Family Feast 2009

Today we enjoyed the annual "Family Feast" at Sienna's school. Each of the children made a cute turkey placemat with their handprints.

This isn't just a turkey,

As anyone can see.

This very special turkey

Was made by hand my ME!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

After the three classes sang a special Thanksgiving song complete with sign language, we enjoyed some homemade breads that the children had made.

Sienna and Lauren

Our two "Mini Me's"

Andrew, Sienna, Lily, Molly, Lauren, Michael & Luke

Here are the pictures from the past two years:

Family Feast 2008 (Sienna)

Family Feast 2007 (Isabella)
We missed the Family Feast during Isabella's first year of preschool since we were traveling for Thanksgiving.

Now we know where they get it...

Coming from Mr. Twig Legs himself...

"My calves are getting huge, you can't deny that!"

Mike has been playing basketball once or twice a week for a while now, and he's convinced that he's getting huge muscles in his calves. You be the judge...

After looking at the picture, he said, "I guess my legs still look kind of skinny." You think?

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Another in our series of quotes:

Mike always tells the girls how gross soda is for people to drink. He says that it gives people brown teeth and bad breath. (It's his way of convincing them that they won't like it...and it's working!)

The other day, Sienna and I saw a big Coca-Cola truck. She said, "Ew, there's a soda truck! Let's go so we can't smell its breath!!!" The brainwashing is working!

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One time Mike's mom was coming to visit us and I was buying some Diet Pepsi for her at the store. Isabella pleaded, "No, Mama!!! Don't buy that for Grandma!!! Please!!!!!" I had to explain that adults can decide what they eat and drink. My mother-in-law knows that she has to be discreet when she drinks her Diet Pepsi around the girls.

More funny quotes

Here are a couple more funny quotes that I forgot to write about yesterday.

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Sienna made a picture for Mike the other day and she wanted to write his name on it.

Sienna: "How do you spell your name?"
Mike: "D-A-D-A"
Sienna: "No, your middle name..."
Mike: "You want to know how to spell Scott?"
Sienna: "No, your middle name...Michael!"

She thinks that his full name is Dada Michael P************.

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The other day Isabella was with me when I bought a new razor for myself.

Isabella:"You shave?!?"
Liz: "Yes, I shave my legs." (We didn't need to discuss shaving armpits!)
Isabella: "Why doesn't Dada shave his arms and legs?"
Liz: "Men don't usually shave their arms and legs-unless they are swimmers." (FYI-I don't shave my arms either. I'm not sure where she got that.)
Isabella: "Some day he might turn into a yellow gorilla!"

Funny Quotes from Sienna

Sienna has been cracking us up lately!!! Here are a few examples of why I get such a kick out of her!
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Sienna (one morning): "Mama, can you please open the lines?"
Liz: "Do you mean the blinds?"
Sienna: "Yes, the blondes."

Either Sienna needs to get her ears checked or I need to enunciate better!

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Elijah reset the dishwasher three times while it was running (in the span of about ten minutes) and I had to tell him NO several times. Sienna said, "We are having a rough day today!" (I have now learned that I can lock the controls on the dishwasher-something I never had to do in the five years that we've lived here...until now!)

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Sienna: "Mama, I need a stampler. "
Liz: "A stapler?

A few minutes later...
Sienna: "Can you help me? I can't stample it!"

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Isabella lost her second tooth on Halloween! Mike really wanted to pull her tooth out with his pliers. I didn't think that was a good idea since they're not exactly sanitary. Mike was in the bathroom with Isabella as she tried to pull her tooth out. Sienna ran over to me and said, "Mama! The choirs are going in Isabella's mouth!" I asked her, "Do you mean the pliers?"

Later that afternoon after Isabella successfully pulled out her tooth but before she went trick-or-treating, Isabella said, "Today's a great day! I get candy AND money from the tooth fairy!"

Sienna's disappointed response was, "When can I get big?"

Isabella's Last Soccer Game

Isabella had her last soccer game of the season today. Unfortunately, her team lost every game this season, but the girls never seemed discouraged. It certainly helped that the coaches were so nice and never got upset with the girls. Mike joked that the total score for the season would be 85-6.

In light of the current situation with the H1N1 flu going around, the girls bumped elbows rather than slapping hands at the end of the game. Good game!
Everything is better with celebratory end-of-the-season cupcakes!
Isabella, Anna, Zoe, Sarah, Hope and Cara

(missing Corinne and Carolyn)

Mama and Isabella

Isabella really seemed to enjoy soccer this year. She said that she didn't like playing goalie, and she didn't like subbing out because she liked to play the whole game. Like father, like daughter!! Mike is the same when he plays basketball (and when he used to play baseball)! They don't want to miss any of the action!

Look-alikes

Bobu (my dad) is the first person that Elijah named consistently. Elijah seems to think of my dad often. Every day Elijah looks at someone (or something) and says, "Bob-mm!" Here are a few of my favorites!

Elijah looked at these men on the box of Smuttynose IPA beer and said, "Bob-mm" over and over. I think he's looking at the guy on the right in particular. Not only does my dad wear glasses and have very little hair, but he's also known to sit in our driveway in a lawn chair. I definitely see the resemblance!
Elijah also calls any bald baby, "Bob-mm!" Again, I think it's the whole bald thing.

There are many others that Elijah calls "Bob-mm", but this is one of my favorites. The other day, he was eating a shiny glazed munchkin from Dunkin' Donuts, and he said, "Bob-mm!" Apparently, my dad's shiny bald head reminds Elijah of a donut hole.

Elijah started finding look-alikes for people other than my dad, too. I found this one to be hilarious. If you watch "The Office," you'll understand why!

Even though Elijah said, "Bob-mm" first when I asked him in the video clip, he initially picked up this mouse pad and said, "Dada!" Hilarious!

Welcome to the world, Noelle Violet!

My cousin, John, and his wife, Nicole, welcomed Noelle Violet to the world today in Germany!! She is 6 1/2 lbs. Violet was our grandma's name. She would have been so honored to have one of her great-granddaughters named after her! We can't wait to meet our newest baby cousin!

2009 Pumpkin Carving Contest Winners!

The winner in the adult category is "Creepy Tree" carved by our brother-in-law, Jeff (from Ohio), with 33 votes!!!! Congratulations, Jeff!! This was very impressive!!! I just talked to my sister-in-law, Tracy, and she said that Jeff designed this himself after reading The Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb. He added the owl on the right since Tracy likes owls. Now I'm really impressed!!! The winner in the kids' category is "Ghost in the Graveyard" with 32 votes. Although it was technically Elijah's (20 months) pumpkin, Isabella (age 6) drew the picture and I carved it. The same thing happened last year where Isabella drew the picture on Elijah's pumpkin and he won! She needs to rethink her own pumpkin submission next year!!!
Not only did we get many more entries than last year, we also got more votes than ever!!! My mother-in-law works at a hospital in Erie, PA and each year she asks many of her co-workers to cast their votes for their favorite pumpkin(s). This year she submitted 89 votes from the employees in the ER, outpatient and admissions areas of her hospital. Thanks, Jean!! Through e-mail, I received 37 votes for adult entries and 35 votes for kid entries. On the poll on my blog there were 50 votes for adults and 38 votes for kids. Our grand total is 177 votes in the adult category and 162 votes for the kids' entries.

Here are the rest of the results for the adult category:

*Second place (19 votes): "Roary the Monster" carved by Mindy (in Wisconsin) with assistance from Eliza (almost 5).

*Third place (18 votes): "Monster Mash" carved by Sara L (in MA) with assistance from Ellie (age 3).

*Fourth place (14 votes): Two-way tie between "Trick or Treat" and "Castle Mania".

"Trick or Treat" was carved by Ted L (in MA) with assistance from Collin (age 6 1/2) and Cal (age 5). Sorry Ted, but Sara beat you and you tied with me!

"Castle Mania" carved by Liz. I may not have won, but at least I beat Mike this year!!

Petro Family submissions: "Dragon Fire", "Castle Mania", "Casper the Ghost",

"Cat and Moon" and "Ghost in the Graveyard."

*Fifth place (11 votes): "Happy Goblin" carved by Jen G. in Massachusetts.

*Sixth place (9 votes): Three-way tie between "Ariel" carved by Jim S. (in MA), "Pugkin" carved by my sister, Katy, and my brother-in-law, Nathan (in California), and "The Beast" carved by my cousin Megan's boyfriend, Steve (in California).

Nathan's "Pugkin" with Bazbo, his inspiration!

*Seventh place (8 votes): "Groovy Ghost" carved by Kim B. in Massachusetts.

*Eighth place (7 votes): "Dragon Fire" carved by Mike. He would like it to be known that he drew this "free hand" again this year. Granted, he copied it from a picture on the internet, but he didn't use a stencil like most of us did.
*Ninth place (5 votes): Four-way tie between-
"Jack-o-lantern" carved by Andy H. in Wisconsin
"Snow White" carved by Tanya S. in Massachusetts
"Cat and Spider" chosen by Chloe (age 8) and carved by her mom, Liz B., in France
"Skeleton Pirate" chosen by Andre (age 6) and carved by his mom, Liz B., in France
(Chloe and Andre's submissions were placed in the adult category at Liz's suggestion since they used stencils and Liz carved the pumpkins for them. They really could have been in either category, though!)

*Tenth place (3 votes): "Boo" carved by Sarah H. in Wisconsin

*Eleventh place (2 votes): "Jack the Ripper" carved by my cousin, Megan, in California.


Here are the rest of the kids' results:

*Second place (28 votes): "Cinderella's Castle" by Maddie S. (age 5 1/2) in Massachusetts

*Third place (27 votes): "Casper the Ghost" designed by Sienna P. (age 4) of MA and carved by Liz.

*Fourth place (22 votes): "Cat and Moon" copied from a stencil by Isabella (age 6) and carved by Liz.

*Fifth place (13 votes): "Mickey Mouse Ears" by Ben S. in Massachusetts.

*Sixth place (10 votes): "Angry Eyes" carved by Mark F. in MA and assisted by John (age 6) and Luke (age 4).

*Seventh place (9 votes): Two-way tie between "Pumpkin Guy" by Aaron T. (age 5) in MA and "Submarine Face" designed AND CARVED by Cal L. (age 5) in MA.

*Eighth place (8 votes): "Harry the Bat" designed AND CARVED by Collin L (age 6 1/2) in MA.

*Ninth place (4 votes): "Block Teeth" by Noah H. (age 6) and Caden H. (age 3 1/2) in Wisconsin.


Thanks again to all of our carvers and voters!!! Hopefully, we'll get even more submissions next year!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Pumpkin Carving Contest-2009

Our annual pumpkin carving contest has gone international this year!!! (Thanks to Liz, Chloe and Andre for submitting their entries from France!) We're thrilled to have many more amazing entries this year. Make sure to look at all of them before you vote for one adult entry and one child entry!!! You may either vote in the poll to the right, leave a comment at the end of this post or e-mail me your votes. Don't forget to have all of your family members vote for their favorites!! Every vote counts! I'll announce the winners on Halloween night!

Adult Entries:

Ariel

Boo!

Castle Mania

Cat and Spider

Creepy Tree

Dragon Fire

Groovy Ghost

Happy Goblin

Jack the Ripper

Jack-o-lantern

Monster Mash

Pugkin

Roary the Monster

Skeleton Pirate

Snow White

The Beast

Trick-or-Treat

Pumpkin Carving Contest-Kids' Entries

You may vote for your favorite in the poll to the right, leave a comment at the end of this post, or e-mail me your votes. I will announce the winners on Halloween night!

Angry Eyes

Block Teeth
Casper the Ghost

Cat and Moon

Cinderella's Castle
Ghost in the Graveyard

Harry the Bat

Mickey Mouse Ears

Pumpkin Guy

Submarine Face