Life's Little Blessings

I can't believe that this little guy will be 2 on Tuesday.  So today we celebrated his birthday with few friends and the Stansfield's, mostly my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and her husband.  Gabe got the awesome hat and sunglasses in the picture above from his god mother. He also received an awesome firetruck, clip on tie, pair of socks, Mickey Mouse t-shirt and a stuffed Mickey.  He received a gift card from our friend Brandon, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle blanket and sound book from our family friend Aida and is receiving gifts from Aunt Beth and Grandma later.  We had some cheeseburgers and grilled chicken breasts.  I made an Asian Quinoa Salad and a fresh fruit salad.  He had a blast and really enjoyed his new gifts.  Now I am looking forward to getting his 2 year pictures done with his hat and clip on tie.

Merry Christmas from the Stansfield's. We are wishing you Joy, Love and Peace in the next year.   Maggie (5 1/2 years) James ( 15 mos) and Eva ( 7 years)

 Tonight was the girls Christmas concert at school.  Eva did it at her last school in Kindergarten and 1st grade when she attended All Saints.  This is year was special because she was a a new school but Maggie was able to do it as well.  They sang so stinkin' cute and so did the other children.  Afterwards, like Stansfield tradition we went out for ice cream and dinner at Colonial Cafe.

Today the kids and I met up with my good friend Kristen and she also happens to James' god mother, at her home in Chicago. After we picked her up we went to Lincoln Park Zoo.  We are able to some animals but unfortunately since it was kind of cold a lot of them in the buildings for the night.  We are definately going to put this on our to do list for the Spring/Summer fun.  Here are some pictures that Kristen took and had fun enhancing them on Instagram.

Despite the rain we were able to get a good hour of trick or treating in and the kids made out for sure. Next year will be interesting with Baby Stansfield and a walking James to add to the mix. Here are few pictures of the fun. James as Taz  Eva is Frankie Stein and Maggie is Clawdeen Wolf........Monster High Characters  Mommy and her little Taz  Mommy and her little trick or treaters........Halloween 2013

So today our precious little boy was baptized in our Catholic faith.  It was very hard for me to do this because Jim was in the hospital with stomach pain and we really didn't want to postpone it for another month or so.  James did really well is was flirting with all the ladies and didn't even cry when he was baptized.  We are truly blessed to have picked such wonderful God parents for him and they will also be wonderful roll models for Eva and Maggie.  Me and James' Godmother Kristin  Auntie Elaine and James  James with his god parents Joseph and Kristin  The Stansfield's minus Jim