Plastic's Christmas Party

Wow!  That's a bright tree.  Oops!

Carson's Christmas Sing

This was our last Shadyside Presbyterian Nursery School Christmas Sing.  :(  It's so cute to see all of the kids so dressed up.  They're excited to put on a show for their families!  Carson has been giving us sneak-peeks of the show over the last few weeks.  Unfortunately, I kept running out of memory on the camera, so I don't have any songs in their entirety.

Isn't she the sweetest little thing?  I love how Carson has his hands in his pockets!  He and Eva are good friends.  They play after school almost everyday while the moms chit-chat!

Carson Got 6 Punches!!

Carson is such an energetic little guy.  He's always going and rarely sits still.  Preschool is no different.  His teacher has started a punch-card system with him.  She basically divided up his day into 6 segments.  At the end of each morning, he and his teacher sit down and decide together whether or not he earned a punch for each segment.  On this particular day, he earned all 6!!!  We make a huge deal out of these days by celebrating with rewards such as lunch at a restaurant of his choice, a trip to the library, a walk in the woods, etc.  Today, Carson chose to take a trip downtown to check out the gingerbread houses and train display. (There are literally hundreds of gingerbread sculptures designed/constructed by kids and organizations around the city and surrounding areas.)    Good job, Carson!  We're proud of you!

Strangely, he CAN sit for hours watching trains!  Just like his great grandpas.

Baby Luke

This is the little guy Carson and I will be taking care of starting in January!  Don't be getting any ideas, Carson!  It's fun to have a baby around, but it's also fun to be able to give it back.  I enjoy sleeping through the night!

Horse and Carriage Parade ~ Nov 19th

The kids and I braved downtown again tonight for the lighted horse and carriage parade.  (Jerrod has been at a conference in Chicago since Wednesday)  The horses were decked out with lights, jingle bells and even sparkly "hoof" polish. 

 The Wells Fargo Stagecoach

Here Comes Santa Claus!

Light Up Night~ November 18th

Each year at Christmas, Pittsburgh holds a "Light Up Night" where there are crafts, concerts, ice skating, holiday lights and fireworks.  This year the kids and I headed downtown with some friends to check out the festivities. 

Not a great picture of the kids, but the tree in the center of the ice rink is pretty!



A Gorgeous Weekend

We had beautiful weather last weekend.  The kids had their last soccer game...against the parents!  On Sunday we all went for a walk in Frick.  The leaves were so pretty with the sun shining on them.  None of us was dressed for pictures, but we just couldn't pass up the opportunity!  Carson is holding his pet slug.

First Snow!

We woke up to a surprise Saturday morning.  When we went to the door to let Cooper out, the ground was covered in snow!  It continued to snow until about 1:00.  The kids played soccer in the snow.  Jerrod was actually out there helping coach and SHOVEL the field!

I sent Camryn out to take some pictures of Carson, Cooper and the neighbor's dog, Chomo, playing in the snow.

Trick-or-Treat!

Pumpkin Carving

Camryn has a true love for dogs!  She was a veterinarian for Halloween and wanted her pumpkin carved as a labrador!



You can't really see Carson, but he insisted on sitting between the pumpkins!



Soergel's Fall Festival

The kids and I headed out to the pumpkin patch with some friends.  Soergel's is one of our favorites out here. 



The hay tunnel is the kids' favorite part of Soergel's.  They crawl through the tunnel built inside a shed with
flashlight in hand! 



The King of the World!

What Did You Say?

I love the age 7.  Camryn isn't afraid to ask me anything and is still so innocent.  If only I could keep it that way forever.  I should preface what I am about to post by saying, Camryn is a goody-goody much like I was in school.  She never does anything wrong, always wants to please the teachers and somewhat of a "teacher's pet."  Well, a few weekends ago, our family was walking "up street" for dinner when Camryn says to me, "Mom, Nate says "f****" is a bad word."  Obviously I was taken aback by this!  I quickly regained my composure and asked her where she heard that word.  She said her friend's little brother says it!  Jerrod and I looked at each other and just told her to never use that word, and that it's probably the naughtiest word anyone could say.  She dropped it at that.  Whew!

Tag, You're It!

Carson has never been shy.  Ever since he could talk, he's been making friends.  ( kind of reminds me of my dad!)  He will literally go up to ANYONE and ask them, "What's your name?  My name's Carson."  Well, last night was no different.  We took Cooper for a walk and decided to stop at Blue Slide Park for a bit.  When we got there, 7 or 8 high school age boys were hanging out on the play structure.  At first I thought, oh great, Carson is probably going to overhear some choice words to start trying out at preschool.  But before they even had a chance, Carson had them all playing a game of tag!  It was hilarious.  They asked Carson what the rules were, where base was and who was "it."  He loved having these "big kids" doing whatever he told them to!

Carson's New Friend

Carson likes to spend a lot of time digging in the "garden" with his friend, John David.  (our neighbor who is 3 years old)  They usually find worms and other gross bugs.  On this particular day, Carson came running to me yelling, "Mom, Mom, I found a lizard!!"  I had no idea what he could possibly be talking about.  Pretty sure we don't have lizards here in Pittsburgh, but they've found bears in Frick Park and wild animals in Ohio, so I guess anything's possible.  When he finally reached me, I realized it was a salamander he was talking about!  He had a lot of fun watching him squirm around. 

Penguins

Last weekend, Jerrod and I had the opportunity to attend a Penguin's game.  We had seats 10 rows from the center of the ice!  It was amazing.  The last time we went to a hockey game it was in Denver to watch the Avalanche play, and we had nose-bleed seats.  (I remember feeling dizzy right away!)  The Penguins didn't win, but it was still fun to be out together.

Camryn took this picture on my phone when we were driving to the JBF sale last month.  I wonder what he's praying for in his sleep?

Gateway Clipper Fleet

We were told by Camryn's preschool teacher, that when we moved out to Pittsburgh, we needed to be sure to take a riverboat tour aboard the Gateway Clipper Fleet.  Well, after 2 and 1/2 years, we finally did it last weekend.  The weather was gorgeous and so was the scenery!

                           

Our Family Tree

Camryn was given an assignment to make a family tree.  Here is the finished product.

Apple Pickin'

We had a beautiful weekend here in the 'burgh.  Camryn, Carson and I did our best to find things to pass the time until Daddy gets home from Denver.  Saturday they each had soccer games, we made a fort and slept in it that night, and Sunday we joined some friends at Simmon's Farm for apple picking and lots of fall fun!

Junior Great Race

Every year Citiparks and Dollar Bank here in Pittsburgh, host the Great Race and the Junior Great Race.  This year Camryn was excited to run the 1-mile Fun Run!  She even went for a practice run with Jerrod a few days before.  Carson was able to do the 50-yard Tot Trot. These are the kinds of things we love about living in the city!

Pre-race.  What's with the hands, Carson?

Camryn and Mom

Carson and his running partner, Jakob!  (again with the hands!)

Post-race...still smiling! :)

Good Luck, Daddy!

Jerrod took off for Iowa today.  He has an interview there for a Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery faculty position at the University of Iowa.  I'm not sure how to feel about the whole situation.  We would LOVE to be closer to our Iowa friends and family.  However, we have grown to love the opportunities that come with living in a big city like Denver and Pittsburgh.  So many of the things our children have been able to do are things Jerrod and I didn't do until we were in college or later.  It has truly been an amazing experience!  However, being closer to family would be priceless.  I guess we'll find out in the next several months!

Carson's 1st Day...Finally

I don't know why Carson's preschool always starts so late.  Yesterday was his 1st day.  He is going 5 days a week for 3 hours each morning.  (Great for both of us!)  It is amazing to see the difference between our two children.  Camryn was so apprehensive about going to preschool.  She only went 2 days, but they were full days from 8:30-3:00.  Regardless, she cried every morning for 6 months!  Carson, on the other hand, asked me several times yesterday when I was going to leave.  He WANTED me to go home!  From one extreme to the other with these 2 kiddos!