Five Seconds of Fame

Last June, Ethan, Kate and I starred in our first commercial together! Okay, so we got 2 seconds in a 30- second public service announcement, but that counts, right?

It took a while for me to catch wind of where and when it was being aired. And luckily, one of my contacts from the shoot emailed me the youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgKBbFF3Zw4. Enjoy the video and pics from the shoot below...

Happy Halloween! (Part 2)

Spiderman and my little elephant getting ready to hit the neighborhood!

Our pastor lives a block away...they greeted trick or treaters with a warm fire pit out front! Perfect for warming my hands :)

Later, we joined a princess and a star trooper...

...an upset Knight...

a curious dalmation...

...and his firefighter ...

...for an evening of roasted marshmallows and running around our friend's back yard!

The adults gathering around the fire pit.

What a great Halloween!

Happy Halloween! (Part 1)

The kids carving their first pumpkins this weekend...

A blurry photo of the kids, but you can see the jack-o-lanterns really well!

Everybody Needs an Uncle Jimmy

I have a lot of cousins. A LOT. And since they're all over the world I love it when they are passing through Chicago and have time to stop for a visit.

I was feeling rather brave one weekend...oddly enough, the weekend after my girlfriends voluntarily took on one of my own kids to add to their two. I thought to myself, "If they can take care of three small kids, I can certainly drive up to Chicago for the day with the ones I already have!" I normally don't travel far with them by myself. But with the news of one of my cousins passing through town, I thought it was worth trying!

I was blessed with no traffic, no tantrums, and plenty of beautiful weather for a stroll through Lincoln Park Zoo where I met up with my cousin Jimmy. So great to catch up with him and meet his girlfriend, Ari. I introduced him to Ethan as "Uncle Jimmy" since in Filipino culture, age plays a big part in how we address one another. At least I didn't make him call him "Tito Jimmy!" 

Weekend Getaway

The day after the wedding brought us gallivanting around Dinosaur Valley State Park...Where are the kids, you ask? ha ha....not with us :) We enjoyed a day of hiking in some beautiful woods, hunting dinosaur tracks, and wading in streams. I had forgotten what it was like to play!

AAARGH!

Our little car rental! It was fun tooling around in this red VW bug!

We are forever indebted to our good friends, the Zimmermans and the Reedys for taking on an extra kid for the weekend and giving us the chance to "getaway". From what I can tell, Ethan and Kate had a great time doing sleep overs at their friends' houses!

Congratulations Nathan and Amy!

The beginning of October brought us not only birthdays, but a wedding, too! David and I flew to Dallas to attend his nephew's wedding in Fort Worth, TX. Some pics below...

The Bridal Party

Cutting the groom's cake

In case you're wondering, yes, the groom's cake is in the shape of Nathan's favorite chewing tobacco.

The wedding cake!

Nathan's grandparents

Nathan's parents

Me, David and Nathan's youngest sister 

No wedding is complete without line dancing!

Nathan's younger brother with his girlfriend

Nathan and Amy finishing up their first dance

Thank you to Dana Copp, David's uncle, for taking this pics and sharing them with us!

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Because I'm forgetful...

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Ethan's birthday wishes to Grandma Cuesta...

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jdCIICX8m8)

Kate's 2nd Birthday

Happy Birthday, Kate! We had a small party with her closest friends (in other words, all of Ethan's friends, lol!) and their families. A cookout, playtime, cupcakes and gifts made for a great day to spend the afternoon.

No party is complete without weapons!

Dinner time!
Kate still gets a bit overwhelmed with big "to dos". Daddy had to hold her while we all sang Happy Birthday.
Kate isn't into any kind of story book character, so I decided to use an autumn theme for her cupcakes. Do you like them? I found this idea on party cupcake ideas website. SO EASY to do, and pretty!

Ethan's Pre-K Fall Program

Ethan's school hosted a family cookout with a little program to close. Each of the three classes prepared a song that they performed.

I never thought little kids could be so cute and tug at my heart strings so much! Here's Ethan with his class singing "The Butterfly Song" If you get my updates via email you'll need to go directly to my blog to view the video. http://snyderfamilynews.blogspot.com/

Fall Fun

Today was our first time at the "new and improved" Rader Family Farms. When I heard they were charging an admission fee this year I was REALLY upset! Moms are always looking for great places to take their kids for free, and for many years this was a family fall staple! We were not disappointed, and to be honest, the $5/person is well worth it (and it's only $3/person during the week! Kids 2 and under free).

This little piggy went to market... ha ha ha! I thought these piglets were the cutest thing!

The highlight of the morning was the jumping pillow. Ethan and Kate loved it.



I loved it, too. To be honest, I'm seriously considering quitting the gym and buying a season pass to the farm, just so I can jump to my heart's content!

David got some serious height! He looks like he's standing on the roof of this barn in this picture!

Woohoo!

We ended the morning with some snacks and pumpkin picking, of course.


We'll definitely be back soon! For more info on the farm, go to http://www.raderfamilyfarms.com/ .