KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas

The line-up:
The White Rabbits
Metric
Cage the Elephant
Phoenix
The Bravery
Slightly Stoopid (which lived up to its name)
311
MUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The concert was killer! We had a wonderful time. All the bands were really good. Muse was absolutely unbelievable. We laughed, we sang, we cried, we danced and jumped and almost peed our pants. Sarah wasn't slowed down by the fact that she was 7 months pregnant.

BEST NIGHT EVER!!

Before the concert

After the concert

Muse

KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas

Matthew Bellamy

On the piano---swoon.

Muse

311

The Bravery

Vampire Weekend

Phoenix

Cage the Elephant

Metric

The White Rabbits

Making gingerbread houses

Decorating the tree

Mr. Fix-It

a

My piano bench has been broken for months. The bottom has been sagging and the music books have been constantly falling out. Apparently Connor was sick of waiting for one of us to fix it and took matters into his own hands. He grabbed a wrench and a screwdriver and went to work. He removed the legs and a corner bracket, fitted the bottom back into the groove and screwed it all together. It's as good as new. Not only is he cute, but quite handy too.

When he was done I asked him:

"So Connor, are you going to tell dad that you fixed the bench because you were tired of waiting for him to do it?"

He said, "No mom. I don't want to hurt his feelings."

Connor's Birthday

Connor started the day with donuts (thank you for picking those up dad). After school we went to Daniel's work to pick up Connor's present: his new bike! (Holy cow, that is one messy office honey.) For dinner he requested bacon and rice (ummm, okay) and then they all dove in to his R2D2 cake. I can't believe he's 7!

Happy 7th Birthday Connor! We love you!

Megan and Ethan tearing it up at the skate park

Avery and Mallory rule the slide

New Moon on Black Friday

Mimi, Belle, Mom, Me, Sarah, Charlotte, and Courtney
I had to see New Moon with my peeps so we went the day after Thanksgiving. After the movie we went to lunch at Pasta Bravo to gush and discuss.

Boomerangs

My dad is such an awesome grandpa. He loves to work in his wood shop and the kids love to help him. He will make them anything they can think up, which is no small task. The kid's dressers are covered with fun creations that they have made together. This trip they made boomerangs. My dad even made a left handed one for Connor. And to the amazement of all of us they really worked.

Meeting our new cousin

The kids got to meet their new cousin, Rachel, during Thanksgiving. She's such a cutie.

Turkey Trot

The kids ran the Turkey Trot at school the day before school let out for Thanksgiving. It was hilarious watching them stretch to the Rocky theme song and then do the chicken dance. I don't have any pictures of them running because I ran with them. It would have been more fun if I wasn't running with Mallory piggy back.

New Moon Premiere

New Moon finally opened yesterday and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. I loved it. Chris Weitz did a great job directing the movie. It seemed to flow much better than Twilight and the script was better too. And boy did I cry. And now Daniel will cry because he's so sick of Twilight talk. Sorry sweetie!

New Moon Goody Bags

To make the movie a little more fun I made goody bags. I made "Emily's blueberry muffins" (she serves muffins to the wolf pack), a bookmark, and a packet of tissues which I'm glad I had because I cried...a lot.

Top Chef Wannabe

Here we have a pork loin that has been braised in apple juice and laid upon a bed of breadcrumb and herb stuffing (AKA stovetop) served with a petite pea salad (AKA bird's eye frozen veggies) and a cranberry-orange chutney.

I realize that I'm displaying my huge nerdiness for all to see but I love the show Top Chef and the Food Network in general. I've always thought it would be fun to go to culinary school. And if cooking is a little more entertaining when I'm pretending to be Julia Child so be it.

Our new niece

On Monday, Nov. 9th my brother Scott and his wife Amy brought their first child Rachel Dawn into the world. It was a long labor but mother and baby are doing great. When I showed her the picture, Mallory said, "Mom, her so cute!". I have to agree. Her is very cute. The kids are very excited to meet their new cousin.