Pink!!

I am loving me some Pink!

Stupid Girls

and

Sober
(the official video was a little graphic for me...)

and my favorite for the clarity of her voice:

Nobody Knows

And the first time I KNEW I loved her music (and loved Christina's voice also)

Lady M


Although, I wonder if my daughter will one day think I'm uncool for Pink....

Ahh, it is still pretty warm here on Monday. My AP group had their annual Thanksgiving Day pot luck and there were two vegans this year!!
(Shout out to Jamie and gang!)



So I was able to eat more than just my own food.
The kiddos had a blast as usual and Carson had his own breed of fun when he discovered the trickle sprinkle puddle in the landscaping:




H figured out how to aim it just right and put the right amount of pressure on it to make a stream...
Here he is 'squirting' his buddy:

Win an Ergo!

Only one of the best carriers out there. This one is a cute embroidered version! AND it's organic!

heat wave

You read that right, It was 88 degrees on Wednesday!
So we headed out to the zoo for the day.
We spent about 4 hours and checked it out.
The kids had a blast.
They watched the baby orangutan play peek a boo:



we actually got sunburned.

Carson had a blast, this is the first season that he has actually participated in watching and asking questions about the animals.
He was fascinated by the goats and their poop!
Here he was watching the clean up, He directed the zookeeper on where it was!



Anyway, we just went on our own, were gonna meet people but didn't so we were able to go at our own pace.
They played in the fountains


and trees


Leigh was glad to see the stingrays were back for the winter (they're snowbirds!)


They had new sharks and horseshoe crabs in with them too.
Thanks again to Gam for renewing our membership for us!

The next Ginger Rogers...

Or something like that..
Leigh had her tap dance recital last night and she was SOOO proud.
It was really fun to see what a group of 3-5 yr olds could remember after 12 weeks of dance.
She really likes Miss Diane. We're gonna stick with her.

Here she is with flowers that Daddy brought her:




That's her friend Fiona who is in a different class

Her she is with Carson who wanted to get on stage.


Her they are before getting started



And of course, I need to add the video also

Ash Wednesday

So yesterday was like the Ash Wednesday of Christmas...Yep 40 days away. Today we're under forty. I actually think that I may almost be done with the actual present shopping and am moving into the finishing stages. I do have some crafting to do; finishing a few gifts, making wrappings and putting my craft swap items that I made together.

I still LOVE this time of year. EVERY YEAR. I am looking forward to the next week of getting ready for Thanksgiving. This will be our first vegan celebration. In the past, we have had vegetarian but never vegan so I'm searching recipes, trying to put together the best possible meal.

The kids have been involved heavily in making their Meemaws' gifts. We have spent part of everyday working on them. (That's all I can say due to the readers of this blog....) Bryce and I have both gotten our gifts for the other siblings we have picked and I have either gifts or at least good ideas for the rest of our family.

I'll try to post pics in the next couple of weeks of the stuff we're doing.

A new day dawns

We are on the cusp of a new era. The majority of the country has chosen to change what we have been burdened with for eight years.
I watched the acceptance speech of President-elect Obama with goosebumps on my arms. (It's worth the watch no matter who you voted for or supported.)
See it below:




I vote because not too long ago women couldn't vote and blacks couldn't drink from the same water fountain. That's how much our rights have increased.

The saddest thing to me is that all across the country, people voted to deny rights to another minority. So there is still work to do. Change can come slow sometimes. There are people working to move it forward now.
I am excited. I think there are great possibilities for the future and my children are living in an exciting time in history. I want to love our country. I want to proud to live here.
I wanted to write on this for a week now but have not been able to put it into words.
I'm still amazed.

**On a side note, I heard on the radio on election day that Bush had the lowest approval rating of any president in history last month (including Nixon the month he was impeached) Sad, but not surprising.

The first born

BOTH kids had so much fun watching (over and over again..)
the video of C on his birthday that L wanted me to add one of her at her Irish Dance class.


So, here she is!



She LOVES Miss Kathy!