It's out!

I was soooo wrong! Apparently Emma's tooth was looser than I thought...It's out! We were at one of our favorite places...Guesses? Anyone? COSTCO! WooHoo! So here are the pics of her new hole-y mouth. I'm also adding the pics of the reindeer sandwiches I made for the kids the other night...so cute :-)

Loose Tooth and Mr. Boy Boy

That's right! Emma officially has her first loose tooth! It's been wiggly for a couple of weeks, but now it is really loose. The dentist, last week, said that it may be out by Christmas, but I'm thinking maybe by New Year's.
So I am adding this next pic so everyone can see Aidan's shiner. It doesn't look so bad in the pic, but in person it looks worse. Yesterday he tried to pull down a stocking from the mantel, at a friend's house, but it was being held up by a really heavy pewter or heavy metal stocking holder and fell right on his face. I thought that he might have broken his nose at first, but it was just a black eye. Poor kid...he got the accident proneness (is that a word?) from his mother. What can I say...

The one thing that I do like about the NE is all the history that is encapsulated in the area. Yesterday we went to an old house in Hartford that was built in the Colonial times, but has the original Victorian decorations and furnishings that were owned by the family. We learned about some Victorian Christmas traditions and got to take a tour of the house. It's called the Butler-McCook Home and the last owner in the family died in 1971 at the age of 94, then she turned over all the records, diaries and the home itself to the CT landmarks society (basically the historical society).
Let's see, what else is going on...last week the kids decorated gingerbread men at the library and had a blast. We've watched just about every Christmas classic cartoon that's been on TV, Thursday we're going to make Christmas cookies for the neighbors, and hopefully string some popcorn and cranberries to put around the tree. I have, of course, waited til the last minute to send out Christmas cards and pictures, so if you get them after Christmas, I apologize. At least you should have them before the New Year :-)
That's all for now, hope everyone is staying relaxed at this hectic time of year, especially with last minute shopping. Have a fantastic week! Lots of Love to you all!

Christmas Countdown

FYI-like we haven't all been keeping track :-)

There are 15 days until Christmas!!!

Anyone done shopping yet?

Indoor Fun

So who knows the difference between sleet, ice, hail, and snow. Not me...I've been meaning to look it up though. I mean how is it determined which type of precipitation comes down even though there is moisture (like rain) and it is below 32 degrees? Shouldn't it all just be snow?
Anyway, the weather man says that we are going to get a couple of days of sleet so we are only going to go out for fun stuff...like later to make gingerbread houses at the library. After schoolwork and lunch the kids were watching a little TV. Aidan watched Caillou make a fort and Emma was bored of TV so I helped them make their own fort. Here are some pics of the fun :-)

Crazy Shopping

Hello all!
Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We had the normal turkey, homemade cranberry sauce, sausage-cranberry stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, and squash casserole (which was one of my favorites). We tried to guess some funny Thanksgiving trivia and had a relaxing evening. Legally Blonde the Musical (on Broadway) was on MTV last night. I had to watch since I love the movie so much. Gotta say that I am sooo glad that Beau and I opted not to buy tickets to the show when it first came out. I was so sad that the music and singing wasn't great and it felt so choppy! The second act went a little better, but all in all, if you really want to see it, wait for it to come back on TV. Tonight is White Christmas on ABC Family at 8pm. Unfortunately I'll be at work, so I'll have to Tivo it.
So Angel (Beau's sister) and I went out at 5:30am this morning to scout out some great deals. There were a few out there, but holy moly!!! At Kohl's there were 2 lines that wrapped around the interior isles of the entire store! I was not that impressed with the prices that I was going to wait in line for at least 2 hours. Target was just as bad! The line wrapped all the way along the front (Health & Beauty) along the side and around back to the toy dept. YIKES! Those $3 clearance shoes were going to have to wait! So it was on to Sears. They did not have crazy lines, the salespeople were helpful (a rare find on these shores), and their sales were pretty good. There were some awesome brown knee-high boots normally $75 for $20. I turned Angel on to those since I need wide calf boots. I have been wanting a toaster oven for a few days now and low and behold they were having a sales for $50 on their normally $75 Kenmore toaster ovens, plus with my $10 off coupon, I got it for $40...WooHoo! Don't you just love a bargain! And this baby is not one of those rinky dinky Black & Decker's. It is a great size! So anyway, didn't get much in the way of Christmas presents, but I thought that was a great deal :-)
Speaking of Christmas presents, just wanted to FYI those who might be thinking of getting stuff for the kids. We are banning big brand maker toys (like Fisher-Price, Mattel, etc.) due to recent lead issues. Better safe than sorry. So if you would really like to get them toys, we'd prefer they be wood and made in the USA, Canada, and maybe Mexico (the NAFTA thing). Board games, books, and DVD's are good choices too. Thanks! If you want ideas, let me know. I will be cutting Emma off from making her Christmas list here soon (it's pretty long already!) so I can get it out to you guys :-)

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND! Hooray for no work!

Before I forget...

I had to mention this before I forget. The kids have always said funny things and it cracks me up, but tend to forget as time goes by. For example, Dom used to watch Dora at 2 and 3. On one show they had to choose which road Dora should take and say it in Spanish. Dom was choosing the yellow one, but he kept yelling Armadillo! Armadillo! instead of Armarillo, and it was sooo cute. I don't know how many of you are familiar with Pioneer Clubs. I was part of Pioneer Girls as a kid and loved it. It's kind of a Christian alternative to Girl Scouts. You earn achievement badges for things like cooking and sewing and fishing as well as Bible badges for learning verses and doing book units on kindness and that sort of thing. Anyway, Emma has started going on Monday nights here in CT and it kills Aidan that he can't go. But he has reconciled it within himself that he can go to "Pineapple Boys" when he is 4. ROFL! It kills me every time he says it. Because then he says he is done being 2 and would like to be 4 now. Crazy kid is a crack up!

The First Snow 2007

Hello all! Well, I thought today was as good a day as any to start our new family blog. I hope that it helps me to keep all of you up-to-date with pictures and goings on of the kids and our family. Instead of sending out twenty e-mails and not remembering what I said to whom, you can stay updated as much or as little as you want.

So October 28, 2007 was our official 1-year anniversary for being here in Connecticut. It seems like we just got here. I've looked at pics from that same time last year and we all look so different, especially the kids!!! Here is a pic from Halloween last year and one from this year:



















Halloween 2006 Halloween 2007

To me they look so little from last year and so big now, but JMO. As you can see, Emma kept up with the princess theme: last year being Sleeping Beauty and this year Ariel. She wanted to be a cowgirl and Aidan a cowboy, but she chose too late and we couldn't find a cowgirl costume in time. I got Aidan one of those costumes where it looks like you're riding a horse. I thought it was totally cute, but Beau thought it was too silly (not really the word he said, but you get the idea :-)) I won't spoil all the news from the past year for our Christmas newsletter (yes, I am going to do one this year), but I will tell you Emma grew quite a bit.

So, today was our first snowfall here in NE! I have to say that although maybe not totally prepared to be gallivanting around outside yet, I was ready to see snow this year since the temperatures have been so frigid in the last couple of weeks. But there was no gradual temp change from summer to winter. It was 70 through October and then BAM! in the 40's and now 30's.

Well, I told myself that I would only have a half hour to start this thing, otherwise I could be on here for hours and never get stuff done around the house. We have a Life Group Thanksgiving tonight (our Bible Study) and I am making a German Chocolate Pecan Pie, Tex-Mex Pumpkin Patties, and homemade cranberry sauce...YUM! Plus we've got to get the house cleaned up since we having a guest over for Thanksgiving and I have to work tomorrow night 'til 11p.m. Tomorrow is shopping for food and a watching Collin day, so no cleaning tomorrow. Anyway, talk to you all soon! Love and miss you lots!!!