Dinner with the Crofts

Every Christmas we go out to celebrate Scott's birthday since he was a Christmas Eve baby. We even go out to eat when Scott is not here!! So here we are celebrating Scott's birthday without him. The food was great, sorry you missed it Scott!

Nothing makes me happier than a full belly!

Beth and Greg strike their usual pose!

How bad was the bill? Well, the food was worth it, right Bill?

Reading with Daddy

One of Isabelle's favorite past times is reading with Daddy. She loves to lay on his belly and read Patrick's Dinosaurs. She tries to lay on my belly, but that is a bit impossible right now. (not that my belly is THAT big, well~~~~~yeah it is!!)

Samuel's Birthday!!

At the end of November we celebrated Samuel's birthday. (#7!!) I can't believe he is already that old. We are so thankful for our son and the ways God is working on his heart. He has a very tender spirit much like his daddy, and loves to talk to ANYBODY (also much like his daddy!!).

As usual we celebrated Samuel's birthday with a trip to Pizza King. It has seem to become our family tradition for birthdays. But really, who can beat our drinks coming out on the train, and a big pepperoni pizza? (We really DON'T eat pizza as much as it has appeared on our blog! I cook also, and something other than pizza!)

And birthday included ICE CREAM!! (No it is NEVER to cold for Ice Cream! Right Grammy?)

We all got into the festivities!

Samuel's birthday included celebrating with our families. Of course a certain Grammy took him to Chuck E Cheese. (that is where the crown came from) As a matter of fact he is STILL wearing the crown!!! And it included a cake with Lightening McQueen on it. (from the movie Cars)

Samuel's presents included a great tye from Uncle Scott and Aunt Rachel. Samuel couldn't wait to wear it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving. We enjoyed a wonderful time with my family, but had to miss out on the Croft Thanksgiving this year as it took place in D.C.!! We are so thankful for how God has blessed our family. We are also so thankful for our great friends, the Ferguson's, who kept our kids so that Brian and I could enjoy our trip to Chicago with my family. We love you all!

Happy Thanksgiving from the kids!

And from Gino's!! (I just noticed that lately I have had my picture taken with lots of pizza!!! Ahh, pregnancy)

Childress' Take On Chicago (along with two Crofts!)

My (Cara) family has a tradition of going to Chicago after Thanksgiving. Although we eat well on Thanksgiving Day, we just feel the need to make a weekend of it. We left Friday about noon (without kids) and arrived in Chicago for dinner. That wouldn't have been a problem except that we couldn't agree on where to eat! I have pictures of all of the restaurants we did not eat at, but for all of your sake, I won't publish them. We spend our days shopping/eating and our nights playing cards! It is a great time of bonding with my family. (sorry you weren't here this year Mike and Keena, we missed you!!) We are so excited about going every year that we talk all the way up there. (It even caused mom to miss a toll that she was suppose to pay!) We exhaust ourselves so much that we don't talk at all on the way home!! (Brian finally accepted it this year and brought a book to read on the way home!) Sorry honey, that's just the way my family functions!

Although we have to pay for most things in Chicago we did find one thing free this year---HUGS!!!! Yes, these people were passing out free hugs, and if you know my family you know we couldn't pass up this opportunity!!

We were thrilled to find out that Gino's (our top pizza choice for chicago) has reopened it's original location. We have many fond memories from that restaurant and is about the only place we can agree on to eat at in the city!

Here is just a sampling of the yummy pizza that we get to eat every year. We have talked about trying other places, but you just can't beat a big slice of chicago style deep dish pizza. (a childress family tradition from before I can remember.)

The other reason we love coming here is that the lights, the people, the atmosphere just gets you ready for Christmas.

The kids were excited to go to CiCi's and eat pizza with two of their favorite people. We all enjoyed a great time of fellowship over the weekend. Thanks for taking the time to come and visit Uncle Scott and Aunt Rachel!!!!

Pregnancy Fun~!!

Question: How do you make two pregnant women happy at the same time?
Answer: Take them to a pizza buffet!!!!
Yes, we enjoyed ALL that we could eat. (for the record, Scott ate more than both of us, and no they did not have to close the store by the time we were through!!)
It was a great weekend with Scott and Rachel and yes, it did include lots of meals!!

Shaving Cream Monster!!!

While trying to pass the time in between nap and Daddy coming home we decided to have some fun and play with shaving cream. The kids loved drawing pictures, writing words, making shapes and numbers in the shaving cream on the table. Samuel and Abby escaped the experience with nothing more than a messy hand. Isabelle however likes to fully experience everything!!! It took about a week before my kitchen stopped smelling like shaving cream, but hey it was great fun.

The Big Girls Get to Go to Tea!!

Yes, this is the same place my mom took Abby. This time she took me instead!! Also, my Auntie Joan, and my sister-in-law Jayne. We enjoyed a great day of fellowship and dressing up like we were kids. (do you ever get to old to dress up? I don't think so!!) And yes they had a dress to fit over my pregnant belly, just not a hoop skirt!

Reformation Party at church.

Every year instead of Halloween parties our church does a reformation party. The adults dress up in the time period of the reformation. But who knew the reformation also included batman, a train conductor, and several versions of cinderella?? Is that you Brian and Adam, or just Martin Luther and Erasmus?