Random October pictures

Sosini makes this funny face when she's acting silly....  I was so excited when I accidentally snapped a picture of it.

I absolutely love this dress that Sophie handed down to Sonia....  Unfortunately, Sosini has worn it for the last time because I could barely squeeze her into it when she wore it a couple of weeks ago.  Also unfortunate was the wacky mood she was in when I was trying to get a good picture of it.  Stand up straight, kid!  Oh well....

Peekaboo!

Look at that cute little booty!

Not headed to the NBA just yet....

Loving the bit of late summer weather we had on the day of our visit to Cantigny....

This picture makes me giggle every time I look at it!  The girls were "feeding" the koi at Cantigny by throwing dirt into the water.

Oh, Sonia.  The sign says it all.

Cooking up a storm

Whenever I need to bake some banana bread, I have a ready and willing sous chef....

 The Great Sosini has been practicing, and she is now seriously awesome at cracking eggs!

Weather Schmeather

Sosini and I don't care if it's raining-- we're going to play outside as much as possible!  She loves her new umbrella....

My camera was not a big fan of the lighting, so these pictures aren't the best, but you get the idea....  Sonia doesn't mind inclement weather!  (Except for wind-- she gets really mad when wind blows what little hair she has.)

Off she goes!

Meow!

Sonia loves her kitty cat Halloween costume!

Dancing!

Apple cider donut!!!!!!!!

At Johansen Farms this morning, Sonia found some rats to eat....  They kind of looked like monkey rats, disturbingly enough.

In search of some fall color

This past Sunday afternoon, Andrew & I took The Great Sosini to run around in the forest at the Morton Arboretum.  I was hoping that if we drove on the east side main route, the fall color would be advanced enough that the area near the Big Rock visitors' station would be in the "ring of fire" stage (it's so awesome-- the trees all turn bright yellow and orange and form a fiery tunnel), but we were a few days too early.  Not to worry....  With Sonia around, there is always fun to be had!  She had a blast running around on the bark chip path and taking excursions into the woods to check out interesting trees and logs.

My little point-and-shoot camera was having a devil of a time trying to figure out how to take pictures in the dappled sunlight that struggled through the tree canopy....

Here's a bit of the fall color that is already here:

This was the coolest tree....  Apparently, the tree had snapped in half, and the top of it had fallen over and landed upside-down.  Here's the top half:

The bottom half is right behind the top half in this picture:

Such a little goofball!

Our intrepid explorer thought running around in the woods was awesome....  Thank goodness most of the mosquitoes are gone now; the last time we were in these woods, Sonia's poor friend, Ike, got a face full of golf ball-sized bites thanks to a previously-unknown mosquito bite allergy.

Maybe the Ring of Fire will be ready by this weekend!

More pictures of the ND cheerleader

I can't help myself-- I have to post more pictures of The Great Sosini in her ND cheerleader outfit and pigtails.  She looked so stinkin' cute that day (at least, Andrew and I think so)....

Sonia loves her godparents!

We just had the best weekend....  Emily & Gonzo (Sonia's godparents) road-tripped to Lisle to visit us, Sonia got to meet our friend, Colleen, for the first time, and the Irish crushed the Falcons.  Oh yeah, and the weather was insanely awesome.  None of the pictures I took at home turned out very good, but when we took Sosini to the park on Saturday morning, Emily and I managed to take a few decent ones.

Swinging with Uncle Gonzo is so much fun!

We attempted to play a bit of soccer, but the toddler kept getting distracted and running off with the ball.

Holy moly!  I made it into a picture!

Sonia the foreman supervised two unruly construction workers.

Auntie Em and her goddaughter, sliding like champs:

Are you sure you want to go down the slide with me, Uncle Gonzo?

I absolutely love this picture!  I'm thinking it needs to be framed and hung on the wall in Sonia's big girl bedroom.

Time to head back home to watch ND slaughter the AFA!

I can't believe I failed to take a picture of Sonia with her newest buddy, Colleen....  Sosini instantly loved Colleen (who hopped on the Metra to come watch the ND game and stay overnight with us in the 'burbs) and gave her some very nice hugs and snuggles!  I had forgotten how fun it is to watch ND football with Colleen, Gonzo, and Emily all in the same room....  Sosi thought we were all completely nuts every time a big play happened and we got a wee bit loud.

Thanks for coming to visit, Emily, Gonzo, and Colleen!  Come back soon!

Wake up the echoes (but not the sleeping toddler)

Notre Dame football is a pretty tough thing to love this past decade....  But looking at these pictures makes it a wee bit easier.  I love my little ND football fan!

2009:

2010:

2011:

This past weekend, Sosini cheered the Irish on to victory (from Lisle-- we didn't go to the game) and showed off her ND Victory March singing skills for her godparents (pictures of that fun visit to come).  I'm still working on getting Sosi to sing the Victory March on video, so for now, you'll have to trust me when I say it is hilarious.  Go Irish!

Sonia's new favorite pajammies

Meet the pink skeleton (with a heart!) who has invaded our household:

 

Hee hee!  Daddy's charging up my glow-in-the-dark bones!

Whee!!!!