So Much To Be Thankful For

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Grandma Linda, Grandpa Martin, Uncle Nick and Aunt Lisa. We were lucky they were willing to travel to see us so no long car trips for us this past weekend.  We were able to host a yummy Thanksgiving dinner and had lots of time for fun as well.  

Before everyone got here Abram was busy making Christmas ornaments he wanted to send home with grandma Linda.

He also was busy baking a pumpkin pie with papa.

It's looking good.

What a happy bakers!

 Finally grandma and grandpa got through all that holiday traffic and settled down for some quality time with the babies.

This was our first year making Thanksgiving dinner and we decided to do two smaller turkeys, two different ways.

Before...

After...

Iron Chef Joshua shows off his beautifully smoked bird. It was actually the tastiest turkey we've ever had. We will definitely be smoking our next turkey. The turkey I made in the roaster was yummy but lacked the beautiful color Josh's did so it didn't make it into any pictures.

After all that delicious turkey who doesn't want dessert?

 

Abram and Aunt Lisa made a rice krispie treat Christmas train.

 The finished product was beautiful but not as nice as the time spent with a fun auntie!

While Lisa and Abram were busy creating - Uncle Nick was reading to Stella, and reading, and reading, and reading.  Poor Stella had a fever all weekend and reading with Uncle Nick seemed to make her feel much better.

I don't know what went wrong with this picture but I had to share Abram playing with the penguin 'pooper' that Grandma Linda got Abram. Anyone who has spent anytime at all with Abram knows how much he loves to talk about poop :)  Linda and I went out shopping on Black Friday and the best purchase of the day was the Penguin that Poops chocolate drops.

Of all the things I am thankful for this year - family is at the top of the list. I have the most wonderful husband and children. I have been so tired this pregnancy I am eternally grateful for their love and support while I lay on the couch! This weekend Josh had to take Stella to urgent care because of her high temp that wouldn't go down (don't worry she is all better now) so Abram and I stayed home to clean up after having Thanksgiving guests. Abram always likes to help with vacuuming but this time after cleaning about one and a half rooms Abram turns to me and says "go lie down mama - I will clean the rest of the rooms." As my heart was overflowing with love for my compassionate little guy I tried to explain that I wanted to clean with him but he wouldn't have any of it.  He actually got upset and started to cry until I would go 'rest.' How many mamas have 3 year old little guys who look after them so well AND he actually did pick up his entire playroom and 'vacuumed' the whole downstairs. So thank you Abram for giving me one more thing to be thankful for!

Trick or Treating Debriefing

Ok - no one told us that our street was a veritable Halloween destination for the tri-state area.  Okay, well maybe Josh tells me the guy down the street said something when we first moved here but I don't remember this conversation. In every single neighborhood/house we have ever lived in I have ALWAYS overbought on Halloween candy and by the end of the night would be giving handfuls of candy to the lucky few kids who actually came to our door.

Not tonight. Tonight was different.  Tonight was like nothing I have ever experienced before. Josh described it like a plague of locusts. When I took Abram down the street and back some of our neighbors saw the panicked look on my face. The look of a woman who just knew her husband was handing out 2-3 pieces of candy at a time all willy-nilly and we'd be the dreaded first house to have to turn off our light. They just shook their heads at our naivety and told me we were lucky the weather was cold and rainy because tonight was actually a 'slow' night.

If tonight was a slow night then I think I'm going to have to start a savings account for Halloween candy. They said they usually get about 800 kids on an average night. We actually had to ask Abram if we could hand out his 'I've been dry all day and get a treat' special lollipops. He was a good sport and gave them up willingly. I'm sure you're all sitting on pins and needles wondering whether or not we made it. We had exactly 3 pieces left in our bowl. Josh stood in the kitchen doing a countdown to 7:00 when trick-or-treating officially ended.

Here are a few shots of our trick-or-treaters. I would have taken more pictures but Josh or I literally had to be handing out candy constantly so we didn't get to take many.

Aunt Vicki's Annual Halloween Visit

We've been spoiled by Aunt Vicki and having her visit during Halloween the past couple of years.  This year she helped us again pull off a fun and festive Halloween party for the kids. 

We had to test out the temporary tatoos before the party - quality control of course.

Abram showed Aunt Vicki what a loving big brother he is.

Stella helped us get ready for the party by testing the temperature of the ice - nice and cold.

Abram vacuumed while Stella watched (can you find Stella?).

Next step - costumes.  Josh was a magician who pulled the most adorable rabbit out of his hat.

Abram turned into a roaring dragon.

We had lots of fun making googly eyed bats.

 Winners of best coordinated costume award.

More crafts!

A boy dressed up as a dragon - dressed up as a bat :)

What a cute bunny and strawberry!

Abram and some friends from pre-school

Stella lost the bunny costume in time for snacks.

When things got to wild inside they headed outdoors.

Fun Party - Happy Family - Thank you V!

 Farmer V and an 80's dancer.

I think Abram was done with pictures.

But professor Abram still had one more picture left in him.

Of course Stella had her first juice box during V's trip.

A trip to the park all bundled up.

Fun with auntie!

V captured this shot right before we literally ran out the door for a date-night.  We waste no time when we have a willing baby-sitter for the babes.

On V's last day we headed to the Chocolate Factory.  

Stella was pretty excited about the tour.

We looked pretty good in our hairnets!

We had to take a picture of Vicki Suzanne, Sara Suzanne, and Stella Suzanne.

Abram got in on the fun.

One last Halloween picture.

So serious!

In addition to the Chocolate Factory we also made a quick trip to the zoo.  We didn't stay long because we were so cold!!!

Thanks for coming to South Bend V - we will miss you!!!!

Lake Michigan

A few weekends ago we met Rachel, Caity and Gus just outside of Chicago.  Though the weather was quite dreary we still had a great time. 

Our weekend started off with story time.

Then on to some baking :)

Abram and Stella are both huge fans of getting messy AND eating delicious pumpkin bread.

Though it was chilly we still made it to the beach a few times all bundled up.

Abram didn't seem to mind the cold and had his shoes and socks off before I could stop him.

He didn't stop throwing rocks the whole time we were there.

He really got into it.

I tried hard but couldn't get Gus to smile at the camera.

Someone got a little wet and it wasn't papa.

Who doesn't want hot chocolate after a day at the beach?

One last stop at the lake before heading home.