{ Thanksgiving 2013 }

We had two great Thanksgiving feasts this week.  We were able to visit with our extended families and enjoy some fabulous food.  I look forward to the dressing every year!

We went to Bonnie and Harold's house on Sunday for the Summers family Thanksgiving.  We didn't take pictures, but I assure you it was festive and fabulous!  Our kids got to see Cora Beth, Makenzie and Brantley, so a good time was had by all!

We went to Karen and Ronald's house on Thursday for the Blanton family Thanksgiving.  Cameron, Jake, Ty and Luke were there, so Harrison was in heaven with all the boys.  My girls are big enough to enjoy some adult conversation with the grown-up girls, so they had a nice time too.  We all love getting together and we even took some pictures.

Here's our part of the family!

We loved seeing this little turkey on his first Thanksgiving.  Luke is such a cutie!

Loved spending time with our families.  We really do have lots to be thankful for!

{ Sunny Spot }

These two followed the sunny spot this morning!

Harrison's playing his iPod while Knox rests.  Fun times!

{ Random Fall Pics }

Student Council Girl

School Spirit Day

It was an ice cream kind of afternoon!

Emma Taylor and Mia - almost twins!

Harrison was pumped about his new shoes.  He requested pictures.  Ha!

Knox love

Everyone's loving the boot socks!

School Spirit for this girl today!

Camo Day for this little chickadee!

Pediatric Nurse for "What you want to be" Day at school.

Light up teeth....kinda creepy!

Sitting in the warm spot with their doggie.

Smashing Pumpkins!

The kids LOVED it even more than carving, I think.

Cold evening for cheer.  Hot chocolate helps!

Working on the story board.

A few of the girls with Justina, their coach.

Loving fall!

{ Turkey Treats }

Emma Taylor and I made Oreo Ball Turkeys for her Thanksgiving feast this week.  They were easy and really cute.  Thanks, Pinterest!

We made the regular Oreo Ball recipe and then pressed the balls into a mini muffin tin to make them more of a circle rather than a ball.  Then we dipped them in chocolate and added the cute turkey face and feathers. The eyes are Wilton candy eyes (the same things we used for the Monster Treats at Halloween) and the nose is just an M&M.  So cute! 

{ Mooseltoe! }

Harrison's school hosted a reading fair this week.  For those unfamiliar with a reading fair, it's an art project involving a book chosen by the student.  A trifold board is decorated to go along with the theme of the book, which includes elements about the story (problem, solution, mood or tone of the book, etc.)  The storyboard is then submitted for judging and the students are asked questions about their books.  This is totally not Harrison's thing (the presentation part), but his newsletter we received last week "strongly encouraged" students to participate.  I know what that means, so we got busy!

Harrison chose the book Mooseletoe, which was fun since it started getting us in the Christmas mood.    We chose to enter the "Family" category so Emma Taylor could help with the project too.  Harrison did all the writing, but Emma Taylor and I did most of the decorating.  It ended up being a lot of work, but lots of fun too!

We were excited to get the project turned in this morning.  Harrison said he "thinks" he got second place in the family category, but he's not positive.  Ha!  Isn't that just like a boy?  He doesn't care either way, he had fun!

{ Lots of Birthdays! }

Cora Beth, Ben and Knox all celebrated birthdays this week.  Cora Beth turned a year old on the 14th and Ben and Knox shared a birthday on the 17th.

We started with Cora Beth's party on Saturday afternoon.  Candace planned the most adorable Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party for her first birthday.  Everything was perfect and Cora Beth had a ball!

 She was pretty interested in the cake.

 She likes cake!

 After a quick bath, she opened her presents.  

Candace made these cute Mickey Mouse Rice Krispies Treats for party favors.

 So cute!

Such a precious party for a precious little girl!

Lee and I celebrated Ben's birthday, along with mom and dad, on Sunday morning with breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  The other kids were gone, but Cameron loved celebrating with his daddy!

The Cracker Barrel girls sang happy birthday to Ben and brought him a dessert.  Cam and I chose the dessert, Coca Cola Cake, and ate it all with help from Granna!  None of the grown guys wanted to share, so it was great!  

Knox turned 2 on Sunday.  We didn't do much to celebrate, but Emma Taylor made this collage in honor of his birthday.  

The main picture is a picture that was taken when he was about 6 weeks old.  Don't the girls look like babies?  I dropped a chocolate chip on Sunday afternoon, so I think he felt celebrated!  It doesn't take much to make him happy.  He's a pretty lucky dog!

{ Cheer Stuff }

Sarah's cheer squad, the Excel Aviators, has been busy lately.  Competition season starts in January, but they've been busy with fundraisers and other performances lately.

Here are a few of the girls after a fund raiser at Buffalo Wild Wings.  The girls helped wait tables and talked to the customers who came to support them.  They enjoyed it!

Here they are after a parade at the mall.  They were in the parade that welcomes Santa Claus to the mall every year.

Here's the whole squad.  Their coach, Joel Campbell, was an olympic gymnast, so he knows what he's doing.  He does a great job teaching the girls!

Go XLA!

{ Christmas Lists }

It's that time again, time to make Christmas lists!

Lee and I were laughing this morning about how different it is for the kids to make Christmas lists today.  We used to get the Sears Wish Book and circle what we wanted.  Today they hop online and look for whatever they want.  Times have definitely changed!  

{ School Pics }

I love this year's pictures.

Anna Grace - 8th grade

Sarah - 5th grade

Emma Taylor - 5th grade

Harrison - 2nd grade

I can't believe they're growing up so fast.  :(