Happy Thanksgiving

Well, we didn't have a terribly exciting Thanksgiving, but the food was really good, the company was better and really what more can you ask for! For years my mom has complained about making rolls for Thanksgiving because she thinks she doesn't make rolls well, and they aren't worth the effort. So this year, I decided to take on the challenge. I called my good friend Megan who makes VERY yummy rolls and asked her to come over to teach me how to make rolls. So today I tackled rolls. I am excited to say that they came out very yummy!! Aaron kept trying to escape up the stairs. So here are the kids hanging out on the balcony upstairs!
Also in a rare occasion, someone other than me picked up the camera, so here is a picture of me waiting for dinner! And of course, my handsome husband carving the turkey! So that was our Thanksgiving. We enjoyed the time with my parents and the chance to remember the many reasons we have to be grateful.

Potties and Pirates and Pajamas OH MY!!

Kind of an odd title, but this weekend has been an interesting one. Eileen came home from preschool on Thursday with a Pirate Costume. She was very excited about it and told me on the way home that the reason that the edges were jagged was because an alligator had tried to eat her! I think the idea was talking about pilgrims journeying to the new world, but Eileen's memories came out sounding more like Peter Pan. :)
Dan has started into wrestling season again, and as a result had had to be away a lot. When he came home with his new coach shirts, he asked Eileen if she liked his new shirt, and she said "Yes, can I have it?" Instead Dan gave her one of his old ones, and of course Anna needed one too. When she said how much she was going to miss Daddy, we told her she could just wear his shirt to help her feel better. So the girls have worn them as PJ's while Dan was away at wrestling. They just look so cute!!

Finally, our big news, we (by that I mean me) are potty training Anna. Anna ran around bottomless all morning and held it all in until after lunch when she let a little leak. (fortunately she had been confined to the kitchen so it was easy clean up) She came and told me and we rushed her to the toilet where she sat for 10 minutes before she finally let it all out in the toilet. Eileen, Aaron and I all clapped and cheered for her! I then put her in a diaper and put her down for her nap. After naps she was still dry, so I sat her on the potty and and shortly she again went in the potty! I'm so excited, we made it through the first day of potty training with out any major accidents and a couple successes. Not that she is anywhere near potty trained yet, but it's nice to have the first day go so well. Eileen was also a HUGE help, she sat i the bathroom with Anna and read books to her and brought in books for her to look at. What a sweet big sister! Aaron of course tried to get into everything, but he clapped for her when she did it!

Happy Birthday Eileen!

Today my little girl turned 4. I can't believe how much she has grown this last year. This has been a big year for her. With preshcool starting and a new brother joining the family. she has truly grown up before my eyes. We had a birthday party for her Saturday night so her Aunt Sandi and Uncle Jon could be there. It was so funny to watch her open her presents. Most of them were clothes since she was in desperate need of some cool weather clothes, but she was very diplomatic about it, saying how cute each thing was. She even let Anna open some and ooh and aah for her... :) Dan had been gone all day for a bus driver training course and found a surprise when her got home...
Dan had stayed up late the night before to make a special "hot air balloon" cake "just like mommy's" for Eileen because that was the birthday cake she wanted. Unfortunately, she and Anna were unable to wait until after the party to eat some. I caught Eileen chewing some of it, and walked into the kitchen to find Anna's fingers still in it and cake all over her face, hands and the floor. They didn't get any more cake that night....

Eileen's present from Dan and I was a kid tough camera. She opened it first (that was a mistake on our part!) and wanted to play with it the rest of the night instead of opening her other presents! She spent all evening snapping pictures. It was so cute to watch. She got so excited when we showed her that she could put them on her computer!
The first thing she did when we put some on her computer was open them in Paint and color all over them! Here are a couple of pictures she took that night. I think we have a future photographer on our hands! I'm just impressed that she took pictures of what she aimed at!




A few fun facts about Eileen at 4 years old :

1. Eileen love to say "actually..." and then of course she tells us how things really are... :)
2. Eileen loves jokes. Her favorite is "knock knock" - "who's there" - "Elephant!" - "elephant who?" - "ANNA!!!!" None of her jokes make sense, but that's the funny part!
3. Eileen loves to sing. She sings everything, including how her friend Austin is 5 and is going to kindergarten next year"
4. She loves to play computer games and is VERY good at them.
5. She loves to play house and invites Mommy out to visit her at her house.
6. She loves to watch movies (maybe because she only gets to watch stuff once or twice a week) especially "Toy Story" "Bob the Builder" and "Veggie Tales"
7. Her favorite food (the one she requested for her birthday dinner) is Mac and Cheese, in any form.
We love you Eileen!!

Happy Halloween!

Well, The girls, and especially Eileen, were very excited about Halloween this year. Dan and I have been talking up Eileen's old Ladybug costume to her for a while now, so she was excited to get into it when the time finally came. She kept walking around saying "I a lady-bug!" About 4 months ago, Eileen told us that she wanted to be Jessi (From 'Toy Story') for Halloween. Unfortunately, Mommy and Daddy are slackers, so as of Thursday morning, she had no costume. So mommy spent Thursday morning (while Eileen was at preshcool) looking for a costume for Eileen. She had told everyone that she wanted to be a "Cow-she" so mommy went hunting and got rather frustrated... 3 hours later, I picked Eileen up and we went home. She was so excited about her costume that she wore it for the next 2 days straight.
Aaron was a chicken...literally. :) He wore Anna's old chicken costume. It barely fit, but hey, for a hour, who cares! He still looks very cute! (Of course he is very cute...so no surprise there!)The girls favorite part was getting to Trick or Treat with Aunt Sandi and Uncle Jon. We walked around the neighborhood and Eileen rode her "horse" and Anna was carried by Aunt Sandi. The girls made out like bandits and we are now have plenty of candy to last us the year, and to still have enough to hand out next year!!