Thanksgiving

School break.
Tillamook Cheese Factory.
Moe's famous clam chowder.
Homemade turkey dinner (by me!).
Pie at a friend's house.
Scum.
Black Friday shopping.
Scored two great coats for the kids.
Playing lots of Candyland.
Movies.
Popcorn.
Playing outside in the chilly weather (wearing the new coats ... of course).
Snuggling in bed.
A great Thanksgiving!

p.s. no pictures ... oops.

So the countdown has ended.
Britney and I had been waiting many, dare I say, hundreds of days for New Moon to open.
And so it did last weekend.
For those of you who are wondering what New Moon is ...
you must leave this blog immediately and ne'er return.
In fact, we are no longer friends.
You are dead to me.
Just kidding.
(I'm not.)
Anyway, I am ( well let's be honest) obsessed with the Twilight series.
I love them.
I love them all.
I mean, I haven't embarked on a pilgrimage to Forks and I don't really believe that vampires exist, but the books and movies are soooo good.
Plus it's fun to have something to be silly about.
I went to Eugene to watch it with Britney (who shares the same enthusiasm for the series that I do) and have a New Moon party.
It was so fun.
Of course the movie was definitely the highlight.
It was fabulous.
I was not disappointed in the least.
In fact the only letdown was that Britney and I couldn't hide out in the theater and watch it again.
I really could go on and on about how much it was perfect.
I am not even embarrassed.
Oh wait, I already have.
Well, I did other things this weekend with the fam.
However much they pale in comparison with my movie, I will address them.
Heheheh.

We had a mini-Thanksgiving. And by mini I mean that it was basically a full-blown Thanksgiving except that my Scotty couldn't be there so it wasn't a real Thanksgiving. But the food was delish.
This was a tasty apple cake my mom made. It was so good you wanted to just bite right in ... kinda like Bryce did.

The best picture I got from the photo shoot we stage every time we get the kids together. They were super happy.

This is the line Britney and I waited in to get into the theater. It wasn't too bad. And the wait was worth it!

Before we left, we had to get a picture in our matching TEAM EDWARD t-shirts.

All the girls we went to see the movie with. Amy is on the end, and actually yelled at someone for using their cell phone during the film. Now that is dedication. Next is Kari, Lauren (Bryce's cute girlfriend) my mom, and Britney. So fun. Thanks Brit!!
Now the next countdown begins ...
Eclipse opens this summer!

Happy Birthday ... again

I know, I know. It has now been almost 2 weeks since Ryan had her birthday.
I don't even have a really good reason for not posting her pics.
Just being lazy.
But her party went so well, and we got so many cute photos that to not post them would be doing everyone a great disservice.
Just kidding. {However, I would have liked to invite more people. Mostly my friends. But our shoe box-sized apartment was already bursting at the seams.}
But they are kinda cute.
Plus it was my first kid party I've thrown.
And Ryan had a great time.
And was very spoiled.

Ryan posing with some of her friends: Jenna, Reagan, Porter, and Hannah.

I wanted to have an activity and a party favor, so I killed two birds with one stone and we made "princess wands," or "wizard wands" for all the manly men involved (Porter & Lincoln). I think that the kids enjoyed it?

Blowing out the candles on her cupcake. This was the first year she blew out her own candles. Every year previous to this one, she has been to scared to do it.

Opening prezzies. She really got quite a haul this year! Her friends and family (Daddy, Britney & Nanny) really spoiled her this year. There was a lot of Lightning McQueen booty and princess paraphernalia. Lucky girl! {You can see how engaged Ezra is, looking out the window wishing he was outside.}

Posing with a new "cell phone." What a sincere smile! Cheese ball. Happy Birthday, my love!

My Birthday Girl!!

My baby is growing too fast.
Ryan is 3!
Nooooo. Please, Ryan, slow down.
Ryan, you are loved so much every day.
And the things you say ... are hilarious.
You love pink.
And sing along with the Black Eyed Peas.
Everything you do is followed by, "Ta, da!"
You are very opinionated.
This is apparent by how many times a day you say, "No, I don't want to."
You are a good sister.
And have sooo much energy.
Truly, the amount of energy you have is astounding.
You like to play "mommy" and take very good care of all your babies (nurse them, rock them, etc.)
And movies! Forget about it. You could watch movies all day long (not that I let you).
Currently your favorites are Cars, Nanny McFee, and Superman Returns.
You definitely have a sweet tooth.
For your birthday dinner, you requested pigs-in-a-blanket with broccoli (without prompting).
Your stomach conveniently hurts every night around dinnertime when I am serving something you don't like.
You could sit at the dinner table for hours fiddle-farting around and still have an entire plate to empty (much to your mother's chagrin).
You are very good at hide-and-seek.
You also have an exceptional memory.
You love to "write" things down, and regularly help me by making "grocery lists."
You are a very good girl.
You love to be outside.
You are very grown-up and wear big-girl panties all day and night!
Ryan, you make our family's lives so special.
We love you sooo much and are so grateful to be able to play with you every day.

You in you "birthday shirt" at age 1. Papa bought you a stretchy shirt that fits even me. So every year we force you into it and take a picture.

The Shirt at age 2.

3! You would only keep it on long enough to take the picture. You said it was too stretchy to wear all day. Your smile is a little scary.

Happy Halloween

This year Ezzy was Frankenstein and Ryan was a cow.
The Frankenstein costume lasted about ten minutes.
Also people thought he was an asparagus from Veggie Tales?
Does the asparagus have a bloody wound and hair? I don't think so.
Ryan was a pretty good sport and kept her costume on all evening.
We celebrated Halloween a day early at a school party.
All our friends were there.
There was a cake walk, donut-eating contest, dinner, prizes and a bunch of other stuff.
However, Scott and I were like zombies.
No we were not dressed as zombies, but rather felt like them since we were both nursing a cold.
So on actual Halloween night, Scott took some cold medicine and headed up to the school to study while I took the kids grocery shopping and hid out in our house,
in the dark,
because I was unmotivated to buy candy for trick-or-treaters.
I am super lame.
This is actually quite a sad and pathetic post.
Thankfully I am starting to feel better.
Which is important because tomorrow is Ryan's 3rd birthday!
And we are going to party.
The next post will be more uplifting.
Pinky swear.