Macro Flowers

Lovin my new Nikon D40 and the beauty of the small things....Please to enjoy the flora and fauna of my mom's backyard.

Our Christmas Weekend...

Let the fun begin!

Geeky Goodness!

Rarely do I share glimpses into the true geek that I am, but I couldn't resist. The trailer for the new Wolverine movie was just released and I felt the need to share. Yeah, I'm a geek! So here it is, X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD

Downtown Disney!!

The benefit of living where we live is that Disney and all is glittery, shiny, ooey-gooey goodness is a mere 45 minutes away! This was a weekend a relatively money-less fun, which is ALWAYS a good thing! The weekend started off with the baking of some super yummy peanut butter cookies! The big boys helped with he rolling and the forking (hehe!) and of course, with the taste-testing! Then on Saturday it was off to Orlando for some fun. You have to realize, my kids idea of a grand time is an hour in Smaland at IKEA. And since IKEA is mommy's happy place, we were happy to oblige! I have already bored you with my long-winded ramblings of my love of all things IKEA, so I will spare you this time! After IKEA, we headed to Downtown Disney. By the time we got there, it was already dark, which was really our plan all along! The whole area/marketplace is done up in the beauty and excitement and the gaiety of the holiday season! Lights, street performers, Christmas music, special yumminess to sample and of course, a train ride! The kids LOVED watching the silly husband/wife yoyo team, the jugglers, the Renaissance string trio ad the Toy Soldiers on stilts! All of this goodness would blow any little kids' mind - but for 2 little ones who just came from Haiti - well, there was a glaze and a sparkle in their eyes, a ridiculously large grin and silly dancing any time we stopped for but a moment! Moise's mission was just to get to the train. He's obsessed with trains and to get to ride on one - well, there wa nothing to make him happier! Well, maybe except for the cotton candy and Mickey Mouse lollipops! Oh, and getting to take his picture with his hero, Buzz Lightyear. And, did I mention the "what the heck is that?" discussion he had with Logan upon seeing the life-size Lego Santa Claus? Pretty funny! Even Jeremy had a "happy shiver" moment when he stumbled upon the fully assembled Lego Deathstar in the Lego store! Speaking of Lego store....when putting your child on your shoulders and browsing a store, always, ALWAYS have your spouse check the caboose, lest you end up with a really great photo-op! In case you're wondering about the water- fountain pic - it took him a while to figure out the whole water fountan thing, since it was his first time using one - pretty funny!

Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!

Charlie Brown Christmas Revisited from Heather Pihl on Vimeo.

Thanksgiving Pt.2 + Grandparents Weekend

This weekend marked the last of our Thanksgiving celebrations. My parents came up from South Florida and spent the weekend. We also decided to celebrate Mo's birthday. It's not until December 22nd, but we wanted him to have a real birthday experience and not feel either jipped or overwhelmed. So, my parents brought him up his birthday present: a new bike. He was retardedly happy and took off like a rocket! My mom brought up hats and gloves she'd made for the boys and they were in heaven! Their little hands have been SO COLD these past few weeks! We also went and got a Christmas tree and spent the day decorating it. What fun for the boys! Their first Christmas! I wanted to get pics of Mo picking out his first ever Christmas tree, but I had taken my mom's cam since it fit in my purse and failed to realize that my SDHC card wouldn't work in an regular digital SD camera. Grrrr! So, no pics. Anyway, plenty of pics of the decorating and such...so enjoy!!

Thanksgiving

Bear with me here cause this is gonna be a long post! Since our family all had different scheduled this year, we had to actually postpone Thanksgiving until Saturday. My sister and her family and my grandparents came over and spent the day.
First, there were shenanigans:



Then, of course, there was football:

I got it!!!

Come on, son, you can do it!

As my grandpa said, "Look at the wing on that chicken!"

This is his Huisman pose! :0)

Grandma calling out plays.

Finally, the bird was finished and it was time for FOOD! Get to carving!

Grandpa got caught cheatin the pot and stealing some stuffing!

Let's give thanks....Yes, that's my chair on the end. The photographer never gets IN the picture.

Finally, sweet bonding with the great-grandparents before everyone passes out from tryptophan overload!

Tonia figured out that everyone passed out and left HER to do the dishes! Payback for YEARS of her doing the same thing to us!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Best part of the Macy's Parade?