Gingerbread House Making

The Brentwood Library had a Gingerbread House workshop this year!

Reagan made one...(well, she ran around while Todd made it, but when the candy came out she was suddenly more interested).

...and Jocelyn made her first one all by herself!

The final product:
Reagan's

Jocelyn's

LOVE THEM!

Todd's 30th Birthday!

This year Todd FINALLY turned 30! I had to hear how "old" I was for the last 1 year, 3 months and 14 days because I was in my 30s and Todd was still in his 20s. Well, no more of that. I guess I will have to deal with his antics once again when I turn 40, but that's not for a LONG time. For now we are BOTH in our 30s!

I really wanted to have a big party to celebrate Todd's 30th birthday. I am so thankful to have Todd in my life. He's a wonderful husband and great father. He works hard for our family so I can stay at home with our girls. He does so much for us, so I wanted to do something special for him. You only turn 30 once, so I wanted to be sure to celebrate this milestone birthday! I had planned for quite some time that I would throw a bowling party for him. Todd and I used to bowl monthly before we were blessed with our children. I thought this type of party would be a fun way to celebrate with our friends and family!

Happy 30th Birthday Todd! I love you!

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A Thanksgiving Blessing

Thanksgiving dinner has been held in our household for a few years now, however, this is the first year that Todd and I actually cooked the Turkey ourselves.

Usually, my parents are here and they do most of the work. Okay, maybe they do all of the work. This year, Thanksgiving timing didn't work out so that my parents could be here. They sold their house in NC and are moving to OH and had too much stuff going on to make a trip up right at that time. Although we aren't much help to them when they are here for Thanksgiving, at least they know we must have been paying some attention to what they have been doing in years past, because this year we pulled off the entire dinner all by ourselves AND we did it well.

There may not have been homemade turkey gravy, but there was homemade stuffing and mashed potatoes. The turkey was cooked in time, and was a pretty good one if I do say so myself. The entire family got here on time and we were sitting down at the table eating by 5:15pm. A Thanksgiving miracle!
This year was the first year Reagan could actually enjoy the food at Thanksgiving. She liked the broccoli and cheese, the corn, and the roll best of all. The turkey was her least favorite with the stuffing a close second. She didn't touch the mashed potatoes.

And Jocelyn said the Blessing! She was adorable!

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving...wish you were here with us Mom & Dad!

Light-Up Night 2011

The Holiday Season has officially begun in Pittsburgh! We went downtown for Light-Up night, as we try to do every year. Last year only Todd and Jocelyn went because it was too cold to take a 4-month-old Reagan to. This year was Reagan's first year!

Jocelyn has no problem sitting on Santa's lap and telling him what she wants for Christmas. She told him she wanted Bake Pops for Christmas and he said he's throw in a Dora doll...Thanks Santa! That one WASN'T on her list!

Reagan was not thrilled with Daddy placing her on Santa's lap. Polar opposite of Jocelyn! I guess she doesn't want anything for Christmas this year. ;-)
After we saw Santa we went outside to visit his Reindeer! Very cool!
It was a fun night in Downtown Pittsburgh!

The Circus!

Today we took the girls to the circus at the Consol Energy Center! It was a great time & we all really enjoyed it!

During the Pre-show, the clown asked Jocelyn to come up and do a trick with him. Boy was she nervous!!! Just watch...

Halloween 2011

This year Jocelyn wanted to be a witch for Halloween. I thought we should try to stay away from the typical green-faced witch and stick to a little less scary storybook style witch. I loved her costume, and so did she! We added some last minute make-up on Halloween. Make-up always makes the day a little more special and fun!

Reagan was the witch's black cat. She got a little overwhelmed with the rushing to get ready for trick-or-treating and wasn't very cooperative with her make-up. Grandma basically had to hold her down while I tried my best to give her a nose and some whiskers. She wouldn't cooperate for a picture either. One day when she wonders why there are so many more pictures of Jocelyn than her I will have to remember to tell her that it wasn't because she was our second child--it was because we didn't want to embarrass her with a variety of pictures that look similar to the one below.

She was, however, much happier when she got home from trick-or-treating and saw how many lollipops she had in her basket!

And here is a better picture of Reagan in her costume, taken on an earlier date. She is minus a nose and whiskers, but it will have to do!
And Jocelyn minus the make-up. The cutest little witch I have ever seen!