The Phillips Family

The boys' room has been driving me crazy for the longest time because they didn't have matchy comforters and the walls were bare. It looked like a couple of hobo children moved in. So I finally decided to do something about it - I bought some duvet covers at IKEA that I put over their old comforters and I shopped online for some Toy Story stuff. When everything came, I put it up while the boys were in the bath. Once they got out of the bath, they noticed the change immediately. They were SO excited to have "pictures on the wall!" Aiden kept saying over and over, "It'th bloo-a-ful, Mom! I lub it!" as he would stroke the wall and kiss an occasional T-Rex. They were just so gosh darn cute about it. It made me so happy that they liked it. :) As it turns out, Aiden's been using that phrase quite a bit more since that night. Today while the carpet installers were here for the basement, Aiden kept yelling down to the workers, "It'th bloo-...

Right as soon as we thought we could take a little breather from the Thanksgiving madness, we realized that we had yet another deadline to beat - the rest of the carpet installation. So we've been busy getting the oak doors ready and all the trim and baseboards and doors painted (which are hiding in this picture.) It's good that we had such a quick deadline, though, so we wouldn't draw out the remainder of the basement for another year or so. If you notice the lovely sage green wall in the back, that's going to be my craft room! Yay! Maybe now I'll craft! And opening the doors, VOILA! The beautiful Theater in all its purple glory. (This is the view coming down the stairs, by the way.) This shot is so you can see how awesomely coordinated the paint colors are. :) Rex is probably shaking his head and rolling his eyes right about now... And here are the wonder seats, which can fit 8 comfortably, plus two beanbags stored behind the couches. Still fiddling with ...

All the parents were invited for a Thanksgiving feast at Aiden's preschool a while ago. And if you've ever been invited to attend your child's school, you will know how dang cute everything is! The kids sang some turkey songs for us and then showed us where to dish up our food. Aiden made his own placemat and centerpiece and was very proud of them both. I love this mouth-full smile of his. :) He grabbed a roll to go on the way out the door before getting his coat and backpack on. hahaha it must have been very bright because his eyes usually aren't that squinty! :) He's so cute. I really love this kid. And this is how Sam walks across the parking lot to get to Aiden's school now - with a magnifying glass. Gotta watch out for sneaky rocks in the way! (Who cares about cars, right??) Sam is such a funny kid. He's always acting like he's the hero on a spy movie - always alert and in the "get-ready-to-attack" stance, which has given him some...

Here's the Birthday Man! And what did he want to do for his birthday? Play Rock Band in his THEATER of course! (can you tell that we're really excited that the Theater is done? Yes, it's Theater with a capital T.) So while everyone was jamming down in the basement, I tried getting crafty and 'Pinterest-y' for Rex's birthday. Let it be known that anything artsy has never been a strength for me. Oh, but what is that beautiful green cake on the table there? Let's take a closer look... Isn't it just...just...... full of personality?? I love how McKenzie put it, "Why Edda, how did you get that cake center to fall so perfectly??" Oh it was easy, really. And I meant to do it on purpose, you see, to put the pink marshmallows inside of course! It takes years of practice to make a cake this good-looking. Poor Rex even had to light his own candles with Sam hovering nearby getting ready to blow any minute. Wait for it.... ...wait for it.... and...

So about that Thanksgiving thang that happened a while ago... might as well post about it now before it's Christmas! For Thanksgiving, we all went to Kathy's place (Rex's cousin) in Colorado Springs where we had a great time. McKae ferociously cut the fudge. Marti looked darling. Mike dutifully fried TWO turkeys. Taylor chivalrously carried the turkey in like a man. Anthony (a.k.a. Fat Tony) had no idea he was a car the entire time. Dixie enthusiastically sang a turkey song right before the feast. Rex charmingly fixed a couple computer problems. Sam mischievously ate his mashed potatoes as any toddler could do so... mischievously. I candidly chowed down my green bean casserole. Irving dutifully watched football on TV. (Someone had to...) Aiden playfully avoided eating at all costs. Shauna dutifully filled Corb's plate before her own. Roger (I'm running out of adverbs!) was a great dad and uncle to all the kiddos. Sam and Aiden initiated poor Corbyn to how baths s...