Thanksgiving

So much to be thankful for...

This year it was just our little family together in our home for Thanksgiving.  Just the 6 of us in Wildwood, MO on Powders Mill Lane.  I was a little disappointed at first not to have my parents coming and not to be getting together with another family, but in the end the celebration was just perfect.  I wasn't stressed out like I can tend to be and I think we all enjoyed carrying out our own traditions.

The girls dressed up as a Pioneer Girl, a Pilgrim Girl, and a Native American (Pocahontas).  Jack had a festive shirt on as well and the girls attempted to give him a turkey costume.  Ha!

Ella decorated the table beautifully...

And created a lovely menu...

Cory cooked and carved another tender and moist turkey!  (Thanks to cajun butter injections).

We wrote down what we were thankful for on cut out leaves and placed them in a basket.  After our meal, we passed the basket around and took turns reading the things we were thankful for one at a time.  It was a lot of fun!

I even had a bakery make some very special egg-free cupcakes for Hannah Jane.  We all enjoyed them!

We are truly blessed and the day ended with such a sense of true Thanksgiving.     

We give thanks to our God from whom ALL blessings flow.  

Fall Leaves Fell...

This year in Wildwood, MO we experienced a true fall.  The weather was divine, the fall colors were magnificent and the leaves were plentiful.  The girls loved it!  Cory endured it and I got some great pictures.  Definitely a fall to remember...

Cooking with Maggie

Whoa, I'm actually here. It took me a few tries to simply log-in to our blog - that's a good indication of how long it's been since I blogged. I do have something I really want to record though, so here I am. Also, Jack is 6 months old (yes, we've had another child since the last time I posted) and I feel as if I'm finally coming up for air. If only for a few quick breaths here and there. I want to do better at the whole blogging thing. I really do. So, here I am today like the little engine that could - I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

For the last 3 Tuesdays, I have managed to spend some quality time with Maggie and we like to call it "Cooking with Maggie." It's not technically cooking, maybe once it was baking, but anyway, she has this Fairy Cookbook that she got for Christmas last year. I did make a few things out of it for her 4th b-day in April, but basically it was sitting on a shelf gathering dust. I needed to figure out a way to hold myself accountable to spending some focused time with her. She is in pre-school 3 days a week and I realized that I am totally wasting some of my last opportunities to spend time with her before she goes off to Kindergarten next year. Also, Maggie tends to need a bit more attention. When I break myself away from my to-do list to spend time with Maggie, it's amazing the difference in her behavior. I have to pat myself on the back, b/c 3 weeks in a row we have successfully made some really cute little goodies together. It's been fun (for the most part). She learned the first week that the end result doesn't always turn out just like the picture and since then expectations have been more realistic.

Anyway here are some pictures of our creations:

Week 1- Rainbow Confetti Parfaits

Week 2 -  Frosty Fairy Mints

(These little yum-yums were my favorite treat so far.  Maggie could be very hands-on with these).

Week 3 - Snow Queen Punch

Twas the Night Before . . .

It's the night before Maggie's first day of pre-school. We've been talking about it a lot at home hoping to prepare her for the big event. We've talked about her teachers Ms. Becki and Ms. Myrtle and we've told her how much she's going to love school. She's not in the least bit interested in going, however. At dinner tonight I said "Maggie, are you going to be kind and friendly to the other children in your class?" Her response: "I have no idea." That kid cracks us up!

To be continued . . .

Ballerina Maggie?

Well, our third daughter has officially begun to take ballet lessons. Will Maggie be the dancing star that her mama has always dreamed one of her girls would become? (I know it's a weird dream). I will say she's very enthusiastic about her new extra-curricular activity. She was so excited to get her tights and leotard on and asked me every 5 minutes of the entire morning yesterday if it was time for dance yet? She went straight in the studio with no tears and no looking back. That's a first for Maggie who is definitely my clingy child. Anyway, regardless of whether or not it's her thing long-term, it is for sure her thing right now and I am loving it!

She is so stinkin' cute!

First Day of School 2010

Today was the first day of school for Ella (3rd grade) and Hannah Jane (1st grade). I was so proud of myself this morning, b/c things were going seamlessly. The girls were up and getting ready on their own. I was up and dressed, had popped the monkey bread in the oven and packed their lunches. The process of fixing hair even went smoothly. I snapped some pictures of them with the First Day of School poster and served them their breakfast. Maggie was even completely dressed with hairbow and all when we headed out to the end of the driveway to catch their buses. FYI - there are three Zachary Elem. schools broken up by grade level - k-1, 2-3, and 4-5. Ella and Hannah Jane are at different schools and therefore ride different buses . I had my coffee and my bucket chair out there and was still taking photos as we waited. I was fully prepared for the buses to be running a little late the first day. The first bus came and I checked the number, recognized the bus driver from last year and kissed Hannah Jane on the head and sent her on her way. A neighbor stopped by and we chatted for a bit until Ella's bus pulled up. Only - that's when the smoothness of my morning ended. The bus assistant came down the steps of the bus looking for Hannah Jane. I recognized her from last year as well and informed her I had already put her on the bus. She then informed me that I had put Hannah Jane on the wrong bus!! I was completely confused and insisted that the bus company had mixed up the girls' bus numbers. I coralled the other 2 girls into the car and high-tailed it to the front of the neighborhood to prevent the bus from leaving with the wrong child! I could only imagine Hannah Jane's bewilderment as her bus pulled her up to the wrong school. I managed to stop the first bus before she left our development. I got Hannah Jane off and put Ella on the correct bus. Then we waited for the lower Elementary bus to make its way to the front of the neighborhood and boy, was I relieved to have Hannah Jane on the correct bus at last. Whew! It was truly a close call and quite the fiasco. I went home prepared to call the bus company and be sure that they were informed of the mix-up they made. I decided to check the cards one last time to be sure I hadn't gotten the numbers confused. Oooh so glad that I did. I saved myself some embarrassment, because what-do-ya-know? It was my mistake. Imagine that? I didn't have it all together after all. I think God allows these little moments of stress to humble us. It worked . . .

Notice Hannah Jane getting on the wrong bus. I even have a photo to prove it. Ha!

Summer in N.C.

My mom flew down to Baton Rouge to spend a week with us at the end of June. We timed it so that she could spend some time with us in Louisiana and then ride back up with us to NC for an extended trip that we had planned for the summer. I so appreciated not having to make the long drive up by myself. We made a few stops on the way to break up the 14 1/2 hr drive.

The first day we drove to Atlanta and spent the night with my cousin Meg. She recently moved to Atlanta from Raleigh and she kindly opened her apartment to us. It was like a big sleepover. The girls were on their sleeping bags, mom slept in Meg's bed and Meg and I crashed in the living room - she on the couch and me on an air mattress. It was so nice to have a place to stay and I really enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with her, which we don't do often enough.

The next morning we drove on to Charlotte, NC to spend the night with my grandparents - aka - Gran-Gran and Grandmother. It was a really nice visit. My grandfather has Alzheimers and each visit  with him I count as a blessing. He was doing so well while we were there. I think the little girls bring out the very best in him. Maggie was completely enamored with him. This picture says it all. The look on her face is priceless.

The girls did all of their favorite things to do while visiting Gran-Gran and Grandmother. They held and played with several of the dolls in Grandmother's doll collection, ate shrimp at the fish camp, picked out candy at the candy store, helped Gran-Gran fill the bird feeders and bird baths, and played on the church playground down the street. Maggie had my sweet grandfather (85 yrs old) giving her under-doggy style pushes on the swings.