Kailyns Baptism

On Saturday the kids and I drove up to Hudson Wisconsin for the baptism of a friend of ours from our last ward. Kailyn looked beautiful and the kids were very impressed with the whole dunking in the font action.
I made he step outside for a second into the freezing cold to take her photo! Congratulations!

Dapper Dan - errr, Calvin

Look at this handsome fellow in his first tie! I think this was Max's tie at some point, but this morning, Calvin wanted to wear it to church. I dug out Max's old suit coat as well and Calvin was transformed into the dapper figure you see below. Good luck getting a good shot of this clown. He was jumping all over the place as I tried to get his photo before stuffing him into the car and racing off to church!

Thanks for the Year!

With Thanksgiving mere days away; I thought it might be appropriate to re-visit last Thanksgiving since I was not blogging at that point and I have nothing better to do (i.e. I am avoiding the laundry).

Here's what the kids looked like. I have to say - not a huge change over the last year!

We had two guests, Koo and her roommate Jill.
We stayed in our pajamas the entire day.
We played a lot of games.

The kids licked a lot of bowls.

Koo carried Calvin around in a plastic bin. Not sure why since he obviously did not like it!

We made enough food for an army. We always do.

Last year we tried a new roasted cauliflower dish (in the front up there on the left). It was good - I remember it had nuts in it, but it was not good enough to come back again this year. Also, I think it called for a whole stick of butter.

We made a lot of roasted root vegetables. I love roasted root vegetables. However, they have been deemed "too commonplace" to earn a spot on this years table.

These are mom's rolls - yum. We make them every year, but I have to admit I have another favorite that I make every year as well. Martha's sweet potato rolls with cardamom. Heaven! Hmmm, I cannot seem to find the recipe on-line and I am too lazy to type it up.


Calvin was very laid back while he ate.

Just look at those cute boys!

OK, look at them again!
This year we are having Koo and a friend of hers and we are having dessert with the Quick family. I am planning on making 2 pumpkin pies (MUST have enough for breakfast the next morning), one cranberry tart and a lemon meringue pie. Koo is making a cheesecake and another pie so we should be covered in the dessert department!

Hopelessly Devoted

How much do I love that Kristin Chenoweth is on TV and she gets to sing?! I love her! I can never manage to see this show on it's actual night, so I watch the episodes on-line when I have the chance. The actress who played Audrey in the Little Shop of Horrors movie is in the show as well.

Holiday Socks

Here is a cute advent idea for this year that uses up all of those mismatched socks we all have. Now, my mismatched socks are not darling colors like these, but I am going to try and see what I can do! I love the holidays!

Impressed

Some very talented lady made this banner for Halloween. She just printed the letters off on her computer. Isn't it amazing?! I LOVE how she decorated the mantle - especially the clear jars of candy! So neat.

Lust

Oooo, I have been drooling over this office supply themed kit! Look at the cool papers - I love the color scheme as well!


I am also in love with this idea for a super cool advent calender
Each of the little pyramids is filled with chocolate. Do you think it is reusable year after year?


And this is my new favorite overpriced church bag. Isn't it gorgeous? Maybe someday I'll see one at TJMAxx.

Crafty Girl - I scrapped!

Hooray! My buddy Kelly stopped by last night for a scrapbooking night! We stayed up until midnight and had a great time! These are layouts from Easter 2005.

Crafty Girl - Happy Day!

I did it! Today I finished all 75 of my Christmas cards! A big thank you to my friend Nola - we helped each other with our cards this year; she tied ribbons and I was in charge of cutting lots of paper! Hooooooray! Now I need a family photo and a Christmas letter!

Here they are all lined up in a row. Since most of you reading this are getting a card, I am not showing them to you!

Here they are again from a different angle!

Here is a little sneak peek!


EDIT:
Christmas is past, so here they are!

I'm first! ME, ME, ME!!!

The weather has been strangely warm around here. When does all this strangely warm global warming weather just become normal? Every day at 12:02pm we walk down to the bus stop to meet Sophie. Actually, most of us walk. Calvin runs. Every day. He has this unquenchable desire to always be first, so he sprints ahead of us on the way there and on the way back. Unfortunately for me, he also seems to have no concept of the danger of darting into the road so we are a comical and yet annoying group as we journey to the bus stop. Calvin is running, I am yelling at him to slow down or stop while simultaneously dragging Johnny behind me at the top speed I can get out of his little legs. Often I have to dart ahead and grab Calvin because he is not listening. This is a little piece of my life that happens 5 days a week. Every week.

Here we are running home from the bus stop. See Calvin checking to make sure he has a sizable lead?
Let's take a closer look at this kid. Mismatched pajamas at 12:02pm, no socks, slippers and winter apparel. Where is his mother?!
Waiting for me at the door.


And just for fun, some ABC's! This was take 4 by the way and that's Johnny singing along in the background.

Feathered (and furry) friends