Chili Cook-Off

Tonight our neighbors', Leigh and Scott, hosted the first annual neighborhood chili cook-off. All the kids played while the adults ate, ate, and ate! Each family brought a crock pot of homemade chili. We then had to sample each one and vote for the top three chili recipes. Aron was thrilled because he was declared the CHILI CHAMP! We had a great time hanging out with our neighbors, eating delicious food, and watching the kids play. As I always say...we have the world's BEST neighbors!!!

North Altadena Chili Champion!

Yummy cupcake cones!

Sloane and Anna having fun on the slide.

Rock stars in training: Zeke, Antonio, and Russell

Fire Chief on Duty!

Pizza! Pizza! Get your hot and fresh pizza!

When Aron and I first got married and lived in Grand Rapids, we used to make homemade pizza on a regular basis. Most of our friends on the West side even joined in on the fun at some point. When we first moved to Royal Oak, we rented a very small house with a teeny tiny kitchen. We unfortunately got out of the pizza making habit. Well when sitting down last week to make our grocery list and plan for the week's meals, Aron suggested homemade pizza. Terrific thought! I figured it would be a great way to have fun with the kids. So on Friday night we came home and got to work. It was a blast!!! Russell was so excited to wear his chef hat and apron. Sloane didn't want to wear hers, but she still dug right into the fun. The kids loved every minute of dough mixing, dough rolling, sauce spreading, cheese sprinkling, and pepperoni bliss!!! The best part of course was the pizza eating! We can't wait to do it again!

Enjoying the Play-doh pancakes of life!

As a working mom, I sometimes get caught up in all the craziness of keeping my schedule on schedule! I am consumed with crossing t's and dotting i's. When my routine doesn't go quite as I expect it to, I can almost feel my head begin to spin and smoke stream out of my ears. This week was no exception. I was a bit overwhelmed with my to-do lists at work and home. On Saturday morning, I woke up and decided to chill out! Sometimes I need to remember to sit down, breathe, and take a look around at all the wonderful things in my life. When visiting with an elderly friend last week, she shared a quote with me; "The best things in life aren't actually things." This is so true. As I whipped up a batch of pancakes Saturday morning, I took a moment to look at my children playing beside me making their own play-doh pancakes, cookies, hot dogs, and spaghetti. Russell was so enthusiastic about his cookie cutter shapes while Sloane was squealing with glee as she rolled out a pancake. I remained in pajamas for most of Saturday and wore a smile all day as I played with my "best things in life." What I learned this weekend... take a step back, look around, put down that to-do list, and remember to growl like a pirate before bed... everything else will still be there tomorrow!!!

ARRRRRGH!

Weekend Fun at Grammy and Papa's!

Friday morning I woke to a phone call letting me know that school was cancelled due to extremely cold temperatures. We were already scheduled to have Monday off for MLK day so, I packed up the kids and headed north to visit my parents. What better thing is there to do when you are blessed with an unexpected four-day weekend!!! Since Aron did not have the days off, he stayed home to catch up on work and house cleaning :-) The kids and I had a blast with my family. We even got to meet my brother's new girlfriend!!! I can't say that I was any good at impressing her though... While making dinner, I spilled the entire pan of chicken Parmesan on the kitchen floor!!! I about died!!! Thankfully, everyone laughed it off and we were able to salvage the meal. Needless to say, I was happy to drink a glass of wine with dinner!

Russell and Sloane had a ball playing in my parents' basement/playroom. Russell put the Arthur stuffed animal on his back and took him for a ride to the park.

Sloane fed her babies using my old toy high chair that I played with as a little girl.

The kids were all over Papa the entire weekend! Here they are snuggling him after bath.

Sloane tried to sneak into bed with Russell. They were so precious!

Jump, jump, jump! The new toy was a HIT!!!

Sloane is now a fan of Go Diego Go!!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

It began to snow Friday evening and the kids wanted out immediately. We put on all the gear and went out into the cold, dark, snowy night. Sloane wanted to help Aron shovel while Russell had fun climbing his man made mountain in the backyard. The snow continued until Sunday morning. We ended up with at least 6 inches. The kids played outside each day, loving every minute of the fresh air. While indoors, we kept busy by playing make believe in our basement. Russell pretends the pantry is his school. He puts on his backpack filled with all the essentials and heads into "school." I can hear him teaching his friends about letters and numbers and also about school rules. It is so adorable. I should really tape record it. Sloane's make believe is circled around her baby dolls, grocery cart, and play kitchen. She spends hours pushing her cart around, loading and unloading it. We just ended our weekend with an episode of Curious George while munching on popcorn (a favorite snack for all of us)!

Sloane was persistent while trying to keep up with Daddy.

"I'm the king of the mountain!"

In this picture, Sloane has a graham cracker. She is hiding behind the trash can in hopes that Mac won't find her until the cracker is gone. He is famous for stealing her snacks.

A delicious ending to our home bound weekend!

A Wonderful Beginning for 2009

We have definitely been enjoying the new year!

Sloane does not want to give up her Santa jammies. If they are clean and in her drawer, she will find them and insist on wearing them. She is also obsessed with wearing any shoes, but her own! Here she is wearing her favorite outfit...Santa jammies with Daddy's shoes! What a ham!

Friday was Aron's birthday so the kids and I let Aron sleep in while we made homemade presents for him and wrapped his gifts with plenty of stick on bows! We also made his favorite cake, pineapple upside down cake. Russell insisted that daddy have candles so Aron enjoyed making a wish and blowing out the candles (with Russell's help).

On Saturday morning, we decided to be a little adventurous and took the kids to see their first movie at the theatre! We had fun!!! The kids LOVED the big screen and especially enjoyed the popcorn. We saw Bolt. For those of you who haven't seen it, Bolt is a dog that resembles our Mac. Russell was so excited during the opening scene when you first meet Bolt. He shouted (for all to hear), "Look! He's just like our Mac!" After sitting wonderfully for almost 90 minutes, we did leave early. Sloane had enough and could not stay still one minute longer.

On Saturday evening, we went next door for a dinner play date with the Acevedo Family. The kids had a blast! Their favorite game was playing guitars and dancing to a talking/singing Spider man doll. It was a total hoot! Do I need to remind everyone how much I LOVE my neighborhood! We are so lucky to have so many friends right here on our street. We are currently waiting on another baby's arrival. That will make 15 kids ages 3 and under on our street alone!!!!!!

NKOTB

For those of you who have known me for awhile, probably remember my childhood best friends Cherri, Heather, and Heaven and our tween love for The New Kids On The Block!!! 19 years ago Cherri, Heather, and I (along with some other friends) went to the New Kids concert at the Palace. We were 13-years-old and screamed our longs out while watching the concert from the nose bleed section. Well...this August Cherri called me and said that she had free concert tickets to see NKOTB in October. Even better, they were box seats. So...after not having our foursome together in over 5 years, we met up and enjoyed a night with our favorite boy band! What an absolute BLAST!!! I had forgotten my camera, but thankfully Cherri had hers and forwarded me photos she took. Time sure flies. I love these girls!!!

Heaven, Heather, Myself, and Cherri