Nathan's Christmas Program

Nathan's teachers always do such a great job for the holidays. They did this whole Christmas production with a bunch of 2 & 3 year olds. WOW... And it turned out very nice. I think Nathan's favorite part was definately all the cookies at the end!

Carson's Love

This is true love.......

when will the saga end....

Tree trimming

In my mind I always have this grand evening envisioned, with tree trimming, apple cider and christmas music. Somehow this is never the evening I get.

Instead this is actually the evening that I got. Kids crying over which ornaments were theirs, pushing and shoving to get the ornaments onto the tree. Rich is just as guilty in this fiasco, he did his share of complaining. Maybe the kids will look back and think about how much fun they had. Maybe?

I hope you can see this clip, not sure how to turn it the other way.

Happy Thanksgiving from Pittsburgh

This year we are Thankful for such good friends that would let us come and crash with them for Thanksgiving. Margie and Scott were so kind to let us stay with them. Margie made a Thanksgiving feast fit for the Gods! Scott and Richard got very into finishing their puzzles. Which honestly we have never done before, but quite liked. I enjoy chatting and shopping with Margie.
The kids had a blast together! I wish we lived closer the boys I am afraid they would get into some serious trouble together. I think actually Felix and Rylee played the best, an arranged marriage might be in the works. We really had a blast!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Our special places- Day 3

Before we left we decided that we would visit our old house. What memories it brought back. Pittsburgh is such a special place to me, It had so much character. Our house was over a hundred years old. It was drafty and cold, but it was our home and we loved it. Also, we visited the neighbors that were still there. They were the BEST neighbors that we have ever had! Tim was so helpful to us and the girls, they really helped take care of me when Rich was away with school. It was wonderful to see them again. I am sorry my boys cried the whole time and we had to go, but it was still joyful to see them.

A trip to the "Burgh" wouldn't be complete without a visit to Carnegie Mellon. It was fun to walk around campus again, and feel the joy of not having to go there everyday. The kids thought it was funny that daddy was in school. I guess they don't think of Daddies sitting in desks doing homework.

Next stop was our little tiny community strip of stores. We lived in Squirrel Hill ( yes there was alot of squirels). We made a stop to the candy store (the name of it escapes me at the moment). But it was a regular stop as well as Ritas. Too bad Ritas was closed, they made KILLER custard. And of course my favorite, favorite feature of all time are the bridges. Pittsburgh is full of bridges, sometimes, actually alot of times I got lost and couldn't figure out which side of the bridge I was on. Unfortunately, this picture isn't that great. (I need my camera back!!)

Pittsburgh Zoo-Day 3

One of our favorite things to do in Pittsburgh was to go to the zoo. We went there at least 3 times a month. The aqaurium is our favorite. It was a little chilly, but we were glad to go!

Nathan's Thanksgiving feast...Gobble Gobble

This is the Thanksgiving feast that Nathan had at school. The teacher's let the kids make their own food (with the moms helping of course). They mixed the batter themselves and took everything to the kitchen to be cooked. His teachers really do a fabulous job. Who else would let all these kids mix up their own meals??




Taking pictures just isn't the same without my camera. But thankful I still have my old trusty...

My saddest day

I don't have a pet, but I bet I' am just as sad that my camera has died. I just got the thing for mother's day. I went to grab it and take pictures at Nate's school for his Thanksgiving program and it was cracked. What a sad, sad day : ( I guess this weekend while I was at work, Rylee grabbed her coat off the shelf and my camera went along with it. Unfortunely it wasn't insured and to fix it is almost as much as a new one. Yes, you can cry for me!

Nathan's new friend

This is Nathan's new best friend. Bradley is the class bear that get's to take a turn going to everyone's house. What great teachers Nate has. He has loved taking care of this bear.

Happy Halloween!

This year all of my kids were very excited about Halloween. Rylee wanted to be an angel, Nate was an excellent pirate. I actually wanted Carson to be a chicken like Nate and Rylee were when they were 2. But Carson would have nothing to do with the chicken suit, he wanted to be a football man.
We started off the night with a neighborhood pizza party and then went trick-or-treating from there. The kids actually were done in about an hour, I think all the days festivities wore them out. They sure weren't to tired to rip open the candy bags as soon as we got home.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

My front tooth is missing

Rylee was very funny about having a loose tooth, she really didn't want to talk about it let alone show me. One morning while she was getting ready for school she brushed her teeth, and her loose tooth fell right out. She was SO excited. While she was at school the kids told her that the tooth fairy wasn't real.
She came home and asked my friend about it and my friend told her that the tooth fairy is only real if you believe in it. So, after she woke up in the morning and found her money, she said that she just knew the tooth fairy was real.

Make a Smilebox postcard

Welcome Aunt Ashley!!!

We are so excited to have Ashley come for a visit. We had so much fun with her. First, we took her for a train ride uptown to visit the city. Then,we took her to The Biltmore, the largest home in the United States which is in Ashville. We also got to go to Charleston, SC. for being at the beach in October was pretty darn great! I can't believe that Rich and Rylee played in the water, the rest of us weren't too brave, we just enjoyed the sand.

Pretty Pumkins

Aunt Ashley got to share in our joy of carving pumkins. The kids were very into doing it themselves this year. They turned out lovely don't you think?

Pictures of our Freezing cold day at The Bilmore House