Grandma Jan's Big Day

We celebrated Grandma Jan's birthday last week with a fun little party. Mike and Mal sent a fancy package from the East Coast, and she will be the coolest Grandma ever with her Toms and new iPod touch.




You may have heard her say at the end of the video, "What do I do with this?" Here is exactly what you do: hand it over to your technological genius son. He's got your back.

I looked around the room and cracked up when I saw all of the children being entertained by various SmartPhones--Blackberries, iPhones, Droids--it doesn't matter as long as they have YouTube access. Parenting just got so much easier!


Sometimes we have to remind Greg he's a nice-guy-family-man now and not a WVC thug. He still likes to pull the mug-shot picture face any chance he can.

A Phillips birthday party wouldn't be complete without a poppyseed bundt cake. Just ask Mal--she even made one for Mike with olive oil because it's all he had and she was in a pinch.

Speaking of birthdays, Miss Abby is growing right up and hers is right around the corner. She has really turned on the chatter lately and is talking up a storm. She is still Miss Attitude and my favorite thing she says is, "No want it!" She has always called Garrett "Wear-whett" (which I love), but she actually said "Garrett" the other day and I was kind of sad. She definitely looks more like a two-year-old than a baby in this picture.

I haven't had the camera out much lately and don't have any great pictures of Garrett, but he is also doing great and is such a fun kid. He LOVES pre-school and Miss Holly. His favorite thing to do right now is go outside with Greg and do "tores" (or "chores"). He loves to let Tess (our new puppy) out and help feed the horses and Asparagus the Cow.

A few fun Garrett comments of late (copied straight from Facebook):

**I finally took the kids in for flu shots. Garrett went first and wasn't super impressed with the whole experience. As we were bringing Abby into the room to get hers, Garrett yelled, "My sister WILL NOT be getting a flu shot." He's such a good big brother and always looking out for his little sis...except for when he's torturing her.

**We were watching PBS Kids one morning and I was singing along to one of the theme songs when Garrett turned to me and said, "Let's just let them sing it, okay Mom?" OUCH!

**I'm officially not cool. Garrett has a pre-school Halloween party and parents are invited. I told him I was coming and he said, "Sorry mom, but I think I'll just go by myself."

Yes, I'm a nerd and went to the midnight showing of "Breaking Dawn" with my aunt and cousins. The green glow really makes this picture extra special.