Ryan took it very literally when Kacey said
THE GIRLS are dressing up...

And we were stunning!


The beautiful hostess! (on the right, the beautiful girl on the left was a guest ;-D)

Apparently we have lots of dog loving friends, why can't my dogs behave themselves like this at a party?!


Thanks Dave & Kacey ~ Your home is beautiful, your friends are so much fun and the food was delicious!

Soggy Dog Christmas

Way back on December 4th (time is flying!) we kicked off the holiday season at the SOGgy-Dohg Christmas party! SOG is Shades of Gray and Dohg for Pladdohg, you know the bands I always post gigs for? Pladdohg is Ryan's aunt and uncles band that used to practice in our basement, not everyone can say they had a celtic rock band in their basement, good times! Anyway...Joey (drummer) & Joy (fiddler) hosted at their home in Eden. Joy made AMAZING Filipino food and we danced, like really danced, to live music no less! Aside from being the fiddler Joy is also one of our choreographers for Jaks so you know she took this seriously. We first learned the swing (although it is important to note that Ryan took 2nd place in the swing contest of 5th grade so he needed no teaching there!) and then the waltz, which was actually quite difficult! But so much fun.

Definitely not your every day party and most certainly a fantastic way to start the holidays!

Ryan and Tomba, cute...apparently I spent the whole night behind the camera!

Shutterfly Me!

As an avid Shutterflier I am taking advantage of their offer for Christmas cards if I post about them, I figured I post about them anyway why not get something out of it??

I show off all of my Shutterfly books to anyone who comes to our house… A couple of years ago I started making year books and I love them! They are very high quality and on the rare occasion where we have had an issue they have been quickly and courteously replaced. I highly recommend checking out the 12X12 book. We also do a yearly book for Ryan’s mom of his whole family, the 8.5X11 is the perfect size and a small brag book for my mom of just Dyl! Check them out here http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books I also made Dylan this ABC book this year and he loves it!

Each year I also make a calendar. It is so nice to look back at what was happening during this month last year and have all the important dates available at a glance. http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/desk-calendars

Aside from these consistent purchases I have also used their cards as invitations, announcements and thank yous. http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery One of my favorites was this Thank You for Dylan’s first birthday.

Aside from all their printed products I also LOVE their share sites! http://www.shutterfly.com/nav/signedOutShare.sfly

If you aren’t already on Shutterfly check them out!

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.

~Elisabeth Foley

Dylan vs Megamind

And Megamind lost...we only lasted about 45 minutes but in that time Dylan LOVED his popcorn, candy and sody pop! He also kept going down the row to sit about 4 seats away, is he already embarrassed to be seen with us??

Ok maybe we are just a titch embarrassing...

Or maybe he's just really, really cool!?!

That one fall day...

Of all the animals,
the boy is most unmanageable.
-- Plato

**Please excuse the smattering,
I could not eliminate any of these faces!

**Happy Turkey Day**

Ryan hates it when people say "Happy Turkey Day"

Especially because to him it is all about the PIE!

Usually I make homemade rolls and Ruth's Chris sweet potatoes but this year I wanted to try something new. So because the PIE is the most important part to Ryan I decided to give it a go! Florence was very happy (thank you!) to help me that morning by teaching me her secrets to homemade crust and sharing her delicious apple and peach fillings.

She and Dylan cut out the crust accents, because of course making it pretty is essential!





Pretty right?
I made an apple, peach, 2 pumpkin and a pecan just for my mom!


Dylan was really excited about something...

...it must not have been the food!

Thanks so much for hosting mom and Anna everything was absolutely delicious! Curt and Brittany did a fantastic job with the Turkey -
after all it is Turkey Day!

**********************
This CRAZY boy - and I do mean crazy, he was hilariously out of control all evening - fell asleep on the way home at 7PM and therefore was up from 3-4:30AM SO HUNGRY and still HILARIOUS!

(The pic on the right is like he is giving himself a crusty "quit making silly faces you fool!")


A lesson in Pie Etiquette

I didn't eat much pie and on Friday wanted to at least try these two, so I cut a sliver (straight across) off the pumpkin and ate the corner of the apple.
TWO MAJOR PIE FAUX PAS or so I learned.

Ryan was shocked and appalled. Seriously, I got in big trouble! Neither approach followed the proper way of cutting a pie. Even though Ryan will eat AN ENTIRE pie WITHOUT a plate in RECORD TIME he eats it in the appropriate slice shape and size, no "going at it like some kind of animal!"

...lesson learned...

**Happy Pie Day**

Restless Dylan

Three Little Monkeys is a fun, local toy store where Dylan can (and does) spend hours! They are so good about letting the kids play, even when we don't buy stuff...I feel no guilt, we more than make up for it when we do make our purchases!

They also host Story Time once a week where they sing songs, read a few books and do a craft.

We went once in October but being new to this type of setting you can see Dyl was not quite sure how to act. While the other kids sit and listen to the story he is constantly walking around, moving seats, talking to EVERYONE and walking up to the lady reading the book to point at the pictures saying "look" - she is so good at keeping him involved without letting him be too disruptive!

I love this one, he looks so awkward standing up there!

Dylan's Q-tip "sketon"

Today we went with Dylan's friend Mikade and his cousin Maddie. They listened to stories about Firemen, Policemen and Garbage men, perfect for these boys!

Great job kiddos!