Indian Night

Last night my sweet husband decided he wanted to expose our kids to a different culture with dinner. He made chicken and rice with a curry sauce and tortillas (we forgot flat bread) and let the boys eat with their hands, as is customary in Indian culture. Apparently you're really only supposed to use your right hand, as the left is viewed as unclean. I feel bad for those left handers when it comes to this type of meal. Anyway, the boys were really excited and actually ate well. (We struggle to get them to eat enough). I snapped a few photos, but at this point, the boys are SO over me photographing them. Aidan just won't even let me anymore, unless I catch him of guard.



Attempting a family picture before we started...notice
Grant. Little turkey.




My second attempt....no go.




Got it! caught them off guard. This is right when they
learned we didn't have to use forks.



The chicken and Basmati rice

**I** cooked these. Ta da!
I can kind of cook. Sometimes.
Sort of.

The magic curry sauce, as my Dad would say.
Everything Dad made was "magic". This sauce was
amazing!

I couldn't forget Jack. He's always near the table at dinner time.
Sleeping, usually.

It's Coming....

The rivalry is beginning. Our family is about to be split right up the middle. We're already gearing up for a great game.

The boys with their "OSU" and "OU" candy bars.

                      So. I'll be nice. Go Sooners. Woo whooo......

Seriously, though.

GO POKES!!!



Dance Party Thornhill Style

Yesterday I took the day off. Sometimes you just need to stop what you are doing and be still. I was able to take Grant to school and spend the day with Stephen. We did a whole lot of nothing. We did venture out for lunch at Upper Crust, which was great, and then spent an hour at the park before picking up the kids. It was a good day.



At the park with my sweet husband.  


The boys were their usual silly hyper selves and I thought it might be nice to just turn on the cable music station and quietly listen to music.

Quietly.

Sure. Right. What was I thinking? The boys started dancing and then Stephen started tickling and it was over. It was a full on dance party.




Stephen tickling the boys. This is where it all started.



Grant jumped into this picture. Literally. He dove.

My best attempt at a family picture last night.

Grant dancing on the table. In his underwear. The boy
just doesn't like clothes. At all.

Aidan doing the robot. If he wasn't doing the robot, he was break
dancing all over the living room. He's a ball of energy!

Nightly Routines

After the dance performance last night the boys dashed into action of our nightly routine. It always begins with a negotiation after diner on who's taking first shower. And then the discussion turns into Grant not taking a 30 second shower. Aidan tells Grant he actually has to WASH his body. The boys crack us up with their dicussions. They are such a joy to watch and be around.

Anyway, apparently Grant felt the need to turn on the hot water while Aidan was showering last night. This resulted in a cold shower for Aidan. Here's a picture of that discussion.

Grant was not phased. He apologized, but was too into
his "Star Spangled Banner" video. The boy is patriotic for some
reason.

See. Here he is singing his little heart out. This
time to "You're a Grand Old Flag"

Oh. G lost another tooth. Actually, I pulled that dangley
thing. He did great. The fairy came, yet again, however, he's losing
enthusiasm for it. I think next time she might just leave some
peanuts.

I can't this picture to turn around. Aidan wanted me to take a picture of
him with Jack. Easier said than done. Jack is about as interested in photos
as Grant is.

Gangnam Style

So. This little song and video have over taken our household. Our boys are constantly listening to or watching this video.

Here are the boys dancing on the living room table last night...."Open Gangnam Style".

Plaza Night

Friday night Stephen and I took Grant (Aidan spent the evening with his grandparents) to the Plaza district for the monthly little festival they do. There were bands playing, lots of vendors with art, drummers, hot dog trucks and lots of good people watching. Grant was more involved in his Kindle (yes, bad parenting  allowing him to bring it) than the festivities, but Stephen managed to engage him eventually.



Grant loved the hot dogs from Atomic Dogs.
So did  Stephen. I managed to only get a bite.




Stephen, in normal Stephen fashion, jumped right
in with a group who was playing the drums.
It took Grant a minute, but he ended up having a good time.




Not sure who had more fun, Grant or Stephen.
I stood on the side, in normal Ashley fashion
and took pictures for the blog.



Grant called me into the playroom on Saturday.
He was thrilled to show me what he'd done.
My sweet little artist. Mom loves you, too, G!

Voting- Chili Cheese Style

Yesterday was a big day for us at the polls. Grant had a mock vote at school and was really excited to be a part of the election process. Grant said he almost voted for Mitt Romney for some fear of a militia reason. Clearly he has no idea what he's talking about and is playing too much military games on the XBox.

We stopped by Sonic for Grant's new most favorite "snack", chili cheese tator tots, on the way to vote. He ate the whole thing!!



Chili Cheese deliciousness.... (yuck)

                                                       

Right after our vote!

Auntie Lauren texted me this picture yesterday.
This was her first time to vote. I'm so excited she did!

 Grant's a little bit over me taking
his picture all the time.



Our vote counted! We're so happy President Barack Obama
was re-elected!

                                                                                              

Multi-Cultural Night

It was another busy weekend at the Thornhill house. Friday night we somehow were talked into a sleep over while attending Cleveland Elementary's annual mutli-cultural evening. I admit I was not super excited about going to school for an event after the busy week we had, but Grant was insistent we go. Once Beckett found out we were going, Matt decided to join us as well. So off we went. All four boys, Stephen and myself.




This was a difficult picture to obtain. I finally
managed to get everyone not to make a silly face
and then Beckett moved. Oh well. Love those boys!


I'm so very glad we went. The parents and teachers did an excellent job of introducing other cultures to the kids. Each classroom had a different country represented. The boys were given little passports where they could collect stickers from each country. There were arts and crafts from Australia, belly dancing from India, cheese and baguettes from France, a Schultete from Germany (which Grant was familiar with thanks to my assistant Jacquie) and lots of other food and projects from all over the world.

As we were touring the world, we came across this table with jelly beans. Of course the boys immediately beelined for them. I realized these beans were different, but didn't say anything. And of course, all the boys ate them and quickly realized they were not your typical beans. I ate a black one, which tasted like coconut.

What a great way to get children to understand
the concept of not judging someone based on how
they look.

The boys continued their fun at home and finally went to sleep around midnight. We woke up, had donuts and then sent the boys on their way. Aidan went to his Mom's, Grant went to his Dad's and Stephen and I were alone for the first time in FOREVER. We had so much fun watching football games and just catching up with each other.

"Snow Biz"

Aidan's fourth grade musical was last night. He was a fisherman and sang his little heart out. I might add he also knew everyone else's part during the play. He mouthed all their lines. When it was his turn to sing with is group, you could hear him above all others. He did a fantastic job and Grant actually sat still and enjoyed the entire program. We went to Upper Crust afterwards and ate pizza with Jaxon, Kristy, Paul-aka Jaxon's Dad(whom Grant was connected to at the hip, literally. He wouldn't come near Stephen or I the entire evening).



Love the moustache!




Aidan singing. I had a hard time getting a good picture.
Stephen had the camera. I just snapped a few with my phone.



Grant on the way to the program. He was excited. I found out later
he had loaded his pockets with Halloween candy and was
helping himself to all the candy he could sneak by.



Jaxon and Aidan at dinner. Silly boys!




And us. I love my husband! So handsome.



Happy Halloween

Halloween kind of crept on us this year. We've been so busy with birthdays and marriages that I feel like we're in a constant state of craziness. A good crazy, though. 

We embarked on our annual Halloween trick or treat with just the Carroll's this year. Lots of our neighbors have moved away and it was a small group this year. We were glad Jaxon came over to go with us.



Grant, the "Gangster"




Aidan, the "Werewolf"





Grant, Beckett, Jaxon and Aidan




The Cole's house this year was great. Chris made
a spaceship  from the movie "Mars Attacks".



Our little neighborhood went a little crazy with "Boo-ing" each other.
The boys loved it.




Vampire teeth and glow in the dark swords, just some of our gifts
from the "Boo" fairy.



On the way to Nannie's last weekend. This has nothing to
do with Halloween, just can't believe how much my
little boy is growing. Seems like yesterday he was in diapers.
I love you, G. More everyday.