Dear Lottery,

I'm just giving you a heads up for tonight's drawing. I bought five quick picks today and I would really appreciate it if one of those picks was chosen to be the winner.

You have my word that I will be generous with my winnings and will not self-destruct like many past winners have. I won't become an alcoholic. I won't start hating my husband and demand a divorce. I won't even spend frivolously until the point of bankruptcy. I will simply make life easier for my family and loved ones. What's the harm in that?

I think I'm an excellent candidate - perfect for the job. I hope you take my request into consideration. If you don't, well, life will go on. But just for shits and giggles...

Most Sincerely,
Amanda

Chicaaaaago

I could not have picked a better weekend to visit my brother and his family in Chicago. My mom and I flew in prepared for a blizzard, but instead got beautiful blue skies with a high of 70 degrees both Saturday and Sunday.

We took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and spent most of Saturday at the city zoo. Evan was completely enthralled with the gorillas. He would have peered through that glass all day if I had not dragged him away. The same was true for the sea otter and the turtles.

Tim and Ruth were able to thoroughly enjoy themselves because Izzie is, by far, the sweetest, most well-behaved baby I've ever witnessed. She only cried when she was ready to eat and that was even rare. She was constantly smiling and she already sleeps through the night! I actually had baby fever after spending the weekend with her. That quickly vanished however after my plane ride home with Evan. Never again will I travel alone with a toddler. Not that Evan was bad, but being on edge for three consecutive hours doing anything in your power to prevent a tantrum is not what I would eagerly sign up to do again.

Tim treated my mom and I to a broadway show Saturday afternoon. We saw Jersey Boys, the story of The Four Seasons. It was AMAZING! We both walked out of the theater completely wowed by the singing. We began rattling off all the other shows we were desperate to see.

Ruth picked us up from the theater and we met Tim and Evan at a local Italian restaurant in Irving Park. This was a favorite spot of my mom's from the last time she visited my brother. The food was incredible and the kids gave us no problems. Fortunately, Tim didn't start quoting "The Godfather" while we were there.

We had a wonderful visit to the windy city. I can't wait to go back soon to love on my beautiful niece and spend time with my brother and Ruth. I will definitely wait until after winter!

Halloween 2009

It's almost frightening how good this look is on Evan. He had the strut and the attitude to perfect his character. To clarify for everyone, Evan is dressed as L'il Joe Dirt. We assumed that wouldn't have to be explained, but I guess it's a bit presumptuous to think that everyone has seen the movie. My Aunt Debbie thought he was dressed as Daniel Boone. Even though it looks like an animal would be living in there, don't mistaken the wig for a coon skin cap. That stylin' hot mess is a mullet...and a damn good one if you ask me.




At first we thought it was going to be a huge struggle to get Evan to keep his wig on. The first few times we struck out. He would leave it on for about 10 seconds then whine and take it off. Eventually he realized we all thought it was funny and he left it on longer for the attention. Once I gave him the popsicle (also mistaken for a corn dog - ha!) it was like he became one with the wig...he accepted his Halloween fate.


I am almost certain the adults had waaay more fun this Halloween than Evan did. He will either look back at these pictures and think wow, what cool parents I have or he'll take offense and wonder why we would be so desperate for a laugh at his expense. Either way, we had a GREAT time. And we were, without a doubt, in great company. Come back to visit soon, Amanda and Scott!
View my gallery for more Halloween shots!