Photo Booth Slacking

Even though we haven't posted our monthly photo booth pictures on the blog since we moved to Virginia, we have been taking them. And, we've been sticking them on our fridge. Here are the pics from August, September, October, and November.

A Sad Sad Day

Last week, Vivi and Gavin's school (i.e. daycare center) closed. For good. I know, it was terribly sad. We loved so many things about their school. And here are a few of them.

1. Most of the people who worked at the center were related. And, once you stepped in the doors, you became part of their family.
2. Mrs. Angie (the owner) is one of the sweetest and most generous individuals I have ever met. 
3. The twins actually ran inside every morning.
4. The first thing Gavin and Vivian would do every morning when they arrived was run up to their teachers and give them hugs and kisses.
5. It was evident that everyone who worked there really loved coming to work every day.
6. The kids were not always stuck in one room; there were multiple rooms (i.e. a music room, a house room, a reading room, a ball room, etc.) that they would move to throughout the day. This kept them entertained and stimulated their precious little minds.
7. Vivian and Gavin learned sign language there. THANK YOU!!!
8. We have a lot of awesome artwork on our kitchen wall because of the activities they did at school.
9. Family nights. We went to two of them since August and they were great!
10. But most of all, we loved G & V's school because everyone who worked there genuinely cared about and loved our children.

Vivi and Gav are starting at a new school on Tuesday. Unfortunately, I'm certain that this new one won't measure up to TAG (oh yeah, that was the name of our beloved daycare center).

Thank Mrs. Angie, Ms. Areyl, Ms. Christina, Ms. Ebony, and Grandma for loving our kids as much as you did! We will definitely miss you!!

Cool Whip

Thanksgiving 2010

For the last few years, Wes and I have hosted some sort of Thanksgiving dinner at our house. They haven't always been the most well-attended events (one year it was just me and Wes and another year it was just us and Wes' mom and brother), but we've always had fun. This year, we were supposed to have 12 people, but my mom got pneumonia and was unable to drive down with her boyfriend and my grandma, so we had 9 people at dinner including: me, Wes, Wes' mom, Wes' dad, Wes' brother, my sister, my sister's boyfriend, my second mom (Renee), and my fake sister (Renee's daughter, Rachel). 

For the last week or so, I've been busy planning this day. In particular, I wanted to find a table cloth, napkin rings, and something to add some interest to the table (like a table runner, a centerpiece, or something). This was my mission. And, I chose to accept it. 

After a lot of searching, I found a deep orange table cloth at Target, decided to use orange and silver 12 x 12 scrapbook paper for place mats, and created my own napkin rings out of beads and some wire. I think it turned out great.

Once the decor was chosen, I had to pick out the menu. Linda (Wes' mom) brought a scrumptious honey ham and made some ambrosia, while Renee (my second mom) brought multiple delectable pies for dessert. I started off the day with Brie en Croute, homemade individual spinach and artichoke dip cups, and chips with french onion dip.

After the appetizers, we had a feast for dinner. Specifically, we ate some ham, turkey, ambrosia, mac n' cheese, apple cider green beans (thanks to Meghan for making them), asparagus (again, thanks Meg!), mashed potatoes, vegan lasagna (courtesy of Renee), and sugar cranberries (thanks to Kristi's wonderful recipe).

 Before and after eating, we all played with G & V.

After dinner, we went outside to have some photos of everyone taken. Of course we got the typical group picture. But we also got a lot of pictures of me, Wes, Viv, and Gavin (taken by Rachel) for our holiday cards. I put a few of the family pics below, but you'll have to wait for our holiday cards to see my favs.

We ended the night with some pie. And Viv took full advantage of our willingness to give her whip cream.

Overall, it was a great Thanksgiving. Can't wait 'til next year!

We put 'em to work early...

I know I've said it before, but Gavin is 

absolutely obsessed with the vacuum.

18 Month Checkup

I know, we're a few weeks late on this one, but I couldn't get a doctor's appointment until today. As we expected, Gavin's head is bigger than Vivian's (by one half of an inch), they are the same height (31.25 inches), and Gavin weighs more than Viv (25lbs and 22lbs 8oz, respectively).

Girl's Night ~ November Edition

Yesterday, a few of my fav girls (April, Jen, Brandy, & Steph) and one of my fav little men (Carter, Brandy's son) drove down to Bridgewater for a girl's night. We had a great time eating at Applebees, catching up (even though our last girl's night was only about 6 weeks ago), doing some detective work, and laughing hysterically with (and at) one another. And, the kiddos had a ball running from the living room to the playroom to the kitchen and then starting the adventure all over again. They really seem to get along well with one another. Well, except when Gavin is giving out unsolicited hugs; those don't always go as well as I think he plans.

 Love you girls! Can't wait to see you all again!

A Day of Play

Last Monday, Wes went to Delaware (post to come) and I was sick with the kids at home. As the day went on, I felt a lot better and actually got some energy to take a few videos and photos of their antics.