Gingerbread Sleighs

I thought it would be fun to try these sleighs this year instead of doing the house we usually do. The house is kinda hard to get all the kids involved so these individual sleighs worked out great. They never look as cute or hold up as well as they do on the box, but the kids had a good time making them and eating the leftover candy! Of course they wanted to eat the finished work...but I wanted them to keep for decorations...so we just ate the leftover candy and licked all the excess icing off! Fun project....glad it only has to be done once a year!

Santa in November!

So since we literally live down the street from Victoria Gardens, we have utilized it quite a bit. There is a nice movie theatre there so Jen and I took the girls to see Rapunzel. After the movie was over Bill and the older kids met me there for dinner. Of course we had to go to Bill's favorite...Lucille's BBQ. The girls and I wanted to walk around after dinner but the boys wanted to go home to play video games. So I took the girls around all the shops and sure enough Santa was out....and there was NO line! We walked right in! It was great. Avery went right to him and told him the two things she wanted: a skateboard and a puppy! I think she is going to be one disappointed little girl this year!

First Thanksgiving in the New House

This was our first Thanksgiving in the new house! We had all the family over and we deep fried one turkey and BBQed the other one! They both turned out great! I couldn't believe how juicy the deep fried one was. That will be our new tradition from now on. We had tons of food and it was all good. Aunt Sue enjoyed gnawing on the turkey leg and Uncle Tyler enjoyed making antlers out of my decorative corn! We even attempted to go to Toys R Us at 10 pm this year. We got all the way there and the line went around the building..it was crazy! But Uncle Kevin was such a trooper for taking us and attempting to get us in! Overall, it was a memorable first holiday! Can't wait for many more!

The Birthday Party

What a day! Avery had a great time at her ladybug b-day bash! She loved having her friends over...she was so excited about her "big girl" bike that g-ma and pa got her. Thank goodness Katie and Aunt Sue came early to help me decorate and set-up. Y'all know I am not a party planner...so of course I forgot many things. But the kids didn't care...everyone had a good time and Avery was tuckered out at the end of the day! Thank you to all of our family and friends for making this an extra special day for our little Avery! We love you all!

So Proud of this Girl!!!

Kenadee has done so awesome this year! I worried so much about her because she had to move schools and I was afraid it would take a toll on her academics! She sure proved me wrong! She made the Honor Roll for the first trimester as well as getting an award for great behavior and not missing any assignments. I will tell you she does not get this trait from me...I was always a C student and never really cared too much about my school work until college. This girl does this all on her own. She works soooo hard and never complains. I just LOVE her and her personality. I  feel so very blessed and hope I can continue to foster her love for learning. As a mother....I could not be more proud of my Kenadee!

My Baby Turned 4!

I can't believe my baby is 4! I swear she was just born last week. It really does flash before your eyes...just like everyone says it does....don't blink, they grow up too fast! We always try and make birthdays special in our house. So it started with us all having to go to school. Avery chose to take "Hannah Tanna" cupcakes to share with her class, which I forgot to take pictures of! It was amazing that I remembered to take them with me in the morning! The kids get to choose wherever they would like to go for dinner. But for a 4 year old, that is hard because you know they want to choose McDonalds. So Avery actually remembered the Rain Forest Cafe from a few weeks earlier when her and I went shopping for the day. SO we were happy that she didn't choose fast food! Anyways it was on Tuesday night, so there was no wait. She LOVED all the animals and rain that happens throughout the dinner. It was a perfect place to take her. We also always let them open their presents on their b-day...but being so busy I didn't even have a chance to get anything for her! I know....Mother of the Year Award once again! So there is a really cool store attached to the restaurant so we let her choose something from the store! And if you know Avers she is obsessed with stuffed animals...so she chose yet another animal. That's okay...it makes her happy and she sleeps with most of them! Anywoo.....you know we love to hear what she names everything because she comes up with the funniest names. So this cute little giraffe is named...Dr. Porkchop! We laughed so hard at the table when she announced this. She has such a great imagination....so we had a great time and we can't wait until Saturday for her party! We just tend to keep it going all week!

I Found a Spider!

My husband is so.....wonderful! He opens my front door this morning and calls me down. This is how the conversation went: Hey honey come down here! What do you need? I want to show you a spider I found in the street! A what??? A spider...you need to come and see it...or should I bring it up to you? I shouted...NO!!! So I go down thinking he has some sort of black widow or something...which by the way I HATE. I can handle any creature God put on this Earth...but I DETEST spiders! I look in his little bucket and this is what he has. I mean really? A tarantula? He simply could have made mention of that when he was screaming up to me. YUCK!!! It was huge and hairy and long strangley legs...just yuck! If this is what I have to look forward too out here in Rancho...I am not going to last long..I can tell you that! What if that thing jumped on me or my baby? Oh I get grossed out just thinking about it...It was hard to even take a picture, but I figured no one would believe we had a tarantula in the our front yard! Lovely.....

Halloween Fun!

What a crazy looking bunch! Bryce was totally in to being something scary this year...almost had to say no...but he is kind of outgrowing the little costumes! Kenadee wanted to be this cute candy corn witch. She looked adorable, perfect for her. And baby girl choose this cute little cat costume. Bill is like a big kid and insisted on wearing the scary thing and scared many children during the night. There were a few puddles left on my doorstep this night. All good clean fun...we went with a bunch of the neighbors and grandma and pa came with us too and walked around all the new developments. It was a lot fun....figured out that I need 5x the candy I bought to hand out. So many darn kids in our neighborhood...which is actually a good thing! So it was a fun night...all the kiddos were happy (including Bill).

Pumkin Carving Nazi!!!

Okay, I admit, I am an absolute freak about carving pumpkins! If it was up to me we would just leave them on the porch they way they are. I try every year to enjoy it but I really can't stand the mess! That is what it is.....a HUGE mess! I mean there was seeds and that yucky orange stringy stuff all over! Yuck! So...I have Bill be in charge of the carving...or there wouldn't be any! He is so relaxed and lets the kids just have at it! I hat the disorganization. I feel like Kate from that darn show John and Kate plus 8...it really is my weakness...but I always survive and the kids do have a good time. I really do like Halloween...just not the mess that it comes with! And the one good thing was that the pot they filled up was from all 3 pumpkins...so there was very little seed mess this year. Wish they had seedless pumpkins!