Bryan Gets Crafty

Bryan decided a while ago that he really wanted to make the kids their own growth charts.  He did it all with minimal help.  I am super impressed.  We don't own a silhouette or anything of the sort.  These awesome letters were drawn and cut by hand, the old fashioned way.  Who knew Bryan would love vinyl and modge podge so much?!

 (I may have influenced Brooke's font and colors slightly...)

Bryan gets old(er)

Happy Birthday to the best husband and friend I could ever ask for!

I made and ice-cream cake, er, pie.  It was easy peasy.  I think he loved it.  We celebrated by going to dinner at Texas Roadhouse with the kids.  I love that our kids are so good at restaurants.  They love the peanuts and bread, so we don't really need to order them dinner!

In Heath news, he has found a favorite toy.  (Why do kids ALWAYS love electronics?)

We found him an extra remote, took the batteries out and wha-la! Heath and the remote are almost inseparable.  Its like having a tracking device on him. Or an alarm.  He hangs onto it while he crawls and I hear a 'thump-slap', 'thump-slap' against the floor letting me know exactly where he is at all times.  Did I mention this little guy just melts my heart?  He is so happy and easy going.  I just LOVE him!

Romney siting

I had the chance to go to a GOP rally and see Paul Ryan the day before elections.  It was so fun!  We left the kids with some friends, drove 2 hours to Ohio and got to meet some really nice people!

  If that isn't cool enough, I got a phone call from a friend who got word of Mitt Romney coming to Pittsburgh on election day!  She and I loaded the kids up in her Tahoe and headed out to the airport to check it out. 

 We waited for about 2 hours in the 'crisp' November air.  The kids did great.  (I brought the portable DVD player and they watched Aladdin)

 I know you can't see us, but Alex and I (and our 5 kids combined) are on the top level of the parking structure.  When we got here there was only about 25 people.  By the time we left there was over 1000.  This wasn't even an official 'rally'.  Don't let the media fool you.  Even though he didn't win, he had so much support. 

Thanks Governor Romney!  It was a good campaign. 

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for so many things.  I am so blessed with a wonderful family.  Here are a couple pictures of some of my favorite little people.

 This next one is such a classic- Brooke is trying to get Heath to smile...and failing miserably! 

 I gave Heath his first hair cut a couple weeks ago.  He really needed it.  I should have done it before we took all the pictures with the three of them!
Before:

 After:
 Two more pictures of my little cuties!

 Have a very Happy Turkey Day! 

 Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count you many blessings, see what God has done!

Chef Peter

Peter made up a recipe in pre-school for Thanksgiving.

Ingredients: Eggs, butter, salt and pepper, lots of butter, potatoes, syrup.
Directions: Put them all in the turkey.  Put it in the oven.
Cooking time: 14 minutes.
Temperature: Hot- 15

His friend K had an even better recipe that had me laughing for a week after I read it.

Ingredients: Chicken Nuggets.
Directions: We don't cook it, we just buy it at Chick Fil A.  I eat it all myself.  My dad doesn't eat chicken nuggets, he just eats a French Fry sandwich.

(His mom is one of the best cooks I know!  I am sure she was excited to see this displayed in the hall way at the school!)

I love pre-schoolers.  They are hilarious.

Look-a-like

A few days ago I was dropping Peter off at school, and his teacher came up to me and was pretty excited.  She says- "I have a friend who looks JUST like your daughter! You have to see her!"
She ran back to her purse and grabbed her camera out of her bag.
She scrolls through the pictures trying to find her 'friend'.
Finally, she stops and shows me a picture of a 45 year old lady.
"Doesn't she look just like her!'
 I am thinking, you have got to be kidding me.
She was dead serious.
I was speechless.  How are you supposed to respond to that?!
Poor Brooke.  

the annual clean-out-your-closet post

It is time for my month of wearing every article of clothing in my closet!  (I usually do this in October, but things were so crazy this year I started in November).
Step One: Organize your closet and get rid of the stuff you didn't wear all summer.
Step Two: Arrange the clothes in any order you prefer.
Step Three: Start on the left side of your closet, and wear all the shirts in order until all items have been worn.
Step Three and a Half: after washing clothes, hang them back up with the hanger reversed and on the far end of the closet so you know they have already had a turn.
Step Four: If you decided not to wear any article of clothing, for ANY reason other than it was record heat and you didn't want to wear that wool sweater, time to say good-bye! 

I am 12 days into this, and I have barely any closet space (good ole' Pittsburgh construction) so I have both summer and winter out and I am trying to wear it ALL.  I am proud to say that I have about 55 tops that need to be worn...so all my layering skills are coming out!  ( I finally broke down and got rid of those wide leg khakis pants from 2002.  Other than that I actually have been good on keeping only the clothes that I actually wear)

Let me know how your closet cleaning goes!