The Best Sunday EVER!

Sunday morning started out just like every other Sunday morning around the Brown House. We woke up early, rushed to get ready, and headed to church. However, this Sunday was a little different because Grafton was singing two Christmas Songs on the big stage with his class.

For the occasion we dressed the kids in the matching outfits that their grandparents gave them.

Grafton was excited to wear his dressy clothes, but not very excited to have his picture taken in them!

To get the kids on stage in a proper order, they all held onto a black string and headed up.

I am proud to say that Grafton was the most boisterous singer in the entire choir!

Once church was over, I headed over to the mall with my cousin, grandmother, mom, sister, and aunt to celebrate my Mom's birthday. We started out by having Greek food, then went to the movies, and finished our day with shopping!

My aunt had to head out after lunch and wasn't able to make it into any of our pictures. :0(

We went to a mall that is mostly outside and it started pouring the rain. That didn't stop us though! It just made me want to sing, "Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful...."

We ended our Girl's Day Out with coffee at Starbuck's, took one last picture, and then headed our separate ways.

When I got home I immediately put on my pajamas and then spent the remainder of my evening with with my three favorite guys.... Vince, Grafton & Deklan!

A Weekend of Tradition

Thanksgiving weekend is my favorite weekend of the entire year, and each year I spend it about the same way. It begins Wednesday night when I go to my Mom's to set up for Thanksgiving and then head to church for a service called "Gratitude, the Quality of Being Thankful." Afterwards we eat pie, drink coffee, and visit in the foyer. Next, my sister Hannah comes home with me and stays the night. This year we watched "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" before going to bed.

On the morning of Thanksgiving we get up, stay in our pajamas, and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while eating cinnamon rolls and drinking coffee. Once the parade is over we rush to get ready and put the food we're bringing together.

This year I made an Apple Gorgonzola Salad, two peanut-butter pies, and a pecan pie. At two o'clock all of my family (there are 25 of us) meet at my Mom and Step-Dad's house for a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. Once dinner's over the young adults and children walk to the park while the "older adults" clean up the mess and get the pie ready.

At the park I swing until my stomach can't take it anymore and then stop for a couple of photo opportunities. After about an hour-and-a-half we walk back to my Mom's, eat pie and drink coffee, and look at all of the Black Friday ads while deciding where we're going to start our shopping in the morning. Then we spend the remainder of the evening playing games such as Mafia and Catch Phrase.

Friday morning my two sisters, Rachel and Hannah, my two cousins, Heather & Amanda, and our good friend Asheley met at Kohl's to start our shopping. We then went to Stein Mart, Target, Chik-Fil-A for breakfast (that's where our picture was taken), and then spent the rest of our day at the mall. When I got home I rested for a little while and then my in-laws came over and brought us Olive Garden for dinner. After they left we watched Home Alone, but I was so exhausted that I slept through the majority of it!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we traditionally go back to my Mom's to decorate her Christmas Tree (while drinking egg nog), we then eat delicious turkey taco's that my step-dad makes, and we end the evening by watching ELF and eating more pie.

I wish I would have taken more pictures of our fun-filled weekend, but I was too busy enjoying it to pick up my camera!

As if the Mall was Not Great Enough Already

Now they have a train that you can ride in and tour the first floor.

My Mother-In-Law called and told me about it last week, so we got up early Saturday morning to meet them for breakfast, let the kids ride the train, and we finished up with Starbuck's and a little shopping.

Problem is, now every time we go we'll be paying $3/person for this two minute ride. At least the kids love it!

Family Day

Last week Vince and I realized it's been over a month since just the four of us have gone and done something fun as a family. As a result, we took our boys to a mall we hadn't been to in a while and snacked on soft pretzels, rode the carousel, and watched them play in the play-place. It worked out great because it was air-conditioned, cheap, and fun!

Keeping Busy

This past week Vince went to Minnesota to celebrate his grandmother's 90th Birthday. I was not looking forward to him being gone, so I kept myself and the boys busy.  Very busy, in fact. Here's a few of the things we did...

We went shopping and then had dinner at Paradise Bakery with my Mom (aka Grandma H.). When we were done having dinner and walking to the car, we saw the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile.  If you look closely, you'll notice that Grafton is trying to open the door!

The next day I took Grafton to get his haircut.  It had been almost two months since his last one and was desperately needed.

We went straight from Snip Its to the mall to have lunch and play. We usually go to the play-place outside, but Grafton wanted to play with the train set at Barnes and Noble.

This is the self-portrait I took of Deklan and myself at Barnes and Noble.  I had to get in a picture somehow!

After our day of haircuts, lunch, and playing at the mall, my sister and her son came over to visit and eat pizza.  I decided to trust Grafton with markers again and then he and his cousin drew beards on their faces.... Will I ever learn?

The next morning I took the boys to our play-group.  Deklan is such a content baby that he was happy sitting in this exer-saucer most of the time.  Grafton spent the morning eating donuts, building towers, playing with trains, and drawing on a chalk-board.

The weather was so beautiful in the afternoon that once the boys woke up from their naps, I took them to the park in our neighborhood.  When we got there it was empty, but a few minutes later some of the neighborhood kids came.  Two of the girls kept telling me that Grafton was "so cute".  They were both five-years-old, and now Grafton keeps telling me that he's five too.

On our last morning without Vince, the boys and I went to a birthday party and Grafton decided to have a fish painted on his cheek.  He liked it so much that he ended up having an ice-cream cone painted on his left arm and a snowman painted on his right arm.  I hope this doesn't mean he's going to love tattoos when he gets older.

After four days of Vince being gone, we were so happy to have him home!  He brought Grafton the crayon you see in his hand.  It looks like a stick, but has a brown crayon in the middle.

I hope it's a while before Vince has to go out of town again.  Staying busy helped, but the house feels lonely without him!