Brian took this past week off from work (horary!) We didn’t do too much exciting stuff, just enjoyed having him around and put him to work hanging lights on the house. We pulled out all our stuff last Saturday and guess what…almost ALL of it was no longer working! We threw away 5 strings and 8 mini Christmas trees that we used to use to line our front lawn…only 4 of them are still in working order! We were actually ready and willing to commit to lights on the house this year so I went out and bought some new ones! Inspired by Brady’s upcoming birthday party (candy land theme), we went with a candy-cane theme. The front parkway trees have red bottoms & white tops. We did the (reachable) roof line of the house in white and then red & white lights up and down the 4 poles on the porch. While poking around Michael’s Craft Store yesterday, I even found some cute striped candy decorations for a wreath.

Yesterday was Black Friday. Last year, I was up and in the parking lot at Target by 5am (remember Den?) But that was because I wanted one of the car DVD players they had on super sale (and yes, I got one…and yes, it has since been destroyed by the kids…and yes, they had them again this year, but no…I wasn’t doing that again!). This year we didn’t have our eye on anything in particular, but Brian got ancy and left the house around 6:30 to see what he could find. He avoided the long lines at the major stores and hit Office Max as well as Bed, Bath & Beyond (chef Brian wanted to scout out any potential cool cooking gadgets). I called to check in and got this question: “So…if I bought you something for Christmas, but knew that you would use it a ton between now and then…would you want it today or wait until Christmas morning?” Um…what did he think I was going to say?! “Oh…go ahead and keep this oh-so-useful gift away from me for another month?” I think not. I feel like I’ve already had Christmas, but he was SO very right. He scored me a new camera! Ye-haw! I had to hold my old one in my hand instead of putting it on the desk while transferring pictures because it was beginning to split apart and wouldn’t keep the connection to the computer. It’s the newest version of the Cannon Elph…I think we’ve owned at least 4 of these now. It’s super cute and super tiny…and makes me super nervous because I keep thinking I’ve misplaced it in my purse! I gave it a test run at the Holiday lights parade last night!

Oh and P.S. I totally forgot to take pictures of Thanksgiving! It was a lot of fun though. We had dinner with Uncle David, Aunt Diana and cousins Max, Zach and Jack. Memaw and Grandpa were in Arizona with Bri’s little brother Pete, his wife & son so it was smaller than usual, but everyone had a great time. The food was delicious and there were cousins to play with!

We met up with some of our neighbors at the annual Christmas parade last night. I’m not even sure what this event is called, but they light up all the trees and buildings and have a few floats. The best part is that most of the people in the parade throw candy – awesome. Here are the big kids before the main event got started, playing down by the river.

This was the first day we really bundled up in our winter-wear. Aiden was a bit bummed when he found out that he was inheriting Logan’s green coat from last year (while his beloved blue coat got passed along to Brady). He got over it though, declaring that he, “loves blue AND green…and all the colors of the rainbow.” He was happy to see that his hat and gloves were purchased this year…just for him…in blue!

Watching the ducks on the river

Ready to catch some candy! Brady is in the blue stroller…Chewy (Matthew) is in the red one.

The parade scene

I took quite a few pictures, but none that were decent because of the dark…gotta figure out those night shots on my camera!

Brady (who refused to wear his gloves!) waved at the parade the whole time. All the kids scored glow-in-the-dark bracelets as well as candy.

Santa & Mrs. Claus

We had dinner together after the parade and then went to see Santa. The kids got these cute reindeer headbands

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and…Sassy face…

Although the line wasn’t very long, it also wasn’t very fast. We all have tickets to “The Polar Express” in 2 weeks so we asked the kids if they wanted to wait in the line we were in OR…take a trolley and see Santa at “The North Pole” in a couple of weeks. They chose the trolley route and then lingered outside the window as we were leaving. “Bye Santa…bye Mrs. Santa…see you in a couple weeks” <—I’m not making that up…that’s what they were saying in this picture. :)

Some of our outdoor decorations. I need some big, fake candy canes to complete my planters, but it’s a start.

Here’s the wreath I made. It took like 10 minutes…I sure do love my hot glue gun!

Both Aiden and Logan tried to pick off and eat the candy decorations before they realized they were plastic. I didn’t even bother showing the wreath to Brady!! That kid would have one chewed before he realized it was quite nasty tasting!

With Logan and Aiden both in some sort of school right now (Logan in pre-K and Aiden in Little Learners), plus the fact that Aiden loves to do “projects” at home, I have been getting quite the influx of art work in the house. I have a hard time finding enough fridge space for all of these wonderful creations so I wanted to create a designated area where they could be on display. I decided that the hallway between the formal and every-day dining rooms would be a great place for an art gallery. I had planned to have this whole thing done back in July, but I’ve had some set backs along the way. For example, my plan was to spray paint baking sheets and then use these amazing Uppercase Living embellishments (sold by my dear friend Lisa) to make them look similar to the framed old tin ceiling tiles we have in the living room. My idea was that all the art work could be hung on these sheets using some really adorable magnets I found at Office Max. The first set of pans I used were non-stick and um…the paint did NON stick to them. I bought some cheap-o ones that worked better, but Brian found one in the garage one day and used it, unknowingly, as a drip pan for oil. Long story short, I started and re-started this project many times. I also had a hard time finding wall hooks that I really liked. I finally found a set of painted hooks that are modeled after old outdoor water faucets. After much delay and some dismay, my Gallery is done….almost….I still have to have Brian hang one shelf for our 3D projects (like the rocks the boys painted in summer camp last July). Here are some pics of (drum roll please): The Gallery at The 554:

Here is one side of the hallway. The shelf will hang above the pan nearest the light switch. There is a picture on the pan closest to the camera so you can’t see the full effect of the “tin tile”

Here is the other side of the hallway. There is one hook by itself which we’ll use to accommodate projects of the “hanging” variety like the Halloween mobile Logan brought home last month. I should have hung it a little to the left, but whatever. The thermostat there on the wall is so definitely not part of my display…

Our first induction into the gallery: Logan’s “sentence” from school last week when he was the class leader. Each day there is one child chosen as the leader; they help write a sentence and then circle a given letter (obviously that day’s letter was t)

Bad picture (what’s new!) of the shelf still left to hang. But mostly…..I’m done!!! I’m excited about our new art-work display area and I hope it makes the boys feel proud of their creations!

How is it that I haven't blogged in like a week?! Honestly, it's because work for me has been very busy lately including mid-day conference calls (which are extremely hard to do with the boys running around) and working as many hours as I can after the kids are in bed at night.

So...I have a lot to say (warning: potentially boring post!)

Last Monday I took the boys for their H1N1 vaccinations. I was so super proud of them. They knew exactly why we were there and we even talked about how the shot was going to hurt just a little. They stood in the long, but quickly moving, line and kept saying things like "is it our turn yet?! I promise I'm going to be brave!" Logan was very intent on going first...until we got into the room. Suddenly he decided Aiden could go first. Aiden actually had no problem with that, let me take off his shirt, watched the needle go in and didn't even flinch. As soon as Logan saw Aiden's reaction, he jumped up, took off his shirt and yelled, "me next!" Brady went last and did cry...until the nurse brought out a bucket of lollipops...then it was all fine and dandy.

Other Monday things: swim class and soccer. We recently switched our swim lessons to a new place. Logan and Aiden are in a class together with two little girls. They goof around and act crazy when they're supposed to be paying attention, but it's a blast to see them share their first activity together. I think the overall content of this class is much better than their old ones where they did the exact same thing over and over and over again. They work on a variety of skills and seem to get a lot more time with the teacher. However, the pool is colder and so poor Aiden was shivering like crazy last week. I plan to take their swim shirts tomorrow...maybe that will help a little. Logan....well....I'm starting to understand that Logan isn't comfortable with change and has a bit of his mom's fear of failure. The second week of class, he sat on the edge and refused to go in until I threatened to take him to the locker room to get dressed if he wasn't going to participate. Last week, he was very upset when I told him it was swim day. I gave him a little space and went about getting the other boys ready for our day. A little while later, I found him, sat with him and asked him to please explain to me why he didn't want to go to swim. Well...it seems that he's afraid he's not going to do it right. I guess the repetition of the other class was comforting after all. I explained that no one does something right the first time they try and that's why you go to a class. The teacher is there to help you so you just pay attention to her, practice on the side of the pool and do your best. If you aren't sure that you're doing it right, ask her to help you - that's why she's there! I was so proud of him! He did exactly what I suggested and was even trying everything on the side while he watched the other kids. During our discussion at home before we left, he also mentioned that he felt a little frustrated at karate. He joined in the middle of a testing session (hard to explain), but the whole class is about to start over again so he's going to be just fine. We decided together that I would tape the class so that we could work on the moves at home together...not to make him the best in the class or anything like that, just to make him comfortable because he LOVES going to karate and I want him to have fun.

So wow - I had more stuff to write about, but that was a lot! I'll talk about some more of last week's stories another day! I do have pictures though!!

One day during lunch, Aiden wanted some of his stretchy lizards with him at the table. He also thought they should have some food. I found our left over Halloween sprinkles, picked out some mini candy bats for the lizards and put them in a bowl. I thought they sort of looked like bugs (which is what we always talk about lizards having for lunch). Aiden made sure each of his pets had at least one "bug bat" to eat.

That same day Logan brought one of his McDonald's Bakugans to lunch. This little guy obviously needed food too so he got the orange sprinkle part of the "sprinkle mix" (this is what's left over after you pick out the bats so it worked out well...)

Have I mentioned how the boys love to steal my camera!? I had a LOT of crazy pictures to delete from last week. This one made me laugh! Logan and his friends on the street have a crazy exchange program going on where they trade toys or "borrow" from each other all the time. I usually have a pile of "things to return" on my counter top. Logan was obsessed with this batman for like 2 days. It belongs to AJ. Inspired by his love, we added a batman toy to his Christmas list :)

We have a new tradition at the 554 these days...invented by Logan (wow...this is a Logan-heavy post!) Anyway, last week we made homemade soup with cheese bread for dinner on Friday night. It was a chilly fall evening and it seemed right! That night, Logan was eating his soup and said, "Hey! I have an idea! Every Friday, let's make soup and have grilled cheese sandwiches! We'll call it soup Friday!" Brian loves cooking and we all love soup (not to mention grilled cheese or cheese toast) so we decided it was an excellent idea. This past Friday, Logan requested Tomato soup. Brian made an amazing version of an old favorite which included bacon, mushrooms, cream, a little gin and diced tomatoes. He also made his own focaccia bread. I'm such a lucky girl! :) Anyone remember our grand plans to make a family cookbook complete with pictures? I think we're going to simplify that idea and start with a Soup Friday book.

Here is the yummy bread!

Logan and daddy getting ready to chow down.

And now to Brady news:

theyyyyyy'rrrre baaa-aaack - the long forgotten Thomas trains! Logan loved, loved, loved, loved (get it??) Thomas when he was Brady's age. It started at 16 months and ended about a year later. In that time, we accumulated a lot of trains, a train table and tons of wooden track. These days we have GeoTrax LAND in the basement which all three boys enjoy. I even recently moved the train table to Aiden's room for his marble run. Bear saw Thomas on TV one day and has been requesting it frequently. Aiden and Logan will sit and watch it as well so it's definitely a go-to crowd pleaser. Today, Brady found one of the wooden Thomas trains and was rolling it along the floor. I got the rest of the trains out of the hallway closet, set up a track on the floor in the foyer and he played with it ALLLLL day long (save for the 2 hours we went out to see the movie Astro Boy in the morning <-- very cute movie by the way, and during his nap)

In this picture, he is pointing to the trains and saying "my trains!" Other things frequently heard: "tains tains! go tains! hoo hoo!" <-- that is Brady's train sound! He will often get frustrated while trying to hook them all together on the track. He'll find one of us, do a "come with me" motion and say "help - tains!" Logan was a doll and helped him out a lot today when mom and dad were busy.

The tree in our backyard is shedding pine cones like crazy. Some of the (older) neighborhood boys have been throwing them around and my kids have followed suit. This afternoon, Brian went out and collected a bunch of them with the boys. He found a craft on the Internet, which I then did with them (crafts are not Brian's strong suit). These are pine cone owls. Cute...not too hard to make!

The pipe cleaners and pom poms we have on hand in the house are all in Christmas colors so our owls look a little like they belong on Seasame Street :)

So I just packed away Halloween decorations, leaving some of the more “fallish” items in place, and added a few others for this Thanksgiving month. However, I feel like I’m already thinking and planning ahead to December (which is usually not at all like me since I’m a November baby and get irritated when people seem to skip right over this time).

First, Brian got an email last week about a little boy who has terminal cancer. His family is celebrating Christmas early this year. He loves Christmas cards so his family sent around a message urging people to send them. I got the same email from another friend later in the week which makes me happy – l read that he has already received thousands of cards!! Last Thursday night, Brian and I spent some time making one with the boys. (pictures below)

Second, I have been beyond perplexed for about a month now every time I think about what to get the boys this year. I’ve spent hours and hours pouring through toy catalogs and on-line sites trying to sort it all out. We want to be on a strict budget mostly because they don’t NEED to get a million things. I want the few items that we pick out to be meaningful and special to them. So, I made my choices and ordered everything! I didn’t even leave the house, but I do have to admit that my major purchase DID come from Target! May I reiterate: I have a Target problem!

Third, I just spent the morning trying to get my three boys to stay still, smile and look cute simultaneously in the hopes of getting a picture good enough for our Holiday card. Our usual tradition is to take a family picture at Thanksgiving, but it seems like I then take a couple weeks after to get my act together, order, wait for the order to arrive, address etc. and then I’m “late”! I had stopped by Carter’s last week to get Aiden one of his Christmas wishes, “basketball pajamas that actually fit me.” This was a request we got after I had to take away his old ones, which were WAY too short, and reassign them to Brady’s drawer. Anyway, while I was shopping at Carter’s, I saw some very cute Christmas PJs. I started poking around and the ones I liked looked to be well in stock…until I began checking the sizes. Out of 5 piles of these pajamas, I only found 1 size 4T! So…I grabbed a 5T, the 4T and a 2T. After the boys woke up this morning, I put them in the holiday jammies and had FOUR different photo sessions with them…spread out amongst playing, eating and general hanging out. I took over 160 pictures. Not ONE is that great, but I was dying laughing while I reviewed them – 3 boys together are funny!!! I got enough decent ones to make a card though so – CHECK! I also uploaded them to Costco.com and made about 5 different ones for Brian to review and pick!

At this rate people, I will have my act together this year…I think….

Below is the card we made for Noah Biorkman. I made the mistake of letting the boys choose Christmas pasta for decorations. I need to find a padded envelope! It was hard to trace Brady’s hands so I painted them and cut out the prints…but not before I realized I used a different color of green paper. Oh well. Aiden’s are in the middle and Logan’s on the bottom. Aiden wanted to draw “the stem”…that’s why it’s blue!

Sadly, I think the family celebrated this weekend, but we’re still sending our card along with a dollar that will be donated to the Michigan neuroblastoma research center and the Michigan Make A Wish Chapter. Here is the address if anyone else is interested!

Noah Biorkman 1141 Fountian Viewcircle South Lyon,Mi 48178

Since he’s getting so many, I wrote down what the boys told me to write…short and sweet. Oh and yes, Brady won’t be 2 for another month, but it’s getting annoying to say he’s 23 months old.

Here are the best (hahahahaha, I laugh hysterically) of the pictures I took today. I am posting a bunch of them because they seriously made me crack up. Click on “slide show” for the full effect (or if you want to feel my pain as I tried to take these pictures!)

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I mentioned in a previous post that Aiden had purchased a window art set, courtesy of Aunt Sara and Uncle Pete. The kit comes with: what is basically a page protector, 6 sheets of paper with lots of different designs on them, black outliner liquid and about 6 other tubes of colored liquid. You slip your design into the page protector, outline with the black, let it dry for 1/2 an hour, then squeeze in the colors. The whole thing dries over night, then peels off the page to be placed on the window.


The first day we had the kit, the older boys did 2 designs each and they both went with an underwater theme. That night, I free-formed some waves and bubbles for the fish.

Over the next few days, we made lots and lots and lots of window clings. When Aiden asked for hot air balloons, I printed some off of the Internet. They required some adjustments so I shrank/enlarged them with our copier until they were the right size. The rainbow heart pictured below was made by Aiden "for you mommy". Sweet.
Then Aiden, of course, wanted some lizards (and we managed to find some good ones!). Here are two of his creations drying on the counter. The guys had to learn a lot about the overuse of the paint. Several of our designs "drowned" and had to be tossed...mostly because they would never ever dry.
Logan was working a space theme. He made a rocket (this is one I found for him), an astronaut, some planets and stars. I might have helped and made a sun :)

It's hard to see, but we ended up with three different levels of window clings: space, the air and the water. This is NOT the final window. We have a added a few more since I took this picture. I just made a rainbow outline for Aiden today.

Also...Logan liked just making small puddles of the colored paint. One night, I drew black lines around them before they were dry. These turned into "balls" that we put in the water to entertain the sea creatures. Window art is so cool!!