First Family Trip to Rocky Top

Last weekend we took the kiddos to Knoxville for the UT/KY game. C has been to several games before, but this was AP's first Rocky Top experience. Both kiddos loved it! They probably had more fun before the game than during the actual game, though.

They Do Their Little Thing On the Catwalk

This is what we got when my sister and I asked the girls to show us their turkey shirts :)

She Said Yes

My sister and family arrived in town the night before Thanksgiving. It's been a while since they have been to TN. Last time this little guy was here he was barely crawling!

On Thanksgiving morning we had a big family breakfast at our house. As I was cooking, you can see what Hubs was doing! Mapping out our shopping route for Black Friday :)

My cousin's birthday also fell on Thanksgiving Day this year. Here is my aunt giving him his cake as we all sing to him. Doesn't he look excited?After my cousin left our house he went to his girlfriend's house and proposed! Here is my aunt hugging him one last time before he is an engaged man. He has the ring in his hand.
...and she said yes :)

Believe it or not, I took no pictures the rest of the day. I was too busy cooking, eating, playing cards, laughing, NOT sleeping, and shopping! We had a huge dinner at my aunt and uncle's house. We all spent the night there and stayed up until Friday morning! There were 13 people and 5 dogs at the sleepover. I did get up and go shopping, but not as early as I intended to because I discovered around midnight that you could get the same sale prices that people would be fighting over if you ordered online. And on amazon, there was no tax and no shipping! Much easier! I crossed all but one thing off my list from the convenience of my keyboard, then went to sleep :)

trees trimmed

We finished putting up our trees and putting out the Christmas decorations on the day before Thanksgiving. I am happy to report that all but two ornaments survived the Thanksgiving holiday!

This tree in our dining room has all the special ornaments made with care by the kiddos.

Here are 2 of my faves...

Turkey Bowls and Trees

Sunday afternoon our church had its tenth annual Turkey Bowl, a flag football tournament with teams made up of different small groups. It was much better weather than we have had in the past.Last year our small group's team won, but this year we came in second. I think everyone could tell they were a year older then last year :)Monday night the kiddos put up the little trees that they have in their rooms.

C posed himself like that all on his own :)

I love it when the house starts to feel festive. I know some people think it is too early for trees, but to me, the longer I can enjoy them the better! We actually finished putting up our other trees today!

Slumber Party... Aka Momma Stayed Up Too Late

Friday night after the monkey party the kiddos and I went to their first official sleepover. It counts if mommy sleeps over, too, right?

Our friends hosted a sleepover for all of the little friends of the family that is moving away next month. You know, C's little girlfriend and her little brother. As soon as we walked in C's friend ran up to him yelling "yay, C's here!" I really am so sad that he's going to lose that connection with such a good friend :(

Anyway, the sleepover itself was so much fun there was no time to be sad. J and N's mom had made a video slide show of all the kiddos growing up over the last 4 or so years that they have all been friends. Here are all the kiddos having fun finding themselves in the pictures.and this is how C and J were watching it :)After the slide show we started scrapbooking. Their mom had brought prints of all the pictures from the slide show and each kiddo made 2 scrapbook pages of the pictures that they were in. Here is AP showing off a page of pictures with her and N. I talk alot about C and his little girlfriend, but AP has a special relationship with N, too.

Here is C showing his finished product.

and the mommas finishing up.

The book turned out really cute. I'm sure J and N will love having that keepsake to look back on.

Some of our friends left that night so we tried to get a group picture. Here they are showing their true personalities!

Time to wind down... yeah, right!

The kiddos ended up crashing a little before midnight. But, the mommas were enjoying our conversation and card game so much that it was close to 3 before we went to bed. Here is a pic at around 2:30 am after we finished our Nertz game!

I think I fell asleep around 3:30, then these 2 rascals were up at 6:30!

I had to snap a pic of J and her mom sharing a sleeping bag and trying to wake up.

We had so much fun.

The kiddos all made special memories I am sure. But, we don't want to think too much about the reason we were all there because that will make us sad!

People Say We Monkey Around

Friday night we went to our little friend's monkey-themed party. Check out how cute those cupcakes are!They tasted really good, too :)
It's hard to believe our little friend, Seth, will soon be 3!

After the monkey party the kiddos and I went to their very first sleepover, but for some reason my pictures are taking forever to post, so more on that later.

Flip and Party

My niece turned THREE this past weekend. She had 2 parties and we managed to make it to Ohio for her gymnastics party Saturday night. Of course, the first thing my kiddos do at Nanna's house is run to play in her backyard.

My sister's birthday is tomorrow, so we celebrated her too!

Here are the kiddos ready to flip and twist.

Stretch!

There was a whole lot of flippin going on.

Happy Birthday tomorrow, sis!