Pryor in a mess

We went to the Oakmont bakery a couple of weeks ago. We had heard much about it - and it more than met our expectations. We knew they had cakes. They are famous for the Oakmonter - cheesecake on the bottom, chocolate cream, chocolate cake and covered in icing. Yum! Well, when we arrived, we saw a fifty foot counter with every kind of baked good imaginable. Not just cakes, cupcakes and cookies but also bagels, doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, sweet and fresh baked breads. They had hundreds of different items on display, yes, hundreds! "Wow" was just about all we could say. For his treat, Pryor picked out a Cookie Monster cookie which was 2 chocolate chip cookies with white icing in between and decorated with blue icing on top to look like Cookie Monster. As you can see from the above picture, he LOVED it!

Stephen went to Pryor's school's Doughnuts for Dads. It started at 8:45 AM so he was able to do it before work. Needless to say, Pryor LOVED his Daddy being able to go with him and play with all the toys at school. When I picked him up at the end of school, Pryor was even able to tell me what kind of doughnut he had. He had a wonderful time.

Alice: new 'do and uniform

All of the children got their hair cut a couple of weeks ago (for the first time since Christmas!) and Alice got a shorter style! She had refused to wear bows/headbands and needed it out her face. The stylist (wisely) suggested letting some of her bangs grow out since she had so many. I have a feeling it will get really painful as the bangs grow out even more - but I think it will definitely be worth it. Doesn't she look adorable?!

She FINALLY got in a Daisy scout troop and had her first meeting last week. It was supposed to be from 6:30-8:30 PM but I said I would pick her up earlier. Stephen was at a Bible study, and I didn't want Pryor up that long. When I picked her up at 7:30, she said she had a wonderful time. Unfortunately there are just 2 more meetings but she is so excited she doesn't care. Hopefully I can find a troop next year that meets at a better time!

Ice Skating

On Sunday afternoon while Amy and Adam were here, we got a sitter so Pryor could nap and went ice skating. Grady and Alice took a few sessions of lessons last year while in Knoxville so they were somewhat familiar with skating.

Neither Amy nor Adam had ever been ice skating before. I was glad to help them cross off something from their list. Adam, growing up roller skating, was a natural. With only a few falls, Amy was zooming around the link by the end of the afternoon. You can tell they live in a sunny place - they both have some natural color on their faces!

Grady and Alice had a great time skating. Grady tended to hug the wall the whole time. Turns out, he probably had a fever the whole time. Monday he missed school due to a fever. Poor guy!

We all had a great time skating as a family with our good friends.

A Visit with Friends

A couple of weekends ago, some dear friends of ours from when we lived in Los Angeles visited us here in Pittsburgh! We visited them a year ago where they currently live in Tuscon, AZ. (A very nice place to visit!) I couldn't believe when they told us they were going to visit us here in March! Luckily for them, we had the nicest weather of the year that weekend. It was sunny and in the 50/60s the whole time.
They stayed downtown at the Renaissance Hotel. Stephen and I were able to get a cheap rate to stay down there too on Friday night. This was all made possible since my niece, Amy Lyon, who attends Dennison University in OH, was able and willing to come babysit for us! I left late in the afternoon on Friday, and Stephen came back Saturday morning with Adam for the day. The picture above shows the view of the baseball stadium and a bridge from our awesome hotel room!

Amy and Adam lucked out with the beautiful weather. We were so thankful they came to visit.

Adam and Stephen took the children out for a picnic lunch at the park on Saturday. They had a great time - and I'm not sure who had more fun - the children or the adults! After baths and dinner, Adam and Stephen met us back downtown for another fun evening!

Amy headed back to school after church on Sunday (see picture above.) The children LOVED being with her. It was a super special treat for them and an incredible blessing for us to have a night away! This was the first time the children have stayed with someone else other than a grandparent!

I'll post some pictures later of when we took them ice skating on Sunday afternoon.

Bowling at Powered Up!

Our church has a youth program for K-5th graders on Thursday evenings called Powered Up! They go, eat dinner, do a craft, sing songs, play games and memorize scripture. My children LOVE it!

A couple of weeks ago, Powered Up met at the local bowling alley for a fun evening. The children had a fabulous time. Since I was there, Pryor was able to stay, too.

They loved being able to bowl, but I think the pizza and cake were high on the list too.

I didn't get a picture of Grady or Pryor bowling - but you get the idea. The whole bowling alley was five lanes, so we were able to rent out the whole place.

Between the bowling balls and the ball return machine, I thought for sure Pryor would break a finger or some bone during the evening. He normally cries after we drop of G & A at Powered Up - so he was so happy he could come too.

This night Grady had 2 pieces of pizza, Alice had 3 and Pryor had 5! Yes, five regular, grown-up size pieces and ate all but the very end of the crust. Everyone there was pretty impressed.

Powered Up will be ending for the year some time soon and I think my children will go into a state of decline. They love it, and I love them having such a good time!

GrandPatti visits

She actually visited a few weeks ago but I have been so out of it I just haven't had the chance to download pictures. (Last week I had 2 sick children.) The whole time she was here I was sick as a dog. I was supposed to go to a girl's night out on the Friday but ended up staying home instead.
She came on Friday and left Monday afternoon. We all had a wonderful time. We went down to the children's museum on Sunday afternoon. They all went out (while I rested) for a hike at the nature preserve. They even went out for breakfast at the Eat N Park (think: one step above Denny's). I think Stephen was glad to have the company since I was pretty out of it.
Poor Patti! We were going to go out shopping on Monday morning while Pryor was at school. Well, we get to the parking lot of his school and he starts coughing this completely croup-y cough! So, I ended up getting an appointment that morning at the doctor's office. We got some medicine, and he ended up sounding horrible all week. I'm glad we got the medicine in him when we did. Good thing Patti didn't have high expectations - you never know what we'll be doing here.

One thing I am so glad she was able to do was to have lunch with each of the children at school. You have to call 24 hours in advance to let the school know you are coming. Good grief, they have a lot of rules at this school!

Grady and Alice were surprised and happy to see her at their school. I was glad because I'm not allowed to take Pryor with me to the school for lunch, so I've only had lunch with them once. In Knoxville, I used to take Pryor and Alice and we had lunch with Grady several times. It's funny how some things are so different.

Young Rembrandts

The PTO offers a few after school enrichment programs per semester for a fee. We signed up for a 6 week art class entitled Young Rembrandts. Grady said he didn't want to do it and so Alice attended the first one.
I volunteered to be the PTO helper for the second class, and Grady was allowed to participate since he was there with me. He enjoyed it so much that he wanted to sign up for the rest of the classes.
The last session was today and the children really loved it. Each week they discussed a different artist/period and made a picture along those same lines. They discussed perspective, reflection, light and distance. The pictures they brought home were pretty impressive.
Grady and Alice have learned a lot and had a really good time with the program. We will definitely do it again next year.

Soccer Clinic

I signed up Grady for a soccer clinic. It was a "first email-first serve" type thing, and I was one of 12 parents to get their children in the clinic. I was thrilled! The regular season starts first of April, and this clinic is once a week for the four weeks of March.

I picked him up after the hour long practice last night and noticed half his face was red. One of the moms said a ball had ricocheted off one little boy and onto Grady's face! She said he managed it well and didn't cry at all.

He had a fabulous time and I am thrilled he is getting the extra practice. This is what we are supposed to be "working on" this week: headers upwards (good grief!), juggling (where you bounce the ball) on the thigh and top of laces, and dribbling the ball. Yikes! This coach means business.

Grady said he is the best at getting out of the pack. (I guess the coach said this.) He also scored a goal in the scrimmages they had. He had a wonderful time!