Silly Chicken.....

Hard to believe that it is Halloween again already....seems like just yesterday that we were trick or treating with our little cheeseburger but alas, it was a whole year ago! This year we were blessed with a farm animal instead of a food item....it started as a chicken and when we added Paul to the mix, it became the Silly Chicken! We had such a fun time with our family costume last year that we decided to do it again....we dressed up as an Iowa Farm Family...but more on that later.

First, check out my Silly Chicken!

But first things first....did you know that even Silly Chickens need some help putting their shoes on? But did you ever think you would see an ear of corn putting shoes on a Silly Chicken?!?
I'm cute and I know it!

Silly Chicken....meet an ear of corn!

And here is the Iowa Farm Family.....complete with our Farmer Daddy!

We were lucky enough to have all of our favorite grandparents come join us for the fun again this year. And they just HAD to get a group shot with their favorite Silly Chicken.

Come on guys....I am ready to go!

Profile shot.....cutest Silly Chicken EVER!

And we were off......

First house.....scored some great loot!

We lasted about an hour...it was windy and a bit cool....and it gets so dark so quickly. We headed home to check out the Silly Chicken's loot. He was a great sharer and we all got to enjoy some candy. Check out the sucker twins!

And then it was time for sucker kisses.....

Paul got to give out the candy the rest of the night and I think he might have enjoyed that just as much as trick or treating.....he's headed to bed now to dream of farms and candy. Nothing better! Next year we will have to coordinate for 4 costumes....better start thinking now to have time to come up with a cute idea!

Care package #2

We are so thrilled that our friends are very near their travel call to head back to Korea to bring home their second son. Not only are we excited for them but also because they have offered to take Lillie's second care package....oh, and they offered to let us send something just slightly larger than the standard one gallon bag. We still need to be mindful of Lillie's foster mother since she has to schlep the package back to her home all while lugging Lillie on public transportation. Since this is likely the last care package we will be able to send until February or March of next year, I decided to splurge and go with the two gallon bag......crazy right?!? It won't be nearly as fat as the first package since it will be a little larger. We have had lots of fun pulling it together...so fun to pick out clothes and toys for our little lady.

Always amazing to see it all spread out on the table.

From our hearts to hers.....with some cute jeans and red bows for her hair!

Gotta love purple ruffles....with purple bows for her hair!

Flower power....and a fluffy pink headband!

My favorite outfit of the group....leopard print sweater with a purple ruffle shirt....jean skirt with a bow and polka dot tights.....and a fluffy purple headband.....cute, cute, cute!

Check out the cute soft bottom shoes I found.....I love these so much. There is just something about little shoes to melt your heart.

This package includes some musical toys including a brand new singing camera just like Paul's. Auntie Jen bought this camera toy for Paul and gave it to him when she met him at O'Hare Airport when we came home. He LOVED this toy for the longest time so we thought it would be great to buy a new one for Lillie and send it over. Of course, as soon as Paul saw it he had to go find his camera and started playing with his again.

We also sent the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear written in Korean. This is a favorite book around here so we thought we would send a copy to Lillie to enjoy as well. We are sending a small gift to her foster family - Godiva chocolate and Starbucks Via coffee. It is so hard to find something they might enjoy that is small enough to fit into the limited space - last time we went healthy with vitamins so this time we chose indulgent gifts!

Oh, and a last minute find while we were at the mall today.....a little something for the quickly approaching Christmas season. I almost forgot that I bought it so it didn't get included in the group shot. Glad I remembered since it is something small to bring a little holiday cheer.

Along with some other paperwork (including birthday cards from both sets of grandparents), it all got smooshed into the 2 gallon bag. Hey Sue....you still gonna have enough room?!?

We are so grateful that our friends are willing to take this package to Lillie. Needless to say, we will most definitely be paying it forward and taking plenty of packages for other waiting families.

Happy Birthday Sweet Lillian!

It's official....we are the parents of a 3-1/2 year old AND a 1 year old. Pretty hard to imagine really. While we are sad that Lillie isn't home with us to celebrate, we know that she had a great celebration in Korea. We are hopeful to receive some beautiful picture of our sweet girl in her hanbok.

We had our own little celebration tonight....complete with cake and ice cream. Check our her pretty pink cake.
GranJo sent a gift for Miss Lillie.....that Paul was nice enough to open.

Checking out the birthday girl figurine.....

Place of honor on the mantle.

The whole family sang happy birthday tonight and Paul got to blow out the candle! We are quite hopeful that Lillie can blow our her own candles next year. Thanks to everyone for the kind wishes today - they all mean so much to us.

Road warriors

We had a fun but very busy weekend....it is exhausting just thinking about all that we did and the miles that we drove! We left our house on Thursday evening and headed to Gram and Pa's house....Gram wasn't there since she was having a fun ladies trip to Europe. We got there late and tried to get Paul to bed as quickly as we could - it was WAY past his bedtime! Friday morning brought a visit from GranJo and just general low-key fun around the house. We hit the road around 1pm and headed to Chicago. We checked into our hotel and then headed to Oakbrook mall.....Paul love this little bridge and the water feature.

We met some friends for dinner - pizza of course! I cannot believe that I didn't take a single picture - we were having so much fun catching up and chatting that it never even occurred to me to pull my camera out. Bummer. Paul enjoyed his time with the other Korean cuties and talked about his new friends the whole rest of the weekend.

We headed back to our hotel - which Paul was obsessed with - and once again, it was far past Paul's bedtime. We were planning on him sleeping on the sofa bed in our suite but had a heck of a time trying to pull the bed out.

After mommy gave up, Paul have it a shot....cute, but no movement......

....and then daddy gave it a whirl....no luck there either......

.....so mommy called the front desk and they sent a nice maintenance man to fix it for us. Turns out that it took a wrench so we didn't feel so bad that we couldn't get it to pull out! We finished preparing his bed and Paul was thrilled......this whole bed is mine all mine!!!

We were quite proud of him - he stayed in that bed all night long. He doesn't sleep in an actual bed at home (of his own choice, not ours) but clearly we wanted to avoid him sleeping on the floor of a hotel room - gross! This worked out really well.

Saturday morning came early and we headed downtown to meet Auntie Jen at Shedd Aquarium. We were excited to share a Chicago attraction with Paul.

We had lots of fun exploring although pictures are tough since they don't allow flash photography. I got lots of blurry pictures! Here's Paul checking out the main tank....cool stingray swimming by.....

Then it was off to the beluga whales. Such beautiful creatures.

Our little explorer loved the play submarine.....checking out the sonar.....

Paul, what do you see in that periscope?

Sliding like a penguin.....

Big smiles with Auntie Jen while we were waiting for the aquatic show to start.

It was on to the Jellies exhibit.....SO cool......

Keeping his eyes on the baby jellies......

Playing crabby pinchers with Auntie Jen on the way out......

Then it was off to Bensenville for the annual Korean event through our adoption agency. Unfortunately, many of our friends couldn't make it this year, but we enjoyed meeting up with others that we have met on the adoption journey along the way. First stop was a good Korean meal and we were famished so it definitely hit the spot.

They had moon pies for dessert!

Off to one of the art project tables....making a mask.

Trying on his mask....nice glue stick skills Paul!

An attempt at a group photo with some of the kids.....yeah, right.....this was the best I had.

And then it was back to Gram and Pa's house.....Gram had returned from her trip and we grabbed dinner together. Sunday morning brought a trip to church and then lunch before we headed home. Paul had to pull out his mask again on his way to church.....

We had such a fun weekend, but we are all pooped! Paul conked off about 10 minutes after we hit the road and slept the entire way home. Too many evenings of late bedtimes, too much sugar and junk food and too much fun and excitement!

Many thanks to everyone who made this weekend so much fun!

UNI Homecoming 2011

We try to make it back to my alma mater every year for the Homecoming celebrations.....last year was Paul's very first football game. We made the trip to Cedar Falls for his second opportunity to tailgate and cheer on the Panthers! We started our day at the Panther Festival which is geared towards kids. First stop was some up close and personal time with TC the Panther mascot. This was Paul's first foray into interacting with a large furry mascot - he's only ever seen them from afar. He didn't seem scared at all and walked right up to give TC a high five.

We had some fun at the dart throw booth....nothing like sharp darts in the hands of a 3 year old! HA! He was under close supervision so no worries. This video is funny since he didn't even take his turn trying to pop the balloon before he marched right up to the candy bowl. He did manage to pop a balloon on his very first try - impressive.

Then it was off for a little face painting and temporary tattoo action. My good friend Jessica had fun getting a matching Panther tattoo with Paul.

And she is such a bad influence.....she gave Paul his very first taste of cotton candy. Needless to say, he LOVED it.

Then it was off to the rubber ducky game....where we also used the water from the ducky table to rinse our sticky cotton candy hands!

Total Panther spirit!

Showing his Panther pride......

We wrapped up with the balloon animal station. This nice young man made Paul a balloon guitar....who knew you could make an actual balloon guitar that even had a balloon string to strum. Paul helped him "adjust" the guitar.

And then he showed Paul how to strum his new guitar.

It was off to the tailgate.....where food is priority! Paul made himself right at home with a plate of food and a juice box.

And then had to relax in Jessica's chair.....gotta stretch out when you have a full belly.....

And then it was time for dessert......big lick of the frosting.......

......the aftermath.......

And then it was off to the game. It is always exciting to see so much purple and gold in the stadium. Our little Panther fan was cheering and yelling right along with the crowd.

And a sports event wouldn't be complete without some popcorn for Paul.

We stayed for half of the game and then hit the road - the game didn't start until 4pm and we knew we needed to make the drive back to DM. Someone got a little silly on the ride home.