Happy Halloween!

Some of my favorite Halloween pictures!

Miranda (Pumpkin) 2003

Miranda (Care Bear) 2004

Miranda (Strawberry Shortcake) 2005

Miranda (Princess) and Kylie (Baby Chick) 2006

Miranda (Snow White) and Kylie (Cow) 2007

Miranda (Witch) and Kylie (Care Bear) 2008

More Picures......

I will be posting more pictures of the happy couple as soon as my sweet husband can show me how to scan them and save them on the computer - I am having difficulties and need his assistance. He worked till 3am last night (this morning), so I am going to let him sleep and maybe he can get to it tomorrow.

Our Love Story...

Last month at the end of September, my husband and I celebrated 8 yrs of marriage. It all started back in 1993 when we were both in High School. It was the 1993 - 1994 school year. He was a freshman and I was a sophomore, we had a math class together, I didn’t notice him but he noticed me. He was sitting in the row next to me but in a seat behind me. He told me he had the perfect view of me and always looked at me, and thought I was beautiful. I met Jason later that school year, when we shared the same study period. We had a mutual friend, who was a sophomore with me and she was in band with Jason. Our friend was also in the study period and invited Jason to sit with us at our table. Once Jason’s friends came to that study, he sat at their table which was next to ours. That entire school year we were good friends.

During the 1994 – 1995 school year our friendship grew even more. We both did not talk about being romantically involved but we had both thought about it. The last day of school we saw each other and wished each other a good summer and said our goodbyes. All summer long I couldn’t stop thinking about Jason. I wanted to call him on the phone, but I didn’t know his phone number. I looked it up in the school phone directory and saw that he lived in a town that I was unfamiliar with and it was in a different area code then mine. I hadn’t ever heard of that town and I was afraid to call him because I thought my parents would get upset since it might be a long distance call. So I never did call him. Meanwhile he was thinking about me all summer too, but did not call me.

At the start of the next school year, 1995 –1996, Jason was the first person I saw when I walked into school for book day. We both were very happy to see each other, with gleaming smiles. We talked about what we did over the summer. Jason told me he got a pager. I asked him to give me the pager number so I could page him. I paged him that night, he called me back and we talked for hours on the phone! That school year we started dating and our relationship grew even stronger. Jason and I went to all the school dances together. (Home Coming, Winter Ball, Spring Fling and Prom)

We spent a lot of time together. I went to Sectional’s with his parents to see Jason swim, I also went to Jason’s brother’s wedding and Jason went to my graduation dinner dance with me and my family. After I graduated, I went to a local college but Jason and I still continued our love relationship while he was still in high school. In September 1996 he threw me a Surprise 19th Birthday Party and in October we went to his Homecoming dance together. We had our first break up shortly after that dance. Jason had decided to join The Marine Corp after he graduated from high school and I didn’t think our relationship could continue because he would be away for so long. We remained friends through the rest of the school year, even though we were not dating.

Jason graduated, and went off to boot camp. While Jason was in boot camp we communicated through letters. I always looked forward to receiving a letter from him. After he was in boot camp for about 1 month, in our letters, we wrote about our feelings for each other, and how they never changed. We still very much loved each other and wanted to be together. In September 1997 Jason graduated boot camp and was able to come home for a weekend. That is when we started to date again. I helped his family arrange a party for him at his brother’s house. On July 3rd 1998, Jason got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was surprised but happy. During our engagement, Jason was stationed in North Carolina. He was out of the country for a total of 1 year on two 6 month deployments. We did not see each other very much but for short visits before his deployment and after. We communicated through letters and once and awhile he would be able to call me. The last 6 months before our wedding he was out of the country. He came home less then a week before our wedding. We got married in September 2000! We went on a very short honeymoon because less then a week after our wedding I moved to North Carolina with Jason. We lived there for about 8 months as a married couple, then Jason’s 4 yr enlistment was over and we moved back home to Illinois.

Miranda's First Day of Kindergarden

What a special day for all of us! Miranda started Kindergarden in August. As you can see, Miranda was very excited. She loves school! She is doing great, having lots of fun learning new things and has met lots of new friends. She is starting to read already and she loves doing her homework. Yes, you read that right, there is homework in Kindergarden - ha!

End of Summer Outing ~ The Wiggles Show Live

We wanted to do a special outing before summer ended and Miranda went off to school. We gave the girl's a choice of going to see The Wiggles Live or going to The Wilderness Water Park for a End Of Summer Outing and you now know what they both chose. All 4 of us are Wiggles fan's! It's good clean fun with lots of dancing and singing children's favorite songs.

Not much room to dance but they did!

More Summer Memories

A few memories from the LITH carnival ~ one of the things we always look forward to during the summer! I remember when I was a child I rode that same motorcycle ride at the Arlington Heights carnival, so precious to see my daughters on it this year. They loved it as much as I did when I was a child, they went on it 2 times and would have gone on it more if I had more tickets!

Summer Memories

On Miranda's Special Daddy Daughter Day they went mini-golfing, bowling, to lunch at Miranda's favorite restaurant (Red Robin), to the library to play and read books, and ended it by getting a special toy at Walmart and coming home and playing together. They both had so much fun!

Vacation Bible Camp...

Feeding the Ducks

Fun Times at the park

Admiring beautiful flowers

A Fun Family Outing to see Sesame Street Live

Fun Times with Friends

Swimming

The annual Arlington Heights carnival

My Darling Angels!

Miranda and Kylie are such wonderful ray's of sunshine into my life! They make me laugh, smile and cry tears of joy on a daily basis. God blessed me with two beautiful, healthy, happy daughters and I am so thankful! Miranda is such a proud big sister, always looking after Kylie. Everyday when she goes off to school she always gives Kylie a big hug before she leaves and says "I'll miss you". When they see each other after school they both run to each other and give each other a big hug! It's so precious. They love to play house and dress up, taking turns pretending to be mother and daughter. Kylie is very much a momma's girl. She has always been very attached to me, we are working on that, so she can go to preschool in 2009, which she is very excited about! We are potty training now and after she goes on the potty she say's "I go school now?", because I always tell her she can't go to school until she is potty trained and does not need diapers anymore. She is a very proud little sister and looks up to Miranda. She loves babies and is so gentle and sweet with them. Miranda and Kylie are both good helpers around the house, they love to help me cook and clean up. Kylie is so happy in the morning. This morning she came down the stairs and said "Surprise". I thank God everyday for my two angels. Life would not be the same without them.

From The Mouth of Kylie

My little Kylie is growing up so fast! She will be 3 in February and has been talking since before her 2nd birthday! She say's the cutest things, here are some Id like to share with you.....

"You bring me to Chuckie Cheese someday?"

"I call you mom?" - Kylie
"No call me mommy." - Anne
"Ok mommy that's a lot of names for you" - Kylie

"Rice is good for you right?"

We were playing catch and I was not paying attention and Kylie said "Catch the ball Annie"

At dinner time Kylie looked at her plate and said "Not this again", we had
leftovers.

September 6th, 2008
We went to Kohl's to return a shirt and as we were walking to the entrance Kylie saw a picture of a girl in the window of Kohl's, she said
"Oh look, Hannah Montana", then she realized it wasn't her and said "That's a beautiful lady"

On the way home from Kohl's we went to the gas station to fill up, when I was done and ready to leave Kylie said
"Mommy that's a lot of gas in your trunk" She thought I put the gas in the trunk because it's toward the back of the car.

October 5, 2008
This morning Kylie said to me "Mommy why are you called Anne?" and I said "because that's what Papa and Grandma Kowalski named me" and Kylie said "oh"
Then she said "why is daddy called Jay?" and I said "because that's what Papa Gessert and Grandma Gessert named him" and Kylie said "oh"


Oct 9, 2008
I was talking to Kylie and I said "Before we bring Miranda to school we are going to the post office." and Kylie said "But who is going to take care of me?" and I said "You are coming with us." and she said "oh ok"


Oct 16, 2008
Kylie was sitting at the kitchen table eating an ice cream cone and I said "When you are done with that, I want you to help me clean up." and she said "ok"
As she was finishing her ice cream I started to clean up and she said to me "Sorry mommy" and I said "for what?" and Kylie said "for making a mess"
I said "it's ok if you make a mess when you are playing because you are having fun with your toys but you just have to put them away when you are done with them" and she said "ok, but I don't always know where they go"

I said to Kylie "Come on Kylie, help mommy clean up." Kylie said "You clean up and I will watch you"