this morning. The kids were thrilled to get out the snowsuits and snow boots and play in it.

2. Cade asked me if we celebrate "Harmonica" (Hanukkah)

3. Our neighbors hired a company to put lights on their house and Cade saw them putting them up. He begged me to ask them to come over and put lights on our house. I told him it's really expensive and Daddy can put our lights up for us when he gets time. That night when we were going to bed he told me we really need to call the company to do our lights and it doesn't matter if it takes all of our money to pay for it, we can even use his college money! I said no sweetie, we need to save your college money so you can go to college. He said it's the holidays and decorating and celebrating the holidays is more important than going to college. He's only 5, so there is hope that his perception of college will change.

4. Maddi was the "special person" in her class this week so she made a book about herself to share, took her favorite toy, etc. Her class made her a book of "warm fuzzies" and each child wrote something nice to her. We read it last night and found out love is in the air in first grade. Just about every boy in her class drew her hearts and rainbows and wrote "I love you. You are pretty." Maddi is boy crazy herself and she has been writing warm fuzzies to each of the kids who have been special person so I asked if she tells everyone she loves them. She said no and was blushing and said she can't believe so many boys are in love with her. How sweet is that? The girls wrote things like you are pretty. You draw good pictures. You are nice. Let's just say that when Brett read the book it confirmed his decision that she can't date until she's 35.

5. Along those same lines, Maddi noticed a month or two ago that Cade has never kissed her and so she thinks he doesn't really love her. Cade refuses to kiss her and will give her hugs but for some reason he won't kiss her. Well, yesterday was the big day. Cade kissed Maddi on the cheek! I don't know why he finally gave in, but it sure made Maddi Girl happy and now she really believes that he loves her.

6. And finally, a video of the kids enjoying the snow this morning. I'm getting fancy now that I know how to upload videos, huh?

The rest of the weekend

Cade and Omie are hanging out on the bus ride to Macy's downtown.
The old Marshall Field's (Macy's now) has awesome windows for Christmas. This year the theme was the Nutcracker which is perfect since the whole family is in the Nutcracker this year.
Cade is a gingerbread so he was posing with the gingerbread window scene.
Then we headed over to Millenium Park to see the bean and everything else the park has to offer. This was an attempt at a family photo.
Another attempt at a family photo at the Signature Room for lunch which is on the 95th floor of the Hancock Building.
Cade and Maddi showing off the skyline views from our table.
Santa and a Reindeer made from Legos. We stopped at the Lego store and American Girl for the kids to pick out a gift for each other for Christmas.
Friday while mom and Bob went to the city for an architecture tour and the Art Museum, we did some shopping and decorated the tree.

Thankful for family

Our first adventure with Omie and Bob was to the Children's Museum on Wednesday.
Bob as helping Maddi build a cross in the woodworking area. I helped Cade build a car. It's pretty scary to let kids go with hammers, nails, drills, saws and sandpaper, but we all came out with all of our fingers in tact!
Maddi was having a blast playing in the bubble area trying to make the bubble as tall as her.
Next stop was the Colonial Cafe for a kitchen sink for me, mom and Bob and the kids had colonial clowns. Notice Maddi and Cade are wearing their jackets to eat ice cream indoors.
Our last stop of the day was Cade's gymnastics and Maddi's hip hop dance class. It was a fun day for the kids both young and not so young.

A clip from Maddi's Thanksgiving Play

The Radio City Rockettes

Last weekend Maddi and I had a Girls Night Out with Emily and her mom and grandmother. We went to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular and ate a nice Italian dinner after. Maddi and Emily were thrilled to meet a real Rockette after the show and get her autograph.
The theatre was so beautiful and was decked out for Christmas. It really got us in the Christmas spirit. The girls enjoyed the dancing, but their favorite part were the three elves (who were dwarves). Maddi couldn't believe she saw REAL elves.
Future Rockettes all decked out in their Christmas outfits waiting for the show to begin.