Friday, December 20, 2013

Wish lists....

The kids are in full Santa mode over here so we went to tell the man in red their wish lists...Brooke had a hard time even coming up with things to ask for this year, shoes (can ya blame a girl) and a Panda (stuffed not real) Brady on the other hand told us prior to going that he wanted to ask Santa if Denard Robinson could be his brother. Oh if only I had the guts to find a look a like to sit under the tree on Christmas morning just to see the look on his face, but no doubt it will be bleeding Maize and Blue on Christmas for this little guy.....
 
In case you can't make it out let me transcribe....
"Dear Santa I want a U of M water bottle, Uof M pillow, Uof M Book, U of M blanket, Receiver gloves, U of M wallpaper, U of M Chair, U of M Carpet, and a U of M Calendar." One stop shopping eh?
Brooke you can just take Brady's list and insert Panda for everything U of M....
 
When the real deal came, Brady got shy and didn't ask for an African American brother, maybe next year.

 I just included this because I was a little freaked out that my smart phone knew it was a picture of Santa and gave me an option to add falling snow.....now.....how in the heck would it know??

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

November

Recap for November is as follows.....
 
Turkey day at our house.....
Here are my minions making one of the hors d'oeuvres.
 
What do you think Grandma N, better or worse than yours? I used you as the competition gauntlet to get them to do it!
We discovered that Roxy enjoys watching the Dog competition....She was glued.
Naps for the two best cuddlers in the world.

We made due on Brooke's Birthday wish to go to Chicago and eat at Eds!
She was very intrigued and a bit embarrassed by he dancing and the rudeness.
Can't pass up the milkshakes....
Happy Birthday, my sweet girl.
That was the face of fear that her mom instilled when I would threaten I was going up on the counter to dance!

While in the city Brady got a chance to visit Soldier Field, an exciting thing for our new found sports enthusiast.
 
We also surprised the kids with front row tickets to Blue Man Group.
Brooke ended up being on the jumbo screen and part of the show.
Brady on the other hand was stricken by the volume and the fact that we had to wear plastic raincoats, I should have done some prep on that one, but he was all bright eye watching once he found out they weren't going to drown him with something.
Brady wasn't getting close to one of these guys.

Brooke and I made due on a gift card and pretended we were artists for the night.

We both enjoyed it a lot more than we expected.


Poor undignified Roxy had to spend an afternoon in Brady's angry bird undies after recovering from surgery. Laying low for 10 days was not her forte.


Brady's trying out Basketball for the first time and LOVING it. This past weekend he was up and in his uniform by 7:30 am (his game was at 11am)
Go Blue Wolverines! (guess who had some persuasion on the team name?)
I love that this kid still crashes in the car...some things never change.
And that was November.

Thursday, December 05, 2013

Concerts

We have been fortunate enough to see some really good concerts lately. And with Chris treating it like it's his J.O.B. there are some fun pictures to share.
 
The troops grabbing a bite to eat before we head to the Palace to see Pink!
There aren't many concerts that I would bother making the logistics happen on a random Wednesday to go to Detroit, coordinate child care, after school activities, homework, etc... but this was one of them. She is one of my favorites, and as much as I dreaded work Thursday morning I can honestly say it was worth every ounce of caffeine I had to pump in my veins all day. To date one of the best concerts I have seen.
Pink.
I could talk for hours about how great this show was, I will admit I have a bit of a girl crush on her, but as "pop" as most would think she is she is really more....a whole lot more. I am not afraid to say I love her music, but that is only half of it, her athleticism and stage presence are undeniable. Okay enough I think you get my point, here are some great pix we got from being married to Mr. Ticketmaster and all his tricks.

Okay one more boast to her - this random egg cage was flying across the stadium and not one person was anchored down or attached to it, as she hung straight off of some guys arms above a sea of her fans, I made a promise to do more push ups.


I don't think I have seen someone "truly" enjoy themselves on stage as much as her!

The next one was a treat too, I was more excited for him (the opening band) than I was the main act. I was a fan from the moment he stepped onto the American Idol stage and I still am and not embarrassed to admit it. Phil Phillip's was great and completely entertaining, it was neat to see the pawn boy in action.



John Mayer was the headliner and as talented as a guitar player as he is, he lacks in stage presence and and crowd enthusiasm..... I guess I am the gal who wants all the bells and whistles thrown out, for the price of these tickets that you have to pay I want more than someone just standing behind a mic glued to the floor.
So I diverted my annoyance for his stage show and concentrated on enjoying his odd facial expressions the whole night.






Tuesday, December 03, 2013

Baltimore.

I recently stumbled upon a little gem of a city......
Baltimore.
Who knew.....This town is great. I flew in for a wedding for one of my college friends and was pleasantly surprised by all that this town had to offer. Including two sports stadiums and 4 sports museums, in hind sight I am glad this was a girls only weekend I actually got to see the rest of the city (wink wink)! The whole city is built around the harbour (something GR and Ada could learn from!) everything is within walking distance and/or a water taxi, but best of all was the company I got to hang out with, its rare that we can ALL make an event and it was good to catch up with everyone!
Here's the old Western Crew....
 
A view of the inner harbour.
A rare night out together at some restaurants and a comedy show....did i mention the weather there was beautiful November and we were all eating outside (they all told me the seafood was fantastic!) without jackets!
Laura was a prop in Mark Cooper's comedy show....figures.....
I have a feeling Baltimore hasn't seen the last of me yet.....

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Halloween 2013

We made it through another costume season, this year Brady choose to be a Lions football player and Brooke was Thing One from Dr. Seuss. We were able to get a bit of early trick or treating in at Aunt Suzanne's retirement community (best weather you could ask for - inside!)
Roxy even joined the festivities, who could resist right?
Kids scooped and carved their pumpkins this year...
enjoyed playing with the goo......
Brady's finished product....eyebrows and all....

Brooke tried to engineer a minon pumpkin.
Brooke and mom's favorite part! SALT.
This was Roxy entering in a costume contest at her Vet, she made it home with a new bone, toy, leash and dish.....so I guess it was worth the trip!
Classroom parties, apparently football player was a popular choice this year!
Two lions players, both named Brady, in the same class, who would have guessed.
Mom taking a snack break in Brooke's class.
Brooke and her teacher Mrs. Bedi....all the teachers were Despicable Me Minons.
Roxy all ready for Trick or treating, but no luck she stayed home, maybe next year.
Just a boy, the game and a hot dog......
Photo shoot before the candy craze begins....
A fellow teammate.
Brooke found her counterpart too....

The gang busting at the seams!
If we were lucky we got a piece of pizza in each one of them and then unleashed the hounds....
Still hanging tough, although all were complaining that their pillowcases were getting too heavy to carry.
Assessing the loot.....
Sorting, comparing, trading......
Despite a constant mist and mild tempuratures.....we survived another midwest Halloween.