War Chant

During last weekend's game against the stinky 'ole Florida Gators (YEAH NOLES - way to STOMP the Gators!!), we taught Elianna the FSU War Chant. She was so cute doing it I just had to (with the help of my Chris) throw together a video.

Thanksgiving 2010

This year for Thanksgiving, we headed over to Grandmother's house for a very long weekend. It was so nice! We did alot of relaxing, eating, reading, eating, watching Christmas movies and eating. Did I mention we ate alot while there? Well, we did.

We left Wednesday after Chris got off work and made it to Grandmother's house around 8 pm. While on our way there, Elianna slept the 2-1/2 hours ... should have known she would be up late ... until 11:30 pm. Thursday was filled with cooking our turkey dinner - we had a turkey breast, stuffing, harvest acorn squash, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy and pumpkin pie. We ate and ate until we could eat no more. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, the dog show and football - we probably watched as much football this weekend as we ate food. And we ate alot of food! Maybe I already told you that.

Friday we ventured out for a bit but not to the Black Friday sales. Did you all see that video of people being trampled at a Target? It was awful! We kept it safe and headed to Ashcombe (a local nursery with a small deli and cute gift store), the local grocery store and my Pop-Pop's grave.

Saturday we decided to be even more adventurous and went to Intercourse, PA which is part of the "Lancaster County" Amish section. While there we went to Kitchen Kettle and bought some Christmas gifts, the Intercourse Canning Company which was disappointing, and the Intercourse Pretzel Factory. While at the Pretzel Factory, Elianna got to roll out some pretzel dough and learn how to shape it (with Papi's help) into a pretzel. She did such a great job she earned the sticker "Official Pretzel Twister."

Elianna's pretzel

"Official Pretzel Twister"

Sunday after we attended church with Grandmother, we had to quick throw everything in the car and head home in order for Chris to be home for Praise Band practice. We had a great weekend!

Grandmother is 3 weeks away from going South for the Winter. I always miss being able to visit her while she is away, but am glad she gets out of the cold and is able to see her girls. Sounds funny to say it that way.... Have a good Winter GiGi! We will miss you!

Oh! We taught Elianna the FSU War Chant over the weekend! She is so funny and adorable when she does it. I have put together a video but it needs a program that I don't have on my computer here at home so be watching! Whew! To wrap it all up - enjoy some pictures!

Papi giving Elianna a "horsey" ride

Dramatic Much?!?

These pictures were taken while I was trying to get a Thanksgiving picture. She is a bit dramatic, huh? Just so you know ... she is like her father.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from our little Indian

Last year (2009)

Play Money

We keep a jar of loose change in the bottom of one of our cabinets. Elianna has recently become obsessed with playing with the money. She takes the money from one jar and puts it into the other jar - back and forth, back and forth. Of course, she also enjoys dropping it all on the ground and swirling it all around with her feet too. Getting her used to the feel of money at an early age I suppose.

Fall, Family, Fire

Fall at our house means a fire in the fireplace. Oh how I love the warmth and smell of a fire in the fireplace. Elianna finds it very fascinating and enjoys watching it as much as we do. Hmm.... a cup of hot chocolate and a fire. The perfect Fall evening.

Missions Month 2010

The whole month of October is dedicated to missions at our church. We have a different missionary every Sunday and Wednesday. I love having it over a whole month instead of the typical concentrated 1 week. This year Chris and I were given traditional African dress to wear. I actually have 2 African dresses and totally love both of them. They are so colorful and are big and flow-y (which hides my many curves). Chris enjoyed a break from his suit and said he felt comfortable in his "pajamas."

I absolutely love this last picture.

The Weekend

This past weekend was the first Saturday in months we didn't have major plans scheduled. After sleeping in until 8 am (oh blessed 8 am!), we went outside to play in the large leaf pile Chris made for Elianna. Some of our friends drove by and decided to join us for awhile to play in the pile. We had fun hiding Harley, his soccer ball and Kyle in the leaves. After they left, we took some Fall pictures in the leaves.

After we got cleaned up, we headed over to the Children Hospital of Philadelphia. Back at Elianna's party, we had asked guests to bring toys for the children at CHOP instead of gifts for Elianna. Initially we were disappointed because we wouldn't be able to see any children, we just had to drop off the toys at the information desk.

However, while we were at CHOP, Chris tweeted (twittered?) that we were there dropping off the toys. From that we ended up visiting a student who goes to our school who was there because he had pneumonia. Besides the fact that it's a small small world due to technology, we also got to visit a child while we were there.

Too bad for us that there is a Bobby Burger Palace just around the corner from the hospital. Oh the deliciousness that are Bobby's burgers! Chris had the burger of the month - the Brunch burger. It has American cheese, smoked bacon and a fried egg on top. I told Chris to surprise me with a burger while I went to pay the parking meter. He did a great job with the choice! He ordered me the Napa Valley Burger. It has fresh goat cheese, watercress and Meyer lemon honey mustard. Delicious!!

We couldn't just stop there though so we headed on over to Capogiro Gelato Artisans (aka Shoppe of Yummy Italian Ice Cream). A gelato is Italy's version of ice cream. It is creamy, smooth and so so much better than "American" ice cream. I could eat a cupful every day.

Now you see why I could eat a cupful every day! Doesn't it just look so good? See ya, I'm off to Philly to get some gelato!