Frick park sledding. Winter 2012. We aren’t very good at it, but it was fun!

Sledding with the kid.

I think Todd shared this with Sarah, and so they got me a Beginner Sewing Book.  It comes with cool patterns and directions. These projects got me excited, and there were some awesome super small projects that made me feel that I could have a successful outcome.  I NEEDED a good success story with this sewing stuff.

Also, the story gets more interesting because the book stemmed a more bigger issue: I need a sewing machine.  I didnt want to break the bank, but I wanted one that was new, and it helped it came with a dvd, I am a visual learner and thank goodness for that dvd and youtube! My mom has always quilted, and I did love helping her, although she did all the cutting and sewing, I ironed and pinned the fabric for her.  So I picked a Singer Confident Quilter.  I am very happy with it.  It was on super sale, and it was the right amount of money to invest to see if it is something I will figure out.

I bought some fabric, and ended up with 14 pin cushions!!! Lots of people will be getting gifts of pin cushions.  I really overestimated on my fabric.  But I loved it!!! It was so much fun, and it was a success story!! yay!!!

Thank you Sarah for getting that book for me! I love it!

The Burnetts

The Leflers

The Leflers

The Spencers

Brian Haberstock and guest Kerri and her daughter Bailee

The kids loved this room

Super cute kids

Us

Us with Granny

The Garvin Clan represented.

Garvin Women

Of course, Mandee is included!

The Women who worked their tails off.

I love this picture! Its so creepy with the shadows.

Grandparents

ooooo, fox!

The visiting Leflers

Us

Besties

Can you tell we LOVE the camera????

Pete, he is super cool, and Brian and Todd

Mancuso Clan

Another great Mancuso Clan Picture!

It really went very smoothly.  We had so many to invite, but because its the holiday season, so many were out of town.  But we still had a full house, and we are sure all of our friends will make it at some point.

The food:

We had so many sides, just in case you weren’t feeling too adventurous (Makensy…..:)) Stuffing, Mac and Cheese, Rolls, Corn, Green Beans.

The Beasts were: Deer, Turkey, Squirrel, Duck, Lamb, Boar, Ram, Bunny, Bear, and Mystery Meat.

Brians family was really the only people to feel disgusted and tricked into trying the Mystery Meat, which ended up to be Racoon. It didnt really bother me, it tasted really good.

Mandee had this super awesome idea to paint a big canvas, and have all of Brians fun hunting stuff (including a fox he had gotten) and had a fun room for people to take pictures of themselves.  That is going to have to be a blog post in and of itself, the pictures are so great, and for those of you who went, you can get the pic for yourself off my blog.

It was a great 2nd Annual, and look forward to it again.        

We went to the mall and let Connor sit on Santa’s lap and ride the Christmas Train (not the Polar Express, too many licensing issues).

On Christmas Eve, we started a new tradition where we give each other pajamas and go look at Christmas lights. We went to Hartwood Acres. Connor was surprisingly into the lights. We spent about 30 minutes slowly moving through about 2-3 miles of lighted displays, and there were no tantrums. Every so often he would gasp excitedly and point at a rendering of Santa Claus or some other Christmas icon (except Jesus, no Jesus).

For Christmas, we opened presents (and in one picture, you can see I got the gift of conjunctivitis). Connor enjoyed and enjoys his new presents. He really enjoyed his new drums (linked is a video of him playing his drums).

One of the Garvin’s presents was a trip to Color Me Mine in Squirrel Hill. Connor did a great job participating and even painted a few things for his Grandparents. Grandpa got so into his cereal bowl that I don’t think he looked up from his black bird painting for at least 45 minutes. Connor supplied the handprints on the bowl.

All in all, a great holiday that included Katy moving in with us as she transitions from college to professional life.

On December 10, Connor turned two. What was originally planned as a repeat of his first birthday (a nice dinner and chatting with friends), quickly became more. It was actually the most stressful and time consuming party I have done. Lessons I have learned are: never throw a birthday party on the same day I work; I don’t have to do EVERY home made craft created on the planet that fits a birthday theme.

Besides those things, I really had so much fun and it was great to see my son love everything so much and be old enough to get excited.

Understatement of the year: Connor Loves Angry Birds. He loves the music. He loves searching them on YouTube. He loves making angry pig noises. And, of course, he loves to play the game. He couldn’t care less about his score, even when it’s better than his parents. He just loves to fling those birds off the slingshot ASAP.

The trouble for me began when I started doing some research online for Angry Bird themed parties. Thank goodness for Etsy to help me along the way. We actually only invited five families, but that totaled 14 kids.

The day started with Connor opening his Granny and Grandpa Garvin’s birthday gift which was a VERY oversized Angry Bird shirt. As evidenced by the picture, he does not care. Any time I fold the shirt after it’s been washed, he has to wear it.

Thank goodness for my Bestie, Mandee Mancuso. She made fourteen of these Mini Babybel Angry Bird snacks. Let’s just say the kids loved them, and when one was misplaced, there were tears.

Every child had pre-made Angry Bird sandwiches. It’s always fun to play with food.

These cupcakes are actually the ones made by us. They were so much fun to make. And the kids loved to eat them.

I found these super-awesome hand-made coloring books on Etsy. They were our party favors.

Here’s the piñata beaten half to death. Todd made it from scratch. He did a great job.

A few choice balloons were transformed into Angry Birds!

We recreated Angry Birds in real life! I was so surprised that the kids were willing to stay in line (three times!) and take turns for their chance to throw the ball bird at the cans pigs.

The kids loved the piñata too. It was the oldest party-goer who gave the killing blow.

We made sure everyone got some of the piñata bounty.

Cupcake time!

Gift time! He loved his Dinosaurs and all his Angry Bird paraphernalia. I never thought my two year-old would receive an iTunes gift card, but the results of that gift get used the most. Spent on Angry Birds Seasons and the original Angry Birds; as well as a Grover and Elmo book, and an interactive bedtime book he loves. He also received his Angry Birds backpack that he takes everywhere with him with pride. It is awesome to have him carry his own diapers now.

Best shot of the big Angry Bird centerpiece courtesy of Etsy. It is personalized for Connor and now resides in his room.

Love this picture so much of what the boys did on the fridge. Sad it’s a bit blurry.

Some Cousin Lovin.

Hangin’ with his homies.

Sugar overload! All kids happy.

Great night.

We had Thanksgiving dinner early afternoon, then headed to the theater for The Muppets. This was Connor’s first experience at the movies. We took separate cars just in case Connor had a melt down in the theater. When he gets his picture taken, and he’s not in the mood to be “posey-boy” he planks (i.e. lies on the ground) whereever he is at. What I love about this moment, is that his cousins just joined him, and at that point, he became “posey-boy”. He loved The Muppets, and he made it through the whole thing. It was a great Thanksgiving day.

A new tradition we are starting as a family is picking out a real tree the day after Thanksgiving. We found a great farm just north of Pittsburgh called Allison’s Tree Farm. We love having it in our house and it was also a great day!

Had to capture a moment with Granny.

I love this picture of Connor and Ethan in the Grocery Store.  And they were entertainment for us while we went shopping for makeup.

Of course there will be moments of frustration, and bossiness.  Connor is a great hitter.  I cannot stand it, but that is the stage he is in.  Ethan took it like a champ, and Jaclyn had a great attitude about it.

I still dont know what is up with Connor not wanting to share his bath with Ethan, but on the last night we made him.  I have a bath time pic with me and Jaclyn, so we had to do another one.  And I think its funny to see him so upset.

Okay, back to the good times.  The good times that will get you into trouble.  And here was the most popular one.  Ethan would gladly take Connors shoes and socks off so they could jump on the matress in Grandpas study.  Oh and what else would they do together?  Get all of Grandpa’s big books off the shelf and Connor would pile them on Ethans belly.  I caught that on tape.

Some great moments, on Grandpa’s chair: Ethan watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Connor with his Angry Birds.  Both in their new Cowboy boots.

On the last day at Jaclyn’s house.  Saying goodbye was hard.  We had so much fun.  The flight back was really horrible, but Connor did great.  I will never fly Delta again.  I will always fly Southwest, even if it means three layovers to get to Texas!

I had an extra bonus, my cousin lives there now too.  I am very fond of my cousin Jaclyn.  I have great memories of her growing up, and we lived together while going to school in Provo.  We both met our husbands while living together, and got married within a month of each other.  We have two boys, and it was just time to get them together.  I was super excited about this trip.

In the past six years, my Grandparents moved into a smaller house and closer to my Uncle Mike.  We got to see him a lot during our visit, and another bonus was that my mom flew too!  The week went by way to fast.  What did we do most of the time???  Eat ice cream, and play the best game made, Rook!  I was always Jaclyn’s partner, and we were unstoppable. (this of course depends on who you ask.)

Whats a trip to Texas without a Cowboys shirt, and some cowboy boots, and a hat?  Also, a trip to Cabela’s with Great Granpda, and some train conducting with Great Granny.

Here is Connor and me with my cousin and her family.  It was great to spend the week with them!

Connor with his Great Grandparents, giving them a laugh!

These boys together were a hoot! Still making a good time!

Us with Uncle Mike and Nancy.  It was great to meet Nancy and see Uncle Mike again. I think we resurrected his love for Rook.  It was fun to go to Cabela’s with them, and a great Texas Roadhouse.And lastly, I couldn’t go to Texas without the four generations of Marquette’s. Great visit.