Some pictures...

I haven't updated this in a while so I thought I'd add a few random pictures... Here is Brayden eating at our small group Christmas party. It was fun - the kids had a gift exchange then we sent them down to the basement with a babysitter while the rest of us ate and had our own white elephant exchange. Brianna posing on the stairs - for some reason she loves to pretend to go to sleep on the stairs! If you look closely you'll see her purple lipgloss!

Chloe and Brianna having a snack at the island!

Proof that I french braided Brianna's hair (while she was moving)!

My newest nephew - Landon!

The countdown to Christmas has begun!

Today we began our countdown to Christmas by visiting Santa at the mall. Brianna sat on his lap without me this year! She told him she wanted Tinker Bell stuff and Brayden told him he wanted lazer tag, cube world, and the Batman cave.

You wouldn't know the fight I put up with Brianna to get her to wear this dress by the smiles on their faces! She is so funny about clothes! We have a long road ahead of us!

I guess technically we started our countdown yesterday by building (eating) a gingerbread house! I kept looking at Brianna and she was constantly chomping on something!

Here's the happy family!

Wishing we were at the beach!

As you can see from the pictures, we are already wanting warmer weather! So far we have done pretty good at keeping busy but I'm sure the excitement of bringing out old toys will wear off soon... Brianna has kept asking us if we can go outside and play!

Here is the finished product of our kitchen... for now anyway!

Ofoto pictures...

To see lots of pictures from October click here!

A couple more pictures

Brayden and Brianna "playing" rockband (Brayden is actually pretty good at the drums). No, I did not have a baby... This is Huitsing baby #3 - Kate!

Ceiling Project

Since the weather has been so warm I thought I would give Gary a project to do. We created a little drop ceiling thing (Gary and Brianna call it a "Block O" for the Buckeyes) above our island in the kithcen. Here are some pics of the finished project!

Halloween

Here are a few pictures from Halloween - a little out of order! We had a good time running house to house with our friends from the street! Here is Brayden afterwards getting ready to sort his candy! Their pumpkins were filled to the top! I had to carry them most of the way... (Brayden was a little braver this year. However, he did have a rough time getting some scary things out of his head before bedtime.) Below is a picture of the all the kids (L-R: Cameron, Collin, Brayden, Sophi, Chloe, Brayden Polley, Evan, Caleb, Brianna)

Look how much Chloe and Brianna match even though they have on completely different costumes! Last year they were both princesses and they looked so much alike then too. They're even wearing the same silver sparkly shoes!

Spongebob and Abby Caddabby!

Brianna loved trick-or-treating! She kept saying, "let's go to another house and get MORE candy!"

Here's another video of Brianna singing...

Here is a video of Brianna's version of the theme song for The Backyardigans!

Pumpkins!

Every year we love carving pumpkins! Brianna didn't like cleaning them out this year - she didn't even want to watch us do it - funny girl! However, she loved the cooked pumkin seeds we made! Here are Brayden and Brianna's pumkins. After being spooked by Frankenstein at the zoo, Brayden became obsessed with him and wanted to do a Frankenstein pumpkin. Brianna wanted to do Uniqua from the Backyardigans. (Seemed easier than doing Tasha.) Gary's pumpkin is the transformer (Decepticon) - the simplest one he's done in years. Usually, his pumpkins are super involved! Mine is the Colts helmet - too bad they're not doing as well this year.

Here's a video of Brianna singing princess songs!

A great weekend!

We had a great weekend! I ended up getting the day off on saturday - which was perfect because my parents came down to visit!

We were able to go to the Zoo Boo - Brayden was worried about the "scary" decorations, but overall it was a lot of fun!

Afterwards, we tried out BJ's Brewhouse - very good food! Brianna loves lemons!

Today we went geocaching with my dad (treasure hunting) and then we went to Appleworks for a birthday party for Allyson (a girl in Brayden's class). They had a bonfire and wagon ride - it was a lot of fun!

Happy 5th Birthday Brayden!

Brayden had a great 5th birthday today!

We had a big Deal or No Deal party - for those of you who don't already know this, Brayden is a huge game show kid! Gary did some face painting at the party (Bri and Brayden wanted to be Cheetahs...)

Brayden's cake was case #5. Gary made a personalized computer game of Deal or No Deal, special for the party. Each kid won a dollar to take home.

Howie Mandel made a special appearance just in time to host the game! So silly... We couldn't find a bald cap - so we went with a swim cap!

Fall Pictures!

These pictures got out of order... Anyway, we have been feeling better at the Gogis' household - thank God!!! We have enjoyed the beautiful fall weather and thought we should take a few pictures! Brayden celebrated his birthday at school today! Brianna and I went to class to observe, and celebrate with him! We had a great time! Here's Brayden (and a real close up of Brianna) enjoying his pudding! Can't believe he turns 5 on thursday!

A view of his large class! 20 kids in pre-k, but they were very well behaved!
They don't like each other at all!

Wah Wah Wah Wah Wah WAAAAHH (sing to the tune of Happy Birthday)

Yesterday, Gary turned 31. Unfortunately we can not say it was his best birthday ever. However, we did manage to celebrate a little despite the white swollen tonsils, fevers, and body aches! Nice wide-eyed Brayden so far is healthy... Now we understand Brianna's suffering last week (although I don't think her throat was hurting).
Notice I bought individual cakes this year so Gary wouldn't contaminate everyone's when he blew out the candles! Molten chocolate lava cake - yummy (even if sick)!

Here is a video of the most enthusiastic birthday celebration ever! I know you'll all just love my singing and will support me when I go on to be the next American Idol (although, I think I'm too old)!

A few pics...

Gary's 31st birthday is tomorrow and Brayden's 5th birthday is on the 23rd - so Gary's parents came down to celebrate. Here is a picture of Brianna feeling better and opening a skirt from Yia Yia (funny, I just bought her that same skirt - we must have the same taste!). Pure joy! Brayden just opened up Rock Band! He was just a little excited!
Brayden and Brianna with Yia Yia, Pa Pou, and Grams!
Today we went to Waterman's Farm Market to get pumpkins. This is a yearly tradition for our family. Here we are on the hayride to pick our own pumkins! We had a great time!

New pics on ofoto...

Click on this link to view tons of pictures from Aug. - early Oct. 08!
We've been pretty busy the last couple of weeks. My brother, Daniel, got married to a really sweet girl, Kim Hamilton. Our family has known their family for many years. The wedding went very well - and the kids did great! Unfortunately, we've picked up colds and other germs... Brianna had a record high Gogis' fever last night of 104.7 - pretty scary. Thankfully, I was able to get it down with Tylenol and Motrin and so far have avoided a trip to the ER. Mid-day today her fever was back up to 103.5 - but the meds did the trick again. She is acting pretty good considering. Please pray for all of our health - this time of year has come around again!

A trip to the zoo...

We went to the zoo today - the kids love this jumpy bridge - it's always the highlight!
Brayden and Brianna got to feed the giraffes (Gary thought a dollar per kid was too much so he split the food in half. The zoo lady wasn't really fond of that!)
SPONGEBOB!!!
This friday I came home from work and Gary and Brianna had completed a special suprise project for me - a family tree!