Max and Emma

I totally forgot to post the videos we took of Max and Emma playing together when we were home for Christmas. The two of them have the funniest personalities and it was hilarious to see them interact. Max likes to boss us humans around, while Emma is submissive with us. When it comes to the dog world though, it completely flip flops. Emma bossed Max around all week and it took him until almost the end of our visit to stand up for himself.

This is when they first met. 

They had a blast running around the backyard.

Emma found all of Max's squeaky balls,

but even with two of them,

the grass is always greener on the other side.

Emma's Snow Day Fun

Emma had a blast playing in the snow on Wednesday. She loved digging in the snow to find her tennis ball. Here's some of the pictures I took on my phone. Enjoy the video at the end of it, she was going crazy!

Her tennis ball had so much snow stick to it

that it looked like a perfect snowball.

Digging for her ball.

Mom - enough with the pictures. I want to play!

 Emma was having a ball. Here's our crazy girl playing her version of catch.

Snow Day!

During the summer months we missed our Midwest thunderstorms, but New England redeemed itself over the past 24 hours with a great Nor'easter! We were planning on staying home regardless of whether it was an official snow day or not, but I was so excited for the blizzard I could hardly sleep. I woke up several times to "thundersnow," with some very bright lightning, all of which Amit slept through. When I woke up at 5 to make sure I was off, Emma woke up and had to go out (of course). I opened the door to the back yard, she put one foot out, and froze. She looked around like she was thinking "What the heck happened to my yard?"! It was the funniest thing! We had some major wind gusts, so as soon as one hit, she came running back for the house.

Here she is exploring. Check out all that snow!

After we all went back to bed for a couple hours, we began our snow day with our official celebratory breakfast.

Waffles, anyone?

So I think that my New Year's resolution is to become as crazily organized as Martha Stewart. I spent most of the day indoors, mainly because Amit volunteered to shovel and refused my help. I did use that as an excuse to write a giant to-do list and finish most of it. I reorganized the pantry and dining room closet, did laundry, went through boxes of stuff and dumped a bunch of old stuff, went through old magazines and pictures, and brought a bunch of stuff down to the basement for storage. I was on a roll!! Amit did a great job shoveling. As you can see, he had a LOT to shovel.

Amit enjoying his workout. At least I think he enjoyed it.

 Here's the final covering of snow on the grill.

Crazy!

 Emma had a great time outside, too. She loved trying to find her tennis ball in all that snow.

We had a great snow day! Who could complain about a day off in the middle of the week? It was the first time we've ever experienced more than a foot of snow in 24 hours. We ended up with about 18 inches on the ground. It looks like we'll be pulling out the skis this weekend!!

Go Play

I read this article from the NY Times the other day. So much of our kids play at school revolves around what they've seen on TV that it is super exciting when they come up with stuff that is totally made up all on their own (like the hilarious restaurant Restopoloco that they created a few weeks ago). I think its time we all leave our kids to their own creativity. Turn off the TV, let them play with stuff around the house all on their own, no prompting from us adults, and enjoy the amazing imagination that little kids have. I would play with Mom's thimbles for hours, pretending they were people and what not. Though I love to watch TV as much as the next person, we really need to turn it off and start being creative. Enjoy the article and let's hope that it continues to gain momentum!

The Movement to Restore Child's Play Gains Momentum

Friends For Life

Wow, I think I'm getting a little cheesy in my old(er) age. I could write for hours, even days, about how much I love the guys. Don't worry, I won't, since that would be a ridiculously long post. The best part about this Christmas trip was all of us being back together. We hit up all our old stomping grounds and spoiled ourselves with a week full of hanging out, just like the good old days. We're like one big old family and are blessed that none of us have ever found anything that can even come close to being the same as what we have back in Schaumburg. I love that it doesn't matter how busy we all are in our new lives; when we get back together we just pick up where we left off. I love them! I didn't take too many pictures, just enjoyed the stories and fun. We enjoyed old habits, like nachoramas and football, and made some new traditions, going to Old Town Pizza to celebrate Christmas Eve afternoon with one another.

The boys love to play pool. 

I'm so lucky to have Maggie to talk with while they all play. 

It is so much more fun now that I'm not the only girl!!

 I loved going to get the Nachorama with the boys in HS.

Its so fun to eat while listening to all their crazy stories.

It was just like the old days when we went over Christmas. 

We miss having a Buffalo Wild Wings close by, 

so we went with the guys to watch the Blackhawks game.

So much good food!!

It was so great to hang out with them. We really miss having everyone close to each other, but I guess that just means we'll get to travel and visit each other. Next stop: Maggie and Jeremy in Pensacola. It sounds much nicer (and warmer) than everyone coming to Boston.

Walking...

... in a Winter Wonderland. Well, it was a snowy wonderland until the temperature hit the 50's. Then our walks were more of a slushy, muddy mess.

Every morning (depending on how late we were out the night before, it would be 8am or 11) we'd take the dogs out for a walk. They loved it, it was one of the few times they'd calm down and leave each other alone. They were too cute that I had to bring my camera and get a few pictures. Sometimes they'd even walk so close that they'd bump into each other. They looked adorable!

 Emma liked to walk through the snow, stick her head all the way in it and then pop back up. I don't know if she was smelling something, trying to get her collar off, or just being crazy, but it was hilarious!! I wasn't fast enough to get a video of it, but you can see the snow in this picture.

Home for the Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

I guess when we go home for the holidays everything is going to get all wrapped up in a couple of way late posts. Now where do I begin?

Ha, where else but with the dogs of course! Nate had come out to visit for a few days and the three of us (and Emma) drove out to Schaumburg. Emma did great in the car, she's totally content to spend her time sleeping and looking out the window. After 15 hours in the car, we weren't sure how well she and Max would get along, but lucky for us they did great! After her initial shock of seeing this giant, furry bear-like creature coming at her, she figured out that he makes a great playmate! The two of them spent the rest of the day, heck the trip, teaching and chasing each other around the backyard.

 After all that fun outside, this is what they looked like...

The two dogs cracked us up. Emma, who likes to be in control, used every opportunity to drive Max crazy. Lucky for her, he's a total wimp and didn't start to stand up for himself (and harass her back) until the end of the visit. 

Emma thinks that every toy belongs to her...

So when we gave Max his own bone, she wanted that one too...

And didn't hesitate to steal it.

Too bad Mom, Dad, and Grandma were all right there to give it back.

Not surprisingly, everything when we were home pretty much revolved around Max and Emma. Their relationship went from being one where Max was irritated by Emma and tried to ignore her, to one where both equally harassed the other, and then finally we think Max was pretty much enamored by Emma and couldn't get enough of her. We did have some human interaction as well. I managed to snap a few pictures of it.

I forced the family to take a family portrait. After much begging, posing, and organizing I pulled it off. 

I'm not super happy about it, but I guess we'll just have to take some more pictures the next time we're together. 

 Here's our favorite present. Ron picked them out for us. 

They do a great job keeping our heads warm when we walk the dogs!

(Plus they just look awesome!)

And I had to get a shot of me and my Krissy.

We were being lazy and tired so us laying on the floor is as good as it was going to get.

 I'll leave with you a few more highlights from our trip.