Go Blue!

As the end of college football season comes to a close (until bowl games of course) I have to share our love of football. There is nothing better than living in a college town with awesome football. That doesn't mean your team is awesome (because we all know Michigan kind of stunk this year), but we have true fans who know how to love the game. I LOVE Saturdays here in Ann Arbor when streets are crowded with people in their maize and blue, RVs have been in the high school parking lot over night, knowing what time of the day to avoid driving anywhere, and when you walk through the streets, this is what you see....

True tailgaters!
(Can you see their flat screen in the car in the background? If you aren't in the stadium, you are at least right next to it watching the game from your tent.)

Even though I give Ryan a hard time about his football obsession, I do love the game as well. But, my highlight this year came from the game I was able to go to, where we did the wave. I love sporting events when the wave is started, there is something about coming together as a crowd and making it fun.
But seriously, Michigan knows how to do the wave!! IT WAS AWESOME!

This is the deal, if Michigan is winning by a lot, they do the wave.
The students in the student section start the whole thing, and this is how it goes...
Everyone does the normal wave about 2 or 3 times around the stadium
Then, the next round is in slow motion (video is below because it is hysterical)
Followed by a fast wave (also a video below)
Ending with a wave that splits and goes in both directions
Then everyone cheers because the wave was awesome, and we are still winning the game.

Thanks for a wonderful day at the stadium Michigan!

Slow Motion

Fast Motion

Wish us good luck as we face The Ohio State this weekend, the biggest game of the season here in our town. Can't wait!!

Saturday Cleaning

I love a good Saturday when we all pitch in and make the house and yard look better. Everyone seems so happy on these days, kids included. We couldn't resist a good cleaning day with 60 degree weather! So, we spent most of the day out in the yard raking, cleaning windows, talking with neighbors, and jumping on the tramp. And of course, the best part is jumping down the leaf pile in our compost bin. This was my favorite thing to do when my dad cleaned up the yard, so it brought back lots of great memories.

All in the Family

I wish I had a picture of my sisters and I growing up with our infamous pigtails, but I do not. After the last post below, I decided it was high time to do something about this girl's hair. It is out of control! (And very much like my sister Amy's hair as a baby).

I guess Shaylee is a true "Germany Girl"

I was shocked at how much hair she had to put in pigtails. She is still pretty bald on the back, but her sides are SO long that pigtails are perfect. She looks so grown up now I can hardly stand it!

PS...these pictures are in her very favorite spot in then entire house (okay, maybe her second, I will show the first another time). If the dishwasher is open, she will discover it and help herself to the dirty dishes, and please be my guest, as long as you are happy.

Skills (kind of)

I think Ace is developing some photography skills since she steals my camera daily for her photo shoots. Ryan and I loved these pictures of Shaylee though.

Another Celebration

We officially celebrated Ace's birthday on Sunday (the actual day) with our family. She isn't into eating dinner these days, so we made something we KNEW she would eat. Scrambled eggs with hash browns and bacon. She ate it and loved it. Then, we opened presents, and I was reminded once again to stop buying gifts for my kids, because grandparents make up for it!

She got some awesome toys thanks to the grandparents. She has played all week with her new loot and is in heaven. Strangely the princess tricycle we bought her (for a steal of $10 at Target!) she hasn't touched since. Ace loves little toys that she can make believe with, and a tricycle obviously doesn't fit in that category. Happy Birthday Ace, we love you!

Happy Birthday Ashlyn!

Our little Ace is turning three this weekend, so we had a little Princess party for her today. Thanks to her Aunt Robin for the fun princess gown! She hasn't taken it off all day.

Her friends all came in their princess outfits.
Ellie, Ace, Anna, Esther, and Estee

My attempt at a castle cake. It wasn't perfect, but the girls didn't mind, they loved that it was a pink castle!

We played 'pin the star on the magic wand.' At this age, no one really understands the concept, but it was fun anyway.

Some fun costumes!

This was the part Ace was most excited for...blowing out the candles! She made it very clear that she was the one to blow them out, and no one else.

Nothing better than cake at 10:30 in the morning!

She got all sorts of fun presents, and everything was a Disney princess item! She couldn't have been more happy about that! She got a Belle Tea Set, Sleeping Beauty Polly Pocket, Princess Look and Find Book, and Snow White shoes (high heels of course).

This little one sat and watched the craziness of the girls all morning. And, she was more than happy to pull out this silly grin for the camera.

Happy Birthday Ashlyn, time has gone by too quickly!
We love you!

Halloween!

Halloween is such a fun holiday with kids! I love seeing their faces when they put their costumes on, and get candy just for being cute. They all had a wonderful holiday, and so did we.

It started off with a party at a friend's house without kids. What a nice night to have a babysitter and get away. Here are some of the costumes...(I'm not even telling you what Ryan is, but if you see his shirt close up, he made the logo from 30Rocks previous episode, see if you can recognize it, it is pretty funny)

Shaggy and Daphne

I just LOVED Chris' costume, it had me laughing most the night.

We are lame costume people (next year will be better!), but I am a banana, if you didn't catch that.

My very favorite activity in all of AA is the Halloween trick or treating downtown, it never disappoints. This is our group this year that met up. This was the best shot we could get. We always end up seeing half the ward there, so it is a fun event for the kids. It was a great morning!

Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White

Shay was a bat. I just want to eat her alive!

Trick or treating can be hard work, it takes a lot of thought.

LAME, this was the best shot we got of the three of them together before we headed out in our neighborhood.
We started with our annual Halloween Sloppy Joe and French Fry dinner, and then spent the night going door to door. Luckily we had two groups, the fast (boys) and the slow(girls). I was with the slow group, Ace doesn't have a fast bone in her body.

The babies before they froze their little hands off. It was frigid.

She cannot get enough of being a princess. This outfit has been worn already everyday this week (including our latest excursion to the grocery store)

I would like to say that we spent some family time carving pumpkins, but I can't. Ryan did the whole thing, he gutted them, and carved them out. I watched, and who knows where the kids went?! They were present at one point, but then left. I prefer to let him do it, I know, that makes me the lamest mom ever. But, it also makes Ryan the coolest dad because Collin hasn't stopped talking about his angry pumpkin that his dad carved for him.

We have a friend who plays the "Halloween Witch" the night after Halloween each year. She brings the kids baskets of toys, books, and coloring items, in exchange for the kids' candy. I love this idea because having so much candy around the house makes my kids crazy at times (which they already are, so they don't need extra boost in that area...and who is REALLY eating all the candy? Yeah that's right, me!). Anyway, I told Collin and Ace that the Halloween Witch was going to come and bring these great toys and gifts, and take the candy to the kids who didn't get any. Well, that idea was blown down immediately by a screaming Collin who was terrified that his precious candy was going to be taken by some witch (good or not). So, I decided that the witch wouldn't come after all. Since then, he has told me EVERYDAY that he does not want that witch to come. Wow, what a funny kid.

Happy Halloween!!