Thanksgiving visit to Erie, PA

We spent a nice Thanksgiving holiday in Erie with Mike's parents and his sister and her kids. Unfortunately, our brother-in-law, Jeff, had to work, so we weren't able to see him. Tracy brought along lots of fun activities to do with the girls.

Isabella made a beaded necklace and earrings (as a gift) with Tracy's help. Snickers is a 15 year-old dachshund who can't jump or climb stairs, and he rarely barks anymore. Elijah was intrigued by him, but he panicked when Snickers was walking around. Here Elijah bravely petted Snickers while he was on Papa's lap. Elijah spent much of our visit looking for Snickers by peeking around corners and under tables. He didn't like being surprised by Snickers if he appeared out of nowhere.
Check out Elijah's bravery in this video clip!


Tracy and the girls got coordinating snowflake pajamas as an early Christmas present so they could spend lots of time snuggling.
Sydney had comfy jammies, too!
Ellijah liked to peek through the window from the porch to the living room.
Sydney and Sienna

Trevor played his clarinet for us, and Sydney served as the music stand!
Grandma and our kiddos enjoyed listening to Trevor.
Trevor patiently played with Elijah on the porch for almost an hour. He endured lots of nose pinching-one of Elijah's favorite pasttimes!
Tracy bravely let Sienna paint her fingernails.
Tracy's nails were only slightly messy.
There was a gingerbread house decorating contest. Trevor, Grandma and Sienna made up one team.
Sydney, Tracy and Isabella made up the other team.
The winning gingerbread house!
Sienna loved playing with Snickers!
We exchanged some early Christmas presents while we were there. Elijah LOVED his new dumptruck that Uncle Jeff picked out especially for him!!!
Sienna was happy to get a Candy Ring Maker. As Tracy said, it's the kind of gift that only an aunt would buy! You can say that again!!
Trevor wondered if my note would work as an actual gift card at Abercrobie and Fitch.
Mike and his favorite niece and nephew. How big are they getting?!?!? Sydney will be 15 in a couple of weeks and Trevor will be 17 in March!!!! Weren't they just the little flower girl and ring bearer in our wedding?!
Elijah played with his new truck the entire time we opened the rest of the gifts.
Isabella and Sydney
Two new trucks!!!! It doesn't get any better than that!
Grandma, Trevor, Papa, Sydney and Tracy
The whole family (except for Uncle Jeff!)
We don't like to have to say goodbye!

We hope to see everyone again sooner rather than later!! Thanks for a great visit!

Tom Ridge Environmental Center and Presque Isle

We spent one of our afternoons in Erie at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center at Presque Isle. We learned about the types of animals that live on the peninsula as well as how the peninsula was formed.

Elijah wasn't so sure about this turtle puppet. He was intrigued but a little nervous!

The girls with a replica of a Stegodon (largest of all elephant-like animals) skeleton.

After our visit to the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, we drove around Presque Isle (the peninsula) and showed Tracy and our kids where we got engaged. Mike proposed to me at sunset on Beach 10 on Lake Erie over 10 years ago!!! It was a little colder and windier than it was when we got engaged in August of 1999!

Rosamond Gifford Zoo

We decided to break up our trip home from Erie with a stop at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, NY. It was a great pitstop during our 8 hour drive!
Elijah liked checking out the Nemo fish.

Elijah made some fish noises (lip smacking) before he got distracted by the crab.

We got an unbelievably close-up view of the lions.
Mike, the big talker, said, "I think I could take him." I wouldn't bet on it!
Since the lions were facing away from one another, Sienna asked, "Are they mad at theirchothers (eachother)?"
Mike was about six inches away from the lion (with a measly plate glass window between them). It was so cool to see the lions this close! They were huge!!!
Our own primates!
My biggest kid!
A little monkey!
We'll have to remember this zoo for future drives to and from Erie. It was a perfect place to stop and stretch our legs for a while.

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!