Bingo night with Billy

Once a month Billy Corgan's new teahouse (Zuzu's) has a Bingo night for charity. I was able to go with a few other SP fans and w were lucky to get in the door. It was a very small event, we played 3 rounds of Bingo and then Billy and Jeff played a few songs. It was pretty cool. :)

I did not win at Bingo...

Awesome show!

 Jokes...

 Me and BC! 

Get together

I am part of a neighborhood Mom co-op and it was my turn to host for February. Here was my table of goodies! We had a white elephant exchange and it was a lot of fun. I am glad I have found a couple things to join to get to know more people, I'm still trying to find whereI fit in. :)

Just some pics for fun. 

Parson's Dance

I haven't been good at blogging, but I want to catch up with some highlights. I was able to take Alexis to a contemporary dance performance a couple weeks ago. Parson's Dance Company from NYC. She was getting really tired by the end of the since it way past her bedtime but they were very good and I am glad we could go!

Outfit and the hair

Alexis wanted a picture of this outfit because she likes it so much. I got this sweater at Target on some after Christmas sales and got a good deal. She decided to let me do her hair this whole week! In this picture I was rushed so I did a quick braid and pulled it back. She has been on a stubborn streak (since she was born) and one day decided she didn't want me to do her hair for school anymore (it was probably like the 2nd day of preschool but I've made her let me do it until this year). I've let her pick out her own clothes for a few years now, but she has always resisted the hair. I want her to at least comb it, but sometimes that doesn't happen. It is hard to let her go to school with it messy, but it beats fighting about it before school all the time. I've run out of energy. Her hair is just like mine, so it's a little curly and gets frizzy very easily which can turn into a ratty mess very quickly. Sometimes she tries to do her own buns and ponytails and they turn out pretty good, but usually comes home with down by the end of the day. I know I need to just let the hair thing go and let her do her own thing, but I still want to fix it! I'm glad she was willing to let me do it for at least this week. :)

New Year

I didn't take any pictures of our New Year celebrations, so here is my favorite sunset since we have lived here. :) On New Year's Eve we cooked up lots of veggies for our cheese fondue, we watched some shows, and the kids went to bed at 9 pm. They were too tired to stay up until midnight this year. I will have to say, I am very happy this past year is over. It has been one of hardest years I have ever had. It was full of loss, change, no vacations and hard times. I've tried to keep my posts positive and just focus on the highlights because if you knew how depressed I was about things, you would worry about me. Also, Facebook as well as some blogs have turned into a "my life is better than yours" brag fest and sometimes I don't want to play. The level of sincerity is very hard to gauge and so I pull back and don't share what I really feel. Moving here has been harder than when we moved to Arizona and I feel completely thrown off. So, with all that said I hope 2013 is better than 2012. I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year and had fun celebrating! I love Neil Gaiman and his books and quotes and so I have been sharing them, here is one I really like...

"I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind."  ~ Neil Gaiman  

Christmas

We had a good Christmas Eve and Christmas day. The kids were very excited about their presents and got to open their PJs from Grandma and Papa on Christmas Eve. :) 

Me and Steven watched our traditional movie, Christmas Vacation. :D

We did not have a white Christmas, it was pretty gloomy and cold. It snowed a couple days later, so I guess that sort of counts. haha It was a different year not being in AZ and not having any family come see us. I have been missing the desert a lot. I can't believe I say that now! This transition has been a lot harder than thought. I will have to say, our neighbors here have been great. We took some treats to a few of them and they all invited us in to talk. I hope we can get to know them all better soon. 

Alexis made this vase for us at school, I love it, so cute! 

Micah's present to us was a story with him as a reindeer and a really cute card he made. These are the best presents! 

 

The kids loved their presents and do did we, thank you all who sent us some! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. :) 

Winter WonderFest at the Navy Pier

 We decided to spend a night in the city right before Christmas and we went to the Winter Wonderland festival at the Navy Pier. Luckily, the whole thing is indoors since it was SO cold. They had lots of rides and carnival style food. It was very busy, but the kids really liked it. :) 

 They had tons of decorations and places for photo ops. :p 

 Micah and me on the ferris wheel and Alexis in front of the princess tree. They love the face-in-the-hole things, as you can see. 

 They also had an ice skating rink which we did not brave this time. It was really pretty, though.

 Cuties. :) 

 This was their favorite ride, basically like flying. :) 

 A view from our hotel. There was a convention going on in our hotel and it was VERY crowded. We waited forever for the elevators, for breakfast, or even just to check-in. It was fun, and annoying at the same time. haha 

 We went to P.F. Changs for dinner and got my favorite flour-less chocolate cake for dessert. Yum. :) We left the next morning so we could be back to pick up Coco from the Pet Hotel and get ready for Christmas Eve dinner. 

Christmas program

 The kids had their Christmas program the last two days of school. The first day I was able to go and see both of them perform. No one told me they were supposed to dress up, oops. So, the second day they wore more dresser clothes. It was a really cute (but long) program of songs. :)

 The finale. 

 The program and my new boots. :) 

Lights, decorations, shopping etc.

 

Lights around town. 

 When we went to get our tree.

 The tree and all the decorations. 

 The mantel. 

 Lights in downtown Naperville. 

 My cute shopping companion! She helped me do lots of our Christmas shopping in the crazy busy malls. 

 Already to go and go finish the last of the shopping. 

 Coco got a Christmas sweater! I shared this picture on a dachshund page on Facebook and he got almost 4500 likes, 200 comments and 300 shares. Coco is an internet sensation. haha :) 

Christmas pictures

Just a few causal pictures we took.