2012 Begins

Our third annual New Year's Day photo.  What a stinker, looks like trouble ;) 

And today being the day after the first day of the year, we are on the eve of getting back into the routine of life.  The tree is packed away, the house is cleaned, and we even did a little Valentine's decor shopping to give the house a little sparkle to fill the void of Christmas lights and ornaments.

That's a Wrap

I know Christmas is all said and done, but I let it all go without at least noting it here. Here's the last note for what was a great end to the year.  Lucky for us, Christmas for my entire extended family was celebrated right here close to home at my parents house, so our travel was quite limited.  Santa was good to all of us, likely because we left him some killer cookies....

This was the first year JJ really got into the whole idea of Santa and what he was about. We woke up to find Santa had left a room full of presents - which resulted in an hour of wrapping paper tornadoes and complete disregard for anything else other than seeing what surprises awaited her in the next box. 

It was sad to say goodbye to our Elf, we're still talking about her and wondering how she's doing back at the North Pole.  We'll maybe send her a letter to make sure she got back to the workshop ok.  It sure was a lot of fun having her around and miss her, in a strange way ;)  

The flurry of the holidays, the cookies, the decorations, the running around will come to an end here soon.  Back to school, back to work, and on with this thing we call winter.  I set my sights high for 2012, with a goal of 500 miles and a mini marathon for the year, if I say it here, I can't take it back.  Here's to a new year of excitement and adventures yet to come.

Gingerbread House 2011

The gingerbread house of 2011, another test of patience but success! I'm getting the hang of it now.  I think by year 5 we should reach intermediate decorator status level by then.

Clearly the exciting part was the candy element.  Bowls full of colorful chewy goodness and I don't have to ask her twice to come help. 

Of course she soon realized they were all pretty much rock hard and inedible, but she didn't give up easily!  One candy on the house and one for her mouth. repeat.  

Ehh, calling it good - 10 minutes and she was ready to move on to something else, but at least we now have a little Josie house to adorn the kitchen table for Santa's visit only one day away.  

Chicago at Christmas

I love Chicago, always will... and most importantly, I hope Josie finds the same long lasting love for the city.  Especially come Christmastime, the city hums with activity and I want JJ to grow up knowing and looking forward to everything special about Chicago this time of year.   

In particular, Marshall Field's, or as some now call it MACYS, it's the holidays wrapped up in one giant store.  On today's visit we ate lunch at the market place (saving the Walnut room for next year) and shopped around for ornaments and toys. 

We saved the window walk for last, and while I've never really sat and appreciated how special they were - Josie sure did!  She was still talking about the animated figures at bedtime.   Going on a Tuesday, before the Chicago schools are out for winter break, proved to be wise. 

The store and streets were fairly quiet and allowed us lots of uninterrupted, up close window viewing and leisurely strolling.

Hensler's Farm - A Tree That's Just Right

While we all have our trees up and decorated already, we couldn't pass up a trip to Hensler's Farm, our first annual.  How I never knew this gem existed so close to home, all these years, I do not know. 

The mission: find a tree Josie's size and a tree Nate's size. 

That's Mimi,

That's Pops (he comes well equipped with a camera too, strangers look at us perplexed by all the cameras),

And along with Nate, Rebecca (Ed, Josie and me included)... we hopped aboard a Clydesdale drawn wooden "carriage" out to the tree farm.

I image these are exact replicas of the bells on Santa's sleigh, much like the ones we're reading about in the Polar Express.

A bumpy and cold ride, it was tough to stay warm.

And then the tree hunt had begun, one Josie's size and one Nate's size. 

Success for Nate and Pops, and success for Ed and Josie. 

The perfect little spruce trees to call their very own. 

The end.  :)  See ya next year Hensler's!