Decorating for Christmas

This is our ninth Christmas in Texas.  No matter how long we live here, I don't think I will ever get used to hanging twinkle lights in shorts!  It seems a bit sacrilegious.
Jason was thrilled to use the last day of his Thanksgiving vacation to drag out Christmas decor, but we decided to get started on it since it was such a gorgeous day to be outside.

Marin was very excited about decorating the trees.

 

Sloan was perfectly content to eat a snack and take it all in.  This kid has got it made!
I'm sure he'll be wrapping himself in lights next year at this time! 

Bring on the holiday!

Thanksgiving Road Trip

We made the trip back to Nebraska at Thanksgiving--it was a long haul which took us two days, but we made it safe and sound!  Marin is a great rider--she's easily entertained by chewing gum (nonstop) and watching shows on the DVD player.  Sloan is another story.  He slept for about 7 minutes of our 12 hour driving day and 3 minutes the next day.  :/

We did a little Black Friday shopping with the girls.  

Footy pjs for Hannah?  I forgot how giggly teenage girls can be!

We got to see my Grandma Ruthie on her 94th birthday!  She's an amazing woman.
Marin sang her a few songs including 'Happy Birthday' & 'Jesus Loves Me' and Grandma just beamed.  

 

Both of my grandmas are at the same retirement center, so it's easy to see both of them in the same day!  Marin just loves Grandma Lene.  She always gets to have a special treat when we visit--popcorn and ice cream!  

Marin got to 'feed the boys' in the Johnny Tractor which never disappoints!

This little kitty named Simone was a favorite.  She was a snuggly little cat that Marin really enjoyed.

There were some shenanigans on an exercise ball.

There were lots of goofy cousin pictures.  

A few monkey-fingers were exchanged between these two Cumberland monkeys!

A little dancing and running around with cousins at Happy Hollow in Omaha.

Snuggles with Nana.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Sonderman clan in Omaha.  Grandma Dorothy loved to see all of the little ones running around having fun together!  It's always so fun to catch up with Jason's cousins, aunts & uncles!  

We left Nebraska on the Saturday after Thanksgiving so we wouldn't be stuck in lots of traffic and we made it all the way in one day--15 hours!
We enjoyed seeing everyone and certainly have so much to be thankful for!

Ordinary Days

I pulled out the Cozy Coupe for Sloan and he loved it!  Marin hasn't played with this car in quite some time, but the second his little buns sat down, she decided this was her favorite toy in the world.

Fact:  This little boy knew how to say, "Vroommm" before he said, "Mama."

A little sibling rivalry is good for the soul?!?

I love Sloan's face here!  He's thinking about pulling those blonde locks.  

Everybody (especially Mommy) is happy for Daddy to come home at the end of the day.
He's been on the road lots this year and we miss him when he's gone!

 

Marin loves to dress up in this furry little lion costume.  It scares the be-jeepers out of her brother so now she can only wear it when he's napping.

She likes to play a lion and mouse game.  I'm typically mouse who ends up getting eaten. 

I love that little face.

This little lion and her baby brother make ordinary days seem pretty stellar.

 

Lucky the Zebra

Marin's preschool class is named 'The Wild Things' and this is their traveling mascot Lucky.
Lucky is a cute little zebra who gets to stay with every student for a week each semester.

Marin dressed 'her' up and gave her a little pink bow, a bib and a diaper. 

 

The best news of all?  Lucky gets to drive back to Nebraska with us for Thanksgiving!
Yahoooo!  We're so LUCKY!

 

Taking Off and Into Everything

Sloany is on the move!  He's climbing, pulling up and nearly walking at 10.5 months.

Every chance this little guy gets, he's racing for the stairs!  How do babies know how to climb like this?
 Can you see me, mama?

He made it to the top!
Jason and I joke that Sloan can climb the stairs faster than we can say, "Where's the baby?"  

We obviously need to do a better job 'baby-proofing' our house!

This is Sloan's favorite drawer to play in--the opportunites are endless!

 

The dishwasher is another one of his favorite places to hang out!

 

How could we possibly tell this sweet little face 'no'?

 

Homework

Little Miss Ladybug comes home from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is shelled.
She almost always naps for at least an hour on school days.

BUT, before nap time, she insists on completing her homework!

This particular week she was working on coloring pictures that start with the /Cc/ sound.
This is an easy task for her but she likes to pretend that she doesn't know and giggles about it.

Her head was getting very heavy--she's just about ready to drift off into dreamland!  

I hope she's always this eager to do her homework!

Lil' Pumpkin

Marin chose a kid-sized pumpkin this year from the pumpkin patch because SHE wanted to be able to carry it and do everything by herself!  This fourth year of life is all about independence I guess!

Here she is on a brisk morning ready to carve HER pumpkin!

She was busy making a 'plan' for its face.  

We cut the top off... 

scooped out the guts (which she would touch)...

and Marin drew a cute little face on her pumpkin.

 

It was so cute to see how careful she was to make her pumpkin look just right.

I made her clean a few seeds and she cried because it felt so 'icky'.
Is there such a thing as being 'tactile challenged'?  

Washing her hands.  That's better...

She did it... 

and look at that proud little face!