Jackets at Disney?

The weather in Florida was great - every day except the day that we planned to go to the Magic Kingdom.  It wasn't awful.  It was typical Florida rain for 30 minutes and a bit cold afterward.  That's ok, it allowed Sophie to get one more use out of her cute Columbia jacket, which happened to perfectly match this hat!

Disney World 2011

There's the Castle.....

Note the HUGE pink sucker that Sophie is eating!

Christmas in Disney

Sophie and Daddy loved the underwater exhibit at Epcot, they even enjoyed the sharks!

Big fish!

Loran is Engaged

We want to congratulate Loran and Chris on their engagement.  Chris proposed to her on her birthday, and they are planning a January wedding.  We are happy to be a part of that celebration!!

Sophie, Mickey, and Friends

When Sophie first realized that she was going to be meeting her favorite characters, she was scared.  But, once she saw how fun it was to give Minnie a hug, she LOVED it.  Here are some of our favorites from the trip....

Minnie noticed that Sophie had on a Minnie t-shirt and they bonded for a moment!

Daisy was so nice to Sophie - it was the first duck she met!!

Sophie and Nemo

OK, this one was not the best.  Sophie was tired.  But Pooh and Tigger are her favorite.  In fact, she picked out a stuffed Pooh bear as her gift from Disney to bring home.  She sleeps with him and Eyore every night.

Happy day at Epcot!

Sophie saw Donald bend down to talk to her, so she bent down too.  So cute!!

Add caption

The stockings were hung

This was the first Christmas in our new house.  Instead of buying gifts for each other, Rodger and I decided to buy decorations for our house.  We went shopping together one day, and ended up buying a 5 foot wreath and 12 foot tree for outside.  Rodger did all of the work to decorate the outside, and it really looked great.  We were very proud of our house, and while we really loved the decorations of a certain house around the block, we felt that ours was one of the best in the neighborhood.  The inside of the house took an entire weekend to decorate.  We added 4 new trees and a lot of decor to the house.  Sophie has an animal theme, Abby had a snowman theme, the office had a classic outdoor theme, and the dining room had a single cardinal (in honor of the World Series Champs for Rodger).  My favorite part of the house was the mantle with the matching stockings and decor.  In this photo, you can also see the girls' favorite toys of the season - singing plush animals and the nativity set that plays music.  We are so thankful that we have such a beautiful house.  In addition, we were able to host three Christmas parties this year and show off our decorations to many of our family and friends.  We look forward to many Christmases together in this home.

THIS is Christmas 2011

Christmas day was a wonderful morning.  Rodger and I are so happy to be able to celebrate this special day in our new house.  I made a great brunch - egg bake and Janis' blueberry bake, and we spent the morning in our pajamas enjoying the peaceful celebration of the holiday.  It is so wonderful to see the excitement of little ones as they saw evidence of Santa in our house.  Sophie noticed that the stockings were full and Abby made a beeline for the gifts under the tree.  Rodger put on some Christmas music and we had a wonderful time opening gifts.  Here are some of our favorite pictures.

Christmas morning 2011 - Abby 10 months, Sophie 2 years

I love opening presents!!

Abby is showing Daddy how it's done...

The joys of Christmas morning

Christmas Eve 2011

The Binkowski family gathered at Andy and Margret's house for Christmas Eve.  The kids had a great time opening their gifts and playing with the new things.  Sophie loved her new boots and sleeping bag from the Binkowskis, but by far she fell in love with the Tinkerbell pajamas.  She wore them to bed that night and many of the days that we were in Florida.  She seems to be transitioning from a Mickey Mouse girl to a Princess/Fairy girl!  Abby found that she most enjoyed opening the gifts... she loved playing with the paper and the bows.                                                                                        

3rd Anniversary - It's a MAJOR award

Rodger and I celebrated our third anniversary downtown Chicago.  We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Roy's; and then we went to see "A Christmas Story:  the Musical".  It was a fun night out together, and we had a good time reflecting back on this year.  It has truly been a wonderful year for us:  new baby, sold the condo, moved into our new house, took a trip to New York, celebrated a 40th birthday, Rodger ran the marathon... We are just so happy and so blessed that we found each other and have had such a great three years together.

We match!

Sophie has realized that Mommy likes to put them in coordinating outfits.  When she sees it, she exclaimes, "we match".  This pic was from Ellie's 5th birthday party at Pump it Up.  Both girls LOVE the jumpy things.

Math Department Holiday Party 2011

The winners and their prizes!!

Binkowski Christmas Photo 2011

Someone isn't happy... because she can't eat her red sucker. 

Worst Christmas Photo 2011

Santa House 2011

Each year, our experience gets worse and worse.  Two years ago when Sophie was a baby, the photo was not bad but she wasn't smiling.  Last year, Watson was licking his chops and Sophie was crying.  And now this  year, Sophie is still hysterical, Abby is staring at the bad Santa hair, and Watson is licking his boot.  What will next year bring???