Picture Perfect???

Sometimes I feel guilty of "fake booking" --

 We don't tell lies on Facebook or this blog,

 but obviously life isn't always as perfect as our status'

and our photos may suggest.

Telling the world about the 

bratty, annoying, "Lord, get me out of here"

parts of our day...

…just isn't that exciting, even if they do

often outnumber the beautiful moments.

Here I was trying to get a nice picture of 

the sisters together…

but Mila wouldn't stop singing the Scooby Doo theme song

and Willow looks like she's DESPERATE to escape!

Last month Mila plopped down and pouted for a good 10 minutes

on a walk home after her Track & Field class 

because a 5 year old boy ran faster than her.

A cute little picture of Mila riding a kiddie train??

Kinda hard to get when she refused to open her eyes.

This is the only "smile" she'd give

when Mommy wanted to take 

a picture of her in new "big girl boots."

Over the summer Mila visited her cousins a few times. 

Her sweet cousin Henry put some candy under her pillow 

and said it was from a "Lucky Fairy."

 The above video is Mila sobbing her eyes out

when she came back home and discovered the Lucky Fairy doesn't visit here.

Oh the many joys of parenting!

Cousin Party

Mila just ADORES hanging out with her cousins in Michigan.

She had a riot spending the night at 

Abby, Henry & Johanna's house last Saturday.

When we saw her the next morning, 

she clearly had not missed us one bit--

we could barely get a hug out of her, 

she was so wrapped up in hanging with the kids. 

On Sunday we celebrated with family 

at Josh's 5th birthday party.

It is so wonderful to see the cousins together, 

they really are a great group of funny, strong-willed, adorable kids.

Sweet Willow slept in Aunt Rebecca's arms during the party. 

She was passed around and gushed over 

for much of the weekend--

what a lucky little girl to be loved so much!

Halloween & Kiddie College at Humboldt Park

Mila insisted on being a "scaaaary witch" for Halloween.

She had lots of opportunities to wear her costume,

including the Spooky Skate at Smith Park,

trick-or-treating and parties.

Daddy was a pirate with Willow as his little parrot...

…which she did not like very much.

We went to a great party at our friend's house, the Rileys.

They had crafts for the kiddos, lots of ghoulish decorations

and an awesome Wicked Witch piñata.

Here's some of the food we brought to the party--

we tried to stay healthy since 

candy was EVERYWHERE that week. 

Mila goes to a preschool program through the 

Chicago Park District at Humboldt Park. 

She really loves it--here she is with her friend Francis.

Mommy drops her off at 10am Tuesday thru Thursday, 

and picks her up at noon.

 

The parents were invited to stay and join the party. 

It was adorable to watch Mila interact with her classmates.

The little fireman is named Jack and he puts up with lots of hugs from Mila.

She is definitely a leader (aka a little bossy).

She does NOT like it when the other kids aren't listening. 

Miss Nellie said Mila helps her keep the children in line. 

Mommy was working with Mila on her letter tracing because we saw the worksheets Mila brought home and they weren't just right. When Mommy got a look at the classmate's work she realized maybe she needn't be so hard on Mila as her tracing was by far the most on the mark. 

Yesterday on Mila's worksheet, Miss Nellie put a big star and wrote, "Concentrates all the time".

We are so proud of our sweet little witch!