Cupcake Turkeys

As I was making turkeys for A.J.'s class, I was thinking about how it is nice to only work part-time and have time for "mom" things, such as making turkey cupcakes for A.J.'s class. Then, I realized... when I was working full-time, I still did these things, just much later at night! So, here are this year's Thanksgiving treats. We have done Oreo turkeys in the past, but I am currently in a cupcake phase, so we changed it some. And, thank you to my wonderful husband for helping! Don't you just want to eat one????

Merry Christmas... I am already tired!

For those of you who think I plan way too much... stop reading now. The following may hurt your eyes!

I realized our Christmas calendar was already filling up... way too fast. It isn't even Thanksgiving yet, right??? We already have 12 different events to attend. We have several family traditions I was afraid would get left out (building our gingerbread house, delivering sweet treats to elderly church members, etc). I also have a new Advent devotion book I wanted us to read each night and do some activities from. So, here it is... my solution... (this is the part where you un-planning type people quit reading):

I made this calendar and hung it on our back door (which happens to be magnetic). The red are places/events we have to attend for church related activities. The blue is things I have for work. The purple is school related events. The green is our special family projects, and the orange is the devotion we are reading for the day. So, are you impressed or overwhelmed???

I do realize there will be more added as we actually get into December!

And... if you are wondering about the Advent devotion book, it is called An ADVENTurous Christmas by Lisa Whelchel (you know... Blair from Facts of Life). You MUST get it. It is awesome. You can get it on her site (where she will personalize it for you) or Amazon. It is a must have for the Christmas season.

Jonah

Our children's choir recently did a production on Jonah. It was fabulous! I must say that I have never seen so much work go into a children's production, especially at a small church. Thank you VERY MUCH Vanessa and Peggy for all your hard work. Here are some pictures of A.J., who played the captain of the ship on which Jonah was trying to run away from God.
At the beginning of the program, all of the kids marched in to "The B-I-B-L-E." The preschool choir was able to join them for this song. Abigail was very excited to get to sing with her brother's production. Here is the song:

And, here is a video of one song during the production:

Football Season is Over!

A.J. has been playing football for a few months now. He has loved it! His team, the 49ers, only lost two games (both to the Broncos). They played the Bronco's for the Sugar Bowl (the championship game). The lost, but they were still second for the season. We were very proud of how hard he played and his dedication to his team.

Here are some pictures from the game. A.J. is number 18. In this picture, he is on the far right (almost out of the picture):
Here he is making a tackle on the pile:

They received a medal for the great season:

Of course, Abigail had to smile for the camera, too!

Halloween with the Pierce Family

We love Halloween! It is the first holiday Allan and I spent together before we were even dating. I remember it like yesterday. My roommate, Erica, Allan, and I had gotten a pumpkin to carve. As we sat around the coffee table (yes, we were carving a pumpkin in the living room), Allan said, "You girls draw the face, and I will handle the carving." To some, that may sound sexist, but to me, I thought "okay... he could have my children some day." And guess what... he did!


That night started a tradition for us. Every year, we carve our pumpkins, eat chili-mac with caramel apples for dessert, and watch Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin. This year was no different (except we carved pumpkins a few nights earlier).

Here are some pictures of our Halloween adventures in 2008:

A.J. and Abigail when we got home from trick or treating...

We made ghost cupcakes for A.J.'s class (thank you Nana for the pan), and this is Allan putting on their eyes. It was a team effort...

Here are our finished and carved pumpkins...

Here are some of our friends who joined us for caramel apples and the movie.
Grandma and Pa...

Josh, Ashley, and Emma Grace:

Clay and Karen...

Message for Grandma Ina and Grandpa Wally

This is a special video message from A.J. and Abigail to Grandma Ina and Grandpa Wally. We all miss you very much, and the kids thought this would be a fun way to send you a message. Isn't technology great?? Below the video is a transcript in case you can't understand 4 year old language! We love you!

(A.J. speaking) Hi Grandma Ina, Hi Grandpa Wally. We love you. And next week's our bowl game. I hope we might send you a video clip of it. Love, A.J.

(Abigail speaking) My mommy have Jesus in her heart. And, she love you very much. We miss her (meaning you) so much. We love you. And we love everybody in the whole family: Grandma and Pa and A.J. and Abby. From, Abigail.

And... don't you wish you had rosy lips like Abigail????

We had our annual Fall Festival at church this past Sunday. Abigail originally was going to be a chef (you can see that costume in the post for her Dress Up Party at school). However, a friend from church gave her some fall clothes and in the bag was this Minnie Mouse costume. Once she saw it, there was no more chef! So, now I have Minnie Mouse vs. the Jedi in my home! Oh what fun!

We had Abigail's face painted once we arrived (thank you Mrs. Ashley Earle) and Mrs. Michell had a camera without dead batteries like mine! Thanks Mrs. Michell!