Thankful..............

For wonderful schools with wonderful teachers!!!!! This past week both boys had Thanksgiving events planned. Nathan's 1st grade class did a Thanksgiving play. It was super cute and the kids did a great job. Nathan had a "major" speaking role where he told about the Mayflower and the journey the pilgrims went through.

Nina even dropped by as a surprise.

Wilson's sweet school had their annual Thanksgiving feast. The kids got to enjoy some of the traditional Thanksgiving yummys. Turkey (aka. chick-fil-a nuggets), green beans, corn on the cob, potatoes and pumpkin bread.

Sweet Cousins!

Me and my turkey!!!!

Wishing all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving. And oh yeah...................................................WAR DAMN EAGLE!!!!!!

Seeing Green

I would like to introduce you to the newest GREEN belt Karate Kid. Congratulations Nathan, we are oh so proud of you!!!!

Nathan and Matthew worked hard to get here!

Nate and Master Patrick

Oh yeah, this is what you have to do if you forget to say "YES SIR" --- I might start trying this at home with our yes mams ;0)

A Star Wars Kind of Halloween!!!!!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!!! I hope your spooky, fun filled evening was as great as ours was. After watching almost all of the Star Wars movies post surgeries this past year, Nathan was dying to dress up as Darth Vader.....so what better to dress Wilson as than Yoda!!!! :) I thought they ended up looking pretty cute myself.

Of course the night is always a bit chaotic....trying to get every one dressed, visiting all the aunts & uncles, cousins, and grandparents, and fitting in a "nutritious" dinner before all the candy consumption. All of this to be done BEFORE actual trick-or-treating gets started. Whew....I'm just tired remembering all of it.

All the cousins!!! Little Bo-Peep & her sheep (Stirling and Bradley), Yoda and Darth Vader (my boys) and Tom & Jerry (Sara and Megan). How cute are they?!?!?!?!?
Quick family pic before the fun begins!

And just because I know you all need a good laugh, here is a picture of Rod and I before the annual adult Halloween party that some couples here in Auburn host every year. If you know anything about the reality TV show Jersey Shore then you will appreciate this. Drum Roll please.....................................................................................................................................introducing Snookie and Pauly D!!!!!

I love Halloween but I LOVE to see it go even more!!!! It's just one of those holidays that exhausts me. :) Now bring on the Turkey and Dressing!!!!!!

Pumpkins to.......Jack-O-Lanterns!!!

A couple weeks ago, Wilson's sweet school went to the pumpkin patch in Lafayette. It is only a short distance from Auburn and such a cute, fun place. They have lots for the kids to do......Hayride out to the pumpkin patch, petting zoo, tractors to play on, inflatables, train rides. In other words, lots of things to do to burn off that 3 year old energy :)

Wilson and his two best girl buddies.... Stirling and Claire.

Loving the hayride with mommy!

This was the expression he made when we came around the corner and he first spotted the pumpkin patch.......priceless!! Love it!

"I think this is it!!!!"

On to the petting zoo!

Since brother couldn't make the trip with us, we picked him out one too. Those pumpkins have been sitting on our front porch for a lot of days now and FINALLY the time came to give them a little personality :). So yesterday after Nathan got home from school the Jack-O-Lantern fun began!!!

The finished projects!!!!!!

Typical 7 yr old boy.....had to do a "scary" face pumpkin. Don't you love Nathan's scary face too! :)

And the 3 yr old went with a fun, happy face!

Celebration of #7

As I said in my previous post......I CANNOT BELIEVE I HAVE A 7 YEAR OLD!!!!!!! Where in the world did the time go?!?!?!?!?!?

We started Nathan's birthday off with an all boys (except one special girl--cousin Stirling) Karate Birthday Party!!!! The kids had a great time and I think they pretty much loved every minute of it. How could they not with games of dodge ball, dodge ball freeze tag, getting to break their own wooden board, and obstacle courses. It was a perfect start to Nate's birthday week.

Nate even got to be a black belt for the day!!!! He loved that!

The boys thought this was totally cool.....Nathan (along with some assistance) got to cut his cake with a real Samurai sword.

Check out this rowdy group!!! Notice Stirling.....that's about as close as we could get her to all those boys. Do you blame her?!?!?!?!?

On Nathan's actual birthday (Oct. 14th) I dropped by his school for a lunch visit and brought his class some yummy cookies. The class was so cute and very appreciative.

And then to wrap up the big day, Nathan chose Mikata for his birthday dinner with family. I told him since his party was for only boys that he could invite one "special" friend to go to dinner with us. OF COURSE it was his "girlfriend" Isabel.

And of course, one last set of candles to blow out!!