the Sillies

In this photo, you can find:

~House shoes that are about 2 sizes too small

~an Easter Basket "hat"

~Mardi Gras beads

~A speedy trike ridin' fool

~Christmas PJ's in February

~The lack of matching Christmas PJ pants

~Lots of fun-lovin' silliness! 

We love sillies!

Winter at the Wineries

Derek and I planned a day at the wineries with Erica and Todd.

Cole got to visit with Na and G for the night. Cole and I have a meeting place to get him to Na's house...in the ghetto of Sauget, near the strip clubs. In the middle of day I don't worry too much. :)

Cole loves to get in the front seat and "push buttons."

Cole loves Na-time.  There is always lots of book reading, playing, and plenty of snuggling.  

Have I mentioned how lucky in love this boy is?!

St. Genevieve is far away...and the wineries are in the middle of nowhere as far as I can tell.

That makes for lots of pretty, country scenery.

Middle of Nowhere, Missouri features:

Donkeys (Asses if your Nasty)

&

One-Lane Bridges

First Stop - Cave Vineyards

Neat!  The wine was good and the ambiance very cool.  This would be great in the heat of summertime to stay cool!

Next stop - Crown Valley Winery

I can only imagine how pretty this is when it's green out.  The grounds are very beautiful and we could see both Elk and Bison on the distance.   

We met "our future selves" later in the day at Charleville.  They called Crown Valley "the Walmart of wine" and I can agree.  It felt 'corporate.'

I do have love any establishment with a DD promotion! 

Crown Valley had a cute gift shop with lots of nice goodies.  However, I was a little disturbed to see bison burger for sale after seeing the amazing animals grazing the grounds. ;- /

  :

Our third and final stop of the day was Charleville.  My favorite!

What's not to love about a place where you have to wait for traffic (real-live-cowboy traffic, that is) and you are greeted by the friendliest, gator-riding dog!

Charleville offers wine and great microbrew selections.  We all opted for the Half-Wit-Wheat.  Yum.  We got glasses first and then opted for a growler.  A couple of growlers also made it home with us!

We also met "our future selves" at Charleville.  Two couples, forty years into their marriages, old school values, wine and beer loving, and easy to talk to.  I think we all enjoyed visiting with them.

This place was gorgeous.  We will be back!  That porch is calling me.  And I think the growlers have been calling Derek.

We wound up the night with (very salty) Mexican food.  

It was a really great day with wonderful friends.  We can't wait to do it again!  

Daddy Stuff: Playin' trucks

Sometimes I play trucks with Cole.  

Holy Cow, not nearly as well as Daddy does it!  

Little did I know all that went into playin' trucks!?

Daddy is WAY better at this.

AND, the space between the couch cushions makes a great ravine to rescue your 'guy' from.

Corbin & Carter

The Lange's welcomed Carter Daniel to the world on February 8, 2010, his Daddy's birthday!  Cole and I joined some friends to visit the expanded family.

Carter is beautiful, content, and makes the most adorable noises! 

Cole LOVED playing with Corbin and all of Corbin's toys!  

I loved the time with the girls.  

I love any time with the girls.  

I missed going to DiCarlo's and Lau Nae with them, but I loved the choice to spend the day with my little guy.

Cole and Corbin had lots of fun...with the bathroom sink.  It turned into a wet-shirt mess!  All in the name of little-boy-good-times.

Cheri makes it look easy.  

She is a natural.  

Her easy-going, laid-back, perfect mom-to-two-of-the-cutest-little-boys style is awesome.  

I am so glad to have her as my friend and soul mate.

 Don't forget that Cole loved Corbin and Corbin's toys.

Goofy Boy Stuff.

Girl Talk.

Baby Loving, Holding, Smelling, Talking, Cooing.

Lovely Loviness.

 

To top the day off I attempted to bribe Cole with a Happy Meal but had to drag him out of Corbin's house kicking and screaming anyway we ended with a Happy Meal.  

All that good-timin' left Cole WORN OUT!  

He fell asleep mid-fry.

We had a really great day.

So handsome

He and his daddy both look extraordinarily cute in this hat.

I am smitten with both of them.

Sink Bath

Taking a bath in the kitchen sink is cool for so many reasons:

 

- you get clean, obviously

- you can make up songs with awesome lyrics like "scrub, scrub, scrub...." along with a 'dance.'

 - new 'bath toys'

- because time is running out before you completely outgrow sink baths.

This last point might make your mama kinda sad. Just so you know....

Jobs

We all have our jobs.  Phoebe and Lita hold down the fort at home while we are away. 

Derek does genius things with DNA.  He does things with science that will help prevent and cure for illness and disease.  These things are far beyond my imagination and ability to understand.

Cole goes to Jessica's house where he learns about social skills, counting, colors, pottying, and much more!

I spend my days with adults who have mental illness.  It's never dull and I work for an awesome agency and with amazing people.

 Phoebe and Lita have it really rough though, right?  

Shadow Puppets

We met Na & G for dinner.

Cole told the waitress he wanted a Happy Meal.

He ate French Fries instead.

Na, Cole, and a French Fry made shadow puppets.

Superbowl XLVI: Colts V Saints

Dan, Tracey, and Ryan Koster have been hosting the annual-Carlinville-Superbowl-Bash for years....as long as Derek and I have been together.  Each year we are invited and each year we have declined.  This year we decided to 'live a little' and take Superbowl Monday off of work and head to the party!

We headed up Sunday morning for a visit with Oma & Opa before the party.

There was entertainment for everyone!  Cole really, really enjoyed Ryan's LEGO table!  I think we have a budding architect....and an idea for Daddy to make for a future holiday!

Man Fun: Drinks, Food, Football....enough said.

Kid Fun: Pinata!

Man Work: Pinata fixin, Nerd clean-up, and Money counting

Lady Fun: Games and Giggles

So much fun had by all!  We'll be back next year!

Oh yea, the Saints won! Yay!

Funny guy

What happened to my baby?  And, where did that toddler of mine go?

Vanished.

They are gone.  This boy is in the place of them....

...luckily I like this goofy kid a lot.  He has an attitude sometimes....he makes me laugh with his independent play and talking.  He talks to the dogs, "Phoebe, no scared. I'm a big boy."  (or something along those lines.)  Playing in the bath, "I peed.  I peed.  Uh-oh.  I peed."  And then there are the times when he catches us laughing...oh boy!  Watch out, whatever it was that we were laughing at, we get LOTS of it!  The boy loves to entertain!  I laugh harder at this kid than I have since I met Aunt Melissa when I was just a kid!