Thanksgiving 2014

What a fantastic Thanksgiving!  Everything ended up working out just perfectly.  While we certainly missed seeing some of our family on the actual day, we will be seeing other folks this weekend or soon for sure!  We started the day easy - I started cooking casseroles and such at like 8:30am!  We had planned to eat with my mom's side of the family, but they were eating at 2pm and that just wasn't going to work at this age and stage - Jack really has to nap since he is such a wild man...and we wouldn't have enjoyed it if we had forced the issue with skipping nap or delaying nap.  So I threw together a last minute meal (thanks to a mini ham from Honey Baked Ham, green bean casserole + sweet potato casserole + chess pie from Puffy Muffin, rolls from Publix, and I made my own hashbrown casserole)!  It was YUM!

 

These three are my most favorite blessings ever.  I am so thankful for each of them and their unique qualities, sweet temperaments, and happiness and love that spews out of them!  And it was Ryan's first Thanksgiving!

Here are a couple pictures I got of the three together!  It was like pulling teeth to get these crazies to cooperate for a picture.  And it was even worse to get Brad to help get them to look and smile.  But we all survived to tell about it :)

Katie's smile in this one is about as fake as it can get!  But I love that the boys are sitting still and smiling!  Jack does NOT like to sit still for a picture (or ever, really) and Ryan has started trying to wiggle out of  the sitting position - it is going to be interesting to get pictures of all three from here on out!

And a family picture with the parade on in the background :)  Love this!  May have to crop it some and frame it! 

 

The kids were so excited about the parade!  The floats were the best part - they didn't really care for any of the performances.  And when they watch things together, Jack sits on Katie :)

Thanksgiving also happened to be Sadie's 8th birthday!  I'll do a separate post about that, but I just love this picture!  They are best buds - Sadie likes to stay in Katie's room at night until she falls asleep.  And she's always eager to go into her room in the mornings!

And they relocated for some more parade watching.  Again, Jack is climbing on Katie...

And since we wouldn't be eating with them, my mom and brother came for a visit that morning!  When they got there, Jack climbed right up into Will's lap to give him a hug.  It was so sweet!

And then I got a picture with Will...and he didn't blink!  This was the first one we took!  It was a Thanksgiving miracle! :)

 

Kati wanted to read to Cee Cee...and I have absolutely no idea what Brad was doing.  Maybe imitating someone's attempt at dancing that was on the parade? Who knows.

Cee Cee also helped the kids do some art - some coloring and sticker art!  They had so much fun working on those projects and watching the parade!

And then it was time to eat!  Katie was so sweet - she wanted to eat at the dining room table since it was a special day.  So I cleaned it off and she set the table for us!

And then it was time to sit down, say the blessing, and dig in!  I'm so glad she asked to eat at table!  Love these two!

After lunch, I got this picture!  Jack was napping and we were about to have quiet time!  Love my girl!

And she happened to be sitting there in the chair in just the right place - perfect background for a picture with the FALL banner behind her :)

I fed Ryan and he fell asleep - and I was exhausted.  Thanksgiving is the perfect day for a good nap :) I haven't taken a nap in months!  But it was just what I needed!  I'm fighting a cold and clearly needed some sleep!  And getting some extra little guy snuggles never hurts too!

After we all woke up, we loaded up to head to my aunt and uncle's house (on my dad's side)!  They had already eaten, so we got there for some more sweets (and the kids ate dinner there) and a few drinks.  Katie wanted to take some pictures - and she got this one!  Madison, Ann, and Julie with Ryan (who knows what he was looking at)!

And Julie was helping the kids color with chalk on the big chalkboard!  They loved it!

And Jack climbed up into Rory's lap to be silly and visit.  Thanksgiving also happened to be Rory's birthday and Katie insisted that we sing happy birthday to him again :)

And my cousin Tyler holding Ryan - I wonder if this was the first time he had held a wee baby? Hm. :)

And Katie had the best time playing with Madison!  So sweet!

This isn't the best picture of Jack, but I couldn't help but laugh at my aunt and uncle in the background.  Goofballs.

And I got a picture with my cousins!  They make me feel old.  But they are so fun!

And my aunts and uncles (my dad's brothers) even cooperated for a picture!

What a great Thanksgiving we had!  When we left to come home, we celebrated Sadie's birthday.  I'll do a separate post on that excitement sometime soon.  We have so much to be thankful for each and every day!

 

 

 

Family Game Night



A few weeks ago, we ate an early dinner and had a family game night!  I wanted Jack to be able to play too, so we played a game that works for short attention spans!  So we opted for Hungry, Hungry Hippos!  Think they were excited? :)

 And we had a blast!  We had to make sure Jack didn't try to take the balls off the game and run away with them, but other than that he did great!

And Ryan didn't seem too impressed.  This was what he did the whole time...

And as usual, anytime Brad sits with the kids on the floor, this is what happens. Jumping and wrestling and laughing!

 Just look at these guys.  Jack likes to go for the neck.   And Katie just pounces. :)

Can't wait to find some other games that work for Jack.  We have Uno Moo - may have to try that next time! :)

 

Two Out Of Three

I also have this picture from my birthday weekend.  It is one of my favorites - I honestly can't stop looking at it!  And two out of the three are smiling!  And almost real smiles too!  As you can imagine, Brad was acting like a goofball behind me in order to achieve those smiles.  And it was so quick!  Which was a good thing considering we were headed out the door to church!

Katie is looking so grown up.  And Jack.  I think he is finally entering the age of reason (most of the time).  He is talking up a storm and so incredibly sweet.  Of course he has his 2 year old moments, but his attention span is getting longer and he is just so fun to be around!  I'm going to try and do a separate post about this age and stage for Katie and Jack coming up - and Ryan's 6 month post will be coming in a couple of weeks! AH!  Half a year already!

Cheers To Another Year!

Wow - it seems like we were just ringing in the big three-oh...how on earth did I just turn 31?!  I am so lucky to get to celebrate for so long with my favorite people!

 

I started the celebrations early - a few days before my birthday, my dad was in town for a quick trip and took us to dinner!  I had to post both the pictures...it was pretty windy that evening, so Dad had the windblown look going :)

 But we did manage to get a calm hair picture as well!

The weekend before my birthday, we got to together with some friends to celebrate!  We ate dinner at Cantina Laredo and then went down a block to The Pub for another drink.  Tanja coordinated it all (thank goodness for girlfriends...bless Brad's heart - ha! planning celebrations just is not his strong suit) and it was a blast!

 

Here is a cute picture of me and my guy!

 And my amazing neighbors!  Lewis took one for the team and stayed home with his kiddos so that Jill could come!  So lucky to have such great friends so close!

 And my with Ashley and Katherine.  Oh man.  How on earth has it been over 12 years that we have been friends!?

 And the Broadmoor Babes :)

 Such a cute picture of Tanja and Nick!

 Ashley and Andrew!

 Dallas and Katherine!

 And Jenn and Jeff! 

 Love this picture of me and Tanja!  I'm so lucky to still be best friends 25 years later!

And these pictures made me laugh.  Rather than post each one individually, I did those collage of pictures.  I had some pretty awesome expressions going on (could've been the pineapple mojitos...just sayin').  And I'm not sure what Brad was doing.  Feel free to click on the picture to enlarge it and check each individual one out :)

And the group!  How did I get so lucky?  What a fun night! 

We walked down the street and met Nicole, Autumn, and Sina down there!  Here is a cute pic of Jill, Nicole, and Autumn!

 And me with Jill :)

 Another cute one of me and Brad (if I do say so myself)!

 And Sina and Tanja! Great picture of them!

 The night before my birthday, we went to Newks (Sunday tradition) with my mom, Will, Brad's mom, and my Meme.  It was delicious and lowkey - doesn't get any better than that!  And then they came over to have cake and visit for a few more minutes!  I got this picture of my crew.  Love them!

 And a quick selfie with my mom - and it happens to be one of the better pictures of us together in quite some time! Go figure!

And my delicious cake - that is one of the best parts of our birthdays...Darlene's Cakes!

 And on my actual birthday, we woke up to a fun surprise!

Yes! A light dusting of snow!  And between that and it being my birthday, Katie felt certain she needed to stay home from school.  Ha!  I had to explain to her that we would celebrate when she got home :)  During the day, the boys and I went to eat lunch with Brad and then we ate dinner out as well.  No cooking on my birthday (not that I really cook that often anyways)!

 

I had such a great day and feel so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people!  Thanks to everyone for making me feel special!  Cheers to another year!