This is Mikey and his friend.

I took it during a hayride at Halloween, and it was the first time I met her mom. Isn't she just the cutest thing??

The highlight of my week? The packages I got in the mail today.

One was my new Keurig Platinum B70 coffee/tea maker. It's my Christmas present from Chris. He THOUGHT it was coming in a plain box, but NO, it was labeled on all sides for me to see! Talk about excited!!

And the other? Kristen, my Godson's mom who still lives up the street from us in Colorado Springs sent a box. The contents? A new picture of Colin, the Godson. The kids' Christmas presents, a dress and tights that Karina outgrew for Molly, and the best thing ever. My favorite cookies. Snickerdoodles. That she made. And packed up so they wouldn't break. And shipped them across country. Some friends you just love so much you can't describe it. Thanks, Kristen. I hope I'm 1/2 of such a good friend to you!!

They crack me up.

When Chris took Mikey on his field trip he called Mikey over to a cage. He said "Mikey, take a look!" Mikey said "Baby PANDAS!!" No, they were just black and white rabbits....

Mikey had his first "own" playdate today. His friend Lizzie came home with him on the bus. I have such a big kid.

I'm TRYING to become computer savvy...

But now I've lost my links. I'd better call Wendy again.

I love Wendy. For so many reasons.

But the main one this second is because she designed me a new blog. Don't you just LOVE it???

Get in line, ladies. Step right up....

This man cracks me up. Life is definitely never boring here in the Solo household. I think I've even convinced him to wear it to Thanksgiving Dinner. Should be a BIG hit!!

Let's see what else is going on around here.

Mikey had an Upper Respiratory Infection last week so we kept him home for two days. Chris let me go to work in the mornings while he stayed home, and then I stayed home while he went to class or into his office. They played a lot of trains while they were home, as evidenced here:

That is their GeoTrax train, which they LOVE. Mikey is really good at switching the switches for the tracks.

They also have the old stand-by:

He's now all better and we just keep the humidifier in his room at night.

Other news that's fit to tell:

- We're going to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving. We are heading over on Thursday, and coming home either Friday or Sat. (For those of you reading this stalking us, please don't come rob our house!)

- Tomorrow we will go visit Mark for a few hours. He is flying home to Williamsport tonight and he always drives to see us, so tomorrow we will make the trip to see him. Added bonus: seeing Pop-Pop and Grandma Keller! I can't wait to give Mark a big ol' hug tomorrow!

- Erin is having her baby. Tonight. I keep checking the book club portal to see what's going on. Had him! You guys will have to wait to hear from her.

I'm off to watch a movie with Chris now that I know Ephraim is here and all is well. Sitting on the computer is over for me for this evening.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Dining Out

Last night we went to Dining Out. I know a lot of you don't really like the whole "military thing", but I really, really do. Really do.

So, we got a sitter, got cleaned up, and out we went.

Let me think of anything else to blog about...oh, we went to Mikey's kindergarten conference.

They wanted to take him out of speech. Most parents would think "Wow, that's great that my kid doesn't need speech anymore! Yahoo!!" Not this mom.

All I could think of was "I've had this kid in speech since he was 18 months old, most people can't understand all that he says, he sounds aren't clear at all, and YOU WANT TO TAKE HIM OUT OF SPEECH?!? Are you CRAZY???"

So, I told them I would take the papers home, read them, sign them, and return them, but they would NOT be checked in the box they wanted checked. A couple of hours later the speech teacher was calling me here at home to set up an IEP meeting to start speech again. I went to bed a much happier mommy that night.

My friend Joe came up for the Ohio game and that was a lot of fun. It seemed he hadn't changed since I was 17. Same sense of humor, same laugh. Just older like me.

Bo came up for the Purdue game. He hadn't been here since The Reunion in July, and we were sad his whole family couldn't come, but it was fun to see him again, too. Can I tell you how much I LOVE having a spare bedroom in State College? When hotels are $250 a night with a two night minimum over football weekends the Solo room is free, breakfast included. What better deal can you get? I think it should be illegal to jack up the prices of a room because of the game, but it isn't. So, what can you do...

Here's a yummy recipe.

Poppy Seed Bread (really cake, but I feel healthier if I call it Bread)

1 box Betty Crocker Butter Pecan cake mix

1 package French Vanilla instant pudding mix

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup poppy seeds

4 large eggs

1 cup hot tap water

Preheat over to 350. Mix all ingredients well and bake for 20-50 minutes, depending on the container used. I use a Bundt cake pan and bake it for close to 50 minutes. You can use cupcakes or loaves, too....

OK, I guess that's about it. I've doing a craft show next weekend to take orders for cards to me make for Christmas. Last year I did the same thing about made about $120, so I'm pretty excited. I love getting paid for something I enjoy doing!!

(No Susie Solo = porn name = paid-for-something-I-enjoy-doing jokes necessary)

Per Kristen's request...

Here they are. One of The Incredibles and Scooby Doo. This was taken last week when we went trick-or-treating at the local Wegman's. Have I told you how much I LOVE that place?

Anyway, quick post just for a quick picture.

Last night we had fun on a pretty warm night, and we had a total of nine (9) kids come to the house. Kinda lame.

I hope all of you had fun, and I've been checking your blogs to see pictures. I still want to see a certain lawyer dressed up as Dorothy with her red sparkly shoes....hee hee.