Frank's 30th Birthday

My friend Frank Gogliotti turned thirty this summer and his wife, Gail decided to throw him a suprise party at a white sox game. We don't get to see them to often so Eric and I thought it would be a perfect time to see them. We met up with Molly and Brendan and Jim and Kate. Unfortunately it rained and the game got delayed but we were able to go to the bar in the stadium and watched the hawkeyes game. We had a great time and it was good to catch up with people we dont get to see. The night ended in langel style Eric got kicked out!!! yep, but it was time to leave anyways and it was a good laugh!

Soccer

This fall I signed Ethan up for soccer. Every saturday morning he has had practice and the last two weeks we had a game. The weather has been interesting on the first day it stormed and was cold the next weekend it was 85 degrees and this past weekend it got cancelled again due to rain. Ethan had a rocky start to soccer. he was so pumped putting on his shin guards but when he found out he had their team had to wear pink he was pretty bummed. He finally got over the pink shirt and enjoyed playing the game. Maya has gone to every practice with her folding chair to cheer on her brother. We still aren't sure if he is cut out for soccer, he still tries to tackle the kids as he is playing and after he scored a goal he thought the game was over and was laying down in the sidelines. He had a crowd cheering for him, grandma slick, erika, grandma and papa langel and tera and all came to cheer him on.

Iowa vs Iowa State

Eric and I try to get to at least one Iowa game every year, this year we made it to the Iowa vs. Iowa State game. The kids didn't make the trip this time but maybe next year. We were able to meet up with Staci, JJ, James, Tera, Brea, Brandon, and Katie. We went tailgating on the "hill" which Eric and I had trouble finding even though I went to school there go figure, me not knowing where to go!! As soon as we got to the tailgate Eric shot gunned a beer and I was playing flippy cup, needless to say it was a good thing we didnt bring the kids. We were able to watch the game at a bar and I even made it going out later that night. To top the night off I had a Marc's grilled cheese in the ped mall at 1:30 in the morning!

Its Football Season!

The college season is well on its way but, on the first day of the season we were all in our Iowa gear so I thought I would take a couple of pics of the kids especially since Maya's cheerleading outfit just fits. Eric is an Iowa state fan so notice the flag that the kids are sitting on, we are a split household but, I think we all know who number one is, Go Hawks!!

Ethan's First Day of School

Ethan started his second year of pre school this year. He is going four days a week in the afternoon. His new teacher is Miss Meg. Ethan was excited to start his first day of school but, as you can see in the picture with his new teacher he was a little nervous. He came home after the first day talking about the new friends he had in his class and he was ready to go back the next day. He will be reviewing upper and lowercase letters this year and moving on to sight words and hopefully reading a little, thats my reading teacher wishful thinking... He will also start learning simple adding and subtracting. Hopefully he takes after his father in the math department!

Oops where has the time gone...

Well I have not posted anything on my blog since July. I have been taking a lot of pictures but, since work has started back up i just haven't had the time to post anything. But, I know I have to start again so here it goes. Instead of back logging all of the summer pics I am just going to show a slide show of some of the pictures I took at the end of the summer enjoy!

Lake Okoboji

The week of the fourth of July we went with Eric's parents, Staci, and Tera to Lake Okoboji. We were able to stay in Eric's aunt and uncle's cabin which is about 50 feet from the lake. We had wonderful weather and a great time. Right behind the house was a small creek where Ethan would take his fishing pole and net and try to catch some fish in the morning. Maya enjoyed this as well but, she constantly was trying to jump in the water. We were also able to take the Eric's Uncle's boat out everyday. Ethan had a blast in the boat and he even got a chance to go tubing. He went tubing with every one of us and he only fell off the tube once but, he had his life jacket on so he popped right back up. Maya did fairly well on the boat as long as I was holding her. She wouldn't let anyone else hold her and she was especially upset when I went out on the tube with Ethan! Every night Papa Langel made a bonfire in the yard and we had smores. It was a great small getaway that we will have to do more often.

4th of July

Over the fourth we were in LeMars, Iowa. Ethan remembers exactly what we did last year for the fourth so he made sure everything was the same. We took two trucks out to the fair grounds earlier in the evening to get a good spot and then around 9:30 everybody walked to the fairgrounds. Almost everybody from Eric's family was able to make it back for the 4th which was really special for Ethan. Maya even made the trip to see the fireworks, however she was up into the wee hours of the night reinacting the firework noises for Eric and I!!! She may have to wait a couple more years until she sees them again. We had to make sure that we brought lemonade with us as well as popcorn and we couldn't forget the gummy worms. The fireworks were just as good as last year. Ethan kept screaming which ones were his favorite ones and he especially enjoyed the sparklers after the fireworks!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! We had a pretty busy day, this morning we went to a the family fun center in Yorkville which has bumper boats, go carts and mini golf, this is something Ethan picked out to do since he saw it one day when we passed it by one the road. He did everything there that you could possibly do including a water balloon launch which I got more wet then he did, then we went and had hot dogs and ice cream at a nearby hot dog stand. After the kids naps we went to grandma and papa Slick's house for a steak dinner and hung out until it was time for bed.

Batter Up!

Ethan was able to play t-ball this year. It was only everyday for one week but, he really seemed to enjoy it. Since, it was all four year olds they didn't play too much actually t-ball but they learned all about running the bases, fielding a ball, throwing, and hitting. On the final day of t-ball they got to do a small scrimmage against another team. Every night Ethan would ask when we were going to t-ball. He did a really good job with the hitting and knew how to run the bases but, he is still working on fielding the ball. When they were playing against another team and in the field Ethan tried to be the first to get the ball each time, he even tackled another player to do so, Eric had to talk to him in the dug out to go over the rules again. When he was running the bases the helmets were to big and it drove him crazy so he would run around the bases with his hands covering his ears so the hat wouldn't fall off, it was hilarious! Here's some pics of his baseball debut!

Hospital Hill 10K Run

This past weekend Eric and I traveled down to Kansas City to meet his family. Over the weekend Eric and many members of his family ran in the hospital hill run (I had the stomach flu so I watched!!). On the T-shirts that you get it says "I conquered the hill" and did they ever. Who knew that Kansas City was so hilly. There were five hills that went straight up, looked pretty tough as I was sitting on the sideline watching, but everyone made it through the race! Afterwards it was time to go to Eric's cousin Tanya's house for a 30th birthday party and a few cocktails. They even had a full pig roast, which I heard was delicious but I passed.

Pool Time!

It was so hot this weekend that we pulled out the pool for the first time. I think Ethan spent the entire afternoon in it. he had every outdoor toy in the pool with him as possible. He was also doing running leaps into the pool. This was also Maya's first time in the pool this summer but, she was more content standing outside of it and putting her fingers in the water, I am sure this will be a regular thing throughout the summer.

Memorial Day

Here are a couple pics of Maya on Memorial Day. I only took a couple but, I thought her hair was so cute in the pictures and it was her first time eating a chip! the product in her hair was a combination of sweat, sunscreen and bananas you cant beat it!

Ethan's Graduation

I wasn't able to get a lot of pics of Ethan's preschool graduation but, here is one with his teacher Miss Marcy. My mom got a bunch on her camera. For graduation all of the kids wore a graduation cap and they each got their names announced by their teacher. When his name was called he walked from the back of the church to the front stage all by himself. it was so cute all of the kids were really nervous especially with such a huge crowd of people. After all of the names were announced the classes all sang a song together and then had muffins and juice for a reception.

Here are a couple pics of Maya. She is obsessed with chairs, which is fun but tends to be dangerous because she often falls out of them. She gets on the chair and then seconds later she gets out of the chair.

Digging in the Dirt

Over this past weekend we had to put in some bushes in along the fence. Ethan and Maya wanted to help so basically Eric did all of the hard labor and I chased Maya around the backyard. Ethan Helped dig out the bushes and he even found some worms. Maya was entertained for about two minutes and then went on to other things.

Happy Easter!

Easter Sunday we got up early and actually made it on time to 7:30 am mass. We met my family at church and then had brunch at my mom's house. The Easter bunny visited Maya and Ethan at their house so the kids got to find their baskets and enjoed the rest of the day. since it was so nice they were able to spend a lot of time outside as well.

Go Fly a Kite

Joe and Maren came for a visit over Easter weekend. They brought Ethan his birthday gift which included a shark kite (they know how much Ethan loves sea creatures). since we all had off on Good Friday and it was a perfectly windy day we decided to go and fly the kite. it literally went up in the air within seconds and stayed up for a very long time. It was so windy we had to make sure Ethan held on really tightly otherwise it would have been gone!

Ethan's Easter Party

Since Ethan and I had different Spring Breaks when I was on mine I was abloe to go to his school Easter Party. Ethan was very excited that I was able to come. the kids played games and had a bunch of snacks and of course an easter egg hunt. It was a fun morning to spend with Ethan.

Playing with Stuffed Animals

Unlike her brother Maya loves stuffed animals. We have a basket of them that has been in the nursery since Ethan was born and they haven't been touched since. That is until Maya got ahold of them. She loves them she climbs in and out of the basket herself and holds the stuffed animals and gives them all kisses. I guess that is one of the differences between boys and girls.

Ethan Scott turns Four

Ethan woke up this morning asking if he was four! He also wanted to know when he was going to have a party, we had to remind him that he had it last week and that today he was going to have dinner at our house with Grandma Slick, Grandma Grossel, Erika and Mark. As soon as everyone got here he told him that he was four. He got a new bike from mom and dad and he got to try it out. He did pretty well for the first time. I think he was more excited for the sea animal discovery movies that mark got him, we have tried to watch them all already. He was also really excited about the shark shirt and whale shirt that he got, we had to put them on immediately. After we had pizza (Ethan's Choice)we had the special cupcakes that Erika dn Grandma Slick made, they were rainbow cupcakes, Ethan and Maya loved them!

Bikini Ready?

Maya is not afraid to show her bikini ready body (dad is not so happy!) I bought Maya a swim suit this weekend and tried it on her. She loved it, she walked around the house looking at herself and swinging her arms in the air. As you can see in this picture she even decided to do a little drawing.

Choo Choo Johnny's

We decided to try the new train restaurant that is much closer to our house than the one that we normally go to. It ended up being bigger with more trains. Ethan loved it and even though maya has been to one before this is the first time that she actually got to enjoy it. Grandma Slick and Grandma Grossel came to join us for the trip.

Ethan's 4th Birthday Party

Ethan had his fourth birthday party today! His party was at Bounce Town. Lucas, Maggie, and Brettman and Franky had a great time bouncing around, by the time the food was ready all of the kids were exhausted including Maya who didn't get her usual morning nap! Grandma and Grandpa Langel and James and Brea were able to make the long trip to Chicago. Ethan wanted a construction vehicle themed birthday, and he got the perfect cake for the party. It was a huge excavator (Ethan pointed out that it was actually a back hoe!) made out of pound cake on top of a chocolate cake, it tasted awesome! Ethan was so excited that it was finally his birthday, there have been a lot of parties he has gone to recently so he was glad that it was finally his turn! Happy Birthday E!

Dress Like Dad

Today at Ethan's school it was "dress up like your mom or dad." Ethan wasn't to keen on having to dress up but, when he got to pick out a tie from a friend he was really excited. He wore the tie all day and even slept with it on.

Maya's 1st birthday!

Maya Grace turned one years old this Saturday. It is amazing how fast time flies, especially with the second one. Maya was able to celebrate her birthday with some family and friends. Maya had fun playing with the boys but she was kind of attached to my hip and didn't stray to far. she enjoyed opening all of her wonderful gifts, Ethan had a great time helping her and he is counting the days until his birthday. She was able to try her first piece of cake (that I have given her I cant speak for any of her grandparents)she loved the frosting. I made vanilla cupcakes and piped flowers on the top. She just went to her one year check up and everything looks great, we feel so blessed to have such a happy and healthy beautiful little girl!

Merry Christmas

Over the Christmas Holidays we had a chance to spend the week in Iowa. We had a great time! We not only had a white christmas but there was over 15 inches. Ethan was able to go sledding and help shoveling outside almost everyday. Luckily everyone made it into town before the big storm hit. throughout the week we made homemade sugar cookies, (Ethan was the professional sprinkler) we went to movies and we were also able to spend time at both great grandparents houses. Ethan was so excited for Christmas he could hardly stand it, he kept asking if he was being good so that he would get presents. He put out cookies for Santa and sprinkled oats and glitter in the snow for the reindeer, Maya was only interested in the bows and wrapping paper. It was a very busy holiday but well worth it!

Santa's Breakfast

We had a very busy weekend. On Saturday Ethan got invited to Maggie's third birthday party at bouncetown. The kids had a blast and were exhausted after all of the bouncing, myself included. After Maggie opened her presents she gave each of the kids a gingerbread train which Ethan could not wait to make! After his nap Eric, Ethan and I made the train, I think Ethan might have eaten more candy then put on but he thought it was really neat! On Sunday we went to the annual Santa's breakfast at my dad's country club. When we asked Ethan if he was going to sit on Santa's lap he said no, maybe tomorrow. So we decided to see how it would go, after we had a wonderful breakfast/lunch we stood in line to see Santa. Ethan was really excited but, very nervous. I think that it helped that Maya was sitting on his lap. Finally, Ethan went to stand by him and told him that he wanted race cars, dinosaurs, and animals for christmas. He also added that Maya wanted clothes. Maya was awe struck by Santa claus as you can see from the pictures.

Decorating Gingerbread Houses

On Wednesday night Eric, Ethan and I met up with Erika and Papa at Cress Creek to make Gingerbread houses. Maya got to stay home with Grandma. First we had dinner which consisted of finger foods for the kids and fish for the adults, I preferred the kids menu! After dinner we started to decorate the houses. Ethan probably ate as much candy as he put on the house. When we were done he couldn't wait to go home and suprise Grandma with it!