Tisha's Christmas Mice

Tisha is just too creative! She made these Christmas mice for a dinner we attended at Roebuck PCA. All the kids flipped (and a lot of the adults too)!

Ian & Mia Playing at Trinity

Ian and Mia also played their guitars at Trinity this past Sunday. They played "O Come, O Come Emanuel" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." They were quite the hit!

Recital at Converse College

Ian and Mia did a Christmas Recital at Converse College with their guitar class. They both did a wonderful job. They are really coming along and will start to learn to read music next semester.






To see a clip of Ian and Mia playing. Visit this post on their Grandmother's blog.

Trinity Youth Choir Christmas Musical

The kids have been busy this year! We'll start with the Trinity Youth Choir Christmas Musical. It was a simple program this year, but fun. Here are a few highlights:

Both Mia and Aidan had solos this year.

This was Aidan first BIG solo and he did a great job! Mia did too!

Ian is no longer in the youth choir, but that doesn't mean he's unwilling to help. He, Nancye, and Stephanie did the puppets. They were great! Nancye especially. She had Grandpa Jack laughing so hard I thought he'd have to leave. She's great on stage no matter what she does.

My favorite part of the musical was one of the last parts. The kids started with a couple of presents they used as props for the opening. At the end they use the same ones for the closing song. Aidan refused to take any other presents other than the ones he had the first time. The had to go through all of them until they found the right ones. He's something else!

Sorry about some of the red eye. I couldn't get my flash to work right with the lighting. :(

Christmas Tree 2008

Ian has started journaling every day. Here is one of his latest...

Today we decorated Grandma's Christmas tree. I helped put on the lights and branches. After that Mia and Aidan put on the ornaments. There were at least 50 ornaments. They put all the ornaments in one big blob, so Grandma and I had to move them around.

The next night we decorated our christmas tree. Dad put on the lights the day before. This time Mia and Aidan put the ornaments in reasonable places. Later I put on the star. I think we will have a very good Christmas this year.

A Planetary Surprise

We went outside this past Wednesday evening and found a surprise waiting for us.  It's not uncommon to see Venus in the evening sky, but seeing Jupiter is a treat. I was fortunate to get this picture. My camera is not really designed to take evening shots without a flash. I wish I had a filter so I really could have gotten some good picture. This will have to do though. Click on the picture for a better view.

Second Thanksgiving

Because we spent Thanksgiving with Marc and Kelly, we spent the day after Thanksgiving at Grandma Mickey and Grandpa Eddie's. They fixed us an awesome ham along with collard greens and corn bread. Tisha made her famous macaroni and cheese to go with it and a couple of pies. It was a feast!

The West Table

One great looking ham!

Aidan napping after his big meal.

Thanksgiving 2008

This year the O'Donnell Clan celebrated Thanksgiving at Marc, Kelly, and Megan's house. Kelly is Jim's first cousin. They live about an hour and a half from us. Their house is incredible! The indoor theater was a favorite for the kids, and I thought we'd never get Ian and Kelly's daughter Megan off Guitar Hero in HD.

The food was spectacular! Kelly cooked the turkey in one of those oven bags and it came out prefect. My mom and dad and Marc's mom and dad were there and helped with the cooking. Here are a few highlights...

Grandma Pam and Cousin Kelly

Marc, Kelly, and Tisha getting things ready for the big meal.

Marc meticulously carving the turkey. Nice shears Marc!

Marc's chocolate bombs of death. These things are so good they're deadly!

Thanks to Marc and Kelly for having us over. It was a great Thanksgiving!

Go Lightening!!

Ian had a great year on the soccer field.  His team placed first in the region and placed second in the area finals.  Great job guys!!!

The Mermaid Cake

Lilly had a fun birthday at Chucky Cheese last night!  Tisha once again out did herself with her special cake.  Lilly wanted a mermaid, and Tisha came through with flying colors.

She put three days into this cake and Lilly absolutely loved it.  When she saw it, she screamed! :)

It was a near perfect night, the only draw back was we have a sick girl again, so Mia and Tisha had to sit this one out.

Happy Birthday Lilly!!!!!

Halloween 2008

Tisha and the kids did a great job on the Halloween costumes this year.

Here is a picture of Ian.  His get up was my favorite this year!  Way cool!  I never did get to take a really good one of him because he and his friend jerked their costumes off as soon as they got home from trick or treating, ran up the road to do the neighborhood haunted trail, and then went to an all night lock in at Trinity.  You should have seen poor Ian trying to play soccer the day after the lock in!  Zero sleep plus soccer don't mix well.  All his team mates kept smacking him every time they'd run by trying to get him to wake up.

Here is a great shot of Mia and Aidan.  Tisha made the mushroom top out of a sombrero.  She is super creative and Mia looks just like one of the little mushrooms from Disney's Fantasia.  None us should be surprised that Aidan dressed up as Jango Fett.  He loves that Star Wars character.

Last Night's Hayride

Last night, Ian, Aidan and I took a trip to Niven's Farm with Ian's Scout Pack.  We were treated to a hayride, apple picking, and a corn maze.  Here are some pictures of the hayride.

Ian and his friends enjoying the ride.

Not sure what was up with Michael in this one.

Aidan on the ride.

Aidan is always so fascinated with everything that is going on around him.

The scarecrow reunion.

Our favorite scarecrow.

This is where the Scouts camp at Niven's from time-to-time.

Tisha and Mia has some mommy/daughter time while the boys and I were out.  They went shopping and got some coffee and hot chocolate.

Aidan the Lego Maniac

Much to Tisha's dismay, Aidan has become quite the Lego Maniac.  Mia took this picture and I just fell in love with it, so I wanted to share it with you.  I'll have to do a post of some of his other creations, they're pretty cool!

Ian the Hunter!

Ian had an eventful week this past week.  It started with a trip to Columbia with his Webelos Pack for a very cold, very wet camp out.  We should all be proud of Ian.  He set up his tent all by himself, dried it out for sleeping, and threw the tarp over it.  Thanks to his efforts, he and his Grandfather were some of the few that didn't wake up soaked to the bone.

After his camping adventure, he and his Grandfather went to the hunt club for a few days of fellowship, hunting, and learning.  He kept a journal of all he did.  Wrote up an essay of what he learned, and brought home the bacon.  This was Ian's first time "really" hunting and he bagged a 7 pointer as a trophy for his effort.  Here are a few pictures:

Ian in his home-away-from-home at the hunt club.

Ian showing off his deer.  It weighted about 110 lbs.

Ian getting ready to learn how to skin and start processing his kill.

Grandpa also took a deer on this trip.  His was a 10 pointer and weighted about 183 lbs.

While Ian enjoyed hunting, I think one of his favorite pass times while at the club was driving the golf cart.

A special shout out goes to David, Rusty and his son, and all the others that made Ian's first hunt something to remember. 

A Time for War

What do you get when you have 7 boys, 3 girls and a bunch of nerf guns?  A whole lot of fun! One of Ian's best friends just celebrated his Birthday, and a group of his friends came to do battle as they ushered in another year for Charles.

It was epic and brutal, much to the boys delight, as the war continued late into the evening.  

When the group finally had enough, after multiple kills of course, Charles had his cake and ate it too.

The kids all had a blast and they look forward to another war in the near future!

Happy Birthday Charles!!!

The Blue Comets

The Blue Comets have not had the best season, but that wasn't from a lack of trying, or lack of team work.  In fact, I'd venture to say that this is one of the best teams Mia has been on in AYSO.  They always have fun!  They always get along! And they always build each other up!  

Not only are the kids all great, all the parents are too.  They are a fun loving bunch that, even though the Comets suffered many a defeat, never lost sight of what AYSO is all about; the joy of the game.

Here are a few action shots of Mia: