Zander turns 7!

Seriously.... how does time go so fast?!? Zander is 7 already and is an amazing young man. He is doing so well in first grade. He loves his teachers and has a lot of really great friends. He has kept many friends from last year as he has been lucky to have several of them on his baseball and soccer teams. He also continues to be best friends with Matthew. He was so excited to have them all to Jump Zone for his birthday party this year. He is so smart and has qualified for challenge classes in reading and math. He is also taking piano lessons and is getting pretty good. He continues to be a Lego master and loves robotics, crafts circuits, etc. He has also started working on cross stitch and of course, picked up on this quickly. He is helpful and likes to help with chores and likes to help with cooking. He has mastered tying his shoes. He likes to teach his brother things and was really helpful in teaching Zaiden to ride a bike and is showing him piano. He worked really hard over the summer to learn about, read about and earn money to buy a fish and a few weeks after school started, introduced, Steve a Betta fish to our family. He has also developed a love of reading and has read all of the Captain Underpants books. We love this little boy and are so lucky to watch him grow into the special guy he is.

Christmas 2019

Christmas is one of our favorite times of year. We are always so excited to put up of Christmas tree and decorations right after Thanksgiving. We have no trouble getting into the Christmas spirit when we have our Elf, Zell tricking us every morning! This year we enjoyed a weekend celebrating in Iowa with Zeb's family as well as celebrating with Jazzie's family with aunt Nellie and uncle Chris hosting at their place in the city. Of course, the boys were super spoiled by everyone. We spent a quiet Christmas Eve at home and a church service and woke up the next morning with some great Santa gifts! They both received robes and an Osmo to share. Zander asked for a sled and a marble run and also got a new baseball glove. Zaiden got a huge train set and the Polar express book. We also had a special Christmas this year when we were blessed with unusually warm almost 60 degree weather. It was pretty nice to spend Christmas day playing in the sunshine instead of the snow!

2019 Summer Fun

We always have so much fun together as a family. We enjoy many trips to the local pool and the boys are both turning into little fishies. Zander is now tall enough to go down the slide and takes many trips each time at the pool. Zaiden is a daredevil and always keeping up with his brother and has taken very quickly to floating and "swimming" without his floatie already. They both enjoys scooter time and playing on our swingset. They spent most of the summer at summer camp at Christies as well as enjoying an extra "mommy day" for 4 day weekends each week. They also had special weeks with babysitters when Grandma Vicki, Grandma Lynne and cousin Claire came to spend a week with them. These were special weeks that I am sure they will cherish and remember for many years to come. We also enjoyed celebrating the 4th of July with fireworks in Park Ridge followed by the usual celebration with parade, games, rides and fireworks in Wisconsin with grandma and grandpa. We also had a very special first camping trip with mom with time at the beach, hiking and first time spending the night in the tent. They enjoyed eating at the campfire (once I finally got it started after about 20 minutes of trying!) and making smores. They also thought it was pretty funny that I forgot about breakfast so we finished a bag of chips! Other summer days were spent with a trip downtown, zoo trips and so many other fun things. Zander had a great baseball year and really had a lot of fun with his friends. It was fun to see how he progressed with coach pitch and improved every game.

Zander graduates kindergarten

Zander is now a kindergarten graduate! He learned so much this year. He is a great reader and picked up in it very quick. He is good at math, although he says he does not enjoy it. He has many friends and ends the year with some great memories. He has grown so much from a little boy to a big guy in no time at all!

Zaiden turns 4

Zaiden turns 4! Zaiden is so sweet and smart and we love watching him grow. His smile and infectious laugh are enjoyed by everyone he meets. He is certainly a charmer! At Disney land, he was in a room full of people watching a classic Mickey movie and his laugh was so cute, the entire room was laughing with him! So sweet? Zaiden continues to love books and puzzles. His new favorite after visiting Sea World are Whales and he has a toy whale, Corky that is now his best friend and goes everywhere with him. He continues to love dolphins and rhinos and zoo trips are his favorites. He has been making so much progress at school and we are excited about all that is to come. For his Birthday this year, he wanted to spend it with some of his best friends. We celebrated with a party at home with friends and had some friends and family to our house for a special birthday party. We also took a trip to the train restaurant for a birthday cupcake as trains continue to be a favorite. Of course, trains may be second to his very favorite monster trucks that he brings at least once a week for show and tell at school at the request of all of his friend! We really love this special little boy!

Zaiden with his best friends, Luca and Colleen and the families 

Birthday lunch at the choo choo 

He got a scooter for his (big) birthday present. With a little more practice, he will be keeping up with his big brother