My American Girls

This was supposed to be a gift for Lily's birthday...

But after acting EXCEPTIONALLY well at Carmen's wake (I mean, she seriously acted more mature than some of the adults), Rachael felt she deserved this special gift a few weeks early... 

We picked this doll out for Lily a couple of years ago trying our best to make it look as close to what we thought Lily would look like.  

I think we did a pretty good job...

Lily loved her doll.  

Sophia loved the cards that the doll came with.  

That's Sophia for you...

Future Best Friends Forever???

Here's to being an American Girl!

Uncle Rudy

It's not often that we get to see Uncle Rudy...

But it's so nice when we do!

Superhero Friends

The girls love to meet new people.  Tonight they were going to meet Cayden for the first time.  Lily just had one question for me before meeting him.

"Mommy, do you think this boy will be handsome?" 

Seriously??!!

Once we got there, it didn't matter because the girls soon discovered his stash of superhero costumes...

and just for the record, he was indeed an adorable little boy!

Lou Malnati's

Why do we love going to different places on vacation or to just visit?  A lot of it has to do with the people that we will see, but a lot of it also has to do with the food.

When it comes to trips to Chicago, you can't help but start thinking about all of the yumminess this place has to offer.

Today's yumminess came from here... 

It came in the form of bruschetta...

and an antipasto salad...

and obviously we couldn't leave this little guy out...

Lily preferred the thin crust over the deep dish...

so much so that she ate 5 pieces...

My taste buds couldn't be happier!

Gifts from Becky

Becky came by to see the girls this morning and brought along gifts as well...

Sophia kept wanting Becky to play the music from the card...

Lily was given a guardian angel that used to be her Abuela's...

Thanks again Becky!

Hot Nuts

While staying at Grandma Owie's hotel (townhouse), Lily and Papa had a morning ritual.  Their ritual included setting peanuts across the top of the fence.  

By doing so, they would entice these not so little guys to come by for a visit...  

However, I am not sure if these chubby squirrels were enticed by the nuts or the catchy song that Tom and the girls used to get them to stop by.  The song went like this:

NUTS!

HOT NUTS!

GET 'EM FROM THE PEANUT MAN!

NUTS!

HOT NUTS!

GET 'EM FROM THE PEANUT MAN!

Regardless of what brought them there, the squirrels got fatter and and the kids (including Tom) laughed louder!

Snowflakes and Hot Chocolate

Lily has been waiting for snow since winter began.  It took us traveling to Chicago to get a small taste of it...

There wasn't much on the ground, but the girls scraped up as much as they could...

They managed to get enough snow collected together to make the tiniest of snowballs...

Once the snow stopped falling, the girls went from cold to hot.  Chocolate that is...

The first snowfall of the season for the Murphy girls.  Another reason we are happy to be in Chicago.