How You Know He's the One

Our granite guy that is;)
Last night our granite guy came out to measure for our new counter tops. Not only did he get the measurements, but he also sang "He's got the whole world in His hands" with Ansley, chatted with Madelyn, picked up Nolan WITH a poopy diaper, & gave Nolan a kiss on the head as he left. Nolan wouldn't tell him bye-bye or look him in the eye b/c he was sad to see him go. Call me a sentimental fool, but this man's got the job!

btw...anybody seen the Yo Gabba Gabba with Jack Black as the special guest? I watched it this morning with Ansley & Nolan. Seeing Jack Black doing the disco roll in DJ Lance's orange jump suit made my day!

Happy Thanksgiving

My little helpers!

Above is my first Thanksgiving feast! I made a 6.5 lb turkey breast in my electric roaster, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn pudding, green bean casserole, my Grandma Honey's macaroni & cheese, rolls, cranberry sauce, & pumpkin pie. I know I don't get any points for presentation, but hey, at least I made the food! Jon worked on Thanksgiving day so we celebrated on Friday. It was just our family of 5, whom I am so thankful for!

Day, Party of 7...

is what we will hear if we are brave enough to take the family out to a sit down restaurant next year b/c we are 11 weeks pregnant with...TWINS!
Need I say more?

Disney World

Within 5 minutes of day 1 at Magic Kingdom, 2 park employees asked us if we would like to meet a special guest. Turns out it was Cinderella!

During our 2nd day at Epcot, we hurried to see Princess Jasmine & Aladdin b/c we had missed them the day before. The line patrol lady said we were too late & that we would have to catch them another time. So, we stayed & watched them sign autographs. Lucky for the girls, Jasmine told the line patrol lady that they could see one more family...us!!! Woo Hoo! The girls had worn their Jasmine outfits that day...I think that helped:)

Mulan was such a cool princess to pose as if she was sword fighting. I think she liked Madelyn's sword souvenir that we bought in Norway in Epcot! Madelyn likes Mulan, Pocahontas, & Jasmine b/c they're not as dainty as the other princesses.

This picture was taken at our dinner inside Cinderella's castle. Princess Aeriel took some time out for Buddy & did he ever appreciate it! I think he was in love!

We ended our day at Animal Kingdom with dinner at Rainforest Cafe. I can see why the food is overpriced...you are paying for the experience. Where else can you dine alongside robotic gorillas, elephants, & snakes?

The girls finally got their face painted during our 2nd day at Epcot. I say finally b/c they begged & pleaded for several days. Ansley chose a princess kitty cat & Madelyn chose cherry blossoms in honor of Mulan.

Nolan got kissed by Princess Belle at our princess lunch in Epcot. The poor little guy just couldn't hang on any longer!


Playing the drums at Animal Kingdom & Epcot was one of the kid's favorite things!

Nolan loved taking a break at the playground in Magic Kingdom's Toontown. He felt like a big boy b/c he could independently go up the stairs & down the slide!

Haircuts

I got a wild hair the other day. I bought some shears from Sally's Beauty Supply to give Nolan his first haircut. I guess I thought baby hair would be easy to cut...a few snips here, a few snips there. I may have gone a little short on his bangs. After feeling pretty confident with Nolan's do, I decided to "trim" Ansley's hair. Well, she got more than a trim! My blood pressure increased quite a bit when I saw how short it was! I put the kids in the bath immediately after the haircuts to wash their newly chopped hair. The bottom of Ansley's hair was very blunt. I was hoping (more like praying) that it would lay better after it had been cleaned. I was relieved to discover that the ends looked more soft & round after bath. In the end, I really like Ansley & Nolan's short hair. The great thing is that hair grows back really fast!
I see in the photo of Ansley that she's got a long hair on the front left side...I'll go get my shears right now!

Happy Halloween

Boy, Halloween was so much fun this year! We celebrated by decorating our house. Madelyn even drew Halloween pictures & hung them with paint tape on my walls. Matter of fact, Madelyn just noticed today that I took them down. I told her Halloween is over dear! We went on a couple of hayrides, one with RSA & the other with MOPS. We went to a couple of trunk or treats at friends churches. The best was trick or treating Halloween night! Our neighborhood was packed with kids. I left a bowl of candy outside our house so both Jon & I could trick or treat. There was candy left over when we got home...what an honest bunch of kids we have here (or maybe there's a larger percent of parent participation;). Either way, I was impressed!

Milk & Bookies

A new friend of ours organized Milk & Bookies at Barnes & Nobles. Madelyn, Ansley, & Nolan donated a book to the children's hospital. In return we heard some awesome stories read by some awesome characters! For instance, Belle was the Cinderella at Dinsey World for many years. Matter of Fact, she is the Cinderella used in Disney's media! How cool is that. Pretty cool in our opinion;) She was defiantly impressive & very animated. One of the ballet dancers who read happened to be Ansley's ballet teacher. The pirate read in an oh so cool pirate accent. The kids (& Jon & I) enjoyed milk & cookies between stories. Ansley was stuck to Snow White like glue. It was the cutest thing. Ansley thought she was pretty cool. Nolan sat through stories in the Adirondack chair. Don't know what it was about that chair, but he liked it! Maybe we should get one of his own.

Soccer

Well, soccer is over for the season. Madelyn had a GREAT time. Coach Jessie & Jason were awesome. Madelyn played on the 3-4 year old team b/c 1) Madelyn & Ansley could play on the same team. Yes, I signed up Ansley too but she showed no interest so she sat out this season. 2) Madelyn was technically 4 at each game since her birthday fell after the season was over for us. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Madelyn play. She was not scared of the ball in the least, nor was scared to take control of the ball & score! I am so proud of her. Watching her soccer games was seriously the funniest hour of my week!

Vacation without Daddy

My sweet husband arranged a Destin, FL trip for my mother-in-law Barbara, the kids, & me. He worked a ton of overtime hours that week. He feels incredibly guilty about not spending time with the kids. Sending us away for vacation helped him focus on work & not worry how we were doing at home without him. With that said, we had a great time. The weather was in the mid 80's. I took a long walk every morning then would take the kids to a playground while Barbara exercised. While Nolan napped, I took the girls to the beach to play. The water was chilly but after playing in the hot sun it felt nice. The girls did not mind the cold water temps. After playing at the beach, we'd get cleaned up & grab some dinner, then off to Baytowne or somewhere to play. I had fun shopping at the outlets. I get the bulk of the kids clothes at the outlet shops there.

Madelyn's 5th Birthday

Madelyn had an awesome birthday party at Chuck E Cheese this year. I would totally recommend having a party there. This is coming from someone who has hosted every birthday party at our house. Having a party somewhere else took the load off me & allowed me to enjoy the party. They did a great job making Madelyn feel incredibly special for her birthday!

Madelyn's dinosaur cake

Madelyn in the ticket chamber. She had to try to collect as many flying tickets as possible.

Friends!

Us...I love Nolan's expression!

I love this picture of Madelyn. We had a photo shoot in our backyard.

Family in Town!

My little brother Brian, my sister-in-law Lea Ann, & nephews Travis & Gavin drove down from Louisville a few weekends ago for a visit. The girls loved playing with Travis. My mom flew in from Louisiana Saturday night & stayed until the following Sunday. It was great catching up with my family!


Travis, Madelyn, & Ansley made their own dinosaur costumes. As you can see, creativity is strongly encouraged around here:)

Kids hanging with Grandma

Nolan passed out at the fair.

Madelyn helped make a wooden bowl & watched an ironsmith make an iron leaf for her at the fair.

We went to Reynolda Village on my birthday. Madelyn took this picture.
Some of the other fun stuff we did with my mom was going out for sushi, shopped, strolled around Old Salem, played at the Children's Museum, toured the Reynolda House, & introduced my mom to the IKEA store.

Ansley's 3rd Birthday

Jon gave Ansley her princess watch before he left for work. Birthdays are a big deal at our house. The goal is to make the birthday kid feel as special as possible:)


I took the girls to Build A Bear. Ansley picked out a pink bear with a Sleeping Beauty dress. Madelyn chose a owl with a Batman Halloween costume. After Build A Bear, we met Jon for lunch at Mayberry's.



The girls posed for a quick photo shoot before the birthday party. Nolan was still napping.


Nolan was caught "red handed" eating ketchup straight from the packet!


Ansley was so excited to open her gifts. She would take a break from playing & eating at her party to stand next to her presents. She was so grateful for everything.


The party crew at Chick Fill A


How often is it that you can take a family photo with an over-sized costumed cow?