Elf Yourself McElroy style

This is always so fun! Enjoy! Jen

Unpleasant Cookies

The name Alison is of Irish origin and means 'honest'.

So as awful as it sounds I must admit that I'm thankful Thanksgiving is over.

Sorry again, McElroys, for the passing along of the stomach cooties instead of just the mashed potatoes.
Our apologies as well to Grandpa and Grandma that we couldn't make everyone happy this trip without intervention from the local Holiday Inn.

Shall I change my name to Debbie? Last name Downer?

Of course there was shopping and board game fun; as well as a successful 2nd Annual Father/Kid Football Game. And I promise I'm not minimizing my everyday blessings of friendship, health and home.

It was just one of those weekends. You understand, I'm sure.

So I will leave you with the words of Jen, our official family optimist, who just texted that we simply got all of the unpleasantness out of the way before Christmas.

What an amazing perspective to hold while tossing one's cookies.

AL

Menu

Usually, this blackboard lists my menu for the entire week. Right now it displays food for just one day, technically one meal.

The In-laws are arriving today, McElroys tomorrow. Flag football and thrifting planned for Friday.

I am just as spoiled as Lilah. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!
AL

Style Watch

She drives us crazy in the morning.

So to minimize the predawn dramatics, I pretty much let her wear whatever she wants. Sometimes the outfits come together surprisingly well; other times we're not so lucky.



Have you seen the Snickers commercial in which a guy turns into Aretha Franklin?
Oh, here it is.

Well, hungry or not, our little diva demands more than a mere candy bar.

She will settle for nothing less than everyone's undivided attention.

Good thing she's cute.

AL

Run Run Run, As Fast As You Can

No sweets are safe in this house, even the felt kind.
Doesn't this poor guy look perfectly horrified by the whole half-eaten thing?

Pattern and idea by elsiemarley

Let the Christmas crafting begin!

AL

A Night of Special Shoes

With weekend soccer tourneys behind us, we were finally able to properly celebrate Kirby's birthday.
So Friday I baked some cupcakes and topped them with his favorite FIFA team logo.
I had originally promised a cake with said logo, but decided not to set myself up for certain failure. Five different colors, a weird ball in the middle... totally out of my pink-fish-cake league.



Then we grabbed three twelve-year-old friends, some Reese's and Oreo milkshakes, and headed to a new indoor trampoline park.
Unfortunately, the special-tweens-only-late-night-bounce was sold out but we did sneak in enough play time to completely soak their shirts with sweat. After only a half hour on the trampolines and a wicked game of dodgeball, the boys couldn't decide whether to laugh or vomit.
Probably should have saved the milkshakes for after, huh?

Check out their cool trampoline shoes:





The night was still young so the boys cooled off and then decided on some 'Thunder Alley' bowling (i.e. black lights and loud music) AND more cool shoes - this time with Velcro!



Each boy bowled under an alias -- except Kirby. Is it just me or is that incredibly endearing?
The little Al inside my head was jumping up and down, singing "Yay! He likes his name!"




I must confess that my most memorable moment of the night was when this song came on the radio. My pubescent carload began singing at the top of their lungs, even asking to stay in the car to hear the rest of the song after we arrived at our destination. I was so touched that I risked total Kirby embarrassment by tearing up just a tiny bit.
No one noticed.
Whew.


AL

While We Were Out

On Friday night, while I was at Book Club and Jer was playing indoor soccer, our sweet sitter came to, well, sit.

Apparently also to help the kids dress as gangsters and pose.





I love photo surprises.
AL

Twice In One Week

On Monday we opened our local newspaper to find this, our favorite domino on the front page...




And then Thursday, that same kid was seen in the sports section, along with some other Brennans that we know and love...


I must confess that I actually submitted the photo above; it's one of my many official duties as coach's wife.

~

And now I will dutifully, and happily, wish our little local celebrity a fantastic 12th birthday! We love you, Kirby!!

AL

NASCAR 2010

Darren was lucky enough to win a trip for 2 to Charlotte, NC for a NASCAR race. (And by lucky, I mean we are lucky to have friends in high places :) The race was awesome and I really enjoyed the street of vendors outside the stadium - tons of free, fun stuff! By far, our favorite part of the trip was visiting pit row and the garages. We got up close and personal to these amazing cars and it was a blast! Here are a few of my favorite pics, but if you'd like to see them all click on the link to My Gallery. It will take you to my new MobileMe account and if you see any pics you would like to download to your computer, you have that option (now I won't get in trouble for not sharing my pics :) Enjoy! Jen



Did I mention that Jer went with us? He actually helped plan this whole event!!! Which means that with the 3 of us in Charlotte, Alison watched 5 kids in Ohio for the entire weekend! She's the BEST!!!!!








Here's the link to My Gallery (Halloween pics are posted too!)
http://gallery.me.com/jendarrenmcelroy

Marshmallows and Boots

So it's really cold here.

It should come as no surprise, it IS November; but I'm still never quite prepared for the constant chill.

My car is getting winterized tomorrow.
I'm not sure what all that entails exactly; mostly I'd just like to have heat. Right now there is no warm air flowing and, therefore, defrosting in the mornings is getting difficult. Yesterday I tried to scrape my window with a wooden spoon. We were late for school, I couldn't find a scraper... long story.

I've been thinking of the 'winterize' concept though; we do this to our cars and to our yards. I'd like to go a step further and explain how I intend to winterize myself.

First, I'll give up shaving. I'm going to need that hair on my legs for warmth.

Second, replenish sock drawer. I estimate needing 2 - 3 pairs each day, layered shortest to tallest on my feet.

Third, continue search for a winter hat that doesn't make me look like a total idiot. So far, NO good (see above).

Next, stock the pantry with mood-improving, seasonal goods. Namely chocolate, also marshmallows.

Browse online sites for boots and scarves, one of the very few cold weather positives. I probably won't purchase any (buy something new?! crazy talk), but it's good to know they're out there.

Lastly, daydream about Christmas.

When I will be in sunny Florida.

And I will wear flip-flops again!



Until then, sweet family~

AL

A Big Trick and Lots of Little Treats

I apologize for the delay on these Halloween pictures. I'm still recovering from our busy weekend and, more accurately, the twelve mini candy bars I've eaten in the last two days.
Sidenote: If you're currently thinking that I consumed the chocolate equivalent of six full size bars, then you would be mistaken. Calories in mini bars are tallied completely differently...


So Friday night involved a crash course in plastic fruit engineering. The fruit being much heavier than I anticipated, I spent a good deal of time and several hot glue sticks, zip-ties, even an empty upturned Country Crock container getting my tutti-fruti hat together. Once complete, though, it was surprisingly secure.
It sat atop my noggin from 6 - 11 pm, there was even some mild dancing, and I lost not a single grape.
If only my fake eyelashes were as cooperative.



We attended a great adult/kid party on Saturday, complete with a kid-friendly haunted trail, and toasty warm adult beverages (see below, right).



Then on Sunday, just minutes before our scheduled trick-or-treat, I realized we had forgotten to carve pumpkins! So as quickly as safely possible with a giant knife, we cut out a face, gave Li a Sharpie, and then stood back to look at what we'd done.
Our story is that we were actually going for the crazy, messy, maybe-he-is-throwing-up jack o' lantern look.



I really did feel bad about failing at the standard carving tradition though, until this wise young Jedi arrived and told me to get over it. Telepathically, of course.




In addition to all of the spooky festivities, both boys played in Kirby's team's end-of-season soccer tournament. They survived four games in freezing temperatures, winning 3 and tying the fourth. We also witnessed Daddy's first yellow card. I asked if I could take the card home, to display alongside the boys' trophies, but no.

Winning the entire tournament is a HUGE deal for these boys as their regular season record was only 2-8. Basically, they all decided to be winners for Halloween -- a pretty good trick. ;)



AL