Who's Super Cute?

Our Turkeys

So thankful!

Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner

Anyone need help cooking Thanksgiving dinner? Chef Tess is available. I did ask her why her turkey has three legs and she said, "my teacher said a turkey's leg is a drumstick and I know some people like that part of the turkey."

Reilly Train

Now that Declan is on the move, the girls always want to play with him.  (As you can see, Claire still adds tutus and ballet shoes to her outfits - even her jammies.)

Figuring It All Out

Tess and I were playing in the basement today and she did not want to clean up, so I played the Santa card.  I told her that Santa is watching this time of year and if kids don't take care of and clean up the toys they have, he will not bring them new ones.  I went up to make lunch and Tess followed me up shortly after.  I asked her how it went cleaning up the toys.  She looked at me and said, "I decided to ask Santa for coal."

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

So Claire has had a few ups and downs this fall with starting school.  She wanted to go to school so badly and repeatedly asked, but I don't think it lived up to the hype for her.  Also, this 2 year old preschool class is her first real experience being away from me (or the wonderful family members that babysit), so there have been many mornings with tears.  The tears are always short-lived and Claire seems to be enjoying school a little more and is obviously learning things (she sings a song about the days of the week and surprised us the other day signing a song in Spanish she learned in her Spanish class).   Even though she goes to school, she still occasionally makes comments about not liking school.  Well, we just got her school photo and think this look pretty much sums it up:

Here Come the Irish

Saturday morning marked the day that Chris brought his son to Notre Dame.  He was just as excited when he brought Tess and Claire for the first time.  The morning started with me running around getting all five of our Irish gear and warm clothes ready.  Chris was messing around on the stereo.  I asked him what he was doing (instead of helping me).  He was setting up his football morning playlist to get the kids excited for the game!  For the next forty-five minutes as we (I) packed up, Chris and the kids danced around to Here Come the Irish.

It was a great day.  The weather was brisk, but not too cold and the kids loved all the excitement.  As we pulled off the expressway in South Bend, Tess shouted that she could see the Golden Dome.  Chris admitted that he had never even noticed that you could see the Dome from that view.  As we walked to campus, Tess asked if daddy would be playing in the football game or just watching.  Awesome.  I told her just watching, but that didn't seem to disappoint.  Tess and Claire loved all the college girls that gave them so much attention (and candy) at the tailgate.  I think college kids may be replacing Tess and Claire's fascination with high school kids.

Mark and Jeanne so kindly took the kids back to the lakehouse so Chris and I could go to the game.  For a girl who is not into football - the triple overtime game was the most fun I have had watching football.