Happy Thanksgiving!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We hope everyone had a relaxing day for which they are grateful. I'm realizing the small things are big things to be thankful for. We had a laid back morning and I snapped some shots of the kids playing. Wanted to share these with you. This is what I hope to "remember" in future years. We have a little book that we write down things we are thankful for. Each year we try to represent the year and we also ask Vivi (as Isaac gets older we'll ask him too). Vivi was thankful for flowers and animals. I was thankful for good travelers on the way to Chicago and all the challenges of the year to grow us. Nick was thankful for his job. We also enjoyed candles lit, braiding Vivi's hair, watching a movie with our cousin.
This was the first year I attempted a turkey and it turned out okay, but I will spare you the details of the process which wasn't beautiful! We went to Nana and Papa's and enjoyed eating and hanging. That night we went downtown to see a parade of lights which was busy. Mostly the girls had fun with their new light sabers.
Our only hiccup is that Isaac did end up breaking out with you'll never guess...chicken pox. He got them from the vaccacine. He also had a reaction to some peanut butter so unfortunately he ended up in a bad way. However, he's a trooper and we're getting him taken care of.
I must say one other fun item. My sister, husband, Nick and I got to go see New Moon and it was so fun! I would recommend this movie (Twilight series) well over the first one. It is an interesting take on a love story that is very clean (written by a stay at home Mormon mom).

Isaac's 1st Farm Party

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Saturday following Isaac's party we celebrated with a little farm party. It was pretty lowkey but you know I like the special small touches. Vivi enjoyed helping me paint the fence. I really enjoyed stamping the ice cream sandwiches (cows and pigs). We went for this theme because it was so easy this time of year to decorate for and my parents have a little farm play room at their house which we borrowed a ton of goodies from. The kids really enjoyed the rocking horses and this small craft I found for a dollar- go figure! Enjoy the slideshow of fun.

Thanksgiving Program

At Vivi's school they do a really sweet Thanksgiving program every year. It's one of my favorite things about her little preschool and one of those things you dream about as a parent. They painted special shirts and she even let me braid her hair. Her class performed a little number which she practiced at home for me in full volume. I was so thrilled to see her sing with her class...and then. Well, if I could post a video I would. This would win me some money. I didn't hear one word come from Vivi but I think she was mouthing the words. It was cracking me up! Also, no dancing was coming from my coordinated daughter but rather some award-winning nose picking. It was classic!

Isaac's Birthday day

Happy Birthday sweet boy! Isaac turned one on Nov. 18th. Daddy made special mickey pancakes which he scarfed down for breakfast. Sissy got him a special book which he didn't much notice until I started singing along. We put out his little boy rocker from his Nana and Papa and planted some more pansies to try and fill our front bed. Nana made a special dinner for us and some chocolate cake. He did pretty good with this too, but we did have to hose him off afterwards. What a trooper. He had a little more fun opening a toy drum from them that night. Overall it was a sweet day and I got an extra treat on his big day- a walking boy. He really took off on his actual birthday walking the length of the living room and down the hall. It's still strange to see him toddling down the hall towards me. Can you hear the tears?

Tink Fun Times

Lately, I've been on a Tink kick. I may even be more into the little fairy then my daughter! (It's a toss up!) I went ahead and preordered the new Tink movie which is all about friendship and restoration a good lesson for all of us. It was really sweet and very fall themed as well, so in order to get Vivi all riled up for it (it's a Christmas gift although she doesn't know it) we decided to host a Tink movie watching party. I'll make up any reason to have a party! I have these sweet fairy cookbook and princess cookbooks. For a time, Vivi would carry them around and talk about the pictures and recipes. She got really fixated on these popcorn cupcakes and homemade hot cocoa, so I told her we'd make them for this Tink movie time. We had a ball putting these together. I thought they turned out real sweet. Thanks friends for joining in the fun afternoon!

Jungle Gym Daddy

Need I say more?

Isaac and the Dancers

Vivi has been enjoying her Friday morning dance classes with a lot of sweet little girls! Isaac has been enjoying it too. I think he doesn't mind being too outnumbered as you can see from these shots.

Generations visit

Recently we had a surprise visit from our great-grandpopo. He lives a little ways away and has been in a real bad way. Praise God for modern medicine! I really mean this as we saw a HUGE improvement in his condition and he was able to come and really function well. We enjoyed a little lunch at Cracker Barrel and then a trip to the zoo. Here are a couple of shots.

Happy Halloween- belated!

Hello friends! Yes, we are still alive and active. We've had A LOT going on in our household, hence the very late postings on Halloween and others. Here are a few shots of trick or treating with friends. We had a busy Halloween this year. We attended a trunk or treat with my sister and family at her church Friday night then slumber partied. Vivi now asks for slumber parties every time we see our cousin. Saturday we came home and ventured over to our church's trunk or treat for a short visit. Saturday night we headed trick or treating down my parents street with one of their neighbor's- the Jones! Vivi cracked me up, announcing at each house what each child was dressed as and what their real names were and for a bonus what mommy and daddy had dressed up as the night before at trunk or treat. She really came out of her shell. In fact, most of the walk she was dragging Kaylee along. For some of you with impeccable memories, Isaac's costume was recycled. Vivi wore the fishy for her 1st Halloween. We decided we'd revisit it, and since our family loves themes- Vivi was Aeriel, mommy was Sebastian, daddy was the Chef, and Isaac was Flounder. We ended our great night with more friends at the Jones enjoying Charlie Brown's special and true popcorn and pizza (since candy wasn't enough!).

Potato Head Pumpkins

In lieu of carving, we decided to just use the push-in potato head pumpkin inserts. If you don't know what I'm talking about check out the pics and then go to Walmart next year and you can get a bucket full of silly eyes, noses, mouths,ears, etc. for about $5 and can use them for as many years as you can keep up with them. We had fun and we were done in a few mintues with minimal mess. 1

Picking out Pumpkins

This year since we skipped the pumpkin patch we decided to visit our local farmer's market to find some pumpkins. I took the kids with Nana and Papa's help and enjoyed the sunshine and some cute shots. Happy Pumpkin Day!

Camping Fun

A few weekends back we attempted our first overnight camping trip. God brought in some cold temperatures at night but very pleasant ones for daytime. We opted to just do one night with two kids under 4 that was all we were willing to try, but to our suprise they did GREAT! Both kids slept through the night (one wake by Isaac to finish his bottle and be held for a few minutes and back down). They actually slept in! WOW! We just had a great time hanging out with friends, going on a nature hike, roasting marshmallows over the campfire, and breaking in our "fairly new" tent. The kids got an early Christmas gift, some animal flashlights that make growling sounds-tiger for Vivi and dinosaur for Isaac. They just loved these! Best of all was just watching our kids find entertainment in chasing each other, climbing a tree, and digging out earth worms.

Weekend without daddies

Our guys got the first "real" hunt of the season. The kind where they leave us for the weekend to go way down to Goliad in hopes to catch something. The kind where my sister and I get together and do slumber parties, eating out, and whatever else we can enjoy. This time we headed to my sisters for a little playtime Friday night. We ate at the lovely Mooyah's and headed to a Dollar store for some cute little cups and halloween paintings. The girls had a good time with this, and Isaac enjoyed the beads. Saturday we headed to our side of town for the annual cowboy festival which is a lot of fun and my favorite FREE! Nana and Papa joined in for the fun this time. Saturday night we had wore our kids out so they went down without a fight. My sister and mom came back over for popcorn and a good rental- "The Proposal". Sunday we all headed to our churches and then over here for some Pei wei and more fun times. Mom watched the kids during nap hours and Em and I escaped to Old Navy where we found these precious shirts for the girls- Daddy is deer to my heart. We had the girls all decked out for when their daddies got back home. Meanwhile, Nick moved from archer status to hunter. It was a really wonderful weekend all around!