More elf shenanigans...

Ellery the elf is still his silly self!

Ellery the Elf...

Ellery, our elf from the North Pole, is back to his old shenanigans! He has been in the frig drinking chocolate syrup, he has been racing Nolan's trucks and cars, and he has been in the candy drawer sneaking some candy!! The girls wake up each morning on cloud nine searching the house for where Ellery is! 

Our elf is back...

Ellery our elf is back for the month of December! The girls are so excited. Addyson, however, had a lot of questions about the elf this year. She is so sweet and innocent, I just want her to believe in the magic of Christmas a bit longer!! I guess Ellery the elf has the right idea, he started the month off right...all the focus on Jesus!! Stay tuned...I will be posting more elf pics!

Griswold Christmas Tree!

Well, I think we overdid the Christmas tree this year just a bit, but that's okay!! We love going to a local tree farm and picking out and cutting down our tree. The problem is when you are in the middle of the woods, the trees don't look that big. Then you get the tree home, and it is huge! This year's tree ended up being 15 feet tall....oops! We got it in the house last night, set upright, and cut the strings so the branches could 'fall out'. Today the decorating begins! I'm still taken aback when I turn the corner and see this monstrosity! It's like you're outside!! Ha! Merry Christmas from the Griswold Family! 

PS- there were no squirrels in the tree though...hehe!

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving was relaxing this year! It was our first year with no family in town. We very much missed having family around and will look forward to next year when we will have family with us for Thanksgiving! The girls watched the parade on TV and then went to play in the snow. They played in the snow forever which was nice because it allowed Jason and me to get a lot of cooking done. The girls helped me make little turkey treats out of Oreo's, Whoppers, candy corn, and peanut butter cups.  They turned out pretty cute and the girls gobbled them up after dinner. We ate around 3 pm and then had dessert around 5 and then had a nibble of leftovers before bed. It worked out great! I'm so very thankful for my little family!! They are my whole world!

Winter wonderland!

Well, it hasn't stopped snowing in two days! We haven't gotten a lot of snow, just slow steady snow. Yesterday Jason traveled (a day trip to New York) and he plowed the driveway at 5:30 in the morning before he left. I made it down the driveway to take Addyson to the bus stop, but that was it. We were stuck inside the rest of the day...which is fine with me (Katelyn and I are true homebodies)!! When Jason got home he went to the grocery store for me to get all of our Thanksgiving dinner ingredients and plowed the driveway again. This morning the driveway is covered again. Poor guy will have to plow again because the dishwasher repair man is coming, and I'm not risking him getting stuck in the driveway like yesterday! We need a dishwasher for Thanksgving dinner! The snow is so pretty when you are inside looking out at it, but man is it terrible when you must be out in it!! We love living in Pennsylvania because it has FOUR distinct seasons, but out of all four, this is our least favorite...ha!

Thanksgiving Dinner...

This year, for the first year since we have been in Pennsylvania, we are alone for Thankgsgiving. Just the five of us...no family visiting. We will miss our family for sure, but it will also be nice for it to just be 'us' this year. We are not going to do any kind of elaborate meal. Just going to keep things simple! Our menu plan is: cornish game hens, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots, buscuits, homemade cranberry sauce, and yummy Chocolate pie! The girls and I are going to make these cute little turkeys out of Oreos, whoppers, peanute butter cups, and chocolate chips (I got the recipe from Giada de Laurentiis on Food Network). Happy Thankgsiving y'all!!

A few family pics...

So as I mentioned before we had some very informal family pics taken at the farm a while back. The lady that took the pictures, Erika Seth Photography, was very nice and gave us the 'rights or print release' to the ten pictures she took. It was raining on us, so not all of them turned out great, but a couple did!

Room Swap...

Well, we began the room swap upstairs after debating it forever. We moved Nolan's crib into Addyson's old room. And we moved the girls together in the 'big room' or Nolan's old room. We call it the 'big room' because it is considered a second master and is quite a bit larger than the other rooms upstairs. So far so good. The girls love sharing and Nolan sleeps like a champ in his new room. Decorating and a few furntiure purchases to come, but all of their clothing and the majority of their 'stuff' has been moved into their new rooms! More pics to come, but this one was so cute. Nolan wanted to help Jason so bad with all the tools and assembly!!

Addyson in Seussical Jr.

We signed Addyson up for theater classes this Fall. She loved it!!! We will definitely do it again in the Spring. They performed Seussical Jr. and it was great! There were two performaces so we divided them up. I took Nolan and Kate (and Nana was here so she got to come too) to the first one, and Jason went to the second one. Nolan was a bit of a pistol because it was way past his bedtime, but Addyson did great! She had so much fun, and to me that is all that matters! She was the cutest little "Who" there was! My mom had flowers delivered the day of her first performance....so she felt like a star!

Random pics...

Halloween Party

We went to a Halloween party at our old neighbor's house. We have gone to several of their Halloween parties in the past and they could err on the side of rowdy or lively! This was the year of babies!  Everyone had babies. There were 13 kids under the age of three....ha! Needless to say this year's party was a bit different. We had a great time catching up with old friends. Nolan worked the crowd and flirted with everyone!!! The girls were angels and loved all the games and prizes! 

New glasses...

I recently went to the eye doctor and it turns out that I needed reading glasses. I'm officially getting old!! Oh well....I like them and they help me when I'm reading or doing computer work. 

Family visits...

My mom, grandmother, and cousin came to visit us for five days! We had so much fun! the girls were so amped up to have family in town. My cousin Belinda has never been to Pittsburgh, so we tried to take her around a bit. We went downtown and got some great pictures of the Fall foliage. We went on the Duquesne Incline. My mom and Belinda took the girls to see Peter Pan downtown. We went to pick out pumpkins at Shenot Farm. We carved pumpkins and roasted marshmallows for s'mores. We had such a great visit with our Texas family...we miss them already!!

New Chalkboard....

We just got a new chalkboard for our kitchen and I love it!! We put our bible verse we are learning (one every two weeks), our menu for the week, Addyson's spelling words, and any other necessary info on it! It has proved to be quite helpful!

Farm Outing

We went to a local farm with our MOPS group. The weather was not cooperating with us at all, but we tried to make the most of us. It was raining and muggy :(  We picked out some pumpkins, did a hayride, roasted marshmallows, visited with friends, and got to pet a few animals. There was a professional photographer there so we were able to snap a few family photos. Because it was raining, I'm not sure how they will turn out, but we are hoping for at least one good one of all of us! Fun Fall times!!

MOPS and Bible Study

I joined MOPS (mother of pre schooler) this year and I am stoked about it. I have only been to one meeting, but I can already tell it is a fabulous group of women. We meet every other Tuesday for two hours. Child care is provided so that the moms can focus on the speaker, curriculum, etc. It is a Christian based program that meets at my church. We will also do things outside the church such as playdates, moms nights out, etc. I cannot wait until the next meeting! 

I also signed up for a bible study at our church that will meet on Friday mornings. I'm so excited to get the book and dive right in! 

Good things to come....I know it!

Finishing touches...

We are finally getting the formal living room finished. We got the pillows for the couch and got the coffee table in. We couldn't have done it without our very talented friend Amy's help!! We need some things for the mantle and some lamps and then we will be finished! 

House Plans....

A long time ago when we were first remodeling the house, Jason's mom was here helping us. She was cleaning in the master closet and came across the original house plans for our house! What an awesome find! We have all the blueprints for each view of the house and first floor and second floor. We decided to get the front view framed. It turned out great!!

Serious yard work

We have had several estimates on someone coming out to the house and clearing out a bunch of overgrown mess around the house, but they have been so high! We found one guy that we think will get us a good deal on mulch and weed barrier. So Jason decided to pull out all the overgrown brush himself to save some money. It was a lot of work, but he got a TON of brush pulled out and hauled away. Go Jason! Will post more pics soon!

Nolan Keith

Nolan is growing up so fast. He is so stinking cute! I don't think I will ever let him get a girlfriend...ha! On Sunday he went with Daddy and got a big boy haircut. He looks so grown up now. Jason said he pretty much cried the entire haircut except twice when a blonde woman walked by. Don't know if he likes blondes or maybe he thought it was his momma? His sisters and I think his new haircut is adorable! Bubs is growing up!

First day of school!

The first day of school for the girls went off great! They both love their teachers. Addyson has a man for a second grade teacher this year. His name is Mr. Murphy and he is awesome! Her favorite friend in her class is Taylor and they sit right next to each other! Katelyn has Mrs. Wick for preK 4 and she seems fabulous! Katelyn said her favorite friend so far is a boy named Max! She asked me if he could be her boyfriend when she was a bit older....oh boy! They are growing up so fast. I'm cherishing these moments for sure!! 

Well visits

I'm soooo behind on my blogging. The kids went for their well visits three weeks ago. They are all doing great! Addyson is in the 10%ile for height and 50%ile for weight (she weighed in at 49lbs). She got a flu mist and no shots. Katelyn is in the 20%ile for height and weight (she weighed in at 34lbs). She got a flu mist and no shots (they gave me the choice of doing them now or her 5 year visit and I'm a wimp and decided to wait). Nolan wasn't so lucky....he got four shots (really five because they combine two in one) including his flu vaccine. He is in the 75%ile for weight and 50%ile for height and head circumference. He weighed in at 27 lbs!! We feel so blessed to have three healthy kiddos!

Craft complete

One more project is complete! Our chore chart is done. Jason and I are still debating on exactly the way we want to reward the kids for the chores, but all the chores are laminated and waiting. You can't tell but there are several chores on each hook, and as we complete the chores we move them over to the "all done" hook. The amount and type of chore can differ daily or stay the same. I'm hopeful this will improve the daily grind of asking the girls to help out. We will start this as soon as we know exactly how the reward system will work!!

Apple picking...

So we have several apple trees on our property, but we have never picked the apples. Jason and the girls went and picked apples for about an hour tonight and boy did they get a bunch! The reward for all the hard work....eating an apple! Guess I will be making some apple sauce soon!