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.....