Want to lose weight during this holiday season?

I've got just the thing for you: keep this piece of writing by Drew Sillery handy.

"Please don't eat me" (as if written by a turkey)

"Please don't eat me. Eat anything instead. You should not eat me because I will get homesick and I won't be good. I still won't be any good if I'm away because I'll have diarrhea. I don't want to have diarrhea."

Our little Booger

This one cracked me up! Tonight Erin was playing house with me. Instead of being the "big sister" or the "little sister" or even "Baby Mattea", this time she had me play the part of a dog. Apparently I'm quite the dog because she offered me her gymnastics leotard and took me to the zoo. Snoopy never got this much action. At any rate, whilst barking and whatnot, I discovered that Erin had a giant booger on her cheek. Trying to stay in character, I barked, "Woof! Woof! Arf! You have a booger on your cheek. Ruff!" Erin felt around for it, found it, and proceeded to flick. Well, yuck. I abandoned character completely and said, "Erin! You're supposed to put that in a trash can." To which she responded, "I KNOW! But YOU AREN'T ABLE TO TALK!"

But in more positive news, tonight she let me do a little phonics work with her and she was totally getting it. I think with a few more months' work she'll be able to sound out some words. I think I'll start with words like "kleenex" and "tissue".

My little canaries

They get it from me. I love to sing...mostly badly, but I love to do it anyway. When the kiddos were in diapers, I'd make up a song about it. When they were taking a bath, I'd make up a song about it. I'm probably the only person who got a laminated card from her daughter's preschool on Mother's Day saying that I was special because "You sing the 'Burp Song' to me."

So last night the entire Dawg family went out to see Madagascar and eat Chinese food. On the way home, I'm having a discussion up front with Bruce when I start paying attention to the kiddos in the back. Drew is crooning "Baraaaaack Ooooobama. Baraaaack Ooooobama." Erin is providing backup vocals for him...then pops in with a little soprano "John McCain."

The Great Pumpkin Patch

Here we are at our favorite pumpkin patch, the Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur, IL. We had the place practically to ourselves on October 31st and the weather was, as Drew will often say, "Two words: Awe. Some." However, neither was in a picture taking mood. In fact, at one point Drew asked why I take their picture. Well, dude, maybe it's because your Dad has about 3 pictures from his childhood and your Mom remember the era when you sent your pictures in to be developed. When they came back, you might have 4 season's worth of stuff on there. Hopefully he'll be grateful when he's 25 that his momma took a few shots now and again.

Boo at the Zoo

By gum we were determined to get our money's worth out of the kids' costumes this year! Drew's friend Connor was nice enough to give us his old Batman outfit. He ended up wearing that one to Scovill Zoo's Boo at the Zoo (in Decatur, IL) while Erin wore her Care Bear outfit for the 3rd time. Scovill did a really nice job with the decorations and the candy stations. We didn't see many animals but neither of them seemed to mind!

Welcome to the Drew Club

Drew announced to us that over Fall Break he would be forming a new club: the Drew Club. Of course, Drew would never just state things that plainly. It was more like, "Mom and Dad, tomorrow I'm going to make a new club. The Drew Club. Where the motto is: 'Drew is always right.'"

I regret to inform you, gentle readers, that his club is quite exclusive. He hasn't even asked his sister to join yet. (And after hearing the motto, she may be reluctant to join anyhow.) Sadly, I have already been ejected from said club. I needed to leave the club temporarily to assert my motherly bossiness. Drew then informed me that if I left, I would not be able to return. He was quite upset about this. I reminded him that being his club and his rules, he could amend those rules as necessary to allow Mommies back into the club after temporarily leaving to do Mommy things. Dejectedly, he told me that the rules are permanent. No word yet on whether Daddy has a fighting chance of membership.

Gymnastics fun

Mondays are Erin's favorite day of the week: GYMNASTICS DAY! Here are a couple of pics from a recent class.

This one is terribly fuzzy (either I need a new camera or a new camerawoman) but you can see Erin going to town on the bar. Her instructor is Mrs. Shelby Livengood from Fit 4 Fun in Covington.

Erin with Lily, Hope, and Allie.

Erin in her new leotard. She slept in it for two nights and would only go to the sitter's house with clothes on top of it.

Drew did indeed give up Tae Kwon Do and will be starting gymnastics tomorrow. Hopefully he'll enjoy it as much as she does.

Creepy Classics

Nearly every year Drew and I have gone to Lafayette's Long Center to see "Creepy Classics" performed by the symphony orchestra at Purdue. It's so much fun because the entire orchestra dresses in costume and the Long Center is really decked out. This year Erin was old enough to come along and our friend Aaron also joined us. (Note to self: do not befriend children whose names are homonyms for your own. It makes yelling at your child ever so confusing for the friend.)

Here's Drew and Aaron at Mickey D's prior to the performance:

Aaron was Mace Windu and Drew was Darth Vader. Their Mutt and Jeff size difference makes me giggle.

After the performance, the boys continued their fighting ways outside.

Erin was oblivious to the fighting. This is one of my favorites of her as a Care Bear.

One on one time with "Er Bear"

In mid-October Erin and I went to Indy to the "Boo at the Zoo." It was nice to have some alone time with my li'l girl. She especially enjoyed the walruses and meerkats that day. Surprisingly, she barely gave the elephants a glance...this from the girl who wanted a baby elephant for Christmas just a couple of years ago!