"Save the cheerleader...

...save the world."

I wasn't planning on adding another TV show to what I consider to be my limited roster (Grey's, Top Model, How I Met Your Mother, The Office and Lost), but over the holiday weekend I ended up joining Don for a "Heroes" marathon and now I am totally hooked. It's billed as "a show about ordinary people discovering extraordinary abilities." I would call it highly entertaining with a dose of "ewww," especially when the cheerleader "regenerates."

Sure, it's a bit cheesy and way far-fetched, but it's definitely an escape, which is one of my top criteria for regular viewing. And it also features my "Alias" and "Felicity" fave Greg Grunberg. He was on Conan recently and when asked what superpower he would like to have he responded: "Super metabolism!" That's something we can all get behind, no?

Rock and or Roll...

Gavin is thankful for...

1) Daddy buying him this cool T-shirt

2) Spending the week with Mimi, Granddad and Aunt Kate

3) Trying lefse for the first time

4) Teething biscuits and Baby Tylenol

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!!!

Splish Splash!

Team Pam

We'll be TIVO-ing "The Office" tonight and while the hilarious antics of the employees of Dunder Mifflin is reason enough to watch, it's the gripping story of the Pam-Jim-Karen love triangle that really has my attention right now.

I am on board with this blogger's take on the situation:

WHY I'M ON TEAM PAM

Okay, I get it: Karen is cool, and Pam is not. If I had to be friends with one of them, I would probably choose Karen because Pam's low self esteem and inability to make decisions would get on my nerves. It's not that I hate Karen -- that episode where she plays World of Warcraft (update: OR WHATEVER) with Jim and Ed Helms did a lot for her otherwise boring glamour-gal image, and convinced me that I shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss her as one of those girls who owns more handbags than books. BUT, there are good reasons why I know more Office fans on Team Pam than on Team Karen:

Reasons to Root for Pam:
1. Pam is the underdog who needs to be brought out of her shell, while Karen is a sophisticated vixen who, despite admitting to being "into" Jim on last week's episode, would probably lose interest in him as soon as she got him. And, as it's been annoyingly mentioned in every interview with (the awesome) Jenna Fischer, everyone has an "inner Pam" or whatever, and rooting for Pam to unlease her "inner Karen" is much more interesting than watching Karen chew Jim up and spit him out.
2. And most important: JIM. LOVES. PAM.

Go Team Pam!

Want to weigh in? You can even order T-shirts here (wouldn't it be cute if they came in baby sizes?): http://www.zulkey.com/diary_archive_111306.html

Let it Snow!

OK, so I admit the sight of all of this white stuff coming down was a little bit depressing (especially considering we have yet to rake our lawn) but it all went away when Gavin got a good look at our winter wonderland, followed by a snowy walk with Keely bounding through the park like a wild horse on speed.

Not adding this one to my baking arsenal

So I'm on the Williams-Sonoma e-mail list and this beauty popped up in my inbox today: the "Stadium Bundt Cake" pan. I don't know, it kind of seems like they might be running out of ideas for stuff we can actually use, or maybe I need to do more tailgating. My apologies to anyone who has purchased said pan or whose first thought when they saw the picture was "Cool! I could really use one of those!" Oh, and please forget this post when in a few years I somehow end up making this cake for Gavin's birthday.

Just because... we enjoyed a beautiful day in the sunshine at Olbrich Gardens. Thanks for snapping this one, Kari! 

No excuses people, get out there and do it

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I'm 8 months old!!! 

What in the world...?

Stay tuned for the big reveal!!!!

Fun in the Florida sun

Gavin and I tagged along with Don to a work conference in Orlando... our hotel was near the Disney parks, but we decided Gavin was a bit young to take in all of the hoopla so we just hung out by the pool, took walks and enjoyed the sunshine (and his naps finally allowed me to read my book club book for this month called "Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette wore to the revolution," interesting stuff about how she used clothing to achieve power but her devotion to clothes also ended up being her undoing. One thing I learned: she never said "Let them eat cake," that is a myth apparently). It was hard to come back home to the rapidly approaching winter, but we are glad to be home, too!

Thanks for the cool jammies Aunt Kate! 

Wedding weekend in New Jersey

We spent the weekend in New Jersey for the wedding of Don's brother Chris and our new sister-in-law Kathy! We were so happy to help them celebrate and really enjoyed meeting some of their friends we had heard so much about. We had a great time seeing family we don't get to see often and Don had a great toast as the best man.

We also went to see Don's hometown of Bridgewater, N.J., where we drove by his two old houses, his church, the A&P where he bagged groceries and the schools he went to. (Gavin missed out as he was napping in the car). It was Gavin's first plane ride and he did pretty well considering we did not have direct flights and he was especially worn out on the way home after the busy weekend. We learned a lot of things about traveling with him that will help us in the future! And when we got home, he was so excited to be back and see his room and his toys and his dog, he was squealing and giggling with delight : )

Go Big Red!

It's never too early to start building that school spirit...

Bucky Badger admired Gavin's style and gave him some tips for doing push-ups and the polka. Gavin pondered how much cool stuff there is to learn between now and the fall of 2024 and whether Mike Leckrone will still be directing the Marching Band then.

bottom teeth! 

Top teeth! 

We had a great weekend relaxing at home this weekend. We are gearing up for trip(s) out East for Don's brother's wedding so we'll be on the go a lot very soon! 

Mommy and Gavin 

Photographic evidence that teething is hard work!