Squirrel Park and Sad News

We made our FOURTEEN hour trip home yesterday from eastern North Carolina. We were there spending time with Hubs' family and celebrating Thanksgiving together. I have lots o pictures to share that will probably have to span several posts.

However, before sharing the pics, I must share that we are so saddened for our friend Lori. After trying to adopt for many years they got pregnant with their miracle baby, Matthew, early this year. He made his long awaited debut last night and then passed away early this morning. We are so sad for this sweet family.

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This pic was in the first 30 seconds of getting to Daddy B's house in NC. AP ran to him as fast as she could then instructed me to get the camera and take a picture :)

Directly across the street from Daddy B and Grandma's house there is a large park. It is a perfect place to go in the afternoons while we are there and let the kiddos expend a little energy. I am going to call it Squirrel Park from now on. There were SO many squirrels there. They were all around us and they were brave. They would run right by our feet. To my fellow Bisons, it was worse than the squirrels in the square. Here are a few pics of the bravest ones. And, by the way, up close they look much more like rodents than they do cute furry nut gatherers.

The rest of the pics are of our playtime to work off our huge Thanksgiving dinner at Hubs' grandmother's house :) I love the sunset in the background.

More to come on Christmas coming early and movin' what your momma gave you!

For These Turkeys and So Much More...

...that is what I'm thankful for.

The Jury's Still Out

Mommy: Did you get into mommy's mascara after she asked you not to?

AP: No.

What do you think????

Trimming Trees and Turkey Bowling

Ah, another sign that the holiday season is right around the corner, the Turkey Bowl. And another year that our pastor gets hurt in the Turkey Bowl! This is our church wide flag football tournament. Our small group team has a history of dominating and this year was no different. I was not a player, but a child wrangler and cheerleader. I played the first year that we were members at our church and after taking the pastor's elbow to my ribcage, I decided I was more cut out to cheer from the sidelines :) Here is our dedicated friend with a turkey on her head. The kiddos spent a lot of time riding their bikes while daddy played.

Daddy in action!

And the story of our pastor getting hurt this year involved the girl in the yellow jersey in the below picture leaving her tooth wedged in the pastor's forehead! Yes, it was stuck there. Thankfully, they are both doing ok now.

Our team with the turkey trophy!

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Last night Hubs and I had a great date night! We went downtown to hear Boompa, my dad, play with his band, The 1969 Band. He is the most awesomest keyboard player ever, and I'm not biased at all :) Check him rocking out.

Before we left for our little date, we spent the afternoon decorating the kiddos' trees in their rooms. Grandma and Daddy Bob bought these for them last year. AP chose all pink and purple ornaments, of course.

C chose mostly blue ornaments with a few sports things thrown in.

They are loving having their own little trees! Thanks again Daddy B and Grandma.

My Spark and Puggle

Both of the kiddos are in Awana clubs at our church. If you aren't familiar with Awana, it is sort of like the scouts, but you earn badges by memorizing scripture. C moved up to the Sparks this year, which is the K-2nd graders. AP is a Puggle, which is the 2 and 3 year olds. The Puggles aren't memorizing any scriptures, but they are learning basic Bible concepts. I am one of the Puggle teachers and I just happened to have my camera with me yesterday. This is AP with her girlfriends. They decided to all hold hands on their own, which is what prompted my picture taking session :)

So far this semester the Puggles have been learning the days of creation. Last night we learned that God made farm animals. The kiddos made a little parade.

Puggles take lots of play breaks!


I have to confess that I was not very on top of what C was supposed to be doing as a Spark this year. We got really behind on his scriptures. Then we lost his book. Then we spilled something on his bag and his vest! However, over the last 2 weeks we have pulled ourselves together and are back on track. Yesterday afternoon we went Bible shopping and C moved from his Preschoolers Bible to a new big boy Bible. He enjoyed getting to choose which one he liked. I think he was drawn to the lizard-like cover :) I was excited to hear that he used his new Bible to look up the verse that he had memorized and then read it to his class!

Here he is with his new Bible (it's the Illustrated Study Bible for Kids if anyone is wondering)

...and then showing me his wings and first red jewel on his vest!

D-D-D-D-D-Dora

This past weekend we were in Cinci celebrating my super cute niece's 2nd birthday! We started her birthday by singing to her at breakfast. I think she was thinking that it was too early in the morning :)

AP and the birthday girl were all ready for the party.
She was telling me how old she was :)


Her party was all about Dora, or Dora Explora as she called her. This was her Dora cupcake cake.

C ready in his Dora party hat. What a good sport!

This lady was "Dora's special friend". She came to the party and played Dora games, applied Dora tattoos, made animal balloons, and played Dora music. AP kept her busy with the tattoos. I think she ended up with 4.

Then it was time for DORA! She came and danced with the kiddos.

C had enough of Dora and went to roast marshmallows with Daddy :)

Mmmmm. Smores.

Nanna with AP, C, and Dora

The birthday girl was afraid of Dora. The only way to get a picture of her with Dora was for Dora to sneak up behind her! S had no idea that Dora was standing there.

C loves a good balloon hat.

S blowing out her second candles of the day.

My sister's b-day is Wednesday so she got a few presents, too. I painted the center of this platter with chalkboard paint. I thought it would be cute on a plate stand on her kitchen counter. I'm thinking about making one for myself, too ;)

There were a sea of presents. S got some new makeup and was trying it out on Hubs.

The cutest little cousins in their matching Dora pj's from Aunt K.

Happy 2nd B-day, S! We love you!