Ashlyn Reading to Her Class

I took this video during Ashlyn's Christmas party at school. She was asked by her teacher to read "Are You My Mother?" to her class. She was the first one to do this this year. All the children asked to read when she was done. I am so proud of her. If you can't view the video, you will need to go to the website...www.sullivansightings.blogspot.com

Christmas Eve

After we went to a wonderful 4:30 Christmas Eve service and dinner at Macaroni Grill, we came home and let the kids open the one present from each other. They were both itching to open presents since there were some under the tree.

A Visit with Santa and the Bears

I know it has been a long time coming...but better late then never. I have finally made the time to sit and try to catch up with blogging. I have lots of pictures to show you all. Starting with our trip to see Santa at the toy store. We also mailed letters to Santa. Ashlyn told Santa that she wanted Zhu Zhu pets for Christmas. He said the machine was broken so she may not get her wish. Since I'm writing this after Christmas I will let you know, she got her wish. Brady asked for the same...whatever Sissy wants, Brady wants. He also asked for cars, trucks, and trains. Santa impressed us with his knowledge of every Thomas character out there...but I guess, he is Santa.

We surprised the kids by taking them to see the Bears perform at Founders Hall again this year. We all thought that last year was the last time for them. We also forgot that there was a marothon uptown...the traffic was horrible. Ashlyn was happy to see the Bears, but not as happy as I thought that she would be...all she could think about was the candy store upstairs. And Brady really just wanted to play on the escalator. It was fun for a little while.

Renaissance Festival

So I woke up last Sunday morning and Tommy had bought tickets online to the Renaissance Festival for the day. This was the first time for all of us, so we didn't know what we were in for. It was a lot of fun. Lots of rides and games for the kids, really cool shows, fantastic people watching, and great food. I, of course, had to get the big turkey leg for lunch, the kids had meatballs in a bread bowl to share (Brady also had some of my turkey leg...he tries pretty much anything), and Tommy had a steak on a stick. Here are some pictures of some of the things we did...

Our first ride...the spinning ships. Boy was I dizzy...I couldn't wait for it to end.

Climb the ladder...win five bucks. Well if you know Ashlyn, then you know she was determined to do it. She had five tries for $2. Poor thing, she worked so hard.

First time climbing the BIG rock wall...

"Mommy, I can't reach the top. My arms are not big enough."

"Believe me Ashlyn, that's high enough."

Our Star pitcher throwing tomatoes at the insulter.

Brady had the crowd in amazement with his throws.

Ashlyn hit the guy right in the face after he insulted her. Take that!

After the jousting show, Ashlyn gave it a shot on this horse on a zip cord.

The pole was too heavy to hold up, so she barely missed the ring.

Mommy in charged of her kids plus 2 on a bumpy camel ride.

This green troll let kids come up and make a tooting noise from his can of goo.

Ashlyn loved it. Brady was too afraid of him.

Puzzle Time

Puzzles are a big thing at the Sullivan house. I have always loved doing puzzles so it is not surprising that my children love it too...and they are really good at it. Ashlyn started doing 24-piece puzzles when she was 2...now she does ones with 100-pieces. And of course Brady is following in her footsteps. She a really good teacher too. I guess we need to graduate to the 250-piece puzzles.

Happy Halloween

Silvermist (aka Ashlyn), Tinkerbell (aka Mommy),

and Buzz Lightyear (aka Brady)

Total concentration while painting.

Ashlyn, Kaitlin, and Kailey

Snakes in the tub!

Trick or Treat!

Going on a Hay Ride!

This year we decided to do something different for Halloween. Our friends the Plummers had a Halloween party up in Mooresville. The kids had a great time playing with all of the kids that were there...and boy were there a lot. Brady was only scared of a couple of costumes two little boys were wearing. Dracula and the Grim Reaper...too scary for me too.

Dave, the host, took the kids trick or treating...he did two loads in his truck with a trailer filled with hay. The kids were loving it...except for when it starting to pour...not so much then. They still got plenty of candy. Fun for all ages!

Pumpkin Carving

We finally carved our pumpkins, two days before Halloween. The kids were so excited and wanted to make them look really cool. Obviously Tommy and I would be doing the carving. I thought that maybe they would help clean the pumpkins out...no it was too eeeewww. Ashlyn and Brady picked out the way they wanted each pumpkin to look not understanding that we are no artists...well at least I'm not, I won't speak for Tommy. Anyway, of course they picked out two of the hardest ones. It was fun and they actually came out pretty good. Tommy's was suppose to look like a skeleton face...what do you think?